Looking for a suggestion for a new laptop for a Computer Science Major

[Ocelot417]

Hello all,

I've been browsing the community threads on my topic but haven't found much help for my current situation. I'm hoping someone out there would be able to give me some good suggestions.

I will be starting my first year as a Computer Science major next fall. I currently have a high end PC I built at home, but I will be about an hour from my house while I attend class. Most of my studying and work will be done on campus during the day.

I'm wondering what the best type of laptop would be best suited for a computer science major? I'm not interested in gaming at all. I only want a laptop that can handle the software that I will be using during my courses. Overall, I'm looking for speed, power, and portability. Battery Life would also be a plus.

I'm considering just going to my local Microcenter or Best Buy and purchasing a Lenova, HP, or Dell. How much RAM, what CPU, Memory, and other specs should I target?

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help!

 

[kanewolf]

I guess it will depend on how "extreme" you want to be. A CS major might benefit from getting 16GB RAM and an SSD. Wipe the OS install, put Linux with a hypervisor on and run Windows as a VM. Alternatively, Windows server as a hypervisor with Linux as a VM. In any case, I think you will benefit from having both Linux and Windows available to you.

The keyboard will be important. Don't buy a laptop without touching it. An uncomfortable keyboard will kill your productivity.

 

[Ocelot417]

I guess it will depend on how "extreme" you want to be. A CS major might benefit from getting 16GB RAM and an SSD. Wipe the OS install, put Linux with a hypervisor on and run Windows as a VM. Alternatively, Windows server as a hypervisor with Linux as a VM. In any case, I think you will benefit from having both Linux and Windows available to you.

The keyboard will be important. Don't buy a laptop without touching it. An uncomfortable keyboard will kill your productivity.

Great advice on the keyboard! I didn't even think about that. I've read other suggestions about running both Linux and Windows, so I'll definitely take your advice into consideration.