[RedBaron]

I am a senior EE and CPE student. I have a macbook and a desktop PC; what sort of engineering is he thinking? Some software such as MATLAB runs on both mac and PC. I don't think solidworks or autocad is compatible with the mac so I am not sure if I would advocate a Macbook Air. An old school Macbook Pro that can run bootcamp should be the way to go IMO. FWIW a lot of my friends usually do their work in the engineering computer center at my school; it is a lab that has about 50 computers that are completely set up for any engineering software and they have dual screen monitors. I bet you his school has something similar.

I had a friend with a surface pro, he was always frustrated by the lack of screen space.

During my early years, I didnt see many engineering students with laptops in class. I can't imagine he would need a computer in class for any calculus/physics/chemistry class (which I imagine he will be taking.)