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Advice on Macbook configuration for an engineering student.

snaky69 said:
A nice external screen can take care of that. I'm a mechanical engineer myself and sometimes I have to work with AutoCAD (shudders, I hate having to work with it, too primitive). The only times where AutoCAD gets demanding is with very large files with many, many layers. Things like the layout of a plant or a building with all spaces represented.

For basic stuff, AutoCAD is just 2D lines, so it's not all that taxing.
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This is what baffles me about AutoCAD; it IS just 2D lines, yet it utilizes most of my resources to do this. Even just AutoCAD open with nothing drawn is draining the system in battery, CPU, and GPU. It seems like it is just an inefficient program to me...
 
gtanner00 said:
Sounds good. So you were talking about the pause function though. That definitely releases the resources? But when the VM is running I will take up all of the ram/ cores it has been assigned.
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Hm- looks like I was wrong. Just tried twice, and it looks like it still holds onto the RAM. Honestly Mavericks has good management so I would think you'd be ok. But it looks like the RAM stayed in the VM. The CPU on the other hand showed that it was free pretty much the whole time, which I would take to mean it only uses as needed, otherwise it remains available to OS X.

Also, Barney could be right about the RAM being more dynamic. I'll look and see what I can find.

You mentioned office as well. I will have access to a 5 device subscription within my family so I could potentially take two licenses to use in either Mac or windows (I realize that is bit what you were talking about) do you prefer the Mac version over the standard windows suite? One is from 2011 and the other from 2013 but it shouldn't really matter. Also how is power consumption in parallels in relation to battery life?
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I have both the windows and OS X version of Office. They are different, but I have no real preference. I used Word on OS X as there's no reason to use it in Windows. Our Engineering technically didn't offer support for Excel (which is what one of my classes revolved around) when used in OS X, so I used Excel pretty equally in both OS's. I honestly thought that both were equivalent, neither was better in my mind.

As far as battery life- I would call it decent. Since I have a discrete gpu, my battery life in Windows isn't superb anyways. And the VM just emulates the graphics, honestly it was probably better then bootcamp would have been. Especially with pausing it when I wasn't going to use it, I have no complaints.

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How is insisting in a proper engineering machine not helpful?
 
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cube said:
How is insisting in a proper engineering machine not helpful?
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You provide no reasoning behind him choosing that machine. Besides, nothing is wrong with Macs. They are just as capable if you install windows. In fact, depending on what type of engineering, there could be no difference. As a computer engineer, having a Unix based machine is possibly just as important as having a windows machine.
 
bkribbs said:
You provide no reasoning behind him choosing that machine. Besides, nothing is wrong with Macs. They are just as capable if you install windows. In fact, depending on what type of engineering, there could be no difference. As a computer engineer, having a Unix based machine is possibly just as important as having a windows machine.
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Especially when I have desktop class machines at my disposal as well. I would like something more consumer oriented.
 
bkribbs said:
You provide no reasoning behind him choosing that machine. Besides, nothing is wrong with Macs. They are just as capable if you install windows. In fact, depending on what type of engineering, there could be no difference. As a computer engineer, having a Unix based machine is possibly just as important as having a windows machine.
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Macs are not as capable. Mac laptops only support up to 16GB RAM while the only ThinkPads supporting 32GB RAM are the W series.

And it is not the same running virtualised as native.

And you can always dual boot or virtualise Linux or Unix on the ThinkPad.
 
cube said:
Macs are not as capable. Mac laptops only support up to 16GB RAM while the only ThinkPads supporting 32GB RAM are the W series.

And it is not the same running virtualised as native.

And you can always dual boot or virtualise Linux or Unix on the ThinkPad.
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1- Oh please. 16 gigs of RAM is more than is needed. 32 is insane unless it's a server or something. Most engineers here have 4-8 gigs of RAM.

2- Bootcamp works on macs to run Windows natively.

3- Yes, you could. No arguments there. I just prefer OS X, but that is preference.
 
bkribbs said:
1- Oh please. 16 gigs of RAM is more than is needed. 32 is insane unless it's a server or something.
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Not for me. That's why I will once more look once more to buy a mobile workstation when I have to run certain calculations again.
 
cube said:
Not for me. That's why I will once more look once more to buy a mobile workstation when I have to run certain calculations again.
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Are you in school or what are you doing? You haven't mentioned.

For a student, especially one who has powerful resources he can access, this shouldn't be a problem anyways. Perhaps in his career later, but then that's later and technology would have changed by then anyways.
 
Also, you can only have up to 1TB internal storage in current Mac laptops (except the classic 13", which is only dual core), which is another major deal breaker if you want to avoid external.
 
gtanner00 said:
The University I am attending (UCalgary) has very robust and well funded engineering faculty. Therefore there is a lot of technology equipment and computer labs available to students which would certainly oit class a laptop. At the same time, many of the lecture halls are not renovated to include student power outlets. Hence the need for extended battery use and portability.

From what I have been told, it sounds like I need a computer capable of light AutoCAD and MATLAB work if I would like to work on projects while staying in residence. (Calgary can get very cold in the winter :( )

I am fixed on getting a 13" display. If that means I need to buy a used monitor or something then so be it. I like the retina display however I'm sure if I bought the MBA I wouldn't notice the difference without the two side by side

By the way, I am brand new to Mac but I thought it would be fun to learn both OSX (which seems more power efficient) as well as Windows 8 in parallels or boot camp.
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Congrats and welcome to the U of C! I'm a grad student in Bio Science here. From my experience the number one thing new students are going to need is something they can take their notes on. Whether that is plain old paper, an iPad or a laptop - the key consideration is how long you'll be able to work at it.

