Pls dun go for dell inspiron and those laptop which heat dispatch is not really good. From your budget i would recommend you to get Asus G55VW, Lenovo Y480 or Lenovo Y500. These laptop should serve you well even with the latest Revit 2013. I had try the revit 2013 with Asus G55vw its work awesome and yet the performance is great. Since the G55vw only got 1 graphic card so it would not limit the performance by optimus firmware and make your laptop easy to perform and yet the cooling system is great even when rendering it nearly no sound and you wont feel the heat is the main issue. While for Lenovo I havent try both but the spec for y580 is almost similar and y500 is higher while connected with sli. If you dun mind the warranty issue go for asus or lenovo make you stay away from warranty issue. I doubt that with the performance of Y500 should work very well for revit just that i not sure about the cooling system on it.

1. Yes regarding the battery performance for the G55VW is consider as normal to me as even i use lenovo y480 currently with Intel HD graphic, it do increase the time frame of using with battery but still depend on usage. let say both laptop use to render with battery only, i doubt the time frame will almost the same. FYI I own Asus G55VW previously as well.

2. Its not i think. I own 3 unit of Dell Inspiron previously as well. So i know how it work when under heavy use especially during rendering. One of the unit inspiron 15r do melt the rubber feet on the palm rest which use to protect the screen from contact with keyboard. And I do diagnostic the laptop and the temp up to 92c yet dell claim that it not yet over the warranty limit. Pls dun said that this unit faulty only. In fact each inspiron outside do feel warm on palm rest with power on for display only. So the cooling system really bad. So it not just wat i think. While for Y580 I not really sure coz i never own it but from the unit of my friend i do feel the heat as mention. however i cant give much comment as i nvr own it.

3. I not sure the revit can support the SLI or not. But in the previous version it do cannot support but not sure about now as many ppl are trying for it. Even it not support the sli, TS still can use only single graphic to render as with lenovo y480 gt650m it also feel great with the render speed just a bit slower than Asus G55VW GTX660m. So this purchase should not a wasting instead a big step toward future technolgy.

4. Pls do not prejudice toward the Asus G55VW based only on others ppl complain and comment. For every single product of every brand it do hv its own risk and luck of the buyer as well. Even the good quality support but the machine always broke down, it still a bad case. And regarding the Asus warranty it does hv some problem but sometime it also depend n the part availability. My uncle hv asus laptop screen broken but got part on that time thus it get the laptop back after 2hr only. And my tablet docking problem i also can get back within 2 week. So it all depend on luck and be smart on check with them from time to time it will get the product back on time.

I had deal with these warranty issue for few brand,
Asus, yes its slow on sometime but its depend on the part availability

Lenovo, Yes, its shorter time but its also need to depend on the parts and also sometime may up to a week. so almost similar with asus. Just that asus preoder part need to take 3 week times of it normal procedure.

Dell, the best warranty i had but if taking inspiron with heat problem and it will cause damage to other parts as well. Yes they can change to you nx day business but every single part spoil in order to claim for nx u need to wait a week for nx part. This is a rule. Unless you pay extra for premium service. How I know these becoz i own XPS previously as well with premium service so that i know.

The recommendation that i suggest to the TS is maily based on the experience that i had with those laptop so it not just based on think and only read others ppl comment. I do feel and touch the machine. So recommend TS with a generous mind. Pls I not mean to offence, I just want to clarify my suggestion to TS

Yes indeed! You are right. By doing this the chance of getting a technician is more than the detail description of the issue. Great So if TS getting a Dell laptop remember to use this strategy!

1. I get what you mean. But just that even with a simple task the laptop still able to stand for some hour so for myself should not be a problem. However this is up to personal on how they going to use their laptop. Yet the single card design just similar to the previous technology where those day laptop only equip with single graphic card. So in the previous already did, why not today and the G55VW come with 8 cell battery so it should hv longer time frame. No matter how, this is very subjective issue when come to personal.

2. Yes. What you said is correct. It just that we put up the option for the TS to choose. Even It cannot support in Autodesk but it still can use in other software. At the same time it still a very powerful laptop even without the SLI support in certain software. On your suggestion on Y580 is definitely correct but it still depend on TS which model to choose.

3. Haha. The way you describe the Asus warranty is great and fun!
Anyhow its the truth of warranty support that provided by ASUS, all depend on luck so TS. Pray before you buy the Asus laptop.

4. Its a great suggestion! If can afford for those premium level with premium warranty support laptop band, please go for it! It will worth the price.

So TS might get his decision on which laptop to buy. Just let us know in the future on which laptop you get. Maybe not the one we recommended, but it still a great choice.

Its great that can discuss here with sifu.

Yes, Lenovo Thinkpad should be great as well!

I see. But so far I used all the software that you mention, with the increase performance in CPU and GPU do help a lot. Especially when i compare a i5 and i7 laptop, the rendering and processing speed is differ a lot. While for the graphic card, many ppl would said that it not that important but i do see the difference when the upgrade of GPU. For instance a GT540m compare with GT650m both with same CPU and ram, the processing speed for autoCAD, revit, sketch up, photoshop, etc, the speed had increase a lot. So i think that GPU also play a very important role in this field as well other than CPU and ram. Perhaps the balance in between these would be more suitable.

Maybe instead of recommend you the model directly, I would like to recommend you with the spec

CPU- Go for i7, i5 would not that convenient when dealing with heavy file load.
Ram- At least get 8GB ram but if can up to 12GB is preferable
GPU- In the current trend, get at least performance with GT650m and above. Below this might not worth for the value and hard to fulfill your need and may cause you to change your laptop in short time frame.
HDD- You can try to upgrade to SSD. Even with all high spec CPU, GPU, ram but with a normal rpm HDD, the performance would be affect very much. If possible, look for laptop that provide 2 HDD slot. Another option is swap with your optical drive.
Screen- Look for FHD, it will maximize your window space especially many ppl like to use autocad with latest mode and not classic work space, those interface take up a lot of space. With FHD, it become neat and small so even with 15 inch, you still have a lot of work space. Or you may connect to external monitor. But for this field, at least get a laptop with 15inch and above is better

basically these are the need of spec for this field. So good luck in your hunting. Btw, you are studying or working?

I see.

Regarding on the ram yes. It can support. As 8GB is just like just enough. So why dun we provide extra yet the price for a ram of 4GB is not very high.

While for the FHD, even it will become smaller with the icon and the menu bar, but the empty space is increase so it just like the window in AutoCAD, with all the menu interface on, it take up a lot of model space. So that when you look at a plan, you need to scroll or zoom in and out a lot with a smaller resolution. All the icon and menu is big. For FHD 1920x1080, the menu icon become small so the model space for the plan is bigger thus you no need to scroll that much and enhance the productivity. The most obvious software would be Sketch UP, you will see a lot of different in the model space when comparing in these 2 resolution. So go for FHD and you wont regret about it.

And i had send you a link on the seller so pls check your pm.

Welcome. Wish u good luck