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Ok here is what I have for my pc:

Asus Mainboard- A7M266- their first 266Mhz FSB Board
Processor: AMD 1.333Ghz @ 266 FSB
Memory: 1 512MB Kingston, 1 256 Kingston
Video: ATI Radeon 7200 - 64 MB DDR
19" KDS Short Neck monitor

Laptop:

Toshiba CDT-445
P120 Mhz
32 MB Ram
unkown 256 Color video
33.6 Modem? connects at 28.8

I know the laptop is ancient. Im looking to sell it for $50 (Got two buyers as of now). The PC is getting slow also. Its big and bulky. Looking to sell to buy a new laptop to replace it all.

Im currently looking to take in side design jobs. So I need a laptop that can run AutoCad 2002/2004, Solid Works and Inventor 8- all high end stuff.

Anyhow Im looking for sugguestion as to what would be my best option.

I may possibly just replace the Mother Board (crashes alot) and processor. Then find a little better cheap laptop.

Trouble is used laptops are almost as expensive as new ones. Ive seen the new ones at Best Buy and such for around $700-1,000 which would be in my preffered price range.

Opinions/options/thoughts?

That laptop is going to run you a bit; my guess is around $2500. You need a powerful openGL graphics card to run those programs. For the computer specs, at least 2 GHz, 1 gig of ram, and at least 60 gigs of hdd space.

You can save a bit of money if you go with a desktop. My choice would be a desktop, but I love the portability of laptops.

Any nVidia Quadro card will do for you.

I priced a fairly fast/nice computer if you were to do it yourself off of NewEgg.com.

AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 512k L2 Cache, The Only 64-bit Windows Compatible Processor - Retail
ABIT "KV8 Pro" K8T800 Pro Chipset Motherboard
Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, 184 Pin 1GB ECC Registered DDR PC-3200
Western Digital Special Edition 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD800JB, OEM Drive Only
ATI FireGL V3200 Video Card, 128MB DDR, DVI+DVI, PCI-Express, Model "100-505085" -OEM
Antec P4 ATX12V 350 Watt Power Supply With 2 Fans, Model "SL350" -RETAIL


You can upgrade the video card if you like, but that one is already $300. Total before shipping, the above is $1051. I just copied all of the names straight off so you can look them up easier.

I alsmot forgot. I have a 40 Gig ATA ultra100 Hard Drive.
ALso have-
2 case fans
Hard Drive Fan
chipset fan

I think I paid $1900 for my computer with monitor...

Would really like the laptop so I can take it with me wherever I go.

I have seen the laptop barebone kits- good deal?

BTW my 1.333 runs them programs really nice- so it doesnt necessarily need to be lightning fast.

You can subtract $61 for the hdd I included if you want.

Hmm, well, I'd look for a moderately fast laptop with a very good graphics card. (Hard to find good graphics cards in laptops).

I looked into Dell and Gateway's laptops. Dell wants too much for what you get, but you do get a $150 rebate with most of them. Gateway is really the direction you want to go in. They have the more powerful graphics cards (ATI Radeon) for a better price. Just make sure you can get the best you can, it can make a huge difference; same with memory, the more the better (faster is better too).

Can always add memory :) This is something Im kind of looking into. Not a big priority though

Just make sure you can with any of the ones you consider. It's different from model to model. I'm waiting for the day I can stick memory modules into my brain...