Which Laptop Should I Buy For Engineering?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Ok, so my college has posted its "recommended" laptops for next year. The advantage of getting one is that if it breaks, I can get it fixed at their IT department and get a loaner in the mean time.</p>

<p>Here are the specifications. Which one should I get?</p>

<p>Windows Laptops</p>

<p>Dell Latitude E6400, Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26 GHz, RAM: 2 GB DDR2, Hard Drive: 160 GB SATA 5400 rpm, Ethernet: GB Ethernet, Wireless: Intel 5100 a/g/n, Screen: 14.1" WXGA+, Optical Drive: 8x DVD+/- RW, Video Card: nVidia Quadro NVS 160M 256MB DDR2, Battery: 6 cell, OS: Vista, Others: Microsoft Office, Clemson Software
"Popular, light weight"
PRICE: $1,094</p>

<p>Toshiba Tablet M750-S7212, Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.40 GHz, RAM: 2 GB DDR2, Hard Drive: 120 GB SATA 5400 rpm, Ethernet: GB Ethernet, Wireless: Intel 5100 a/g/n, Screen: 12.1" WXGA touchscreen, Optical Drive: 8x DVD+/- RW DL, Video Card: Intel integrated 4500 MHD, Battery: 6 cell, OS: Vista, Others: Microsoft Office, Clemson Software
"Full performance, convertible tablet"
PRICE: $1,692</p>

<pre><code>*All windows laptops include a four year warranty + four year accidental damage coverage.
* Warranty only covers the battery for 1 year, and accidental damage coverage DOES NOT cover theft, fire or loss.
</code></pre>

<p>Apple Laptops</p>

<p>Apple Macbook, Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, RAM: 2 GB DDR3, Hard Drive: 160 GB, Screen: 13.3" WXGA, Optical Drive: 8x SuperDrive DL, Video: nVidia
"Full performance, convertible tablet"
PRICE: $ 1,249 + $183 AppleCare = $1432</p>

<p>Apple Macbook Pro, Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz, RAM: 2 GB DDR3, Hard Drive: 250 GB, Screen: 15.4" WXGA+, Optical Drive: 8x SuperDrive DL, Video: nVidia 256 MB
PRICE: $ 1,899 + $239 AppleCare = $2138</p>

<h1>Includes three years of AppleCare warranty (does not include accidental damage coverage)</h1>

<h1>Clemson highly recommends the purchase of Safeware (accidental damage & theft coverage) which is approximately $111 on the Macbook and $166 on the Macbook Pro per year of coverage.</h1>

<h1>Software is not preloaded -software available during workshops or on the CCIT software webpage.</h1>

<h1>Windows dual boot optional</h1>

2

<p>Absolutely buy through your school if they have the 3 (or 4) year warranty, and for goodness sake don’t buy a tablet. I’ve had to use one for the last three years and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. You can get a better regular laptop for cheaper and the tablet ‘functionality’ is not worth the extra money.</p>

3

<p>If you want to get a laptop, cool, get one. But you don’t /need/ a laptop for engineering. If you are at a moderately-sized engineering school, there will be engineering computer labs all over campus with all of the applications you’ll need.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Really? I’ve never used a tablet, but being able to take notes and have them saved on your computer sounds pretty sweet. What didn’t you like about tablet PC’s?</p>

4

<p>I am required to bring a laptop. Which one of the laptops that I posted above should I bring?</p>

5

<p>Whoa. So you’ll have to run all your engineering software (Matlab, CAD programs, whatever) on it? That kinda blows. It’s nice to be able to run those programs on powerful desktops. </p>

<p>What major are you? </p>

<p>If you are a ME, CE, GE, or AE, you’ll probably not want to get a Mac, because I think all the CAD programs only offer Windows versions. I’d get the Dell if that is the case. It has a better video card, which is pretty important for CAD software, I think. Someone who knows more about CAD programs should correct me or back me up here.</p>

<p>If you are a EE, CompE or a CS student, you could probably get a Mac and be fine. I’d get the macbook, cause I’ve always wanted to get one of those : ) But probably the more practical choice would be the Dell.</p>

6

<p>I’m planning on being either a Civil or Environmental Engineering student
wouldn’t using a dual-boot software such as Parallels Desktop work? I could run both the Mac OS and Windows Vista and still be able to use the software that works for windows?</p>

7

<p>You can use bootcamp for a mac:</p>

<p>[Apple</a> - Mac OS X Leopard - Features - Boot Camp](<a href=“macOS Sequoia - Apple”>macOS Sequoia - Apple)</p>

8

<p>Someone who actually has used CAD software ( : ) I’m a EE) or knows a lot more about virtual desktop software should comment, but here’s what I think (please don’t make your decision based off of this; wait for more knowledgeable people to comment). </p>

