<p>I will be an incoming freshman this fall (classes start on September 25th for me), studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. I know both majors demand several extensive software's to run on machines (such as ProE, solidworks, CAD, MATlab, etc...) and have pitched in about $2,400 to create my own desktop which I would bring with me to the University to use as a "power machine" for working with the actual software and such.</p>
<p>Though, I know my first few quarters of college will be more research and writing papers, and so I know I will be putting in a lot of time in the library. That being said, I am looking for a nice, cheap but something that works type of laptop. A laptop that can obviously type papers, research, play YouTube videos efficiently, ability to have an web cam, and various other simple tasks. I am not interested in netbooks/tablets as they are too small, and from my experience can be quite distracting. I obviously don't have a big budget after spending so much on my desktop, and am open to spending about anything up to $400.</p>
<p>I have included links to few models I already saw that meets my price range, and wanted to hear on what you guys think would be a better deal for my needs for a laptop for taking to the library. </p>
<p>Of course, I am open to more laptops that fits my needs! I am also open to using any form of linux over Windows if you do find certain machines with that situation.</p>
<p>As a reformed builder of such high cost, high power desktops I’d be concerned about having such a beast in a dorm with a roommate… If it’s one of those water cooled quiet miracles, fine, but if it’s one of those HVAC unit sized rigs with many fans, noise could be an issue.</p>
<p>Also, first couple years at least of engineering do not give out assignments needing such power. I might build one for my older daughter who’s in architecture (where rendering complex stuff does take time) but for normal work her Lenovo T420 seems fine so far. Get a decent $800 or so laptop and save your money for junior year where you will be using this power more…</p>
<p>Actually, my roommate is a friend of mine, and we both are going to bring our own desktop PCs, specifically mine is more quieter as I made sure to make something that does not wake up the neighbors…lol.</p>
<p>Do you guys think I can find even more cheaper solutions in terms of portable computers? or the listed computers at there current prices are as portable as it can get? </p>
<p>I apologize for asking, I honestly have no idea on how exactly laptop hardware should be looked at, as I never needed a laptop up till now.</p>
<p>Well, in the end, I went with the ASUS, it seemed like a popular college laptop and was literally sold out in majority online retailers (except Amazon).</p>