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Which laptop for engineering major?

Discussion in 'Technology' started by Blumpkinson, Apr 11, 2010.

  1. Apr 14, 2010 at 4:46 PM
    #21
    steve o 77

    steve o 77 braaap

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    Thats the thing with macs, they don't have to worry about stupid antivirus which slows things down. I've also never defraged or cleaned up my 2 year old macbook and it runs like new.
    I paid $1500 for it (2.4 GHz, 2gigs ram) plus they threw in a Nice HP scanner/printer and an ipod touch.
    I think the extra money is worth not having to deal with windows.

    Plus im not very computer literate which is what macs are good for lol. PC's are great if you really know what your doing when it comes to computers.
     
  2. Apr 14, 2010 at 4:52 PM
    #22
    Blumpkinson

    Blumpkinson [OP] Fuelled by plutonium and wild animals

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    Do you buy your macbook new or refurbished?
     
  3. Apr 14, 2010 at 5:09 PM
    #23
    steve o 77

    steve o 77 braaap

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    It was new, also my graduation gift from my parents.
     
  4. Apr 14, 2010 at 5:13 PM
    #24
    James3492

    James3492 Well-Known Member

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    hahaha. dude. Macs can get virus's... if you didn't know. If you tried to run a windows program for mac it will corrupt it. :) hhaha. and yeah for "rab89" i used a mac for a whole year... I hated it. this is what i used. - i know its not a laptop but its the same exact thing... http://www.apple.com/imac/
     
  5. Apr 14, 2010 at 5:16 PM
    #25
    bishtacova

    bishtacova Don't buy a Ford

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    Stick with the mac and go dual boot. Run Mac, Windows and Ubuntu on the same machine. You will do a lot of linux work. Or at least use the freebsd command window.
     
  6. Apr 14, 2010 at 5:17 PM
    #26
    James3492

    James3492 Well-Known Member

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    I am just saying if your going into the working bussiness there is not one person who takes a mac to work other than the apple store people... I go to itt tech and we even talked about how business don't run macs. they all run windows. walk into a company store and you will see a dell pc... I hate dells too :) but thats what a cheap pc is.
     
  7. Apr 14, 2010 at 6:47 PM
    #27
    NAYo2002

    NAYo2002 Well-Known Member

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    When is the last time you tried Windows? I have Windows 7 for a few months now and I love it.
     
  8. Apr 14, 2010 at 7:07 PM
    #28
    scdude37

    scdude37 Lil Blue

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    I go to clemson university and have a 15in macbook pro!! the only trouble i go through is when the hard drive got partitioned b/c i have solidworks and matlab for two of my classes. But this was the highest recommended engineering computer for us here. This school is top 25 ranked engineering school. So I believe you might want to just upgrade the internals in your computer. But its just up to you really. I have had pc's before getting this macbook and i will not go back to the pc. But everyone has their own opinion, so hopefully you can figure out what kind to get and good luck at the school!!! Its tough major, just make sure to stay up with the homework and pay attention as well as you can, and everything will be fine.
     
  9. Apr 15, 2010 at 10:32 AM
    #29
    PreRunnerSeth

    PreRunnerSeth Well-Known Member

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    Not sure about mech engineering, but I'm an electronics engineer. Nothing ... literally nothing I use runs on a mac. Software for network analyzers, Custom demo system software, PCB design program, Simulation software. So sure you can run parallels. and there are people who do run parallels and or boot camp. but most of them just end up running windows all the time anyways. Complete waste of a mac. Then windows runs like shit on a mac. Lots of driver issues with usb devices. Especially non-consumer grade stuff. Windows runs great if you take care of it. Keep it clean, dont download retarded shit off the net. Just like your truck. if you maintain it you will keep it running well. Macs dont have issue because they run on a very strict set of hardware and apple keeps an iron grip on what runs on it and how peripherals are designed for it, but that limits your hardware and software options and forces your to pay retarded prices for their hardware.
     
  10. Apr 15, 2010 at 11:17 AM
    #30
    tuckr2

    tuckr2 Well-Known Member

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    He said it PC's are cheap. Viruses like cheap things. Save a few bucks with the intial investment buying a PC and pay big bucks later..

    Ya, save that grand for all the updates and downtime later. Maybe then you can get someone to rent you the MAC while your CHEAP PC is in the shop...

    good luck.
     
  11. Apr 15, 2010 at 11:27 AM
    #31
    originalthoughts

    originalthoughts Well-Known Member

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    None, factory diff lockers are great.
    For a refurbed mac with the same warranty as new:
    http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=OTY2ODY3Nw

    For a deal on an older (but still good) mac:
    http://www.macofalltrades.com/Apple_Notebooks_s/5.htm

    And back to the prior points. Run boot camp or instead of buying a VM software just go download Sun's VirtualBox for free (http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads). You just need to get a licensed copy of Windows to run on it but you should be able to get a deal from your school's volume licensing agreement (talk to their IT dept).
     
