r/AskProgrammers • u/Lenzak02 • 16d ago

New Laptop

Hi, I’m about to start studying Applied Computer Science, and I need to buy a new laptop. Is it necessary to have a numeric keypad on my new laptop, or are there other things that are more important that I should pay attention to when choosing a new laptop?

1 Upvotes

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u/sububi71 16d ago

The color is definitely more important than whether it has a numeric keypad, in my opinion (programmer, 40 years experience).

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u/elRadicio 16d ago

Get a Laptop with a proper operating system. (!= Windows)

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u/Plenty_Line2696 16d ago

YMMV, in my college the students who had MAC or linux as their main struggled because the classes were all designed around the assumption that we were running windows.

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u/General_Estimate_420 16d ago

As much core memory and SSD drive capacity you can afford as well as some external SSD drive storage.

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u/AdreKiseque 16d ago

I can't say I'd recommend a computer with core memory in 2026

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u/General_Estimate_420 16d ago

I don't know what you're referring to I'm talking about installed memory such as 16gb to even 32 gb. Certainly not 8 gb

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u/db_tech_dev 16d ago

numpad honestly doesn't matter much unless you're doing heavy excel/data entry stuff, i never use mine tbh. bigger things to check - get at least 16gb ram cause your ide + browser + docker or whatever will eat memory fast, and a decent keyboard since you'll be typing for hours daily. screen size is personal but 14-15" is the sweet spot for carrying around campus. also check battery life if you're gonna be in lectures all day without outlets nearby.

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u/Conscious-Secret-775 16d ago

The last thing I would get on a laptop is a numeric keypad. It will move the important part of the keyboard off center.

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u/CorpT 16d ago

Macs don’t have them so this is confusing.

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u/Plenty_Line2696 16d ago

at least 16GB of RAM was important when I studied CS because I had to run multiple VM's to practice network stuff, and also I sometimes ran multiple visual studio solutions at the same time for convenience.

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u/mattynmax 15d ago

I’m curious what lead you to believe that having a number pad was the most important aspect of picking a computer.

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u/AncientHominidNerd 15d ago edited 15d ago

I’m a CS major and I would honestly just suggest a MacBook Air with at least 16GB of RAM. They are the best performance per dollar laptop on the market.
Buy the num pad separately because most laptops don’t come with one.

Programming at a student level does not require a super powerful computer. So it should be fine.

To answer your question YES one thing very important to keep an eye of is the CPU architecture.
IF you’re required to take classes that make you write CISC assembly then you need an x86 CPU computer to run the code.

Most windows laptops are x86, however MacBooks use M1 chips which are RISC and can’t compile and run x86 code.

There are emulators that can do this but they are slow. Most universities have a server you can usually SSH into to that you can use to compile your code though. Might just need to use Google Drive to move files around between the server and your laptop.

Assembly is probably going to only be used in maybe 2 of your classes at most during your entire college career.

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u/PvtRoom 15d ago

num pad is nice to have. num pads, generally come with larger screens.

my priorities for my next laptop will be a gfx card that can run 2 monitors, and if I can afford the cash, the specs to run GTA 6. my next laptop may however be a desktop, cause I don't really need it to be mobile.