I need to purchase a new laptop and maybe some software. I was just wondering what everyone is using for a laptop and what software you have on it?I am a tools guy, I am very handy and can make and repair just about anything! The bad news is I am pretty much brain dead when it comes to computers and tablets.
I like the building shows on television and it seems like apple is a popular choice there. They show some really neat things, I think I need to get more advanced in the tech and design area, so it's full speed ahead!

Windows I-3 and above, 4 gigs ram, Wifi, 300+ gigs of storage, these days most (But not all) are made expecting streaming, I have recently reuped for Netflix (it was a joke a while back) you will spend 400-500 $

I don't understand your question. What software? If you don't know what software, what do you want the software to accomplish? Most software manufacturers will state minimum and recommended hardware (computer) requirements for their software.

From what I've seen, there's very little in woodworking software that's native to Apple OS. You can of course run both Windows and OS-X on an Apple, but you'll pay for the privilege. Using tools like AutoCAD, Inventor, etc. aren't much different on Windows PCs and Apples, so there's no gain or loss there. There's plenty of office-type software for both (word processing, spreadsheet, email, etc.). Although I own an Apple laptop for personal use, I would go Windows for work/business (that's what we use in the office). As for brands, there's good info out there on frequency of repair, customer support, etc. You'll usually get more bang for your buck if you don't push the envelope - in other words, don't buy the latest and greatest but buy what was great 6-12 months ago.

If you're seriously considering doing design, I'd look at high resolution external monitors at the same time - you'll want to easily zoom in on details. To me it makes more sense to buy a smaller laptop (if you care about portability) and a large screen external monitor than pony up for a large screen laptop. JMHO

Thanks for everyone's help. Les, that is exactly what I was looking for, I know very little about Mac's and what software is available. My kids tell me to buy Mac, so that is the way I was leaning, I guess the big thing is it means more money.

You will first need to know what software you are interested in using, as they have different requirements. I have a dell Inspiron 15, and with 500g of space, 4 g ram, it does a good job. I recently tried to run Revit on it, and it did not work so well. That piece of software needs at least 8g of ram.????

You probably need to look for a computer with a graphics card. If you are looking at a macbook pro you can get a custom built pc with the graphics card you need. Do your homework.

For field use the surfaces are nice, easy to incorporate a picture into a PDF with bluebeam (click the camera icon and picture is in pdf).
The monitor is smaller but you can run it on hdmi so you could hook up to a customers TV and do a presentation on their TV.
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