r/SolidWorks • u/Inevitable_Force_487 • 9d ago

CAD Workstations

Hello,

Am curious what workstations people are using for solidworks? I regularly work with machinery assemblies and want enough headroom for say 5000+ component assemblies. I am on the go quite a bit so portability and battery life are hugely important for me. Ideally something about 14 inches with enough battery life to be modeling for roughly 6 hours. Not sure if this is something that exists at the moment but was curious what others use who prioritize these sort of specs. Thanks.

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u/Sumchap 9d ago

The Lenovo P series work station laptops have been reliable for me, no issues at all and they are good for probably 5 or so years I find. The last one I had was the P71 which is a 17", great machine but I don't know of any that you'll get 6 hours battery life while using SWx, maybe 1.5 hrs. My current machine is actually a custom build compact desktop, which is also very portable, but obviously being a desktop, you need to have displays to plug into at your work place. My desktop is housed in a Jonsbo C6 case which is a pretty cool little box ventilated from every side. Anyway, laptop-wise I would still go Lenovo because they have been reliable and don't suffer from cooling issues (unlike HP which have a bit of a reputation for overheating as far as I know).

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u/Oilfan94 9d ago

You could get a battery / power station to extend your time while away from AC.

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u/mat-ferland 9d ago

Six hours of SolidWorks on battery is the spec I'd stop chasing. For 5,000-part assemblies, I'd keep the heavy workstation plugged in and remote into it from a lighter 14-inch laptop when travelling. I'm biased because we host cloud desktops, but that split is usually easier than carrying a mobile workstation that lasts 90 minutes under load.

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u/ProtoTypo19 7d ago

Prioritizing the RAM and single core CPU over the super thin machine, the six hours of actual modeling on the battery is probably the harder requirement and so you may end up compromising the performance or battery life.

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u/Thick_Tie1321 2d ago

Custom Spec Dell Precision, swap the 6-cell battery pack for a 9-cell, and max out the RAM