Solved! Laptop for programming

[RadiKing222]

Hello! I want to purchase laptop that will be used mainly for programming. I have really low budget, and this one caught my eye:

Lenovo IdeaPad 100-15IBR

Intel Pentium N3710 ( 4 cores 1.6 - 2.56 GHz)
Intel HD Graphics 405
8GB DDR3
256GB SSD

Could this work out? Will those 256GB only be enough?

 

[Herc08]

What type of programming? Writing simple code? Or something complex. If you have the funds, you may want to invest in some sort of PaaS to run and test your code. There many services out there. What kind of IDE will you be using? If it's not intensive, then getting that laptop should be just fine. 256GB should be enough. Even in the future, you can upgrade to either 500GB SSD or maybe a 2TB hard drive from WD.

 

[atljsf]

for most programing tasks you end up with small projects and the hrd disk is mostly ocupied by the suite to program you choose

visual studio for example will use around 10 gbs of hard disk, a bit more probably

other suites will use more or less the same

the projects itself, depensing on what they are will use arounf 200 megabytes of hard disk

others could use alot much more depending on how many elements you add and the platform it will be creating to

i would say that in terms of storage and ram you are covered there

the pentium is not a fast cpu, that is 4 cores and 4 threads, not a compiling monster but alot more than what most students on a budget have usually

sounds very interesting!

remember that it is 256 gbs in size but after you get it and is partitoned by lenovo you surely will have around 200 gbs only thanks to recovery partitions and the format to ntfs between other reasons

still plenty of room to work and when you have the project ready move it to a cloud storage service or into a external usb device to store it

 

[RadiKing222]

What type of programming? Writing simple code? Or something complex. If you have the funds, you may want to invest in some sort of PaaS to run and test your code. There many services out there. What kind of IDE will you be using? If it's not intensive, then getting that laptop should be just fine. 256GB should be enough. Even in the future, you can upgrade to either 500GB SSD or maybe a 2TB hard drive from WD.

I will be used for Computer Science university work - console applications, web sites, data bases and so on. I'll be using InteliJ Idea, Visual Studio, Web Strom and so on .

I found one more what would you say about it:

Lenovo IdeaPad 310-15IAP

Intel Pentium N4200 (4-cores, 1.10 - 2.50 GHz, 2MB )
Intel HD Graphics 405
8GB DDR3
256GB SSD


Or this one:

ASUS X751SA-TY009D

Intel Pentium N3700 (4-cores, 1.60 - 2.40 GHz, 2MB )
Intel HD Graphics (Braswell)
8GB DDR3
256GB SSD + 1TB HDD

 

[RadiKing222]

for most programing tasks you end up with small projects and the hrd disk is mostly ocupied by the suite to program you choose

visual studio for example will use around 10 gbs of hard disk, a bit more probably

other suites will use more or less the same

the projects itself, depensing on what they are will use arounf 200 megabytes of hard disk

others could use alot much more depending on how many elements you add and the platform it will be creating to

i would say that in terms of storage and ram you are covered there

the pentium is not a fast cpu, that is 4 cores and 4 threads, not a compiling monster but alot more than what most students on a budget have usually

sounds very interesting!

remember that it is 256 gbs in size but after you get it and is partitoned by lenovo you surely will have around 200 gbs only thanks to recovery partitions and the format to ntfs between other reasons

still plenty of room to work and when you have the project ready move it to a cloud storage service or into a external usb device to store it

I have the option for 512GB of SSD but for around 100 dollars more. The other specs are the same.

 

[atljsf]

you don't need crazy ammounts of space to write programs, some projhects will be smaller than those 200 megabytes i mentioned, first projects usually most students do are 3 to 5 megabytes, 5gbs of space is overkill

especially this days with cloud services and a good usb drive

 

[Herc08]

Honestly, I would go with that ASUS X751SA-TY009D. Yes, it's a 100mhz slower, but that 1TB is a steal. And code is jsut plan text, so no worries there. Not to mention, you can install more IDEs if necessary and install the most used ones on the SSD. That's just my two cents.

 

[RadiKing222]

you don't need crazy ammounts of space to write programs, some projhects will be smaller than those 200 megabytes i mentioned, first projects usually most students do are 3 to 5 megabytes, 5gbs of space is overkill

especially this days with cloud services and a good usb drive

Оkay but in the future would I have problems with this laptop? Will it be able to hold on for atleast 3-4 years everyday use?

 

[Herc08]

you don't need crazy ammounts of space to write programs, some projhects will be smaller than those 200 megabytes i mentioned, first projects usually most students do are 3 to 5 megabytes, 5gbs of space is overkill

especially this days with cloud services and a good usb drive

Оkay but in the future would I have problems with this laptop? Will it be able to hold on for atleast 3-4 years everyday use?

As long as you keep up with it. Meaning, keep the dust out. Running defrag on the hard drive. Not installing unnecessary applications. And just using the laptop for those purposes. Not sure if you have another laptop and if this is exclusive to school.

One thing I want to say is, of course these processors are dated, but my philosophy is, if it works, it works.

