http://www.eng.vt.edu/it/companiondevices
Whaaat? So my trusty Dell Inspiron won’t cut it?
Your trusty Dell Inspiron will be used for 98% of your coursework. The CoE has a few classes (mainly your intro to engineering courses) that require you to write digitally on documents or diagrams. You won’t be using the digitalizer pen in any of your CS courses. Son #1 went the unauthorized route and purchased an external Wacom tablet. It worked well for him even though it lacked some of the capabilities required by VT, e.g., you don’t write directly on the document shown on your laptop screen but rather on the tablet so success depends upon good hand-eye coordination. He built a very powerful desktop and a decent laptop. The laptop was just for mobility - he kept it linked with the desktop. Son #2 purchased a Lenovo Thinkpad (one recommended by VT). The digital pen never really tracked that well despite repeated calibrations so in the end it wasn’t any more accurate than the external Wacom tablet. He did, however, take advantage of the digital pen and tablet mode of the laptop to take class notes directly on his laptop.
Many CS students will discard their tablets or never use the capabilities after their first few projects in freshman year. For some, a good laptop is all they need. But both of my kids preferred the capabilities of a desktop especially with multiple large screens. You start out with one screen and notice a huge improvement in productivity with two. The next thing you know they have three screens up. I think they are part Cyborg.
My recommendation would be to buy the cheapest acceptable tablet.
@ChrisTKD Great advice, thanks.