Perfect laptop for engineering students
Much of the academic requirements and office work of engineering students and engineers now oblige the use of rugged computers. From reports, presentations, and computer-aided design, there are several activities that need to have one working computer to meet and beat deadlines. After all, computers make it easier, faster, and more efficient to accomplish a wide variety of tasks.
While desktop computers can be much powerful, it is recommended for engineering students and engineers to have laptops or tablets for one reason: portability. The speed and versatility of desktop computers can already be found in most laptops now thanks to the technology available.
But what are the specific laptop requirements required for engineering students and engineers? Let’s dissect that into seven which should be considered before you buy a laptop: the CPU processor speed, hard-disk drive memory, RAM, connectivity, screen size, dedicated video cards, and operating system.
In summary, here are the standard requirements for a laptop suited for engineering students and engineers.
CPU Processor Speed
The CPU does everything in its power to perform more than one instruction per cycle, so you need a relatively fast CPU processor to open and run programs in the minimum amount of time. Just like the Intel i5 or better.
Having a CPU speed that is not adequate could mean that you have to wait for long time for the software to boot. You might have experienced this before when running AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or Matlab on a slow computer.
Hard-Disk Drive Memory
Another important consideration is the memory and storage of the laptop because you have to save everything that you do, which eats up space. Word files, drawing files, pictures, and videos among others should be kept safe in a hard-disk drive.
The memory that you should have in your laptop is at least 500 GB.
RAM
Above the processing speed and the memory, the random access memory or RAM is where the real work takes place. This directly affects the computer’s speed – the more RAM your CPU has access to, the faster the computer. An insufficient amount of RAM could damage the computer’s performance.
The most-recommended capacity is 8 GB, but 12 GB and 16 GB are also preferred. However, it is worth noting to have a good graphics adapter than a huge amount of RAM.
Connectivity
Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) and Bluetooth are essential tools that a laptop should have. This will help in sharing your work with others which also help in storing your documents in other devices.
Screen Size
Unless you have a problem with the size of the screen, then this part is not really much of a requirement. A 14- or 15-inch laptop is already fine and enough to display what needs to be displayed.
But it’s important to note the screen resolution – the higher screen resolution means more area for multiple windows. The most recommended is the 1920×1080 pixels because of its 1080p true HD quality. Most laptops now come in 3k or 4k quality anyway so that should not be a problem.
Dedicated Video Cards
As mentioned in the RAM part, it is worth noting to have a good graphics adapter, or video card, than a huge amount of RAM, especially when the processing required is exhaustive like AutoCAD, SolidWorks, and Matlab. The video card has to meet the video processing needs of engineering students and engineers.
A 2GB DDR3 graphics card should be enough, but if the laptop is used in other work like high-end gaming, you should consider a DDR5 graphics like the Nvidia GTX series.
Operating System
A MacBook or a Windows laptop? Before choosing, you have to consider the applications that you have to use. Remember that OS X has restrictions when it comes to engineering programs, no matter how superb their MacBook is in other aspects. Plus, the CPU and GPU options are below compared with the Windows mobile workstation.
There are far more advantages with the Windows laptop because of its versatility and price flexibility.
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Source: Turbo Future
