[Maggie_92]

I originally thought of a Mac, but I like windows better and Lenovo has a good sale right now. These are my two options:

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook with Professional Operating System
- Processor: Intel Core i7-3667U Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.20 GHz)
- Operating System: Windows 8 Pro 64
- Total Memory: 4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3L SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
- Hard Drive: 250GB Solid State Drive, SATA3, i would buy the extra HD
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/itemdetails/X1CARBON_UPGRADE2_SAP/37/0E6E3D0084869C3EB4172DA2F965A301#.UOBpxW-ACVo

or

IdeaPad U410 Ultrabook - 43768HU - Graphite Gray: Doorbuster
- Processor: 3rd generation Intel Core i7-3517U Processor( 1.90GHz 1600MHz 4MB)
- Operating system: Windows 8 64
- Memory: 8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
- hard drive: 1TB 5400RPM+32GB SSD
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=457&Code=43768HU&category_id=C5A2E5E9A88AEE0FD6766480F1FD83F7

The costs are $1477 and $790, respectively. I know as an engineer I should probably go for the the one with greater storage (U410). But since I'm a chemeng (sophomore) do I really need that much storage?

Which Laptop would you go for? or do you have any other device in mind that you own or heard about?

I would greatly appreciate your advice. I waste a lot of time commuting to school, so having an ultrabook or netbook to use at any time in my backpack would take a lot of weight of my back, well kinda, lol. 

[discodermolide]

Go for a Mac. The OS is great and the presentation programs also. But if your Chem Eng. software will run on them?
But you can, as you know, make a windows partition and boot camp to use windows.
So you have the best of both worlds.

[Maggie_92]

Go for a Mac. The OS is great and the presentation programs also. But if your Chem Eng. software will run on them?
But you can, as you know, make a windows partition and boot camp to use windows.
So you have the best of both worlds.

I thought of installing windows to a Macbook pro 13'', since, like you say, only windows is compatible with some programs. The cost would be around $1500 (with core i7).

But I fear I would mostly use the windows partition, 'wasting' the macos part.

If only Macbook didn't have a reputation of being incompatible with certain software it would be soo perfect.

Have you heard by any chance of any other great non-apple notebooks? 

[discodermolide]

No I have always used Macs

[DrCMS]

I think you need to ask yourself some questions about what do you need/want this computer to do? 
What software will it need to run for your course?
What are the requirements for that software?
What software do you want it to run for your social life etc.
What are the requirements for that software?
Will you be carrying it around with you everyday?
Do you want one compromise device to do everything or will you get a few different ones that each do part of what you want.

Personally I think Macs are overpriced toys for posers.  Yes they are very well made and the software is very easy to use but you have to do stuff the Apple way and you pay a lot of money for the privilege.  I wrote my whole PhD up on a Mac (bought by my supervisor and set up in our lab) and used one pretty much every day for 4 years but when I left uni and I had to pay for my own PC I would not pay the huge Apple tax and bought a windows PC instead.  These days my home computer is a 6 year old Dell laptop running Linux and that does everything I want because I only use a computer to surf the web and email.  Although to be honest I could just about get away with using my Samsung Galaxy SIII phone or Nexus 7 tablet for that role.  If I want to play games I've got an Xbox, PS3 or Wii so I see no reason to have a faster more expensive laptop and would certainly not waste $1500 on a mac.

If I was going to Uni now I'd probably look to have a small 11-13" laptop or more likely a tablet/keyboard combo and a decent smartphone (I would tether the two together to get internet on both) to carry around each day and maybe a desktop to game on and run more demanding software or might ditch that and just take a games console and TV.

[curiouscat]

A lot of the Mac vs Windows vs Linux debate etc. is personal preference / ideology. Since you seem more comfy with Windows go for Windows. I'm  a Chemical Engineer myself and I've only very rarely come across software that won't run on Windows (and if it did there are always alternatives / workarounds / emulators). About Linux, don't worry: There's tons of ways of running a Linux distro on a Windows Laptop.

Frankly, those two models you listed are more than sufficient for anything you'll ever need to compute. I'd say go for the cheaper one (i.e. U410) and that's purely based on cost. You are better of spending the $700 you save elsewhere. Even  perhaps on buying a new Laptop two years from now; they all get obsolete you know. Don't worry about storage. 4GB RAM / 250 GB HDD are sufficient unless you are doing gaming / CFD / video processing or some such niche uses.

PS. In the long run, if you do end up with a Computing centric major or job, Linux familiarity will do you a lot of good. So no matter what you buy, do fool around with multiple OS's etc.

[discodermolide]

@DrCMS: That's a new one for me. I've been called many things in my life but this is the first time I've been called a "poser" 
Thanks.

[Arkcon]

Similar topic from before:

http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=53034.0