Laptop for Electronic Engineering

Starting my 4 year Electronic Engineering course at Southampton this September, and i'm in need of a new laptop. I have a custom beast desktop that I built a year or two ago which can more than handle anything I can throw at it, so i'm thinking that a cheap laptop/convertible tablet will suffice for use in the university. For students who have spent a year or more in a similar course, would a mid-high end laptop be a good idea for my situation or will an el-cheapo one be okay? I have no clue if we are expected to run CAD software etc on the go (back at halls is already no problem).

Thanks for any responses!