Recommend laptop computer for mechanical engineering freshman
- Thread starter eljefino
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You need to check requirements that the apps you're gonna use have, e.g. cpu, RAM, video card.
We used to buy Xi laptops to save some money, they are assembled in USA with well known brands components, good value. Now mostly Dell Precisions.
We used to buy Xi laptops to save some money, they are assembled in USA with well known brands components, good value. Now mostly Dell Precisions.
Let your son choose the computer unless you plan on doing his homework for him. 
That's a thought, give him a gift card to the place that carries it.Let your son choose the computer unless you plan on doing his homework for him.
A FastyFast 100000000 AMD 1 trillion RAM gaming ultra is oob though
Engineer here. For starters a lot of engineering students use the “i need a powerful laptop for engineering” excuse because lets be honest most of us just wanted something to play video games. I did just fine with a 2008 lenovo t500 for my entire degree. I was able to run solidworks and matlab and any other software we used just fine. Laptops are very capable now and even cheap ones will be adequate. The most important thing to look out for is actually the user experience. Looking back its way more important to have a computer with loooong battery life, light weight, and a touch screen with stylus for note taking. One of those convertible laptops or maybe a 2 in 1 like the microsoft surface would have been pretty sweet. Most of us used the engineering computers for getting work done as the monitors were so much larger. And yes like someone else mentioned the computers our school got were not powerful at all. They were just standard hp, dell, lenovo workstations. I dont even think most had a dedicated gpu.
Mid level computer is fine. Make sure it has a few ports for usb c and optimally an HDMI($15 usb c to HDMI adapter work too) when he presents.
I just handed my old consulting MacBook Pro 2020 to my daughter for similar purpose however for business marketing major.
Her school listing nothing special about all majors except recommended either Mac or win with 16gb and 1tb ssd. They pushed a warranty. Many times the ones they sell they let you get loaners while they repair on campus.
However with a gaming rig going it might not be as critical.
I just handed my old consulting MacBook Pro 2020 to my daughter for similar purpose however for business marketing major.
Her school listing nothing special about all majors except recommended either Mac or win with 16gb and 1tb ssd. They pushed a warranty. Many times the ones they sell they let you get loaners while they repair on campus.
However with a gaming rig going it might not be as critical.
System 76 or think penguin. Don't go for the overpriced fruitbook. A lot of engineering software runs Linux. He might as well be familiar by having a Linux laptop.
Pick one of those. Major computer companies offer student discounts.
Check with the school’s bookstore.
Often they sell them at a discount, with free loaners and service plans, both of which are helpful for careless kids, and nervous parents.
I bought both my kids laptops for their entrance into engineering in 2020 - summer of the pandemic. Not cheap and hard to find.
First year they did very little other than MS office - even in engineering. One daughter was in software - she wrote most her code and still does on a cheap laptop she runs only Linux on. She then built a desktop. So the expensive Alienware laptop she wanted didn't get used much.
Kid 2 figured she would be doing cad, so wanted bigger with the best screen. Except they didn't do much Cad in year one, and then she wanted a thin light one to carry around. She does use the original for SolidWorks now, but didn't till year 3 I think?
My suggestion - buy a $500 one from Dell Outlet - upgrade when you figure out what they actually need.
First year they did very little other than MS office - even in engineering. One daughter was in software - she wrote most her code and still does on a cheap laptop she runs only Linux on. She then built a desktop. So the expensive Alienware laptop she wanted didn't get used much.
Kid 2 figured she would be doing cad, so wanted bigger with the best screen. Except they didn't do much Cad in year one, and then she wanted a thin light one to carry around. She does use the original for SolidWorks now, but didn't till year 3 I think?
My suggestion - buy a $500 one from Dell Outlet - upgrade when you figure out what they actually need.
JHZR2
Staff member
Is your student bringing the powerful desktop? If so, just get a MacBook Air or something portable for the elective classes and study groups. If they’re doing any significant computing, the university recommended units aren’t what they’ll want. This isn’t biology or political science. They’ll learn the tools they need and come to a realization on how they want a computer set up.
