Laptops for College Students (Engineering)?

[Heisenburger]

Hi, I'm currently in my last year of highschool, and I'm looking for a new laptop to get for when I go to uni next fall. Initially I was just looking for something cheap and light, but I remembered that there's might be software that i'll need to use that won't run on a chromebook. I'm not looking for some fancy gaming laptop or something like that, I just want to find a laptop which will be powerful enough to run some of the software I'll need to use, relatively light, has a good battery life, isn't crazy expensive and will hopefully last me through my 4 years of university. So I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations. By the way, I know there probably isn't a laptop that meets all of my requests, so Im definitely willing to compromise certain aspects. 

[werto165]

I just use a desktop, there are tons of CAD machines at my uni anyway. I just use pen and paper for notes, unless you're getting a surface there is no point to get a laptop. 

[exercutor5]

Hi, I'm currently in my last year of highschool, and I'm looking for a new laptop to get for when I go to uni next fall. Initially I was just looking for something cheap and light, but I remembered that there's might be software that i'll need to use that won't run on a chromebook. I'm not looking for some fancy gaming laptop or something like that, I just want to find a laptop which will be powerful enough to run some of the software I'll need to use, relatively light, has a good battery life, isn't crazy expensive and will hopefully last me through my 4 years of university. So I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations. By the way, I know there probably isn't a laptop that meets all of my requests, so Im definitely willing to compromise certain aspects. 

 

Budget? Location?

[desertcomputer]

Usually have desktop(heavy work) and light ultrabook for note taking. 

[Heisenburger]

Budget? Location?

Sorry I can't believe I forgot budget, I'm willing to spend up to $700-800 but would really hope to keep it at around $500, also I'm in Canada.

[RuLeZ]

I use the PC on the signature for the heavy work and for notebook the cheapest thing ever that has 4GB of ram , like some Lenovo thinkpad 100

[Josephdalepi]

http://www.amazon.com/CT14-A0-14-Inch-Ultrabook-i3-3217U-Processor/dp/B0088L182C/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453768732&sr=1-2&keywords=ultrabook&refinements=p_n_size_browse-bin%3A2423840011

 

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Latitude-E6430U-Ultrabook-Notebook/dp/B00W7YGX08/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453768732&sr=1-4&keywords=ultrabook&refinements=p_n_size_browse-bin%3A2423840011

for higher budget, razer blade stealth

[Mason_Brasher]

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 Series

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B012XYLZEK/ref=asc_df_B012XYLZEK4116547/?tag=hawk-future-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B012XYLZEK&linkCode=df0&ascsubtag=hawk-1200131002-20

 

Upgrade the RAM, and then BAM!

[Mason_Brasher]

http://www.amazon.com/CT14-A0-14-Inch-Ultrabook-i3-3217U-Processor/dp/B0088L182C/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453768732&sr=1-2&keywords=ultrabook&refinements=p_n_size_browse-bin%3A2423840011

 

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Latitude-E6430U-Ultrabook-Notebook/dp/B00W7YGX08/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1453768732&sr=1-4&keywords=ultrabook&refinements=p_n_size_browse-bin%3A2423840011

for higher budget, razer blade stealth

 

 

The Dell looks like a pretty good deal.

[Heisenburger]

Usually have desktop(heavy work) and light ultrabook for note taking. 

I will definitely take this into consideration, thanks! Btw if I took this route I probably won't be able to have a huge budget for my desktop because I would have to get all my peripherals and stuff, so do you think a prebuilt computer would be good enough, or is custom always better? Sorry for the dumb question, I've only had to build gaming computers, so I'm not sure what the best way to go would be for a cheap workstation. 

[Josephdalepi]

The Dell looks like a pretty good deal.

thats what i though

[werto165]

I will definitely take this into consideration, thanks! Btw if I took this route I probably won't be able to have a huge budget for my desktop because I would have to get all my peripherals and stuff, so do you think a prebuilt computer would be good enough, or is custom always better? Sorry for the dumb question, I've only had to build gaming computers, so I'm not sure what the best way to go would be for a cheap workstation. 

What's your current rig? 

[Mason_Brasher]

I will definitely take this into consideration, thanks! Btw if I took this route I probably won't be able to have a huge budget for my desktop because I would have to get all my peripherals and stuff, so do you think a prebuilt computer would be good enough, or is custom always better? Sorry for the dumb question, I've only had to build gaming computers, so I'm not sure what the best way to go would be for a cheap workstation. 

