Looking for a new laptop (Computer Science student)

[chris10123]

Hi all

I am a first-year Computer Science student looking for a new laptop. I currently have a 13" MacBook Air (Early 2014), with a 1.4GHz i5 and 4GB RAM.

I'm looking to move to Windows for the time being, as the price of a MacBook Pro is way beyond my student budget and I need a bit more 'oomph' than the current MacBook Air range provides.

Here are the rough specs I'm looking for:
- Core i3 minimum (i5 preferred, but no need for i7)
- Integrated graphics are fine (I'd like to keep games far away from it)
- 8GB RAM minimum (and maximum)
- 256GB SSD storage preferred, but 128GB would be okay (SSD is mandatory)
- 13"-14" screen

Some software I'll be running:
- Unity and other similar game engines
- A variety of software IDEs (IntelliJ, Eclipse etc.)
- Office software

Here's a priority list (top is highest priority):
- Build quality/durability/reliability
- Portability/battery life
- Overall processing power (includes RAM and graphics)
- Good quality keyboard and trackpad (comfortable use without a mouse)
- Aesthetic appeal
- Touch screen would be a nice-to-have, but by no means is it necessary

I already have a decent desktop at home for gaming and working while at home so it doesn't have to be a supercomputer, but it should be able to function as an effective independent machine when I'm not at home. I am looking to use it solely for work purposes.

I'm looking at a maximum price of about £800, with £1000 being an absolute limit.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Chris

P.S.: Sorry for the wall of text, I just wanted to provide as much info as possible.

 

[firefoxx04]

I dont really have any suggestions, but I recommend using linux (in a vm) to make yourself very well rounded. Having Windows, Mac, Linux experience will do you some good.

Be careful with i5 laptops, as most of them are glorified i3s (dual cores with hyper threading).

I do a LOT with my mac pro, i5 (dual core) so its not a big deal. Just make sure you know what you are paying for.

 

[chris10123]

I dont really have any suggestions, but I recommend using linux (in a vm) to make yourself very well rounded. Having Windows, Mac, Linux experience will do you some good.

Be careful with i5 laptops, as most of them are glorified i3s (dual cores with hyper threading).

I do a LOT with my mac pro, i5 (dual core) so its not a big deal. Just make sure you know what you are paying for.

Thanks for the advice! I've been considering using Ubuntu in a VM to do some programming work to familiarise myself with it. Might go ahead and do that now

I'll keep that in mind. So in a lot of cases, it's not worth choosing the roughly £80 'upgrade' option to i5?

 

[orlbuckeye]

Here are 3

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/xps-13-9350-laptop
http://store.hp.com/us/en/mdp/laptops/spectre-x360-344520--1?jumpid=lt_featured_na_2_170227#!&tab=features
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/yoga/?menu-id=yoga_laptops