Top products from r/NCSU

If you're on a budget, I just picked up this laptop and definitely recommend it. I did a lot of research beforehand and it's the best thing out there in this price range. It's running a Ryzen 5 CPU, which means it's got some impressive graphics capability for your CAD work. Plus it's a 2-in-1 and pretty light, so it's also great for note taking in class.

Another major benefit, especially if you're engineering and have some technical skills, is that the RAM, battery, and SSD are user upgradeable, which means you'll be able to keep this laptop running strong for years with a couple cheap upgrades when it starts to slow down.

It's not as fancy as other laptops out there, the build quality is where they had to make some compromises. Plastic body, speakers arent amazing, not the best screen out there, and the battery life is about 5-6 hours. But it's Lenovo, so it's still pretty solid, the keyboard feels pretty good and the trackpad is as good as anything out there under about $900.

Overall there's nothing near this powerful out there at this price range, especially if the 2-in-1 touch screen matters to you. But whatever you choose, I would definitely recommend something with a discrete graphics card or an AMD Ryzen processor like this one if you're going to be doing graphics intensive work like CAD.

**note: if you'll be doing a ton of MATLAB however, MATLAB is optimized for Intel and runs a lot slower on AMD processors, so that may also be something to consider.

The undergrad department head, Dr. Lubischer, doesn't really pick the book... the course coordinator does. That would be Dr. Black and Dr. Niedzlek-Feaver. I've worked closely with both professors and they're trying to save students money. Dr. Black often makes the book completely optional in her DE course (the one I am most familiar with), and will provide material from it in lieu of requiring the book itself. As far as in class courses- it is generally helpful but even in her advanced courses (BIO 370/375) she never required the text. If you knew someone with it you could photocopy any important pages, or you could share books.

But why Brooker at all? Because it's an improvement from Campbell's Biology. Campbell's is a better textbook with more information, but is much more expensive. New editions, iirc, are around $250+ with the online section/CD/thing. And there is a new edition every ~2yrs. And some students really do learn better when they can read the text in conjunction with lectures, not to mention the university itself requires textbooks for most 100 level introduction courses. It's meant to be a stepping stone from high school level material into college level, and most students cannot adequately learn a broad topic like general biology from lectures alone.

Brooker is a much cheaper and easier to access textbook, and I agree with the department on their choice. However, you don't ever want to buy it new unless you have to for some god-awful reason. You can buy this book for around $3 + shipping on Amazon.

And I'll be honest with you. I've taught this course (and may be teaching it next semester, hi prospective students!), and the book is not required. You can get it at the DH Hill Circulation desk when you need it for tests or what not- because I know you won't be reading this every day, I know I didn't. You could also use CK-12, or a copy of Campbell's (which are super cheap used). Why those books? Well... I helped develop some of the 181/183 sections and those are the books we used to correlate information we wanted to add into the course where Brooker was lacking.


If you want to be mad about pricing, be mad about the lab manual. But remember, the money made from that goes back into buying supplies for that semester or next semester's lab, if there is any profit Dr. Black sees very little. The Biology department is POOR AS SHIT right now, which is why I get paid peanuts this year vs. 3 years ago. Specimens and most other bio lab materials are much more expensive than chemicals and can only be used once, it really sucks.

You're knee-deep in nit-pickery, but I'll continue arguing anyway... The bottom cover is removed with 10 "regular old Philips head screws", which opens up access to pretty much everything.

The battery is secured with Tri-wing screws which can also be found, for example, on the bottom of Nintendo game consoles. They're uncommon, so manufacturers put them places where they don't want average users opening easily. The battery is not designed to be user replaceable (but of course, is), just as Nintendo products are not user serviceable. By doing away with the molded plastic, electrical contacts, etc. around a typical laptop battery they saved some space, and the cost is that when I order a replacement battery I'll need to get a tri-wing screwdriver. Not a big deal unless I wanted to carry around a spare battery for swapping, which is not my use case, but if that's yours then clearly the unibody Macbook is not for you.

I'm not sure where the torx screws are, I'm pretty sure the hard drive is just philips screws (RAM is secured with the standard side clips). Torx T6 is the standard torx size for electronics (e.g. if you wanted to take apart a hard drive, they're all secured with T6 screws). They're less common than philips and flathead screws, again usually to make it difficult to the user (maybe that's my conspiracy theory) but also the screws apparently resist cam-out better than philips and flathead. I have a torx set and am pretty surprised you've never heard of it.

