Best Laptops for Engineering Students in 2021
Why is a good laptop important?
As an engineering student, you will be using a lot of different software in class and for projects. For example, there is SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) for electrical engineers, as well as CAD software such as AutoCAD and Solidworks, that are widely used in engineering.
In short, engineers and engineering students will heavily rely on computer software resources to help them do work both for online learning as well as just regular classes and work.
Based on this, having a powerful computer is key to ensuring a smooth experience, while the portability of a laptop will allow you to move around easily compared to a desktop.
How is the list compiled?
For this list, we have gathered 6 mid-tier laptops and 4 high-end laptops (10 in total). None of these are in a particular order. The data for these laptops was gathered in part from noteb.com, and the prices came from the official vendor websites (or Amazon).
We also ensured that all of the laptops listed here have a reasonable price with good quality to help you study better without breaking the bank.
These laptops all have decent graphics cards (at least a GTX 1650), a good processor (at least an i5 or equivalent), and all have at least 8 GB of RAM. In addition, all of the laptops have options for 512 GB solid-state storage.
An important note here is that solid-state storage drives (or SSD) are more expensive than the traditional hard disk drive (or HDD). These days, there is a trend of premium computers transitioning to SSDs and the standard base storage is 512GB SSD.
This is because SSDs are far better in performance and speed, are a lot more reliable, and save more energy than HDDs.
Mid-tier Laptops:
For those of you who are looking for a sufficiently powerful laptop at a cheaper price, these 6 mid-tier laptops are what you are looking for:
Price: $1099.00
Specs:
- Intel Hexa-Core i7-10750H 2.6GHz
- 16GB RAM
- 1TB SSD
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650Ti 4GB
- 15.6" 120Hz Full HD Display
Review:
For the Lenovo Legion 5 laptop we are recommending the 16GB DDR4 | 1 TB SSD option. Although the GPU is not very new (released in 2019), it is still considered a powerful graphics card. In addition, this option has 16GB of RAM, which will guarantee a very smooth experience handling heavy software installments.
One notable feature of this laptop is that it has a 120Hz refresh rate meaning your monitor has a smoother image (120 images/frames per second). It will be far better than the previous industry standard of 60Hz.
Price: $1019.00
Specs:
- AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600H (up to 4.2 GHz, 16 MB L3 cache, 6 cores, 12 thread)
- 16GB RAM
- 1TB SSD
- NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 (4 GB)
- 15.6" Full HD Display
Review:
The HP Pavilion laptop has the option to customize your hardware. This laptop has a base price of $799.99, however, the base hardware included will likely not be sufficient to run complex engineering software with good quality.
Hence, we are recommending the option with a 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM. Compared to the Lenovo Legion 5, this laptop has a worse GPU (GTX 1650 vs. GTX 1650ti) in terms of performance.
For the processor, the Ryzen 5 is newer (released in 2021) but has a slightly worse performance compared to the i7-10750H that the Lenovo Legion 5 has.
Overall, this is a cheaper yet still powerful option for a laptop.
Price: $899.00
Specs:
- Intel Core i5-10300H
- 8GB RAM
- 512GB SSD + 1TB HDD
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB
- 17.3" 144Hz Display
Review:
This laptop is the cheapest of the three outlined thus far. With that being said, the cheaper price tag comes with a trade-off.
The RAM is only 8GB (not as good; however, it is the base requirement to run an intensive software or game). The processor is relatively new (released in 2020) and is lying on the 79.8th percentile of all CPUs according to UserBenchmark. There isn’t as much Solid State storage either. The graphics card, again, is the GTX 1650 which is very powerful for computers at this price.
A major distinction is a display. This laptop has a bigger screen size (17.3-inch diagonals) with a 144Hz display which is super smooth. Also, the laptop can allow you to customize the color of each key on the keyboard.
Price: $839.00
Specs:
- Intel Core i5-10300H
- 8GB RAM
- 256GB SSD
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050
- 15.6" 144Hz Full HD Display
Review:
This laptop beats out the previous laptop price at $839.00. It has a decent processor (79.8th percentile) and a good amount of RAM.
The biggest highlight of this laptop comes with its graphics processor. The RTX 3050 is by far the best GPU on this list. It is powered by NVIDIA’s new ray-tracing technology and will support powerful rendering of your designs, especially for those using CAD software.
However, the biggest trade-off and disadvantage for this laptop is its storage capacity: 256GB is sufficient for most uses, but if you want to play games and use software installments for engineering, it might be hard to do both. That’s why it is always recommended to get at least 512GB of storage.
Price: $999.00
Specs:
- Intel Core i5-10200H
- 16GB RAM
- 512GB SSD + 1TB HDD
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
- 15.6" 120Hz Full HD Display
Review:
The Dell G15 laptop has many similarities in terms of hardware specifications with the above laptops. At the price of pretty $1,000, you are going to get 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD.
The base laptop, on the other hand, has only 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD and has a price of $829. Despite not standing out too much compared to the others, this laptop is decent in all aspects.
- It has a good CPU (one of the newest generation i5 processors).
