Titaniumboy wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 3:47 pm
One of the options I suggested to my son was to go ahead and download SW now and see if it will “run” on his Surface Pro. If it does “run” then that will take some of the pressure off him to buy “right this moment”. That would allow him to get on campus and see what others are running successfully.
Simple canned tutorials will run well on minimal spec computers, but the real challenge will be: 1) how complex will the designs become, and 2) how soon will this complexity apply. Tertiary is some understanding of best practices, to balance pending complexity with the efficiency to avoid errors and delays.
For example, if you are making a wing profile and testing that, then it sounds simple.
However, if you are making a complete aircraft, then it sounds appropriately complex, yet less complex than an aircraft carrier.
I'd suggest:
Start with the old PC for learning, while accepting some strange errors due to non-certified graphics card. Not ideal, but good enough to dip toes in.
Once real problems arise, or more capacity is clearly required, purchase a dedicated PC for this purpose and appropriate spec per budget. Plan for this one to last through schooling.
Either before or after graduation, as applicable, upgrade to a pro workstation and non-student software licenses.
Another consideration: His Peers. What are his fellow students using? No one wants to have the dullest tool in the shed, or its interpersonal implications.
Another aspect that EAA may help you with is a Student License of SWx included with their $40/year membership. This may help your analysis if you cannot, "go ahead and download it now," to test it out.
OK, now I digress.
There is a VERY new solution available that replaces your hardware purchase with a subscription. Windows 365 is a new offering of full remote cloud computing. You pay for the spec you will need, and then can access that always-on Windows PC while owning and using a much less capable PC to access it. It is new. No, I haven't tried it, and really have no clue how this software would license to that use.
Ed Bott writes good analysis on it, without any focus on software or apps used. Did I say this is new? This is new. Good luck.