{"id":16895,"date":"2023-06-15T11:52:22","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T15:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/?page_id=16895"},"modified":"2026-02-23T13:25:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T18:25:26","slug":"shopping-for-a-new-laptop","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/scs-laptop-requirement\/shopping-for-a-new-laptop\/","title":{"rendered":"Shopping for a new laptop for the Computer Science program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The tool of a Computer Scientist is the computer so it goes without saying that the computer (your laptop) is an important factor when studying Computer Science.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Disclaimer<\/strong>:\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">SCS does not promote any vendor or guarantee any listed prices. They are purely for reference purposes so that he reader has an idea of what laptop is adequate for the Computer Science program.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>What laptop should I buy that is appropriate for the Computer Science program?<\/h2>\n<p>There is a short answer and a long answer.<\/p>\n<p>The short answer is this computer is perfectly adequate for the Computer Science program:<\/p>\n<h3>Dell Inspiron 15 Laptop<\/h3>\n<p><b>Price<\/b>: $549 (free shipping) + tax [summer of 2024]<\/p>\n<div class=\"slideme\"><dl class=\"slideme__list\"><dt class=\"slideme__term\"><a href=\"#slideme-specifications\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"slideme-specifications\" class=\"slideme__heading slideme__trigger\">Specifications<\/a><\/dt><dd class=\"slideme__description\" id=\"slideme-specifications\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><p><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Windows 11<\/li>\n<li>12th Gen Intel\u00ae Core\u2122 i5-1235U (12 MB cache, 10 cores, 12 threads, up to 4.40 GHz Turbo)<\/li>\n<li>15&#8243; screen and 1920 x 1200 resolution<\/li>\n<li>512 GB disk space, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD<\/li>\n<li>16 GB memory, 2 x 8 GB, DDR4, 3200 MHz<\/li>\n<li>Intel\u00ae Iris\u00ae Xe Graphics<\/li>\n<li>4 cell battery, WiFi<\/li>\n<li>1 year warranty<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p><\/dd><dl><\/div>\n<div class=\"slideme\"><dl class=\"slideme__list\"><dt class=\"slideme__term\"><a href=\"#slideme-why-is-this-a-good-laptop\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"slideme-why-is-this-a-good-laptop\" class=\"slideme__heading slideme__trigger\">Why is this a good laptop?<\/a><\/dt><dd class=\"slideme__description\" id=\"slideme-why-is-this-a-good-laptop\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><p><\/p>\n<p>Pros of this laptop:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Intel i5 processor it supports virtualization in particular Virtualbox<\/li>\n<li>16 GB of memory is a good amount to run large applications<\/li>\n<li>SSD drive for &#8216;fast&#8217; reading and writing to the file system<\/li>\n<li>basic graphics means better battery life<\/li>\n<li>Windows 11 is the latest Microsoft OS<\/li>\n<li>This Intel processor has 2 performance cores and 8 efficient cores for power enhancements and energy efficiency<\/li>\n<li>Great value for your money + 1 year warranty<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Cons of this laptop:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Basic graphics; gaming students will want a dedicated video card<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p><\/dd><dl><\/div>\n<p>This is a perfectly adequate laptop. Typically all the major laptop manufacturers use similar components and therefore Acer, Asus, Samsung, Lenovo or HP may be just as adequate as this Dell laptop.\u00a0 Having said that, not all components are the same and if you do see a similar deal you may want to check our laptop specs page to see if it has all the required components:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/scs-laptop-requirement\/laptop-specs\/\">Laptop Specifications<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>What laptop should I buy for the Computer Science program (long answer)?<\/h3>\n<p>It depends on a several factors:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Do you have an operating system preference (MAC or Windows or Linux)?<\/li>\n<li>What is your budget?<\/li>\n<li>Are you registered in a Computer Science stream?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"slideme\"><dl class=\"slideme__list\"><dt class=\"slideme__term\"><a href=\"#slideme-apple-macbooks\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"slideme-apple-macbooks\" class=\"slideme__heading slideme__trigger\">Apple Macbooks<\/a><\/dt><dd class=\"slideme__description\" id=\"slideme-apple-macbooks\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><p><\/p>\n<p>Macbooks are excellent laptops and use some of the best components in the industry. One difference is that their recent line of laptops use their own processors which are called M1 and the newest line M2,M3,M4 and M5. They are very powerful and efficient processors. The M-chip&#8217;s virtualization is ARM-based and not x86 which limits the virtualization software it can run.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Please note Macbooks are not appropriate for the gaming stream<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Macbook Air<\/h3>\n<p>The 13&#8243; Macbook Air is the recommended budget Macbook pick and is listed at $1,399 (Feb. 2026)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tip<\/strong>: try to purchase the latest M-processor they use industry leading unified memory (UMA) tech<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/scs-laptop-requirement\/laptop-operating-system\/#mac\">Laptop O\/S recommendations: Macbooks<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p><\/dd><dl><\/div>\n<div class=\"slideme\"><dl class=\"slideme__list\"><dt class=\"slideme__term\"><a href=\"#slideme-students-on-a-budget\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"slideme-students-on-a-budget\" class=\"slideme__heading slideme__trigger\">Students on a budget<\/a><\/dt><dd class=\"slideme__description\" id=\"slideme-students-on-a-budget\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><p><\/p>\n<p>If the above &#8216;Dell Inspiron&#8217; is expensive and you are looking at budget options her are some suggestions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Most of the major laptop manufacturers offer on-sale laptops. Look for 1 or 2 year old models that may be discounted but still are current.