New Laptop for CAD MEP and Navisworks.

General Questions

1) What is your budget? Around $1500 give or take

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen

3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.
USA

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
a.
Like: Dell
b.
Dislike: HP


5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed? Possibly

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook? Autocad 2011 MEP, Navisworks, and general office apps.

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both? It will be at a desk, although location of said desk can change at times.

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games? N/A

9) How many hours of battery life do you need? Be nice to have 2-3.
Realize that gpu and processor eat that up.

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK? Without seeing is ok.

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Win 7 pro 64b.

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer? HD+ or FHD.
1 or 2 external monitors will be used in final set-up.

13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? I actually like glossy even though the laptops I'm considering dont offer them.

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? No, as this will be a workstation class laptop.

15) When are you buying this laptop? ASAP.

16) How long do you want this laptop to last? 3-4yrs.

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive? 320 is what is being offered.
7200rpm.
Don't really know if SSD is needed for my aplications.

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?
Yes.
CDRW/DVD-ROM would be fine.


All,
Sorry for not filling out the above info earlier.
The two laptops I'm considering at this point are Dells M4500 and Lenovos W510.
Thanks much for your help.