28/02/2026 5:10 am
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What laptop should I get for starting a computer science degree this fall? I am really sorry if this is a super basic question but I am totally lost and honestly pretty stressed about picking the wrong thing because my parents are letting me spend about $1200 which is a lot of money for us so I dont want to mess it up.
I start classes in late August at my local university and I have basically zero experience with coding or anything like that so I have no idea what specs actually matter. Like I hear people talking about 16gb of ram versus 8gb but I dont even know what that does for a programmer or if I need a special graphics card or something like that. Also some people say I have to get a macbook because thats what pros use but then other people say windows is better for certain classes and now I am hearing about something called linux which sounds really complicated?
I mainly just want something that wont lag when I have a bunch of tabs open while trying to write code and something that will actually last me all four years without breaking. Is there a specific brand that is better for students who are just starting out? I’m looking at stuff at Best Buy but everything looks the same to me lol. Should I prioritize the screen size or how heavy it is since I’ll be carrying it across campus all day?
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28/02/2026 5:55 am
Honestly, dont let the choice stress you out too much. Youre gonna spend most of your time in a text editor and a browser, so you dont need a supercomputer. The 16gb of ram thing is the only spec I would actually insist on. Basically, ram is your computers short-term memory. When you have chrome, discord, and your coding software open at the same time, 8gb starts swapping data to the hard drive and everything gets laggy. Since you have $1200, you can easily afford 16gb and itll make the laptop feel snappy for the whole four years. For a student, I always suggest looking at business-line laptops instead of the flashy consumer ones. They are built way tougher because they are meant to be hauled around in briefcases and backpacks every day. Something like the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 4 AMD Ryzen 7 16GB RAM 512GB SSD is basically the unofficial laptop of computer science. The keyboard is incredible for typing code and they are famous for being nearly indestructible. Weight is definitely more important than screen size imo. Youll be carrying this thing between libraries and lecture halls all day, so anything over 14 inches usually ends up feeling like a brick. If you want something a bit more modern looking, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 13.5-inch 16GB RAM 512GB SSD is light and has a great screen for reading documentation. Dont worry about linux yet... you can just install it inside windows later if a professor asks you to. Just get something with a solid warranty and 16gb ram and you will be totally fine.
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28/02/2026 5:10 am
- Grab Apple MacBook Air M2 13-inch 16GB RAM 256GB SSD refurbished.
- 16GB RAM is huge for running Docker.
- Im super satisfied with the M2 silicon, works perfectly for compiling.
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28/02/2026 5:35 am
> 16GB RAM is huge for running Docker. Spot on. In my experience, 16GB is basically the floor for a CS degree now. Youll likely be running a local database, an IDE, and fifty browser tabs all at once. If you go the Windows route, just make sure you dont buy a cheap plastic shell. Those flimsy hinges wont last four years of being shoved in a backpack every day.
