Looking for a Windows laptop around $2,000 or less for engineering

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase:

$2,000 or less

• Are you open to refurbs/used?

Yes, but would prefer new

• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?

Battery life > Performance > Build Quality > Form factor.

• How important is weight and thinness to you?

Very important. Laptop needs to be thin and light weight since I’ll need to be carrying it for university.

• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.

Preferably 15” - 17”, but no less than 14”

• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.

Anticipated use of SolidWorks/CAD as well as some other engineering programs. While gaming isn’t a priority, a dGPU to run these programs would be greatly preferred.

• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?

N/A

• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?

dGPU, preferably backlit keyboard, face ID OR finger print sensor. These are all extras and preferred but not too necessary except for the dGPU.

• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.

While Macs are great options, many engineering applications aren’t supported by MacOS and Parallels wouldn’t work.