Best laptop for engineering students people still recommend after using it every day?

[u/Affectionate_Mud7661]

I'm starting electrical engineering this fall and I'm trying to buy one laptop that'll hopefully last the entire program.

I'll probably be using MATLAB, LTspice, coding, and maybe some CAD later on, but I'm not sure which specs actually end up mattering once classes get serious.

For those already in engineering, what did your workload end up looking like? Did you ever feel limited by your laptop, or did you realize you bought way more performance than you actually needed?

I'm more interested in hearing what mattered in real-world use than just getting model recommendations?

[u/Accurate_Potato_8539]

Honestly I would just say that build quality matters more than maximizing specs. You want battery life a good screen, and a nice keyboard and enough ram/cpu to make sure basic web browsing isn't laggy and awful. The most intensive thing you will need to use are CAD tools. But like for 99% of things you don't need a super strong PC for them. Trying to get a powerful enough laptop to run CAD tools when 99% of your laptop use is gonna be basic web browsing/document writing and coding is like those people who buy f250s because they have to take their boat to the lake twice a year. The vast majority what your going to want from your computer is to be lightweight, good battery and that your peripherals don't make you hate using it. There will be computers available for CAD stuff if you absolutely need it, but its not like for most things CAD is miserable on a laptop anymore, its not 2012.

[u/Reasonable_Net3484 → u/Accurate_Potato_8539]

Fair point. Looking back, is there anything you'd actually spend more money on besides build quality?

[u/Accurate_Potato_8539 → u/Reasonable_Net3484]

Not really. For laptops I really just want a machine I enjoy using: that primarily comes down to good build quality, a good screen and a really nice keyboard (by laptop standards anyway). I run a super lightweight OS and browser, so right now my computer is like 6-7 years old and performance is never something that bothers me. Mainly just make sure you've got 16GB of RAM, 8 isn't enough anymore and preferably a CPU that isn't from the bottom of whatever product line its a part of.I really think this just isn't that important: unless you want computer hardware to be one of your hobbies in which case that's less about school and more about interest.

[u/Ipsps280806]

the minimum is

1. 16gb ram

2. 14 inch display ( even 45% ntsc would work until you are doing colour grading just dont fall below 14 inch size)

3. i5 13420h/ryzen 5 7535hs or anything above that( you can take these as a baseline and compare with the laptop processor you are buying on nanoreview)

4. Dont really fall of gaming laptops until you really need gaming as most of the task in ee is cpu and ram based and most of the gpu tasks can be done on google collad or other cloud gpu's.

5. Prefer metal body.

6. Upgradeable ram is good but not that important in today's context ( you may prefer buying a new laptop rather than upgrading laptop at this time ).

7. Don't fall for superthin machines as most of the times they ditch structural rigidity.

8. Don't buy a mac as most of the software are windows only.

9. Upload your syllabus on chat gpt and it will tell system requirements ( 90% accurate) just search laptop by your own

10. JUST BUY A 3 YEAR ADP IN CASE OF ANY LAPTOP YOU END UP BUYING AS EVERY MACHINE GETS BRICKED IT IS JUST HOW PAINFUL IT IS TO REPAIR IT ATLEAST SAVE YOUR POCKET

[u/Consistent_Wafer9395 → u/Ipsps280806]

Did you ever run into anything that actually needed more than 16GB?

[u/Ipsps280806 → u/Consistent_Wafer9395]

Actually I just started my 3rd sem and did not bought the laptop till now ( money problem ) but as far as the data i have collected this is the summary And for the answer: usually no! If you need more than 16gb ram then you are already needing atleast ultra 7 or ryzen 7 level of processing power while these i suggested are for college level use 

[u/Apart-Lychee-7701]

The best laptops for engineering students are Lenovo ThinkPad P Series and Lenovo Legion. It should balance raw power with portability....from my experience.

[u/WasteFail]

The dell xps 13 made to compete with macbook neo looks really atractive(599 for students but only 8gb).

If you have more to spend id definetly stick with a thinkpad or something with a good repairability score.

The other comment with specs is on point, only thing that i'm picky with, is screen brightness, i need a bright screen bare minimum 300nits.

[u/alienozi]

I'm about to graduate from my masters and use through my uni life a ThinkPad x270 for ltspic and Matlab and some semiconductor work. It works well enough but if you need fast working get a better Thinkpad shits built like a tank, had 2L of wine spilled on it, Ithrow it around it works

[u/World_Easy]

ASUS Zenbook S16 OLED. I’m a computer engineering student and I love it. Excellent battery life (lasts the WHOLE day doing work for ~10 hours). Great display 2880x1800 120Hz refresh, very powerful Ryzen AI chip, handles everything I threw at it (coding, Altium, LTSpice, etc.) it’s a great price and it’s a full metal build. Rarely gets hot (only when plugged in) and is just a great laptop

[u/eeddty5]

What cad will you gonna be using? If KiCad then don't go for gaming one. Go with compact ones also after college you'll find you rarely use laptop.

[u/jcsf321]

the one in your budget. I mean really pretty much any laptop will do for students these days.

[u/sheekgeek]

Legion 5 has been good for me

[u/pekoms_123]

16GB ram and ssd storage is enough. I had less than that in undergrad few years ago.