MacBook Pro for CAD

Question

Hello All,
I am a Mechanical Engineering student. Most of my classes involve some work with Autodesk Inventor, Solid Edge, and other 3D CAD programs. I currently own a 13" MacBook Unibody(Late 2008, base model). I upgraded the RAM from 2GB to 4GB about a year ago. This still has a relativly small HDD with 160GB(only 65GB used). The specifications of the new base 13" MacBook Pro beat my MB. However, what my MB has that the new one does not, is a dedicated graphics card(256 MB). My parents are pressuring me into buying a new MBP, so that I could give them my current MB, which runs almost flawlessly, even after 5 years of abuse from me.
So my question is: Will graphics intensive programs like Autodesk Inventor and Solid Edge run better on a new base model 13" MacBook Pro with integrated graphics, or my current 13" MacBook Unibody with dedicated graphics?
If I had the money, I would buy the 15" MBP, which has a big graphics card. Sadly, I do not.
Note: Either way, I will be using Bootcamp to install Windows to run 3D CAD. I am not a fan of the Mac versions of these programs. Also, I am looking into replacing the CD/DVD drive with a Data Doubler so I can have two hard drives; one will be an SSD.
Thank You

Answer 1

Goalie, I could not agree with you more...as an engineer I have had to use many platforms and the PC has always been the absolute bottom of the barrel.  The PCs and Macs do not use the same components, well except to say they both have cpus, memory, storage, graphics controlers, etc.  The Mac parts are much higher level.  A few years ago I was forced to buy a Dell latptop for work-related stuff...to outfit that with the same level of performance components as were standard on the MacBook Pro would have cost more than the MBP...just not the same.
Ok so much for that.  Even though you say you do not have the funds for a 15", dokeep in mind that the 15" comes with both the standard Intel HD 4000 GPU and a discrete GPU so high-end graphics work will be rendered far better than you will get on the 13" model.  Plus you can upgrade the memory significantly yourself on the 15" model.  Plus, another plus, it comes standard with more mass storage and options for solid state instead of hard drive.
Since you don't say what year you are in, I will assume your last two years from your high level statements of courses, you will need higher capabilities in senior-level, and especially graduate-level, courses.  The added capabilities of the 15" will payoff in the long run.
As for dual-boot use, the larger capacity mass storage will be important if you intend to use the Mac OS X partition for extensive work and data.  So add that to the list of considerations.
Be sure to look into student discounts as Apple often has those available.