[Eric in the Ozarks]

Many of the engineers at the refinery where I worked used Macs and were capable of doing anything a PC would allow.
Maybe this has changed in recent years...

[jacquej]

I thank you all again. This has been so helpful! Will let you know what they decide upon.

[Hootowl99]

That's interesting for sure about the Mac expansion into that kind of use. A limitation for the Mac has been using the video coprocessor for number crunching. Is the engineering use largely for spreadsheet style work and CAD or extended into modeling and statistics?

Coprocessor use by Macs is still a bottle neck even if equipped with a Nvida card and Windows patition. Mac specific stuff of some sort just blocks direct access except in the context of the video function.

I've used desktop and later laptops extensively in process and manufacturing both in the office and in the field. During one 3 or 4 year period, I was destroying a laptop about every 6 months. The destruction came from ignoring the manufacturers specs for temperature, etc. Seems that leaving a laptop working in temp extremes, rain, snow, dirt, vibration etc. stuffed in a doghouse or a tarp tossed over it really isn't healthy for them. It really freaked out repair techs. LOL... Looked into getting a ruggedized, mil-spec laptop but not cost effective for my situation, just cheaper to junk the old and replace with new.