Chockeh wrote on 2014-08-13 00:48
Yo, posted this in another forum so it kinda sounds impersonal.
Hello, I'm a software engineering student that needs advice on what laptop I should buy. I basically want something really lightweight and powerful enough to handle stuff like game design. I should be able to last at least 4 years. My budget should be about $1.2k, but I should be able to spend up to 1.4k if there's enough of a good reason (but honestly, I rather you keep 1.3k in mind). Also, I live in Canada. School is Ecole de la Technologie Superieur if you need to know that info for a student discount.
As for specs, I'm assuming that I should at least get something like 8GB of RAM, an i5 (haswell), and a 256GB SSD. I don't know if 128GB is enough, but I'm willing to upgrade down the line if the SSD is replaceable. I might get an i7 processor since upgrading the cpu is not a good idea (is it even possible). Also, I'm wondering when's the best time to actually get a device. Should I get a Haswell machine if the price is good, or should I wait for Broadwell or even Skylake chips?
My first choice would have been an xps 12 or an aspire s7, but I can't really find an excellent deal. I was also considering the ativ book 9 plus or the x1 carbon, but that shit is way too expensive for the specs I want.
Another option would be some kind of macbook. I was against it at first, but it seems like something I could get used to. I don't mind osx, and I can probably download Windows with bootcamp or use a virtual machine. I might also need to put Ubuntu in a virtual machine. Right now, I can use my student discount to buy a macbook air at a reduced price (not by much) and I can get a $110 gift card for the apple store if I buy it before september 9. The 12" MBA retina would have been announced after September 9 though. So, what do you guys think I should do?
Compass wrote on 2014-08-13 01:55
Mobile i5s are just desktop i3s.
You want a mobile i7 which are desktop i5s.
So do you want an ultrabook? Most (if not all) ultrabooks use Intel's integrated graphics card. I'm not sure it'll be powerful to handle game design.
Also if you want to wait for Broadwell it's up to you. Newer intel processors have had a 5%-7% performance difference, I don't think broadwell will be any different.
http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-ux31lads71t-touch-p-7291.html - Ehh here's a suggestion I guess
Yoorah wrote on 2014-08-13 03:33
I'd avoid the Dell and the Acer. You want a professional machine, but it will cost you more, especially if you want it to last 4 years (both in terms of power and in terms of durability, lol.)
Are you actually going to use a laptop as your main development machine? Some things to keep in mind:
You probably need a quad core. Having 4 cores helps a lot with compile times on big projects. Avoid ultra-books; those are for everyday tasks and office work, not development work.
You need more than 128 GB of SSD if you're in a multimedia-heavy field. 128 GB might be enough if you use it strictly for school projects, but even then, I dunno. You might need another drive for bulk storage. I'd recommend you get a 256 GB drive.
The latest gen of Intel integrated graphics is pretty good (even the previous gen is great), but for development purposes, you probably want to have a dedicated GPU not only for performance reasons, but also for compatibility and testing reasons. This really depends on what kind of development work you'll be doing, however.
You want an IPS display in the laptop. Especially for work.. your eyes will thank you.
Not really sure what to recommend at this point and I don't have the time to look into it. Do keep the above points in mind, though. Normally I'd just point you towards a ThinkPad T-series configured as required, but it's way outside of your price range right now, as there's no good discount (not on their site at least--sometimes there are good coupons on the net). You can configure the machine as a quad core, add however much RAM you need, get your 256 GB SSD (though it may be cheaper to get a regular disk and swap in your own SSD), IPS secreen, and dedicated GPU. It also has nice things like the option to get an Intel wireless AC card.
The downside? Price. Also, the dedicated GPU is only a GeForce 730M. While it's useful to have for compatibility and testing requirements, it's a $130 option right now, which is pretty painful. The option costs and discounts on ThinkPads change all the time, though, so I suggest you keep an eye on a good deal.
I'd also suggest you talk to your profs to find out what kind of projects you'll be working on. It'll affect what you want in terms of specs.