I have no idea what you're talking about with the fans. They work just as efficiently as any other laptop fans, and they aren't blocked by my legs whereas my last laptop blew out the bottom and sides so I had to position the laptop so that the vents weren't blocked by my legs. I see it as an improvement over the typical PC design. And your claims aren't backed by experience.

Here are some objective points about the Macbook compared to a PC laptop that you could have pointed out... Plus my opinions/experience about them.

• No home/end/pgup/pgdown keys - instead use cmd-left/right (or fn-left/right) for home/end and fn-up/down for pgup/pgdown. I use home and end all the time while typing/programming and cmd-left/right don't bother me at all. Also in OSX, alt+left/right function as ctrl+left/right in Windows/Linux, so you use your thumb instead of pinky which I find more comfortable. Same with Cmd+anything, which mostly replaces ctrl+stuff in Win/Lin (e.g. cmd+c is copy, etc.).
  
• No built-in monitor ports, you need to buy and carry around an adapter. I carry my VGA one everywhere, "just in case". This is becoming more standard in PC laptops too - e.g. Dell has moved to Mini Displayport and HDMI.
  
• 17" model doesn't have built-in SD card slot; I bought an Expresscard memory card reader (this one) that I leave in all the time, it's flush with the edge of my Macbook so it's no downside to me.
  
• No eSATA. If I needed it I would get an Expresscard for it. 15"/13" MBPs (with no expresscard slot) would be SOL, but most drives with eSATA also have USB option.
  
• No user-serviceable battery, mentioned above.
  
• No touchpad button - actually the whole touchpad is a button, which is completely awesome. Click with two fingers for right click. And OSX's smooth scrolling is AH-MAY-ZING. The touchpad is far superior to any PC touchpad I've used, ever. Night and day.
  
• No USB3. If any of my devices had USB3, maybe I'd be sad.

The E101 "handbook" is made by NC State, so yeah, that's only going to be on the bookstore. That thing was useless though, and I'm pretty sure I just threw it away.

For EC 201, you might have been told to buy a custom book. I did and my friends who took it also did. When the teacher makes a "custom" book, you have to buy it through the bookstore. You also can just buy the standard version, but the organization of chapters may be different (and often, some chapters are taken out of from the standard version). But then again, since the professor usually removes stuff, it may actually end up cheaper to buy the custom one.

As for your Calc 3 book, is this the one who were told to buy: http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Concepts-Contexts-Stewarts-Series/dp/0495557420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376233469&sr=8-1&keywords=stewart+calculus+concepts+and+contexts. That's the one I used last year. Not sure why you couldn't find that.

But for future reference, don't buy your books before classes. I did freshmen year and it was a mistake. If you are reasonably smart, you will never open your EC 201 textbook. I only used my Calc 3 book a couple of times as well. I did great in both classes and could have done so without the books easily.

Bring a small fan like this. Dorms can get really hot, plus its great to use as white noise to focus on if people are being loud when you're getting to sleep.

I would also get a foam mattress topper. Not the terrible egg crate style, but temurpedic type memory foam. (Doesn't need to be tempurpedic brand obviously.)

Australia uses different voltage and plug types, so you'll either need to get something and take it with you, or buy something while you're there.

I Just got back from a family vacation in Australia. I bought this before I went:

BESTEK Portable International Travel Voltage Converter 220V to 110V with Interchangeable Worldwide UK/US/AU/EU Plugs + 4 USB(6A Max) Charging Ports for iPhone, iPad, Samsung, Tablet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MSTG93S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_nuF-wb72SHF4C

It worked out perfectly for charging my MacBook via the AC, and then multiple mobile devices via USB.

Let me explain why books are a waste of time.

Literary fiction is valuable but you don't want to be the guy who carries IJ everywhere, so it's best you avoid it.

Philosophy is also valuable but the vast majority is wrong and you'll sound like a neckbeard if you try to talk about it with anyone.

Poetry is at best shitty paintings and at worst shitty self help.

Genre fiction is fun but stupid and too many people base their identities around it, and you will be grouped in with these people. This includes comic books.

History is genre fiction.

True crime is history.

