MBP 13" Versus Comp Sci

Hey all my apple buddies here on NBR!

So I'm back in the market for a new Apple laptop and I'm just looking for some help. Yes I know there is a forum for people looking to buy a laptop but I don't think I need to go through all that. Basically all I want to know is whether or not you guys think the 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor in the 13" macbook pro can handle most compilers (btw I'll have 4GB of RAM). I need to replace my old white macbook because NetBeans is eating it alive...

thanks in advance!

 

yea should handle ssh/vs with no problem, but other than that its recommended to get a better res for programming

 

it's more than fine processor-wise

screen-res and SSDs are far more important when it comes to programming

 

Any serious programmer will need a larger screen.

 

+1 The specs are fine for comp sci. But if you stick with 13", you'll definitely want an external monitor. Go for something with at least 1920x1080, the extra width will be nice to place windows side by side.

 

1280x800 isn't bad for many things.. and most simple things you do in Comp Sci classes its fine too really. When you get into complicated stuff looking at tons of different files... you'll end up multitasking many things and the small screen will slow you down and get annoying. This is when its good to have a large external monitor... which are pretty cheap right now (not Apple branded that is). On the go though, its not hard to make due with the small screen from time to time.

 

I don't know, when I program I keep multiple files open at once. I will never use a 13" screen to code unless I'm deliberately trying to frustrate myself.

That being said, it's no reason to skip the MBP 13. It's a great machine, just get an external monitor for you coding ... Or go to the library, that's where I did all of mine during college.

 

I have the same dilema. When I am in my office or home I have extra monitors so its fine, but every month I travel for at least 4-5 days and then it is frustrating to work on a small screen. I love having a light portable laptop, but after comparing many resolutions, I've determined 1440px wide is my minimum for programming. This lets me have two 80-char width files open with some extra space left over in Netbeans/Eclipse with reasonable text size. If you just use eMacs or Vim you can get away with a bit less (no scroll bars, etc).

Unfortunately this minimum width resolution limits me to the Lenovo x201s, Sony Vaio Z (16:9, bleh), or 14"+ laptops. I am thinking about screwing it and just getting a Macbook Pro 15" with hi-res matte screen. If they offered a 1440x900 screen in the MBP 13", I would be all over it.