Top 5 Laptops for Programming in 2018

“There would be a day when I’d leave my laptop home; but today’s not that day!” – That’s me to me every day as I leave home for work. I am addicted to my laptop and never leave home without it. People undermine laptops for not being powerful enough as a PC but I highly disagree with it. Laptops today are comparably as powerful as they need to be. But before we look into the list of Top 5 Laptops for Programming in 2018, let’s learn what makes a laptop a powerful contender in this segment.

This list of top routers is different, depending upon the purpose of your use. While there are several jobs a powerful machine can get done, I want to talk about the best laptop for programming, 2018 had to offer. Of course as we know that it would all depend upon the types of compilers you use, hence, I would be looking at devices that can run almost all programming compilers equally on an average. Another important thing you can take away from this list is that compilers of today consume almost the same amount of system power from a laptop as a moderate to high gaming session would consume. So you can call this a multipurpose list that also shows the best laptop for programming and gaming, both.

Before we begin, we need to talk about the things which are important for a programming laptop to have. These would be:

• A fast processor,
• Long battery life,
• Added features,
• Portability,
• Security and
• Looks (Yes, we’ll add Apple on the list because of that)

So the top 5 or the best laptop for programming students and employees alike are:

1. Toshiba Portege Z30-C-138:
   Things I didn’t expect from my life, 1) Trump becoming the president, 2) Toshiba jumping to the top on a list of best laptops. But it’s safe to assume now that I was a 100% wrong. This Laptop is a beast! The specs of this device are:
   
   CPU: 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-6500U | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 520 | RAM: 16GB | Screen: 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixels | Storage: 512GB SSD
   
   Key highlights of this device being the super extra long battery life of somewhere from 11-12 hours and a plethora of connectivity options that shame even most of the routers today! Combination of a large SSD and the 16 GB RAM makes things faster than what we expected of this device. The list of good things which coders love to have on their laptops contains a VGA port; yep this device does have that; along with a finger print reader and a 4G/LTE modem on it! It even has a GPS onboard which effectively helps it top the ‘Top 5 Laptops for Programming in 2018’ list.
   
   
2. Acer Aspire E15:
   Seldom have I seen laptops which are sold with such extreme power and yet don’t burn a hole in your pocket. The most recommended laptop of 2018 which will be in every best laptop for programming and gaming list for a while; the Acer Aspire E15. The specs for the same are
   
   CPU: 1.6GHz (boosts to 3.4) Intel Core i5-8250U | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce MX150 2GB | RAM: 8 GB | Screen: 15.6-inch Full HD, 1920 x 1080 pixels | Storage: 256GB SSD
   
   Am I biased for placing it here because I own it? Possibly. Am I ashamed? Not a bit. Why? Because it was done for good reasons! One, the 8th gen Intel i5 chip will pump out numbers that shame even the best of laptops out there in the market today! Two, with the NVIDIA GeForce MX150 and an 8 GB RAM with a 256GB SSD; this device never disappoints. Three, it has a fantastic battery life. Overall, it feels great to touch and it will burn through all your programming compilers like a dragster on an open road which can for miles. Although I am partial, still I place it on the second spot on the ‘Top 5 Laptops for Programming in 2018’ list.
3. Lenovo ThinkPad E470:
   ThinkPads have dominated offices across the world. Every great coder knows the greatness of a ThinkPad. Now with Lenovo in the mix which has released device after device, all of which top lists which include laptops, we have on number 3, the ThinkPad E470. The Specs include:CPU: 2.7GHz Intel Core i7-7500U | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 620 | RAM: 16GB | Screen: 14-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixels | Storage: 256GB SSD.

   Though it was released in 2016-17, even in 2018, it is counted as the best laptop for programming and gaming. This is because of several reasons; the top one being, it’s extremely cost-effective. It’s not expensive yet the Intel HD Graphics 620 pump out some powerful numbers which lets this device being counted on number 3 on the list. The only low point of this device is that the battery capacity is average.
   Still, it has managed to keep a lot of people happy.

4. Apple Macbook Pro (touchbar)
   Yes we are down to the looks section of the list. Jokes aside, the Apple Macbook pro version with high SSD capacity and some decent RAM size takes away the 4th spot on the ‘Top 5 Laptops for Programming in 2018’ list for being a powerful programming device.
   
   CPU: Dual-core Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 – 650 | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 13.3-inch, (2,560 x 1,600) IPS | Storage: 256GB – 1TB PCIe 3.0 SSD
   
   I am going to go ahead and call it the best Macbook Pro ever. It has everything a decent programming device should have, simple yet great software, extremely quickly responding components and great design and build quality makes it a great device to own. Yes, the battery-life isn’t formidable, and Apple products will always be infamous for being expensive but still, all your programming needs will be duly satisfied here.
5. Hewitt Packard or HP 255 G5:
   Mid-range laptops are great for programming as well. Take for example the HP 255 G5 which is a reliable laptop any programmer can pick and will never feel underwhelmed by it. It comes at a bargain of a price and offers some decent specs:
   
   CPU: AMD A6-7310 | Graphics: AMD Radeon R4 | RAM: 4GB | Screen: 15.6-inch, 1366 x 768 pixels | Storage: 1TB HDD
   
   Yes, I noticed the RAM and it’s not as high as others on the list but it can be increased by having them installed, post-buy. Another thing that makes it great is the ‘3 year Next business day onsite warranty’. The HP bloatware will always be hated, but you can get rid of it with a little tinkering. With AMD on the rise providing some decent chipsets in the market today, the AMD Radeon R4 impresses with an above-average performance. Since the main aim is coding, you can ignore the low resolution display.

With that, we complete our list of the Top 5 Laptops for Programming in 2018. Some of these machines perform seriously well and with personal experience, you will not be disappointed with any of them at all.

The next segment of top 5 devices will be posted soon so watch this section closely!