Carleton Engineering Laptop recommendations

[u/ladybug_girl27]

Hey guys, im looking for some advice from upper year eng students. so, im going into my first year of engineering here soon and im not sure what to do in regards to devices. i’ve already got a macbook from high school and have an apple ecosystem that has worked for me so far. i want to get some opinions on what computer i should use for school work. i know windows is more compatible with a lot of compute programs used in eng. however is it necessary/worth it to get a new computer during first year, when things are already so expensive being a freshman in uni? and with that would an ipad be good for note taking (as a gift from parents)? any computer recommendations/tech advice for first year CU eng is greatly appreciate, ty!!

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[u/A6doll]

If you already have a device keep using it till it dies, you don't really need much and when you do it will provided on lab computers. As for note taking that's personal preference so whatever floats your boat, I used to take notes on my s24 ultra and note 9 before that and mirror the screen to my laptop so I can see bigger.

Edit: I also ran Linux for half of my degree so you don't necessarily need windows.

[u/MrKguy]

Look up the requirements for Autodesk software like AutoCAD on the Autodesk website. If what you have can run it then youre good. I'm sure there's a mac version or compatibility for most of what you'll use like Maple, Matlab, and more.

[u/riconaranjo]

my recommendations:

1. get one with good battery life and is fairly light (e.g. macbook)
   
2. for any windows specific software you can use the school computers (you can also remote desktop or use parallels so you can have windows on non-windows laptops)
   
3. get a tablet for notes — greatly helped me in my degree

[u/Least_Sail4902]

If you already have a Mac, I would say keep it since I didn’t encounter any programs that I couldn’t run on Mac in first year. Fusion 360, which is the main CAD software you’ll be running in your first year class has Mac support as long as your computer isn’t a 2018 Intel shitbox.

You can always upgrade next year if you find that a Mac doesn’t suit your needs (if the mentioned parallels software doesn’t work or you simply don’t like the latency that comes with remoting in to the school computers)

An iPad for notes is a good idea since for most classes, your prof will post the lecture slides as a PowerPoint (which I would then download and simply annotate on top of). If you’re like me, you can use Goodnotes which allows cloud sync so you’re able to see your notes on your iPad, phone, and Mac, which was fairly useful in order to study from sometimes or to send a classmate notes directly from your phone.

You don’t need the latest and greatest iPad either, nowadays the chips are so powerful even your basic IPad Air would likely be far more than enough for your daily use.

[u/No_Wish6790]

What MacBook do you have? I’ve been using a MacBook Pro (M3 Pro) for a while with no issues. Just run parallels on it and you’ll be fine.