Users of Toms Hardware I need some advice!

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bluebeanie

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Nov 19, 2012
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Hey everyone. I'm heading out to college this year and I don't know what I need to buy. I'm going in for computer science and business. I also want to learn and do some game development. I was thinking maybe a gaming labtop and then a imac? Or vice versa. People tell me I should just get a macbook because I'll need need to learn Linux and I'll have the option to use windows. But then again a Mac probably won't be strong enough for game development. It be really cool if you all could help me out. Thanks. I have a budget of about 3500$. Thanks again guys!!
 
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Tradesman1
With that budget, I'd look for a higher end laptop to start, then go ahead and also build a a good dsktop, would wait till June or so, the Haswell refresh will be out on Intel CPUs, the new mobos (Z97) out. Also nnVidia has the 8xx cards coming soon. Laptops are great, but for long hours and programming, will prob be happier with a desktop (more power also)...another option will be a higher end laptop, and add a keyboard, mouse and nice monitor, for more comfortable working at a desk
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gumbykid

gumbykid

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Jan 15, 2014
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In all honesty the majority of Computer Science is just learning algorithms and calculus. Some schools don't even touch on the languages themselves, they just lay the foundation for you to learn them yourself. Business in terms of computers is extremely easy ("this is how you open a Word document").

I would invest in a Windows laptop over Mac. I don't see what you would need a Mac for, you can dual boot Linux on a Windows laptop. Game development won't require anything fancy, it's not like you're going to be using CryTek engine. If you use ibuypower.com or cyberpowerpc.com you can design a laptop yourself and have them build it (it's more focused around gaming laptops).
 
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Remixex

Remixex

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Mar 18, 2014
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$3500....please let me sit for a bit...ok now HOLY BUDGET MAN WITH HALF OF THAT YOU CAN BUILD A MASSIVE RIG..ok that was enough, yes to be honest your budget is massive...unless it was a typo any machine built with that much $$ would be good for programming and gaming, at the same time...and yes invest on a windows laptop, mac charges twice as much
 
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gumbykid

gumbykid

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Jan 15, 2014
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Also, you would be better off spending $1000-$1200 on a high end laptop and doing something else with your money. The parts can only get so good. Once you reach the i7s and dedicated GPUs you won't see any difference. But yeah, how do you have so much money when going to college? Lol.
 
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bluebeanie

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Nov 19, 2012
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Ive saved my whole life through highschool lol
 
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Remixex

Remixex

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Mar 18, 2014
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1500 is already overkill for a laptop, and we are talking fancy high-end like gumbykid said, laptops are generally quite more expensive than desktops, so if you take my advice i would spend no more than 1400 (at best) and the rest save it for anything else you need xd
 
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bluebeanie

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Nov 19, 2012
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What labtop would you recommend? Battery life may be important.
 
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bluebeanie

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Nov 19, 2012
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10,640


What labtop would you recommend? Battery life may be important.
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Jun 5, 2013
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With that budget, I'd look for a higher end laptop to start, then go ahead and also build a a good dsktop, would wait till June or so, the Haswell refresh will be out on Intel CPUs, the new mobos (Z97) out. Also nnVidia has the 8xx cards coming soon. Laptops are great, but for long hours and programming, will prob be happier with a desktop (more power also)...another option will be a higher end laptop, and add a keyboard, mouse and nice monitor, for more comfortable working at a desk
 
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Solution
Tradesman1

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Jun 5, 2013
67,883
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126,960
I prefer Asus for mid to higher end laptops, their ROG laptops are topnotch w/ CPU, GPU and plenty of DRAm, Lenova also has a number of good ones out there, think HP, Compaq and Toshiba getting sort of stale... Only had my hands on a couple of Razers, not too bad.
 
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