PC vs Mac for Mechanical Engineering

Hello all! I will be a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering at Texas A&M in the fall, and I could not be more excited!! I am trying to decide what computer to purchase for college, and I was wondering if anyone knew which computer would be best for engineering? I know that Texas A&M engineering requires you to purchase one of three specific computers (HP Zbook 14, Dell Latitude 1440, or Macbook Pro 13"), but any idea which of these computers is easiest to use / runs best with specific engineering programs? I really want the Mac, but I have heard that PCs are better for engineering… Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Dell Latitude 1440? Never heard of that or found it online.

Out of the three, get the Dell. HP is very unreliable, and the MacBook will not run all applications.

I’ve never had a good experience with an HP anything. My county’s schools just changed from Dell to HP for desktops, laptops, monitors, and peripherals, and the quality drop-off on all fronts is INSANE. My Dad’s workplace gives HP computers (not cheap ones, the $3000 “military grade” ones), and he’s had 2 hit the bucket in the last 3 years due to their extreme suckiness.

Please clarify the Dell model number, that would be helpful for choosing between it and the macbook. The Latitude 1440 does not exist (though the inspiron 1440 does, but that’s 7 years old or something). I think you may mean the 7440, but that has also been discontinued and was replaced by the 7450 (which uses broadwell chips).

Keep in mind, the Mac will not have a CD drive. While Macs can run engineering programs, they’re more optimized for a windows platform. Dell sounds like the way to go.

besides music and graphic arts… the real world runs on windows. but i think macbook air is better laptop than the dell or HP.

I think any laptop will be fast enough for you. I would go for the Macbook air because it’s well built and it’s light and compact.

you can always run windows on mac if needed.

I think windows 8 and 10 is not gonna be a good OS.