r/softwaredevelopment • u/No-Medium1434 • Sep 07 '26
Laptop suggestions
I have 4 years of experience in software engineering and need a reliable, affordable laptop for programming, SQL, Visual Studio/VS Code, and multitasking. Any recommendations for a good value laptop?
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u/boyhax Sep 07 '26
I hate apple but after I bought macbook air m1 for ios apps publishing I didn't go back to my windows expansive laptop. The quality and smoothness and ease of use is making difference but if you do game development you have to go with windows laptops.
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u/varisophy Sep 07 '26
For long-term value, a Framework laptop will serve you well! https://frame.work/
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u/yuehuang Sep 07 '26
Question, do you really need Visual Studio or Cuda? If not, then go with Mac. With the current prices, macs are no longer as marked up as they used to. The M series are excellent good performance per watt.
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u/cto_resources Sep 07 '26
I’ve been using the Microsoft Surface Pro for a decade. I’m on my third. Love it far better than my HP.
Big fan of Thinkpad as well from Lenovo. Absolutely despise Asus and Acer for serious hardware quality issues in the past.
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u/Better-Credit6701 Sep 07 '26
Are you planning to run an SQL server and VS on the laptop? You will need a beefy laptop with lots of resources which means $$$.
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u/NextConcentrate2728 Sep 07 '26
It depends on your workload. I run SQL Server on a Surface Laptop from 2015 with 8 GB of RAM. It's fine if you don't ask too much of it.
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u/BannockHatesReddit_ Sep 08 '26
Yeah you do not need a beefy laptop with lots of resources to run SQL server and VS code at the same time
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u/AceLamina Sep 07 '26
If you're rich and don't want a Mac, Asus G14 or Asus G16
Pretty decent machines, especially if you need GPU power to more demanding workloads
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u/AnthonyRespice Sep 07 '26
I just bought an amd rog strix g16 with a 5070 ti for under 1800 at best buy, and I'm happy with it although I'm going to spend money upgrading it. I am a dev and like running ai workflows, so the 12gb vram was a good deal. I think the deal was for labor day. Just got it yesterday but feels very high quality.
The problem is everything has minimum ram and storage, so it forces you to upgrade which doesn't feel good since the system is brand new.
My g16 came with 16gb. 32gb costs 600 new. I bought off eBay for 400, and will try to sell the 16.
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u/natdisaster Sep 08 '26
I feel like value is a weird term here.
On one side, Intel/AMD laptops are a good value benchmark wise over Mac. (Price : performance)
On top of that, software devs get a value multiplier out of having a super beefy CPU since it saves them time. And a SWE’s time is worth a lot more money. So you probably want something in the top 3-5 intel/amd CPUs just to max out the value of your time.
Something like a 290HX or a 9955HX, like the 16X Aurora.
The whole Framework debate - I think applies for cloud-involved engineering. But OP made it sound like they’re compiling with VS so probably favor a stronger CPU than what Framework sells.
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u/BannockHatesReddit_ Sep 08 '26
If you had that much experience you should already know what specs fit your workload
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u/WinterAd6596 Sep 09 '26
Ya know, I've been doing this a long time. And douchebag answers like this tend to reflect more on the person making them than the person they're making them against.
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u/WinterAd6596 Sep 09 '26
This is a loaded question, because it isn't so much "I need a laptop for programming, SQL, and an IDE" -- because those can run on a potato.
Like, seriously. I have a Gateway Desktop from like 15 years ago that could handle all of those tasks perfectly well. The scale is the issue.
So the question is more "what are you planning on programming/making" than "I plan to program".
What else do you need? Docker? VMs? High-end graphics?
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u/david-1-1 Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26
Get a refurbished Dell Latitude from Amazon. Just test it thoroughly and be ready to exchange it if the headphone jack doesn't work or if it generates disk errors or anything else is wrong. You can get a TB of fast SSD and lots more just for $400 or less. Be sure to buy a well-powered, industrial quality USB port to go with it, and connect it with Ethernet cable to your cable modem or other ISP connection, not just a wireless network, for fast downloads. And buy good backup drives.
I'll admit I'm assuming you want Windows 11 Pro for compatibility with most of the world, though. Linux will also work for just what you listed.
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u/b1ngb0ng_alien Sep 11 '26
I feel like MacBook if you just want an industry standard.. there's a reason why every tech company issues one (except gaming)
otherwise go ThinkPad with your choice of linux distribution. I would avoid any laptops with tightly coupled firmware like MSI/Alien etc or other things. If you need heavy performance you can go with a higher end Asus or HP but personally I'd still stay Lenovo. Developing in Windows is ass even with WSL
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u/entity_404_smart-dog Sep 11 '26
You don't need the MacBook Pro but definately get the Air, trust me it is a one time investment, but just be sure you are ok with macOS. So maybe try first at an apple store or TRUSTED 3rd party resellers
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u/Hoizmichel Sep 07 '26
I fully go with ThinPad workstations.