>got accepted in Virginia tech Engineering
>have the opportunity to go to a top 15 engineering school
>know i have to get my own "high-end" computer
>figure they want an i3 and 4gb of ram nothing major
>pic related or the requirements for engineering with the rest of the school being roughly the same thing
Holy fuck /g/ i guess you cant use a 6 year old Thinkpad here. Why the fuck are the specs so goddam high.
The requirements are so high so that you'll rent one of their computers or buy one from their sponsors.
>>53589394
it says a combination of devices to meet requirements, just get several memepads like the rest of /g/
>>53589394
Because it's a serious institution and you'll be doing serious work?
You should just buy something that meets those specs when you need it though, maybe they're just trying shill you shit.
>>53589394
they have those requirements so idiots will buy that overpriced specification from their school store.
I go to a top 10 CS school and go by fine with a thinkpad running linux.
>>53589394
Virtual machines maybe? I had to run 4 machines at the same time in my first weeks of university
>falling for the 8 gigs of ram meme twice
>>53589418
the combination device is basically a windows tablet with stylus, so if you dont want a piece of shit touch screen laptop you get one of these as well. At least its not to bad
hilarious. is that an alienware laptop in the top right hand corner as well?
>>53589413
This. It also says that the university software package contains MS Office and Windows, and that you have to buy it from the university even if you already own the software.
This is 100% a cash grab.
>>53589394
>engineering
You'll be in matlab and/or excel 90% of the time.
So you're limited to what?
Surface book
X1 Carbon
Fujitsu T936
VAIO Canvas
Personally I went for the Fujitsu because of the upgradeable hard drive and wacom digitizer.
They use SWAT for tech support? Those fuckers are scary... sneaking around with guns and night vision in the back yeard.. no thanks.
How do they verify your requirements? I mean what are you possibly doing that you need an i5-6xxx and nothing lower will work?
not that i5-6xxxu is OMS SO AMAZING
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-6300U+%40+2.40GHz
>>53589553
Fujitsu still around? That's crazy
It really depends on the kind of engineering.
Software and Computer engineering doesn't require much.
Stuff that requires physics simulation requires more.
Not sure why they want a touch screen though.
I would wait until you actually find out what you need.
It usually takes a week or two to get a new laptop delivered, so just relax and wait until you know that you need it.
Take your old computer, see if the courses relies on windows, see if they rely on a touch screen, google drive etc.
>>53589394
>6300u
they recommended shitty ULV CPUs, you can get something older for cheap
Rose hulman (the #1 undergrad engineering school) leases you a Lenovo W541. I have no idea why vatech would require a tablet. http://www.rose-hulman.edu/admissions-financial-aid/incoming-freshmen/laptop-requirements.aspx
>>53589568
>i5-6300U: 4,280
>i5-2520M: 3,556
difference isn't even that big, and that's not even the lowest end 6th gen i5
guess i really could use my 5 year old ThinkPad X220T
it also has 16 GB RAM
>>53589426
I'm a chemical engineer doing research in a heavily computational (mostly parameter optimization and/or simulation of large non-linear systems) and you will NEVER need the shit listed in the OP because it's too good for undergrad and too weak for anything serious.
For typical undergrad programming an i3 with 4GiB RAM is more than enough, including any engineering software you'd need to run since you won't design anything that big untill you are well acquinted with the computer labs etc. on campus.
When you get into anything really heavy you just clock supercomputer time or you get a proper workstation PC which will probably be looking at Xeon range processors not some i7. Most companies who use proprietary software for large scale simulations usually focus on array processing and I've seen workstations that have 4-8 3D cards with like 64GiB+ ram; something you'll never own personally.
tl;dr: As an engineer you will never need anything more than a cheap i3+4GiB RAM laptop.
>>53589426
now i can understand these specs for a stem major but these a basically the same for english,communication or undecided. Why the fuck does a english major need pic related specs
>>53589776
Does it say anything about GNU/Freedoms?
I think they want you to pic related.
>>53589394
Unless you're doing something like physics simulation, you really don't need what they're telling you.
I'd recommend more ram, but other than that, the worst that's gonna happen is your going to wait an extra 2 second for your answer to appear.
