We used to use Inventor and have now switched to Solid Works, but will have to still run Inventor for a while for legacy drawings.

In the switch we are also able to update from our old minimal computers to Workstations.

We are on a budget so we can't get really high power systems but want get the best we can without going beyond what makes sense.

We are only going to be using Solid Works "Standard" but will hopefully be able to upgrade this to Professional in a year or two.

We don't do renderings or simulations.

Mostly we make assemblies of less than 200 parts and typically only animate subassemblies at any one time.

We are currently looking at the Dell systems T1600 and T3500.

The current Dell pricing between these two is only \$30 apart when we configure both to the configuration listed below.

We intend to add 4 additional Gig of memory and a second (Data) hard disk to each - purchased seporately.

Both systems:

Windows 7 Pro with XP Mode - 64 bit OS. (XP Mode because we have programs that will not run on Windows 7 (Inventor 11 and others)).

dual processor (quad capable)

500 gig boot disk

2 gig memory

NVIDA Quadro 600 or ATI Fire Pro 4800

T1600 PS increased to 320W (default is 265W) - T3500 default is 525W

No CD drive on T1600 - use the mimimum CD drive on T3500 (no option for no CD).

Any comments on the plusses or minuses on either of these?

Any better suggestions?

The price for these (without the 2nd HD or extra memory) is in the \$850 range.

Also, Does anyone have experience on Windows 7 with XP MODE?

Does software truely think it is running on XP or is it just like the compatability mode?

We tried to load Inventor 11 on a system with Windows 7 pro x64 and it wouldn't even start to load because it said it was not compatable.