Laptop for Software development.

[perkelatorz]

Hey guys, I am looking for a laptop that I can use for school and to learn programming and software development, for that purpose only i have a desktop for gaming, i just need something i can carry around and write code. The one thing i do need is a 2ed ssd option I run a dual boot on all of my systems one for linux, one on windows, it is the way i prefer to work. what do i really need spec wise. My current laptop for web is running arch and it takes forever to build things for the AUR it is  an atom with 4gb RAM and ssd.  I really like the system 76 oynx pro bus not sure about battery life. The dell XPS 15 would be an instance buy if it had a second drive option. My "max" is $1500 less is better. Also will use it for some photo editing.

 

Thanks guys.

[lx_srs]

9 minutes ago, perkelatorz said:

Hey guys, I am looking for a laptop that I can use for school and to learn programming and software development, for that purpose only i have a desktop for gaming, i just need something i can carry around and write code. The one thing i do need is a 2ed ssd option I run a dual boot on all of my systems one for linux, one on windows, it is the way i prefer to work. what do i really need spec wise. My current laptop for web is running arch and it takes forever to build things for the AUR it is  an atom with 4gb RAM and ssd.  I really like the system 76 oynx pro bus not sure about battery life. The dell XPS 15 would be an instance buy if it had a second drive option. My "max" is $1500 less is better. Also will use it for some photo editing.

 

Thanks guys.

The Oryx pro is gonna be heavy.  I have the equivalent Sager, and it's 8 pounds.  Not to mention, the battery lasts 4 hours on the lowest brightness setting and full power savings.  With normal use it only lasts about an hour and a half.  If you want something for software development and school, I'd go with a ThinkPad T460/T470, or if you need a quad core, T460p/T470p.  It'll be a lightweight machine, have fantastic battery life, a great keyboard, and it'll be durable and quiet.

 

EDIT:
If you absolutely want to go the System76 Route, I'd go for the Gazelle.  You still get a quad core, but in a nice compact package.

Edited March 15, 2017 by AnnoyedShelf
Added some stuffs.

[perkelatorz]

5 minutes ago, AnnoyedShelf said:

or if you need a quad core,

I understand the difference in dual vs quad but in programming how big off a difference does it make. Haven't had hands on experience with a dual core in years. really like thinkpads, just haven't found the one that is right for me.

[lx_srs]

Just now, perkelatorz said:

I understand the difference in dual vs quad but in programming how big off a difference does it make. Haven't had hands on experience with a dual core in years.

In terms of programming, almost nothing.  Most of my friends got through computer science easily with a dual core + HT and an SSD.  Only reason why I have a quad is because I am required to run several heavily threaded VM's for class and for exams.  At work I use an X1 Carbon with a dual core i7 and it flies through even the heaviest multitasking workloads.  If you're worried though, I'd get something with a quad just in case.  It's better to be over-prepared than not have enough.

[perkelatorz]

4 minutes ago, AnnoyedShelf said:

In terms of programming, almost nothing.  Most of my friends got through computer science easily with a dual core + HT and an SSD.  Only reason why I have a quad is because I am required to run several heavily threaded VM's for class and for exams.  At work I use an X1 Carbon with a dual core i7 and it flies through even the heaviest multitasking workloads.  If you're worried though, I'd get something with a quad just in case.  It's better to be over-prepared than not have enough.

Ahh i completely forgot about VMs yeah I need a quad core. Is the difference between 7th gen and 6th gen intel all that big on laptops i know desktops it is not really worth caring about  the diffrence in 7th gen or a 6th gen

[lx_srs]

2 minutes ago, perkelatorz said:

Ahh i completely forgot about VMs yeah I need a quad core. Is the difference between 7th gen and 6th gen intel all that big on laptops i know desktops it is not really worth caring about  the diffrence in 7th gen or a 6th gen

Depends on how many VM's you're running though.  If it's just one or two, you'll be fine on the dual core.  If it's 6 or 7, or you're running VM's that require more than 2 threads to run, then you definitely need a quad.

[perkelatorz]

2 minutes ago, AnnoyedShelf said:

Depends on how many VM's you're running though.  If it's just one or two, you'll be fine on the dual core.  If it's 6 or 7, or you're running VM's that require more than 2 threads to run, then you definitely need a quad.

Well i am working on learning ethical hacking and i want to get that certification in the next 2 or so years if i can find time to study outside of my normal school work. So i may be running 6 or 7 every once in a while. 

