Laptop for engineering course, time to upgrade?

[hjst45]

Hey guys

I bought a Dell Inspiron 17RSE in April. I recently got accepted into a Mechatronics course at Stellenbosch for next year. I would just like to know if my laptop will be fit for the graphics rendering and stuff needed for the course, or if I made a mistake paying R20000 for this laptop and should've gone for the Macbook instead.


Thanks!

 

[Sysem]

You won't need to upgrade for a while. You're not going to be doing intense stuff in your first year (or 2nd for that matter).

 

[ngwe23]

I did electrical engineering and we didn't do any computer intensive stuff. The most that I did was Matlab. Maybe your course is different. I would wait if I were you and get something as and when you need it.

 

[Sysem]

I did electrical engineering and we didn't do any computer intensive stuff. The most that I did was Matlab. Maybe your course is different. I would wait if I were you and get something as and when you need it.

This.

 

[nfbs]

That is a top of the line laptop with proper graphics card so you want have to upgrade for a quite a few years

 

[InvisibleJim]

If you know what CAD/CAE packages are used for the course, you can check the minimum and recommended system requirements on the manufacturer's website. Personally, I can't imagine a R20k PC of any sort would have a problem with Autocad and the other usual suspects. For rendering, there are also a number of online render farm services that you can use if you do struggle in some way.

Engineering degrees are generally more about applied mathematics than anything else. Octave, Scilab and Openscad are all good open source projects that you might do well to get familiar with before you go.

 

[proxilin]

No need to upgrade. First year you'll be doing mostly hand calculations and saying silent prayers, and the times you will be using software you'll go use it in the computer labs. It's a 100 times better to go sit in the computer labs and sweat it out with friends, that way you have some company for help and some laughs.

 

[Klipdrif]

In your first year you will be using a pc for programming and a little bit of cad (inventor) which is presented in the engineering drawing course. Good luck

 

[hjst45]

Thanks! I really appreciate everyone's answers and opinions! Seems like a difficult course but I believe it will definitely be worth it!