New Laptop

They are all Intel Reference platforms: only your budget will determine the model (if you get your money through work, then you'll go for the best "bang for the buck").<p>That said, there are 4-5 (tops) companies in the WORLD making notebooks: all the choice you see in the shops are about branding and artificial product differentiation. ECS, Acer, Asus etc. fall off the same machines as Apple, Fujitsu, HPQ etc. (Lenovo being a notable exception). They contain the same CPU, same RAM ...same MS licence etc. Some even have almost the same shell (e.g. ECS-DELL-FSC-Toshiba).<p>If you use it for work, I suggest you get the cheapest one that offers you enough value to perform your task (e.g. 15.4", 17" being no longer portable; x3100, 2Gig are all sufficient for coding: if you need real power, you'll ssh anyway to the given HPC). You will not get a heart-attack if it drops, gets scratched or stolen: you will just get a brand new one, being 2x better for approx. the same price within a year with strong batteries (they will fade within 2 years anyway).<p>If it is (also) for showing feathers, then obviously Apple, Sony (and no, Lenovo is no good for attracting attention).<p>But then again, these are PC-s, and the P stands for Personal: tastes and habits vary. On a pure technical level, whichever runs Linux/BSD best (generally the least fancy ones) already gives enough empowerment to change the world...

I strongly suggest getting a 14.1" ThinkPad T6x series laptop. I have had a T60 for almost two years now and it has worked great. The keyboard is just amazing compared to anything else out there. The TrackPoint (little red mouse pointer thing in the keyboard) is great when you get used to it. Unless you play games, you should get the integrated graphics (great battery life and easier to get working under Linux). The only bad thing about ThinkPads is that they don't run Mac OS X (legally/easily).<p>If you are on a budget, I recommend getting a slightly older model (slower processor) but with as much memory as you can get. I also recommend that you get a model with the one-year warranty instead of the three-year warranty, to save money. There are so many people selling ThinkPad parts and accessories that there is no reason to pay for a warranty that you will probably never use when you can replace anything that breaks yourself for less money. I just priced one at lenovo.com and it was less than $1,100.<p>BTW, I strongly considered buying a MacBook but I went and tried them at the Apple store and I found that the keyboard is really horrible for programming. Only Sony VAIO is worse. No dedicated home/end/pageup/pagedown on either?!?!

Regarding "bang for your buck" Dell's are still the best bargain for compute power. Many people (rightly so) piss all over them for bad customer support, but if you buy from the "small business" side of the site instead of the "consumer/residential" side of the site, then you get small biz customer support bundled, which anecdotally is much better.

15% off Code: USPSAVEMORENOW<p><a href="http://www.techbargains.com/vendor_detail.cfm/96/lenovo-coupon-code" rel="nofollow">http://www.techbargains.com/vendor_detail.cfm/96/lenovo-coup...</a><p>Lenovo ThinkPad R61 Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 14.1 inch Notebook PC $552.07 Free Shipping, May. 22 8 AM<p>lenovo has the Lenovo ThinkPad R61 Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 14" Widescreen Notebook PC for a low $649.50 - 15% off Coupon Code: USPSAVEMORENOW (Exp 5/26) = $552.07 Free Shipping. Tax in most states.<p>5.2lbs; 14.1"; Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 @ 2.0GHz; 1GB RAM; 80GB HDD; DVD-ROM/CDRW Combo; 802.11a/b/g; Linux; 1yr warranty

There are really only two: the MBP and the ThinkPad.

I think you're approaching it from a wrong standpoint. You should start off by telling us what you're going to program in and what your OS and tools of choice are.

Watch out for the cheap laptops. These are really enticing options and I am typing on one now. As a student and planning to run linux on it anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to save my money and get a cheapie. I bought an Acer about a year ago and after a good amount of usage I realized my mistake. After having this thing on for about an hour or so it gets hot. I mean hot lava burn your nuts so you won't have children hot. Not only is this an inconvenience, but the performance goes down as well. I can't watch videos for more than 15 minutes and even youtube can be annoyingly choppy. None the less it does get the job done when it comes to programming, as most laptops out will.<p>My friend gave me good advice about this once when I was complaining, he said "Why would you try to save money on a tool that will not only be the basis for your profession, but also the device you will spend most of your day on?". He was right. Its like trying to save 150 bucks on a bed that has a huge lump in the middle that makes you wake up with a sore back every morning. Its not worth saving the money. Don't worry so much about bang for the buck, focus on getting that consistent bang to get the job done each day without added stress. A carpenter wouldn't go to work each day with a plastic hammer and a nail file instead of a saw, so approach your purchase with the same logic. Find out your needs, find the tools that meets those needs, and then make your decision from that point. Don't let money be that big of an influence, you will regret it.

