CAD on the MBA 13" i5 128GB??

[insept]

Hi,
My cousin is thinking about buying a MBA 13" 128GB. He will use it for surfing, watch movies etc.... the one thing that im worried about is that he also want's to use it for som CAD. Will this computer work good for CAD?

I told him to get the 15" pro with the ATI if we want's to CAD... but he thinks that is a little expensive.. so now he is thinking about getting the MBA or the MBP 13".

What do you guys think?

 

[m0thball]

I'm using a 1.7ghz i5 13" MBA. I just installed parallels and with windows 7 and Pro e. So far I have encountered no problems. It runs smooth, but I've read it will run smoother in bootcamp. I'm mainly working on small components and I have not used it for stress analysis.

So it works no problem on the Macbook air. The pro will definitely provide him with more processing power. He's decision should come down to how heavily he's planning on using cad.

 

[bill-p]

Well, it should be fine. I gotta remind you that we used to do CAD on computers with single-core processors and less than 512MB of RAM.

Computer hardware has gone a long way since then.

 

[olemrboston]

Latest version of AutoDesk

For the latest version of AutoDesk you should be fine as long as you do not do complicated renderings with a multitude of xrefs into your .dwg's.

Solidworks, Inventor/ other geometric 3D modeling programs = the macbook air WILL run slow. It will be nearly impossible to run constraint or collision programs.

All in all. If you are just running Basic AutoCad doing 2D files and simple 3D attributes along with minimal renderings w/ low qual. exports you will be fine.

Plus being able to have the full version of AutoCad is awesome in such a small package!

This is just my .02 cents and hope this helps!

 

[KPOM]

Well, it should be fine. I gotta remind you that we used to do CAD on computers with single-core processors and less than 512MB of RAM.

Computer hardware has gone a long way since then.

And the Golden Gate Bridge was designed with slide rules, compasses, and paper.

 

[bluez3]

Get the Air or a 15" pro. I say this for the screen resolution. With all the tool bars and side bars auto cad has, you will appreciate the screen real estate.

 

[bill-p]

And the Golden Gate Bridge was designed with slide rules, compasses, and paper.

Certainly, but surely you don't suggest that a single person did it?