Macbook Pro for engineering?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
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<p>My son, who will be a freshman in engineering this fall, likes the 13" Macbook Pro. He would partition the hard drive and install Windows on it as well.</p>

<p>Engineering IT seems a bit leery of Macs, warning that "Apple will have a few disadvantages compared to a PC." However, I've read that a number of engineering students do choose Macs.</p>

<p>Has anyone here on CC used a Macbook Pro for engineering at WashU? Does it cause any problems compared to just getting a PC laptop? What should he consider before deciding which computer to buy?</p>

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<p>if your son puts Windows on the computer (bootcamp/vmware/etc), he shouldn’t have any compatibility issues at all. it is a bit of extra money, though.</p>

<p>I’m in engineering and, in my department (comp sci) anyway, there are enough students with macs that basically all the software we use is available for OSX. i do have Windows 7 on a partition, but even without that I think he’d be fine.</p>

<p>i do recommend getting MS Office for whichever operating system he plans to use most, though, since Apple’s iWork suite doesn’t really cut it, imo.</p>

<p>EDIT: </p>

<p>for me, the important things on a laptop are:
–size & weight. (13" or 15", no more than ~6 lbs)
–brand (macs, dells, and lenovos are all pretty well-built, to name some…)</p>

<p>that’s pretty general i guess, but oh well. :)</p>

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<p>I too am in engineering and notice a lot of macbooks. I would say that PC is probably better in terms of getting software needed, but a Mac is by no means a hinderance.</p>

<p>Depending on the specific engineering school, you’ll just want a good brand computer that is able to do multiple computations without crashing (lots of RAM is a min).</p>

<p>I have an Alienware M17x which I highly recommend, which I use for most of my CS and Matlab homework…works fast without any issues. I also have an HP tablet which is a lot lighter for note-taking, general other use.</p>

<p>But yeah, Macs are fine especially if they have a version of Windows OS partitioned on them.</p>

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<p>I’m a comp sci major at Wash U with a MacBook Pro. Best computer purchase I’ve ever made, hands down. Any small advantage you get by running Windows as your primary OS is completely negated by having to deal with antivirus software and system glitches; although, to Microsoft’s credit, Windows 7 is far superior to previous versions.</p>

<p>I have Windows 7 installed on a partition like the OP’s son wishes to do. This is a wise move, although, like a previous poster mentioned, most software you need (for comp sci, anyway) is available on OS X, and it runs fine. I have used Windows 7 all of three times last semester. It’s certainly not necessary, but it’s nice to have peace of mind knowing that you’re ready for anything. Word for the wise, Microsoft Office for Mac is not great; I would suggest buying iWork for OS X (all I ever use anymore) and Office for your Windows partition if you still want Office. </p>

<p>The 13" MacBook Pro will run Windows 7, but it won’t be able to use more advanced features, like the Aero interface (purely aesthetic). In addition, a bigger screen may be beneficial, depending on the type of engineering applications you will be using. Also if the applications are even remotely complex, like CAD software, you should probably move up to the entry level 15" MacBook Pro, since it has a discrete graphics card that should be able to handle such software, and, as stated above, will run Windows 7 with more features. The larger screen is also a huge blessing; it’s still a super thin laptop and isn’t a pain to carry around, IMO. Also, you can upgrade the 15" screen to an even higher resolution on Apple’s online store. I wish that was available when I bought mine, as screen real estate is hard to come by on laptops. The last thing you want is to realize that your productivity feels cramped by the display. You should really go to the store and try out the different sizes for yourself; if the 13" floats your boat, go for it!</p>

<p>For most other disciplines you can skimp on specs, but for engineering, it’s hard gauge how much power you will need. If you have the extra funds available, buy as much power as you can comfortably afford (again, this advice varies further depending on your specific major). MacBook Pro’s will always be more expensive than a Windows laptop counterpart. It’s up to the buyer whether or not it’s worth the extra cash. It certainly was for me. </p>

