Which Laptop For College Programming Course?

[Root]

i7 and windows is a requirement for a progamming course ?

Don't know about the i7 but Windows as we would be learning Visual Studio as well.

[MrSuperb]

Don't know about the i7 but Windows as we would be learning Visual Studio as well.

 

well, alright then. I just thought, that most college programming courses would start with either C/C++, Java or Python.

[TheProfosist]

ThinkPad or go home L, X, T, or W series.

[TheProfosist]

I still recommend a dual core for battery life unless you need more of a mobile workstation.

[Root]

I still recommend a dual core for battery life unless you need more of a mobile workstation.

Did you not read my post? One of the requirements for the course is a quad-core i7.

[Root]

well, alright then. I just thought, that most college programming courses would start with either C/C++, Java or Python.

The course has that as well. You learn C/C++, Java, and I think Python.

[MrSuperb]

The course has that as well. You learn C/C++, Java, and I think Python.

 

You mean in the whole program or in a single course.

This would be quite a lot for a single course ...

[Root]

You mean in the whole program or in a single course.

This would be quite a lot for a single course ...

The whole program I mean.

[Satlen]

Get the macbook but don't get a retina. It is a waste of money and the difference isn't even that noticeable. Also, not all apps support retina graphics. Save the money and get a regular one. BTW, I have a macbook air 2013 and that is working well for me.

[BaSkA]

I must agree with everyone talking about the Macs. They are great because you can have all three Linux, OS X and Windows running "simultaneously", changing OS with the slide of three fingers (that's what I use to switch).

 

You will find yourself needing Linux/Unix very often if you are into a computer related major. And installing dual boot / virtual machines on windows based laptops can be a hard thing to do. Tried to install other OS in my Dell and I just quit after a couple of days.

 

Love the Macbook Air. If you can afford it, want something light and thin and don't mind looking like a hipster, it's the best choice IMO!

[TheProfosist]

Did you not read my post? One of the requirements for the course is a quad-core i7.

W series thinkpad then, though im not really a 15in laptop kinda of guy

[Satlen]

 and don't mind looking like a hipster

 

lol

[BaSkA]

Did you not read my post? One of the requirements for the course is a quad-core i7.

 

In one word, as a reply to whoever from the school/college that said an i7 is a requirement: 

 

 

 

Nothing will ever need an i7. If you even get to the point you need to play with threads and cores and whatnot, you can emulate cores in SMP and there will be no difference in times or anything. If they ask you to deal with databases with, let's say, a couple of million of registers in a couple of hundred of tables, maybe parallelism and twice as many cores as dual-core will show it's fangs and speed up something. Apart from that, tell them to stfu or, even better, tell them nothing, do you think they care?

 

 

lol

 

You know I'm rite!

[rashdanml]

I'd suggest you take a look at Lenovo (IBM basically) as they have solid and slim laptops.

Particularly: T440p for a 14" model or X240 for the 12.5" model. If you're a bit more adventurous, the Thinkpad Yoga is an excellent convertible and has enough horsepower for programming (although it's on the pricier end - you may be able to fully configure it for $1500). 

 

The T540p (15") can be configured for just under $1300 with an i7 quad-core. The only upgrades you'll have to throw in yourself is an extra 4GB of RAM and an SSD (128 or 256GB). The remaining $200 in the budget should cover it easily. 

[TheProfosist]

Particularly: T440p for a 14" model or X240 for the 12.5" model. If you're a bit more adventurous, the Thinkpad Yoga is an excellent convertible and has enough horsepower for programming (although it's on the pricier end - you may be able to fully configure it for $1500). 

 

The T540p (15") can be configured for just under $1300 with an i7 quad-core. The only upgrades you'll have to throw in yourself is an extra 4GB of RAM and an SSD (128 or 256GB). The remaining $200 in the budget should cover it easily.

I highly recommend a T440p if you need dedicated graphics. I just spec'd and setup one for a friend who just started going for EE.

