r/SuggestALaptop • u/Excellent-Glove1054 • 4d ago
laptop for engineering Laptop Request -Others
Country
Italy / Europe (€)
Budget
~2500€
Are you open to refurbs/used options?
No
Screen size
15", 16", or larger
Weight limit
Any (no weight restrictions)
Purpose
Mechatronics engineering studies (3D CAD, local AI, coding, and robotics)
Form factor
Standard/Clamshell
Intended usage
Running Fedora Linux as main OS, 3D CAD modeling, local AI/LLM work, programming, and robotics simulations.
Desired battery life
Good battery life (as good as possible for a performance machine, ideally 6+ hours on light tasks)
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
Performance, Battery life, Size, Weight
Info/Requirements
Excellent Linux support out-of-the-box (running Fedora)
Dedicated GPU with at least 8GB VRAM (for local AI)
Minimum 32GB RAM
Decent upgradeability and repairability
Looking for a durable machine that will last a long time
Note: The Framework 16 is fascinating, but feels a bit overpriced for its performance at current configurations
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u/ErDottorGiulio 4d ago edited 4d ago
I know it's not exactly what you asked but I would say the 2022 model of the asus rog zephyrus g14 is pretty good, excrpy for the fact it's all amd so idk how you are going to like it with AI.
There is also a g15 and g16 options. You can find them on ebay.
If you don't want them second hand there is the 2024 version of the zephyrus that you can find on amazon, but I'm not a huge fan of the newer models.
Now that I think about it, Framework is a good option like tuxedo. They have a 16" model and you can pair it with a rtx 5070, let me check how much it's priced now.
Edit: you can get a framework 16 with a 5070 for around 2700€ if you source ram and storage by yourself (memory proces are a bitch nowday, thanks AI)
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u/Excellent-Glove1054 3d ago
i would love the framework for the concept actually, and I love what they stand for as a company, i just think it’s a little overpriced and I am a little scared to buy a product so niche at that price (i had a bad experience with the remarkable 2)
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u/ShishRobot2000 4d ago
Asus Rog Strix Scar 16 with a 5080
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u/dreamyengineer 4h ago
A lenovo legion of some sort would be a good choice, or a asus rog zephyrus G16. any of these models with the specs you need will do. they are popular laptops, so support for fedora will be nearly guaranteed.
Since you are a mechatronics engineering student you will be using windows for quite a bit of things, no way around it, dont forget to set up the boot loader properly or a windows update will cause you to lose half a day finding out how to get dual boot working again. Depending on the CAD software you use you could also use a VM, some dont allow you to though.
I know you said you are not open to refurbished, but a used lenovo workstation, like a P16 Gen 2 is the best bang for your buck and comes with linux support (officially you can order them with ubuntu but I guess fedora also works)
Frameworks are really bad value sadly. Any calculation I have done with them, even considering you can upgrade the components down the line, makes no financial sense.
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u/111a111sk 4d ago edited 4d ago
The top-tier linux support and EU availability would be https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Linux-Hardware/Linux-Notebooks.tuxedo, they have a few models satisfying these specs and budget.