which is best for college?

[dixon]

as title says, i will be moving to melbourne to take bachelor and master engineering degree, i will use it for moderate gaming and everyday college work budget is around 1500$

thx in advance

 

[gorobei]

depends on your note taking style, engineering software requirements, tolerance for schlepping 10+ lbs around campus.

if you dont need to enter a bunch of math symbols, equation signs, or other diagrams and your engr software doesnt go beyond a good scientific calculator: a net book might be sufficient. the battery life on most of the new intel atom cpu based netbooks should cover a long school day and not require you to drag around the power brick. general retail= 400-500$

if you need to be more flexible on the school work, a tablet notebook might work better for force-moment diagrams and taking notes of complex equations that arent easily typed in. ones with active digitizers can make notetaking as easy as writing on paper. the battery life on them is pretty short though (2hrs maybe more if you shut down wifi). they cost a good bit more: lowest retail ~1000$ ( i got my hp tx2500 for 650$ on special sale) . the cpu power on either a netbook or tablet may not be up to crunching serious math or simulations.

a gaming laptop will have more cpu and gpu power but will be very heavy and unwieldy if you bike around campus. most mid-line models with a single discrete gpu and 15-17" screen will run 1200$. these are generally very good desktop replacements if you can get rid of the bloatware. may not be stout enough for daily transporting and the associated bangs and bumps.


FWIW: one issue with having a sff and netbook is that you will have a cheap portable with you all day and your main machine will be at your dorm room. computer theft in dorms is a common problem. make sure you have an idea of your living arrangement security when you decide.

 

[Skott]

Well, its a personal opinion type thing based on whatever situation you might be in. Some people try to include everything in one package, which, is ideally, the ideal way to go. Problem is for a gamer laptops are limited in upgrading them. if you can afford to buy a new and better gaming laptop each year for power and performance to play the latest games then laptop is the way to go. However, how many of us can afford that? IMO a seperate SFF is better mainly because you can upgrade it as needed just like a desktop ATX gaming rig. Obviously a SFF rig is harder to transport than a laptop (because you have a case and screen whereas a netbook/laptop is all in one) but if you drive back and forth to your college dorm and home then its not so bad. They travel well in a automobile. Planes on a different problem. SFF can be transported by plane but there are restrictions as to how big the SFF can be. A laptop is easier to transport by plane.

You dont say what exactly your living arrangements are going to be so that obviously needs to be taken into serious consideration but If you are going to be in Melbourne for a couple of years or more nonstop I'd say get a SFF rig for gaming and a netbook/laptop for the school work and keep the SFF in your dorm, apartment, rental house, etc., But thats just what I'd do if it were me. I play games though that require lots of performance and power.

 

[LtPage1]

In retrospect, I would've preferred the SFF+netbook. But then, I'm a humanities/social science major.

 

[dixon]

well my living arrangements are i would have my own studio/live with my sister in an apartment. i will NEVER ever live in a dorm or with people that i have just met so i don't think that security is an issue. i will probably take public transportation or walk to the campus everyday. the main argument against the laptops are that they cannot be upgraded and are a bit heavy. does engineering softwares really use that much resource that the netbook can't handle it?

 

[Skott]

I'm no expert of what is needed in a laptop for engineering students so I cant rightly suggest what power/performance requirements you will need but I wouldnt think you need a high price end one. Maybe contact people at the school you will be attending to see what power/performance requirements they reccommend as far as netbook/notebooks go? Perhaps you need a notebook instead of a netbook? Notebooks are getting cheaper every year it seems so thats a plus in your favor. It sounds like the ideal situation for your circumstance, assuming you can afford it, is a nice little budget SFF box, thats upgradeable to run your gaming needs *and* a seperate laptop for all your school work. The laptop should be able to get you through your full education without needing an upgrade so no need to worry about having to upgrade it or buying another after a year or two or even three. If you build your own SFF box you can save some money and put in it exactly what you need. With the right case and psu you could make it to last for years to come with room to grow.

 

[boomhower]

I would go with seperate systems. Luggging around a gaming notebook to class will get real old, real quick. I would look at either a netbook or tablet. If you intend to take noted in engineering classes on a computer you are going to need a tablet, no question about it. You could also wait a until closer to summer and see how the nettablets turn out, I don't have high hopes for their usability. I just don't see you needing that much power on the go. If you need to do something that intense in class, step across the hall into a lab. Then at home you can have your SSF for gaming, which is easily done. An Intel dual core with a 260/4870 in a SSF case will be relatively cheap and get the job done.

 

[preslove]

I recommend netbook + desktop over more expensive laptops to anyone in your situation. Just make sure to get one with a full(or almost)sized keyboard.

 

[narreth]

what about this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220510

 

[Emulex]

get a refurb'd macbook air.

very light. last time i checked they were $999 at the apple store.

then again with university discount you can probably afford to get a new macbook

 

[nageov3t]

how frequently do you think you'll be carrying your laptop around campus with you?

personally, my laptop just about never left my dorm room except on the odd long weekend when I'd go home. there weren't a whole lot of things that I did while running around campus that required a computer and I just used computer labs on those instances... more often than not, though, I found it a lot easier to use the free minutes before a class or something to catch up on reading rather than waiting for my laptop to boot up and writing two sentences of a paper before class started. (not to even touch on how annoying people who takes notes in class with laptops are)

 

[dixon]

Originally posted by: narreth
what about this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220510

that is exactly the laptop that i was going to get if i am going to get a laptop. if i was going to get a netbook though i will probably go get the samsung nc 10http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834131014 and put the rest of the budget into building an sff. does somebody here took engineering major in college(mechanical in particular)? if yes can you tell me if they require the performance of the laptop or can the netbook handle it?

