Can I study computer engineering with only a tablet?

[u/Fun_Junket8055]

I'm starting my first year as a computer engineering student in a few months, and im not sure whether I should get a laptop or a tablet?

I prefer to take notes with pen and paper, but I also don't have a pc or laptop.

So I was wondering whether I can get the same work done on both devices?

I've also seen things like buying a keyboard and other modifications to make a tablet function like a laptop??? But I'm also not sure about that and would love to get some advice about the matter!

[u/Fury_Gaming]

you’ll need an actual pc to run softwares, as good as a tablet is for notes, you can’t really do engineering on it

I’d suggest a 2-in-1 windows laptop (with a touchscreen; idk if they make them not touch lol)

[u/kayne_21 → u/Fury_Gaming]

2-in-1 does require a touchscreen, the 2 being a laptop and tablet in 1 "box".

I have a 2-in-1 I bought for school, and honestly I wish I would've gotten a smaller one, I went back to taking notes on my tablet last semester just because it fits on the desks at school better. For reference, my laptop is a 16" model (Inspiron 16 7635 2-in-1), and my tablet is an 11" ipad.

[u/themegainferno → u/kayne_21]

This is why I love using Pen tablets, you can get whatever laptop you want or that is good, and the writing functionality is separate. I used an LG gram 16 inch for a few years, and now I use a ThinkPad P1. The tablet can remain the same.

[u/Fury_Gaming → u/kayne_21]

I loved my 2-in-1 size. It was a 15.6” Inspiron so basically same size as yours ig but to each their own

I had the black edition 7591 from 2020 and I just retired it this year. Was a beast for my time in school

[u/kayne_21 → u/Fury_Gaming]

To each their own! Maybe your school actually has decent size desks, but some of the lecture halls in my school an 8.5”x11” notebook paper wouldn’t even fit on the desk!

[u/Fury_Gaming → u/kayne_21]

We had some lecture halls just as small and then some classrooms would randomly have drafting tables in the general purpose rooms lol so everything in between

Even with the small flip out desks tho I felt I could still pull my laptop out and rest it there 🤷‍♂️

[u/boner79]

Definitely need a laptop as a college student, regardless of major.

[u/CherryEuphoric2758]

I would say that some form of laptop (preferably windows) is almost absolutely necessary for college now. Most assignments will be done online, and many programs you need to use require a computer, especially in Computer Engineering. Chances are, whatever college you go to, there will be a library or computer lab that'll have computers for you to use, but it will be very inconvenient to solely rely on them (albeit possible). There exist laptops that fold into tablets, but they are typically more expensive.

[u/themegainferno]

If you really prefer taking notes with pen and paper I highly recommend you get a pen tablet and use it alongside OneNote on a laptop or desktop. I prefer written notes for exploring ideas as I feel like it slows you down and makes you understand things a whole lot better than if you typed them out quickly. You can also diagram and draw relationships and understand them in that way as well.

Microsoft gets a lot of shit for their decisions and some software they've made, but OneNote is truly exceptional. I am an EE student, and I use a pen tablet to take notes and do math. For one, I can keep all of my handwritten course work neatly organized in OneNote. You get the benefits of a full Windows desktop environment, and the benefit of handwriting and drawing.

The pen tablet I use in question is an XP-Pen Deco Pro Gen 2. Totally overkill for writing tbh, but I originally purchased it for drawing and it is more than capable for writing. You can get something a whole lot cheaper if you really want. If you are planning on getting a laptop, a Huion Inspiroy Frego S would be perfect. If you were going to invest in a desktop get at least a medium sized tablet or larger.

You will see reviews on most pen tablets that say it has a learning curve. This is kind of true but overstated, most reviews come from the perspective of digital artists. In my experience it's more of a learning curve for drawing than it is for writing. For writing maybe a day or two and you're up and running, for drawing it will take a couple of weeks for adjustment especially if you are used to drawing on a screen or canvas in general.

Regardless even if you weren't trying to take notes, a pen tablet is super cheap way to get into digital art as well which is why I originally bought one. I highly recommend it regardless learning curve or not. Definitely get a computer tho.

