Hi Im an incoming MechE major looking to get a laptop for college and want to know what a good one to get is. I was considering a Microsoft Surface Pro 3. Is this a good choice?
@cambam72 Are you looking at the Surface Pro 3 because you are on a tight budget? If you are set on a Surface Pro, I wouldn’t get less than the SP 4 which you may be able to get for a good price now that the newer model is out. Consider that you’ll probably be doing some programming, either in Matlab or C++ (I think that is what CS 31 teaches) and maybe some small assemblies with Solidworks. Are you OK with that size screen for those things or will you be using a larger monitor too? I would recommend at a minimum 8GB of RAM, i5 or i7 processor, and 256GB drive.
Im fine with the size, I actually find it ideal, and I was gonna get those specs as well. I have considered the SP4, but its going to end up depending on how much I can afford. I was just wondering if a Surface Pro would be a good choice or if there are better laptops that I should consider. Bc i have an open mind, but I do like the Surface Pro
Now seems to be a pretty good time for deals at Best Buy and Costco, so you might check them out to see what they have in your price range. A few my kids considered were the Dell XPS 13, HP Spectre x360, and the Surface Book (usually too expensive). They looked at the Surface Pro also, but preferred the others mentioned. A sys admin I talked to the other day raved about his Surface Pro, so a lot of it is personal preference - screen size, keyboard feel, trackpad feel, etc.