Best Laptop for Engineering Students in 2024

Hi There,

I start university in the 24/25 year and I am looking to buy a laptop. I am doing BEng Mechanical Engineering meaning I need a good high processor and a large display.

Does anybody who has purchased a laptop before in the engineering sector have any reccomendations on brands or models?

Reply 1

TNGFR

Original post by patrickhale

Hi There,
I start university in the 24/25 year and I am looking to buy a laptop. I am doing BEng Mechanical Engineering meaning I need a good high processor and a large display.
Does anybody who has purchased a laptop before in the engineering sector have any reccomendations on brands or models?

Budget?

Reply 2

University of Salford Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post by patrickhale

Hi There,
I start university in the 24/25 year and I am looking to buy a laptop. I am doing BEng Mechanical Engineering meaning I need a good high processor and a large display.
Does anybody who has purchased a laptop before in the engineering sector have any reccomendations on brands or models?

Hi there!

Congrats on starting your BEng Mechanical Engineering!

Many engineering students recommend brands like Dell, Lenovo, and HP. Specifically, the Dell XPS series and Lenovo ThinkPad series are popular due to their powerful specs and reliability. Make sure to look for laptops with at least an Intel i7 or equivalent processor, 16GB of RAM, and a good graphics card if you’ll be doing any CAD work. A larger display, preferably 15 inches or more, will also help with multitasking and detailed work. 512GB of storage should be the minimum you go for.

At the University of Salford, we offer a laptop loan service where you can borrow Windows or MacBook laptops for up to a 4 week. This could be a great way to try out computers or maybe choose to not purchase one at all. Check if your university offers a similar service!

Best of luck with your studies and laptop hunt!

Cheers,
Arslan – University of Salford Student Representative

Reply 3

Rhodie72

Original post by patrickhale

Hi There,
I start university in the 24/25 year and I am looking to buy a laptop. I am doing BEng Mechanical Engineering meaning I need a good high processor and a large display.
Does anybody who has purchased a laptop before in the engineering sector have any reccomendations on brands or models?

Yep, I got one. HP Zbook vPRO i7 with 1 Tb SSD and 2 GPU's (one onboard and NVIDIA RTX 3500 ADA 3D GPU with 32Gb RAM) and 64Gb system RAM and secondary 4 Gb HDD. Bang and Olufsen sound system. Boots up in under 20 seconds every time from hibernation.

Reply 4

username7143497

I’m looking to buy one too but for civil engineering. I’ve settled for a minimum of 16GB RAM, perhaps an i7 intel processor, 500GB ROM and a battery life of at least 5 hours. I’m thinking a sturdy HP probook (2019 and beyond) or maybe a spectre. I would have loved a Mac but lots of engineers say that the CAD and other engineering related apps aren’t directly supported on MacOS.
I’m not sure whether touch screen capabilities and laptop size matter to you but I’m guessing that it might be easier to navigate CAD software on a larger screen that supports touch screen or stylus input.