Obviously, if you’re a programmer or a programming student, you need the right kind of laptop. And that laptop needs to be beefier than regular ones. It needs to be able to push demanding programs, taking care of complicated computing operations with ease. So, what kind of specs you ideal laptop should have?
Well, the chances are that you already know it; after all, you’re studying to become a programmer. Still, it’s definitely good to remind ourselves of the specifications crucial for programming purposes. Firstly, a laptop used for programming needs to have a fast and reliable processor, preferably an Intel Core i7 CPU or an AMD processor of the same grade. It also needs to have plenty of RAM and SSD capacity. By ‘plenty’, we mean at least 16GB RAM and over 256GB SSD.
Of course, your perfect laptop for college also needs to be good at things that aren’t exclusive to programming laptops. For instance, it needs to have a large HD display, as well as a long-lasting battery. It also needs to look nice and come with a lot of features meant to enhance the user experience. Finally, the best laptop for programming students/programmers also needs to be reasonably priced. So, how to find one such laptop? With our help, easily!
4 Best Laptops for Programming College Students
To spare you the trouble of going through thousands to reviews of laptops on Amazon and reading detailed specs, which would take too much of your time, we’ve decided to do all the work for you. As a result, we were able to pick four laptops that seem ideal for programming purposes. These laptops have all the parts needed to put on breathtaking performances when dealing with complicated computing operations.
Each of them has a beefy CPU, as well as a lot of RAM and SSD gigabytes, which makes these laptops fantastic in terms of performances. Apart from that, they all also have a good battery and are built to last for a long time. This means that once you buy one of these, you won’t need to get another one in years. Due to all this, you might now think that the laptops we picked are expensive, but that’s not the case. They’re all pretty reasonably priced considering what they’re giving in return.
Spectre x360 By HP (Touch Screen, i7 Quad Core, RAM 16GB, 512GB SSD)
The first laptop on our list is a device made by HP, which comes with a 13.3-inch touchscreen.
This fact itself makes it incredibly easy to use, but what about its performances? Well, considering that it packs a quad-core Intel Core i7 CPU, you can be sure it won’t disappoint you with its work.
It also comes with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD, specs that show how fast and reliable this laptop really is.
On top of that, there’s also a pretty durable battery inside, which can keep it running for hours. Another thing that makes this laptop a very good choice is that it’s very rugged and durable.
Its display is protected with Gorilla Glass, while its construction is both lightweight and sturdy.
Pros
- Beautiful design
- Touchscreen display
- Sturdy and durable device
- Impressive specs
Cons
- Its display is not too large
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Laptop by Lenovo (Intel Core 7, RAM 16 GB, 512 GB HDD)
There are so many great things about this laptop, starting with the fact that it’s built to last for a long time.
We’re not talking years, we’re talking decades! Its construction is also very rugged, so even if you drop it, the chances are that nothing too bad will happen.
The laptop is also pretty impressive when it comes to its performances, with its Intel Core i7 CPU, its 16 GB RAM, and its hard drive with 512 GB capacity.
All these things ensure that the laptop will be working fine for a long time, causing you absolutely no problems along the way.
Pros
- Decent display size
- Good CPU
- Durable and very reliable
Cons
- No SSD
Surface Book 2 By Microsoft (Core i7, 1TB of Storage, 16 GB of RAM)
The fact that it’s manufactured by Microsoft means that this laptop will work perfectly with software products developed by the same company.
Apart from that, the laptop also has pretty amazing specs, which make it ideal for programmers.
For instance, it comes with a fantastic CPU, which is Intel Core i7. It also comes with 16GB RAM, which adds to its performances.
It doesn’t have a solid-state drive, but it packs an HDD with a whole terabyte of storage capacity. The laptop also looks really nice and has a pretty decent battery.
Its display might not be the biggest, but is really top quality. More importantly, it’s a touchscreen we’re talking about here.
Add to that the fact that the keyboard of this device can rotate by almost 360 degrees and you’ll see that you can use Surface Book 2 as a tablet computer as well.
Pros
- Touchscreen
- 2-in-1 device
- Made by Microsoft
- Powerful CPU
- Beautiful design
Cons
- Pricey
- Not too large display
- No SSD
DELL XPS 15 Laptop (i7, RAM 16GB, 512GB SSD, Touch Screen)
The final laptop on our list is one made by Dell, who made sure to put inside high-quality parts that can achieve truly superb performances. We’re talking about parts like the Intel Core i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD.
Apart from being really fast and powerful when its performances are concerned, this laptop is also very convenient to use. First of all, its display is 15.3 inches in diagonal, which makes it pretty large, thus suitable for use in large-scale programming projects. It’s also sensitive to touch, meaning that you will be able to use the stylus instead of the mouse for your projects.
And there’s one final thing that makes it superior to the three laptops we previously reviewed – it comes with a dedicated GPU. The graphics card we’re talking about is NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M, which has 2GB of its own memory capacity.
This makes DELL XPS 15 an incredible choice not only for studying purposes but also for fun. You will have no problems running the latest video game releases on this laptop!
Pros
- Superb performances
- Dedicated graphics unit
- Touchscreen display
Cons
- Could’ve been a bit cheaper
Final Thoughts
There you have our four picks for the best laptop for programmers/programming students. Each of these will provide you with the kind of performances you will need in your everyday work/studying. But, which one should you buy totally depends on you, that is, your needs, wishes, and your budget.
Still, even if you’ve picked one of these on random, you would not make a bad decision. Each of them is a fantastic choice. And it’s not just about their performances; it’s also about their quality and durability, as well as their ease of use.