Laptop for Engineering Student

[chrisincalgary]

I am going into Engineering next year at the University of Calgary and I am looking for a laptop that I will be using. This is a question for all Uni studnets but especially those in engineering.

How many books do you bring to your labs and your lectures usually?
Do you have a laptop, how much do you bring it to school? I will be living at home.
Did you get a heavy one or a light one?
How much power will I need?

Right now I am looking at a Inspiron 9300 but it is pretty heavy. Do y'all think that is a good choice?

Thanks! Chris.

[d_jedi]

Well, different people have different useage patterns (even amongst university students) - some bring their laptop everyday (like me), while others only bring it when they're going to be working on some assignment while at school.

This and the size are very much related (not sure which is the cause and which is the effect.. I think it could go either way) - if you're going to be bringing your laptop everyday, you'll want a relatively light one, while if you're only bringing it every so often, a larger one isn't as much of a burden.

As for power, that depends on your situation as well. Is your laptop going to be your only (or at least main) machine? If so, then you'll want something with a fast processor, lots of RAM, a large screen, and a powerful video card (well, this sort of depends on which Engineering program you're in.. but I think most have some pretty demanding apps you'll need to run). If not - personally, I bought a desktop just over a year before I got my laptop - then you can get by with one that's less powerful but cheaper.

The I9300 is a nice laptop, but it's definately not something you want to lug around much. You generally only need to bring your textbooks to labs and tutorials.

[Macross_Freek]

I honestly don't think you need a laptop for engineering. I'm in 2nd year right now and I've never needed or thought that I needed one. You also say you're living at home which further reduces the need for a laptop.

To answer your list:

1. Depends on what the lab is and whether or not I think I might need the textbook. I usually only have one lab per day so I just bring that textbook if I need it.

2. No laptop.

[isleepinadrawer]

i dont think first year engineers need a laptop..unless its a tablet...laptops are pretty useless in 1st engg classes.