Engineering & Computer Science Computer Recommendations
Although we don't recommend a specific brand or model for students, we do provide general guidelines in the hardware we believe is best suited for college work. These recommendations are based around the computers we are currently purchasing for the College. We also strongly recommend getting a three-to-four year on-site service warranty. ITS recommends consulting Consumer Reports as it provides information on a variety of computer models. Elizabethtown College has purchasing arrangements with both Dell and Apple. You may purchase a computer at a small discount (5-8%) from these vendors by visiting the Computer Discounts page.
Computer Science, Information Systems, and Data Science
Students will have sufficient computing power if following the ITS 'General Computer Guidelines', 'Recommended Specifications' and both Mac and PC are suitable.
Engineering
Students will install several software tools on their computers for use in their engineering classes and projects, including Autodesk® applications. Students should follow the 'General Computer Guidelines', 'Recommended Specifications', not the 'Minimum Specifications'. See the Frequently Asked Questions for more details. We strongly recommend computers with 16 GB+ of memory for Engineering students as they work better with AutoDesk® applications.
Computer SpecificationsFrequently Asked Questions
Engineering students will install several software tools on their computers for use in their engineering classes and projects, including Autodesk® applications. Unfortunately, there is not a version of Autodesk® compatible with Macs. Therefore, students with Macs will need to use college owned PCs equipped with the Autodesk® software. We have PCs available for use during class, and the college provides all engineering software on numerous computer labs and laptops available to borrow from the High Library when working on projects outside of class.
We strongly discourage Chromebooks as they do not support Windows Office applications. Students will use Windows Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) extensively.
- A wired mouse (inexpensive versions cost around $10 and work well).
- A 32GB USB 3.0 flash drive for saving projects created on college-owned computers.
For additional questions regarding our campus network, cable, software or investments in other personal devices, see the ITS Computer Specifications page.