A Comprehensive Computer Guide for Engineering Students

Howdy,

Intro: I have decided to make this guide to offer all of my input on laptop choice for incoming engineering students. This is meant to condense everything I have read and heard, and present it in a concentrated passage. I am only going to be a freshman next year, but have some insight. I have older siblings who have completed degrees at A&M, offering me opinions on laptops. My father is an engineer, who doubles as office technology manager, who has told me what he believes an engineering student will need. I have built numerous custom computers, primarily with the purpose of intensive tasks, like video editing and gaming. I have read through just about every thread on here, have looked at numerous reviews and computers, and have spoken to friends who are in engineering right now, in search of the perfect laptop for me. After finally ordering my laptop, I'd like to share a few points about all of the options, for other aggies to collaborate on and discuss, and for incoming students to consider while choosing a laptop. All of this advice is towards those who need powerful computers, like engineering students. If you have another major, you could probably do with less... Warning: This is lengthy...

General Requirements: According to what I have read from students, heard from my father, and observed on the minimum requirements list for engineering programs used at A&M, a solid laptop should have:

An Intel dual or quad core i5 or i7, preferably 7th generation. Review this naming guide to pick the best CPU: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/processor-numbers.html

8 or 16 gigabytes of ram/memory, preferably DDR4.

A 256 gb or 512 gb SSD. 128 gb is pretty small to me, but could suffice if you keep a lot "in the cloud..." I would NOT buy a laptop with an HDD, a mechanical drives, as an SSD is safer, as a non-moving part, and as an SSD will significantly increase the overall speed of the machine.

A discreet graphics card is recommended, but you can get by with integrated graphics as for everything but CAD. CAD/Solidworks will strain your integrated graphics. However, a discreet graphics card will use more battery/increase weight/make more noise.

A 13 to 15 inch display seems most appropriate to me. Try to avoid 4k displays, as they will drastically reduce your battery life. A 1080p FHD screen should be enough for a small screen side anyways. 13 inches is more portable.

Consider a laptop between 3 and 5 pounds. Anything more will be cumbersome to carry around, as a college student must.'

A final notes, likely the most important: CALL THE COMPUTER COMPANY DIRECTLY TO ORDER! If you get on the phone with a representative, you will save hundreds of dollars. Ask for a price match to a store like Best Buy, then ask for student discounts, and free warranties. My configuration came to $1400, but was discounted to $1150 after talking on the phone for 30 minutes. I also bought a 3 year, refundable warranty for a discounted $200, which covers defects, failures, and accidental damages, completely. I would recommend a warranty, to protect your new, $1000+ device.

Some Configurations: Basically, you can buy a lighter laptop or a workstation laptop. Both have trade offs. A lighter laptop will be cheaper, seem more appropriate most of the time, but may struggle with the most intense tasks you do. These laptops will also have smaller screens, but will be lighter and have better battery life. Workstation laptops are beasts! They will destroy anything you throw at them, but will be heavier, bulkier, more expensive, and will have shorter battery life. There is also a nice medium ground, which is what I chose to go with. This would be a lighter laptop upgraded to reach toward the performance of workstations. Lighter laptops include ultrabooks like the Dell XPS-13, HP Spectre x360 13t, and Lenovo Yoga 920. Workstations will look like the BYOD devices, or most larger laptops with better parts.

Addressing BYOD: Link to A&M subsidized laptops: https://engineering.tamu.edu/easa/areas/academics/byod/devices/2016-2017 BYOD has gotten a lot of hate here, but I think they are actually quite well priced laptops for what you are getting. Before down voting me, please consider input from my father on this. When researching A&M recommended laptops, I only consider the Dell Precision 5520, as the HP, Lenovo, and Microsoft options are not nearly as good, IMO. This is the popular consumer Dell XPS-15, but with upgraded internals and a different name. This laptop is well worth the money, for a few reasons. First of all, you a receiving an immediate almost $1000 discount from the school. Second, this is a business/enterprise class laptop, compared to consumer laptops. This means a few things. First of all, you will be able to call the USA-based, business support, which will be much more useful in the event of any problems. Consumer support is awful, so I have heard this alone is worth hundreds of dollars. This computer also comes with a very good warranty. You also receive support on campus, from the schools support. On top of this, business class models are built with much better quality control, and contain significantly better parts. Business models are built with 12-point Mil-Spec certification. They are tested by the military to be extra durable and have parts cherry-picked for performance. And from what I understand, college can include war like conditions sometimes, so an ultra-durable laptop may be worth it! Lastly, this laptop offers the best performance. It is hard to explain without going into benchmarks of different CPUs and explaining the NVidia Quadro graphics card, but I can tell you, this laptop comes with a quad core CPU and GPU which will blow any other laptop out of the water, literally doubling the performance of many ultrabooks, all while remaining under 4 pounds! This performance resembles desktops I've built for rendering in Adobe Premier, or playing games. It is the best option if you need a computer that can crunch anything, and will last much longer than others. However, when you purchase it, you should select 16 gb of ram, the 256/512 gb SSD, and the upgraded, 6 cell battery for better life. When configured like this, it costs $1750, which is a lot of money. This laptop is, however, overpowered for many, so I selected a different option.

My Choice: I selected a customized HP Spectre x360 13t, with windows 10 pro, a dual-core i7-7500U, 16 gb of ram, a 512 gb SSD, a 13.3 inch FHD screen, in a beautiful, 3 pound body, for $1150. This is the perfect configuration for me, as it is much cheaper, and offers a great balance of power to weight/size/battery life. This laptop should be very capable of tasks needed for school, while remaining a light device for a college student, with good battery life. The BYOD devices do have better value for performance and build quality, IMO, but are more expensive up front, and seem to be an overkill according to everyone I've spoken to.

Final Notes: Ultimately, look at a lot of reviews, get a computer with my recommended specifications, and go to a brick-and-mortar store to feel how you actually like the laptop. A good laptop on paper could be heavy and poorly reviewed. Also, call before you order, and seek student discounts. A little time and effort can save hundreds of dollars. If you ever need more laptop than you can afford, A&M offers great computer labs, with virtual access. Do not be too worried, just make wise decisions and select the best laptop you can in your price range. The laptop market is an odd one, with hundreds of dollars in spread for technically identical machines. Try to learn as much as you can about computers. A better understanding of all of the convoluted conventions will guarantee you to make a better choice, and will help you in an increasingly technological society. Hopefully this guide has you a little more educated for making a good buy. Laptop preference is very much so a personal thing, so do your research and make your own decision. Please let me know if you see anything you believe to be an error, and comment your own opinions. Thanks!