  12. Apr 15, 2010 at 11:33 AM
    #32
    Rakso

    Rakso CeRaTi

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    If you want no worries, get MAC.
    If u want not to spend, get windows laptop, a super ultra perfect antivirus (which does NOT exist), and be prepare to worry about spyware, malware, worms, viruses, etc. Although it'll depend on how you use your laptop.
    Good luck
     
  13. Apr 15, 2010 at 11:37 AM
    #33
    vatechoma

    vatechoma Well-Known Member

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    I just graduated from virginia tech, civil engineer....I used a PC..I never once saw any student in any of my engineering classes using a mac, but I am pretty sure you won't have many issues with software etc..One of my professors used a mac to run CAD and a bunch of other programs without issue and the main computer labs are all macs.
    I think you just need to feed your current mac some more RAM...pricey, but well worth it
     
  14. Apr 15, 2010 at 11:39 AM
    #34
    Rakso

    Rakso CeRaTi

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  15. Apr 15, 2010 at 11:46 AM
    #35
    moozick0

    moozick0 Hooning the moon!

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    ok im gonna play the villain here.

    personally i'm a mac hater, i think they are much too expensive for basically the same hardware you will find in a PC, especially since macs went to intel architecture. The only thing i will say about macs is that they are aesthetically pleasing.

    bottom line is that you need something with a warranty and a decent graphics card for running things like autoCAD and the like. Also, get windows 7 and no less than 3GB RAM.

    as much fire as i may catch for it i would say to get an eliteBook from HP or one of the high end studio laptops from Dell. I say eliteBook because im a systems engineer and use one at work which seems pretty damn solid so far, and Dell because the warranties they offer are pretty nice and the service aint bad either.

    oh and btw for all the mac fanboys out there, macs crash too, they have the same kind of hardware issues, and viruses are starting to be written for them as well so enjoy.
     
  16. Apr 15, 2010 at 11:53 AM
    #36
    SC4333

    SC4333 Well-Known Member

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    I would go with a PC. Like others have already mentioned, when you land a job in the real world, the PC will serve you better then the Mac. You might as well get accustomed to using the PC because more then likely you will not be using a Mac when it comes time to work. FWIW no one in my office uses a Mac.
     
  17. Apr 15, 2010 at 1:06 PM
    #37
    dogbite

    dogbite Well-Known Member

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    Your college will have a specs list of what your computer needs for doing your assignments. Start with that. It will probably be a Windows PC. They will probably have some inexpensive purchase options with a major maker (HP/DELL/ACER)
     
  18. Apr 15, 2010 at 1:07 PM
    #38
    TacoNut

    TacoNut IgnoringChrisWatchingEdLi veVicariouslyThroughMJP2

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    I have a mac and dual boot windows 7..... best of both worlds, just make sure you upgrade the processor and memory!
     
  19. Apr 15, 2010 at 7:52 PM
    #39
    tacomabud

    tacomabud Well-Known Member

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    I am a Sophomore engineering student, and I can honestly say my friends, roommates and I have never thought of changing over to Mac. Odds are, if you need to run AutoCad, MatLab, C++, Maple, BLAST, or any other large program, you can use the schools computers which are built for these type of operations. It doesn't pay to install it on your computer unless you have to.

    My honest opinion: If you want to save money, keep your Mac. If you need Windows to run Microsoft Office and other programs, have dual operating systems like other suggested. My friend does that with his Mac Pro. If you want to go faster and install some of these engineering programs - save all your files, music, videos, etc... on an external hard drive to free up your computer and re-install Mac if it's still too slow. (same friend re-installs Mac and Windows XP at least 2 times a year to keep everything running fast)
    If you want something that can truly multi-task, build a custom PC and install Linux.
     
  20. Apr 18, 2010 at 2:20 PM
    #40
    SteelDirigible

    SteelDirigible Ranger Driver

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    for engineering, a PC is better (ie windows) If you want to get mac, you can probably get windows 7 for free from your University. I did, I am a freshman, and I have a new MacBook Pro, Intel dual core 3.06 GHz processor and 8 gigs RAM. I Run windows 7 and OSX. Honestly I never really use engineering software on my Mac, but I do have ProEngineer on Windows 7 and Matlab 2008 on the OSX side.

    I'd also like to say, a PC will be cheaper, I highly recommend a nice Lenovo, they make the most reliable pcs. I have used PCs and never gotten a virus, it's not that hard to stay virus free. Just don't download viruses, that's what I tell people. Lenovo or Mac. That's my opinion.
    Anyone who says either mac or pc sucks is literally retarded.
     

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