Best Engineering Laptop for College (Budget - $1100)

[LegendaryLeader]

Greetings! I'll be going to college soon and after hours of research on engineering laptops I couldn't quite find the right laptop (since every forum recommends a laptop that costs $1800 - $3000, assuming that everyone can afford such a high price). I'll cut quick to the point of the purpose of the forum.

1) What is the best engineering laptop for college?
Things to consider:
- The budget is $1100
- Battery Life
- Cooling System
- Ability to handle games
- Weight
- What would be the best place to buy a good laptop? (Amazon, Ibuypower, Retailer website, etc.....)
- Graphics Card and Intel Core Processor
- The only brands I have looked through so far is Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, & Lenovo. My knowledge of other laptop brands is not that great, so any suggestions will be helpful.

2) Another question I have for any engineers out there reading this forum. What are the software that engineering majors generally require. Do they need high end laptops? From what I have researched so far, Mac is not recommended for engineers because the software used for engineering majors is geared mostly towards windows.

3) Even though this a post about asking about what other people can suggest about laptops, one laptop that has stood out to me is the ASUS ROG GL551JW-DS71 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T7XRH2A/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=24FORFSQTB6JR&coliid=I28M1OT76EGEAV&psc=1) but the only issue I have with this laptop is the battery life (uses the Lithium Battery), so any new suggestions will be helpful. I also heard about screen issues as well.

Thank you in advance for answering any of these questions. If you can answer all of them, even better! 😍

 

[velo3100]

The kind of games will influence the type of laptop as I assume that most engineering things are cpu intense.

But the best brands that I know for this price is asus, msi and barebone laptops like sagar. As to where to buy, most people use newegg that I know of or xotic pc, ibuypower.

Finally the laptop that you have linked is good but is not the best for gaming depending on the intensity. I prefer more bulkier build so that I get better cooling but I know that weight is an issue for you. But for engineering it should be good.