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What else a programmer Needs!
July 7, 2012
1 Vote
Status: Archived
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A linux laptop with the favourate company dell is a good combination.
What programmers needs is powerful OS,good memory and good processing.
What I need is this.
- A good look - with which i love to work
- Fast RAM - Around 8GB -- I think VMware and other simulators need atleast this much RAM 1600 Mhz
- SSD - For super fast HD - normal Developer has external HD of 1TB so its ok with 500GB SSD,
- Graphics - Ubuntu with Nvidia ("Games" is my soul)
- processor - 2nd/3ed generation intel may be 2.70 GHz
- Software - Just the OS & drivers ..
- Cooling - Cooling! I trust dell for cooling and FAN
- ScrollPad - touchpad with three fingure recognization will be good / no worry if not*
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Jul 7, 2012
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Posted By: robohh Comment Link
This is a great configuration, a question I have. Is battery life an issue? One of the major advantages for me to have a development platform on a laptop vs. a desktop is to be able to take my development platform where ever I go, even use it while in route, trains, plains, and automobiles etc. I would like to see a Laptop for developers be able to sustain itself with out power for >4hrs. What do you think??Aug 22, 2012 Comment Link
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Posted By: thesheep
I think that 500GB SDD disk is a stretch -- the SDD disks are still very expensive. The operating system and software are not going to take more than, say, 20-30GB. Realistically, even if you work on some ridiculously large projects and insist on keeping several checkouts, it's hard to exceed 100-150GB for code and assets. If you really have such huge needs for storage (for example, need to keep several virtual machines with Windows, or a huge database for testing), then a hybrid drive (or just two disk drives) sound like a much better option, especially since you are not going to munge all that data all the time.I don't agree about your recommendation for an Nvidia card, especially since it's supposed to be a laptop for work, not for games (this would also explain why you want such a huge SSD). Intel is currently the only big manufacturer of graphics cards that have opened their drivers -- so we can be sure they will only get better over time, and if you don't like anything about them, you are always free to contribute patches or even fix it just for yourself. Nvidia's binary blobs are known to be problematic, don't work well with standard Linux mechanisms like xrandr, require dedicated tools to change the configuration and don't survive updates well. Also, when Nvidia decides that it's time for you to buy a new graphics card (or a whole laptop, in this case, since you can't just replace the card), they just stop supporting your hardare, like they did several times before, and you are stuck with a useless piece of junk.
If you could persuade Nvidia to open their drivers and work on bringing them up to the standard with the rest of the Linux system, then I'm all for it, but somehow I can't imagine that happening anytime soon. Look how much it took to work on a simple touchpad driver.
Last, but not least, I don't really want Nvidia to get my money until they actually start to care about Linux users as their customers, not as some third rate half-humans.
Jul 9, 2012 Comment Link
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Posted By: parth.thim
@robohh Ofcourse battery is an issue from a quite long time for programmers! 6 cell battery's cant run average more than 3.5 hours. I dont travel much and i had my cable where ever i go with me so i didnt find this issue ! Here, I am promoting your idea.
Dell now a days provide long battery life around 7-8 hours with their ultrabook. hope dell will provide this on sputnik too.
Jul 9, 2012 Comment Link
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Posted By: parth.thim
@thesheep, ofcourse its not neccessry to play a game on laptop where we developer device but i love to play games during my development just for the purpose of refreshment. at such time its difficult to invest time for starting personal PC/console or even frinding them around you. Hope you can understand what i mean !Jul 8, 2012 Comment Link
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Posted By: thesheep
So a developer laptop needs to be a gaming laptop? Can't you play games on your private computer, so that the specs for this "for work" computer can stay within reasonable limits? Or buy a gaming console?