1. Preferred Brand: Any brand.
2. Budget: 2.2K
3. Usage: CAD, mild engineering software, web browsing.
4. Preferred laptop/screen size: No
5. Other preferences:
I'm looking for something cheap yet powerful. Best bang for the buck.

Right now I saw online there are a few cheap laptops that suit my requirement:

HP 15-ac169TX RM1979
i5-5200U Processor
8GB DDR3L-1600 SDRAM
1TB SATA Hard Drive
AMD Radeon R5 M330 2GB DDR3
15.6" diagonal HD WLED-backlit (1366 x 768)

LENOVO Z40-75 RM1849
AMD QUAD CORE A10-7300 PROCESSOR
8GB DDR3 1600L MEMORY
1TB SATA 5400RPM AHRD DRIVE
2GB DDR3 AMD RADEON R6-M255DX GRAPHICS
14" FULL HD 1980X1020 LED DISPLAY

LENOVO Z50-70 RM2379 (slightly overbudget)
Intel 4th Generation i7-4510U
4GB DDR3 1600L Memory (2 RAM slot)
1TB SATA Hard Disk
2GB DDR3 dedicated NVIDIA GT840M graphics
15.6" FHD Slim LED 1920x1080 Display

I like the Lenovo for its FHD display, but I prefer the i5-5200 than the APU. Don't really care about battery life, and don't need latest spec.


Anyone got better options for me?

This post has been edited by babienn: Jan 21 2016, 06:53 PM

Thanks! I'm considering this too. But why should I ignore the Z40-75? Is it because of the CPU? Because looking at the benchmark, that AMD cpu performs better than my old laptop, which I used for CAD before it broken down.

Price is superb but too bad it's not FHD display.

bro can pm me your friend's shop name and contact number?

I think a lot of people overestimate the hardware requirement of CAD or 3D modelling softwares, eg.sketchup, bender. Based on my usage actually a mid end i3 cpu and a mediocre gpu is enough to render at a good fps. Of course it is case to case basis but still, I find that even a few years old laptop can do most of my work smoothly.

Engineering student with a macbook doesn't seem right. Unless he plan to boot windows?

Yes that's what I mean. I'm not sure about your friend's engineering field but civil, mec and e&e their softwares are mostly windows based.

Why smoke ah? Because later version of i5 ah?

I see. Make sense.

Mine lasted 4 years, working now. Toto winners are everywhere i guess.