Similar Threads
|
| Thread |
Thread Starter |
Forum |
Replies |
Last Post |
| New Macbook pro 2011 |
jeboi7 |
General Discussion |
34 |
06-20-2011 08:58 AM |
| Macbook Help |
Dylicious |
Computers & Tech |
6 |
03-25-2011 05:24 PM |
| Macbook update |
mfattal |
General Discussion |
14 |
02-27-2011 10:24 PM |
| Macbook |
mfattal |
General Discussion |
43 |
02-16-2011 05:56 AM |
| Buying a Macbook |
YousifK |
Computers & Tech |
2 |
08-16-2010 08:17 AM |
Which macbook to get for Engineers
07-29-2011 at 06:04 PM
|
#1
|
|
Account Disabled by User
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 24
Thanked:
0 Times
Liked:
0 Times
|
Which macbook to get for Engineers
Hi,
I read somewhere that it was important to get a laptop with a seperate graphics card. This option is only avaliable with the 15" macbook Pros.
1) is the apple in card graphics processor sufficient to preform well with the engineering programs.
2) will the 2.0 GHz model suffice for Engineering?
|
|
07-29-2011 at 06:16 PM
|
#2
|
|
The Law
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 545
Thanked:
42 Times
Liked:
254 Times
|
Separate graphics card? I doubt you mean an external graphics card, so I'll assume you're talking about something that isn't onboard.
In that case, yeah, a MacBook Pro would do fine by you. Many multimedia students use them for their graphic-intensive work. Though, personally, I'd say you could save a ton of money and go with a PC brand like ASUS. They make the most reliable tech at affordable prices.
But, if you're more of an Apple guy, then yeah, MacBook Pro is the way to go.
__________________
'13 McMaster Alumni
B.A. Political Science
JET Programme Canada, ALT
Last edited by Grover : 07-29-2011 at 07:47 PM.
|
|
07-29-2011 at 06:24 PM
|
#3
|
|
Tooth Fairy
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,068
Thanked:
118 Times
Liked:
543 Times
|
You really need to get a pc for engineerin alot of the programs used only run on pc. I have a Mac so I am not hatin on macs or anything but honestly its not for engineerin. Good luck.
__________________
McMaster University, Honours B.Sc. in Biology '13, Minor in Psychology
University of British Columbia, DMD '17, Doctor of Dental Medicine
|
|
07-29-2011 at 06:34 PM
|
#4
|
|
Elite Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 965
Thanked:
59 Times
Liked:
203 Times
|
im pretty sure there have been at least a dozen threads about this same q, and the answer that most engineering students give is that macbook =/= engineering. macbooks aren't good for engineering cus a lot of the software and programs that they use aren't compatible/ are too much of a hassle on the macbook.
__________________
~ moksa - liberation from mundane existence ~
|
|
07-29-2011 at 07:00 PM
|
#5
|
|
King of Microwaves
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 371
Thanked:
48 Times
Liked:
200 Times
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by dide101
Hi,
I read somewhere that it was important to get a laptop with a seperate graphics card. This option is only avaliable with the 15" macbook Pros.
1) is the apple in card graphics processor sufficient to preform well with the engineering programs.
2) will the 2.0 GHz model suffice for Engineering?
|
You do not need a dedicated graphics card. The integrated cards nowadays are more then capable to handle any software you will encounter in your four years. Go with the 13 inch macbook pro, upgrade to 8gb of ram use parallels and enjoy the best of both worlds.
dide101
says thanks to Commie8507 for this post.
|
|
07-29-2011 at 07:07 PM
|
#6
|
|
Account Disabled by User
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 24
Thanked:
0 Times
Liked:
0 Times
|
sweetness. that's all I really needed... Thanks
|
|
07-29-2011 at 07:39 PM
|
#7
|
|
Trolling ain't easy
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,190
Thanked:
499 Times
Liked:
1,642 Times
|
Literally every single computer offered by Apple today is capable of doing everything you need in engineering. Even though that's so, I would recommend something with dedicated graphics just because 90% of the time I find integrated is a pretty serious limitation.
If you don't feel like spending upwards of $ 1,500 and are willing to do a tiny bit of thinking, you can get a far superior PC laptop and still run OS X on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chevalier
im pretty sure there have been at least a dozen threads about this same q, and the answer that most engineering students give is that macbook =/= engineering. macbooks aren't good for engineering cus a lot of the software and programs that they use aren't compatible/ are too much of a hassle on the macbook.
|
One of these days people will realize Apple switched to Intel processors over 7 friggin years ago...
__________________
Dillon Dixon
Alumni
Software Engineering and Embedded Systems
Last edited by jhan523 : 07-29-2011 at 07:48 PM.
|
|
07-29-2011 at 08:33 PM
|
#8
|
|
Just Some Guy
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 122
Thanked:
18 Times
Liked:
35 Times
|
OK, so, minimum requirements for an engineering machine?
