Sunday, May 25, 2014

What is a good engineering laptop for college?

Q. I'm planning on entering college in one year. I'd like to major in either Electrical,Mechanical, or Aerospace Engineering. I've heard that computer programs like CAD are part of the classes. What would be a good laptop to handle this easily?

Also, money is a little tight. What would be the cheapest option that can still support a lot of programs, memory etc.?


Answer
Brand does not matter.

Just make sure you have a Intel Core Duo Processor or AMD Athlon or AMD Turion Processor. Make sure you have a minimum of 2GB ram. The more, the better.

As in hard drive memory, you don't need much. In my 4 years of college in engineering, I only used 20GB on my laptop, and most laptops these days come with 250GB as a standard.

Having at least 2 USB ports is helpful and built in Wi-Fi and bluetooth connectivity.

That is all you need.
You do use programs like AutoCAD, Pro-E, Rockwell Arena Simulation Software, Minitab. You might have many Microsoft word, powerpoint, and excel files open at the same time. That is why you need more ram. 2GB minimum. 4 GB would be great for multitasking on the computer without it freezing.

You can get a good powerful laptop with everything you need for $600.

Electrical Engineering Supplies?




wojo


I'm a freshman in college as an EE. Curious as to what tools I will need to purchase during my college career. I have already dished out for the following major components:

digital soldering iron with multiple tips and stand up to 900*F
decent digital multimeter
250 feet of various gauge wires
strippers/pliers/shrink wrap/etc
sorting binds

My parents are asking me what I want for Christmas and I need an idea or two haha.



Answer
Oh, wow, did you waste your money!

I guess the multimeter might be OK for general use, but still, it's way overkill.

You probably won't do any soldering until your first EE lab, and that's probably not until your sophomore year. Everything you need will be included in the lab. And it's likely you'll never solder again, as that's hardly the focus of EE. Usually breadboards and wire wrap are used for building and prototyping.

What you've got might be appropriate for an electronics technician, but not an electrical engineering student. You would have been better off getting a nice laptop or scientific calculator.

Seriously, if you think what you bought is what EE is about, you had better really question what EE is and what you want do be doing.




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