I my self have a nearly maxed out T420. Most upgrades are aftermarket that I did myself.

[Root]

In one word, as a reply to whoever from the school/college that said an i7 is a requirement: 

 

 

 

Nothing will ever need an i7. If you even get to the point you need to play with threads and cores and whatnot, you can emulate cores in SMP and there will be no difference in times or anything. If they ask you to deal with databases with, let's say, a couple of million of registers in a couple of hundred of tables, maybe parallelism and twice as many cores as dual-core will show it's fangs and speed up something. Apart from that, tell them to stfu or, even better, tell them nothing, do you think they care?

 

 

 

You know I'm rite!

I'm just saying that it's one of the requirements. Maybe they put a i7 so that people don't come with crappy netbooks. Plus, I could do other stuff on the laptop so a i7 won't be that bad.

[NARAKU_KAT]

Why not going with asus ultrabooks such as the zenbook, they are way cheaper than mac's, you can upgrade them as much as you would probably need and even if you don't have troubles with the money it may come in handy to get a portable HDD for backups or something else you may need.

[BaSkA]

Why not going with asus ultrabooks such as the zenbook, they are way cheaper than mac's, you can upgrade them as much as you would probably need and even if you don't have troubles with the money it may come in handy to get a portable HDD for backups or something else you may need.

 

Macs are waaaay easier to play with multiple OS boots and whatnot, probably. It's easier than Dell's or Gigabyte's that's for sure.

[LePawel]

-nom-

Ever heard of video editing or rendering? Yes we do those at university too.

[Stuff_]

Ever heard of video editing or rendering? Yes we do those at university too.

But he said programming course, not video rendering. 

 

I mean, really, some people just program using some garbage machine because of the little need for a superior system. 

Heck, if anything, the university should provide a method to ssh into a machine and actually execute your code there. I hardly doubt their own machines have i7's. My university usually only has i3 machines. 

 

 

Anyway to answer OP's question, the lenovo y50 carries a 16GB ram with i7 processor. 256GB SSD and 4K monitor. I have it, and I love it. Display could be better, but I don't notice any true color issues unless literally staring at a yellow screen. 

[LePawel]

But he said programming course, not video rendering. 

Bur rarely these days you are on a course (even computer engineering) where you don't get all flavors of software development. I'm on computer games technology, and in first year I've made a website, some reports about society and presentation slides about development. Now I have to make a game, game, multiplayer game and report about mathematics involved in games.

Anyway, I feel like being "just" a programmer with 0 knowledge in any other things involved in your area of interest is excluding you from that profession.

[Stuff_]

Bur rarely these days you are on a course (even computer engineering) where you don't get all flavors of software development. I'm on computer games technology, and in first year I've made a website, some reports about society and presentation slides about development. Now I have to make a game, game, multiplayer game and report about mathematics involved in games.

Anyway, I feel like being "just" a programmer with 0 knowledge in any other things involved in your area of interest is excluding you from that profession.

Of course, and obviously it changes depending which uni you're at, but building a website, and even making a game (probably in java?) doesn't require an i7, or even a windows pc.

 

Just crazy high spec requirement for college. 

[LePawel]

Of course, and obviously it changes depending which uni you're at, but building a website, and even making a game (probably in java?) doesn't require an i7, or even a windows pc.

 

Just crazy high spec requirement for college. 

Games =/= java

And My PC was freezing few days ago when compiling Ogre engine a few times despite free RAM, SSD and good CPU

[Stuff_]

Games =/= java

And My PC was freezing few days ago when compiling Ogre engine a few times despite free RAM, SSD and good CPU

In college, unless you're taking either an UD game development course, or a graduate level program for development, you probably aren't going to bother with very demanding games.

 

On top of that, he said he is just now going to college. You won't touch that for years

[LePawel]

In college, unless you're taking either an UD game development course, or a graduate level program for development, you probably aren't going to bother with very demanding games.

 

On top of that, he said he is just now going to college. You won't touch that for years

Chromebook it is then.