Laptops for progamming

[Guest]

hi,i am an IT student and i would like to purchase a laptop that is best suited for programming in a variety of languages such as c,c++,java,linux etc.
i am having a budget of Rs30000 to Rs35000(indian currency).
please suggest.

 

[sub mesa]

I suggest a linux laptop!

Seriously what kind of advice do you want? If its about the laptop then you placed the topic in the wrong forum; this forum is about Linux and BSD. So what exactly is your question?

The only advice i can give you without any further input, is that laptops may have different hardware configs that don't work well with linux. If possible before you buy insert ubuntu cd and see if sound, video and (wireless) network works with linux on that system.

 

[Pyroflea]

This appears to be in the wrong sections.

If you're interested in Linux, follow Sub Mesa's advice, and grab a live CD or two, and test them out on the laptops before you purchase them.

As for software for programming, Code::Blocks makes a nice program with GUI compatible with Linux and Windows, and gVim is also a highly recommended option.

 

[Ijack]

As for hardware, IMO it doesn't really matter. Unless you're planning to rewrite Windows, or something like that, most any modern hardware will easily cope with the demands of programming.

 

[sub mesa]

Also, programming on a CPU comparable to Intel Atom performance will likely benefit your programming skills with regard to efficient programming.

 

[Ijack]

That's a very good point. We used to have great trouble at work with an Intranet that was developed by people who insisted having the fastest computers available. The result was a system that was a real dog on an average PC and that no-one bothered to use.

 

[HappyBison]

Just an extra point -- it also depends what kind of OS do you want to explore in your programming.

 

[MU_Engineer]

hi,i am an IT student and i would like to purchase a laptop that is best suited for programming in a variety of languages such as c,c++,java,linux etc.
i am having a budget of Rs30000 to Rs35000(indian currency).
please suggest.

Any laptop sold in the past decade or so would be good enough to write programs with as all you are doing is typing in a text editor. That takes just about no power at all. The part of programming that may take some CPU grunt is compiling the code into executable binaries. Any current laptop has enough power to compile the kinds of relatively small and programs that students write in a short amount of time. It's not really until you are compiling large programs that have tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of lines of code that you would need a lot of CPU power. Now if you want to go and dabble with something like OpenOffice.org development, you will want a workstation with multiple CPUs as compiling big programs like OpenOffice.org with millions of lines of code takes several hours on most laptops today.

I would recommend that you get a 13.3" or 14.1" laptop. You want something that has a full-sized keyboard and good screen resolution (136x768 or 1440x900) as you generally have a large number of windows open at once- the text editor, documentation, a terminal, etc. and will be typing a lot. Netbooks aren't really a great idea because of their tiny keyboards and low screen resolution. I'd also stay away from laptops bigger than 14.1" as they are a bit of a pain to haul around campus due to their size and weight. There are bunches of laptops in this size range and just about any of them would serve you well.

 

[tanderskey]

35000 rupees equals about $760.

without getting too specific about brand and model ...

i'd recommend for programming efforts on a laptop ... especially if youll be using popular integrated development environments ... get a laptop with the biggest screen you can bear to carry around with you. 17" or 18". i feel i'm so much more useful and productive when i can see all my various windows and toolbars at the same time.

memory ... RAM ... will be very important too ... get the most you can. 4GB RAM shouldnt break your budget.

the friendly folks over at Buy.com have a nice laptop search tool i'd recommend you give a look see: http://www.buy.com/cat/laptop-computers/212.html

they list a Toshiba NS Pro with 4GB RAM and an 18.4" screen. it has an AMD dual-core processor and listed price is just over what you want to spend ... but only by about $20 (not including shipping or tax of course).

hope this helped.

 

[linux_0]

As MU_Engineer suggested earlier a good, comfortable full size keyboard and an optical laptop mouse are required if you're going to be doing any programming on the laptop, otherwise you'll probably need carpal tunnel surgery.

Don't forget to buy an AK-47 anti-theft device!

Good luck