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Laptop for Electronic Engineering next year?

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  • 16-11-2014 10:26pm
    #1
    Octotron
    Registered Users Posts: 19 ✭


    I'm 90% sure I will be choosing Electronic Engineering next year and I was just wondering what laptop I should get. Would a low spec, lightweight one be okay or will it involve for a more demanding laptop?

    Also if anyone could provide me of a run down of what I should expect from the course that would be lovely!


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    #2
    Red Alert
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 7,485 ✭✭✭Red Alert


    You'll be fine with any laptop to be honest. There are no programs in that course that will tax any modern laptop.


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    #3
    ironclaw
    Registered Users Posts: 8,004 ✭✭✭ironclaw


    Would recommend a Mac to be honest for college in general. I did 5 years of Eng in UCD and it never let me down and never found a program I couldn't run or get a MacOS version of. MATLAB is definitely faster on MacOS. Battery alone is worth the investment.


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    #4
    TimeToShine
    Registered Users Posts: 4,881 ✭✭✭TimeToShine


    Nothing you do will require anything beyond a standard laptop.


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    #5
    ironclaw
    Registered Users Posts: 8,004 ✭✭✭ironclaw


    TimeToShine wrote: »
    Nothing you do will require anything beyond a standard laptop.

    I'd tend to disagree there. I found having a higher spec machine really helped. Not saying that applies to Mac only but even for circuit design or large MATLAB calculations in later years, you could save 10 to 15 mins on a calculation versus a slower machine or the Citrix cloud (And even more at exam time) Plus on build quality for lugging in and out of a bag.

    Buy the best machine, Windows or Mac are pretty much equal, you can now to save yourself buying a new one in 3 years as Eng is a long course and investing now might save you a few quid in the future.

    The only machine I would recommend against is anything 13" (Too small in my opinion) and specifically the MacBook Air (And I'm a fan boy)


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    #6
    TimeToShine
    Registered Users Posts: 4,881 ✭✭✭TimeToShine


    ironclaw wrote: »
    I'd tend to disagree there. I found having a higher spec machine really helped. Not saying that applies to Mac only but even for circuit design or large MATLAB calculations in later years, you could save 10 to 15 mins on a calculation versus a slower machine or the Citrix cloud (And even more at exam time) Plus on build quality for lugging in and out of a bag.

    Buy the best machine, Windows or Mac are pretty much equal, you can now to save yourself buying a new one in 3 years as Eng is a long course and investing now might save you a few quid in the future.

    The only machine I would recommend against is anything 13" (Too small in my opinion) and specifically the MacBook Air (And I'm a fan boy)

    LTSpice/Cadence any other circuit simulation software is not going to tax any reasonable system, nor will any of the MATLAB in the course. I don't know what crazy stuff you were running that took 15 minutes to compile/run but it certainly won't apply here unless, by chance, your final year project/thesis demands it but even then I doubt it. CFD is the only really demanding software you might end up using but that is for mechanical engineers. Downloading the software is not exclusive to high spec machines so the Citrix argument is void.

    I don't mean to be pedantic with the above argument but there is no need to tell someone they need to spend well over double if not triple on a laptop when a standard 300-400 euro one will do them just fine.


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    #7
    Red Alert
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 7,485 ✭✭✭Red Alert


    The amount of MATLAB you'll actually do is quite small, apart from final year projects, and is confined to later years. MATLAB will have no problem running on a Macbook Air!


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    #8
    Octotron
    Registered Users Posts: 19 ✭Octotron


    Red Alert wrote: »
    The amount of MATLAB you'll actually do is quite small, apart from final year projects, and is confined to later years. MATLAB will have no problem running on a Macbook Air!

    What will I be doing mostly? Pretty much all I want is a lightweight laptop that can do the job for my course. Either that, or I go all out and buy a Surface Pro 3.


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