 

[sindows]

Most people will never use their laptops to take notes. It just too impractical once a professor starts to draw diagrams/graphs/explanations in class. Having said that, I would personally go for a decent mid sized laptop along with an external monitor for usage outside of class. If you need to use a computer on campus, chances are that there are tons of PCs for use on campus.

 

[swbsam]

Yeah, I've never seen anyone ever take notes in class with their laptop. I've seen people browse/play solitaire in classes, but not actually work..

Still, you might want to study in the library and have your laptop with you. I'd get a netbook plus a 20" imac. You can get a refurb (or student) deal from the apple store. Currently $849 for the imac with a decent enough video card, plus $350 for your average netbook... You can get a netbook from the dell outlet for as low as $180 if you're patient.

 

[Knavish]

I'd vote for the netbook + SFF.

--SFF = useful for doing your serious work and gaming (full sized keyboard, good monitor, more reliable because it's not going to get beat up like a laptop in a backpack).

--netbook = *portable* & cheap little computer for doing simple programming, small homework problems, checking email / surfing during your down time

I was an engineering student as well (Electrical / Computer BS+MS , then Optical PHD). I don't think that you'll be using your laptop for taking notes very much. Does your engineering dept / university recommend a laptop for classes? I could see a laptop being helpful for working on homework or a project with a group of people. A netbook would be underpowered if you're running some big Matlab program, and it would be pretty useless for a CAD package for solidworks.

What branch of engineering are you going to study?

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: narreth
what about this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220510

Now that's one laptop I wouldn't mind switching back to full time Windows for.

 

[dixon]

i would be studying mechanical engineering there, what is the minimum specs needed to run those engineering programs you mentioned?

 

[swbsam]

Seriously, get an iMac and a netbook. An iMac can do whatever you want it to do, and runs Windows 7 like a dream. Heck, even the new MacMini would work great because of the new, higher end Nvidia integrated chipset it's using.

And girls love guys with macs.

I'm only partially kidding.

I just ordered an MSI wind for $339. 10" + $850 for the imac, and you're well below your budget. Buy a game console with the rest

 

[gorobei]

you can look up the system req's for Solidworks and Matlab. nothing to hefty. a decent dual core and 2+ GB of ram should handle most of it. the main hurdle is the graphics card/integratedGPU needs to be OpenGL compatible. most igp are good enough to do basic OGL, but the 3d display/camera view wont be that snappy. most of the newer igp on notebooks(radeon hd 3200, gf 9600m, etc) should be fine.

since you wont have security issues at your sister's place, you just need to figure out how much weight you're willing to lug around.

if you can wait for the dual core atoms to come out with the nv ion igp, you could get by with a netbook. that would give you a fair bit of your budget to build a SFF.

if you cant wait or want an all in one solution, a good notebook is probably what you're looking for.


i would stay away from the imacs for the SFF if you want to do some serious 3d. the graphic chips on the cheapest versions are the same IGP found in laptops. the top of the line imac has the nv GT130 which is an old gf9500. any custom built SFF will outperform that by a country mile.

 

[dixon]

i'm really not interested in a mac or macbook or any sort of apple computer. had enough with that osx in my sister's macbook, and the one button touchpad is especially annoying when i emulate windows. there is another solution though, my girlfriend would be going to the same college with me, and she will be taking civil engineering and she is going to buy the asus notebook that i and narreth mentioned. so probably she and i can switch between our netbook and notebook depending on the usage. i think i'm pretty much set because i really don't like having to carry a heavy laptop decent enough to do gaming and all those solidworks and matlab pograms.

next step is..sff specs
it has to be within 1000$ without monitor
also i will be buying retail because i'm not in america(if only newegg ships to asia!)
cpu=core2q9400
mobo=gigabyte GA-EG45M-DS2H
ram=ocz reaper 2x2gb
vga=ati radeon hd4870 512mb(still not set on which brand is good suggestions are welcome if it stays within budget
harddisk=seagate 7200.11 1tb
power supply=corsair 650watt 80plus
casing=either the thermaltake gaming cube or the silverstone sugo series(thermaltake looks better but silverstone is more elegant and the thermaltake weighs a ton while the silverstone is alumunium!)
any suggestions to what i can replace to make it better or cheaper?

 

[dixon]

apparently my mom said that i should get a desktop instead for future upgradeability and she will give me my dad's thinkpad x series laptop that has only been used twice so..thx for the help everybody

 

[Massive Overkill]

Originally posted by: dixon
as title says, i will be moving to melbourne to take bachelor and master engineering degree, i will use it for moderate gaming and everyday college work budget is around 1500$

thx in advance

Melbourne, FL as in FIT? If so welcome to my neck of the woods.

I also subscribe to a powerful SFF plus cheap notebook theory, but it looks like your mom has already helped you with that decision.

 

[Luminair]

you were asking what to get and you already have a free thinkpad x

nice one bud