To assist prospective students and parents in selecting a computer to bring to MSU, I sent the following e-mail question to a randomly selected group of engineering juniors:

Question

I have randomly selected a group of Engineering Juniors to solicit your advice for freshmen currently going through MSU summer orientation. With this being the second year that MSU is requiring freshmen to own a computer, a number of questions arise among students and parents as to what is "best."

Most of you were in the last group for which this was not a requirement, but you are the ones "living in" our programs, and are the best source of advice.

* What specific advice (if any) would you give an engineering freshman about what to bring or purchase in a computer?

* Specifically, would you favor a desktop or laptop or why?

Your replies will be confidential, so feel free to be candid. I will summarize them for the benefit of students and advisors.

Responses are running about 50-50.. If you are a current engineering student and wish to add your opinion, please send an e-mail from your MSU account to wolff@egr.msu.edu

General Responses (1)

1. There are two aspects to the usefullness of a computer on campus.  For academic use, I would advise a computer with an ethernet card already installed.  One of the latest versions of windows would be helpfull because setting up a computer on the network can be a bear sometimes.  Microsoft Office is also essential; they will need 'Word', 'Excel', and 'Powerpoint'.  For personal 'Dorm life' type activities, a frosh would want plenty of memory (20GB-40GB), external speakers (and maybe a sub-woofer), and a CD-RW drive.

Pro-Laptops (2)

1. I would tell an incoming freshmen to buy a laptop.  I didn't start with one but low and behold I have one now going into my junior yr.  They are much easier to move around, hook up at the library (you don't have to wait for a computer), and to use in the study lounges. Get a lap top it is the best way to go.    

2. Hmmm.... I own a desktop, but laptops these days are pretty sweet.  I think I would go with a laptop with a cd drive installed and at least 20GB and above 256MHz.  There are too many usefull places to plug in your laptop on campus these days.  You can do work in the library, EB, or The Union and have all of your information with you.

Pro-Desktops (2)

1. I currently am using a laptop and I HATE IT.  I've had this computer for a few years now and everything is just falling apart.  I originally took iteverywhere and I loved it but now my mouse stick is broken, my speakers don't work sometimes, and now my monitor looks like it's ready to die on me.   On top of that, for the money that I paid to get this computer I could have got a much better desktop with money left to spare.  I highly recommend purchasing a desktop.  As for the hardware, I recommend a computer with plenty of harddrive space (considering harddrive space is very cheap nowadays).  Also, the video card should be good for the CAD programs.  Don't forget about the memory, get a computer with a lot of RDRAM.  As far as the monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc..just pick something in your budget.

Lastly, the programs.  For my major (mechanical engineering) I'm using mathCAD, matLAB, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Unigrafix, and ABAQUS (a VERY costly program).  I recommend having all of the above programs on your computer (except for ABAQUS which is very memory demanding and is very difficult to find).  As far as Excel and Word, those came with my computer. However, the rest of the programs I listed above did not come with my computer.  If you were to purchase the rest of the programs mentioned you would not have any money left for other college expenses (pizza, <beverages>,etc...).  I am not recommending "pirating" the software, however, if you know of anyone that does have the programs I would copy them on to your computer temporarily to do your work and then delete them.  Good luck!

2. A desktop is a better choice because :-
 (1) It is more capable
 (2) It is cheaper for equal capabilities.
 (3) It is cheaper to upgrade.
 (4) It is friendlier for the do-it-yourselfer; when up-grading.
 (5) Accepts more off-the-shelf generic add-ons

 Portability is not an issue , there are computers everywhere on campus. Also laptops are a distraction to a lot of students-surfing during instructions.

** Spend your money on  RAM and the largest harddrive and not  the  fastest  processor.

Mixed (1)

1. I bought a laptop before i came to college and that is what I would personally prefer for the convenience of being able to take it back and forth from home to college. I realize a lot of people are not able to go home as often as i am however and wouldn't care about that. You can get a lot more for your money when you buy a desk top though and i think it should be a choice for each student. Requiring everyone to have a computer is an OK idea but I dont feel that a laptop is necessary. Virtually nobody in any of my classes has ever actually hauled one to campus everyday and most of the classroomes aren't set up for computer hook up anyhow. Now that i stay on campus most all of the time now, I sometimes wish that i would have gotten a desktop because of how many more options i would have been able to get for the same cost.