Aside from the other robot response - the one you can afford. Generally speaking today comp sci doesn’t require anything too high powered, and most western universities have computer labs that can do anything high powered. Hell, you could do most of it on a raspberry pi probably. But, I’d recommend looking at framework laptops - if you goof up and get something that’s not strong enough, you can literally upgrade the parts yourself. If I weren’t a MacBook guy, I’d be using a framework laptop. Answer from Thalimet on reddit.com
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/suggestalaptop › budget laptop for cs student
r/SuggestALaptop on Reddit: Budget laptop for cs student
July 5, 2022 -

Total budget: $400

Are you open to refurbs/used? Yes

How would you prioritize form factor, build quality, performance, and battery life? Solid build quality, prefer 16GB 4ram, decent battery life

Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. Preferably 14” since I will be using for programming at school

Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. No gaming, using IntelliJ, maybe run a VM

If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? N/A

Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? Comfortable keyboard

Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.

I’m on a budget for this laptop since I have a good desktop pc I use at home for gaming and everything else. This is strictly for use on campus so it doesn’t have to be something too good but I do want it to last.

I was looking at this thinkpad t480. Opinions?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235086158475?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=sVIU4m-5R0e&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=fbceB5slT8S&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Edit:

Also found this carbon x1 g7

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195874628923?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=CUKe-_2zQui&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=fbceB5slT8S&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/btechtards › laptop for cs engineering, budget 75k
r/Btechtards on Reddit: Laptop for CS Engineering, Budget 75K
March 8, 2024 -

I'm looking for a laptop with good battery backup(must) and good performance. Something that'll last me 4 years and would be able to handle multiple programming tasks and all them softwares in my engineering. I won't game at ALL.

I'm currently in 1st year and I'm not sure what specs laptop I should go for. I would prefer a laptop that can last >4hrs during heavy tasks without much lagging.

Some laptops I looked at :-

  1. Asus Vivobook 14X i5 13500h RTX 2050, 16GB RAM upgradable to 24GB, 1 TB SSD - 72K

  2. Base M1 Macbook Air with 3 years apple care - 75K

  3. Lenovo yoga 6 i5 1240p 12core 16GB RAM 512GB SSD - 59 K (edited- RAM)

  4. Lenovo Ideapad Slim 5 i5 12450h 8core 16GB RAM 1TB SSD - 58.5 K

  5. Lenovo yoga 6i i5 13500h 12core 16GB RAM 1TB SSD - 71 K

Edit- I'm gonna be doing development and I can't buy 16GB mac. It's out of my budget. Please suggest good windows laptops. I don't want something that's overkill, but can just get the work done.

PS- All the above prices are with discounts combined.

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/computers › what laptop would you recommend for an incoming cs major?
r/computers on Reddit: What laptop would you recommend for an incoming CS major?
September 17, 2024 -

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?

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/suggestalaptop › laptop for cs student on a budget
r/SuggestALaptop on Reddit: Laptop for CS Student on a budget
November 4, 2020 -

Hi all,

I've got a wonderful desktop which I've done all of my college work on, however, one of my classes this semester requires a laptop. While I am a CS student, I know very little in the realm of which machines are reliable as well as what my hardware needs are, so I'm hoping to find help here. Thanks!

  • Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US:
    $300 USD (I'd be willing to fork out up to $500 but would like to be able to pay bills, so y'know)

  • Are you open to refurbs/used?
    If they are trustworthy and I can get at least 5 good years of use out of them.

  • How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?
    I would want the OS to be Windows, as that is what I've worked with all my life and due to the nature of the class I will be programming in a time crunch. Enough to worry about without having to learn to navigate a new OS. In addition, I could always set up a VM if needed, right?

  • How important is weight and thinness to you?
    Not at all.

  • Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.
    N/A

  • Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.
    The heaviest thing I'll be doing is compiling and running college level programming assignments.

  • If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?
    No.

  • Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?
    I would like a numpad, but I can do without it. I would like a keyboard that you can "feel" the button presses.

  • Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.
    I don't want anything fancy dancy, would actually prefer a lack of a touchscreen, I just want something cheap, simple, but reliable, if such a laptop exists. I've had a bad run with them which is why I opted to get a desktop, but in the year 2022 everyone expects you to have a laptop in every class.

Top answer
1 of 4
1

It's a little outside your budget,

Lenovo ThinkBook 15 G3 ACL 15.6" Notebook AMD Ryzen 7-5700U 16GB RAM 512GB SSD

... but it's new and has a Zen 2 8-core/16-thread processor with 8-CU Radeon Vega integrated graphics for both power and performance, double the 8GB minimum of RAM for Windows @ 16GB and upgradable, 512GB of high speed storage.

