laptop or tablet for aerospace engineering major?

<p>I'm transferring to UCSD in the fall as an engineering student and I want to get a new device to use. My laptop is pretty old and I was thinking about getting a new computer but the tablets nowadays are also pretty portable and they also can adapt to keyboards. I was wondering if it'd be better to get a laptop or a tablet. and if so any recommendations? It needs to be able to go through most of my years at UCSD if not all and I have to be able to use it in all of my classes for whatever reason. I'm not sure if I'm going to be using computers a lot or not so any input would be appreciated :-)</p>

<p>I dont see how a tablet would be better for school use than a laptop</p>

<p>My friend is an aerospace engineer and she uses her laptop extensively. A tablet simply won’t cut it. You have to run programs such as Matlab and Autocad and it’s just much more comfortable to type essays and write-ups on a laptop than a tablet.</p>

<p>I don’t see a tablet as a viable replacement as a laptop. Decent tablets cost just as much as a lower end laptop. Even with a keyboard attachment, you’re going to be typing quite a bit, and a tablet won’t be very comfortable for long periods of time. If you are worried about portability, there are slimmer laptops that can serve that purpose as well. </p>

<p>For laptop brands, I recommend Lenovo or Asus laptops. They aren’t too expensive if you want to get an acceptable laptop and are known to be quite durable.</p>

<p>ok are there any specific laptops you’d recommend? Preferably under $700? and how demanding are the engineering software on a computer? do I need a super up to date laptop or will a slightly older model do?</p>

<p>I can run matlab on this slow, junky 3-year-old netbook (which lags when I play youtube videos), so I imagine you don’t need the fastest thing on the block for engineering programs.</p>

<p>I don’t know specific models; you’ll have to do that research by yourself, but one brand I do not recommend is HP; I have a few friends with HP laptops and they just have so many problems with batteries and messed up hard drives and crashes. I personally like Asus and Lenovo since they’re great for the price and are quite durable. There are a lot of models that are under $700. I bought my laptop for about $600 last year and it works perfectly for all intents and purposes.</p>

<p>Go for a Lenovo IdeaPad.</p>

<p>oh ok cool. I thought I might’ve needed some wicked laptop to run the programs. good to know I don’t have to spend too much. I’m really leaning towards Lenovo. I like how solid the build is. Thanks for all of your help guys.</p>

<p>how old is “old”? im an AE and my laptop is 5 years old and works out just fine. i have a laptop and a tablet. i have several notes/books/pages open at a time and need to switch back and forth all the time so its like having 2 screens open at once.</p>