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

for software development you want nothing less than a i7. Get a quad core if you can but battery life wont be good on a quad unless you get a mac. Thinkpads are a good alternative to system76. I cant get a system76 because the import duties will make it too expensive over a Lenovo or Mac

[LtStaffel]

As a hobbyist programmer and "31337 H4X0R", I can say that programming requires basically NO HARDWARE SPECS, program on a Raspberry Pi for pete sake! It is more important what other programs, games, VMs, and such that you may or may not need. Do not worry about the programming aspect of it.

[perkelatorz]

1 hour ago, LtStaffel said:

As a hobbyist programmer and "31337 H4X0R", I can say that programming requires basically NO HARDWARE SPECS, program on a Raspberry Pi for pete sake! It is more important what other programs, games, VMs, and such that you may or may not need. Do not worry about the programming aspect of it.

Yeah i kind of started to think about how dumb my question sounded a few hours ago, I think i am just going to get a gaming laptop since it can do video editing and that is way more of a concern. a 1050ti would help massively just looking for a gaming laptop that I can get 2 or 3 batteries for. 

[burnttoastnice]

6 hours ago, SCHISCHKA said:

for software development you want nothing less than a i7. Get a quad core if you can but battery life wont be good on a quad unless you get a mac. Thinkpads are a good alternative to system76. I cant get a system76 because the import duties will make it too expensive over a Lenovo or Mac

Absolutely not. An i7 is beyond overkill for any kind of programming unless it involves 3D

 

What on earth were you developing to need an i7? Unless it's a laptop i7 because the majority of low end ones are just dual cores...

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

1 hour ago, burnttoastnice said:

Absolutely not. An i7 is beyond overkill for any kind of programming unless it involves 3D

 

What on earth were you developing to need an i7? Unless it's a laptop i7 because the majority of low end ones are just dual cores...

do you want to wait 30 seconds or 3 seconds for a build? If youre making little junky programs, scripts, or websites that is fine. When you're compiling a large software project a fast processor has and always will be required.

[burnttoastnice]

12 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

do you want to wait 30 seconds or 3 seconds for a build? If youre making little junky programs, scripts, or websites that is fine. When you're compiling a large software project a fast processor has and always will be required.

I've compiled graphically intensive C# programs in less than 10 seconds (that extract and run embedded resources) on my puny i5-3337u laptop. Although I have no experience in C++, I'd expect the compile time of an equivalent C++ program to be even shorter

 

Given OP is doing software development (probably developing utility programs), and not something like game development, a desktop-class or newer mobile i7 will be overkill.

[vorticalbox]

13 hours ago, AnnoyedShelf said:

In terms of programming, almost nothing.  Most of my friends got through computer science easily with a dual core + HT and an SSD.  Only reason why I have a quad is because I am required to run several heavily threaded VM's for class and for exams.  At work I use an X1 Carbon with a dual core i7 and it flies through even the heaviest multitasking workloads.  If you're worried though, I'd get something with a quad just in case.  It's better to be over-prepared than not have enough.

I did most of my CS degree on a chromebook  not the c# stuff but I did all my PHP, html and python there. 

[perkelatorz]

5 hours ago, burnttoastnice said:

Given OP is doing software development (probably developing utility programs), and not something like game development, a desktop-class or newer mobile i7 will be overkill.

Not going to be doing to much with graphics, I do want to get into game development, but first i need to learn the basics currently I have been looking at gaming laptop, but hate the battery life with the quad-core. Doing normal software development would i really ever need to be in a VM, because that is my concern.

 

[noahdvs]

12 minutes ago, perkelatorz said:

Not going to be doing to much with graphics, I do want to get into game development, but first i need to learn the basics currently I have been looking at gaming laptop, but hate the battery life with the quad-core. Doing normal software development would i really ever need to be in a VM, because that is my concern.

 

If you want to do game development on that laptop, you should get a decent CPU and GPU so that compiling doesn't take forever and so that the editor doesn't run slowly. Most people don't compile Unreal Engine from source to use it unless they want to use the UE4 Editor on Linux (it still works better on Windows ), but just for perspective, it takes all night (maybe part of the morning) to compile it on a laptop with an i5 5200U, 8GB RAM and a 1TB 5400RPM HDD.

 

You probably won't need to use a VM unless you want to simulate a server without adding a bunch of startup services (installing Apache will do that to your system) or test software on another OS without dual booting. If you need to compile for Linux on Windows, you can use the Linux Subsystem for Windows to do that. You can cross compile for Windows from Linux if you use Linux for development.