computer engineering major looking for laptop

[nicktatorship]

Hello!

I'm currently in my first semester of college as a freshmen and my major is electrical and computer engineering. I've been having a lot of trouble making a decision on a laptop for school, since I've been told that I will need one. I've been looking at brands like Mac (although I much rather prefer a pc, but many people recommended a Mac), Lenovo, Asus, Acer, Dell. I have been looking at 2-in-1 laptops because they just really appeal to me. I like that kind of functionality from laptop to tablet form. At first i was strongly considering the surface pro 3, but I found it had problems like getting too hot, only one usb port, and the configurations I wanted drove up the price quite a bit. Then I almost completely made up my mind on the lenovo thinkpad yoga. But I found out that with my major, an Intel HD graphics 4400 probably would not cut it for the programs I'd have to use. So now I'm kind of at a loss. When I search for laptops for engineering students it basically just comes up with gaming laptops. So is that really what I need? Will a gaming laptop fit me needs? Or should I just break down and buy a Macbook Pro and install windows on it? I've also thought about just holding off for a year or two to get something until I absolutely need it for school. I could really use some recommendations and advice.

So basically my preferences would be a 2-in-1 laptop, 3.5 pounds or under would be greatly preferred, decent battery life, and preferably under $1000, with specs that are powerful enough to fit my needs in my major. And something that will overall last me a long time. I know all of these preferences might be asking too much and might not be possible but if someone could help me out that'd be great.

 

[C12Friedman]

Marketing forces are why the laptop you need would be considered a "gamer". There's a much larger market for gaming PC's than there are for engineering/design PC's. The desired equipment (good CPU, dedicated GPU, decent amount of ram and good screen) are the same for both. I might suggest the Lenovo Y50 or Y40 models as being possible affordable options although they are conventional laptops. In the convertible market I've been really drawn to the Surface Pro models, The Surface Pro 2's are nice and (IMO) are affordable now, just because a newer model is out, don't neglect to consider earlier models

 

[nicktatorship]

Thanks for the insight. The Y40 and Y50 are definitely very affordable for the specs it offers, unfortunately my only problem with those models is that they both weigh about 5 pounds, which is quite a lot to have to carry on a commute to school every day in my opinion. Weight seems to be the problem with all the gaming laptops I've researched. Are there any good light weight gaming laptops on the market?

 

[C12Friedman]

High performance and light weight are mutually exclusive. Partially the battery is to blame, partially the additional cooling needed for a dedicated graphics card (mostly the battery). IMO, 5.3 lbs for a "gamer" isn't too bad, I'd call that about average. You may find this site helpful for comparisons http/www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-gaming-laptops-ct-118_96_98.html they are a boutique builder that does some laptop customizing. One thing to note there, the Sager/Clevo models do not include an OS in the list price while the name brands do (as a rule)