Laptop for internet browsing and "programming"

[zack.komo]

Hey guys,

 

I am thinking of buying a new laptop, trying to take advantage of maybe some black Friday deals coming up. I haven't had to buy a laptop in 5 years and... prices are much much higher than I remember. I would like to find a laptop that meets the following:

- under $1000, but I'd prefer not to spend more than I need to

- should be able to handle moderate Matlab scripts (which are RAM hungry) and C++ code that relies on multithreading

- should be able to handle 2 monitors (I can plug into a dock on my desk)

- comfortable monitor & keyboard

- decently long battery life

- It would be nice for it to have decently large storage as well

 

To expand a bit, I am a graduate student that has a desktop where I do most of my heavy coding and I use my current laptop to remote in. I often need to do some moderate and light work on my laptop and currently it is just annoyingly slow. Additionally, I need the laptop to be able to connect to a docking station and display to two monitors. I haven't ever used anything like that so I don't know what to look for (does any USB-C on a laptop work? Probably not?). Also my current laptop is a 15.5" display, and it seems like that size is rarer than when I last bought a laptop. I am hesitant to move to 13-13.5" but I d like to hear what other people think. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ImorallySourcedElectrons]

Just out of curiosity, have you checked if your university has a laptop program for students/staff? I know we used to be able to get quite large discounts from both Dell and Lenovo back when I was in graduate school. But the bigger question would be, where are you at?

[zack.komo]

I hadn't thought of going through the university! I just checked their online store and it seems like they offer slightly higher prices than what I can find from the company themselves, and offer a rebate to make the price the same...

 

I did find a good deal on a lenovo laptop that seems good though. So thanks!