laptop for college student

m1 macbook air is like 800 bucks.

Where is he going? Most curriculums will have a page where they suggest laptop specs. Some may even advise you not to use Apple computers due to specific software requirements unavailable for the Macs.

So I would check there first then try to match or exceed those specs, maybe ask here again with specifics for recs.

My youngest is just starting her senior year at LSU. She has a Lenovo Yoga and it has been good to her.

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He is going to LSU

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Does he have a major picked out?

My son graduated in ISDS which is in the business college. His rec was

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SDEIS Laptop Policy
Minimum Windows Operating System Requirements:
• Any Intel Core 2, Core i5 or i7 CPU. Intel (i7 recommended) or AMD single core CPU (with a 3 GHz processor speed or faster (multiple CPUs and/or multi-core CPUs are recommended) with Windows 8 (64-bit) or Windows 10 (64-bit)

• 16 GB RAM (16 recommended)

• 500GB Hard drive

• ATA 100/7,200 RPM hard drive is preferred but a 5,400 will work

• A graphics card supporting higher resolution than 1024×768 (32-bit). (1 GB dedicated, non-shared, memory for card is recommended.)

Apple Systems are not recommended as all software utilized in this course requires the Windows operating system. However, if you do decide to utilize an Apple computer you must have Windows (8 or higher) running prior to starting courses.
?

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https://www.lsu.edu/business/sdeis/academics/bs-isds/laptop.php

College of engineering also has a recomendation against Macs at the end of the page.

https://www.lsu.edu/eng/future/computer.php

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He considered the ISDS, how did your son like that and is he working now and liking it

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He liked it. He started out in Math/Statistics but switched. Unfortunately, he was not very active trying to make connection or get any internships so he is not currently working in that field.

But I do think if he had been a bit more proactive he would have found something.

Without getting into details, he is currently working for a company that places people as coding support with end users either contract or contract to permanent. Hoping that works out for him soon.

My son just finished his freshman year at LSU. We bought him a Microsoft Surface and he had no problems with it. Battery life is not great but the charger is not bulky like some laptop chargers so its easy to carry in his back pack and there is no shortage of charging stations.

These specs are garbage


• Any Intel Core 2, Core i5 or i7 CPU. Intel (i7 recommended) or AMD single core CPU (with a 3 GHz processor speed or faster (multiple CPUs and/or multi-core CPUs are recommended) with Windows 8 (64-bit) or Windows 10 (64-bit)

• 16 GB RAM (16 recommended)

• 500GB Hard drive

• ATA 100/7,200 RPM hard drive is preferred but a 5,400 will work

• A graphics card supporting higher resolution than 1024×768 (32-bit). (1 GB dedicated, non-shared, memory for card is recommended.)

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wow, thanks so much for the info and links. He is doing computer engineering or computer science, something along those lines so definitely sounds like MAC isn't the best.

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for Computer Science I'd vastly prefer a Mac (or Linux).

I went to LSU for CS, always had a laugh at the majority of people on Windows laptops having to install extra software or packages to make their computers more *nix-like when my MacBook had it all already with its BSD userland and UNIX certification.

Like j1897, the tech world is *nix based. But the business world is Windows based. Figure out what your son is actually doing and buy what's appropriate

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Do you understand the word minimum?

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Those specs logically don't make sense or are so low they're irrelevant

Core 2, ATA 100 with 16GB of RAM

It gives Windows 8 as a minimum when Microsoft ended support for Windows 8 over six years ago.

For starting out anything with a long battery life, when he gets into his program he might have more stringent requirements. Don't count on his day one major sticking around.

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