<p>TBH I do not think they will start with a lot of Solid Works designs the first year, however, I think that choosing a good computer now will avoid having to upgrade in a couple of years ( what is perfectly fine too). In my case one of the biggest drawbacks of cheaper models will similar CPUs (with Windows 7) was battery life. The majority had a non upgradable 6 cell battery that lasted 2-3 hours ( even less when working at full processing speed). I guess I broke my own rule of never spending more than $1000 for a laptop (except maybe for a MAC) but sometimes is hard to resist that FHD screen or that really cool 2G dedicated video card.</p>