What is the best affordable laptop for a software engineering student?

[GGMist]

College is around the corner for me and I am majoring in software engineering. I currently have $800 and I'm wondering what laptop would suits me well.

[daweakling]

Don't get anything too powerful with a good graphics card or you will end up playing games and not studying. This is of course if your self control isn't in check. 

[ionbasa]

Depends. I got through Mechanical Engineering with an 3rd gen i5 laptop (new at the time, obsolete at this point). Honestly, CPU and RAM are probably more useful than GPU specs here. Your college/university should have a computer/IT/systems department that lists recommended specs and software you'll use throughout your time there. 

[TheSneakinSpider]

you need a good cpu and lots of ram graphics card won't matter too much i would recommend looking at the recommended specs of your program and find a nice laptop with the cpu you want and make sure its upgradeable so you can add ram

[GGMist]

Do you guys have any laptop recommendations? 

[Guest]

Generally any laptop with at least 8gb of ram and an i5(Even one that is a Y or U series would be ok imo) will be fine, from there it depends on what you want from it.

What matters most to you? Battery life, weight, screen size (I'd imagine a 15in would be great for your degree), extra performance, gaming, etc.

Without knowing anymore, it is harder to make a suggestion. 

Like everyone else said, your major will definitely benefit from more ram and a stronger CPU. Can't go wrong with an SSD (Unless you think of capacity and price).

[Guest]

Here are a couple of suggestions, though more input on what you want from your laptop would be nice:

Inspiron 15 5000 series:

http://www.dell.com/en-us/member/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-5567-laptop

i5-7200u or i7-7500u (The U series are dual cores with hyper-threading)

8GB or 16GB DDR4 2400MHz (User upgradeable to 16GB)

1TB 5400 rpm (Can be replaced with an SSD)

1080p display (Can be configured with touch)

AMD R7 M445 with 4GB GDDR5

42WHr battery

2.36kg

$587.99 USD to $930.99 USD

 

Inspiron 15 5000 gaming series:

http://www.dell.com/en-us/member/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-5577-gaming-laptop

i5-7300HQ or i7-7700HQ (Both are quad cores however the i7 has hyper-threading)

8GB or 16GB DDR4 2400MHz (User upgradeable to 32GB)

1TB 5400rpm HDD, 256GB SSD, 128GB SSD + 1TB 5400rpm HDD, or 512GB NVMe m.2

1080p display

GTX 1050 with 4GB GDDR5

74WHr Battery

2.47kg

$734.99 USD to $1126.99 USD

 

Inspiron 15 7000 gaming series:

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-7567-laptop?ref=147_recs_ttl&c=us&l=en&cs=2236

i5-7300HQ or i7-7700HQ (Both are quad cores however the i7 has hyper-threading)

8GB or 16GB DDR4 2400MHz (User upgradeable to 32GB)

1TB 5400rpm HDD with 8GB cache, 256GB SSD, 128GB SSD + 1TB 5400rpm HDD, or 512GB NVMe m.2

1080p or 4k Display

GTX 1050 with 4GB GDDR5 (Only the lowest end config has this one)

GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB GDDR5

74WHr Battery

2.47kg

$783.99 USD to $1273.99 USD

 

These examples are only the preconfigured versions, so price can get higher if you add more, and there may be more choices for them than listed. Also don't just stick to Dell even though that is all I listed, look around at more brands. If you want a better recommendation, tell us more on what you want from the laptop.

 

I'm assuming you meant $800 USD.

[GGMist]

Wow thank you! And yes I meant $800 USD