>>53589886
>I'd recommend more ram
Jesus Christ anon, it already has 16GB.
people this isnt a recommendation. Its a fucking requirement that will be checked by staff. I'm forced to get this shit.
>>53589943
they arent going to check anything. just tell them to kill themselves or something
>>53589989
wow nice autism
>>53589914
yeah, and he might get by with that but he should really get 32 :^)
>>53589581
>Comparing an ULV laptop chip to a full desktop chip
In a word, autism.
![gettyimages-3199747_wide-dc84e31fb863573ba0f7f1c65b15dd6ba5151791-s900-c85[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/6lt66qI.jpg "gettyimages-3199747_wide-dc84e31fb863573ba0f7f1c65b15dd6ba5151791-s900-c85[1].jpg")
>>53589998
nice succumbing to jewish swindling tactics goy
>tfw they fell for the 16GB RAM meme
>>53589943
>256GB SSD requirement
It would appear your college is in cahoots with manufacturers.
>>53589943
nigga you're dumb as fuck, probably sheltered your whole damn life to be this naive
>>53590062
>GiB
Ftfy
>>53589394
HAHAHA is this a joke? Jesus Christ. Is someone bribing them to have those requirements or what? Why does it even matter to them if students have a computer or not?
Or wait for it, what if you call their applications department and talk about the hardware?
Because this just looks like Top Jew tactics.
If you actually ask for an explanation of why you'd need such a system, I'm sure they'd let you attend without forcing you into throwing away money.
>>53589943
Tech Engineering? Wat?
Sounds like a shitty uni
>jews you
>no mention of GNU/Linux
>Forces you to use non-free software
>american university
what a scam
>>53590356
What do you suggest?
>>53589394
I *could* underatand them giving you minimum specs on the CPU, but why the fuck do they care about an SSD? Fucking American consumerist bullshit mindset.
>>53589394
Having done a physics bachelor and a year of computational mathematics.. I can't comprehend why you would need that and why a 6 year old Thinkpad wouldn't work. Everything we've encountered has been either "any not completely awful laptop can do it" or "need supercomputer you get access to via uni".
>>53590363
Finland
I graduated from VT, chemical engineering and computer science, a few years ago and they had the same tactic of requesting expensive devices. They wanted us all to have tablets, we maybe used them 2 times and it was pointless. Your best bet would be to get a cheap laptop and then spend the rest on a desktop if you feel like you need more computing power (you wont). You should be able to set it up so that you can remote desktop or ssh into your dorm room desktop from class. The laptops they sell are a scam imo.
>>53589394
Here's how you know they're full of shit:
Seniors now wouldn't have had access to any of those specs as freshman, but are still expected to complete course work.
There is no program in existence that requires a 6000 series Intel processor that couldn't run just as well on an ivybridge.
>>53590569
This. Any computer OP will need should be provided by the school. This is nothing more that the school being bribed, fuck em.
Oh, and torrent all your textbook too OP, you'll save a lot of money and will be able to keep them forever.
What a load of bullshit only took one class that required serious number crunching power (computational chemistry) and the prof just let you ssh into his computing cluster to run the projects. I will say it was occasionally counterproductive if you were unfortunate enough to try running any codes along someone else the scheduler shafted you both. For an intro grad class however, you could run some of these things in a few hours on a 2008 toshiba laptop.
>>53589776
English faculty might use other software. Experimental digital media is beginning to gain traction. But for the most part I only needed a word processor or slide deck software, so those specs are super inflated.
>>53589943
they don't care.
you're dumb.
>people not reporting this underage faggot
man i wonder how much of this board is in high school
>have the opportunity to go to a top 15 engineering school
WOW UR SO SMART DUDE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>>53589472
Where do you pay extra for Windows and office? Every school seems to have dream spark and office 365 for education. They need the students to be used to using Windows and office.
What school do you go to where they make money shilling windows and ms office?
>>53589571
they only make enterprise laptops now as far as I know
>>53590660
You pay for it in tuition, regardless of whether you use it or not. Socialism at its finest
>>53590656
kek this asspain
>>53589394
If you're going for a CS major, these stats are pure bullshit. 8gb of RAM are more than enough, an i5 is just fine.
