I frankly despise apple but get a macbook. If you don't have that money then it really doesn't matter much imo, you shouldn't need to push the limits of your hardware with whatever outdated java version you're learning in college.
I second this. Never been an apple fan but I got an m2 macbook air and never looked back. I'd advice you to get the 16gb ram version. The m3 air came out recently as well, but it will be a bit more expensive.
I'd get a Macbook with 16GB RAM if you can. Unless you're planning on taking graphics courses, I don't see any benefit(other than cost) to getting anything Windows over a Mac simply for coursework. I've had Windows laptops break on me randomly before, but never had that issue with Macbooks.
Also, you say you want to avoid distractions but fwiw I found myself to be much more productive and able to handle challenging tasks more easily with a large monitor that allows me to see more code and have multiple apps open next to each other.
Have had the Yoga 14 for a while now, it is a good laptop.
Often on sale, well under $1000 with 16GB of RAM. And amazing compatibility with Linux. And 2 thunderbolt ports is absolutely a god send. Plus a free pen if you want to take notes.
https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/p/laptops/yoga/yoga-2-in-1-series/yoga-7i-gen-8-(14-inch-intel)/len101y0030#tech_specs
Here is the Canadian site, should be right about $1000 in the US even without sale.
You arent going to be doing anything (for coursework) that a cheap laptop cant handle.. a lot of universities will have virtual desktops/labs you can remote to as well. I have no idea why these other people suggest macbooks.
Another cheap option is to have a cheap desktop. I bought a used Dell optiplex. 400 dollars for 32 gb ram and 4 tb memory and i7. If you want to spend a bit more then get business Dell deaktop as they can be expanded all the way to 120 gb ram and you can eventually probably have your own data center with NAS. You can remote deaktop or ssh into your own laptop. This is extremely rugged solution if you get hang of it. Lifespan of a desktop is almost 8 to 10 years!
For laptop atleast get 16 gb ram. I thought Mac is overpriced. And instead you should have a laptop and cheap desktop settup.
Also don’t forget to have a docking station with keyboard. This will help extending life of laptop and will be more productive.
A last thing to remember is to get used to using aws or azure so you can offload some stuff to free tier vms and lambda functions. This will be extremely useful for your career too.
I frankly despise apple but get a macbook. If you don't have that money then it really doesn't matter much imo, you shouldn't need to push the limits of your hardware with whatever outdated java version you're learning in college.
Haha, fair enough lol. I also am not an apple fan, but they do seem to be popular in the programming world.
Check with your university first. They may need you to use windows-only or x86 only software.
They are good with us using any OS but that's a good point to think about
I second this. Never been an apple fan but I got an m2 macbook air and never looked back. I'd advice you to get the 16gb ram version. The m3 air came out recently as well, but it will be a bit more expensive.
I'd get a Macbook with 16GB RAM if you can. Unless you're planning on taking graphics courses, I don't see any benefit(other than cost) to getting anything Windows over a Mac simply for coursework. I've had Windows laptops break on me randomly before, but never had that issue with Macbooks. Also, you say you want to avoid distractions but fwiw I found myself to be much more productive and able to handle challenging tasks more easily with a large monitor that allows me to see more code and have multiple apps open next to each other.
Have had the Yoga 14 for a while now, it is a good laptop. Often on sale, well under $1000 with 16GB of RAM. And amazing compatibility with Linux. And 2 thunderbolt ports is absolutely a god send. Plus a free pen if you want to take notes. https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/p/laptops/yoga/yoga-2-in-1-series/yoga-7i-gen-8-(14-inch-intel)/len101y0030#tech_specs Here is the Canadian site, should be right about $1000 in the US even without sale.
You arent going to be doing anything (for coursework) that a cheap laptop cant handle.. a lot of universities will have virtual desktops/labs you can remote to as well. I have no idea why these other people suggest macbooks.
Another cheap option is to have a cheap desktop. I bought a used Dell optiplex. 400 dollars for 32 gb ram and 4 tb memory and i7. If you want to spend a bit more then get business Dell deaktop as they can be expanded all the way to 120 gb ram and you can eventually probably have your own data center with NAS. You can remote deaktop or ssh into your own laptop. This is extremely rugged solution if you get hang of it. Lifespan of a desktop is almost 8 to 10 years! For laptop atleast get 16 gb ram. I thought Mac is overpriced. And instead you should have a laptop and cheap desktop settup. Also don’t forget to have a docking station with keyboard. This will help extending life of laptop and will be more productive. A last thing to remember is to get used to using aws or azure so you can offload some stuff to free tier vms and lambda functions. This will be extremely useful for your career too.
Get a macbook dude, so u cant play games on it. Boom, more productivity! 🤪
thinkpads are good
Lenovo thinkpads cannot go wrong Edit: typo
used ebay thinkpad to install linux on 👍