

Ask YC: Is a laptop enough for development, or do you need a desktop? - asdf333

Imagine: You are about to get a new computer for development.<p>You'd like to have a comfortable dev environment at home - dual screen.<p>However, laptops have come down in price alot. Is it enough to buy a laptop, or do you go w/ a trusty desktop system?
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nostrademons
I always get a laptop because I like to code in unusual places - in bed, on
the floor, on the couch watching TV, sitting out on my balcony like now. You
can't really take a desktop with you and sit it down on the sofa. Same applies
to the small-laptop/big-monitor approach, which sounds great in theory but
doesn't really work for my particular situation.

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sidmitra
Agreed... i can sit back or work at a desk... or even take my laptop outside
and sit on the stairs to work if the weather is good.

But then you might also get a more powerful desktop for the same price. So in
heaven you would buy both... until then i suggest paying a little more and get
a good config laptop.

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mahmud
I haven't owned a desktop machine in 8 years. And I wouldn't touch a machine
that isn't a Thinkpad.

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slackenerny
HP has a very decent and _durable_ machines in the corporate line. I have one
that operates practically 24/7 for two and a half years now. This particular
one I've bought after my desktop workstation (IBM IntelliStation, double Xeon,
Wildcat graphics, 15K drives..) died after just little more than one year in
service. So much for desktop vs. laptop durability. I also prefer the keyboard
(and rubber mouse buttons) to the ThinkPad's design.

Buying form corporate line has an additional benefit that one can use a
docking station for all the external monitors, hard drives, mouse, keybord,
speakers and the ethernet cable. Of course I know ThinkPads do have a docking
connector too, but Macs do not and I hardly understand how people can trade
convenience and commodity price for a shiny paint that wears off from sweat in
under a year and a shiny GUI that annoys me (maybe it's just me) almost as
Windows does.

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psawaya
You certainly can get away with programming on a laptop, but I find the lack
of screen real estate causes me to work a lot slower. The best option, for me,
is getting a very powerful laptop with a connector for a second monitor while
you're at home or work.

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cema
A laptop may be enough for development. However, it feels very comfortable if
you have a desk with a large screen (or screens) and perhaps an external
keyboard and mouse that you can all attach to the laptop for heavy duty work.
(As well as external hard drives and whatever tertiary storage you may need.)

If you are going to carry it around, make sure to back up religiously. Laptops
often tend to be abused and thus have a noticeably shorter lifetime than
desktops.

And in some cases, as people have mentioned, you may need a desktop simply to
get as much power per buck as you can -- depending on your project.

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litewulf
I use both because apparently I like to waste money. I have dual 20" and 24"
hooked up on my desktop (which has a totally sweet humanscale keyboard tray)
as well as a 12" thinkpad tablet.

When I'm sitting at my desk, I feel pretty awesome, I can fill my screens with
whatever I'm working on etc. If I for some reason want to work outside or need
to meet to discuss something the thinkpad is decent-ish (1400x1050 resolution)
for coding and note taking.

I will admit I don't understand the need to lie on the couch and code. I feel
like its best to separate out tasks and the places they are performed. When
I'm sitting at my desktop I am either playing a computer game or programming.
If I'm lying on the couch I'm watching TV. Typing on the couch seems hell on
the wrists. (And doing so in bed hurts the quality of your sleep).

(Sidenote: I worked at a startup where I just brought in my thinkpad. I ended
up borrowing a spare monitor, keyboard and mouse just so I wouldn't go crazy.
I felt like I couldn't fit any code on my screen otherwise.)

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kamme
Well, I guess it depends on your situation.

Let me take my situation to explain: I see myself as a non-traditional web
developer during my own free time. I like to work at various locations (my
desk, sofa, bed, outside, library, ...). But at my normal, regular work, I'm
just a traditional developer who demanded a dual screen set-up at the job
interview.

So you have to ask yourself, are you the more traditional type who does work
at a desk? You're better off with a large screen area/desktop. If your desk
doesn't matter for you and you're just going to work on a lot of various
locations I'd say, go for the laptop. Just for the record, you will notice
some people said they used laptops with external monitors. You should ask
yourself if you will ever use the machine as a real laptop, because if you
don't, you'll probably be off cheaper with a regular desktop due to better
upgrade opportunities/longer life in general.

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jacquesm
Working on a laptop to me feels like trying to paint my hallway through the
keyhole.

There is so much going on when writing software that even with two monitors I
feel pretty cramped, as soon as I switch to a laptop I'm lost.

There was a time when I could do dev work on a laptop. No IDE required, no
browser required (for testing or to look up documentation), just a text editor
in a shell window. That time is now probably more than 5 years in the past and
the more I'm doing this the more screen real estate I feel I need.

The other day I was wondering how hard it would be to connect four monitors
instead of just 2 and how I would place them on my desk to get any kind of
improvement over the current situation (with windows overlapped at least 3
deep on each monitor).

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sdesol
It all depends on what you want to develop. For me, my number one priority is
RAM and CPU since I have to do a lot of indexing. Since this is the case, a
desktop machine would make the most sense for me.

Without any additional information, we really won't be able to help.

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nostrademons
OTOH, less powerful developer computers often equal tighter, faster code, as
you get more pissed off by the slowness of your own programs.

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sdesol
This is true, but the saying "time is money is also true". If you are in a
situation where you can throw a thousand dollars at something that will save
you half an hour in turn around for each build, then that would probably be a
wise choice.

However once things have solidified, it would then make sense to look at
optimization. You definitely have to be smart about your time, especially if
you value it. Otherwise you can find yourself spending a week to optimize,
plus test to gain very little performance.

I'm a strong believer in throw hardware at a problem if you can in the short
term to buy you valuable time elsewhere.

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mshafrir
I do my development on a Macbook 13" with a 20" Dell LCD. High quality 20"+
external monitors have really dropped in price (<$200).

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cellis
I have both ... just keep the laptop off your lap and get a desk -- laptops
are horrible ergonomically.

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CyberFonic
Depends on how much testing you do. I run regression tests on multiple-OS's so
I use a lot of VmWare and a high-spec tower with dual 24" screens. The laptop
is great for demos and coding between meetings, waiting, etc.

I prefer and recommend a proper keyboard and mouse. Even the best laptop
keyboard will give you CTS/RSI eventually. I do about 80% of my work on the
tower with full size keyboard and 20% on the laptop. Of course your mileage
may vary.

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karanbhangui
I bought a desktop because of the traditional powerhouse machine vs. meek
laptop image among developers, but I regret it now. I've since sold it, and
gotten a powerful laptop with external monitors. So much more flexible this
way.

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BrentRitterbeck
I used to have a laptop that I developed on. I was much more comfortable
sitting on the couch than at the desk. In fact, the only time I ever preferred
being at the desk was if I was working with a book open.

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ben_ch
laptop with expose/spaces or equivalent. I'm faster with expose/spaces than
dual monitors. You're eyes/focus doesn't move around as much. Though its good
exercise for your eyes to focus on things at different depths every now and
then.

