Dell i5 laptop

[frankhugo]

I've been using an old desktop (pentium 4) now and have now decided to switch to a new laptop as per my requirements.

I am doing Interior designing course and will have to use softwares like autocad , Max 3D ,Revit,photoshop,etc ,maybe even Maya if i go into animation aswell.
I am also a gamer and even though i've been playing older games so far i an very interested in playing newer games(especially GTA 4 even though it's not that new now).
So i'm faced with the problem of graphics card now.Which graphics card will fulfill all my requirements.I contacted my retailer and he only adviced me about buying a Dell laptop i5.He says go for NVIDIA 2 GB or 4 GB card but i wanna know which i need (do i need any of those 2 cards or a lower performance card will work for me just fine aswell,if yes then which one ? )so my current and future requirements are also met.
I've heard graphics card reduce battery life so if they do then i don't want to end up buying a high graphics card that i didn't need and lose my battery life alot aswell.At the same time this card will have to meet my future requirements aswell.
Also i wanted to connect the laptop to my 17 inch screen or my 40 inch flatscreen when needed.Will i be needing an external VGA or DVI port then ?


Please advice

 

[Emerald]

go to the dell website and customize a system

as for the video card you only will have one option in the customization

also choose a 9-cell battery

 

[jamesmcuk]

To use that sort of software it would be advisable to get a laptop that has a high end graphics card. Personally the best you can get for the budget. Its unlikely that with a laptop the card will outperform the system so just get the best you can afford. Make sure you get a 64 bit OS and put as much RAM as you can in it otherwise I think you may find some of those programs will really slow it down. Obviously it all depends how complex the stuff you will be doing with them is but 3D rendering is quite brutal.

Connecting to a external monitor will require one of those ports you mention.

 

[frankhugo]

Emerald :I'll give it a shot and see if i can get what i'm looking for.

jamesmcuk:I can afford to get NVIDIA 4 GB card.If you'd like to advice me only thing better that's around that budget itself then i'm all ears aswell.I'm still a bit worried about how much this card will affect my battery life and pc performance and yes i'll be doing alot of 3d rendering and stuff in the future. I'll make sure i get a 64 bit OS thanks for that advice mate