Recommend laptop computer for mechanical engineering freshman

eljefino

eljefino

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Have been out of the computer game for a while.

Eldest is going to college in the fall to study mechanical engineering.

Wife wants to get him a laptop as a graduation present. He already has a steamin' fast desktop.

IDK how much horsepower said laptop would need. He's not rendering huge videos on it, he'll be doing math and taking notes, which I imagine could be done with nearly anything. He does have a netbook but something with Windows that'll run "anything" seems appropriate.

I also don't know how much of his course load will be in the cloud or somehow "distributed" away from his own CPU.

Budget is flexible but kid's a flake and I'm worried he'll lose it or break it.

Ideas?
 
Link: https://hplu.be/noBDk

If this is too expensive, I can make some other recomendations. This thing is a powerhouse, though I would recommend upgrading to 32GB or 64GB RAM and a 2TB SSD. I got the identical chassis and display, 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD, 13700HX, and a RTX 4060 GPU for $1100 a couple of months ago. These Acer laptops last for a very long time and are user serviceable, with parts easily available.

1715647576606.jpg
 
Some CAD programs can be quite resource intensive.
Maybe check with the school for a recommendation.

You can likely get a deal on any required software through the school too.
 
For this sort of use, it's hard for me to imagine a better option than a Thinkpad T series. Pick your size and configure as appropriate. You will probably want a pile of RAM and a decent GPU.

Check with the engineering school as they probably have a list of minimum requirements and/or may even offer(discounted) pre-configured options through the school. I know when I was still working at a big school that had an engineering school, they did exactly this and IIRC had options from both Lenovo and Dell. The GPU can be a big one, especially as their idea of a "good" GPU can sometimes be different from what a gamer might consider a "good" GPU...
 
Mechanical engineering graduate here. It took me two years to figure out the best study strategies for me, but by my junior and senior year, I never did any school work on the laptop I got for school. I did all my school work on the mechanical engineering student computers in the computer labs. Those computers weren't super high powered either. So, personally, I don't think engineering students need a super powerful computer. But that was just my experience.
 
@eljefino
Proud Papa: "Eldest is going to college in the fall to study mechanical engineering."
Realistic Papa: "but kid's a flake and I'm worried he'll lose it or break it."

Thank you!, I needed a chuckle wrapping up a long day before the rain comes.
 
I got through an online masters degree two years ago with a $200 refurbished laptop. Unless he is going to be running something besides MS Office nearly any decent business laptop will work well.
 
OneLonelyBurrito said:
Mechanical engineering graduate here. It took me two years to figure out the best study strategies for me, but by my junior and senior year, I never did any school work on the laptop I got for school. I did all my school work on the mechanical engineering student computers in the computer labs. Those computers weren't super high powered either. So, personally, I don't think engineering students need a super powerful computer. But that was just my experience.
Click to expand...
I studied Industrial Design, over two decades ago. Back then we used Auto CAD a lot. It was relatively easy to convert GeForce gaming GPUs into Quadro GPUs. Some needed a couple of resistors resoldered and a firmware update, others could be done in software. Anyway, my point is that if he has to use CAD/CAM applications, an NVIDIA Quadro GPU is recommended.
 
The school will have requirements for certain classes. Don't even bother buying a computer until your son has that information.

Both of my kids have been Georgia Tech students. My daughter eventually needed a higher-end computer since she was studying aerospace engineering.

My son was a liberal arts student and is now at the business school. He does perfectly fine with a circa 2016 Microsoft surface laptop that I got for free from a friend. It has a couple of cracks. He doesn't care. He loves it.
 
bunnspecial said:
For this sort of use, it's hard for me to imagine a better option than a Thinkpad T series. Pick your size and configure as appropriate. You will probably want a pile of RAM and a decent GPU.

Check with the engineering school as they probably have a list of minimum requirements and/or may even offer(discounted) pre-configured options through the school. I know when I was still working at a big school that had an engineering school, they did exactly this and IIRC had options from both Lenovo and Dell. The GPU can be a big one, especially as their idea of a "good" GPU can sometimes be different from what a gamer might consider a "good" GPU...
Click to expand...
We settled on ThinkPad T at my office a few years ago after trying Dell and HP. My T14s has been rock solid for MS Office and SaaS programs.
 
Invisible said:
I studied Industrial Design, over two decades ago. Back then we used Auto CAD a lot. It was relatively easy to convert GeForce gaming GPUs into Quadro GPUs. Some needed a couple of resistors resoldered and a firmware update, others could be done in software. Anyway, my point is that if he has to use CAD/CAM applications, an NVIDIA Quadro GPU is recommended
Click to expand...
In my mechanical engineering course load, graduated in 2017, I hardly ever had to use CAD/CAM software. I mostly used it my first semester and then in my sophomore design and finally again in my senior design and it was mostly solidworks, which isn't the most intensive CAD program. For CAM software, that was mostly locked to specific computers and I never actually needed to run it outside of my manufacturing lab.
 
At least 16 gigs of RAM (or 32 if you're feeling generous) and a nice screen are the main features that will make it most useful for a student. Mainstream laptop hardware is so fast these days that there is little reason to buy top of the line.
 
Unless they are a video gamer something like this with 16gb of ram and a long battery life would be perfect for note taking and general homework. Ultrabook class of laptops is a great fit for a college student imo.


Also id highly recommend they use OneDrive or similar service on whatever laptop they use. Keep all their school stuff there so can access it anywhere and if the laptop dies you still got all the stuff.
 
www.newegg.com

Dell Vostro 3000 Series 3520 Business Laptop, 15.6" FHD 1920 * 1080 Non-touch 120Hz, Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel UHD Graphics, 32GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB PCIe M.2 SSD, Wi-Fi 5, Windows 11 Pro, Black - Newegg.com

Buy Dell Vostro 3000 Series 3520 Business Laptop, 15.6" FHD 1920 * 1080 Non-touch 120Hz, Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel UHD Graphics, 32GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB PCIe M.2 SSD, Wi-Fi 5, Windows 11 Pro, Black with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!
www.newegg.com www.newegg.com

$559 on sale, great for it's price.
 
Checkout https://frame.work/

Completely repairable laptop. All the ports are modules that can be swapped out. Motherboard can be swapped, battery, screen, keyboard the whole enchilada is repairable and replaceable. RAM is not soldered onto the board, so replaceable and upgradeable.

In the future as faster processors become available, you can just buy a new motherboard. They sell a case so you can use the old motherboard as a desktop.

We bought one for our daughter in March, since her two year old Lenovo ThinkBook needed a new motherboard. No way I was spending $900 on a new motherboard.
 
Im out of engineering school almost 15 years but when I was starting the department had recommendations for computers based on the software that we would be using for coursework. Back then it was solidworks/autocad, ansys, Matlab and Mathematica.
 
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