It was 20 years since I was doing undergraduate engineering, but I oversee a lot of engineering research, and engage with students all the time, not to mention my professional teams doing real work. A lot of the big software packages are still the same - they use a license server or a centralized validation point to verify user authorizations. If they allow it at all. Some might require a remote connection to a virtual desktop, which puts the actual computing on the remote server. And then there is the matter of needing large monitors. So it’s really important to know how much the computer is going to be used for actual “real” work versus just a connectivity and writing tool. Additionally, while I did run some pretty complex stuff, especially for harder electives, in the comfort of my dorm room, most of the really challenging stuff was group projects, done in an engineering computer lab, with bigger monitors, and requiring collaboration.
The really hard stuff won’t likely come until junior year. And it’s really converged, iterative large models, finite element meshing, dynamic switching level models, etc. that draw the resources. Doing something basic in a SW package like mathcad or even Matlab/simulink wont take much. Even complex data regression in excel, which can choke a decent computer, just requires a bit of patience.
Thus why, since Macs last in a useable form for much longer, and will be just fine well past graduation (I still routinely use 2010 and 2013 MBA and MBP), that’s the best value option, IMO. If your student really determines that they can do complex stuff, on their personal computer, and want to do it anywhere versus a desk/dorm set up comfortably for the task, then they may want to buy something newer/better/more aligned to what they have identified as their desired work process and setup.
It was 20 years since I was doing undergraduate engineering, but I oversee a lot of engineering research, and engage with students all the time, not to mention my professional teams doing real work. A lot of the big software packages are still the same - they use a license server or a centralized validation point to verify user authorizations. If they allow it at all. Some might require a remote connection to a virtual desktop, which puts the actual computing on the remote server. And then there is the matter of needing large monitors. So it’s really important to know how much the computer is going to be used for actual “real” work versus just a connectivity and writing tool. Additionally, while I did run some pretty complex stuff, especially for harder electives, in the comfort of my dorm room, most of the really challenging stuff was group projects, done in an engineering computer lab, with bigger monitors, and requiring collaboration.
The really hard stuff won’t likely come until junior year. And it’s really converged, iterative large models, finite element meshing, dynamic switching level models, etc. that draw the resources. Doing something basic in a SW package like mathcad or even Matlab/simulink wont take much. Even complex data regression in excel, which can choke a decent computer, just requires a bit of patience.
Thus why, since Macs last in a useable form for much longer, and will be just fine well past graduation (I still routinely use 2010 and 2013 MBA and MBP), that’s the best value option, IMO. If your student really determines that they can do complex stuff, on their personal computer, and want to do it anywhere versus a desk/dorm set up comfortably for the task, then they may want to buy something newer/better/more aligned to what they have identified as their desired work process and setup.
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Both my daughters got a MacBook. Pro for the oldest, in 2011. She still uses it for hospital work today. It has been upgraded with a new battery, and SSD. It needed a keyboard a few years back.
Still does everything she needs it to.
I have to wonder, does he even need to lug a computer to class? Will they actually be doing CAD exercises live in the classroom? What do the courses indicate for actual need?
I remember having some computer labs, sure, and for that a laptop would be good. But most of my classes a couple decades ago were heavy on note taking, and one is better off with paper and pen. Today I live behind my laptop, and studiously take notes on it in meetings--and retain none of it, none of it sinks in, because it doesn't have to. 3/4 of my school learning has been that way too, forgotten over the years, but at the time, I didn't know what needed to be retained. Far better to take the long route, write by hand, with hopes of fostering actual understanding of the material. Rather than the quick/easy note taking way that doesn't actually sink in. Much of engineering is nitty-gritty and conceptual, and unless if that laptop supports some sort of pen input where one can circle things, draw off in the corner illustrations, etc... I question its value.
Too easy to have things stolen in college, or dropped, or otherwise abused.
I remember having some computer labs, sure, and for that a laptop would be good. But most of my classes a couple decades ago were heavy on note taking, and one is better off with paper and pen. Today I live behind my laptop, and studiously take notes on it in meetings--and retain none of it, none of it sinks in, because it doesn't have to. 3/4 of my school learning has been that way too, forgotten over the years, but at the time, I didn't know what needed to be retained. Far better to take the long route, write by hand, with hopes of fostering actual understanding of the material. Rather than the quick/easy note taking way that doesn't actually sink in. Much of engineering is nitty-gritty and conceptual, and unless if that laptop supports some sort of pen input where one can circle things, draw off in the corner illustrations, etc... I question its value.
