Laptop recommendations
A laptop will be very important for your studies. Even in your first semester, you will be programming on it and designing components in CAD. Therefore, we are giving you a rough guide to help you choose your laptop. We don’t want to give you specific recommendations, but rather tips on what to look out for. There are so many laptops on the market that giving concrete recommendations is difficult. In addition to the laptop, you’ll also need something to write on, either paper or a tablet.
An important question first: Convertible or two separate devices?
Convertibles are laptops with a touchscreen that can also be used as a tablet-like device. The advantage is obvious: you have just one device that can do everything. Convertibles are often more expensive than laptops or tablets, but they are often more worthwhile than buying two separate devices. To write on a laptop without a touchscreen, you can connect a separate graphics tablet – these are quite affordable and are connected via USB.
What should you look for in a laptop?
| Dimensions | Not too large – it should fit in your backpack. Therefore, no larger than 16 inches, lighter than 2 kg, and less than 2 cm thick. |
| Battery | One of the most important things – nothing is more annoying than having to constantly search for power outlets. So pay attention to the largest possible battery, ideally larger than 60-70 Wh. |
| Processor | Should be reasonably modern, but doesn’t have to be the latest generation. Ryzen 7 and Intel i7 would be good, but for budget-conscious users, the 5-series will do. |
| Graphics card | Integrated graphics are completely sufficient – the CAD program we use (Siemens NX) doesn’t have high graphics requirements. |
| RAM | At least 16 GB RAM is recommended; 8 GB is already not enough for many applications. |
| Storage | An SSD with 500 GB is recommended; 256 GB is also fine, but less than that is not practical. |
What is not recommended?
- Gaming laptops: They have very good performance, but you usually can’t fully utilize it during your studies, and they are often very heavy with poor battery life. If you’ve been using one up until now, there’s no reason to buy a new one.
- MacBooks: At least those with Apple chips (M1, M2, etc.). In general: most of the software we use only runs really well on Windows; with macOS it becomes more difficult. The new Macs with Apple chips are almost completely incompatible.
- Surface devices: Good devices for light office work, but often too weak for our applications, and they have very poor cooling, which isn’t fun.
- Chromebooks: Far too weak and with an incompatible operating system, so unfortunately completely unsuitable.
- Tablet only: Many programs you absolutely need do not run here either.
The tablet?
Apple iPads, paired with the Apple Pencil and one of the many note-taking apps – recommendable, but the paid ones especially are Notability or Goodnotes – are unmatched in the pure tablet space. Android tablets are getting better, but they still haven’t really caught up to iPads. However, these or an older, used iPad are perfectly sufficient just for taking notes.
An older, used iPad is also perfectly adequate, e.g., the iPad Air 3rd generation from 2019.
How and where can I save money?
Sites like Notebooksbilliger.de often have very good deals, and it can also be worth looking out for student discounts – Campuspoint is recommended here. It doesn’t always have to be the latest generation device; the previous generation is in most cases not much worse but significantly cheaper. Used devices also save money, of course – leasing returns or refurbished devices are highly recommended. The go-to for used devices is kleinanzeigen.de, which is also worth a look. However, you should inspect and check devices from Kleinanzeigen in person before buying – in personal contact with sellers, you can also negotiate the price.
What needs to run on the laptop?
- Siemens NX or Autodesk Inventor
- Matlab
- VM Ware