<p>1) CAD programs are pretty big programs that take up a lot of system resources.
2) There probably is some overhead associated with running a virtual machine within an OS.
3) You’ll be running this on a laptop. </p>

<p>To me it sounds like a bad idea, but I really don’t know much. Maybe it isn’t so bad. I wonder if someone here has done something like this.</p>

9

<p>Oh, it looks like bootcamp actually allows you to boot up in full-blown Windows, instead of allowing you to run Windows on a virtual machine within OS X. That sounds faster. Maybe then it’s not so bad.</p>

10

<p>Yeah, but boot-camp isn’t very practical. You have to choose between Windows and Mac on start up. If you want to switch over to the other OS, you have to restart the computer, which can get annoying. I went with the macbook pro and got VMWare Fusion. It’s not perfect and it’s not incredibly fast, but at least I can do a lot of things simultaneously.</p>

11

<p>“Really? I’ve never used a tablet, but being able to take notes and have them saved on your computer sounds pretty sweet. What didn’t you like about tablet PC’s?”</p>

<p>The note-taking software isn’t very good, although it may be better now than it was a year and a half ago. In my and more or less everyone I know’s experience, though, the combination of the tablet hardware and tablet software wasn’t sufficient for taking notes, and it was actually less of a pain to just handwrite and scan them. My college made us get them if we were engineering, but I eventually stopped using it regularly and got a desktop.</p>

12

<p>Cool, so the general consensus is that I should get the MacBook?</p>

13

<p>If you love Macs enough that you’d be willing to pay a lot extra for the same hardware and more on top of that for a copy of Windows and virtualization software, then sure. (I think you already came into this thread with your mind made up : ) )</p>

<p>I saw “Clemson” in your opening post. I’m sure that they have a lot of engineering computer labs. Just get a MacBook and do all of your course assignments on the school computers.</p>

14

<p>no I don’t have my mind made-up haha
I’m just seeing all this talk about macs so it seems like people think macs are worth it?</p>

<p>does anyone think that I should go for the Dell/Toshiba tablet laptops? If so, why?</p>

15

<p>Get a Thinkpad.</p>

16

<p>Ok. Since you are going to a relatively large school, you’ll probably have computer labs to do school assignments in. It’s actually better this way; it makes it easier to work in groups, etc, and the lab computers probably are much faster than a 'lil laptop. </p>

<p>So, at least I think, you really don’t need a computer /for school/. Just get whatever one you want according to your priorities:

  1. if you want a cheap computer, get a dell
  2. if tablets sound cool (although that one guy above said that it wasn’t worth it), get the tablet
  3. if you are obsessed with macs (don’t lie: I can tell that you <3 macs, and just are too embarrassed to admit it) get the macbook
  4. if you are obsessed with macs and have a lot of money, get the macbook pro.<br>
  5. if you want to spend some coin on a quality PC laptop, get a thinkpad (although that may not be on your school’s list)</p>
17

<p>“If you want to get a laptop, cool, get one. But you don’t /need/ a laptop for engineering. If you are at a moderately-sized engineering school, there will be engineering computer labs all over campus with all of the applications you’ll need.”</p>

<p>Do you really go to the computer lab every time you need to use engineering software? Wouldn’t it be A LOT more convenient to just have the software wherever you go? My friend has the normal Macbook that came out a couple years ago and he says that AutoCad and Matlab run perfectly. </p>

<p>And in response to the post above ^^^^^^^^^…
almost all engineering students have laptops so it is not necessarily more convenient for group work to be done in a computer lab, especially if you’re supposed to be quiet.</p>

<p>idk thats what I think</p>

18

<p>i have a “cheap” $350 laptop 1.6 gHz that does everything i need it to and then some.</p>

<p>it runs matlab, c++, and a whole bunch of engineering programs.</p>

<p>with that being said you don’t need anything too fancy… it will just be a ripoff.</p>

<p>its funny cause people will continue to be sheep and buy all of this expensive brand name b.s.</p>

19

<p>

I’ve never heard of an engineering computer lab where you’re supposed to be quiet. I’ve always held my group meetings in the computer lab whether I have my laptop with me or not. Sometimes we needed to be there because we don’t have the necessary software, though this probably wouldn’t be the case if you need to buy a laptop from your school.</p>

20

<p>

</p>

<p>Yup. I don’t want to pay money for school software. It’s not worth it. I’d rather go outside and walk 15 min to the computer lab. I’m more productive when I’m studying at a computer lab anyway.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Maybe. But really, doing all your work at a school lab isn’t terribly inconvenient. I mean, that’s kind of what most people with jobs do, right? They do all their work at work, and then at home they are free to do w/e.</p>