I am posting this on behalf of my roommate who is a CS major:
“I’m looking for a laptop for college. What should I look for as the minimum requirements and what expectations should I have for the use of my laptop? I could get a laptop that has good specs (quad core i7, Nvidia 960M, 8 gb upgradable DDR3L RAM, and an optical drive), but is heavier and possibly bulkier, with low battery life; or I could get something more portable with lower end specs. Should I expect to carry it around without much access to an outlet? At what weight would the laptop become too heavy? And what should I expect to do about software?”
He is looking to have a balance between gaming with this laptop and using it in CS, especially for 3-D printing.
Any insight for him will be greatly appreciated!
Go with the higher specs - I don’t even use my laptop in class and I carry around a charger for working not at home. Just make sure you’re good carrying it to class.
Especially if you plan on gaming on it, you’re going to need the upgrades. Frankly, for the use he’s describing, I would focus on RAM and bump up to 16GB.
I’m not sure what the is asking…
I think he was asking about kinds of software required for CS majors and how intensive they are for specs
Not very. Mostly just IDE’s. But it’s nice to have the speed via RAM to run things and many at once. Engineering, gaming, and 3D stuff will need a lot more power than CS software.
New MacBook pros come out in 1 month - that’s what we’re getting.
Could you ask your roommate what his price range is and what games he hopes to run on his machine? It’d be a lot easier to suggest a computer then!
My roommate @SleepySam is looking for something at around $1,000 for everything and would like to have something that can be upgrade with new hardware (video cards, RAM, etc).
Thanks @Nerdyparent for that link!
I believe he also wants to run high end games on this computer (fallout 4, BF4, etc) so balance will be key @SleepySam
Also if you are a PC person thinking about a Mac or vice versa, I wouldn’t switch due to the extra learning curve you’ll also have to deal with. Stick with what you know.
I just read this after I already posted elsewhere about laptops. I am not technologically savvy, but my son made a huge mistake thinking he could use a laptop for gaming (this was 4 years ago). I just feel that someone who needs speed and specs will loathe lugging such a behemoth around to classes. Hard-core gamers will probably always be disappointed with a laptop for that purpose. Avoid?! You can always do school work on a ‘regular’ computer (borrow, use library, use computer lab), but gaming you need your own high-end, high-spec, speedy beast. 
My CS son uses a 14" quad core Lenovo idea pad (suggests either Lenovo or Dell) that he leaves locked in his room. He uses it for gaming and video editing. Then he has a 10" think pad that he takes to class. He says it’s split 50/50 if students carry a large laptop vs. a small laptop to class but he doesn’t like carrying the big one around campus because of the weight and heat. Also, battery life is a lot longer on the smaller laptop which is good to have between class or in some old buildings which don’t have outlets for everyone. He recommends a 128GB USB stick to back up and transfer files between computers. Make sure you buy a number of extension cords and surge protectors too.