Honestly, I'd recommend looking for a used Thinkpad -- something from the T41/X41 era will be cheap (&#60;$500), well-built, and extremely well-supported under just about any recent Linux distro.<p>I used an X41 as a mobile development box for quite a while, and only upgraded to a MacBook Pro when I started shooting a lot of RAW photos with my DSLR and wanted to run Lightroom.

Get a Dell. I've had one for 4 years now and it has held up pretty well. It did cost me around $2000 but it has been worth it. If you really want a 'cheap' laptop get a refurbished one.

I went to a mac reseller and told him I wanted a mac laptop for $200 if he had anything, even if it needed a repair, like a hard drive. He did. In September 2006 he had a late 2004 ibook G4 for $200. The hard drive was wearing out but still usable. Ended up replacing the hard drive for another $100, and put another 1GB ram in it (for a total 1.25GB ram) but totally worth it. Upgraded to Leopard and it's even better. Firefox 3, and it's even better. Total of ~$550 and I've got a pretty decent laptop.<p>I got my wife a Dell under the Tulane student discount, loaded Ubuntu dual boot, and she chooses Ubuntu. I wouldn't recommend a Dell, but it sure attests to the usability of Ubuntu.<p>I'm not sure I would get a macbook simply because I can't stand the short screen, glossy or not. MBP is definitely not a budget buy. Thinkpads seem awefully nice. Since you can run linux on a mac now, I would think the question comes down to do you or do you not want OS X?<p>I have to say though, I have never been more please than getting a $200 iBook. It used to get deadly slow if you leave firefox 2 open for days, but with firefox 3, it got a new breath of life.

Under $400 (Prolly not you): Eee and OLPC battle!<p>Under $700: You just walk into best buy and try to max out ram/HD/Optical Drive/USB Ports and stuff. Its hard to say who's a sure winner becuase this category is so tight.<p>$700-1000: Either do what you did for the lower price range, or sometimes you can get a lower end PC from the next price range, if you know where to look.<p>Over $1000: Thinkpad, MBP, Dell Precision, HP 85xx/87xx series.

budget + starting to learn =&#62; don't underestimate the second hand market<p>despite lusting for a MPB I recently acquired a hp nc4400 second hand which rocks when I am away from the desktop it runs Hardy and all the soft I need for my coding (and I am not starting to learn :P)<p>... and you get the feeling that your are doing something for the environment in the process (not that I'm a hardcore green or anything ;)

Buy something used; the Powerbook G4 I use seems to go for about $500 on eBay.

The best Unix machine you can get (things just work, no driver issues) is a MacBook Pro. It also allows you to develop for iPhone, and for Windows if you use Parallels or VMware. If cost (comparing with crappy Dells that come with Vista, egads) is an issue, I invite you to check your wallet for this amazing device called a credit card. It's worked wonders for me.

Are you a mac, linux or windows user?<p>What's your budget? A budget of &#60; $1200 basically rules out any recent mac laptop.

I use an HP/Compaq NC6000, $300 on eBay. Make sure you get the widescreen (1440w) version with integrated Bluetooth, and expand it to 1GB RAM. It runs everything I need for interactive development, including hogs like Photoshop, Flash, and the Eclipse-based Flex Builder 3; the Bluetooth means I can get internet access through my smartphone; it's fairly light and has a real-world battery life of three hours under steady use; its battery is swappable, so you can carry a spare; and you can afford to lose it, which is a very distinct possibility if you're carrying it around a bustling city all day. (I live in Manhattan.)<p>Even the best backup plan and warranty won't cover the "oh FUCK ME" moment when you realize your $3000 laptop just got lost, dropped, or stolen.

