hello,

I am an upcoming computer science student and planning to buy a laptop for college. I've done a lot of research on MacBooks (apple silicon) vs windows and people are saying different things and I am confused. I was at first planning to get a MacBook pro but many said that the applications that a cs student would use in college aren't compatible with macs and many said that they work fine. and if I end up having to buy a windows laptop for college, I don't know what brand or specifications would run smoothly. Please help

Thank you to everyone who is trying to help, I appreciate it!!

UPDATE: I emailed the undergrad office for CS for the college I am going to (like many of the people under this post recommended) and they said that windows and mac are fine and that the professors have workarounds for the new apple silicon chips for the things that aren't compatible.

If anyone is viewing this post and is not sure like I was, PLEASE email or call your CS undergrad office and ask before making your purchase decision. they will tell you what is best to do/buy.

Thank you again to everyone who responded to this post and tried to help!

Hello all, I'm a 25 year old vet who's getting back into school and recently got accepted to a computer science program. I have no idea what to expect on the type of load I'll see day to day with school and just programming in general.

I was hoping some people here could give me some insight into what the best laptop would be for me. I'd like to keep it around $800-1300 if possible. I don't need a gaming laptop as I have a full desktop at home already.

Thank you in advance!

Title. My budget is 2000 to 2500 dollars, what is the best laptop/computer for computer science? Preferably a laptop, considering I will need to take it everywhere for classes.

I'm pretty sure a laptop is required for a smoother ride during college, although I could be wrong.

You could say I'm a bit open-minded on what laptop to get whether it is Lenovo, Apple, or any other company. I want to make sure I get a good laptop that will last me throughout the four years. If anyone is knowledgeable in this kind of stuff, please share a piece of your advice as I could use it.

(I will be majoring in Comp Sci. I intend to participate in activities outside of class like camps and hackathons, and the budget for the laptop is debatable.)

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could give me a recommendation for a laptop to run linux on. I'd use it almost exclusively for coding and regular day to day tasks like emails and browsing the web. I'm also often on the go when I work so battery life is very important. The final 'requirement' of sorts is linux compatibility, since it'd be my everyday workstation I'd really want it to be as stable as possible and require not too many tweaking on my part.

So in essence:

1. good battery life

2. good linux compatibility

3. good keyboard

4. good portability

5. good enough screen

Is what I'm looking for. Ideally it'd also be little budget friendly. Thanks for any suggestions!

I am gonna be starting university (fast) in a month, pursuing BSCS . I will need a laptop for programming, creating websites, graphic designing, video editing (important), research purposes etc.

I want to make a one time investment.

Need a laptop that will work fine for at least 6 years.

My budget is 100k-200k. I can increase my budget if there's a better one.

Please recommend some good ones. Will really appreciate each response.

Parent here. I know jack about computers, but I want to make a new laptop a surprise for my son. He’s transferring to Binghamton. His current laptop is big, bulky, and needs to be plugged in after a half hour of use. Obviously no good to cart around to class. I’m sure by now it’s obsolete too. Bought it 5 yrs ago i think? He mainly uses an iPad for note taking during class and if he doesn’t want to hike all the way home to get to his desktop for actual work he’s been using the computers his community college has in every room - even the eating areas - for students. What’s a decent laptop for a computer science major at Binghamton? Something that won’t break the bank for me, but something he can at least get some work started with during lunch or something? His desktop can handle the more intensive stuff I’m sure. He rebuilt it last summer. I’d ask HIM, he’d know, but like I said, I want it to be a surprise.

I am a student starting in the fall as a computer science major and looking for a a laptop to last me 4+ years unsure on my budget. I would prefer windows as I’ve simply always used it and just don’t like Mac’s. I know a Mac is technically better but I just can’t stand the software of the system.

I’m committing to UT for CS and need to buy a new laptop because my old one is broken and it sucked anyway. What laptop would you recommend for a new CS student? My budget is up to $2,000, but I’d prefer to spend less if possible. Also, does it matter if I plan to go into machine learning/AI, or would most of the heavy computing be done in the cloud?

Good evening. I’m an incoming freshman in the fall majoring in computer science. I am looking for a laptop that will give me a smooth experience throughout my education. I was looking at getting a macbook; however, I’m seeing many mixed opinions on macbooks for computer science. There are so many options and I would appreciate recommendations. Thanks

Hi, I am an incoming CS student and am looking at getting a laptop. I am planning on using it to do classes, and I’m hoping to do take the AI track and do research in AI as an undergrad. As my laptop will need to be able to do these things for all 4 years, I am not sure if the lower or middle RPI laptops will be powerful enough since they lack a GPU but the top one is very expensive. What laptops would yall recommend? Would a Mac be a good option? What do yall use and how does it work for you?

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US:\Belgium, +/-1200€ (max max 1500€).

• Are you open to refurbs/used?\Yes.

• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?\Less than 17 inch and less than 3kg/6.614lb. A powerful processor (not the last I9 but one that can do anything I throw at it). At least 16Gb of ram. A good battery life, like at least 6h. A dedicated graphics card (eg: an RTX 4060 or the AMD equivalent). At least 120hz and more than 1080p would be good but not mandatory.

• How important is weight and thinness to you?\It must be easily transportable.

• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.\Less than 17inch.

• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.\I'm planning on using it for taking notes, programing, virtualization and lightweight gaming.

• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?\I mainly play minecraft as a speedrunner. I need the chunks to load fast (single thread CPU intensive) and to not have random lag spikes. I also play a few other games but they are not really resources intensive. At least 120 fps.

• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?\Belgian azerty keyboard but french is alr. A touch screen would be amazing but I think I can keep dreaming. It need to not be too loud (yes, I'm looking at you gaming laptops). A great variety of ports. I don't want the components to be soldered, I want to be able to upgrade ram and storage if I need to.

• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.\It's for computer science. I use linux so it must be compatible with it (most hardware is).

Thank you ^^

Planning on coding/3d design/video editing Primarily coding as comp sci

Hello all! Still waiting on CAO results but I THINK my daughter may get an offer for her first choice of Computer Science. She is predicted 590 points and range is 500-625 at the school. 🙏🏼 We want to buy a new laptop. We are from France and sales are currently going on. Thoughts about good model? I saw a Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 6… or maybe Dell? Ideally it could allow for dual booting with Linux… (pre-installed or not) + Windows. Thanks for any input from the experts!!! 😛 Ideally it would not cost a fortune, but a good value for price and good functionality. 🙏🏼

My brother in law is starting university and will be majoring in Computer Science. He’s looking for a laptop with a budget around $1,400 (give or take) that will be best for his needs. I’m assuming it’s mostly for his schoolwork and some gaming. We’re not necessarily looking for the cheapest option. Any suggestions will be strongly considered.

Idk what I should buy since I feel like the macbooks are too expensive. What can you guys recommend?

I need a laptop that can support the major I am in, and since I want to make video games and major in Computer Science, what kind of laptop do I need? Or at least, what requirements should I have?