Engineering students often face the difficult decision of what type of laptop to purchase. There are so many options out there, and not all laptops will be able to handle the demands that engineering programs put on them.
In this guide, we will discuss how you can find a great laptop for an engineering student, and some common pitfalls that they might fall into when making their decision. Let’s get started!
Engineering students are in for a challenge. They have to balance their coursework with the heavy demands of engineering, which often means long hours in labs and experimental design sessions.
The best laptops for engineering students will need to be able to handle the intense workloads while still providing them with an adequate amount of battery life. We’ve compiled a list of three laptops that we think fit this criterion.
What is the best laptop for engineering students?
For us, the best laptop for engineering students is the Dell XPS 15. Just like Gaming laptops engineering laptops come with discrete graphic images, powerful CPU performance, lots of storage, and a great memory.
Which are considered best for engineering coursework. Because many applications which perform engineering work have parallel demands.
Engineering Specs Requrements
Processor | 8th Generation Intel core i5 and i7+ |
Graphics | NVIDIA or AMD (Dedicated/discrete) |
CPU Speed | 3.5 GHz plus |
Display | 15-17″ will be excellent |
Storage | 500GB+ |
RAM | 8BG/16 GB DDR4 |
Battery Life | Up to 8+ hours |
OS | Windows 10 64bits |
The Top 3 Best laptops for engineering students
Dell XPS 15 isthe best overall laptop for engineering students and offer the best performance
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is the 2nd runner up and also provides better performance
Lenovo ThinkPad is our 3rd best on this list, it’s good for beginners also comes with a good price tag
The Best Laptops For Engineering Students
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1.Dell XPS 15 (2020)
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• Display: 15.6 inches; 1080p or 4K • CPU: 10th Gen Intel Core i5 / i7 • GPU: Intel UHD / Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti • RAM: 8GB / 16GB / 32GB / 64GB • Storage: 256GB / 512GB / 1TB / 2TB SSD • Weight: 4-4.5 pounds
DELL XPS 15 (2020) is definitely a workhouse. Don’t let its modish and lean body fool you because no doubt it’s extremely attractive to people. It has a gorgeous display of 15.6 inches; 1080p or 4K with immersive Infinity Edge.
Related article: Best Laptop for Mechanical Engineering Students
It has a powerful CPU of 10th Gen Intel Core i5 / i7. The reason it has such a great performance. This factor is a plus point for engineering students to perform heavy work smoothly and efficiently.
It has a GPU of Intel UHD / Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti. It has a RAM of 8GB / 16GB / 32GB / 64GB with a great storage capacity of benefiting space for engineering coursework.
It weighs 4-4.5 pounds. This feature makes it difficult to carry along within the school hours making it unhandy. Sometimes due to heavy workloads, it can become noisy but it gives larger productivity when in use.
When it comes to connecting external displays and peripherals and charging, DELL XPS 15 (2020) has a total of three USB-C ports.
2.Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
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Asus ROG Zephyrus has an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q GPU and AMD Ryzen 9-4900HS processor, making it powerful and fast which can be converted into more productive uses by the engineering students.
Asus is a popular brand loved by many actually the best Asus gaming laptops are known to have disrupted the gaming industry.
What makes it incredible than other gaming laptops is its 11 hours of battery which makes you not scramble for the charger in your engineering school hours and you can take classes easily weighing 3.5 pounds.
It has a bright and gorgeous display of 14-inches with a display resolution of 1920 x 1080 which has great viewing angles and colours making the work experience as well as movie experience memorable.
It consists of a storage capacity of 1TB SSD with 16GB RAM making it beneficial for engineering students to store their work files which are under study. Great for engineering students who need a beefy laptop.
3. MacBook Pro 16-inch
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Thanks to beefy specs, long battery life and great CPU performance (Discrete AMD GPU) that without an M1 chip this big 16-inch MacBook Pro serve engineering students very well.
Its 16inch display with a resolution of 3072 x 1920 pixels plays a great role in making different presentations and projects as well as viewing them gives a separate visual ride 429-nit screen delivering a bright and lively picture.
Its speakers are so good with quality that it was awarded as the best sounding laptop.
With a storage capacity of 512GB – 2TB SSD and 8GB – 32GB RAM, good for storing files related to academics. It weighs 4.3 pounds being unhandy for some students carrying during long school hours.
4. Dell XPS 17
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This gorgeous Dell XPS 17 is the best choice for engineering students because it ensures plenty of power for the projects with a Core i7-10875H CPU and a GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card with a GPU of Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, GeForce RTX 2060. But it is a bit harder to carry along with.
Its slim bezel design makes it more attractive. It has a display of 17 inches with a storage capacity of 512GB-2TB and 16GB-64GB RAM. It has a weight of 5.53 pounds which don’t make it an ideal one to carrying this along with you.
5. Alienware m15 R4 (2021)
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If you need one of the best gaming laptops from the market with the best power which can also run applications of heavy loads then Alienware m15 R4 is the one you are looking for.
Although it has very less battery life compared to other laptops. In the battery test, its battery only lasted for 4 hours after one charging, which is not enough for an engineering student to cope it along the long projects.
