Title says it all: Looking for pros and cons of various laptops for a student who is a Comp Sci major. Thank you.
Any laptop will do - just make sure you have a lot of RAM - that’s all that matters.
Personally, I always highly advise against a Windows OS - go with Mac or run Linux. UNIX style OS’s pay off time and time again.
My son is finishing his Soph year as a CS major and has this big ol’ hairy desktop that has all the bells and whistles but I had given him this cheap laptop for running around classes with - Turns out he does the vast majority of his CS work on the cheapo laptop (Literally one of the budget buster deals). As mentioned - have enough RAM to run java programs and you will be fine.
Yeah, I would also advise against a desktop at all costs. Invest in a decent laptop and it could last all 4 years with good speed.
Any laptop with a decent amount of RAM should be fine, so any specific recommendations depend more on your personal preferences. Do you prefer iOS, Windows, or a specific Linux Distro? Do you want a touchscreen? ? Are you just using this for classwork or do you plan on gaming, watching movies, etc?
Personally as a CS major I’ve been using a lenovo thinkpad running Windows 10 with an i7 processor and 8gb of RAM. It set me back about $800 two years ago and it seems like it’ll hold up at least until the end of undergrad. As for @PengsPhils comment about Windows vs Unix, if you go with a Windows machine you can use Virtualbox to run a Unix OS so don’t feel like you have to go a Mac over Windows for that reason.
Buy whatever machine the student is most comfortable with, just make sure it has plenty of processing power. Where I work, we ask our developers when hired whether they want a PC or Mac. Everyone is on laptops so they can work from wherever. Large companies may still use desktops, but a student should not need anything more than a powerful laptop.
You need an Alienware 17 R3 (2016) in order to run even basic CS programs like Excel and Notepad. But even then you might be strained by more intensive programs. I recommend hauling a mid-tower PC from class to class to better suit your needs.
Thanks, everyone, for your input.