<p>I'm only on high school, but I was wondering what a person majoring in CS would need. I only have a little netbook, and it's pretty hard to really do programming on it. I was thinking of building myself a desktop computer before I go to college and use that to do everything and my netbook just to take notes/when I'm outside.</p>
<p>I was wondering if this was a good idea and if current CS majors would agree that a desktop computer is very helpful.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Yep, you got it figured out!</p>
<p>(EE)CS major here, and I started off with a laptop that I thought had the best of both worlds – a Thinkpad T510. In reality, it was the worst of both worlds: bulky, OK (but not satisfying) battery life, and underpowered in the big picture. Not to mention, it was expensive!</p>
<p>I got tired of it and got myself a netbook, and for a while, I did all my programming on it. I wanted to have a bit of fun, so I built myself a desktop. What I ended up finding out is that it’s so much more comfortable to work on a desktop.</p>
<p>Result: $250 netbook + $600 desktop = 3x better than $1100 laptop.</p>
<p>cheetos. dew. and maybe a computer (optional)</p>
<p>Most places have outlets so you don’t have to worry about battery life. Consider getting a nice powerful laptop. You’ll be using it for a good 4 years. Invest in a huge hard drive. You’ll want plenty of space for dual/triple booting and stuff.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC App</p>
<p>When you build your desktop, make sure to buy a big monitor. The thing about coding is you never seem to have enough screen space so the bigger the better. I have a 23" acer non glare screen and I can fit 2 full browser windows on it. It provides a ton of room, but I still feel like it could be bigger lol. I’d look around at screen sizes though. Besides overall system power, it has been my biggest issue so far in finding a PC for CS.</p>