Need a Laptop for a CS Undergrad (Canada)

[Sumal]

Starting my undergraduate in Computer Science next year, was looking mainly for a laptop that comes with two hard drives off the bat so I can dual boot windows and linux. If not, any other good budget laptops?

 

Was also thinking of just getting the New Surface Three instead.

 

Basically just want to take a look at my options.

 

I also heard they're decent for beginner CS students as they're based off Unix.

 

[Arty]

 

Starting my undergraduate in Computer Science next year, was looking mainly for a laptop that comes with two hard drives off the bat so I can dual boot windows and linux. If not, any other good budget laptops?

 

Was also thinking of just getting the New Surface Three instead.

 

Basically just want to take a look at my options.

 

I also heard they're decent for beginner CS students as they're based off Unix.

 

why not dual boot on the same drive lol?

[zlolslavez]

You don't need a device with 2 drives to dualboot. Just partition it in half.

[Sumal]

why not dual boot on the same drive lol?

Well;

A. I've heard partitioning two OS's (especially linux) on a single hard-drive is relatively unstable and quirky

B. It will really limit my Hard Drive space, unless I constantly switch between the two

 

Then again I might be completely wrong.

[Sumal]

Also, do you know of any decent computers that have around a 750GB hardrive plus but aren't too expensive? I don't really want to spend more than about $800 unless it's a Macbook

[bob345]

Whats your budget?

[Sumal]

Whats your budget?

Around 800 I would say, unless it's a Macbook

[Arty]

Also, do you know of any decent computers that have around a 750GB hardrive plus but aren't too expensive? I don't really want to spend more than about $600 unless it's a Macbook

a. its stable,  unless you update to a new version of windows. (beaucase updating windows like  8to10 uninstalls linux)

b. you could have partiaion a be windows b be linux and c be Shared Storage

[givingtnt]

what about some lenovo thinkpad solutions ? great powerfull laptops at a great price !

http://canada.lenovo.com/sdshop/Portable-Lenovo-Z00-Portable-multim%C3%A9dia-de-00-0-po-Lenovo-CA/cw5z/

[Sumal]

a. its stable,  unless you update to a new version of windows.

b. you could have partiaion a be windows b be linux and c be Shared Storage

So if I run windows 7 it should be fine?

And cool, I've never heard of shared storage paritionining, but that would solve a lot of the struggle in buying a laptop

[Arty]

So if I run windows 7 it should be fine?

And cool, I've never heard of shared storage paritionining, but that would solve a lot of the struggle in buying a laptop

its not really shared, its like a usb plugged into the pc

you can see in both oses

[bob345]

Around 800 I would say, unless it's a Macbook

this is going to be mostly used for school correct? Would you want a ssd in that budget? what kind of storage do you think you will need?

[Hans Christian | Teri]

If you're going to study CS just get a cheap laptop and run Linux on it. You're not going to need Windows (nor are you going to want to use it after a little while).

[Sumal]

this is going to be mostly used for school correct? Would you want a ssd in that budget? what kind of storage do you think you will need?

An SSD would be nice if I could get it, if it does come with an SSD, I'd like it to come with extra storage as I doubt I can afford a computer with 500GB plus of SSD storage

[bob345]

An SSD would be nice if I could get it, if it does come with an SSD, I'd like it to come with extra storage as I doubt I can afford a computer with 500GB plus of SSD storage

this might be an option http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231973. I couldn't find any new options that have exta room for hard drives. There is always the option to replace the cd drive with a hard drive, but im not sure if you would need the cd drive or not.

[Sumal]

this might be an option http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231973. I couldn't find any new options that have exta room for hard drives. There is always the option to replace the cd drive with a hard drive, but im not sure if you would need the cd drive or not.

This looks very nice, but it's on Newegg.com

I'm Canadian

[GoodBytes]

As a recently graduated CS student. Get the Surface 3 or Pro 3 or wait for the Pro 4.

I have the Surface Pro 2, and it was very helpful in my studies. The pen with OneNote is the best experience you can ask. I get to program, type my notes, and write my notes depending on the class (math or a formula heavy class, or want to add notes in a class PDF file, I use the pen. The rest, I type, and switch to pen for that odd formula or graph to draw.

Obviously I can't comment on the SUrface 3 performance, but the Pro 2 rev 2 (which I have) and Pro 3 (same CPU) have the same Core i5 CPU, and it a beast.

As for Linux, what I was doing is simply running it through VirtualBox. Even when I had my laptop before (2008 system - Dell Latitude E6400 with Nvidia GPU), because I simply had no time to solve all the driver and issues I was experiencing. I gave up. CS is a demanding degree, so I had not time for this. I would prefer to get the little free time I have for a bit of a relaxation and working on my personal projects, which is valuable when you apply for a job.

Use VirtualBox, it and just works, does the job, you can do all that is asked from school and you can discover the OS as well properly (as everything works). That is what matters.