I’m going to be majoring in computer science and I need recommendation for laptops. I have never owned a laptop before or used it too often, I always have used my desktop when I’m at home. Below is a list of what I think should be enough for my laptop.
I'm trying to keep the budget below $500, but if it is absolutely necessary I'll go above that. (I posted this discussion on a few other places and I understand with my major, I need to go above $500. But with the suggestions you guys come up with, please try and keep the cost to a minimum.)
I don't know what size screen I really need for my major, but I'm thinking 14'' or 15'' (you guys tell me which is better). I also need the laptop to be lightweight.
Battery life should be decent as I'm going to be taking it with me to classes obviously.
I prefer Windows 8 OS, but Windows 7 will also do.
I do prefer this laptop last at least 4 years for college.
I'm thinking 500gb hard drive is enough (if needed I can buy a external hard drive). I dont need a SSD because they usually tend to cost more.
I'm thinking 4gb RAM should be enough.
I'm not sure what type/kind of processor I need but hopefully i3 is enough?? <-- (I don't even know if that made sense to you guys)
Screen size will cost more. Personally I use a 13" with a dual monitor in my dorm. Having two screens is more beneficial than a few extra inches IMO, and getting a cheap / decent second screen isn’t hard.
As a CS major, I have not once needed my computer during a CS class. I wouldn’t worry about battery life too much.
Bingo on the hard drive. Plenty of space with 500GB.
4GB of RAM is doable, but for general use having 8GB is very nice. Also, if you want it to last 4 years, 4GB in 4 years with aging will be incredibly slow. Especially if the standard keeps growing. I suspect in 4 years the standard will be 16GB. Right now I would say it’s 8GB for most CS people.
I’m not familiar with the i3, I run an i7. Once again, if you want it to last 4 years, and i3 with 4GB’s won’t do well in 4 years.
I would highly recommend you up what you’re looking for to i5 and 8GB and don’t worry too much about battery life. What it comes down to is that finding a computer you would want to use for 4 years will simply cost more than $500. Could you run all the programs you need for CS on a 2GB i3 computer? Yeah you could, but it would be very slow and frustrating.
I have a Dell inspiron, it’s a little outside of your budget ($800) but it has a quad-core processor and 8gb ram and a tb hard drive. . If you’re willing to expand your budget It’s one I’d highly recommend. However if you really need to stay around $500, pretty much look around Best Buy, or build your own (Being a CS major hehe).
As someone who has actually done a little CS, I did fine for 6 months with a $100 chromebook running Ubuntu.
Granted, I couldn’t run modern games and Blender (3d modeling) was a little slow.
But mostly I edited text and ran code. The low specs were no issue.
The only thing that would really be a hindrance (for me at least) is low battery life.
Otherwise any cheapo laptop would do (if your willing to run linux)