<p>Any other questions, feel free to reply :)</p>

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<p>^i agree that putting a little extra money into your screen is worth it… or even buying an external monitor to keep in your room, for that matter. </p>

<p>one place that i would <em>not</em> upgrade a mac (at least not when you’re ordering) is RAM. Apple charges $400 to upgrade from 4GB to 8GB, and tbh that’s not worth it when it’s so much cheaper (and really pretty simple) to do it yourself. Or it was easy when I got mine, anyway, which was before the unibodies… can you still add RAM into the new ones without voiding warranties?</p>

<p>@mike - that surprises me that you don’t like Office for Mac… I actually haven’t used it much, but I bought iWork with my laptop and it’s been horrendous… I have iWork '08, so maybe the newer versions are better, but the <em>only</em> way i can look at any sort of MS Office files (.doc, .docx, .ppt, … ) is to use the QuickLook preview thing. Pages, Keynote, and Numbers will crash every time, so I can’t edit anything. and Numbers '08 is missing some essential features (best-fit lines, for example) that were added in '09… I’m hoping to buy Office 2010 for Mac when it comes out later this year, so hopefully MS improves that as much as Apple seems to have improved iWork since '08! :)</p>

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<p>Third the bigger screen choice or external monitor (I used both)</p>

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<p>@ mike 1123 - when you say “buy as much power as you can,” do you mean increase the hard drive, the RAM, or the Ghz? sorry, I’m not very computer savvy!</p>

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<p>Hard drives aren’t very important these days when you can get 1TB external for less than $100. I’d guess he was talking about RAM, you can never go wrong with having more RAM.</p>

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<p>My son intends to major in systems engineering or computer engineering, with a second major in business from Olin. In those majors, will he need to run the programs, like CAD software, that require a lot of screen space?</p>

<p>The 15" Macbook Pro is tempting, but he really likes the portability of the 13" version. His sister (majoring in music at a different school) has had a 15" Macbook Pro for three years, and she’s planning to switch to the 13" version as well. For her, the light weight and small size are more valuable than the larger display.</p>

<p>If he needs a bigger screen, is an external monitor sufficient? Or will he find he really needs to be able to take that extra screen space with him?</p>

<p>Marcdvl mentioned his Alienware laptop – and Alienware is my son’s other top choice, if he doesn’t go Mac. However, he was looking at the M11x, again for its portability. This appears to be a bad idea. If he wants Alienware, I guess he should start looking at the larger ones.</p>

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<p>Hi,</p>

<p>Computer Engineering shares a lot of requirements with Computer Science, which does require a fair amount of software/screen space.</p>

<p>Systsems Science and Mathematics (SSM) is a lot more math based, with a few CS and EE classes. If he does this I’d guess 13inches is fine.</p>

<p>As for my Alienware, my M17x is the greatest laptop I’ve ever owned…in powers up in less than 20 seconds, instantly loads everything, runs CS apps almost instantly, etc. However, I wouldn’t really recommend the M11x…it seems somewhat counter intuitive to me. Note that Alienwares are heavy, my laptop is over 12 pounds, which is why I have a much cheaper seconary laptop to carry to class if needed. </p>

<p>External monitors will solve the problem of screen space. They are useful no matter what the major is…even writing papers and doing research is a lot easier when you have a 21inch monitor (which goes for less than $200 nowadays). It takes a little bit of getting used to (when used with a laptop but its fine).</p>

<p>To be fully honest though, portablity isn’t really a big deal. Most people, even in engineering, don’t use laptops to take notes. Of those that do, they generally don’t use them in math and science classes, which is a lot of the engineering classes, especially for SSM.</p>

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<p>Didn’t read the entire thread. To be accurate, as a general rule of thumb, any engineer (except ce/ee/cs) should absolutely have windows if they want to cut it. If you choose to buy a mac and install windows, you should be good (though a bit pricy). If you do run both, get office for windows. Mac office sucks. Interface is different.</p>