Too easy to have things stolen in college, or dropped, or otherwise abused.
AutoDesk slightly changed their licensing to fleece the absolute heck out of their customers. In 2022 our ACAD-AECC renewal for our on-prem concurrent licenses was up and the two choices available was:
1.) Switch to name-user licenses.
2.) Keep the concurrent on-prem license but pay triple per license; $30,000 for 7 concurrent licenses for 1 year.
Friggin ridiculous; not to mention AutoDesk stopped their perpetual licenses so anybody who wasn't on a subscription service had their products invalidated.
Many colleges suggest configurations. They also sell computers, even if you dont buy theirs you can see the specs, if this college does that most will offer a service plan if he does break it.
I think even if he doesnt buy it there you can get a plan, cant remember. But if not, whatever you do, make sure the battery life is sufficient.
My post is based on Clemson University. Have no idea what others do. Might be worth checking out.
I work in engineering and do 3D modeling on a Dell Precision laptop with a core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, and an NVIDIA Quadro-something graphics card. It's approx 7 years old and still runs all the CAD software fine, as well as all the Microsoft stuff. Whatever the 2024 version of that is should work fine for him.
If you can find an ex corporate Dell Precision 7540 (or newer) with a Quadro GPU cheaply these at least have the drivers for engineering software, new they are very pricey but ex lease they can be affordable, just load up with enough ram to get the performance to usuable levels
If he will ACTUALLY USE engineering software on his personal machine other options listed here will be an absolute unusable dog unless the school uses a virtual computer with the software for him to port into.
And yea battery run time sucks unless you can plug in during class
If he will ACTUALLY USE engineering software on his personal machine other options listed here will be an absolute unusable dog unless the school uses a virtual computer with the software for him to port into.
And yea battery run time sucks unless you can plug in during class
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Licensing is expensive! some real money gets made there, and some days I wonder if the stream of updates is worth it (fix one issue, add two new bugs).
Sounds like the one I have, Precision 5560, but I think that's out past $2k. Works nice though. But I think the battery is half dead after 3 years... I'd look forward to replacing, but that probably means Win11 and whatever changes that carries.
From what our CADD manager told me the subscription-service-update-type that Autodesk went to helped a lot; mainly because autodesk used to implement changes ("tests") on the odd-numbered year releases and then fix the issues on the even-year releases. Now they can release hotfixes and major updates at any time and not need an admin needing to login (looking at you Bentley
).We got lucky with the licensing changes because we were allowed a 2-for-1 trade in on concurrent to named licenses. Now it's over $3,300/year to add on one license. That severely cuts down on profits for an SMB engineering firm.
Framework laptops are a cool concept, and I want to like them, but there are TONS of complaints out there about Framework laptops having weird issues, instability, screens breaking during normal transporting/handling of them. Sure, those complaints are out there for any brand of laptop, but for how few laptops Framework sells compared to the big names in the industry, the number of complaints is concerning.
I have no experience with Framework in person, but I'd be hesitant to buy one. I do think the concept of a fully customizable and repairable laptop is fantastic, but it's just not realistic in the real world IMO. I did almost buy one, but you basically pay double the price of any other laptop for the specs.
I've traditionally been a big fan of used Dell Latitudes and Lenovo ThinkPads, but recently I purchased a new laptop for myself as officially Windows 11 compliant used Latitudes and ThinkPads hold their value too much... I settled on a $700 Acer gaming laptop on sale at Best Buy that was going for like 1/2 its original price when it was introduced a year before. I hardly use it for gaming, mostly web development, but dedicated graphics if I do want to fire up a game away from home, for the same price as slimmer "better brand" laptops, why not?
I'm not really an Acer fan, and the hinges and keyboard are mediocre compared to the Dell Latitude it replaced, but it was super easy to install a second SSD and for the price, even if it only lasts a few years, it's a good value. Sure, you can install Windows 11 on older systems with a quick registry mod during install but if you want something that's officially supported and won't have potential issues in the future, you're stuck within a fairly limited number of years if buying used.
