Computer Help

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>If any current engineering students could give input, I'd be very appreciative. I'm currently trying to decide on a laptop for next year, and I've narrowed it down to two different ones:</p>

<p>the Asus M70 (17")</p>

<p>the Sony Vaio SZ (13.3")</p>

<p>The only real difference between the two in terms of specs is the video memory- the Asus has 1GB, and the Vaio has...64MB, if I remember correctly...if you need more details I'm ordering from cdw.</p>

<p>Anyways, bottom line: as an engineering student, do you have to use a bunch of programs that require a lot of graphics power (in other words, should I go ahead and sacrifice some portability for the extra video memory)?</p>

<p>Alternately, if anyone knows, answer this question: if I get the Vaio and later decide I need more video memory, how hard/expensive is that to upgrade?</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>I'm not an engineering student, so I can't help you with the other questions, but adding pretty much anything other than RAM to a laptop is pretty difficult unless you have expertise in the area, as opposed to desktops, which are fairly easy to upgrade if you're an average user.</p>

3

<p>why would you be getting a 17" laptop or a 13", those are substantially different :P</p>

<p>i would suggest a 14 or 15" if you're looking for a balance btwn portability and substance. try the xps m1530 or a thinkpad</p>

4

<p>Yeah...17" is kinda awkward in terms of portability...</p>

<p>I also agree with the ThinkPad recommendation. Best laptop I've ever had.</p>

5

<p>Thinkpads are sexy. I heard something like the T500 or something 500 coming out soon. Get that and break your wallet!</p>

6

<p>I don't think you'd be doing any too intensive on a modern day computer as an engineering major. Check out notebookreview.com.</p>

7

<p>What is your guys' take on Macs for engineering? Would we encounter a lot of compatibility problems if we had a Macbook? I'm an EECS major btw.</p>

8

<p>^My roommate is an EECS major, uses a Mac, and has absolutely no problems. He obtained a...uh..."semi-legal" copy of Parallels, so if there are any programs that he needs that are Windows-exclusive (which he says are barely any), that's what he uses.</p>

9

<p>Actually, thank you dt_, tastyb33f and Castel, for the thinkpad recommendation...some brief research quickly revealed that it was hands-down the best choice. Holding out for the T500 now (which, incidentally, sounds like a Terminator).</p>