Question Chromebook versus PC for programming ?

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Requian

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Aug 30, 2016
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Hello all,

I am a Uni student in business analytics and I need a laptop. I was hopping you lovely people could help answer my question. Should I get a Chromebook or a PC for coding purposes? Which would be better?
 
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Alabalcho

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Jan 13, 2011
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Requian said:
Hello all,

I am a Uni student in business analytics and I need a laptop. I was hopping you lovely people could help answer my question. Should I get a chrome book or a PC for coding purposes? Which would be better?
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Chromebooks are (still) very limited on what apps you can install on them. Get a "standard" laptop, with best screen you can afford, followed by max RAM you can get.
 
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LordVile

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USAFRet said:
Since the OP has not been back in a week, to possibly further clarify his needs...this is just random discussion.

And a Mac is not the be all and end all of a coding device. They have their purposes, just like a Windows system does for the same thing.
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Unless you require something really specific and only that a Mac is a better option than a windows laptop purely because of flexibility, better native support for Linux and bootcamp.

Just because the OP hasn’t been back doesn’t mean someone looking for info won’t visit the thread and read it
 
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LordVile

LordVile

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Alabalcho said:
The fact that MacOS is Unix/ BSD based does not make it better for "programming". "Flexibility" is the last label I'd attach to Mac, or MacOS / iOS.

When (and "If") Microsoft make Visual Studio support on par with Windows, I would not call Mac "Better Option". Again - not everyone is writing Node.JS or PHP.
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Again you can run WINDOWS on a Mac through Bootcamp you can also run Linux if you do wish. MacOS has better support for Linux coding on top of that. Would say the option to run any of the 3 major OS’ with better support for Linux is more flexible than only being able to run 2 with limited Linux support.
 
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Deleted member 14196

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LordVile said:
Um yes as it’s Unix based and can be used to code and test all major OS’. Obviously the intro models not the ARM ones. MacBooks are generally seen as THE laptop for coders
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No they are not. Not needed in any way. Most universities and students use windows

Nothing it can do the pc can’t. Windows has a Linux subsystem for years now. You can always run a virtual machine so there’s no need for Macintosh

I would never suggest anyone use a Mac because the costs are too high and they aren’t even very good machines

And as mentioned above just because it’s made of BSD Unix does not mean that it’s better for any programming. that’s complete nonsense and hogwash so please stop spreading it as fact
 
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LordVile

LordVile

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ClapTrapper said:
Maybe by MacBook owners,but no they are not. Windows,Linux,then Macs-and orders of magnitude between them.
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If you need to code for MacOS, iOS etc how are you going to do that on a laptop then?

What if you want to code on Linux but don’t fancy hopping in and out of 2 OS’ to do it? Because you can get away with coding for Linux in MacOS and have most of the tools available whereas in windows you can’t you pretty much have to dual boot Linux every time. You also have access to bootcamp or parallels for windows.

Again on Macs you can code for all 3 major operating systems easily and have native support for Linux on MacOS. On windows laptops you flat out cannot code for any Apple device and it lacks support for Linux requiring a dual boot.
 
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ClapTrapper

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LordVile said:
Again you can run WINDOWS on a Mac through Bootcamp you can also run Linux if you do wish. MacOS has better support for Linux coding on top of that. Would say the option to run any of the 3 major OS’ with better support for Linux is more flexible than only being able to run 2 with limited Linux support.
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You missing the entire point of the question. He is doing business analytics which means he will learn SQL and just enough Python to squeak by. Not really a programmer. He wants to know should he buy a Chromebook or PC,and then you threw in Mac. Out of all the three options, a PC is by far the best option since it is has a 90% market share.
He will be able to use it for what little actual programming he does and use it for all the other software (of which most is written for Win machines)
 
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Deleted member 14196

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Dual boot is useless these days. We all use virtual machines now and windows can easily host Linux or any other OS virtual machine
 
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LordVile

LordVile

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ClapTrapper said:
You missing the entire point of the question. He is doing business analytics which means he will learn SQL and just enough Python to squeak by. Not really a programmer. He wants to know should he buy a Chromebook or PC,and then you threw in Mac. Out of all the three options, a PC is by far the best option since it is has a 90% market share.
He will be able to use it for what little actual programming he does and use it for all the other software (of which most is written for Win machines)
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Because market share in the consumer space means anything…
 
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