Your right about power plugs at U of C, don't count on them being available in all of your classes (especially now that they are doing a major renovation on the Engineering campus - meaning classes in lots of random places on campus).

For the kinds of projects your going to be doing my guess is your going to want a computer with a bit more oomph than the MacBook Air. The 13" MacBook Pro is probably a good balance of portability, battery life and power. The 15" is great from a computer perspective (I have one), but is definitely bulkier and has about an hour less battery life. I would encourage you to look at getting an external display, Dell has some great deals and as a student you can access the online education store through the MyUofC gateway.

cube said:
Macs are not as capable. Mac laptops only support up to 16GB RAM while the only ThinkPads supporting 32GB RAM are the W series.

And it is not the same running virtualised as native.

And you can always dual boot or virtualise Linux or Unix on the ThinkPad.
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Honestly if you need that kind of computing power/RAM you will be running it on the University's servers...
 
TheIguana said:
Congrats and welcome to the U of C! I'm a grad student in Bio Science here. From my experience the number one thing new students are going to need is something they can take their notes on. Whether that is plain old paper, an iPad or a laptop - the key consideration is how long you'll be able to work at it.

Your right about power plugs at U of C, don't count on them being available in all of your classes (especially now that they are doing a major renovation on the Engineering campus - meaning classes in lots of random places on campus).

For the kinds of projects your going to be doing my guess is your going to want a computer with a bit more oomph than the MacBook Air. The 13" MacBook Pro is probably a good balance of portability, battery life and power. The 15" is great from a computer perspective (I have one), but is definitely bulkier and has about an hour less battery life. I would encourage you to look at getting an external display, Dell has some great deals and as a student you can access the online education store through the MyUofC gateway.



Honestly if you need that kind of computing power/RAM you will be running it on the University's servers...
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Thanks for the tips. Nice to talk to a U of C student. I am a recipient of a schulich award and recently made a trip out there to check everything out. Seems like a very friendly school with lots of support. I am very excited.

You are right about the macbook air of course. I just wasn't sure it was worth having a pro if I couldn't do the stuff I expected to do on it anyways. Now I know that it is indeed powerful enough for most low level projects.

I was looking into the dell purchase program but a lot of links are broken in the student center. Can you message me a link?
 
TheIguana said:
Honestly if you need that kind of computing power/RAM you will be running it on the University's servers...
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It depends. Sometimes server is not practical, even if a laptop weighing less than 5Kg is not really either.
 
gtanner00 said:
Thanks for the tips. Nice to talk to a U of C student. I am a recipient of a schulich award and recently made a trip out there to check everything out. Seems like a very friendly school with lots of support. I am very excited.

You are right about the macbook air of course. I just wasn't sure it was worth having a pro if I couldn't do the stuff I expected to do on it anyways. Now I know that it is indeed powerful enough for most low level projects.

I was looking into the dell purchase program but a lot of links are broken in the student center. Can you message me a link?
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So the link Dell is gone (classic IT) :( I've emailed the powers that be at U of C to see if it can be sorted.
 
TheIguana said:
So the link Dell is gone (classic IT) :( I've emailed the powers that be at U of C to see if it can be sorted.
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Great. That would be fantastic. I was asking around for friends (with gaming systems) if they might have a spare monitor to sell cheap but so far no luck. I don't really care too much about resolution or quality (the retina screen is for that) but I don't want to buy the cheapest model at Costco either.
 
gtanner00 said:
Great. That would be fantastic. I was asking around for friends (with gaming systems) if they might have a spare monitor to sell cheap but so far no luck. I don't really care too much about resolution or quality (the retina screen is for that) but I don't want to buy the cheapest model at Costco either.
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I can't help with your university, but don't forget many places offer education discounts anyways.

But- http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/28/...c=us&l=en&s=dfb&dgc=EM&cid=278347&lid=5256402

Dell is having an outlet sale for today and tomorrow.
 
I recently bought a MacBook Pro which the specs can be seen in my sig. I'm doing some development work, a little gaming, and other stuff on it. It flies as is and I cannot imagine it wouldn't work great for you.

IMO, the pro is a more capable machine than the Air. The screens are way better too. Get the 13.3 inch pro that you highlighted in the first post. That's basically what I got and it's a fantastic machine. Super fast and slick.

:)
 
cube said:
Can't the parameters be wrong?
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There's no right and wrong. The parameters are set by the user/OP. He is aware that PCs are better capable at engineering tasks, but that is not what he is looking for. He is looking for a Mac that will fill the gap between what his school has and what he will need on his own.
 
bkribbs said:
http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/28/...c=us&l=en&s=dfb&dgc=EM&cid=278347&lid=5256402
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They have one refurbished FullHD i7 M6700 with Quadro for $2100 after coupon.

It seems a bit expensive.

I saw no 15" Precisions.

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sonicrobby said:
There's no right and wrong. The parameters are set by the user/OP. He is aware that PCs are better capable at engineering tasks, but that is not what he is looking for. He is looking for a Mac that will fill the gap between what his school has and what he will need on his own.
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Right. That's why he is now looking at Dell.
 
cube said:
They have one refurbished FullHD i7 M6700 with Quadro for $2100 after coupon.

It seems a bit expensive.

I saw no 15" Precisions.

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Right. That's why he is now looking at Dell.
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I'm looking at Dell monitors. Of you want to contribute, please read.
 
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