This last year I had a 1700 dollar Dell Studio XPS. I lugged it around everywhere and it didn't hold up well to the constant abuse. For school get something in the 13"-15" range, but not a 17". I like the battery life of Macbooks, but like other posters have said, there are programs you'll be using that won't be compatible.

Go for long battery life over performance, because seriously, you'll never need a cutting edge laptop. You'll use it to take notes, go on Avenue, do CAPA, and that's about it. Even the CAD project in first year doesn't require a fast laptop; Autodesk Inventor will work just fine on a $500 laptop. My laptop's battery life was 3.5 hours if I turned the brightness down, and it was no good for days where I had 5 hours of class in a row.

Originally Posted by Theashe

...and it was no good for days where I had 5 hours of class in a row.

I'm gonna get an extra battery from my laptop's manufacturer for next year. I think its a solid plan.

Gonna have to give +1 for desktop. For 1000 dollars spent on building your own desktop, you'll get a computer more powerful than most 2000 dollar laptops. I've had my desktop since day 1, and I have a netbook to supplement it, which is always in my backpack and convenient as a computer on campus when you need it.
Plus, I never once use my laptop in eng. classes, unless of course I'm just bored and want to browse the internet. I love my desktop.

im going into engineering and im getting mac book pro 13"

Macbooks are ludicrously overpriced and have compatibility with a variety of engineering software. I would stick to a solid $600-$1000 laptop, depending on how much you're willing to spend. A desktop/netbook combo would work well if you can manage that. Don't forget that there are lots of labs on campus that can easily run the intensive software you might be expected to run. ECE students also get the benefit of getting 24/7 access to the labs with keycards.

I am in engineering and one of my eng buddies wish i told him this sooner.
if you are in no rush to get a desktop/laptop (seeing as you have 3 months) make a custom desktop and buy a cheap laptop. if you watch deals, i custom made my desktop for $850 with:
- 1gb video card that i have maxed out graphics on every game i have played ($200)
- 16 gb of ram ($200)
- quad core processor (gift from parents, $200ish)
- 1.5 tb hard drive ($80)
- motherboard, power supply, dvd drive ($250ish)
- already had spare monitor, so for you that price varies

after that i bought a 15 inch laptop for $450 that is more used for doing homework with friends and taking notes for class and i found it has worked amazing with that combo, since the desktop can handle any engineering program and can cheaply store everything on DC++ (awesome file sharing, 19 tb last year).

also my desktop was that cheap since i timed sales really well, use newegg.ca, canadacomputer.com and tiger direct and you wont spend that much money and make everyone jealous!