 

[RadiKing222]

Honestly, I would go with that ASUS X751SA-TY009D. Yes, it's a 100mhz slower, but that 1TB is a steal. And code is jsut plan text, so no worries there. Not to mention, you can install more IDEs if necessary and install the most used ones on the SSD. That's just my two cents.

Оkay so the processor power and the graphics card don't matter that much in programming? What about in the long run?

 

[RadiKing222]

you don't need crazy ammounts of space to write programs, some projhects will be smaller than those 200 megabytes i mentioned, first projects usually most students do are 3 to 5 megabytes, 5gbs of space is overkill

especially this days with cloud services and a good usb drive

Оkay but in the future would I have problems with this laptop? Will it be able to hold on for atleast 3-4 years everyday use?

As long as you keep up with it. Meaning, keep the dust out. Running defrag on the hard drive. Not installing unnecessary applications. And just using the laptop for those purposes. Not sure if you have another laptop and if this is exclusive to school.

One thing I want to say is, of course these processors are dated, but my philosophy is, if it works, it works.

It will be used mainly for that purpose. I also might use it for watching movies, YouTube, and rarely playing really light games

 

[Herc08]

Honestly, I would go with that ASUS X751SA-TY009D. Yes, it's a 100mhz slower, but that 1TB is a steal. And code is jsut plan text, so no worries there. Not to mention, you can install more IDEs if necessary and install the most used ones on the SSD. That's just my two cents.

Оkay so the processor power and the graphics card don't matter that much in programming? What about in the long run?

Well, it depends what you are programming. If you are not running anything intensive, then no it doesn't matter. Heck you can code on a Chromebook if you wanted to. If you are doing this for school, I doubt you will have to have something too intensive, so this so last, if this laptop is exclusive for school/work.

Videos and youtube should not matter. But don't expect to play new games, or some older games with that CPU.

 

[atljsf]

latelly lenovo is hit and miss

i had some good lenovos and some bad, i have a cheap amd lenovo and has worked marvelously here, a firned has one and with 9 months of use the left click is starting to come apart

good use and no visits to the floor often makes a laptop last too long, 10 years or more, i have a cheap celeron , the thing refuses to die, with windows vista nonetheless!

the battery is your biggest concern here, that will not last 3 years

so keep in mind your charger will become your best friend

i am sure that in two years you will want to have a faster cpu, the rest of parts usually acomodate or you acomodate, but cpu is crucial here, so the faster cpu the better but on a budget, you can't do better than a pentium, perhaps my amd a8 7410 could be better in terms of speed but that pentium iirc is thin and light, right? mine is not that almost 5 pounds and battery is quite small

 

[RadiKing222]

Okay so the choice now is being made by

Asus:
- more space
- heavier (3.00 kg)
- slightly more expensive
- slight less performance

Lenovo:
- less space
- lighter (2.30 kg)
- slightly less expensive
- slightly better performance

 

[atljsf]

if you plan to carry the thing, lenovo, believe me, anything over 3 kilograms is a torture to carry around

just for that i would discard the asus

the space, forget it, you can later remove the optical drive and put a hard disk in that port on most lenovos with one of these

https/www.amazon.com/Caddy-Lenovo-ThinkPad-genuine-Newmodeus/dp/B00A2AWBKU

if the model has that drive, just ifnd the right model for it and put a 2 tb hard disk in there, i personally wouldn't bother, a laptop this days is not meant for big storage, is meant for portability, battery life and speed, almost all aspects are covered in the lenovo as it is

just use a usb drive and forget the extra hard diwsk and when you decide you can't forget it try the hard disk caddy if possible

 

[Herc08]

Oh, I thought it was the same price. I would probably go with the Lenovo, and just get a USB drive when you can. Like the other poster said, battery will be your biggest concern. You want to make sure you can buy a better directly from Lenovo, and not off eBay or something. I would also recommend looking at the screen size.

 

[RadiKing222]

One more thing I was thinking about. Is the SSD really THAT important, because for that money with HDD I could get waaay better laptop, with better CPU and separate GPU.

 

[E-Elewa]

As a programming laptop, the hardware power is not the deal here. Check the Asus TP200 2 in 1 laptop.
From a personal experience is a really great laptop with a very budget-friendly price. It really deserves more.
Well, I recommend this laptop for programming because it's an awesome keyboard. It has great size so you can reach almost all keys without moving your hand. Only your fingers and also has great key travel and very comfortable to type on.
Hope this help

 

[atljsf]

in that order of ideas, no the ssd is not vital at all, just makes the usage experience alot better, all things open faster

has to be new?

a good lenovo keyboard like those present on good thinkpads is considerably better, a i3 or i5 will be double fast than the pentium, wich is mostly a tablet cpu

a used t430 or t440, or 450 will offer almost all the things you might lie form it and cold be less heavy, the charger is also small and light, perhaps 200 grams, but the new lenovo has the same charger

look at this

https/www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T420-Business-Laptop/dp/B01G45MT0I/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1493127442&sr=1-2&keywords=t450&refinements=p_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A2289793011

just a idea, the keyboard in it is really good, a pleasure to use

 

[RadiKing222]

The problem is that I was told if I dont buy laptop with ssd and 8 gb ram at least. I shouldnt buy at all...