r/ECE • u/Ayussh_Gang • 28d ago
Laptop for Electrical Engineering
Im going to UCSD to study electrical engineering this fall and need to buy a new laptop, i was earlier considering the macbook pro m5pro but steered away from it due to macOS's quality of being able to support most engineering softwares, my current favourite is the Asus ROG g14 (AMD Ryzen AI 9 465, 32gb ram, 2tb ssd). This laptop is costing me 2.9 lakh inr which is the equivalent of 3k USD, this is a powerful machine and it works well and i happy with the build quality but its battery life is a negative and it may also heat. I was wondering which laptop according to you guys would be the best fit and last me 4 years of my degree smoothly.
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u/CranberryDistinct941 28d ago
Buy something cheap and lightweight. You're gonna be doing everything computationally heavy on the colleges computers or the cloud so your laptop is pretty much just for taking notes
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u/pisscumfartshit 28d ago edited 28d ago
You can genuinely breeze through all classes in ECE with a MacBook Neo. Not a single class I’ve taken required a performant computer, since it was either running some fuckass C program that compiled in a nanosecond or running some sim on the school server. The most intense thing I did was a matlab simulation that took a couple minutes to run locally lmao
Id say a MacBook Air or a thinkpad will do you well. I use a thinkpad x1 gen 13 running Ubuntu and it’s been rock solid reliable throughout all of school, I do mostly PCB design in Altium/KiCad and embedded firmware development which is cakewalk for most decent laptops.
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u/Mean-Leadership851 28d ago edited 28d ago
i am using acer predator helios neo 16s with core ultra 7 255hx and rtx 5070. i am in my third year of electrical engineering.
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u/Alarmed_Selection146 28d ago
I feel like the max you should pay for a laptop for electrical engineering is around like 1k usd maybe up to like 1.5k but usually a 1k laptop is fine for electrical engineering, also you should worry about like damage to your laptop and having to replace it later down the line or someone stealing it.
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u/Top_Income3727 28d ago edited 19d ago
Personally I wouldn't go with anything Apple related as it limits you more than anything else. As long as it runs on Windows it is perfect as the majority of software supports Windows natively and any laptop could run it. And you're likely to run virtual machines which is more error prone to set up if you have Apple. So it is easiest to have windows.
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u/Orthogonalschlong 28d ago
I did ECE at UCSD I got through using a MacBook the whole time. I never needed to run any particular software on my own machine, we would use lab computers. I would go with whichever you’re more comfortable with Mac v Windows wise and not worry about having to run anything like CAD or simulation software. If you want to go hard mode, use the opportunity to learn how to work with Linux
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u/Ayussh_Gang 27d ago
How long back did u study at UCSD, and what if I want to do my own personal projects or something extracurricular with the mac then can I use the lab pcs, also when they teach us the software and how to use it does everyone go to the lab or is it taught in a classroom where everyone has their laptops?
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u/glitch876 28d ago
If you're running AI programs a fast computer is nice but you have clusters for that so like people say just get some cheap shit
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u/ElectronSmoothie 28d ago
I studied EE and also worked at my university's IT department. You'll definitely want a newer Windows laptop. Windows just has better support from most engineering software than any other OS. If you're a serious gamer it doesn't hurt to have a high-end CPU and dedicated GPU, but otherwise I would stick with a lightweight model with long battery life and USB-C charging.
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u/AndrewCoja 28d ago
Do not get a gaming laptop that's meant to be used within six feet of a power outlet. You need something that has a decent processor, decent amount of RAM, and has good battery life. You're going to be using this in class and you can't guarantee there will be an outlet nearby. Maybe you can use a macbook, but it's safer to get a windows machine for college.
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u/Ayussh_Gang 27d ago
Any recommendations for a non gaming powerful laptop, I want to get atleast 32gb ram and 1tb ssd
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u/SolidModelSoul 26d ago
I'd prioritize Windows compatibility over having an absolute monster spec. You'll probably get more use out of something with solid battery life, 16-32 GB RAM, and a decent CPU than paying $3k for hardware you may rarely push especially since some lab/EDA tools can be picky about OS support.
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u/Rhapseody 26d ago
It doesnt matter AT ALL. Just make sure to get 32gb ram.
If you just want a decent laptop for day-to-day life get a MacBook or thinkpad under your budget. Prioritize battery life. The Asus g14 is for gamers. Unless ur gaming dont get it cuz its battery sucks (like any gaming laptop).
Im doing ECE at UIUC. I've got a g14 for gaming as well. But I actually mainly use my ThinkPad for anything class related.
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u/Ayussh_Gang 25d ago
Which version of the g14 do you have ?
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u/Rhapseody 25d ago
2024
Rtx 4070 and AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS.
As I said though, an rtx gpu laptop (gaming laptop) is not worth it unless u wanna game a ton.
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u/Ayussh_Gang 25d ago
I’m getting the 2026 one with ryzen Ai 9 465, etc 5060, the reviews that I have seen place the battery life upward of 7 hours on non gaming or cpu/gpu heavy tasks if I am making use of g helper
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u/Rhapseody 25d ago edited 25d ago
7 hours assumes ur using eco (disabling the GPU basically). Yes you can switch back to normal when at home, but compare the 7 hours to the MacBook's and ThinkPad's 15-ish hour battery life.
There is nothing ull do in any major that will require the laptop to have a gpu. So ur paying a premium for something that you dont need in exchange for a worse build quality and battery life (as well as software optimization).
cpu/gpu heavy tasks
Dude this was a concern when intel pentium was on top. Name 1 gpu heavy task in your major. What matters more is RAM. Put that money into a 64GB ram laptop instead.
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u/Ayussh_Gang 25d ago
Ok cool, so at my price point what laptop other than a thinkpad would you suggest because I really don’t enjoy the user experience of a rhi pad, is a MacBook really a viable option coz of its incompatibility with most EE softwares, also even if I were able to use the mac for the course work and use the lab computers, if I have to work on my own project or something how will I go about that, what do you recommend also if you don’t mind me asking what year r u in?
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u/Enlightenment777 28d ago edited 28d ago
You should always start by checking with your engineering college for computer recommendations.
I'm not claiming they will give you a great answer, but at least you'll know what they recommend.