Suggestions on Custom Laptop Retailers
I'm in the market for a good and relatively powerful laptop. A friend recommended I go to ibuypower.com, but after reading many horrifying and blood-curdling reviews of computers arriving months late and already broken in the box, I feel I should stay away from that site. I also looked at Puget Systems, which seems like a very reliable and professional retailer, but they were a bit expensive for me as I am only a student and trying to wisely spend the money I earn this summer. Any suggestions and comments you could make on a reputable retailer would greatly be appreciated.
{solid, powerful, cheap} - take two
If you decide for solid + powerful (for programming, etc.) I'd recommend either MacBook Pro or Dell Precision series (eventually Dell Latitude or Toshiba Tecra - this is one rank lower and cheaper but still pretty awesome). After working with Dell Precision, pretty much everything else feels like a toy computer.
As for retailer, any authorised one is ok.
If you decide for solid + powerful (for programming, etc.) I'd recommend either MacBook Pro or Dell Precision series (eventually Dell Latitude or Toshiba Tecra - this is one rank lower and cheaper but still pretty awesome). After working with Dell Precision, pretty much everything else feels like a toy computer.
As for retailer, any authorised one is ok.
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| I'd recommend either MacBook Pro |
I have never seen someone recommend a Mac for programming :O
O'RLY? If you want to program for iOS you *have to* get a Mac. Nevertheless, even though we don't, half of programmers in our company use MacBooks for programming (another half are using Linux + some high-end Dell / Toshiba / HP / IBM laptops). The same is at Google or Facebook. Good companies can afford spending $3000 for a good computer (it is less than 1/2 of monthly salary).
BTW: Dell XPS series is pretty powerful and solid and cheaper than Latitude or MacBook Pro. It is also lighter, so easier to take it to school.
BTW: Dell XPS series is pretty powerful and solid and cheaper than Latitude or MacBook Pro. It is also lighter, so easier to take it to school.
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At my department, I'm one of the few who still works with a Dell/Windows computer. Most have switched (not always voluntarily) to MacBooks. I know several of the higher-ups are big Apple fans (think iPhone + iPad + several MacBooks + a house filled with accessories) and they are forcing their minions to switch as well, due to compatibility issues. Most of them only do a very limited amount of programming, but I've heard complaints about XCode shortly after switches, though I can't say if any of it is relevant beyond "getting used to something new".
My boss recently switched to Mac as well, and it's been a big annoyance for both of us. If I send in code for review, it takes me a day to get it running on XCode. When we're close to deadlines, he just uses one of his old Windows or Linux laptops.
From the few frequent programmers, I've heard that most of them would prefer switching back to Windows/Linux if it was just up to them.
Personally, I've always stuck to Windows. I've never felt much for Apple products (they're good, I know, but I feel I'm getting more bang for my buck with other brands), and I refuse to switch for compatibility with others in the department. If anything, a recent conference taught me that Mac users are generally the source of problems, while Linux and Windows users (~75% of the attendents and presenters) got along fine when running code or showing presentations on each others laptops.
Honestly, I don't think one OS is better than the other for most uses. The decision to buy a MacBook is, in my eyes, pretty easy:
Is everything in your house an Apple product, or are you willing to replace everything with their Apple equivalent? If yes, buy a MacBook; if not, buy something else.
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I'm using a Dell because my employer, like every company in the history of ever, has a deal with Dell. I'm not sure if I would have picked on myself, but I've heard so many horror stories about every brand that I don't think brand should be a limiting factor in your search.
My old personal laptop was a Toshiba and it was fantastic. Built-in chipset for graphics and 512MB RAM, but still played WoW decently until WotLK. Did everything and more on that thing and it never failed me, for over 3 years.
My current personal laptop is an Acer and it is fantastic. Has a decent low-end graphics card, but still ran Crysis at medium when it came fresh out of the box. Having some overheating problems while gaming in the summer lately, since I never cleaned it (airholes at upside = need for regular maintenance). Think I would still get great performance on newer games if I would clean it, but I'm too scared to open it up without proper guidance. It's reaching the end of its 3rd year.
My current work laptop is a Dell. It runs code faster than Macs in the department with better hardware, but I have no idea how much of that is the compiler versus the OS. Still, I'm enjoying 5~20% faster runtimes and it's coming from somewhere.
Long story short: I take bad care of my laptops, but I'm not a complete retard when it comes to using any system. None of the pro-Apple arguments have ever sounded even remotely convincing to me. When listening to others for advice, never take their word for it. Most of them only tried one system (including me), others are just trying to justify their own brand loyalty with bogus arguments. There are very few trustworthy sources when it comes to picking brands, whether it's hardware or choice of OS.
My boss recently switched to Mac as well, and it's been a big annoyance for both of us. If I send in code for review, it takes me a day to get it running on XCode. When we're close to deadlines, he just uses one of his old Windows or Linux laptops.
From the few frequent programmers, I've heard that most of them would prefer switching back to Windows/Linux if it was just up to them.
Personally, I've always stuck to Windows. I've never felt much for Apple products (they're good, I know, but I feel I'm getting more bang for my buck with other brands), and I refuse to switch for compatibility with others in the department. If anything, a recent conference taught me that Mac users are generally the source of problems, while Linux and Windows users (~75% of the attendents and presenters) got along fine when running code or showing presentations on each others laptops.
