Ibook for CAD

[steviedee]

hey everyone, im a uni student doin design atm, an i wana buy a ibook(not macbook)

ive been lookin around, and the best deal so far seems to be at domayne, for a 14inch wit pretty descent specs for about $1300AUD. (anyone seen this for cheaper pls tell)

however, i think that lappy may be too goo for what i need to do.

id like a 12" screen, as i prefer smaller laptops, and i will need to use the computer predominantly for university work

so it will need to run rhino,autocad, solidworks, office and photoshop...

so whats a good ibook to get that will support those programs nicely, will 800-900Mhz be sufficient? as i would like this to cost around $700-800 AUD

any advice would be helpful, thnx


desired ibook
-------------
60gb hard drive
any computer speed that will run the programs i want
12" screen
dvdrw
G4(maybe G3)

 

[crees!]

Personally I don't think the performance will be what you're looking for, if possible for some of the apps. I'd recommend a "Pro" machine. Or PowerBook if you're stick with PPC.

EDIT: Are all your apps Mac based?

 

[Benjamindaines]

Does CAD even have a Mac version?

 

[Sammis89]

For some reason i feel like there isn't a version of AutoCad for Mac... there may be another CAD program, but if you need to be using AutoCad, i dont think a mac is the right way to go...



Although it kills me to say that...

 

[26139]

No AutoCAD

No AutoCAD for Macs.

I really think you should look into getting a Macbook. An iBook will be able to handle those programs okay, but nothing near day-to-day, prosumer level performance.

 

[chaosbunny]

Well, it depends. If you do not mind a little waiting here and there I guess a 1 ghz+ ibook still can be a very useful machine for you, except for AutoCAD, although I heard of a mac version some time ago. I can't remember where though and if others say there is no mac version I think I'm wrong.

A friend of mine is a video pro (makes short films for homepages and small commercials for a living) still uses a 1,2 ghz ibook (+ 20" Dell display) as his main machine, since he doesn't have too much money. It's often difficult for young creatives who start doing their thing.

 

[Starchitect]

I can tell you without a doubt that there is no Mac version of AutoCAD! Do not get an iBook if you need to run CAD. AutoCAD will only run on windows but fortunately for us the computing landscape has changed this year. Intel macs can now run windows! Yes old news I know, but this is the best thing that has happened for designers in a while. Get a Macbook and you will have the option to duel boot (with bootcamp) or run Windows ontop of OS X with Paralells.

 

[jrichie]

Also Solidworks and Rhino only work on a PC!! So basically you want a PC or intel mac.

You would be absolutley mental to buy an ibook now.......... I am an architect with a macbook using bootcamp and love it!

Couidn't recommend the macbook enough.

 

[FFTT]

I must agree with the rest here.

A MacBook with at least 100 GB HD to handle the partitions for both operating systems.

Or.........
While you're researching all of this, check out VectorWorks 12.

http://www.nemetschek.net/

 

[ddekker]

CAD on mac

Agree'd.. as a long time 3D CAD user (Pro Engineer) the PPC macs are not up to the task, there is not really many CAD packages for mac anyway... Kind of suprising that none of the companies have embraced the mac.... Pro Engineer runs on PC, Linux, and Unix... I have never heard of anyone getting it to run on the mac even though its a BSD core... might be something I have to give a shot someday...lol..

good luck..

DD

 

[steviedee]

u guys are champs, thanks for the sound advice.

i had no idea these programs didnt have a mac version(apart from adobe stuff) and frankly i find it suprising.

a macbook would be nice, however falls completly outside my budget, i think the cheapest one with student discount is around 1500

powerhouse were having a sale on this compaq for around 800, but of course it dosnt look as nice as the apple

whats ure second favorite looking laptop?

 

[meepm00pmeep]

if you need AutoCAD you're better off getting a MacBook or MacBook Pro and have a Windows partition with AutoCAD installed because AutoCAD isn't available for Macs at this time

 

[steviedee]

what do u think of virtual pc for mac(version 7)

will this program run windows verisons of rhino autocad and solid works on an ibook?

if so how fast would it be on a 1.4ghz ibook(im guessing not very, as ive heard that it cuts ure processing speed by about a third.)

 

[Benjamindaines]

what do u think of virtual pc for mac(version 7)

will this program run windows verisons of rhino autocad and solid works on an ibook?

if so how fast would it be on a 1.4ghz ibook(im guessing not very, as ive heard that it cuts ure processing speed by about a third.)

You'll be running about 300MHz if not lower... not happening for CAD and such.

 

[bleachthru]

If you need to run autocad, a macbook with parallels/bootcamp is your cheapest portable option. I do a ton of 3d drafting, and in my industy vectorworks is the standard, which runs on both mac an PC. Look into it, perhaps VW can do the type of CAD you do. Also, VPC7 sucks at running autocad, I have seen people try it, and fail. AutoCad 2007 runs quite nice on the new intel machines with paralles, several of my collegues use this set up regularly.

 

[almightyshoe]

Your only options for Mac PPC are pretty much VersaCAD (which is complete and utter crap on a stick, which is probably why they license it to universities for 200 bucks), and Vectorworks (which I admit, I have never used). Plus, as you will soon find out, more and more schools/companies are making the switch to 3D, so you're going to have to deal with a z-axis and start using Solidworks or Inventor. The good news is Solidworks's next release will have a Mac build.

I've run Solidworks just fine on a 1GHz Celeron laptop with 512 RAM (in fact, we've designed an entire solar-powered race car on it); so it might be a better investment if you got a high/mid-range machine and run VM/BootCamp/Parallels/Whatever.

 

[toast-13]

solidworks

solidworks on mac! yay does solidworks have a linux edition available that works on ubuntu?

Another option for power pc based macs is BRL-CAD from the united states army's ballistic research labs. I am working on putting it through the paces at the moment and so far am pleased. sadly this program does not run on my macbook, but that is food for thought.