Hello all,

I was reading the OpenGL Superbible 5th edition to start learning OpenGL programming. It uses the core profile and doesn't teach the fixed function pipeline at all. Currently, my netbook is the only computer I have and it has been sufficient for not doing graphics programming and for simple 2D programming. However, to my dismay, I quickly discovered that it only supports up to OpenGL 1.4, thus I cannot use shaders and my graphics programming experience ended before it started.

I'd like to get some suggestions for a laptop that can run OpenGL 4.0 and has a good processor. I think I'd like a fairly large screen, though almost anything would be better than this tiny netbook display. I would also like to have a decent amount of RAM. So really, a pretty fast, reliable laptop that can be used for 3D graphics programming and running modern games.

Please suggest laptops or specs you think I should look for. I would also like a reasonable price.

Any new AMD laptop. The best being an A10 series with the highest HD Radeon 7000 series chip. Which I think is about to come out soon. Laptops with the 6000 series chip APU supported Direct X 11, OpenGL 4.0(or 4.1?) and OpenCL 1.1, not sure, wiki it. So, the new chip will support the most up to date stuff. And, the prices are fine, for me, $400-$700 for most of them. Just go to the AMD site and "shop for laptops" to see your options. Don't go lower than 4GB of RAM!(On any computer!!)
6GB or 8GB if you plan on using a 64-bit Operating System, I think.

I don't know how wide/big is your netbook, but my laptop is about 14" wide(13" wide screen), and it feels quite right for me. Tho, with the advances in tech and less weight ill probably go an inch or so bigger on my next one.

Why AMD? Its cheaper and one company handles the CPU and GPU. And because my current laptop of almost 5 years has been good so far.

Not an expert, but that's my advice.

Can you buy them already? Wow!

4GB is "at the edge" if you are going to be using your computer to play modern games. I recommend at least 6GB - I need to buy new sticks too (of course six is not a power of two, and eight is not a perfect square, so I must now acquire 16GB)

You might also want to invest in a laptop with a solid-state drive, it's not strictly programming related but it does make a huge impact on responsiveness (the price tag will be higher, though, but I believe it is worth it as a long time investment).

Don't buy a multi-gpu laptop: my lenovo laptop needs some custom hacked drivers because the offical drivers weren't updated for over a year....

My current laptop is about a $1500 Sager, and it's served me very well for the last year or so. The current production model that matches up with mine is the NP9170. It's wicked fast (I put in an SSD, which helps), has plenty of RAM, very good ventilation, surprisingly good/loud speakers, and plenty of ports. I play Starcraft 2 with pretty much everything turned up all the way. And everything is very user-accessible. Cleaning out the fans was super easy, replacing or upgrading RAM or even the CPU is manageable. It has room for 2 hard drives, plus you could swap out the DVD drive for a third hard drive if you want.

The bad news is that the laptop is big and heavy. And the power brick is literally the size of a brick. Really, it actually is probably 2" x 4" x 10". Plus, due to the fast hardware, battery life is 90-120 minutes.