For the price, our team feel this is the best long term investment.

2 of 4
1

Since you prefer a number pad, I would recommend this Acer Aspire 5 because

  • It comes with an i5 CPU.

  • It offers great value for money since it comes with 8 GB RAM and 256GB SSD.

  • Slim, sleek.

  • The lid of the device has a matte finish on its aluminum material. On the other side, the plastic material on the rest of the chassis is retained.

  • Its lid cannot be opened with a single hand. On the bright side, it is sturdy and prone to flexes. Moreover, we see an upgrade in the hinge department that leaves them a lot stronger than before.

  • The narrow-bezel design offers more real estate for amazing images. Crisp, true-to-life colors come alive on a 15.6” Full HD IPS display with Acer Color Intelligence.

  • Battery life advertised Up to 9.5-hours Battery Life.

  • you can upgrade RAM up to 32GB.

According to https://eu.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/acer/aspire-a515-44-r41b

  • Comes with a range of ports, including USB 3.1 Type C Gen 1 port, 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, USB 2.0 port and HDMI port.

Here is a more detailed review of the Acer Aspire 5 under 500

Please note I'm using affiliate links which means I'll receive a small percent of the purchase if you use this link at no extra cost to you

Find elsewhere
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/suggestalaptop › looking for budget laptop for computer science degree
r/SuggestALaptop on Reddit: Looking for budget laptop for Computer Science Degree
April 6, 2022 -

I’ll be going into comp sci this fall at a big university and I’m looking for a cheap laptop ($600-800) that I can use during classes and on the go - whenever I’m not in my dorm on my main PC. My desktop is a 3060ti and has some pretty good specs, it’s going to be my main driver, however, during in-person classes I’m going to need something cheap but powerful enough to take notes and code on. I don’t want a 2 in 1, as I would never use the tablet function. Let me know what you guys think.

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/askreddit › what is the best budget laptop for cs student around 1000 usd?
r/AskReddit on Reddit: What is the best budget laptop for cs student around 1000 usd?
February 15, 2023 - Tbh I think a lot of students think they need a beefy computer for a CS degree but not really. You'll likely be SSHing into a lab environment in many of your upper class electives, and the intro classes will not require much more than a basic runtime environment. I'd probably just spring for a Mac if you can stretch your budget, it's good to be comfortable working in a unix environment and the peripherals are so much better than any competitors.
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/rpi › laptop recommendations for a cs student
r/RPI on Reddit: Laptop recommendations for A CS student
April 8, 2025 -

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?

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/develeire › best laptop for incoming cs student
r/DevelEire on Reddit: Best laptop for incoming CS student
June 27, 2025 -

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. 🙏🏼

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/codinghelp › what laptop to get as a computer science student.
r/CodingHelp on Reddit: What Laptop To Get As A Computer Science Student.
June 25, 2023 -

NOTE - I am in need to replace my Laptop and I am troubling deciding which laptop to get. I will

mainly use my Laptop for coding as I am a Computer Science student. However, I do enjoy

gaming occasionally.

ALSO, I know the laptops below are pricey but I want to make sure I have a good laptop to use for the next 4-5 Years.

LAPTOPS :

Macbook Pro 14

Asus G14

Dell XPS 15

Macbook Air 15

Razer Blade 14

These are my current list of Laptops that I am considering. Please let me know which one would possibly be the most suited to my needs and if there are other laptops I should consider.

🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/linuxhardware › laptop recommendations for cs student
r/linuxhardware on Reddit: Laptop Recommendations for CS student
July 16, 2024 -

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!

🌐
TechRadar
techradar.com › pro
Best laptop for computer science students 2025: Top CSE picks at every budget
July 3, 2025 - ❌ You want a larger screen: I’ve picked the 14in model as the best for compsci students, but the XPS line-up also includes 15in and 17in versions if you’d prefer a bigger display. ❌ You’re on a budget: I’d say this laptop is at the top end of the mid-range, but with better configurations, it can get a lot more expensive and fast.
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/laptops › best laptop for cs and for college in general?
Best Laptop for CS and for college in general? : r/laptops
March 12, 2024 - If you're used to macOS the m3 air is a great choice. I would definitely recommend that kind of thin and light. On the Microsoft side anything with an i5 or Ryzen 5 + 16gb RAM will be perfect. If your budget is in the range of an M3 pro another fantastic option is the new snapdragon windows PCs.