If you have small hands, the eee pc might be nice.<p><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&#38;DEPA=0&#38;Description=EEE+PC&#38;x=0&#38;y=0" rel="nofollow">http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&#3...</a>

What are your requirements and what is your budget?<p>If you're purely looking for a cheap machine that will hold up decently well, you're going to be looking at a Dell + warranty.<p>If you're looking for higher quality (and price point), you're going towards Lenovo/Apple

I bought a MacBook. Bought 4GB ram and 320 GB hard drive and replace the factory one. Total cost without warranty and before tax: $1099 (MacBook) + $139 (disk) + $98 (4GB).<p>I need to add $79 for VMWare Fusion to run different VMs for FreeBSD, Linux and another $150 for Windows XP pro. But this laptop will have all client system that I need to use.<p>I guess you can do the same thing on Lenovo ThinkPads with similar cost or maybe cheaper. If you don't need to write stuffs for OS X/iPhone, you just need to use Safari Windows to check your web sites.<p>Since your are beginner to learn programming. I guess a ThinkPad with Linux and you can start to learn python right away.

You don't need anything fancy, save as much as you can, and buy additional ram (possibly from a 3rd party site for much cheaper rates).<p>I have 2 gigs and frequently go to the limit with the number of apps I have open. Slowdowns due to lack of ram can really kill your flow.<p>I have a regular macbook, mainly because of OS X, which gives me unix tools with an OS that just works. Apple's hardware is ok, not great. I've had issues with 3 out of 3 notebooks. That said, the issues have become smaller (so Apple's QC seems to have improved).<p>If I could run OS X on cheaper hardware, I would do it in an instance. I don't need to show off at the coffee shop. :)

If you're just starting to learn to program than any laptop you get will be sufficient. If you go Windows, HP's are pretty slick. They're fast, good looking, easy to carry, and have great multimedia features. I personally have a ThinkPad, HP, and Dell. I use the Dell the most but the HP is extremely light and small and great for traveling. If I had to choose one I'd go with the Dell. I got a MBP for work and that's great, but I still prefer Windows/nix. The ThinkPad is old. Haven't used a new one of those since before Lenovo.

I'm a pretty big fan of the Lenovo X series if you want to go Windows. You may want to look at the T instead if you're not planning on using an external monitor though due to screen sizes.

I've been using a model n200 from Lenovo's 3000 series(the consumer ones, a grade below Thinkpads) and am relatively pleased. Build quality is lower than a Thinkpad, but I've had no trouble using it daily since last summer, toting it around, scratching it up....it's taken one fall, and the only thing that happened was the battery came loose.<p>Main caveat: have to baby its airflow so that it doesn't overheat. Vista will throttle on overheating, Linux won't, at least not the kernel I'm using.

We use Toshiba A200-AH9 laptops running Ubuntu. Intel wifi just works. 9-cell battery. Only downside is the resolution if you don't use an external monitor and no bluetooth.

Macbook. They're updating them soon, so you might want to wait for that to happen, and then either buy an old one for less, or a new one with new features.

Random thoughts: the MacbookPro and thinkpads, besides everything said here, have the highest resale value, for sure. But i would definitely avoid the early MBPs, lots of heat issues, bulging batteries and keyboards. The recent ones, including mine, still seem to not sleep/hibernate properly.<p>Buy used from Craigslist. Make sure you get original purchase receipt, O/S install DVD's. Or from Costco. 90 day return policy.

About 18 months ago, I bought a Dell laptop (dual core, 2 gigs RAM, etc.) and it has worked really well for me through short (day) and long (to Australia) trips. As a contractor, it has made me a lot of money because I can show customers their software at their site, and I can make adjustments as needed on site. A quick turnaround time for changes is essential to happy customers.

I bought the lowest model Macbook (not pro) for ~1000 bucks and then bought 4G of ram at Fry's for $60. Its worked great for a year now. Most of my friends have pro's but mine has worked just as good for me. I like the smaller size as well.<p>Another great thing about the macbooks is their high resale value. Factor that into the cost.

I recommend checking out powernotebooks.com before you decide. You might like what you see there. I have a Sager that I recently purchased from them; it's a great machine, well-built, and since it's factory direct, it's less expensive than a comparable machine from most other vendors.

If you're going to buy MBP from apple, try buying refurbished ones from apple online store, they're about 15-25% less than the brand new ones. I think the refurbished ones go through extra testing as well, so I think its a pretty good deal.

Dell D830 with the WUXGA 1920x1200 screen rez.<p>Very cool. Ubuntu 8.04 works like a charm.