Current events books are propaganda.

Conspiracy writing combines the worst of history, genre fiction, true crime and current events.

Self-help is all bullshit, just join a religion which will not only provide a sense of security but also give you friends and free food.

Science writing is a waste of time b/c there is probably another scientist who can write a book about why the book you're reading is wrong, and even if there isn't it's PBS-tier shit for old people/your BIO 181 professor.

Business is for psychopaths who think that Elon Musk is a good person and tips have to be earned. It's also beloved by dipshits who think money defines success. These two are frequently the same person.

Cook books are comfy but do you really want to do dishes? No.

Religious books are a weird mixture. Sacred texts for primary world religions can either be believed or classified as literary fiction and valuable either way. Sacred texts for cults like Scientology or new age shit is bad genre fiction. Books about religion are propaganda.

You may think I've trashed every book imaginable, but I haven't. This book https://www.amazon.com/Dog-Encyclopedia-DK/dp/1465408444 is excellent. It has pictures of over 400 good boyes and girles and tells you which treats they like best. I cannot recommend it enough.

There are a few engineering folks in there from time to time. It will be very heavy on research and behavioral methodology. Not much math at all (though you could vary that individually depending on your project). I think it would be valuable to an engineer and would certainly broaden your skillset in a meaningful way.

Here is a classic by Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things. It's not strictly human factors, but gives a palatable insight into how HF researchers approach problems.

The rooms are pretty small, but they already have all the furniture that you'll need in them and you also have the common living room and kitchen. I stayed in WV for two years and didn't find the room size to be a problem.

I had a desktop computer and dual 27" monitors and had no problems. Just set the computer on the floor next to the desk and you're set. If you wanted to use three monitors, you could get a monitor stand like one of these and mount them to it, assuming your monitors have VESA mounts:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SYVE3CI

https://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Monitor-Desktop-Supports-002-0019/dp/B006JG7G2E

I have the second one with 3 x 27" monitors and it works great.


Any place on campus is going to have about the same sized room(s) and furniture, so if you can't live with only having two monitors, then you'll need to find a place off campus.

> I’m sorry

I forgive you. It was an event we had here from the writer and illustrator who brought us toni the tampon. Theres even a coloring book!

If you're interested, these are the ones I used on my keyboard. I think the Razer blue switches are a little different than the standard ones, but I don't see any reason they wouldn't work with how similar the two are.

They literally use this to make their ramen.

Roaring Spring Engineering Pad, 8.5 x 11 Inches, Green, 200 Sheets, Grid-to-Edge https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002HICQW8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_YxmkxbEK9JYYY

Not an ncsu student (wtf am I doing here).

What you need to do is be very very dedicated throughout the summer session and resolve yourself to study everyday. I dont know if you are a premed of some kind or if you are content with leaving with a C. Either way, you need to go through your textbook while in the class, and do EVERY problem in the chapter and the problems at the end of the chapter.

You may read this as over kill, but when I took the class I had already read the first 3-4 chapters before the class started. I left with an A in both I and II.

If you need extra study material, I suggest these:

Textbook (best organic textbook imo):

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-David-R-Klein/dp/0470917806

A second language book (DO NOT USE THIS AS A SHORTCUT TO LEARN WHY THINGS HAPPEN):

http://www.amazon.com/dp/111801040X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687462&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0470917806&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1FXC7SNT8XJA6F816TAJ

reply if you need anything else. I dont know anything about feducia or the course itsself. I do know organic though

The problem is that the mattresses are plastic so they slide. You can get these and see if they work for you. I think they sell them at walmart. I just put up with it for the two years that I lived on campus.

I was a freshman in 08 as an engineer (graduated now). I forget what our summer reading was, but I never heard of it prior to moving in, never read it, and still got my A in Eng101 and it was never mentioned. I may have gotten lucky. If your summer reading is mentioned in classes, I doubt it would be in E101, but instead your required general electives like Eng101.

However, sorry if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you're awfully peeved about the cost of the book. Is this book it? If so, if you're upset about $13.63, just wait until your calculus book. Or physics clickers. Or every other cost associated with college.

My advice - pay the $13.63, read the book, and be ready to start your college career off on the right foot. Engineering isn't easy, so making sure you do well in your first classes is critical in cementing that GPA before later classes that are far more difficult.