Honestly, I don't think one OS is better than the other for most uses. The decision to buy a MacBook is, in my eyes, pretty easy:
Is everything in your house an Apple product, or are you willing to replace everything with their Apple equivalent? If yes, buy a MacBook; if not, buy something else.
[edit]
I'm using a Dell because my employer, like every company in the history of ever, has a deal with Dell. I'm not sure if I would have picked on myself, but I've heard so many horror stories about every brand that I don't think brand should be a limiting factor in your search.
My old personal laptop was a Toshiba and it was fantastic. Built-in chipset for graphics and 512MB RAM, but still played WoW decently until WotLK. Did everything and more on that thing and it never failed me, for over 3 years.
My current personal laptop is an Acer and it is fantastic. Has a decent low-end graphics card, but still ran Crysis at medium when it came fresh out of the box. Having some overheating problems while gaming in the summer lately, since I never cleaned it (airholes at upside = need for regular maintenance). Think I would still get great performance on newer games if I would clean it, but I'm too scared to open it up without proper guidance. It's reaching the end of its 3rd year.
My current work laptop is a Dell. It runs code faster than Macs in the department with better hardware, but I have no idea how much of that is the compiler versus the OS. Still, I'm enjoying 5~20% faster runtimes and it's coming from somewhere.
Long story short: I take bad care of my laptops, but I'm not a complete retard when it comes to using any system. None of the pro-Apple arguments have ever sounded even remotely convincing to me. When listening to others for advice, never take their word for it. Most of them only tried one system (including me), others are just trying to justify their own brand loyalty with bogus arguments. There are very few trustworthy sources when it comes to picking brands, whether it's hardware or choice of OS.
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As for the choice of OS, you have to work with an OS for some time and decide whether it suits you or not. I tried to get accustomed to Windows for quite a long time (because it came installed on one of my previous laptops and I was just too lazy to install Linux instead) and really couldn't get used to it. Well, but that is just me, YMMV.
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Macbooks are very sturdy machines, but in the end you're running a high risk of just paying for a status symbol. However, from what I can tell the new Macbook Pro with a retina display garners the majority of it's cost from the display. (Too bad beautifully crisp helvetica isn't something most programmers would shell out several grand to have, and all a programmer would really need such a high quality screen for)
OS X is nice and stable, and if you don't mind breaching the EULA you can easily get it running on an intel based laptop. You can do it with an AMD one as well, but that tends to be more tricky.
I install linux on my desktop every now and then, but I always end up spending most my time on windows because of the instability I keep encountering with linux and because of how much gaming I do. I would prefer to do all my dev work in linux, and I probably will as soon as we set up our home server at my apartment (I'll either install linux on it or install a VM on it to run linux on)
As for the hardware choice, rapid coder got it right with {cheap, sturdy, powerful} - pick 2. Personally, I don't mind waiting forever for something to compile, but I don't want to deal with a slow IDE. So Sturdy and Cheap are where I go, while making sure it's not a complete lightweight in the processor/ram department. I hear good things about the Dell Precision line.
Edit: After Ubuntu for android is released and someone figures out how to get it to work with the Asus transformer + docking station, I'll be picking up the most current edition of the transformer and do all my development on the go from there.
OS X is nice and stable, and if you don't mind breaching the EULA you can easily get it running on an intel based laptop. You can do it with an AMD one as well, but that tends to be more tricky.
I install linux on my desktop every now and then, but I always end up spending most my time on windows because of the instability I keep encountering with linux and because of how much gaming I do. I would prefer to do all my dev work in linux, and I probably will as soon as we set up our home server at my apartment (I'll either install linux on it or install a VM on it to run linux on)
As for the hardware choice, rapid coder got it right with {cheap, sturdy, powerful} - pick 2. Personally, I don't mind waiting forever for something to compile, but I don't want to deal with a slow IDE. So Sturdy and Cheap are where I go, while making sure it's not a complete lightweight in the processor/ram department. I hear good things about the Dell Precision line.
Edit: After Ubuntu for android is released and someone figures out how to get it to work with the Asus transformer + docking station, I'll be picking up the most current edition of the transformer and do all my development on the go from there.
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Macbook has the benefit that you could develop for linux, windows, OSX, and IOS, with it.
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Yes, legally.
The iOS SDK exists for every platform. It comes with a fee (on all platforms, including iOS), but it's available.
You can't legally run iOS on a non-Mac computer (because afaik there is no such thing as an iOS installation disk; it comes pre-installed on your Mac), but running and developping for are two completely different things. Also, there is no point in running iOS on a non-Mac machine. You run linux or Windows on a Mac because some software just isn't available for iOS; the other way around is unheard of, unless you want to run a Mac-specific software tool for some reason.
The iOS SDK exists for every platform. It comes with a fee (on all platforms, including iOS), but it's available.
You can't legally run iOS on a non-Mac computer (because afaik there is no such thing as an iOS installation disk; it comes pre-installed on your Mac), but running and developping for are two completely different things. Also, there is no point in running iOS on a non-Mac machine. You run linux or Windows on a Mac because some software just isn't available for iOS; the other way around is unheard of, unless you want to run a Mac-specific software tool for some reason.
Woops, yes. iOS is a bit of a moot point; I did mean OSX as in the non-mobile operator system from Apple.
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