Engineering students with Macintosh computers should not encounter any major difficulties or incompatibilities in the course of their studies. They will occasionally need access to Windows computers, and our Macintosh page discusses three ways they can do this.
Each year we receive a number of questions about computers for incoming Engineering students. Hopefully the information here answers most of those questions, but if not, please feel free to either email me (lynn@engr.uky.edu) or call me (859) 257-3452.
First things first. The University of Kentucky has a preferred vendor contract in place with Dell, Inc. This means as a UK student you get a discount on computers and other items you purchase from Dell through the University's EBuy site. It also means the information here will use Dell's terminology and configurations as examples, but hopefully it's general enough that you can use it with other vendors' products too. If you're looking at purchasing a Dell through the UK Dell Portal, make certain you look at both the standard configurations (Optiplex desktops and Latitude laptops); and full catalog configurations (Employee Discount Program and Student Purchase). Many of these systems are similar, but the prices can be considably different. One more thing, if you have a computer that is less than a couple years old it will probably do everything you need for the next year or two.
From UK's Dell Portal, pick "Personal Purchase". You now get two choices, UK's standard configurations or Dell's full catalogue. The examples below are based on UK's standard configurations (Dell Latitude laptops and Optiplex desktops). If you look under Dell's full catalogue you'll find very similar Studio and XPS laptops and desktops; you may even be able to save some money.
Which calculator a student can use in a class, at least on their tests, is determined by the individual faculty members. In the first few semesters, students will generally be allowed to use calculators that are allowed on the SAT, ACT, or AP tests. Basically, calculators that are not capable of performing symbolic manipulations. The Texas Instrument's TI-84 plus falls into this category, as do similar Hewlett-Packard models. Later in their academic careers students will be able to use more powerful models like the TI-86, TI-89, or Voyager 200.
unixstaff@engr.uky.edu
Last Modified: 30-May-12