3 Best Laptops for Mechanical Engineering Students in 2024
From this article, you will know what are, in our opinion, the best laptops for mechanical engineering students to buy and use in 2024.
A laptop has become a necessity these days for college students, including the ones in the mechanical engineering major.
However, mechanical engineering students shouldn’t use just any laptop as they sometimes need to run quite heavy software like SolidWorks or MATLAB. Using a low-quality laptop can cause that software to lag often when we work in it or even crash. A laptop with the right specifications should help mechanical engineering students in doing their daily activities as students optimally.
If you don’t have a laptop like that to use, you may want to buy one now. However, it can be difficult to find the right laptop for a mechanical engineering student from many laptop models out there. This is why Compute Expert has come up with its list of the best laptops for mechanical engineering students that you can use as your laptop-purchasing reference.
Want to know what laptops make it into our list and why we recommend them? Let’s get on the list right away.
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| Image | View on Amazon | Product |
|---|---|---|
 
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Lenovo ThinkPad P15 Gen 2 | |
 
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Dell XPS 15 9520 | |
 
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Asus TUF Dash F15 |
Table of Contents:
What are the Best Laptops for Mechanical Engineering Students?
Now, let us see what laptops we recommend for mechanical engineering students to use. Using one of these laptops should help you get the laptop support you need to do your daily activities as a student much more optimally.1. Lenovo ThinkPad P15 Gen 2
Lenovo ThinkPad P15 Gen 2 is the first laptop we put in our recommendation list. A ThinkPad laptop is typically robust and has excellent performance. This one is no different.
This ThinkPad model is backed by an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB RAM. Running the software you need when you do your class tasks should mostly be smooth with these kinds of specifications in place. There is a dedicated GPU here with NVIDIA T1200 4GB to let you run CAD software much more optimally.
One minus of this laptop is probably its bulky design. However, it should still be quite comfortable to bring around in a bag. The battery life estimation is 10 hours of usage capacity so you can use it for a full day without having to charge it.
The keyboard can give you a positive typing experience as it is comfortable to type on in our opinion. Overall, this Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 5 can be a good choice for the laptop you buy and use as a mechanical engineering student if you don’t mind the thick design.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
- Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7 with speed up to 4.6 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 10 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent performance to run software and files
- Dedicated GPU (NVIDIA T1200)
- Solid and robust build
- Full range of ports with two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
Cons
- Bulky design
- Thick bezels
- Fans can get loud
2. Dell XPS 15 9520
Dell XPS 15 9520 is another laptop you may want to consider buying to support your student activities. It is a sleek laptop that can give you fast performance when you use it.
This laptop has a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. It is a high-quality processor that should run simulation and CAD software well for you. The RAM is 16GB so there should be plenty of room to multitask on this laptop.
The dedicated GPU here is NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti. It should be able to process the designs and models you build on software well. The bezels are thin here so there is more viewport for you to see what you do on this laptop.
There are two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the sides of this laptop that you can use to transfer data in and out fast. Overall, this Dell XPS 15 9520 laptop can be just the laptop you need to do all of your activities as a mechanical engineering student well.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
- Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i7 with speed up to 4.7 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 9 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent performance to run software and files
- Dedicated GPU (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti)
- Sleek and premium design
- Two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
- Great sound outputs
Cons
- Lack of port variants
- A bit heavy for some people
- Average webcam
3. Asus TUF Dash F15
Asus TUF Dash F15 is the next laptop we think is good to use for a mechanical engineering student. It is a gaming laptop that is unique as it has a quite sleek design and is not too power-hungry.
Performance-wise, as with a typical gaming laptop, this laptop should give you a reliable and fast performance. The specifications here are the 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB RAM. They should be plenty enough to manage your software and files smoothly.
The cooling seems good here with advanced fan systems and anti-dust tunnels. Its performance should be more stable during intense work sessions with the system support. There are also lots of usable ports here so connectivity shouldn’t be much problem for you.
All in all, this Asus TUF Dash F15 laptop looks like a nice blend of gaming and work laptops that you can use for your needs as a mechanical engineering student.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
- Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i7 with speed up to 4.7 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 10 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent performance to run software and files
- Dedicated GPU (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060)
- Sleek design
- USB-A, USB-C, and HDMI ports
- Decent battery life for a gaming laptop
Cons
- No SD or micro-SD card reader ports
- Most ports are on the left
What are the Things We Should Consider When We Want to Buy a Laptop for a Mechanical Engineering Student to Use?
Here are the things we think you should consider when you want to buy a laptop for a mechanical engineering student.- Processor. Some software a mechanical engineering student typically runs can give a quite heavy workload for a laptop. As such, the laptop you buy should have a high-quality processor. We recommend a late-generation of i7 or Ryzen 7 processor for this
- RAM capacity. As with the processor quality, the laptop you buy should have enough RAM capacity too to run your software and files ably, especially if you plan to multitask often with your laptop. We recommend a laptop with 16GB RAM for this
- Storage. The laptop you buy should have SSD storage as it can save and load files much faster than HDD storage. As for the capacity, we recommend 512GB as some software and files a mechanical student uses may have large file sizes
- GPU. As software like SolidWorks or MATLAB may require a dedicated GPU from a laptop so it can run optimally. Thus, we recommend that the laptop you buy has that
- Battery life. A student may sometimes need to use their laptops without access to a power outlet. As such, the laptop you buy should be able to last for at least a few hours by using its battery if you use it for standard tasks before you have to charge it again
- Portability. As a student, you need to bring your laptop between classes and around your campus to do your daily activities. Thus, make sure it has the design and weight you are comfortable bringing around
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can I Use a Gaming Laptop for My Activities as a Mechanical Engineering Student?
Performance-wise, a gaming laptop should be capable to support the activities of a mechanical engineering student. However, a typical gaming laptop is bulky and has poor battery life.If you are fine with its drawbacks, then it can be a good choice to use a gaming laptop as a mechanical engineering student. Especially if you like to play AAA games during your spare time.
Can I Use a MacBook for My Activities as a Mechanical Engineering Student?
Some software that mechanical engineering student usually uses in their classes runs best or even only runs in Windows. If you use a MacBook, you may sometimes need to use Parallels or Boot Camp Windows Environments to use the software.Therefore, we recommend a Windows laptop instead of a MacBook for a mechanical engineering student so you don’t have much trouble in terms of running your software.
Can I Use a Chromebook for My Activities as a Mechanical Engineering Student?
If you use a Chromebook, you most probably won’t be able to use some software you need to use for your classes at all. Therefore, we don’t recommend a Chromebook for a mechanical engineering student.Wrap Up
If we are mechanical engineering students, then we need to buy a capable laptop to support our daily activities if we don’t have one yet. However, it can be hard to pick a laptop model with the right specifications from many laptop choices out there. This is why Compute Expert has come up with its list of the best laptops for mechanical engineering students to help you buying the right laptop.To summarize, here are three laptops we recommend for a mechanical engineering student to use.
We hope our list can help you buy the best laptop to support your activities as a student.
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