Hi, I hope that you guys can help me. My son has been accepted to Arizona State University in the Mechanical Enginneering proram next year.My problem is what computer does he need? He wants a Macbook Pro but we are wondering if that is what they use in that field or would he be better off with a cheaper PC?
Thanks
The Beast and The beloved
Jayco Senecca 34SS & '84 Mobile Traveler
Always in our memories
Before we retired, we had a business cabling businesses and collages, state agencies and other schools for phone and computers, and the majority of computers at the schools and state agencies were Macs. In the businesses we cabled, it was PCs. Go figure!
Being a big Mac person I hate to say it but most of the software he will be using is for PC's. Not that, that is much of an issue any more. With Apple switch to Intel chips there are several programs that will allow him to run both OSX and Windows of some flavor. Some of these will not run concurrent ie, either OSX or PC not both, but there are several where you can have both operating systems going at the same time.
Biggest advantage to the Mac is the lack of viruses and sypware etc. although that is because Apple does have a smaller market share. All I know is that I have a PowerBook that I bought going on five years ago and I have never had a virus found on it. I do have virus software but it has never found anything. OSX was also far more stable than Vista where they had to release an update the same day Vista was released. However I hate to say it but I have had more program crashes (only the program has to be restarted) with my iMac duo core then I ever had with my PowerBook (G4). All in all the switch to Intel may not have been the smartest move that Apple made.
Bottom line is that with computers these days is that you can get either one. I would find out first if anyone has had the programs he will use running on the mac through an emulator.
I am a Computer Engineering PhD student and I use a Macbook Pro. I do run a lot of weird Windows-only software (and some homebrew, prototype hardware) all with no problems. I use Parallels with Windows XP, but I also have a current copy of MS Office for Mac.
I am so much happier with my Mac. Many programs he might use now have Mac versions of which he could purchase a student copy. Mac's have long been supported for both CAD and simulation (MatLab, Labview).
Josh
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Get what the school recommends for the courses he will be taking. Do NOT take the word of any one here (except me of course). Not a virus or spyware since 1995. YES 1995. One BSOD in over 7 years except for once because of a bad driver. By the way I am now on VISTA sp1 and I haven't found an issue yet or a crash. Trust you own judgement.
* This post was
edited 04/22/08 10:15pm by an administrator/moderator *
When my son went off to study ME in 2001 he left home with a PC. It was a good choice for him because:
Every time I upgraded one of my hard drives I gave him my old one. Essentially he was getting free hard drive upgrades about every 18 months.
Everyone he knew had a PC. He could get all the help that he wanted from any number of people. If he had a Mac he would have been on his own. He did not know anyone that had a Mac. Linux either for that matter. Fortunately the Mac is so much better than a PC that Mac users never ask anyone for help under any situation.
Some of the student editions of high end CAD software are only available on a single platform. Any student that does not have that platform can use one of the computers in the lab on campus during normal school hours. If you have the right platform you can do the work at home. As others have said, check with the school.
Students will swap a lot of free software amongst themselves, some legit, some is not. It is best to have the same thing as every one else around you, what ever that is.
Things have changed since 2001. They will change again by September.
Personally I am very biased. I routinely open up my computers to perform various upgrades. I still run the computer that I bought in 1995. I have not heard of any Mac users that are still running the same machine 13 years later, but I am sure that some do. I have gone from 1.2 gigabytes of disk space to 1024 gigabytes in various increments along the way. If you start with a few terabytes now then you won't have any reason to increase disk capacity later. This depends on how much stuff is collected. Engineering drawings can get to be pretty large. But they also can be archived to DVD, as long as you can burn DVDs.
For engineering, I would recommend at least a gigabyte of RAM. Plan on a minimum monitor size of 21 inches. For a laptop this will mean an external monitor. They won't need the big monitor the first year, but they will before they graduate. FWIW, At work my son uses two 24 inch monitors today, but he didn't have to buy them either.
If I was buying a flat display I would give serious consideration to the ones that rotate 90 degrees. You can use them either really wide (watching movies, big spread sheets, engineering drawings) or really tall (writing term papers).
Wayne in San Jose
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