<p>I'm going to be a student at UCLA as an Electrical Engineering Major this fall. For those of you who are currently EE Majors at UCLA or any other school, or if you know of anyone that is, is it acceptable for me to bring a netbook rather than a notebook or a desktop? Netbooks are extremely cheap and very practical, and I'm looking at this ASUS</a> EEE PC 1000HE, which is one of the more powerful netbooks out right now.</p>
<p>My only concern is that as an EE Major, I might have to run applications that require more powerful processors or expanded memory. Will a netbook serve me well as a main computer? All I need it for is word processing, internet, and basic daily use.</p>
<p>in my opinion, there isn’t a “strong” netbook yet.
almost all has same processor. (except for those that are really expensive)</p>
<p>I am sure netbook will serve you as a basic computer.
however, they are not that fast.
So, I think you should consider getting a dual-core laptop or a desktop,
if you are majoring in engineering.</p>
<p>Unless you plan to buy xilinx or altera and whatever other crap they use these days, you will use your schools engineering labs. Get a nice basic computer that you will enjoy.</p>
<p>I’m EE and I have an original asus EEE PC. I don’t do any electrical engineering work on it, but I don’t need to. I use MATLAB, PSPICE, xilinx, and other software in the computer labs. Most students don’t buy these expensive software packages.</p>
<p>Unless you are planning on buying a copy of a PSPICE package, MATLAB, or some other software package, you won’t need more than a netbook. As a UCLA engineering major you will have access to the [SEASnet</a> computer labs](<a href=“http://www.seas.ucla.edu/seasnet/]SEASnet”>http://www.seas.ucla.edu/seasnet/), which will give you access to all the software packages you’ll need. You can also do a remote access if it’s full.</p>
<p>You might have a look at O-Matrix, [O-Matrix:</a> High Performance Data Analysis and Modeling](<a href=“http://www.omatrix.com%5DO-Matrix:”>http://www.omatrix.com) It has a much smaller footprint than Matlab, runs much faster, and works well on netbooks.</p>
<p>My S bought a heavy & loaded laptop when he started EE at USC in 2006. It broke & he got a netbook to replace it as he was tired of lugging around the extra weight. Last I heard, it is working well for him now in his junior year. At Orientation, they told the kids & parents that as a practical matter, much of the work would be done in class through labs anyway. I’m sure S carefully considered his needs before opting for a netbook. He also has a large screen monitor at his apartment, which he uses as his “docking station.”</p>
<p>EE with a eeepc (very appropriate) checking in–</p>
<p>Haven’t failed out of college because my computer was too slow yet. eeepcs can read .pdfs and create .c and .vhd files with the best of them. When I need to use fancy software, I just use the computer labs on campus. They are pretty nice.</p>
<p>These are subjective opinions but I think you might be happier with a regular laptop with a 13"-15.4" screen and a keyboard that doesn’t crowd your fingers. The larger screen works better when using an IDE in your programming courses such as MS Visual Studio like you might want to use at UCLA in the first few C++ programming courses. Although you can get away with not using your own computer for writing code, it’s very handy to do so. The somewhat larger size and weight isn’t that big of a deal if you don’t take your laptop to class daily and many people, including engineering, don’t. The more reasonably sized screen is also nicer for cruising the internet and watching movies. Having a built-in DVD player will be nice also. </p>
<p>A ‘normal’ size laptop at the lower end isn’t all that expensive but is more than a netbook. So, there’s no particular absolute requirement but think it through based on your own preferences. I was in the UCLA bookstore this last weekend and noticed they have a number of netbooks for sale there now so some students must be buying them.</p>