Laptop for a Computer Engineering student

[Watson221]

Hi techies and fellow nerds,
I'm in high school and I'm looking around for a laptop to use I'm college. I'm planning on becoming a computer engineer, but I don't really know what type of software I'll be using in school. I think it'll be mostly programing and compiling, so I don't think dedicated graphics is a necessity. I'd really like to get other software/electrical/computer engineer's opinion to see if integrated graphics will hold up to the rigor of school.

I'd like something:

• Under 4 pounds
• Has 9+ hours of battery life
• Isn't a chunky monkey, but still has good build quality
• Still has legacy ports
• Has thunderbolt 3 (4 lanes)
• A solid keyboard
• 14-15 inch screen ( a touch screen would be a nice extra)

Spec wise

• 16gb of ram minimum
• An 8th gen CPU (i5 or i7)
• 512 GB of PCIe storage
• And graphics is up for debate

My Dad works for a company that offers a corporate discount for Lenovo products of around 30%, so I would be able to get a really nice deal there. I also think Dell has a $100 student discount.

On the ultrabook side I've been looking into the

• 1X Carbon (6th gen)
• Thinkpad T480s
• Maybe the XPS 13 since its CPU is cranked up

The only real "power" centered laptop that still keeps thing reasonably light was the Dell XPS 15 9570, but I think I'll hold off on it until the reviews come in. Especially with the XPS's history of coil whine and other issues.

I also looked into the HP Spectre x360 with the Vega M and Intel duo chip. I just absolutely hate the way it looks. The copper trim looks tacky and the dark paint just emphasizes that. On top of that HP isn't really known for their build quality, so I'm very uncertain about it's longevity.

P.S. I live in the United States and my budget is around $1,500 USD, but it's a little flexible.

[Enderman]

Get an XPS, 13 or 15 you decide.

[genexis_x]

Go for T480s with LP MX150

 

Note that 8250U/8350U and 8550U/8650U don't have much performance difference in most cases (besides 2MB cache difference) due to cooling and TDP limitations. Also, KBL-R ULVs need undervolting to perform well

[AntiTrust]

8 minutes ago, Watson221 said:

My Dad works for a company that offers a corporate discount for Lenovo products of around 30%, so I would be able to get a really nice deal there. I also think Dell has a $100 student discount.

this thread should be retitled.. which lenovo laptop should I get?

[kirashi]

36 minutes ago, Watson221 said:

The only real "power" centered laptop that still keeps thing reasonably light was the Dell XPS 15 9570, but I think I'll hold off on it until the reviews come in. Especially with the XPS's history of coil whine and other issues.

Your concern of coil whine is 100% valid, however, there have been far fewer reports of this on the batches of XPS 15 9560's that were shipping during last summer and fall than the ones when it first launched, so definitely keep that in mind when researching the XPS 15 9570. That being said, you could also opt to save a bit and go with an XPS 15 9560 instead of the 9570 - the only difference is an 7th gen vs 8th gen CPU between the old and new versions. If you've gotta have the latest 8th gen CPU, I totally get and respect that, but for engineering, AutoCAD, or ever some medium-to-heavy media editing, the 7th gen i7-7700HQ is no slouch.

 

*Please note, my recommendation may be slightly biased, but I can absolutely tell you that I LOVE my XPS 15 9560 since getting it last August, and am so happy I didn't end up going with the cheaper Lenovo Ideapad 510s because of the extra ports, power, and battery life on the XPS, and will probably be an XPS user for life.

[Mark77]

Dell Latitude if you're going to go for a Dell.  Avoid the consumer stuff like the XPS.  

[Watson221]

I thought about the 9560, but I'd really like all 4 Lanes of thunderbolt 3 for docking and future proofing. Also how's your battery life on the cost 9560?  So just to be kinda clear, a dedicated graphics card is important in your guy's opinion?

[genexis_x]

1 hour ago, Watson221 said:

I thought about the 9560, but I'd really like all 4 Lanes of thunderbolt 3 for docking and future proofing. Also how's your battery life on the cost 9560?  So just to be kinda clear, a dedicated graphics card is important in your guy's opinion?

XPS 15 has issues, make sure you know them before buying. The new 9570 mod will have x4 PCIe lanes TB3.

 

56Wh battery: OKish battery life

97Wh battery: Good battery life

Note that 4k panel will reduce battery life

 

dGPU really depends on your usage

[Watson221]

So with a 1080p screen and a the 97Wh battery how long would it last in hours roughly? I'm still partial to the portability and deep keyboard travel of the 1x carbon, so does anyone know if I'll be using a lot of GPU intensive programs during school? 

[Watson221]

I was looking at tone of YouTube videos yesterday. Students at various colleges where doing a day in the life of a computer science major and electrical engineer. I looked through these and the grand majority use MacBooks. I would be partial to trying Mac os. Do programers like Mac is because itsy based on Linux?