Honestly if you don't really need great specs, sometimes you could find a prebuilt I5 computer for really cheap on sale. But if not then custom build.

[desertcomputer]

I will definitely take this into consideration, thanks! Btw if I took this route I probably won't be able to have a huge budget for my desktop because I would have to get all my peripherals and stuff, so do you think a prebuilt computer would be good enough, or is custom always better? Sorry for the dumb question, I've only had to build gaming computers, so I'm not sure what the best way to go would be for a cheap workstation. 

Personally a Xenon would work great and cost cheaper than i7 and it still can game on it. Don't you have previous peripherals or you want to get new stuff?

 

What is your budget? 

[manikyath]

take this piece of advice from someone with more personal laptops than most families have computers:

 

15 inch is master race for mobility.

bigger is clunky.

smaller is too small to work with.

[Heisenburger]

What's your current rig? 

It's not the greatest thing because I started building it 2 years ago, and just got a graphics card for it about 4 months ago, but it's an fx-6300 with a gtx 960, 16 gb of ram, and an awful asus micro atx mobo. 

[RuLeZ]

It's not the greatest thing because I started building it 2 years ago, and just got a graphics card for it about 4 months ago, but it's an fx-6300 with a gtx 960, 16 gb of ram, and an awful asus micro atx mobo. 

Its already better than most notebooks for autocad, the 16GB helps too.

[Heisenburger]

take this piece of advice from someone with more personal laptops than most families have computers:

 

15 inch is master race for mobility.

bigger is clunky.

smaller is too small to work with.

Yeah I got my current laptop (acer aspire) when I was 13 and I just wanted a big screen (can't remember why lol) and it's such a pain to carry it with me everywhere, that's why I'm looking for something light now.

[Gofspar]

I got a Alienware m15x for $200, a GTX 680M for another $200 and a 920XM for $100 and now beats most modern $1000 gaming laptops.

 

 I get 2 hours and 30 minutes battery life watching youtube videos with the cpu at 3.7ghz.

[manikyath]

Yeah I got my current laptop (acer aspire) when I was 13 and I just wanted a big screen (can't remember why lol) and it's such a pain to carry it with me everywhere, that's why I'm looking for something light now.

my sister understands you, she has a 19 inch gaming laptop.

 

or rather, she'd understand you if she wasnt as dense as a black hole...

[Heisenburger]

Its already better than most notebooks for autocad, the 16GB helps too.

The thing is I won't be able to take it with me, since I technically built it off from my dad's prebuilt HP pavillion, so he won't let me take it

[GDRRiley]

that.

[Heisenburger]

Personally a Xenon would work great and cost cheaper than i7 and it still can game on it. Don't you have previous peripherals or you want to get new stuff?

 

What is your budget? 

All of the peripheral, except for my g502, are technically my family's, since me and my dad split the costs, so I wouldn't be able to take them with me.

[asiancorruption]

get a business laptop from lenovo or something. I saw a referb one on newegg for $329. it has an i5 25xxu and 4gb of ram. Those have so much I/o and they're tough

[TopDollar]

I didn't even own a laptop for the last 2 years of my college career. Either used my desktop or a school computer for work, and a Nexus 7 tablet to get me through class and for everything else. Although a laptop is probably beneficial as a freshman as everyone will want to work together in spots that don't have computers.

 

Just some recommendations based on my experience at school. I graduated with an Aero & Mechanical Engineering degree in 2014.

 

Battery life:

This should be your top priority. Having to plug in just to use MS word for a couple hours is a complete hassle and not worth any extra performance of the computer.

 

OS:

Windows.

 

Processor:  

Something low powered like an i3. Anything more powerful than that isn't going to show much advantage for school usage. The most intensive engineering software you will probably ever put on it will be MATLAB. For anything else, a school computer should be used.

 

GPU:

Integrated graphics is fine. There isn't any point to anything else for a workstation laptop.

 

Screen Size & Resolution:

Probably 15.6". It's one of the most common sizes and is a good compromise between screen size and portability. Resolution is irrelevant.        

 

Memory:

At current, I don't see a point to look at anything less than 8gb.

 

Storage:

Kind of irrelevant. Moderately sized external hard drives are pretty inexpensive. 

 

Other:

Not computer related, but get a TI-83 or TI-84 calculator. Anything more powerful or expensive isn't needed, hinders learning (a calculator doing work for you isn't a good thing), and is a waste of money. You won't even be touching it for the first year or two in any competent curriculum (think my chemistry class was the only one I used a calculator on exams freshman year). 

 

Something like this might be decent for being cheap.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232651