Just take a BIG harddrive, to be able to dual boot winshit-linux and run a lot of WM's. Aim for ~500 GB of disk space.
>>53590656
He could be 21-22 year old who did an AS or a BS to get into engineering for all we know you retard.
>>53590660
my school doesnt provide office
then again we dont need it for anything
>have the opportunity to go to a top 15 engineering school
DAMN DUDE THAT WAS DEFINITELY WORTH POINTING OUT. HOLY SHIT WATCH OUT WE GOT A BADASS SUPER GENIUS OVER EHRE
>>53590722
OP didn't have to mention it, but calm your tits dude, it's not a big deal.
>>53590704
Same here. Lecturers and students alike are required to make all uploads .pdf format unless it's source code or something. Most people here use TeX past second year.
>>53590704
> my school doesnt provide office
Have you been on your school dreamspark site? I'm more than sure that it's have office there. They usually have lot of (kinda) useless crap there.
>>53590743
Yup, we get a bunch of other stuff but not Office
>>53590741
Yeah, exact same here. Bar a few plebs converting their .docs to .pdf
>>53590408
moving around with spinning hdd for 4 years+
i think itll be just fine
>>53590722
>>53590656
Dude fuckoff, why are you so triggered? That's a normal thing to say, it's as opposed to attending a cheaper instituion and it's usefull information to us and relevant to feedback we give him.
Maybe you should focus more on your own shortcomings than trying to break down some random faggot on the internet who's probably a better person than you in every single capacity. Only a complete loser would get butthurt over someone else attending an engineering programme.
>>53590743
Similar ranked engineering school here. Our dreamspark has VS, windows 10, etc, but no Office. All my team projects we use google docs anyways so its not a big deal
>>53589394
>>53590656
I went to a top 1 engineer school :^)
>>53589426
lolololol
you're like one of those idiots who brings a fucking alienware to CS101 because "compiling" is an expensive task
>>53590782
>moving around with spinning disk
Yea because he needs to run whole marathons while using his laptop.
Jesus you people are retarded, I hope Trump shuts your internet down so we won't have to deal with you anymore
>>53590844
Are you implying he's an Iraqi or Syrian?
>>53590743
We get all sorts of shit on Dreamspark, no Office though.
>>53589394
>tablet meeting the requirements below
>16gb ram
the fuck
>>53590804
There's no top 1. At the top 5 they all pretty much get interchangeable based on whatever criterion the university in question wants to use to justify calling themselves the best in the world. But the fact is that if you go to any of the top 5 schools, your outcome is going to be equal, give or take a minutia of randomness
>>53590802
>no umatrix
>>53589394
>mfw all my uni told me to buy was a set of scrubs, a white coat and a stethoscope
>my uni runs an illegal copy-printing facility in the library's basement where staff prints illegal copies of those ridiculously overpriced textbooks and sells to students for ~10 USD a piece
>i steal morphine regularly
I used an athlon x2 laptop for my CS major. I still have it too.
The fuck you need a wacom tablet for?
>>53589394
UVA master race
>>53591058
>>53590844
yeah i lost 3 hdd in 2 year because i didnt baby my laptop. im not throwing it around and always sleep mode it before moving. hdd is a meme get over it
>>53589448
just buy a surface pro 4
If you walk in with a 4th gen i7 and windows 7 nobody will fucking notice.
>OP sees a sign that says "this sign kills people"
>OH SHIT RUN RUN RUN
>runs off a cliff
>OP is dumb
>>53589394
I am surprised GTX 980 Ti or Titan X isn't in the list since the latest deep learning hype.
>>53589394
Even I can afford that and I live in a third world shithole country. You are doing something wrong.
>>53590363
POCCИЯ!!!))))))
>>53591157
>3 HDD in 2 years
Let's play "spot the retard": it's you.
>>53589394
yea no.
on the mobile side, i3 = i5 in performance, i5s usually slightly higher clock speed tho.
RAM, I could see you using that.
SSD? theirs not a reason NOT to have an SSD that big desu.
stylus, maybe they need you to have it, drawing pad would work.
Wireless AC? anything new should have it.
honestly op just get a good laptop, even if its a gen or two below and upgrade ram and HDD to SSD.
