So, I have been at my fathers house for the past few days. He recently got this computer (Which is what I've been posting / programming / Messing around on). I am thinking about getting one for myself, so I have a question: Do you believe this is a good computer?

It's cheap, runs great, Windows 8 has a great boot-up and is extremely smooth. Despite it's (somewhat) low processing speed, it's working great and I believe it will be great for programming on the go.

What do you think? What laptop would you recommend?

I have so many questions posted in this thread, I feel kind of bad. Here's a smile !

He recently got this computer [...]

That's a strange looking computer... I don't think it's a good one

I just bought an upgraded MacBook Pro with Retina Display*, and with its solid state drive, 16 GB DDR3 RAM, and quad-core i7, I can officially say it was totally overkill. It's important to get something you like (because you spend a lot of time with it), yes, but programming isn't the most intensive stuff you can do on a computer, so you really don't need a super machine to do that. However, if you plan on doing more than programming, it's worth deciding exactly what it is you plan on doing on your laptop and finding a good one that will let you do everything you plan on doing. This is where I'd link to Tom Sloper's article on decision grids, if I had it handy.

*I had to get a Mac to make iOS apps on, otherwise I would've gotten a Windows or Linux based laptop.

I really want to buy this Lenovo since it's a better version of what I already have and like... and cheaper, too.

Sorry, here's the fixed link :)!

I recommend sager if you like to game.

Honestly, cheap 15.6" laptops are like a bad joke perpetrated on us by the computer industry. Slow CPUs, even slower spinning disks, and bottom-of-the-barrel, 1366x768 TN panels with poor contrast and poorer viewing angles, all in a too-bulky package that could be forgiven if it offered any feature at all that would justify the size and weight, but which they never do.

Besides that, Gateway isn't what you'd call a top-tier brand.

If you live near a good-sized city, you can probably find a 2-3 year old Lenovo on Craigslist that you'd be happier with, have same or better performance, nicer features, and better build quality.

Otherwise, unless that's absolutely all you can afford, my own feeling is that anything worth spending a few hundred dollars on to have is worth spending a few hundred more on to have exactly what you want.

1.8 Gh .... most modern programs WILL NOT run that good on that, however for a programming computer, it'll work just fine.

I personally do not like Gateways, they end up having quite a few hardware problems right after the warranty expires... maybe you'll have better luck.

Edit: Walmart has similar laptops for $250 +- USD http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=laptop&_refineresult=true&search_constraint=0&ic=16_0&search_sort=4&cat_id=3944_3951

Buy a netbook. Then you'll start to appreciate how fast everything else is! lol

Any decent brand with at least an i5 is good enough for most tasks.

I can tell you that VS express for windows phone won't run on anything except Windows 8 64 bit, which I am not at all a fan of as it made both my laptops shitbricks as far as windows phone development goes. Make sure to check the requirements for what you want to do is the moral of that story I guess. Just because the hardware should work doesn't necessarily mean the software will let you :p