Hello, I started programming recently and i really like it. About a month ago my computer crapped out and i''m wondering if laptops are good for programming. I don''t need to play games on it, i have a dreamcast for that. I''m tried of wires and stuff getting in my way and i''d like to be able to take it to the library and work in a quiet environment. But, back to my question: Are laptops suitable for programming? any thoughts or suggestions will be helpful. thanks!

Why wouldn''t laptops be good? You can use whatever you want. Lots of people use laptops. I''ll buy one of them one of these days.

Well, I''ve got an Inspiron 7000 from Dell, and it''s perfect for programming, as far as I''m concerned. It runs Visual Studio 6.0 well, with only occasional slowdown. It''s pretty convenient, too, to be able to work about anywhere. I imagine if your laptop had a small hard drive, it might be difficult to install all the programs you might want, but other than that, I''d definitely recommend it.

-- Shay Caron
E-mail: Shay_Caron@letterbox.com or gleemoth@aol.com
Web site: http://www.crosswinds.net/~shayc/

this might be something to think about...
i mean if you''re game programming, dont'' you need to have a suitable system to test them? I know laptops are getting really powerful these days (nothing wrong with compiling stuff fast), but given the limited screen size and the limited hardware, it might prove to be a *little* inconvenient sometimes.
just a thought, i dont'' know too much about game programming, although that''s what i want to do when i get out of college

riz

In the ''old days'', laptops used to be slow and incompatible with the equivelent Desktop counterpart. Nowadays, notebooks are pretty much up to speed with desktops, and since Windows takes full advantage of the hardware, programming is just as easy compared on a desktop.
I myself program my DirectX based game on a Toshiba PII (2650), and when its time to take my program home, I just dish out the HardDisk from the Notebook, then attach it to my PC via a 2.5" to 3.5" HDD adapter (which costs about $10), copy the files to my Desktop HDD, and off I go.

The only problem with notebooks, they can die on you, and if its a system board problem, u may have to dish out over a grand to get it repaired. Therefore, make sure you get at least 3 years warranty with the notebook. !-)

If you have $1500, there are a lot of laptops for that amount that are very good at running any 2D game that has ever been created, and most 3D games. I use a laptop (I''m using it right now). You can''t put a 3D card in a laptop, so you can''t play any 3D games that require one, and laptops tend to have limited video memory (mine, an IBM ThinkPad, has 2.5 MB). Other than that, they''re perfectly good.

~CGameProgrammer( );

If you plan to do a 2D game, I would actually RECOMMEND a laptop or a slower system. I do all of my coding on a P166 Toshiba Tecra 550. It seems to compile fine, and, since the system is comparatively slow, if I''m able to get my game to fly on this machine, it will fly anywhere. Testing it on higher-end systems will then be easier (since you don''t need to do any performance tweaks to get it to work on the slower system)

-Chris

Laptops can definitely be used for programming. However, be aware that the video cards for laptops really suck. My laptop has an 8MB ATI Rage Mobility 3D chip set, which is one of the better ones. It supports D3D, but slowly, and the OpenGL support sucks too. If you want to get into Hardware T&L 3D programming - you can''t use a laptop of course. But other than that it works great. And any 3d code you come up with that works on the laptop works great on the desktop, hehe

I''m currently programming on a Dell Inspiron 3700. It has a ATI Rage Mobility (just like mr Anonymous . And I can tell you it''s great for programming if you do only 2d stuff. If you try 3d, like OpenGL or Direct3D, my computer hangs. Maybe it''s a driver problem, i don''t know. But it hangs. In Direct3D, i have to use software rendering to prevent my computer for hanging. So, if you want to do 2d, get a laptop. If you want to do 3D, you''re better off with a desktop.

Laptops are fine for programming, unless you buy a "CTX" laptop. Then your life is forfeit.

[waiting for my options to vest so I can buy a real computer]