Macbook for Engineering???

I'm not sure about how much the programs will need the Graphics card, but for when to buy it, That would depend on when your classes start, basically just wait until it is getting close unless you need it before than.

 

im a senior in mech engr and my macbook works great for me

 

I am using Macbook Pro, and I am currently in senior Computer/Electrical Engineering. I find that it is very useful and things. If you are worry about running apps like Matlab or Mathematica, then rest assure that your MB/MBP will probably have enough horsepower to plow through your numbers (given enough rams). But one thing is CircuitMaker (a popular circuit simulation program in my university), it is not available on Mac, so I have to run parallel every time I want to use CircuitMaker. But if your course instructors just want a SPICE circuit simulation software, then there are one or two on the Mac platform that are available. Otherwise, everything else is perfect.

In terms of sturdiness and build quality, I think everything is good at least with my computer. I've heard that macbooks are also very well built and my friends use MBs too. I chose MBP because I am a part-time web developer who occasionally need that horsepower to do many things. But mainly this is because the MBP also replaced my desktop.

In terms of portability, I find that both are equally portable. But if you are running around campus all day, you might want the MB because it is smaller and easier to manage. But if you are like me who have all my courses in one or two buildings, then either would work fine.

Hope it answers your question. But good thing you chose the MB. What colour will you get?

 

im a mech eng major/comsci minor. programs like matlab will run natively on OS X, but most CAD and other simulation software MAY require windows. BUT, hey, just install boot camp or parallels

A lot of the CAD software we use isnt licensed for personal machines, so i end up using computer labs a lot for programs like Pro/Engineer.

Best of luck!

 

Civil engineering here, my MBP does everything I need. I often run AutoCAD on it. I have AutoCAD installed in both Boot Camp and Parallels, and find it runs significantly better in Boot Camp because of the better graphics support. Parallels is fine for 2D stuff, but if you're doing 3D or using raster images, Boot Camp is the way to go.

 

I'm a sophomore in CompE right now, and I can say definitively that none of the electrical/computer engineering courses will need the MBP's graphics. Unlike in MechE, there really isn't any use for 3D graphics in circuit design. Like for other engineering disciplines, the Mac really doesn't get much love--open source apps will run, but anything commercial is going to be Linux/Unix and Windows only. The open source apps include spice and one that I use occasionally called Ktechlab--somewhat 'liter' than spice, with a nice gui, and a ton of dependencies from KDE . Of course, for the commercial apps, you can use Linux or Windows in a VM, or, more likely, ssh into your school's Unix servers and export them back to X11 running on your Mac.

If you plan to do a lot CAD work (or run apps like ProE or Solidworks), you should go for the MBP. Otherwise, the MB should be fine.

 

ProE works great on my macbook by the way........

 

I've been a Mechanical Engineer for 5 years now and can recommend some CAD packages that are a lot better than ProE and you can get a personal license free.

Solid Designer:
- If your school has a license then you can get a free, personal license. Talk to your IT department
- Solid Designer is a much better CAD package than ProE, better interface, faster, and better plug-ins

Cocreate - Solide Model Designer
- They have a free personal edition you can download until March 31st that will output .stl files and mpkg.
- It is based upon Dynamic Modelling which is much more powerful and easier to use than parametric design (ProE, Solid Works, etc.)
- http://www.cocreate.com/OneSpaceModelingPE.cfm
link to the free download
- I've been a designer for 5 years and have used everything from ProE, Solid Works, AutoCAD, and Solid Designer and recommend CoCreate's Solid Designer over all the others

 

I'm an engineering student (3rd year) and I have a MBP that does everything I need. I've got Parallels and Boot Camp installed so I can run Visual Studio for one of my programming classes. I see lots of other students with MB's or MBP's as well. The only inconveniences I have come across were the initial installation and setup of Parallels and Boot Camp (had to re-do it because I got the partition sizes wrong) and the fact that I have to show up to class a couple minutes early to boot up Parallels if I want to be able to follow along in lecture. Other than that, there's no reason not to get a MB or MBP.

 

I am going to go into Engineering as well in the fall and the IT guy said that most of the programs you will need to run arent liscensed to individuals and the computer labs are always open. You will probably only need to run programs that the MB or MBP can handle. I am going to get a MB with 2GB RAM and 120GB HD. Now I just need to figure out what size my bootcamp partition should be.

Also buy your computer when you need it, dont waste your money now with technology that will be outdated by the time school starts.

 

i also an engineering student...
i used to use NEC bu the lcd screen has some sort of problemo...
im thinking of buying new notebook...
macbook hopefully if i have enough budget...
hehe...
but i still wonder if c++,multisim,matlab can install in macbook as i know they are only can be installed in windows...
anybody can anwser me??

 

C++ via gcc comes with the XCode dev tools with every Mac.
Matlab has a Mac version
If you're looking for Spice, MI Sugar is here

You can always install Windows with Boot Camp or in Parallels/VMWare Fusion anyway.

 

Hi! I'm studying CE,too. Do you know if this major requires MB or not? Because people are now having a trend to use MB but it is quite expensive for me and I'm now still using PC. So... Could you give me some advices? Thanks... Please reply me soon, I'm really confused.

 

This thread is 4+ years old. You'd be better off starting a new thread

 

I don't think you've realised that this thread was posted almost 6 years ago, OP has graduated a couple of years ago.