Programming can be a lot of fun, but you’ll need a laptop that is designed for your craft.
I’m not what you call an expert “programmer” or “coder” as such, but I do know a fair bit of PHP, HTML, and CSS. I find that having the right laptop to “code” on, speeds up tasks and processes, which in turn increases productivity.
As a programmer or developer, it becomes really confusing to pick the best laptop for programming from thousands of laptops available in the market. It becomes even more difficult for a person who is just starting programming.
I made the following assumptions in this article:
- You are a web developer
- Your laptop is your primary development machine
Here are some considerations before purchasing your next laptop.
Below I have shared some key points that will definitely help you to pick a perfect laptop for working on any programming technology.
How to Choose Best Laptop for Programming?
There are a few things to consider when buying the best laptop for programming. Indeed, the work of programming means the ability to write codes and solve problems using the best laptop you can get. This is really crucial. Moreover, the essence of programming is not merely about writing text. As such, be aware that a laptop that would be perfect for use by a writer or a journalist is not what we are talking about here. It is simply not suitable for you as a programmer.
What Is Ideal RAM For Programming Laptop?
It is the first most important thing that you should look at. A laptop with 8GB RAM is an ideal choice but 16GB RAM would the best choice. If your budget is too low then you can go with 4GB RAM and can ideal best laptop for programming
Believe me, it really sucks working on a low-performance machine. Earlier I used to do android app development on a laptop with 4GB RAM. It was so annoying because everything works really slow.
So I would highly recommend a 16GB RAM laptop if you are a mobile app developer.
Best Choice: 16GB RAM
Ideal Choice: 8GB RAM
Low Budget Choice: 4GB RAM
What is the Best Processor for Programming Laptops?
Good processor and RAM should be your highest priority while choosing a laptop for programming. As a programmer or developer, we have to do multitasking. When I do programming or development I have to open a few IDEs along with a browser with several tabs opened. For such a purpose, a good processor is required
A laptop with an i5 processor is an ideal choice. You can go with the i7 processor if you have a huge budget and for the low budget, you can go with the i3 processor.
Best Choice: i7 Processor
Ideal Choice: i5 Processor
Low Budget Choice: i3 Processor
Which Graphics Card Should be Used For Developing High-End Games?
Integrate graphics cards is not necessary until you are not doing game development or some high graphics related work. But if you are a game developer then you must go with a laptop with an external graphic card.
Best Choice (Especially For Game Developers): External GeForce RTX 3090 Graphic Card
Ideal and Low Budget Choice (For Other Developers): Integrated Graphic Card
What is the best Storage for Programming Laptop?
SSD and HDD are two storage types that laptops have. SSD gives faster performance but costlier than HDD. It’s great if you can afford an SSD storage type laptop. But if you can’t then go with HDD and later on you can use some external SSD storage to have best laptop for programming.
The laptop’s storage is large enough to cater for all your daily needs, as well as store many files. Although it is limited to 512 gigabytes, it comes in the form of a blazing fast PCIe Solid State Drive. In case you are a video editor, a photographer or you simply love having large, physical media collections, you may decide to invest in external storage.
What Is The Ideal Battery Life For Programming Laptop?
If you mostly work at places where power supply is not available then you must choose a laptop with a huge battery life. Otherwise these days almost all laptops come with moderate battery backup.
If you’re going to spend most of your time near an electrical outlet, then battery life shouldn’t be a priority. However, if you think you’ll spend a lot of time programming away from a standard power source, then a laptop with a longer battery life is worth considering.
What About Mobility of Programming Laptop?
The ideal laptop for programming come in all shapes and sizes. You need to figure out how portable you want your laptop to be.
If you do not need to carry your laptop around often, you might want to consider a 15-inch laptop. These will usually have better specs and more screen estate for multitasking.
What is the Best Display For Programming?
A laptop’s screen one of its most important features, especially for programmers. Developing applications involves staring at the screen for long periods. You need to pay close attention to the details.
Which Operating System Should Be Used While Doing Coding?
Your choice of the operating system will determine which laptop to buy to a large extent. Windows users have lots of options but if you prefer macOS, you’re limited to one of the Macbook offerings.
Which Type of Keyboard Is The Best For Coders?
You can’t afford to compromise on your laptop’s keyboard quality since it is what you’ll use to bang out code all day. I tend to go for laptops with a more compact keyboard layout.
Final Verdict
I have shared a complete analysis of what an ideal laptop for the programmers should have. Hope you enjoy this post.
