Recommendation for laptop for web development

James Daniels

James Daniels

James Daniels

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12 Jun 2019
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Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to programming and am looking to buy my first laptop. I'd like to keep to a budget of <£500.00, but I'm open to spending more if it's sensible. I was wondering if anyone had gone through the same process? I'm probably looking at spending the next few weeks learning java, ruby, etc.

My first impressions as to what I want/need are a min 256GB SSD, 4-8GB RAM, matt screen 15"+. I've read a few articles to give an idea of what's about:
https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/best-laptop-for-programming
https://bytescout.com/blog/laptops-for-programming.html

  • Apple MacBook Pro MF839LL - ~£2000.00 - Lazy option. Has everything I imagine I would need but extremely pricey
  • Apple 13″ MacBook Air - ~£1000.00 - Again, lazy option. Probably everything I'd need, but I'd be paying a premium while not needing to invest days learning about laptops
  • Acer Aspire A15 - £500 at Currys - Seems to meet all the relevant spec
  • Lenovo ThinkPad E470 laptop -£450.00 (ebay ex-display) - Seems to meet all relevant spec. 14" display.
  • HP 255 G5 laptop - £320 (refurb, I can't find new?) - There's something uninspiring about this one.
  • Asus Chromebook Flip C302 - £500.00 on Amazon.

** Having read a few more posts on here, I think my best bet might be a refurbished
  • Lenovo Thinkpad T series (T440, 440s, 450, 450s, etc) or a Thinkpad X1 - 3rd gen X1s for upwards of £300 on eBay
  • Dell - refurbished. I haven't looked in details.
  • HP 255 G7 Ryzen 8GB DDR4 256GB SSD Full HD Win10 Business Laptop,USB 3.1 - £369, band new on ebay


Any advice appreciated, thanks!
 
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I am a very strong advocate of used Lenovo ThinkPads, but only their T, X and X1 series and with upgraded IPS screens.
 
The HP 255 G7 Ryzen 8GB DDR4 256GB SSD looks pretty good value, any chance you could use a desk however? and get a monitor and proper keyboard and mouse etc, always found it uncomfortable to code on a laptop just sat on the sofa or something.
 
I would only recommend getting Macbook if you're planning on doing any Swift/Objective-C programming or developing native Android/IOS apps on their native SDK and not on multi-platform SDK.
Macbook would be the better choice in that scenario.

Windows laptop has the advantage of being able to program C++ and C-sharp as they are Windows based on top of the languages you have mentioned above.
My vote is on the HP or Lenovo for Windows laptop choice.
 
I see you've added the T440 and T440s to the list. The T440 series was less well liked than the T450 series for several reasons:

1) The maximum RAM is lower (12gb max). This will be fine for most tasks but bear it in mind.

2) Many people hated the trackpad; it is larger than the later T450 trackpad but loses the top buttons which are used with the trackpoint (the little red stick). I assume you don't use the trackpoint and would be using the trackpad instead so this probably won't be an issue for you.

3) It still has a VGA out instead of HDMI (it does also have a displayport out so you can use that instead, or an HDMI adapter on it instead).

Generally the T450 and T450s are regarded more highly than the T440 and T440s for these reasons. However it also means that bargains can be found on the less desirable T440/T440s. Last year I managed to find a T440s, 12gb RAM, 256gb SSD with upgraded 1080p IPS screen (which is lovely) and a brand new original battery for £170 delivered. That was probably quite cheap even for that machine back then, and it did have a few cosmetic marks. But bargains can be found if you wait.
 
I think there's some really solid suggestions in this thread, I'd echo most of it and say go for a:
Dell XPS or Dell Precision
T / X series Lenovo Thinkpad

In the nicest possible way I'd ignore kurosagi01 and say MBP's make excellent developer laptops (if you can afford to spec them properly).

Most developers need, good CPU and RAM as a priority, then fast disk, good keyboard and screen - and to top it all off you want high build quality. In my opinion that combination rules out Asus, Acer and HP. I think a ex-corp T series Lenovo is probably your best bet
 
I use a HP 250 G5 laptop, i5, 16gb ram, 250gb ssd, was £450 when I brought it. I got a 30 euro dvd adapter and added an extra 250gb ssd.

Have an external monitor and separate keyboard and mouse.
 
I have a dell xps, it's hooked up to 3 monitors through a dock, it works really well and doesn't overheat, I've had visual studio, sql studio, chrome and it's tabs open, excel, word and visio open at the same time - no problem. It's 2 years old now.
 
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