Hi guys so I’m going to be a freshman engineering major at Pitt next year and I’m unsure on what kind of laptop is recommended. My main issue is finding an unbiased opinion (apple fans say get a mac, apple hater say get a pc). I just want to know what kind of laptop would be best for an engineering major to run the programs needed for school.
Most software engineers will need is meant to run on Windows, although with some important exceptions (mainly Visual Studio, which you very well may need), Mac support is becoming far more common.
I personally recommend your favorite model of the Lenovo ThinkPad, which has worked well for me and for everyone else I know who had one. Very nice computer overall.
Unless Pitt requires you to have something specific, it literally doesn’t matter. They’ll all do what you need. My son has a super beefy Windows machine, but lost a hard drive recently and was able to get by with a tablet and lab counters. His room mate uses a Mac. They’re really all fine these days.
I will start out by saying I personally don’t like mac computers, so that is my personal bias. But that aside, I have a windows and I know many people who tried to use mac computers. For programming purposes, yes generally you do need windows. Same with engineering. Overall, many of the programs you need on your computer are only available on windows. One of my friends practically lived at the university using their labs because she had a mac and could not get the software she needed on her computer. As for the specific laptop, I personally have a surface pro 3 and love it, but it is pretty overpriced. However, it does everything I need it to do. Just make sure it has a decent amount of memory and is able to handle a lot.
This is a pretty laughable statement. I tend to prefer Windows machines, but it is no secret that, of the three major OS options, Windows is the worst for programming. If you are really into programming, you really ought to go with Linux.
^^ If Linux is in the equation, yeah that wins for programming. If we’re sticking to windows and mac, windows wins hands down. However, at my school we had to use specific software to write our code and none of that was available on Linux either, so for school purposes I still say windows.
I’d challenge you to ask a programmer, and as long as their job doesn’t require you to be writing software in Visual Studio, few of them would pick Windows.
Ok I know that, I already said that Linux is the best for programming. I’m referring to school purposes. Like I said, at least where I went to school, we were required to use specific programs to write our software. You couldn’t use any of them on Linux
And I am saying that you specifically said that Windows is necessary for programming. That’s not true. Generally, Windows probably comes in third place for programming among the big three operating systems. For engineering as a whole, Windows is probably still the best choice, as there is a lot of software that only runs on Windows, but for programming specifically, Windows is not the best choice.
That said, Visual Studio is a very significant piece of software. And Linux usually comes paired with one or the other, so I wouldn’t compare it vs. the other two.
Though usually depending on where you work, they have a strong preference for one or the other, and you don’t exactly have much say anyhow. I know that of the professors I knew, the math/science ones tended towards Mac/Linux and the CS/Engineering ones tended towards Windows/Linux.
Usually it does not matter much. Check on your college engineering websites.
DS’s school is one of the few that requires students to buy a specific laptop. It comes with all the software they need. It has Windows, but often he prefers to boots into Linux instead.
Pitt has those nice computer labs! When I went through the building on a tour, I saw most students in there and only one or two out in the hallway using a laptop. Fwiw, my son (CSE elsewhere) uses his PHONE, a little portable keyboard, and views it all on a monitor when he’s out and about. I don’t exactly understand it but that’s why I’m not majoring in it lol. What he got for hs graduation was a giant (I mean GIANT) monitor that pivots vertically so that he can write code using his desktop computer. He’s very happy with his setup.
Check out Eurocom, they offer a 10% discount on any system for students. The P570 systems are designed for engineers, and can be upgraded at a later time. Out of the box they are powerful systems.
The MSI GT80 Titan, for sure. Easily the best keyboard ever on a laptop, it’s fully mechanical, and easily desktop quality. It;s a full Cherry MX brown keyboard. Plus, you can make it gold.
Two gtx 980m’s in sli and a top-of-the-line mobile i7 will offer incredible performance and allow it to age well. Even though it’s 10 pounds, the performance to weight ratio is actually quite high.
:trollface:
Unless you plan to game on it, you can pretty much get whatever. The computer labs at your school will have everything you need as far as school work is concerned. They are generally well equipped, with reasonably up to date computers, and provide a comfortable atmosphere to do work in.
@AWESOMEOPOSSUM attended Pitt and I remember she said that for those people who had a Mac they had to partition their hard drive to run the Windows based software that Pitt uses.
Re #1: Be wary of Lenovos. They have been putting a piece of adware that many computer security people call malware that could let others intercept your personal information. Search Lenovo and Superfish to see what the brouhaha is all about. They now state that superfish is no longer on the computer, but only since January.
And that’s easily solved by reformatting as soon as you turn it on the first time. That’s just good practice for any new computer.
I just got my D a 3rd gen i5 laptop last year with memory upgraded to 16GB and with 2 SSDs. It is super portable and can be turned on and off almost instantaneously. Most of the time, she needs virtual access to run the apps and tools on the server. So processing power of the laptop is not very critical as long as it is sufficient for remote access.
Or maybe it’s the Asus NX90Jq? Fantastic speakers, it looks like :trollface: