10 Best Laptops for Civil & Structural Engineers

Civil & Structural Engineering, is a field that requires a laptop for using some programs such as AutoCAD, Revit, ALLPLAN, doing assignments, taking notes and preparing presentations. Here, we’ll look at the best laptop for Civil Engineering. Several factors, come into play when buying a laptop for Engineering. These, have been considered in order of importance to be able to run all the current engineering programs.

A computer is a fundamental tool for civil and structural engineers and engineering students as they rely on a computer for most parts of their works. Before computers, most engineering tasks were laborious and took lots of human resources but today engineers utilize the power of computers and software to design, test, and make changes to products in real-time.

Structural Engineers use CAD or computer-aided design software such as SolidWorks to design 2D/3D models of their new products and take their ideas from a state of concept to a virtual prototype in a 3-D environment.

Moreover, engineers use computational fluid dynamics or CFD analysis to ensure that drag is minimized for their CAD products such as an airplane or automobiles. Engineers also use computers to make blueprints, house-plans, automate tasks, run simulations, and perform complex mathematical analysis.

For an engineer to accomplish those tasks efficiently, rapidly, and easily; a computer with high specifications is necessary. There are a number of laptops available for engineers, therefore choosing the best one is not an easy task.

Criteria used for best laptop recommendation for Civil and Structural Engineers: First, is performance. You don’t want lags and performance issues when using your laptops. An intel Core i5/i7, are the best consideration. With this, most programs, will run smoothly on your laptop.

In addition, having at least 8GB of RAM, enables you to run several programs at the same time. You can have an AutoCAD file, several pdfs, word documents, all open at the same time, and switch between them smoothly and intuitively.

#1 ASUS ZenBook 14 Ultra-Slim Laptop

ASUS ZenBook 14 Ultra-Slim Laptop is one of the most innovative and modern laptops available in the market. It is the latest model of the Asus ZenBook series. It has the most powerful processor. ScreenPad technology is introduced in this laptop series for instant access to your work. The laptop works efficiently for nearly all engineering software applications.

Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i7-10510U processor
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64bit
Screen Size/Display: 14 inches, 1920×1080, FHD
RAM: 16GB
Storage Capacity: 512GB SSD
Graphical Processing Unit: NVIDIA GeForce MX250 GDDR5 2GB

#2 HP Spectre x360

HP Spectre x360 is one of the best laptops designed by the company so far. Having a slim design, it also weighs less than 3 pounds. The laptop has a long-lasting battery life (which is a specialty of HP) with up to 13 hours. So, you can work endlessly with high performance for a longer time. Its recharging time is also less than most of the other laptops.

Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i7-8565U processor 8th Generation
OS: Windows 10 Home 64bit
Screen Size/Display: 13.3″ diagonal, 1920×1080, FHD
RAM: 16 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM
Storage Capacity: 512 GB Intel SSD
Graphical Processing Unit: Intel UHD Graphics 620

This laptop can help engineering students to solve complex problems or run simulations in the most reliable way. HP SPectre x360 also supports IR webcam and fingerprint sensor, so you can make your information and data more secure

#3 Lenovo ThinkPad P53s

Lenovo ThinkPad P53s is the latest model of the ThinkPad series and is one of the most top-notch laptops for engineers and professionals. It is one of the most powerful and high-performance laptops you can buy to do your professional engineering tasks in an efficient way. Equipped with NVIDIA Quadro P520 GPU, this laptop can run high-end graphical software and applications smoothly, as many engineers use similar CAD tools that require a powerful GPU.

The performance never renders or freezes while using high-quality tools. This laptop also comes with the UHD 3840×2160 resolution if you want to have a 4K experience. However, the battery life of this laptop (almost 3 hours) may not be satisfactory.

Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i7-8565U 1. 80GHz Processor 8th Gen
OS: Windows 10 Professional
Screen size/Display: 15. 6″ Full HD 1920×1080
RAM: 16GB DDR4 SODIMM
Storage Capacity: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
Graphical Processing Unit: NVIDIA Quadro P520 2GB GDDR5 Integrated Graphics

#4 Microsoft Surface Pro 7

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is the latest slimmest laptop designed by Microsoft. It just weighs around 1.7 pounds. Moreover, it is one of the most powerful laptops with great graphics and improved battery life.

Engineers can do multi-tasking with Microsoft Surface Pro 7 in the most reliable and efficient way. It can run engineering software without affecting its performance. Although it comes with a variety of processors i3, i5, i7, but Core i7-1065G7 (quad-core) is recommended for a very smooth experience.

Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i3-1005G1(Dual-Core), i5-1035G4(Dual-Core), i7-1065G7 (Quad-Core) Processor 10th Gen
OS: Windows 10 Home
Screen Size/Display: 12.3″ PixelSense Display (2736 x 1824)
RAM: 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB LPDDR4x RAM
Storage Capacity: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
Graphical Processing Unit: Intel UHD Graphics

#5 Acer Predator Helios 300

The laptop gives you the fastest and most realistic experience while using various software applications. The laptop is equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti and 16GB RAM that can run software without any delayed rendering or freezing. This laptop is suitable mostly for electrical and mechanical engineers.

Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H 9th Gen
OS: Windows 10 Home 64bit
Screen Size/Display: 15.6″ Full HD Display (1920×1080)
RAM: 16GB DDR4
Storage Capacity: 512GB Flash Memory Solid State
Graphical Processing Unit: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti

#6 Apple MacBook Pro

If you’re a fan of Apple products, then here is one for you! Apple MacBook Pro is a great laptop, however, it’s expensive. The laptop is equipped with a touch bar and touch ID. You can work on tasks like editing videos, photography, architecture in the most reliable and efficient way. The powerful i5, 8th Gen processor allows you to do tasks like 3D modeling, coding, designing without delayed rendering or freezing of your laptop.

Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i5 Processor 8th Gen
OS: Windows 10 Home 64bit
Screen Size/Display: 13.3″ diagonal display with IPS technology; 2560×1600
RAM: 16GB
Storage Capacity: 128GB, 256GB
Graphical Processing Unit: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645

#7 HP ENVY 13.3″ Thin Laptop

HP ENVY is also one of the top-notch laptops for engineers and students. Its super-fast 8th Gen processor allows engineers to do heavy tasks reliably in the fastest way possible. The 16GB DDR4 RAM along with the NVIDIA GeForce MX250 Graphic card allows you to run heavy software applications smoothly.

Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i7-8565U
OS: Windows 10 Home 64bit
Screen Size/Display: 13.3″ UHD, 3840×2160
RAM: 16GB DDR4
Storage Capacity: 512 GB Flash Memory Solid State
Graphical Processing Unit: NVIDIA GeForce MX250 Graphics

#8 Razer Blade Stealth 13 Ultrabook

Razer Blade Stealth 13 Ultrabook comes with ultra-thin portability and long-lasting battery life. Engineers would be able to complete any extensive task with Razer Blade Stealth 13 Ultrabook in the most efficient way. The strength of this laptop has been increased with the CNC-machining of high-grade aluminum. Thus, the laptop has also maximum durability.

Specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i7-1065G7 4 Core
OS: Windows 10 Home 64bit
Screen Size/Display: 13.3″ FHD 60Hz display
RAM: 16GB RAM
Storage Capacity: 512GB SSD
Graphical Processing Unit: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q

#9 MSI GS65 Stealth-006 Laptop

Civil engineering students who may need to work on design software will find this pretty useful because of the high quality graphics. Its ability to display visuals fluidly and enhance the realism of the images heightens the modeling software experience. The same goes for viewing and display of other programs and software on its 15.6” Full HD screen. It comes in 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Specifications:

CPU: 2.2GHz Intel Core i7-8750H
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 512GB SSD
Display: 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8GB)

#10 Dell XPS 13 7390 Laptop

Specifications for the Dell XPS 13 7390 laptop can be changed according to your budget. The specs mentioned here are suitable for engineering students. Although the performance of this laptop is limited because of no dedicated graphics card, the laptop works perfectly for many engineering tasks such as running simulations, drawing 2D/3D plans, and doing programming projects. It also comes with a full HD display and long battery life.

Specifications:

CPU: Intel i5-10210U
OS: Windows 10 Home 64bit
Screen size: 13.3″ Touchscreen FHD (1920×1080)
RAM: 8GB RAM DDR3
StorageCapacity: 256GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
Graphical Processing Unit: Intel UHD Graphics

Most of the laptops in this list are affordable for engineers and students. You can find laptops with better specifications than these laptops in the market but they would be very expensive.

Source: engineeringpassion.com