Computer for college engineering students

[bleucamaro]

How about a gift card to newegg. Let him build his own.

And another take on it, I found having a laptop in class to be a distraction. I always did better taking notes with pen and paper. Stayed more engaged with the lecture that way too.

[Flieger]

I took notes on paper as well. My laptop was more of a portable desktop.

[JavaBrewer]

Thanks to all for the feedback.

I was a bit misleading with my OP - the school posted a suggested configuration based on hardware specs. So if going with Mac it was the 15" MBP, it does not appear that ISU is biased toward PC or Mac. They also advertise online application access for folks who are sporting devices that don't meet the hardware specs to run local.

I too was a pencil/paper note taker but that was long ago. If I had access to a lightweight laptop with long battery I would have done notes on that for sure. I really like the flexibility of the Surface 3 and if pushed to spend that money would probably go there over a MBP. We are attending freshman orientation in June so I'll get a chance to ask more directed questions then.

[bpu699]

When I was in college (eons ago) students used to be able to buy macs for 1/2 price as most everyone offered a student discount...

When I bought my mac PLUS it was $1000+ 25 years ago...

Macs tend to last a long time. Buy the nice unit, ask for the discount, and be happy.

[onewhippedpuppy]

ISU probably recommends Mac because that's what the school bookstore sells. That's how my alma-matter was.

He doesn't need any fancier computer than any other student, none of his engineering specific programs will be available on his computer anyway. Any CAD or engineering software is EXPENSIVE, and will only be available at the engineering labs. The more simple computational programs like MathCAD and Matlab can run on any decent laptop, I ran both on a garden variety Gateway. He will primarily use his laptop for the internet, typing papers, Powerpoint, Access, and Excel. Any $600 laptop will be more than enough. It always amazes me how people think college kids need a $2k laptop to type papers and surf porn.

One tip, don't pay full price for MS Office software, wait until he has his .edu email address and MS will sell him a license at a deep discount.

[Flieger]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

ISU probably recommends Mac because that's what the school bookstore sells. That's how my alma-matter was.

He doesn't need any fancier computer than any other student, none of his engineering specific programs will be available on his computer anyway. Any CAD or engineering software is EXPENSIVE, and will only be available at the engineering labs. The more simple computational programs like MathCAD and Matlab can run on any decent laptop, I ran both on a garden variety Gateway. He will primarily use his laptop for the internet, typing papers, Powerpoint, Access, and Excel. Any $600 laptop will be more than enough. It always amazes me how people think college kids need a $2k laptop to type papers and surf porn.

One tip, don't pay full price for MS Office software, wait until he has his .edu email address and MS will sell him a license at a deep discount.

That's not correct, I ran Solidworks student version ($100 for a little more than a year) on my laptop. If he is on an FSAE team I think he can even get the full suite for free with the better FEA and CFD capabilities. Those are the things that tie up the computer.

[onewhippedpuppy]

That might be school dependent then. I graduated in 2008, our school CAD software was ProE Wildfire and there were not student discounts available. I ran CATIA v5 and ProE bootleg copies on a pretty average laptop and it was a little clunky but usable.

Being EE he will probably not spend much time on typical CAD software anyway I wouldn't think. I know the sparkys have their own special software.

[jrj3rd]

Talk to the Tech Support folks at the school. Listen to their recommendations. When my son was getting his Mechanical Engineering degree a couple of years ago the school's tech store sold both Macs and PCs. His Macbook Pro 15 was sold at a discount and came with 4 years of Apple Care at no cost (plus at the time a free Canon printer and Ipod Touch). By buying through the Techstore he got on campus Apple care support and the one time he needed a repair the store handed him another machine to use while his was out being worked. Also do not buy software before he gets there to check out what the school offers. School my daughter is now attending gives free licenses to software (online downloads of MS Office and most Adobe products as well as lots of specialized software) I recently downloaded the full Adobe Photoshop suite when she was home....zero cost, and carries full license. Lots of special programs for students - take advantage of them and save lots of $$$

[zakthor]

$1800 for a laptop? That's absurd. Its impossible that a new college student needs that thing though I'm sure he wants it.

Honestly any serious computing in college (graphics? Research simulation?)there will be dedicated machines for it. This thing is for surfing the web, calendar and writing. Maybe there will be crapware they use in an ee course but none of it will challenge a modern laptop.

If me id buy him the cheapest 15" dell that has a core i5. Don't worry about ram - it will have lots. Ditto for hard disk. Should cost ~$400.

If it turns out he really needs the fancy mac because of some software screw up then buy the mac. Rule for tech you don't invest in the future by getting the latest thing, buy what you need now. Buy again later and your money will go 10x further.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by zakthor

$1800 for a laptop? That's absurd. Its impossible that a new college student needs that thing though I'm sure he wants it.

Honestly any serious computing in college (graphics? Research simulation?)there will be dedicated machines for it. This thing is for surfing the web, calendar and writing. Maybe there will be crapware they use in an ee course but none of it will challenge a modern laptop.

If me id buy him the cheapest 15" dell that has a core i5. Don't worry about ram - it will have lots. Ditto for hard disk. Should cost ~$400.

If it turns out he really needs the fancy mac because of some software screw up then buy the mac. Rule for tech you don't invest in the future by getting the latest thing, buy what you need now. Buy again later and your money will go 10x further.

Closer to $3500 for a 15" PRO with a 1tb flash drive, and that was with a "student discount."