Which Laptop for Computer Science?

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Schwartz

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The just of my story: I'm now living in Stellenbosch and need a laptop for my degree. My home PC is a desktop which isn't suitable. I have a R7500 budget and need to get a laptop ASAP.

I need it for Programming, Image processing, video rendering and maybe light gaming. In-store purchase would be proffered as I need it very soon. I want a 15.4" Screen and preferably an actual gfx card, not onboard. Otherwise, I have no other requirements.

If you guys could please recommend a good laptop and shop(in Cape Town) to buy it at , I would really appreciate it.
Thanks
 
computer mania has a good deal on the toshiba satellite L655-1DF. You can check the specs online in the monthly catalogue. its an i5, 4gb ram, 500gb hdd, 15.6" screen, 1gb ati 5650 graphics card. your budget is a bit more so perhaps you could get one even better than this one.

hope it helps.
 
Give Adriano a call on:

086 760 6689 or
084 666 0685

He does not have a store but can order and drop off same day more often than not. He stays out in the Northern Suburbs so it's a quick drive.

www.copypaste.co.za/shop to see what he has... I know he is still working on it so all the lappy's might not be on there.
 
Thanks for the help so far. Computer Mania look good so far(although I can't see full catalogue on the iPad). Anywhere else worth checking?
 
For R7500 you are not going to meet your criteria. If you need something for studies go for a cheap netbook and then get a decent desktop PC for the real stuff.
 
ponder said:
For R7500 you are not going to meet your criteria. If you need something for studies go for a cheap netbook and then get a decent desktop PC for the real stuff.
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Seeing as how Computer Science and Maths are my majors, I need a portable PC. A netbook is not suitable at all. R7500 is very realistic for my needs. For R6500 CompMania have an i5, 4GB DDR3, 1GB GFx, 15.6" laptop which would be great for my needs.
 
Schwartz said:
The just of my story: I'm now living in Stellenbosch and need a laptop for my degree. My home PC is a desktop which isn't suitable. I have a R7500 budget and need to get a laptop ASAP.

I need it for Programming, Image processing, video rendering and maybe light gaming. In-store purchase would be proffered as I need it very soon. I want a 15.4" Screen and preferably an actual gfx card, not onboard. Otherwise, I have no other requirements.

If you guys could please recommend a good laptop and shop(in Cape Town) to buy it at , I would really appreciate it.
Thanks
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Sounds like you need a Core i7. Good luck finding one with that budget :)
 
I'd recommend that you get a high resolution - either with the laptop, or an external screen. Unfortunately the Full HD (1080p) laptops are rather expensive.
For computer science you don't need a dedicated graphics card, but it is nice to have for some gaming.

Here's a laptop (R8500 though) that has an i7 and a good graphics card: https://www.studentlaptop.co.za/Main.aspx#59319604
Unfortunately it is R1000 more than you budgeted for, and its resolution is slow + it doesn't have USB 3 either.
 
To be honest, if I could go back to first year (also studying CompSci - at UCT), I would have opted for the netbook and desktop option. I never bring my laptop to varsity because you cannot take maths notes on it. Its impossible to write formulas at the rate the go, so I write that all down. All my CompSci notes are electronic downloads or written out as well.

For the actual practical side of CompSci, a desktop is much more efficient. 9/10 you wont need a laptop in class to do anything.

Just my 2c.
 
+1 to what Sysem said.

I studied Electrical Engineering with Computer Science at University of Stellenbosch from the year 2005.
I never had a laptop during my 4 years, but I had a powerful desktop and an awesome CRT screen. So I've never taken any notes in class on a laptop. Fast (eg. i7) laptop's batteries most likely won't last you for all of your morning classes either.

If you need to do heavy multi-threaded calculations, a desktop Core i7 with 8 CPU threads will outperform the laptop Core i7 with 4 CPU threads by a mile!
 
Schwartz said:
Seeing as how Computer Science and Maths are my majors
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I did an entire CS degree (+ postgrad) without anything but my desktop.

My employer has given me a laptop (I'm a developer now) and I've only ever used it when I went on holiday (for holiday stuff). I just leave it at home. I use Desktops (at work and home).

Most people won't bring laptops to varsity (because it is heavy, plugs aren't widely available, it annoys everyone because they can't see past you, list continues). There are plenty of hot chicks to look at, wouldn't waste my time staring at computer monitor.
 