Mac Pro running:
Processor - Two 2.93Ghz 6-Core Intel Xeon "Westmere" (12 cores) Processor
Memory - 64 GB (8 x 8 GB)
Hard Drive - 4 x 512GB solid-state drive
Graphics - ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB
Optical Drive - Two 18x SuperDrives
Display - 2 x Apple LED Cinema Display (27" flat panel)
Apple's Magic Mouse + Trackpad
Apple Wireless Keyboard
Quad-channel 4Gb Fibre Channel PCI Express card
AppleCare Protection Plan
1-year One to One membership
Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter
Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter
Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter
Apple Battery Charger
Printer - HP ENVY 100 e-All-in-One
YOU CAN'T OPERATE WHAT YOU NEED WITH ANYTHING LESS!!! SERIOUSLY TERMINAL IS JUST GOING TO BOG YOUR MACHINE DOWN!!!
Don't worry, it's only $20,509.95 so you only have to stay in school 2 extra years to afford it.
/troll
__________________
Dave Blatch
4th year Software & Embedded Systems Engineering
|
|
07-29-2011 at 09:40 PM
|
#9
|
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 146
Thanked:
15 Times
Liked:
13 Times
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by kldv
OK, so, minimum requirements for an engineering machine?
Mac Pro running:
Processor - Two 2.93Ghz 6-Core Intel Xeon "Westmere" (12 cores) Processor
Memory - 64 GB (8 x 8 GB)
Hard Drive - 4 x 512GB solid-state drive
Graphics - ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB
Optical Drive - Two 18x SuperDrives
Display - 2 x Apple LED Cinema Display (27" flat panel)
Apple's Magic Mouse + Trackpad
Apple Wireless Keyboard
Quad-channel 4Gb Fibre Channel PCI Express card
AppleCare Protection Plan
1-year One to One membership
Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter
Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter
Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter
Apple Battery Charger
Printer - HP ENVY 100 e-All-in-One
YOU CAN'T OPERATE WHAT YOU NEED WITH ANYTHING LESS!!! SERIOUSLY TERMINAL IS JUST GOING TO BOG YOUR MACHINE DOWN!!!
Don't worry, it's only $20,509.95 so you only have to stay in school 2 extra years to afford it.
/troll
|
Overkill....
__________________
-|Life Is A Boomerang, Throw Gently |-
|
|
07-29-2011 at 09:41 PM
|
#10
|
|
Trolling ain't easy
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,190
Thanked:
499 Times
Liked:
1,642 Times
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by xFLY
Overkill....
|
Not really, that's actually kind of on the modest side.
__________________
Dillon Dixon
Alumni
Software Engineering and Embedded Systems
|
|
07-29-2011 at 09:44 PM
|
#11
|
|
Elite Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 404
Thanked:
38 Times
Liked:
305 Times
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ownaginatios
Not really, that's actually kind of on the modest side.
|
Yeah seriously, where's the hyper drive? How are you supposed to do calculations like Apple's profit margin without a computer that can go past the speed of light?! |
|
07-29-2011 at 10:27 PM
|
#12
|
|
Elite Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 452
Thanked:
26 Times
Liked:
115 Times
|
Like what others have already said, the software used in Engineering doesn't always work on Macs and there aren't Mac versions available.
I had friends who had Macs in Engineering, and they survived by going to the computer labs to use the programs they needed for their classes. Keep in mind that computer labs aren't always available (i.e. computers may all be taken, or there's a class in session).
|
|
07-29-2011 at 10:33 PM
|
#13
|
|
Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 59
Thanked:
2 Times
Liked:
29 Times
|
Bootcamp
12chars
|
|
07-29-2011 at 10:35 PM
|
#14
|
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 273
Thanked:
50 Times
Liked:
199 Times
|
If you want a Mac, bootcamp Windows.
If you are too noob to bootcamp, don't get a computer at all.
__________________
The poster formerly known as RememberTwce
Life Sciences I --> Health Sciences II
|
|
07-29-2011 at 10:37 PM
|
#15
|
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 146
Thanked:
15 Times
Liked:
13 Times
|
If you have the extra cash, I would say go for a Macbook Pro 13", if not a PC will suffice and you will have some extra money leftover. Just run BootCamp if using a PC only application or use VMware Fusion/Parallels, just make sure you have enough ram (4-8GB).
__________________
-|Life Is A Boomerang, Throw Gently |-
|
| Thread Tools |
Search this Thread |
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
McMaster University News and Information, Student-run Community, with topics ranging from Student Life, Advice, News, Events, and General Help.
Notice: The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the student(s) who authored the content. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by McMaster University or the MSU (McMaster Students Union). Being a student-run community, all articles and discussion posts on MacInsiders are unofficial and it is therefore always recommended that you visit the official McMaster website for the most accurate up-to-date information.
| |
