<p>I'm going to be an engineering major in college, but I'm not exactly sure where I'm going or which discipline of engineering. My dad is letting me get whatever kind of computer I want if I decide to attend a cheaper school. Either way I'm between Alienware and Macbook Pro. I currently own a custom build PC and an iMac. Any suggestions for engineering?</p>
<p>Macs are more creative design/multimedia computers. Go with the Alienware</p>
<p>It’s your personally preference. Personally, I am going to have my Macbook Pro, and then I my netbook I’ve had for a couple years. I use the netbook to tinker with Windows and run stuff like that. Then if I need sheer power, I have my desktop. Just look out for deals. My desktop was like $450 on sale and netbook $300. But disclaimer, I wouldn’t recommend a netbook for college unless you are bringing something else along.</p>
<p>The Alienware will be big, heavy, clunky and have terrible battery life.</p>
<p>I have an Alienware and yeah it is big and heavy but really it doesn’t take THAT much effort to go move around with it. The reason most people complain about poor battery life is because they either: don’t charge it right, are running a lot of programs at once or have a powerful processor but a battery that isn’t big enough to negate the increased power draw. I have an M15x with a 9 cell battery and I get about 4 hours of battery life but I also have an over-clocked processor in it.</p>
<p>never buy a alienware laptop. Dont even buy an alienware desktop. The purpose of laptops are to be lightweight. If you want such a high performance fat brick, you might as well build ur own pc. Macbook pros are great but expensive as hell. But if you can get whatever laptop you want id go with the macbook. Alienware laptops may be powerful but they’re heavy as hell which would definately get annoying if ur taking it all over the place.</p>
<p>Why bother paying for the Alienware name when you can get a better computer for less money?</p>
<p>As an engineering student, you’re going to run programs that are designed for Windows-based machines. So get one of those.</p>
<p>Alienware, by far. I’ve had experience with both computers, much happier with my m15x Alienware. Customize your own on their website to suit your personal needs, and I suggest you stay away from any kind of Mac.</p>
<p>^why? if you mean stay away because most engineering software may be windows only then I kind of understand though you can use boot camp or parallels to fix that issue. </p>
<p>If you want a gaming pc, get the alienware. If not, get the Macbook Pro. Gaming is really the only reason i’d buy an alienware pc. just my opinion though. I’ve seen a bunch of them reviewed and they look like very powerful machines, just too big and bulky for a carry everywhere computer.</p>
<p>Just because it is marketed as a gaming pc doesn’t mean that is all it is good for. A good processor means it can handle strenuous amounts of data from multiple programs at once. Not to mention the reason it is so bulky is because of the venting so it stays cooler. Yeah it is a bit on the heavy side but out of the Alienware and the Macbook Pro the Alienware is better for an engineering major. Though they are both expensive the OP could easily go with another type of computer if they so choose.</p>
<p>The best laptops for students are the ones that are lightweight and have a long battery life (6+ hours)</p>
<p>if you need it to actually be a windows operating system, then go for any sony, hp, toshiba. Check cnet for the best laptops etc. Alienware is straight garbage. Its like the macs of pc’s except its not even good -.- Its bulky as hell and if you really want such massive processing power then dont bother with a laptop. Laptops are designed to be portable, not some screen with a keyboard attached that sits on ur desk all day.</p>
<p>I have an m11x and it’s perfect. Go for the alienware.</p>
<p>To me, alienware just exudes an aura of immaturity to whoever is using the laptop, probably because of the over-the-top design that most alienware laptops have. I wouldn’t get one, mainly because they are overpriced and not really needed unless you want to do hardcore mobile gaming, and in that case you would be better of getting a gaming desktop. I also wouldn’t recommend getting a Mac for engineering - you will probably use a lot of programs that are only Windows compatible, unless you plan on running bootcamp so you can boot into a Windows operating system.</p>
<p>I adore my m17x…</p>
<p>cons: $2k, <2 hour battery life (barely 90 mins), 12 pounds
pros: everything else</p>
<p>I don’t bring it to class, but as an Engineer that is often running multiple high end applications, the speed and performance is amazing.</p>
<p>Alienware used to be great before they were purchased by Dell. Now they are pretty much the “Macs” of the Windows OS world. Style before substance. I’d suggest a good Lattitude if you want Dell. HP has some good models as does Lenovo. Again, the difference between a $400 laptop and a $800 laptop is durability and quality of components. You need some durability for a machine that gets lugged around in a bag all day.</p>
<p>The Alienware machines are good, but you can get the same in other models for less.</p>