Newbie, learning web dev

[Jimmy f]

I'm looking at the thinkpad x, do you guys think the 14in screen is too small? It's mostly for school as I have a desktop at home.

[myselfolli]

So you're looking at a device specifically for web development?

 

I personally enjoy screen real estate for web dev, but at the end of the day it comes down to your personal preference. Especially since you won't  need a powerful machine for your tasks

[Jimmy f]

25 minutes ago, myselfolli said:

So you're looking at a device specifically for web development?

 

I personally enjoy screen real estate for web dev, but at the end of the day it comes down to your personal preference. Especially since you won't  need a powerful machine for your tasks

Well, yeah web dev general use on the go like emails, web browsing. I just love the thinkpad keyboard so much but I'm a little concerned about working on a 14in screen all day.

[myselfolli]

1 minute ago, Jimmy f said:

Well, yeah web dev general use on the go like emails, web browsing. I just love the thinkpad keyboard so much but I'm a little concerned about working on a 14in screen all day.

Since the device will be for school - having a small and protable machine will probably help you more than it hinders you.

Plus - if you like the keyboard, I don't see a reason not to go for it

[Jimmy f]

7 minutes ago, myselfolli said:

Since the device will be for school - having a small and protable machine will probably help you more than it hinders you.

Plus - if you like the keyboard, I don't see a reason not to go for it

Yeah, that's a good point.

[Dat Guy]

Consider an external keyboard as well. Laptop keyboards are hard (or even impossible) to replace and intense work will wear them off..

[vorticalbox]

5 hours ago, Dat Guy said:

Consider an external keyboard as well. Laptop keyboards are hard (or even impossible) to replace and intense work will wear them off..

agreed, I have fingered my work laptop's touchpad to death.

[Jimmy f]

On 2/21/2020 at 1:25 AM, Dat Guy said:

Consider an external keyboard as well. Laptop keyboards are hard (or even impossible) to replace and intense work will wear them off..

Yeah well this is for school, i have my rig at home for intense work.

[Dat Guy]

Schools disallow actual keyboards?

[straight_stewie]

On 2/21/2020 at 1:43 AM, Jimmy f said:

I'm a little concerned about working on a 14in screen all day.

Your classes will have labs. If your university experience is anything like mine was, you'll end up using your laptop more than you use your home base machine. You're going to end up working away from home more often than working at home. Plus, there's the issue of transferring work you've done on your laptop to your desktop, and vice versa (which I guess is only really a problem if you're cloud averse).

Whatever machine you get, always carry a USB mouse with you. Opportunities to use it will be plentiful, and It's just so much better than a trackpad, no matter how good the trackpad is.

[homeofmew]

1. Carry a USB Keyboard and Mouse as stated above.
2. Web Devs don't really need something hardcore.
Not sure what you are doing but unless you are going to do flash (which is almost dead)
you can work with almost a potato.
3. You 100% will need a laptop for University work, there is no way around it. 

[fringie]

Idk why you'd go for a 14 inch screen instead of a 15.6 inch one. More performance, more screen real estate for tools etc. Carrying a 15.6 inch laptop wasn't exactly an inconviance either for me when I went to college. At my previous job I worked in a town while I lived in a city - I'd bring my laptop home with me. I used to cycle for 30 mins, get the trian for 30 mins then cycle another 30 mins. This was while carrying a laptop in my bag and some general stuff like 3kg bike lock etc. This wasn't a problem and I'm lazy AF, I'm not athletic in the slightest.

 

I really do recommend you go for 15.6. That being said a 14 inch laptop won't kill ya

[Jimmy f]

22 hours ago, fringie said:

Idk why you'd go for a 14 inch screen instead of a 15.6 inch one. More performance, more screen real estate for tools etc. Carrying a 15.6 inch laptop wasn't exactly an inconviance either for me when I went to college. At my previous job I worked in a town while I lived in a city - I'd bring my laptop home with me. I used to cycle for 30 mins, get the trian for 30 mins then cycle another 30 mins. This was while carrying a laptop in my bag and some general stuff like 3kg bike lock etc. This wasn't a problem and I'm lazy AF, I'm not athletic in the slightest.

 

I really do recommend you go for 15.6. That being said a 14 inch laptop won't kill ya

The 15 in is more expensive 

[Franck]

For web dev i would personally carry an external keyboard and usb mouse. But i would go for 17 inch. As i would already need a good bag for carrying a keyboard 17 inch fits well. There wouldn't be a need for ultra powerful computer for web dev for school. I would go for a basic Dell 17 inch with a small ryzen + ssd/nvme that are in the 600-700$ range. Good enough even if you go down the road of doing C++, Java, C# work. 

[Guest]

On 2/21/2020 at 1:23 AM, Jimmy f said:

I'm looking at the thinkpad x, do you guys think the 14in screen is too small? It's mostly for school as I have a desktop at home.

14” is fine. Worst comes to worst... you can increase size of everything to make text & icons bigger. 

[fringie]

21 hours ago, Jimmy f said:

The 15 in is more expensive 

Good point, it wouldn't change my decision personally but I can see how it might impact others.