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Thanks for all the tips guys. I don't want a laptop to use in class though. All my Maths(Normal, Applied and Probability/Stats) lecturers upload the class notes online so I don't take notes in class anyway. CompSci is also all very theoretical so I wouldn't use it in any class at all. I have a netbook that makes me wanna scratch out my eyes. They keyboard is tiny and so is the screen.

I want a laptop so that I can do my work wherever I want. I find myself coming to and from Stellenbosch a lot(I have some obligations in CT every week) and carrying round a flash drive with my work is really not practical. Where I stay isn't exactly a great working environment so I'm not sure having a desktop there would cater for me doing work on it. I really do appreciate your guys' opinions and suggestions, but I really do think a Laptop is for me. I will take my desktop monitor to my flat in Stellies though in case I work at home I will have a nice screen to use.
 
Having done compsci at uct, I'd say that any laptop you get will be fine. 90% of the programing you're going to be doing will be text based and will take less than 5seconds to compile on an old P4. The gui use will be basic and not require a gfx card. When they talk of image processing its going to be a multi dimensional array that you have to manipulate, its still only going to require minimal processing power.

Having multiple screens is far more useful. You need to have pdfs open to look up things constantly as you learn to program.

So don't break the bank getting a laptop with insane specs, that toshiba mentioned earlier or similar will be more than adequate.
 
Schwartz said:
Thanks for all the tips guys. I don't want a laptop to use in class though. All my Maths(Normal, Applied and Probability/Stats) lecturers upload the class notes online so I don't take notes in class anyway. CompSci is also all very theoretical so I wouldn't use it in any class at all. I have a netbook that makes me wanna scratch out my eyes. They keyboard is tiny and so is the screen.

I want a laptop so that I can do my work wherever I want. I find myself coming to and from Stellenbosch a lot(I have some obligations in CT every week) and carrying round a flash drive with my work is really not practical. Where I stay isn't exactly a great working environment so I'm not sure having a desktop there would cater for me doing work on it. I really do appreciate your guys' opinions and suggestions, but I really do think a Laptop is for me. I will take my desktop monitor to my flat in Stellies though in case I work at home I will have a nice screen to use.
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I'm a UNISA student and a full time developer and the one thing I looked into was size vs features. I ended up getting a 13" Toshiba i3 for R5K 5months ago and while I could have gotten an 15" i5 Toshiba or an 15" i7 cheaper brand, no regrets. I only need to upgrade to SSD and then I'm happy with the setup (< R2K for 120GB). You might want to consider size as well. You can always use an external monitor if you need bigger screen resolution.

Actually I've got a netbook (Aspire One) that I used for 3yrs and was originally going to get a new one till I saw the 13" Toshiba.
 
What cbrunsdonza said is true, SSD does make development much, much faster.

Coming from someone who is actually a software developer as well as our companies resident go to guy for what hardware to buy, I would say for a software developer the order of importance is as follows:

RAM (more is better)
Storage (faster is better)
Screen (2 screens, preferable 22" or such)

At work our new policy is all laptops get SSDs, IO makes the largest impact with software development. Web development makes it even worse. The virtual machine, application server, IDE, compilation, all of it relies heavily on IO.
RAM is part of IO hence you need a fair amount but an SSD is about just as important.

For the programs you will be doing RAM will be less important, mostly because they are small and you are unlikely to develop web-applications (and if you do, it'll be lightweight and small).

Much, much less important is the screen. Any CPU is fine. Even Intel 2100 is more than enough.

Therefore my advice is to get a gaming laptop if you want to game. Will be more than enough for your studies.
 
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I really appreciate getting advice from guys in your fields! Thanks so much. I think I am gonna go for Computer Mania Sunday Special. i5, 4GB 1333, 15.6" and a 2GB dedicated card for R7k. Im also gonna take my 23" to my flat from home and once I save up enough I'll also get an SSD(based on your recommendations).
Thanks a ton!
 
Schwartz said:
I really appreciate getting advice from guys in your fields! Thanks so much. I think I am gonna go for Computer Mania Sunday Special. i5, 4GB 1333, 15.6" and a 2GB dedicated card for R7k. Im also gonna take my 23" to my flat from home and once I save up enough I'll also get an SSD(based on your recommendations).
Thanks a ton!
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Kids these days have it so hard...
 
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