WHat kind of Laptop is needed (is best) for a compE freshman?

[roderick]

<p>How important is having a discrete dedicated graphics card in a laptop for a UIUC compE major? Are there any apps (auto cad, eg?) that need this kind of horsepower to run?</p>

<p>I found the following page that gives UIUC recommended parameters for a computer; however, there is no mention of graphics cards. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.cites.illinois.edu/newtocampus/recommended.html[/url]”>http://www.cites.illinois.edu/newtocampus/recommended.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;