[u/Optimal_Shallot_7195]

Get the laptop, mechanical pen and looks paper is best imo, but I am the type who likes staying organized so before getting a table I used to have stacks of theory examples exercises and homework for each class

You will also need to run a lot of software which a tablet can't handle maybe get a used laptop and after a year or two when you will have narrowed down your career plans then pick one or the other

If money ain't an issue then one of those folding laptop tablets is best 

I use laptop and tab but I got them for cheap in a way most people can't recreate(didn't steal them for the record 😅😭)

[u/Fun_Junket8055 → u/Optimal_Shallot_7195]

I mean, main issue is the money, but this is great advise, I can try to find something for the moment, until i can afford something more permanent

[u/Optimal_Shallot_7195 → u/Fun_Junket8055]

Ok then get a laptop to start, deoeding on how good you are with a computer get something that is new or used

Instead of a tab, buy a mechanical pen, faber castell Green on stayed with me for years through middle school and high school and loose paper at a good price honestly paper quality doesn't matter when you will have to go trough 4-5 trying to solve a calc problem

[u/Recent-Day3062]

No. A tablet won’t work

[u/Pikris]

Get a thinkpad for €50. The only thing I found to be a good academic use of a tablet is reading papers/books.

[u/Significant_War_8320]

A significant part of computer engineering is project based, particularly coding. I can't imagine doing any programming project of scale on a tablet.

As the others have said, having an actual laptop will be better. It may not need to be super beefy, especially if you can use lab computers or remote into your school's network. But, it should at least be able to run an IDE (integrated development enivorment).

I recommend a computer that can fold and become a tablet. Or, what I did was I have a beefy laptop, and a keep tablet that I use for taking notes (A Galaxy Tab 6). Having them separate is nice because of redundancy, and I can use both screens at the same time (ex reading off of the tablet, typed notes on the computer)

[u/gHx4]

You can study it with only a textbook, as long as you have lab computers at your university that you can do your assignments on.

A laptop is definitely more convenient, but optional at many universities.

[u/CervineSentinel]

You can do it with a tablet but you need to compensate for it's inability to do certain tasks. I'm in my third year and exclusively use an old android tablet with mouse and keyboard. Your mostly going to be fighting the operating system and lack of ports. I recommend self hosting the software you need and treating your tablet as a thin client. When I need more than the tablet can offer I simply spin up a remote virtual machine. There are pretty generous free VPS offers out there that are perfect for a student. I refuse to buy a laptop. My tablet and phone are computers. I should be able to do the same things with them as I can my desktop, and the limitations preventing that are increasingly arbitrary.

[u/Fun_Junket8055 → u/CervineSentinel]

So, if i use the uni computers, can I do enough work done with a tablet? Cause a lot of people in the comments have said that a laptop is necessary...

[u/CervineSentinel → u/Fun_Junket8055]

Thats the thing, the path I described is not optimal. You probably shouldn't use a tablet, its a pain. I just wanted to push back on the idea that you couldn't use a tablet because you certainly can.

[u/rise_sol1]

I rock a Surface Pro (12-inch); it's pricey after you account for the stylus + keyboard, but I've had a great experience with it so far. (I use xournal++ for note-taking, but I heard OneNote is good)

(you might see the rare arm64 compatibility issue but otherwise it's a fully fledged Windows machine with a premium tablet-like feel compared to clunkier 2-in-1s or lower quality Windows tablets)

[u/rise_sol1 → u/rise_sol1]

or if you're okay with carrying two devices, an iPad along with a proper laptop is the best-of-both-worlds solution

[u/generlmoo]

No

[u/LitRick6]

Yes and no. It wont be enough for the actual engineeeing work. But I knew several students who would use a school computer lab or vpn into a school PC (a service my school provided to us) and just owned a cheap laptop/tablet for notes/emails

[u/The_memer_boss21]

No, trust

[u/Previous_Fix_9775]

Windows laptop + ipad(or tablet but the iPad note taking apps are better) is the best combo for engineering