Editor’s Pick: Entry-Level Workstation for CAD Professionals

By Anthony J. Lockwood

Dear Desktop Engineering Reader;

My parents, born before World War I, spent their lives squeezing the full worth out of every penny spent because they were going to be prepared for the next Great Depression. So we kids had fried SPAM and pepper sandwiches on squishy white bread for dinner (called it Italian), and I, the youngest of five, had bags of out-of-date clothing to wear. How I survived this penury, oh, I shall never know. Later, when I had a couple of kids and got laid-off, I was glad for the training.

My parents, however, were not cheap. They were just highly attuned to their budget. A lot of engineers have made the decision that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and thus slave away on an old workstation because a new one is too expensive. This, of course, skips by the unpleasantness of wasting time and earning potential waiting for out-of-date technology to do modern work. Today’s Pick of the Week on the recently announced Lenovo ThinkStation E20 workstation disposes of the too-expensive excuse.

The ThinkStation E20 is a real engineering enchilada: An entry-class workstation for budget-conscious and budget-constrained design engineers. Starting at less than $600, you can own a workstation that’s certified to handle software from Autodesk, Dassault, and Siemens. You can equip it with Intel Core i3 and i5, Pentium, or Xeon 3400 Series processors. You can have NVIDIA FX1800 graphics and up to 16GB of memory as well as SATA and even solid-state mass storage. It comes with your choice of Red Hat Linux and 64-bit Windows (7 or XP). It has Ethernet built in and a bunch of USB ports.

Yes, it’s probably going to cost you more after you specify the goodies you want in your new E20. But, considering where it begins and what it begins with, you’re not going to have to rent out your first born with an option to buy either. You’re going to have a workstation that brings you into 2010, is ready for 2011, and is certified to handle the CAD applications you use without busting your budget. Oh, and you will be blown away by the gains in productivity you’ll get.

So, learn more about Lenovo’s ThinkStation E20 from today’s Pick of the Week write-up. Click the link labeled “Configure Your Own” and see what kind of power a surprisingly little amount of money can buy you. If you hit the “for more information link,” make sure to watch the video. It’s short but informative. This is not one to pass up.

Thanks, Pal.—Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood
Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering

Read today’s Pick of the Week write-up.