Laptop for 340 Biweekly Paycheck: Community for Programming Projects

[Rhine720]

So, recently I've noticed, here I am reading my "first book to c++" When I'm not really busy. However at these times, I'm not at home. So I'm working on grasping concepts while not quite getting practice. So I decided I should buy a laptop. What laptop would be fabulous for a 340 biweekly paycheck (will be 445 with summer hours starting tomorrow) that could be a portable platform for my learning, practice, and creation of programs and programming?

Also, Are there any knit programming communities? I mean, I know we have a forum here, but I mean, a website. Where people come together for projects and network and can learn and aid, and create together.

thanks!

 

[mgb_phys]

Buy the cheapest Dell, in the sale, don't add any features.

www.stackoverflow.com

 

[MotoH]

ew dell.

Buy an Asus EEE PC. They are portable, cheap, and the 12.1" is an excellent platform on 1 weeks pay.

 

[mgb_phys]

Programming on netbook is a little frustrating, the small screen is a pain - especially if you are using an ide rather than a commandline and the low memory is limiting.

But the important point is that you don't need a lot of hardware - the cheapest machine you can but today is 100x the most expensive workstation I had in grad school. And brand doesn't matter - at the bottom end they all use pretty much the same cheapest components.
With laptops, one bit of advice is to buy new. They have been getting so cheap, so quickly that even used a 2year old machine would cost more than it's new equivalent AND batteries wear out, so a 2year old battery is almost finished.

Another good option might be a cheap laptop and an external LCD screen? Check that the laptop can drive an external screen at higher res (eg. 1280x1024) In the US you can buy small (17") lcd screens for <$75

 

[rootX]

Community

http://projecteuler.net/