This is my second go around trying to learn to code. What is a good budget laptop that i can use on my journey to coding. I would like a big screen on the laptop but nothing to expensive. I would also like for this laptop to be used as my first job as a front end developer (im claiming it). Thanks for your time in advance.
Go to the store and try some out that you like typing on. Make sure the commonly used keys for programming such as brackets { }, parentheses ( ), quotes " ", and backticks ` `, and especially backspace are easy to press.
Barring that, I would just look online for well-reviewed laptops that are the size you want. If you’re just going to code, don’t worry about getting anything with a graphics card or fancy features.
You can get all the way from zero to fully employed as a software developer with a $200 laptop. Hope this helps!
Unless your freelancing, most companies will provide you your equipment. So don’t worry to much about using it at work.
Learning to code can be done on basically any machine. “Budget” would directly lead you to one specific market, and that would be chromebooks. However, chromebooks would limit you on what you can do locally, and limit how you can work. This doesn’t mean you wont be able to do programming, but you’ll have to change your approach.
I used to use a 300 dollar student chromebook back in college. Using this thing I used 100% “cloud IDEs”, rather than local development. With this approach I was able to build entire projects online without any problem, assuming I had an internet connection.
I did have issues when the cloud environment didn’t work as expected, but generally it was fine as long as I took my setup into account.
Otherwise you can always pay more for a budget laptop, with focus on CPU and at least 16gb of ram. Everything else doesn’t really matter and just depends on your budget and what you can find.
You really don’t need anything special for learning to code. Get something you like and that is within your budget. Generally speaking, I would recommend getting a newer model of a more budget friendly model rather than an older secondhand high-end model, but you can make anything work. I tend to recommend focusing on things that will make using the laptop more comfortable for you: things like screen size and keyboard.
I wouldn’t worry about using it at your first job. Your professional work will be done on a company-provided computer.
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I just bought myself a new laptop, as my old one recently suffered a catastrophic caffeinated beverage interface.
I went for a 17" screen with a larger keyboard with numeric keypad (as I find typing numbers very annoying otherwise). I also use a wireless mouse as I hate touchpads.
It’s a mid-range acer, Windows 11, AMD Ryzen 5 2.3ghz processor, 8gb RAM, 500gb SSD, and cost me £600.
It more than does the job as far as coding is concerned. You could spend a lot less and still get something worthwhile. I do a bit of video/audio editing so I needed something more than a basic model but couldn’t quite stretch to £1000+ (which is what I really need for that kind of thing).
stuck_out_tongue: here is my computer. At least It never used to be mine. I relinquished it from the clasp of the bottoms of darkness. Ask me no questions. I tell you no lies about how I sourced this hardy piece of mofo technology. This is how I resourced it though; The computer would not connect to internet with windows Xp. It would not take any drivers and therefore would not be upgraded or reloaded. the usb ports did not work. I should have known then that it was a stubborn as a donkey. At last I meet a pc of like mind. So I installed Ubuntu and it then now connects to internet 
.it connects by wifi usb dongle network cable even by 
. It is what I use since last year june. or Rather what I abuse . I can watch videos. atleast at 460p. I browse. I play mp3. I can watch youtube. I code . and I can look at all kinds of pics- for research purposes of course 
. It only has 2 gig Ram and an AMD sempron. a dvd drive 
I present to you my ACER Apire 3050. it refuses to die. It reminds me of me when I had plans to live forever. Ask me no questions I tell you no lies.
i now show you the pictures of it .how it looked the other day when I was doing maintenance on the cooling system.
My point is if i can use a system so old you can use whatver especially if you are doing frontend dev. So its not what the computer can
do for you its what you can do for it . So dont stress with big specs and fancy stuff.
Im using a relic here to send this post. And Im doing it well. I have the same relationship with all my women.lol
The ThinkPad series is known for its durability and performance. The E15 model offers a 15.6-inch display, decent processing power, and a comfortable keyboard for coding. It’s often available at an affordable price point.