What about something like this?<p><a href="http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=204814777&#38;listingid=4746360&#38;dcaid=17902" rel="nofollow">http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=204814777&#38;list...</a>

If you consider using ThinkPad, you can find the following specialized forum useful: <a href="http://forum.thinkpads.com" rel="nofollow">http://forum.thinkpads.com</a>

i have been happy with the toshiba r205 s209<p>originally retailed for $2200 but i've seen them lately for around $800.<p>Spend an extra $100 and load up the RAM to 1.25GB. It runs linux like a charm and gets great battery life.<p>Best of all, it's got a titanium case and doesn't flex and groan the way mac laptops do. It's light and rock solid.<p>For $800 it's by far the best deal you'll find today.<p>If you like games, don't buy it however b/c it has a slow graphics card for 3d stuff (I don't play games)...

I just bought a Lenovo T61p (ThinkPad mobile workstation), but it was very nearly a coin-flip decision vs a Dell XPS M1530. www.notebookreview.com

I'm looking at MSI Winds with great interest. If you can handle the small display, you that might be good for you.<p>Price should be at $400-500ish

all laptops have one of the highest failure rates in all of mainstream consumer electronics.<p>that said: i will add to the groups discussion i am a die hard thinkpad guy. the 'stick button' is SO MUCH more effective than a touchpad. they are fantastic machines. X series are small light and about $1k - $1.5k. i never spend more.<p>downside: Windows. or worse... VISTA!

I'm using the Dell Precision series and I'm really happy with it. Its hardware is well supported by Linux.

Let me warn you: DO NOT BUY A MACBOOK! Let me tell you my story...<p>A few months back, I decided to travel to china. I sold off my desktop, and because the macbook was small and nice looking, I bought it. I installed windows on it, installed bootcamp and all was fine, and I really loved this notebook for a few months.<p>But the thing is, in China, I was constantly on the move. And I was moving with the laptop all the time in my bag. The macbook does not deal with this well at all. Two nasty things happened: First, my hard drive failed a mere 4 months after I bought it. I lost weeks of work, and the Apple repair store would not replace it for me for 3 weeks because of chinese new year. So I bought a new hard drive and did it myself. The instructions online do not mention that you need a very strange and difficult to find screwdriver to do this.<p>Next thing that happend is that a piece of plastic along the edge broke off. The problem with the macbooks body is that when a piece along the edge chips off, the entire edge slowly peels of. My laptop is losing the edge, and now the resell value is less than half of the original because it looks fugly as hell.<p>Some other things:<p>* The white macbook gets dirty as hell quickly<p>* Bootcamp is no longer free! You need to buy Mac OSX to get the new version of Bootcamp. There are some on the torrent sites, but you never know what trojan you'll be getting, and a trojan in a kernel driver is nasty<p>* When booting windows, the keyboard does not always get detected at startup. When reinstalling from CD, this can be frustrating. And if you have that 30 seconds countdown on windows, you have to wait for it to countdown because the keyboard is not detected. You also cannot go into safe mode.<p>* There is no frickin right click on the keyboard. For development work, it's very annoying. Try using Eclipse or Visual Studio without right click.<p>* There are no fricking curly braces or square brackets or the pipe symbol on my macbook keyboard! You cannot open or close functions, you cannot index arrays and you cannot do a logical OR. Who came up with that braindead keyboard designs. Also, there is no printscreen key. You never know how much that screen is useful till its gone. (this is the german keyboard layout I'm talking about)<p>* In some rooms with overhead projects, the audio of the macbook goes on and off randomly. I learnt this the hard way when tryign to do a presentation. This probably has to do with the remote control<p>* The webcam is mirrored.<p>* If a CD is inside and your macbook has no power, there is no way of getting it out<p>* The macbook comes with a minidv video output, A.K.A make them pay extra money<p>* The coolness factor of a macbook is long gone. Everyone and their grandma own a macbook<p>On the positive side: * Has webcam<p>I'm about to switch my laptop as soon as I can get apple to repair that hard drive for me. I've done some reaearch, and I'm going for the:<p>LENOVO THINKPAD x61t<p>It's a rugged looking tablet PC, smaller than the macbook, has a docking station and is not particularly expensive.<p>Conclusion: Macbook is like a pretty but crazy girlfriend. In the beginning, you are madly in love, and later you have to break up when bits start falling off!

Get a refurbished mac. If you are going to program you should have a mac. The 21rst century computer company.