Hey I just signed up here and this is my first post.

A little background info:

-Currently working on a cheap Acer laptop.
-Prefer PC, but I am fine with Macs.
-In my final year of college for "Interactive Media".
-I am still new to programming.
-I know some C++ and ActionScript.
-I've made simple Flash games.
-I want to get a job programming video games when I graduate.

I've worked on both PCs and Macs, but is there any type of computer or brand which would fit my future occupation better?

Thanks.

Hi, and welcome!

I don't think there's any particular brand of computer that is better for coding unless you're working on specialised stuff.

All I look for in a dev box is:

• Plenty of RAM - I often have a heap of apps running when coding. An IDE, some graphics tools, a couple of browser windows, maybe some PDFs or other documentation, maybe a database manager, and so on. That kind of load will bring a low memory machine to its knees fairly quickly and thrash the disc/swap file.
  
• A fairly modern graphics card - For access to recent OpenGL/DirectX features.
  
• A good sized monitor (or two) - I find that widescreen monitors aren't that great for coding. Visual Studio on a 1440 x 900 screen is all toolbars, there's very little space for the actual code. I'd much rather have two 4:3 screens with a decent vertical resolution, more elbow room for the code and a second screen for the docs/browser/help files.

Obviously a decent CPU helps too.

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10 PRINT "Bad Monkey ";
20 GOTO 10

There's no particular brand you need to get.

Just in terms of actual hardware, it's nice to have a multi-core CPU. Then if your program gets into an infinite loop you can still easily alt-tab and use your system

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Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve

If you can afford it, get something with a solid state drive (SSD) or make sure you upgrade to one. I've found it to make a huge difference, and well worth the expense. Makes Visual Studio load times tolerable, and the whole system a lot more responsive. Otherwise, I think Codehead is pretty much right on; except that I personally don't mind coding on a wide-screen display.

Personally, I prefer to build my own PC's. I don't like how any of the major brands build their computers. They all tend to build either 'unbalanced' systems or are way to expensive for what you get. (I put unbalanced in quotes because I think this is somewhat subjective.)

As far as Mac / PC, I don't think it should be a huge factor. You can dual-boot if you can't decide.

It's not widescreen I have a problem with, its just the tendency to limit the vertical resolution in widescreen resolutions. My laptop is great for watching movies, but hopeless for doing anything productive (16:9). It's like coding through a letterbox. My main machine's monitor (16:10) is better, but still a little cramped. At work I run two 19" screens (4:3) and it's blissful.

I suppose If I shelled out for a bigger widescreen (22" seems to be affordable now), I'd get the vertical space that I crave.

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10 PRINT "Bad Monkey ";
20 GOTO 10

Many screens can be rotated 90 degrees, giving you plenty of space, height-wise :p
(Still using a single 17" CRT here :) )

Heh, that's not a bad idea. I'd probably have to go back to 80 column code though.

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10 PRINT "Bad Monkey ";
20 GOTO 10

They make 1080p screens in all kinds of sizes - a quick search on newegg shows 1080p screen at 21" for only $140 USD. But admittedly, I run a 24" screen. I figure, It cost me less than a third of the cost of the rest of my PC, yet I reap the benefit every time I use my PC, which is more than I can say for some of the other expensive components like the video card.

I use two 19" Dell Ultra-sharp 4:3 displays at work, so I understand the value of two displays.

They certainly are getting cheaper. I've had this screen for a couple of years and 19" was all I could stretch to at the time. I'll definitely be going for 1080 (or more ) vertical res next time.

I hope that helps answer the OP's question.

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10 PRINT "Bad Monkey ";
20 GOTO 10

For a general PC I really like the 16:10 aspect ratio. Then you can watch wide-screen movies without massive horizontal bars like on 4:3 and don't feel as vertically cramped as on a 16:9 for other applications.

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Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve

I really appreciate all the feedback you guys.

Lachlan87: About the SSD, I've heard there is a pretty high failure rate and with a high cost. Gonna hold off on that unless I'm wrong.

I've heard and read a lot about Asus being the way to go. I have a few models I'm looking at and wondering if I could get some feedback. You've already been very helpful.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230214

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230077

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+17.3%26%2334%3B+Display+/+8GB+Memory+-+Black/3411058.p?id=1218399201395&skuId=3411058#tabbed-customerreviews

First one you linked to seems very nice, but I don't know if I'm a fan of large screen laptops, they're a bit more of a pain to lug around. I guess the difference between 15" and 17" isn't that much though. Just something to consider.

One other thing if you're getting a laptop: check that the touchpad is multi-touch and actually works. I got a cheap Gigabyte laptop with supposed multi-touch, but it doesn't support the two finger slide for scrolling, it only supports its own weird and useless mutli-touch gestures. You're going to be reading a lot of code, and scrolling without a mouse-wheel is paaaaiinful. When I did use the scrolling feature on a friend's laptop it was superb - soothes a lot of the pain of using a touchpad.

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Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve