Reddit mentions of HP Pavilion 15.6" Flagship Laptop, 6th Gen Skylake Intel i7-6700HQ Quad-Core Processor(6M Cache, up to 3.5 GHz), FHD IPS Touchscreen, 8GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, DVD, HDMI, 802.11AC, Windows 10

For serious multi tasking, we look for a powerful processor and plenty RAM.. I definitely recommend a quad core i5 or even better, an i7.. 8 GB RAM is the least I would recommend today..

The thing is that most laptops with very powerful processors also have dedicated graphics card which is really not a bad thing to have these days and especially when you are looking to have a laptop with a little future proof..

This HP Pavilion 15.6" Flagship Laptop is one such laptop with a powerful quad core i7 processor and 8 GB RAM without a graphics card and that is within your budget. But you could easily spend similar money and get a laptop like this ASUS VivoBook Pro N552VW-DS79 with a dedicated graphics card and double times the RAM (16 GB) which is awesome for multi tasking..

Not at all! You can get the full-power quad core i7 with a 1080p screen, 8GB of RAM, and even a touchscreen for $650.

Well there are several good option for your budget and usage, I would aim for quad core CPU i5 or i7 like the Lenovo Ideapad 700 if you want to budget a little because it comes with quad core i5 with 8 GB of ram and 1 TB HDD, or the Dell Inspiron with more powerful quad core i7, but you would be overpaying for a 960M GPU that you don't need, so I would recommend this HP Pavilion because it comes with the same powerful quad core i7, it also comes with better FHD IPS Touchscreen, and cheaper than the dell, and has same 8 GB of ram and 1 TB HDD just like the dell.

What about this?

Consider this HP Pavilion 15.6" Flagship Laptop. Very powerful processor, nice memory, storage build quality etc.

Solid works and CAD software can be very demanding.. It's therefore important that you get a laptop with a powerful processor and at least 8 GB RAM... This HP Pavilion 15.6" Flagship Laptop would be a great choice for you as it has a very powerful quad core i7 6th generation ( one of the best laptops processors available at the moment)... this laptop also has 8 GB RAM, a great build quality and excellent display..

Sell your current and then buy a better one. This one is along the lines of what you need, but if you want to play other games you need an actual GPU.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B018YIGHVK/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1497186577&sr=1-4&refinements=p_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A2289792011%2Cp_n_feature_seven_browse-bin%3A3012496011%2Cp_n_feature_five_browse-bin%3A7817224011&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=laptop&dpPl=1&dpID=51XSQzRkAaL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B018YIGHVK/ref=psdcmw_565108_t1_B019M5TLQC

This is the cheapest you can get a 6700hq for which will be gold for productivity, ram could use an upgrade but thats like ~ $60 at the most

you should go with the HP Pavilion15.6inch Flagship Laptop, 6th Gen Skylake Intel i7-6700HQ Quad-Core Processor( up to 3.5 GHz), FHD IPS Touchscreen, 8GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, Windows 10 and i agree with the ssd upgrade

Wow I'm a goof I'm looking at the laptops with ssd's included thinking hard drives would also come with them. I actually have a new question for about the same price I can get a HP Pavillion used would that be any better than the Lenovo?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B018YIGHVK/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AWTBKEA36HVNO

> I hate heavy gaming laptops and would never consider dGPU laptops anymore

You need to separate those two, stop conflating them as one and the same.

There are lots of thin and light laptops with dedicated GPUs - Dell's XPS 15, Apple's MacBook Pro 15, ASUS's Zenbook Ultrabook line, etc.

And, if you're planning on doing video renders, you're going to definitely want a video card to help speed up render speed.

> 16GB+ RAM, 512GB+ SSD and Thunderbolt 3 for external graphics card, with weight equal or less than 4.5lb(~2kg)

That's a pretty tall order for non-gaming laptops.

I know of four off the top of my head around those specs - the XPS 15 with a 960m, the MSI GS63VR with the new Pascal 1060, the early 2016 Razer Blade 14 with the 970m, and the new late 2016 Razer Blade 14 with the Pascal 1060.

Of all of those, only the Razer lineup has been tested and successful with Thunderbolt 3 eGPUs consistently - sometimes the Dell lineup works with it, sometimes it doesn't. I haven't seen anyone test the MSI GS63VR yet due to how new it is and stock availability issues.

Have you considered the Surface Pro? It has a custom low-power GeForce 940 in it, so no issues with power consumption there. But, you could get it with the Core i5 and no Nvidia GPU. And, it has the form factor of the Sony you mentioned. I don't think it has Thunderbolt 3, and the CPUs are dual-core with hyper threading.

This HP Pavilion also has a quad core i7 Skylake CPU without a dedicated GPU, and you should be able to bump up the memory and swap in an SSD very easily.

Otherwise, your note about the Precision is probably one of the best ways to go.