Many amateur programmers are not able to afford high-end laptops that come with fascinating features, but it is not necessary to invest big on a laptop when the budget is tight for someone. There are plenty of various laptops that work perfectly for programmers while being affordable.
In order to know what laptops would be great for programmers, it is important to know the most important features that should be looked for in these devices.
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What to consider when choosing a laptop for programmers?
RAM
RAM is the most important feature for any programmer or anyone going for any kind computer, in general. For programmers, the general level of RAM tends to be higher than others who use computers or laptops for general purposes. They must get as much RAM as they can afford. Generally, 4GB is considered to be an absolute minimum for programmers, but it is advisable to get RAMs larger than 8GB as any lesser can make the programmer suffer.
Disk
Another important part is the storage disk of the laptop. For work purposes, it is suggested that a solid state drive (SSD) should be bought, but if that seems to be unaffordable at the moment, programmers can start with a hard disk. Hard disk drives work great for programmers. The most recommended disks have the speed of 7200rpm, but if that seems to be out of your budget, many cheap laptops have hard disks with a speed of 5400rpm that work just fine for programmers. However, having an SSD with a memory of 64-128GB is more desirable for OS installation.
CPU
The CPU is the core of all the processes, so it should be of utmost importance when choosing a laptop for programming purposes. The microarchitecture of the CPU significantly determines the performance of the unit. The top tiers, like Skylake and Broadwell, are great for programmers, but lower cost Pentiums must not be looked down upon. For the investment on the laptop to be safe without being too expensive, a minimum of Core i3 processing unit is recommended.
Others
There are certain other areas of a laptop that deserve the attention of the buyers. These include the keyboard that should work well, the display of the laptop, and the size of the laptop. It is not important for the laptop to be the sturdiest, but a minimum level of tough build should be met.
4 of the Best Cheap Laptops for Programmers
Now that the considerations that need to be taken care of before purchasing a laptop are done, let’s take a look at some of the most iconic laptops for programmers that do not become heavy on the wallet.
Lenovo Z70 80FG00DBUS
The large Lenovo Z70 80FG00DBUS is a 17-inch laptop that is an optimal option for programmers and is available under $1000 in 2016. The size of the laptop might be big, but it cannot be ignored that it is a solid powerhouse, equipped with a lot of advanced features that makes it one of the best laptops for coding and developing.
The device has an 8GB RAM that falls on the higher end of the recommended 6-8GB range for RAMs mentioned above. Moreover, the laptop is geared with a hybrid disk drive with an 8GB solid-state drive and 1TB of traditional hard disk drive. For game developers, the laptop also has a 2GB GTX 840M graphic card from NVIDIA. The processor of the device is a fifth generation Intel i7 that clocks in at a frequency of 2.4GHz, which provides the laptop with plenty of speed for smooth coding.
Acer Aspire E 15 E5-574G-52QU
Acer Aspire is another marvelous product for programmers who are in search of something cheap. The laptop is smaller than the powerhouse mentioned above, but the Acer Aspire E 15 E5-574G-52QU can be the best friend of a programmer for many years. The laptop can be purchased for under $600, and this is the price that stands out in 2016. This makes it one of the cheapest programming laptops, which is geared with incredible specs available in this century.
The laptop has flaunting specifications for its price. It comes with a 4GB dedicated GTX series graphic card that makes it a good choice for game developers. Moreover, the device has a sixth generation Intel Core i5 processor that has a frequency of 2.3GHz and a maximum Turbo speed of 2.8GHz. The installed RAM is of an 8GB size with a memory speed of 1600MHz, and it has an installed hard disk drive with a spindle speed of 5400rpm and a capacity of 1TB.
Acer Predator 15 G9-591-70XR
The laptop is great for all programming languages, but it serves game developers exceptionally. The Acer Predator 15 G9-591-70XR is a top-class laptop for game developers that feature some extraordinary specifications that are superb for all kinds of programmers, especially game developers.
It has a sixth generation Intel Core i7 quad-core processor that has a frequency of 2.6GHz. The installed RAM of the device is a massive 16GB with a speed of 2133MHz. The graphic processor of the device is a 4GB GeForce GTX 980M from NVIDIA, and it has a solid-state drive of 256GB along with a 5400rpm hard disk drive of 1TB. However, it is not a cheap model and has a price over $1500.
Dell Inspiron i7559-763BLK
The Dell Inspiron i7559-763BLK with its mediocre screen can be amazing for coding purposes. Moreover, this Dell Inspiron is available for under $1000. Considering what this model offers, that price is relatively cheap compared to other models.
The laptop has a 15.6-inch screen and features a sixth generation Intel Core i5 quad-core processor. The installed RAM of this model is 8GB, while it features a 256GB memory space on its solid-state drive. The laptop is great for gaming developers as the laptop features a 4GB GTX 960M graphics card from NVIDIA and the latest Windows 10 OS.