It consists of a CPU with an Intel Core i7-10870H CPU @ 2.20GHz, 2.21 GHz and with a GPU of Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070.
It consists of 1TB SSD with 16GB RAM making easy for the engineering students to perform web surfing or to install the documents they need for academic purpose.
Nowadays online systems due to covid has demanded a great need of storage capacity in laptops. Because students also use presentation slides and online books to study.
This laptop weighs 5.3 pounds making the device difficult to carry around in different classes.
6. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Laptop
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This ThinkPad is for the engineering student on the go. Whether you’re at home, in class or at a conference site, this Lenovo Laptop will be your tech sidekick through it all.
Build with an Intel Core i7-9750H 2.6ghz 9th Gen processor and 16GB of DDR4 SODIMM RAM so you can work efficiently and without lag time even when running many demanding programs simultaneously.
This laptop also features an NVIDIA GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5 card so that graphics remain smooth and vibrant without sacrificing speed and performance in comparison to other laptops out there with less capable cards which only offer integrated graphics solutions.
A 15 inch Full HD 1920×1080 display lets colour fills come alive while bold text stands out.
All of this is housed in a stylish magnesium alloy frame that’s durable and lightweight, making it easy to carry with you on the go.
This laptop also comes equipped with an HD webcam so your video calls will be clear as day without any lag or poor quality sound for those late-night study sessions when everyone else has gone to bed.
Things to consider when buying a laptop for engineering students.
Many engineering students have a lot of homework, projects and exams to deal with. When it comes time to buy a laptop for schoolwork, you need something that is powerful enough without being too heavy or bulky.
The following guide will walk you through features to look for in an engineering notebook computer before making a purchase decision.
Laptop Weight:
Make sure the weight isn’t going to be cumbersome when carrying around your classes day-to-day.
Don’t forget about all the textbooks either! Lighter laptops are typically easier on battery life.
So this should be another factor considered when looking at models from different manufacturers, especially if they both offer similar performance specs otherwise.
Display Size & Resolution:
Engineering studies require plenty of detailed diagrams and drawings. You’ll need a screen that is large enough to display all of the necessary information but not so big as to make your laptop bulky and heavy.
A Full HD 1080p resolution will do fine for most engineering students, though some may prefer even higher resolutions such as Quad HD 2560x1440p or Ultra HD 3840×2560 pixels.
Which offer better picture quality and more space for toolbars etc on your screen(s).
Processor:
Most current laptops feature an Intel Core i-Series processor with two cores at least (four recommended) but you can also find models running AMD processors if they are available in the price range you want.
The amount of RAM included is typically either four gigabytes or gigabytes although older computers might have less.
Consider upgrading this if you can as more RAM will help with multitasking and running multiple engineering programs at once, especially simultaneously.
Graphics Card:
Engineering software is graphics intensive so a dedicated video card is necessary for displaying all those lines, diagrams and equations clearly on the screen.
For most models that feature Intel HD Graphics or AMD Radeon R-Series cards, these should be fine.
But look into getting a laptop with something faster such as NVIDIA GeForce GTX Series processors if possible to future-proof your notebook computer against new versions of Windows which may require even stronger graphics processing power going forward.
Storage Capacity & Type:
A lot of laptops have built-in storage drives made up of either an SSD (solid-state drive) or an HDD (hard disk drive).
SSDs are faster and offer more storage space for the price while HDDs have roomier capacities but aren’t as fast.
Many models also include both so you can choose which to configure your computer with depending on how much storage space is necessary versus speed prioritized in various tasks.
Two primary types of RAM: SDRAM and DDR. Different speeds, voltages and other factors determine which one will work best in a given laptop model when deciding upgrades later down the line too if need be.
Many laptops feature upgradable memory by way of an access panel on the bottom where it’s easily accessible without breaking open the entire machine like some do not- look carefully at this before buying.
Our Conclusion On The Best Laptops for Engineering Students
Engineering students have a lot to juggle, and it can be tough to find the time or energy to buy new and of course best laptops.
Engineering students are often faced with the dilemma of choosing between a laptop that can run heavy-duty engineering software or one that won’t break their budget.
Luckily, laptops have evolved to meet these needs and there is now an abundance of affordable options for engineering students who need both power and affordability in their machines.
We’ve done all the heavy lifting for you! Check out this list of our top picks for engineering students (in no particular order), ranging in price from $200-1500. Whether you prefer Macs, PCs, Chromebooks or something else entirely – we’ve got what you’re looking for.
Happy shopping engineer!
FAQ for engineering laptop for students
What laptop do I need for university engineering?
You simply need a laptop that is graphic and GPU intensive. A laptop that can run heavy engineering software without overheating or draining charge too fast.
Is a laptop required for engineering students?
It is not compulsory for you to have a laptop. You can use your tablets, or phone to do most of the research. But for senior and serious engineering students, I would strongly recommend you buy the best laptop.
How much RAM do I need for engineering?
Do not go for less than 8GB RAM. However, you can shine with a 16GB RAM laptop. As a matter of fact, having a fast laptop is crucial for your engineering carrier.