Engineering student's laptop?

Colleges & Universities Lehigh University
1

<p>I’ll be attending Lehigh in the fall as an undecided engineering student and I’m looking to get a new laptop. I’ll almost definitely get a PC because I just like them better and I know they’re more compatible for engineering apps. I was considering one with a touchscreen/tablet option because they’re really cool and could be very useful for a student but they’re pretty much always either not powerful at all or way more expensive than ones without touchscreens.</p>

<p>So anyway I need a PC laptop that isn’t too expensive but still powerful enough for an engineering student. Any suggestions? Possibly from a current engineering student at Lehigh?</p>

2

<p>My son just bought a Dell Vostro 3450 Laptop. He is an incoming IBE student.</p>

<p>Specs below:</p>

<p>1 225-0731 Vostro 3450 Laptop $969.00
1 317-6508 2nd generation Intel Core i5-2410M processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz Vostro<br>
1 317-6515 4GB,1333MHZ,DDR3,1X4G 1 DIMM Vostro
1 331-1884 Backlit Keyboard with Gesture Touchpad, English Vostro<br>
1 331-1741 English Documentation, Technical sheet, Vostro<br>
1 318-0548 AMD Radeon HD 6630M (128-bit) 1GB Graphic Vostro<br>
1 342-2440 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive Vostro<br>
1 421-4784 Dell,Software DPR,Finger Print Reader,5.X,Factory Installed Vostro<br>
1 331-1888 Dell,Palmrest,with Finger Print Reader, 3450 Vostro
1 320-2177 14.0 inch High Definition LED Display (1366 x 768) with anti-glare Vostro<br>
1 421-1563 Windows 7 Professional, Media, 64-bit, Notebook, Vostro, English<br>
1 330-6322 Genuine Windows 7 Label, Latitude, Vostro and Mobile Precision Notebooks<br>
1 421-4746 Windows Live Wave 4 Vostro<br>
1 421-2231 Dell Data Back-up and Recovery Manager for WinXP,Vostro
1 331-1883 Dell Resource DVD, Vostro<br>
1 421-4735 Dell Support Center Software 3.0<br>
1 421-4768 SKYPE VOIP Software Application Vostro<br>
1 421-2262 Windows 7 XP Mode,Opti/PWS/Lat/Vost
1 421-4047 Dell Digital Delivery Client, version 1.0<br>
1 331-1800 Dell,Adapter,AC,DLTA,90W,3P,ARM,WW Vostro<br>
1 331-1801 Dell,Cord,Power,125V,1M,C5,US,Vostro<br>
1 318-0656 8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+/-R write capability, Data Only Vostro<br>
1 421-5105 Cyberlink PDVD 9.5, Vostro<br>
1 421-4728 Roxio Creator Starter,Factory Installed, Vostro
1 421-4597 Roxio Creator Starter Kit,Vostro<br>
1 421-4739 Integrated Webcam and Digital Array Mic with Dell Webcam Central Vostro
1 430-4058 Dell,Card,Network,1030,Vostro<br>
1 421-4788 Dell,SRV,Software,1030,WLAN/BT,3450 Vostro<br>
1 318-0549 Aberdeen Silver WIFI Vostro
1 331-2033 Bottom Base for DVD+/RW Vostro<br>
1 421-2283 No Security,Winery, Vostro<br>
1 312-1195 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, for Vostro<br>
1 421-3881 Microsoft Office Starter 2010 Vostro<br>
1 953-0850 Basic Support: Next Business Day Parts and Labor Onsite Response Initial Year<br>
1 929-7477 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty Plus Onsite Service Initial Year
1 988-7347 No Warranty beyond 1 year<br>
1 983-3920 Warranty Support,Initial Year<br>
1 900-9987 Standard On-Site Installation Declined $0.00
1 331-1890 Energy Star 5.0 Enabled Vostro $0.00
1 331-1737 Aberdeen Silver Vostro $0.00</p>

<p>He discussed these specs with his brother, who just graduated from Stevens, and that was why he added the graphics card.</p>

3

<p>I have a Lenovo and I love it.</p>

<p>I went with an i7, 8GB RAM, and a 7200 RPM HDD, in addition to a dedicated graphics card.</p>

<p>To be perfectly honest, in order to get a laptop that will last you all 4 (or 5, in my case) years of school and still be “current” by the time you graduate, you’ll have to spend a decent amount of coin. A $500 laptop simply won’t cut it. I spent about 1400 on mine, including a 4(maybe 3?) year warranty.</p>

<p>The Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Tablet <em>might</em> be right up your alley. It’s a laptop with a swivel hinge that lets you convert to a tablet in class. I have a friend with the X200 (last gen) tablet and it’s really cool.</p>

<p>As you can see from the above, the base price for that model was just under 1000, which is the right neighborhood.</p>

<p>I would say that a ThinkPad from Lenovo would be your best bet. They’re built like tanks and they’re great laptops.</p>