<\/li>\n<li>The latest and greatest laptop is not necessary for the Computer Science program. Pick a laptop that has minimal spec&#8217;s as outlined here: <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/scs-laptop-requirement\/laptop-specs\/\">SCS Laptop Specs<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t purchase any additional software or operating system with your laptop. Students can get all the software required for free: <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/tech-support\/software\/\">SCS Software<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Refurbished laptops can be a good option if you want to save money. There are several sites that offer refurb laptops like: Best Buy, Newegg, and refurb.io. Good idea to purchase a refurbished laptop with warranty.<\/li>\n<li>If you are purchasing online check the shipping costs and avoid international customs charges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This refurbished laptop is perfectly adequate for the Computer Science program:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dell Latitude 7410 i7-10610U 8GB 256 GB SSD Windows 11 Pro 14-inch &#8211; Refurbished<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Cost: $429 + tax (sometimes shipping is included)<\/strong> &#8211; Price was from Feb.\u00a0 2026<\/p>\n<p>Notes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You can read the Intel CPU generation here: i7-10610U<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>the 10 means its an 10th generation Intel (Q2 2020). If you paste this model number into Google the Intel site will tell you exactly the capabilities and age of the processor. It supports virtualization and has 4 cores 8 threads &#8211; adequate. Do your research.<\/li>\n<li>Windows 11 laptop &#8211; that is current, avoid Windows 10 or earlier.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p>If you have an older reliable laptop you can run Linux! Linux doesn&#8217;t require fast hardware but will use fast hardware if you have it. Beware there is a learning curve but once you learn Linux you will not regret it and you will have a head-start in your computer science career.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p><\/dd><dl><\/div>\n<div class=\"slideme\"><dl class=\"slideme__list\"><dt class=\"slideme__term\"><a href=\"#slideme-gaming-development-students\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"slideme-gaming-development-students\" class=\"slideme__heading slideme__trigger\">Gaming Development Students<\/a><\/dt><dd class=\"slideme__description\" id=\"slideme-gaming-development-students\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><p><\/p>\n<p>The Computer Game Development Stream will be using DirectX that runs on Microsoft Windows. The laptop must include a GPU suitable to run recent PC games. There are no other requirements.<\/p>\n<p>When you purchase a new gaming laptop it must:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>run on the Windows operating system<\/li>\n<li>have a dedicated GPU that can run current PC games<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All the major laptop manufacturers make gaming laptops with dedicated video cards (GPU &#8211; Graphics Processing Unit) that are based on NVIDIA or AMD&#8217;s architecture. Both can be excellent gaming cards but no two video cards are the same.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>At this time NVIDIA has an advantage that their GPU&#8217;s have CUDA cores that can be used for AI programming.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Gaming laptops are the most expensive laptops on the market. Entry laptops can cost $1,000+ and high end models as much as $5,000. The high cost is because gaming laptops benefit from a powerful video card (GPU) and fast processor (CPU) which are the two most expensive parts of a laptop.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Current gaming laptop<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is a current entry level laptop appropriate for the gaming steam:<\/p>\n<p><strong>ASUS TUF Gaming F17 17.3&#8243; Gaming Laptop &#8211; (Intel Core i7-12700H\/1TB SSD\/16GB RAM\/RTX 3050)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Listed price is: $1,399 (June 2023)<\/p>\n<p>Notes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gamers benefit from a larger 17&#8243; display<\/li>\n<li>NVIDIA GPU that can be used for AI programming as well as gaming (RTX 3050)<\/li>\n<li>12th gen CPU from the year 2022 (quite new)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Gaming laptop on a budget<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This budget laptop is a few years old but is perfectly adequate for the Computer Science Gaming Stream:<\/p>\n<p><strong>ASUS TUF Gaming F15 15.6&#8243; Gaming Laptop (Intel Core i5-10300H\/512GB SSD\/8GB RAM\/GeForce GTX 1650)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sale price is: $799 (June 2023)<\/p>\n<p>Intel also makes videocards and are typically integrated in their CPU or on the motherboard. This type of graphics are getting better and better and gives some hope for budget gaming.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Integrated graphics are a viable options for inexpensive gaming systems. Intel has UHD and Iris\u00a0 graphics options where as AMD offers iGPU graphics Vega and RDNA. These solutions can offer very good graphics, however only the best integrated graphics options compare to entry level GPU&#8217;s. <\/p><\/dd><dl><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The tool of a Computer Scientist is the computer so it goes without saying that the computer (your laptop) is an important factor when studying Computer Science. Disclaimer:\u00a0 SCS does not promote any vendor or guarantee any listed prices. They are purely for reference purposes so that he reader has an idea of what laptop [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":7671,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Shopping for a new laptop for the 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