- It has a good GPU. 16GB of RAM is very sufficient for almost all computing work.
- Last but not least, 512GB SSD + 1TB of HDD is a lot of storage.
Price: $739.00
Specs:
- Intel Quad-Core i5-10300H
- 8GB RAM
- 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
- 15.6" 60Hz Full HD Display
Review:
The Dell G3 15 Gaming Laptop is the cheapest option on this list. The CPU is quite new (10th generation i5 processor). It has a decent RAM at 8GB. It has a GPU that is considered a standard in the mid-tier area.
Compared to the other displays with a 120Hz+ refresh rate, this one only has 60Hz. However, this is not a big factor since 60Hz will still provide a very smooth user experience. Compared to the MSI laptop above (which only has 256GB of SSD), this one offsets that disadvantage by also including 1TB of hard drive space.
Not the best, but it’s certainly good enough!
High-end Laptops:
If you are willing to invest more into your laptops for a more powerful performance than the 6 mentioned above, here are 4 high-end laptops that are just for you!
Price: $1599.00
Specs:
- Intel Hexa-Core i7-10750H 2.6GHz
- 16GB RAM
- 1TB SSD
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070
- 15.6" 240Hz Full HD Display
Review:
This is the first high-end laptop on the list. The CPU is decent for this price (83.6th percentile), but it could be better. The GPU is excellent with the NVIDIA RTX 2070.
According to UserBenchmark, the RTX 2070 is one of the best GPUs on the market and is at the 96th percentile. 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD is the standard for a high-end laptop, but it is nothing special.
As for the display, a 15.6 inch and full high definition display is also quite standard as most of the mid-tier laptops above have the same specifications. However, the most impressive thing about this computer is its quick refresh rate at 240Hz.
Price: $1479.00
Specs:
- Intel Hexa-Core i7-10750H 2.6GHz
- 16GB RAM
- 1TB SSD
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070
- 15.6" 144Hz Full HD Display
Review:
This laptop has very similar specifications as the previous one. It has the same CPU, the same amount of RAM, and the same amount of storage.
The GPU is also the same. The RTX 2070 is considered very powerful, so this is definitely a good choice. Even the display is the same size as a full HD display! The only difference is the refresh rate.
The previous laptop had a refresh rate of 240Hz whereas this one has a refresh rate of 144Hz. However, the refresh rate doesn’t matter too much when it is already so high.
Considering this laptop has pretty much the same specs as the previous one, this laptop is $120 cheaper which makes it a better deal.
Price: $1399.00
Specs:
- Intel Hexa-Core i7-10750H 2.6GHz
- 16GB RAM
- 512GB SSD + 1TB HDD
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070
- 17.3" 144Hz Full HD Display
Review:
The MSI GE75 Raider also has the standard hardware specifications which are similar to the two above. For references to how good these hardware specs are, the CPU is a 10th generation (pretty much the newest) core i7 chip in the 83.6th percentile (better than 83.6% of the CPUs on the market).
If the CPU is good, then the GPU, RTX 2070, is considered to be excellent. Compared to the other GPU on the market, the RTX 2070 is in the 96th percentile. Only 4% of the GPUs are better.
The main difference lies in the display and the storage. The MSI GE75 Raider has a bigger screen size (17.3 inches diagonal).
In terms of storage, it only has 512GB SSD but also has an additional 1TB of HDD storage.
Price: $1499.95
Specs:
- Intel Hexa-Core i7-10750H 2.6GHz
- 16GB RAM
- 512GB SSD + 1TB HDD
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q
- 15.6" 144Hz Full HD Display
Review:
Once again, this laptop has very similar hardware specifications as the other three high-end laptops. Note that for this laptop we are not recommending the base option.
The base option ($1399.95) only has 256GB SSD (& 1TB HDD) and half of the RAM compared to this one at 8GB. The CPU and the display are both quite standard and so is the storage.
The major difference between this laptop is its graphics processing unit. According to NotebookCheck, the RTX 2070 Max-Q is the power-saving variant of the RTX 2070.
This means that the Max-Q’s performance is reduced in order to make it power-saving.
Conclusion (How to choose your laptop + Alternative Options)
Choosing a laptop can be hard. We know the specifications for the laptops mentioned above are similar, and there is no single laptop that is the best, so it really depends on what you value the most!
Outside of the hardware specs, you can also factor in the aesthetics, the battery life, the screen size, and/or the weight of the laptop — whichever matters the most to you.
However, as you have seen in the list above, most (if not all) of the laptops are gaming laptops. They are, in general, the most suitable for engineering students wanting to get the best grades possible or improve grades year over year.
If you are looking to expand your options you can, of course, invest in other types of computers. If you have a higher budget, you can spend money on a more powerful laptop or desktop that will be able to run very intensive software.
For those who want to have a more mobile option, a tablet such as Apple’s iPad, Microsoft’s Surface, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab would be the most popular choices.
If you want to work on your hands-on skills and have control over your own computer, building one is also always an option!
Now you've got the tool, are you ready to study smarter? Wize has got you covered! Please check out these links and resources to get you on the right path to success:
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