<p>I'm going to be an engineering student at Vanderbilt University this fall, and I am stuck on the problem of buying a laptop. I currently have a mac, and I love it. However, I'm not sure if I should continue using a mac in college. I would have to dual boot windows 8, and I am not sure how much the total package would cost. Is it worth it? What do you guys think?</p>
<p>Just pick whatever you prefer for personal use. You can ask someone majoring in engineering at Vandebilt to make sure, but the majority of engineering schools have you do your programming and computational simulation classes on their computers in their labs. They also might have a virtual pc client that allows you to access their software from your own computer, in which case it doesn’t matter what OS you’re using. If you really want to be carful you’ll probably run I to fewer compatibility issues with a PC, but it’s really not a big deal.</p>
<p>Many universities have very specific computer specs for engineering students. I’d check with Vandy to see what their requirements are and possibly speak with current students to ask what they’ve found works best. As most programs now require students to have their own computers, computer labs even that we might have recognized 5 years ago don’t exist in the same capacity. The money just isn’t being spent to replace these when they’re outdated. You’ll find mega powerful machines to handle projects your typical laptop is going to have trouble with, however the days of general computer labs are going by the wayside. Confirm before you count on it.</p>
<p>What kind of engineering? If you’re the kind that is going to use Visual Studio, I’d say get a Windows machine and if you want to have one of those dual-booting Macs, I’d buy a copy of Windows XP or Windows 7, not 8. But I don’t know how to configure a Mac to do that, I’m a Linux guy. :-D</p>