>>53590014
>using the smiley with a carat nose
>>53590804
>using the smiley with a carat nose
>>53590166
>"Is someone bribing them to have those requirement"
yes
>>53589394
>Broke ass university that doesn't have server farms & cloud instances that you can hit with VNC or SSH.
Nigga, I made it through a top 10 nationally rated university with an old ass atom powered netbook.
>>53589394
>VIRGINia
>>53589394
Wow, they must be Intel shills to command a 6th gen i5. Even if it's a mobile i5.
You could get along real well with a 1st gen i3, OP.
>>53590656
>being this salty
how does it feel to be an uneducated failure at life faggot?
>goes to top school
>worries about buying new pc
Just stay home asshole
![ChoSh_400x400[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Nb2hP1K.jpg "ChoSh_400x400[1].jpg")
>>53589394
>got accepted in Virginia tech Engineering
You HAVE to FINISH THE JOB ANON
>>53589394
That's not really high-end, that's a bare minimum for software development.
>>53590683
if you read a book every once in a while you would understand that socialism at it's finest was the victory of the workers over the nazis, and a capitalist school being in league with tech corporations has nothing to do with socialism.
>>53595944
>the joke
>your head
Goddamn what the hell. They're trying to suck the money out of you OP. Go there and see what it's like before eating this up and shitting out your entire bank account
new a pre law student at VT. rich, privileged, qualitifed. dated my useless literal nigger roommate who cheated on her all the time. couldn't believe bitch was stupid af or just liked that nigger dick sometimes.
>>53589394
>you need to buy a computer from them
>you need to buy microsoft windows from them
>you need to buy warranty from them
>university isn't a scam
>>53596055
I totally fell for it didn't I.
>School wants over-specced laptops for 95% of the shit you'll end up doing, and woefully inadequate for the other 5%
>No mention of access to a high performance computing lab
Part of engineering is finding the most efficient way of completing a goal, and it appears that VT hasn't figured this out yet. I don't mean to rag on you OP but it sounds like a pretty shit engineering program.
>>53596383
And your internet is sanatized and reported to the RIAA! Get extra credit by exposing friends!
>>53596218
nigger loves and cunts that dye their hair bright colors are trash. at least the cunts that dye their hair have the courtesy to make everyone in the proximity aware that they're fucked in the head. nigger loves might look like normal people until you see them with their pet nigger.
>viriginia tech
>top 15 university
Kek. Just get whatever the fuck you want. It's not like they will actually check.
>>53595944
Sandernista detected
>>53589394
>Holy fuck /g/ i guess you cant use a 6 year old Thinkpad here.
>>53589943
>people this isnt a recommendation. Its a fucking requirement that will be checked by staff. I'm forced to get this shit.
A simple Google search says otherwise:
https://www.reddit.com/r/VirginiaTech/comments/30jo4n/what_is_up_with_that_ridiculous_tablet/
>>53589448
Why the hell wouldn't an external wacom tablet be accepted
>>53589394
Ridiculous.
You should be good until you get around to assembly and shit like that
>>53594920
Not him but pretty bad
>>53595944
>socialism was the victory of workers over Nazis
>yfw Nazi Germany had the best compensated and most employed workforce in history
OP, if you're still here, I'm at VT right now
I'm going to guess you're on /g/ for a CS major
really get any desktop you want, but you'll need to run autocad or whatever the fuck that is for a semester it's literally one class autistic shit
and get a drawing tablet, not one of those tablet computers. also for just one semester unless you're going to another major
this school is pretty dumb desu
Lmao you probably don't need that shit. I built a desktop so I never worried :^]
>>53600981
er, any laptop you want
>>53600981
>I'm at VT right now
>you'll need to run autocad or whatever the fuck that is for a semester
At many engineering schools, you pay a "lab fee". That fee covers all of the software that you will ever need in the computer labs. So if you needed to use a Spice simulator or Autocad or Matlab, you would use what was installed on the school's system.
Does VT not have lab fees or computer labs? Or is all of this silliness more for general 1st year classes (upperclassmen would use software in the computer labs unless they wanted to purchase their own copy).
>>53601002
also if you didn't get directly into computer science, then you're going to want to actually do well for your enge 1215 and enge 1216 classes (which are the general engineering bullshit required classes), but the classes are bullshit so glhf. you'll need a 3.0 average between the two to get into cs if you're not already in.
regardless of whether you're already in or not, you'll have to take them. they also use some bullshit program that makes tests "secure" by modifying your computer like a virus so you can't use alt-tab, can't switch programs while taking the test, etc. and it's pretty required. either bring along a dualboot macbook or dualboot linux laptop with windows, or something. you could try to look up a vm solution, but afaik it has a VM detection thing and if it sees you're using it in a VM then it just doesn't work at all
so just be prepared
so glad i'm out of that bs
>>53601392
they make you install it on your laptop. you don't go to a computer lab. you also bring in your computer to make things in autocad for exams and stuff. there's still a lab fee, though, i think, which is pretty retarded
>>53601399
>they make you install it on your laptop. you don't go to a computer lab.
Interesting.
>>53589394
That made me chuckle. Actual engineering schools have servers so that you only use your own computer for ssh or as a remote desktop client. What kind of sick person would want to provide IT assistance to billion freshman who have no idea what they're doing?
>>53589394
As a current freshman engineering major at Tech, those specs aren't really held up. Most everything you can do with your 6 yeah old ThinkPad just fine. Really only thing you kinda need is a tablet/digitizer pen
>>53589451
Looks like an MSI gaymen laptop
>>53589394
I go to one of the top engineering schools in Canada and I'm running linux on an 8 year old macbook unibody lmao. What kind of fucking requirement is that shit?
Schools put out "requirements" like this all the time, but you can safely ignore them. Don't bother buying textbooks either, it's a racket.
>>53600988
>using the smiley with a carat nose
>>53589394
>>53589448
>good Intel Core-M
>best Intel Core i5 or better
Just proves these people don't actually know much
We had the same requirements except for 10, the wireless and they just said you need some i7
>>53589943
Literally just bring whatever you want for the first day and then use your judgement if you think you'll need to upgrade. The requirements are listed as so because they probably want people to buy something new and only once so that it lasts the whole time.
That's funny, my university doesn't even list spec requirements. A MacBook Air has done me well, and it has for 99% of other students as well
>>53589394
There's a lot of meme answers here, but seriously, it shouldn't matter. Obviously higher specs are nicer, but if whatever you run now (referring to both hardware and software) works for you, just keep it.
My school also has Windows requirements for CS things, but it really doesn't matter. Anything they need falls into one of three categories:
1. You can do it just fine without their stupid requirements
2. You can do it with some minor workarounds (e.g. Wine)
3. You have to suck it up and use school computers.
In my experience, 95% of tasks fall in 1. The whole reason they recommend Windows 10 is to make tech support easier when they say "download this software to use the school's VPN" even though you can still access it just fine using tools like openconnect.
if you buy one of their computers, you really shouldn't be going into engineering.
>>53590495
Do this.
I went through university with a tiny netbook SSHing into my home PC. Faster processing speed than anything mobile plus small and light as fuck.
>>53589394
ignore it and dont buy anything. for writing reports any computer will do.
For numerical simulations any computer you buy will be too slow.
use the provided infrastructure to ssh onto the computing cluster and let it run all the heavy stuff, you can even shedule scripts and chec the completion status from your phone
>>53589394
>6 year old thinkmeme
POOR!
>Windows
Sounds like a shit programme desu
On my country you would be laughed out of the section for suggesting Microsoft
>schools in the US are pretty much a scam
Rofl nice education system
3rd year Hokiefag, in engineering. The specs are total bullshit, and you can get by on anything that can run Eclipse and a decent CAD, and a Bamboo. The specs are just a BS attempt by this school to get you to buy overpriced systems from the bookstore. You're at least lucky that you weren't around when we were required to have internal touch pads. I had to buy a brand new laptop because my old one didn't have a touch screen. They would literally fail you on Day 1 in Intro to Engineering if you came in without a touch screen computer, or even if you used a Bamboo. The prof literally walked up and down the rows in the first 10 minutes of class, telling people to go to the Engineering Dean's office to get a College transfer request if they didn't have a tablet computer. Don't waste your money, go with what works.
If you do decide to get a new computer, don't get a Fushitsu. That's my advice. And congrats on your acceptance.
