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HI all. Question: I'm looking for a new laptop, and I'm considering purchasing an Acer TimelineX, mostly because it is lightweight and has good battery reviews. I'm developing right now a Java Swing application, and I thought for a moment if the Intel Core i3 may cough a bit while programming and compiling with NetBeans IDE(cough: performance problems).

The ones I've liked so far are with 2.24Ghz and 2.4Ghz . I read on a review that Core i5 were more suited to software development; but I wanted some "field" experience, or any recommendations you can give me. For me at least, battery is the single most important thing in a laptop, even if it uses integrated video.

So, what have been your experiences in Java development with Intel Core i3?

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not proper place i guess – Jigar Joshi Oct 6 '10 at 15:46
meta.stackoverflow.com? – The Elite Gentleman Oct 6 '10 at 15:59
I hate hate hate when people require small form factor, great performance and long battery life. If you want a beast to develop on get a desktop, if you want a field laptop then get a field laptop and understand the implications of the fact that a laptop is not a desktop. – Chris Oct 6 '10 at 16:02
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migrated from stackoverflow.com Oct 6 '10 at 15:59

This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.

closed as off topic by Nifle, Diago Oct 6 '10 at 19:15

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3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

You know, some of StackOverflow members (including me, as an example) started programming using no more than PII@233MHz ... Considering that, I can even imagine working wiith Atom chipsets. in fact, the most crucial element for NetBeans to be responsive is not the CPU (modern computers have more than one core, making the available CPU always sufficent for our needs) but the RAM size (however modern computers come more and more often with 2GB and more, which is more than enough, even considering aggressive Xmx cases) and hard drive performances (you'll create and save lots of files).

Considering all those factors, take a computer with a decent CPU/memory and big screen, as NetBeans and Eclipse really eats pixels.

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How about 14" screen? I'm using now a 15.4", but is really heavy and carrying it around has become such a terrible burden(I don't have a car) – gadget00 Oct 6 '10 at 18:14
@gadget00 for a laptop, I consider size to be less important than resolution. So, to my mind, you could even choose a 10" screen, as long as it has a good resolution (and a good external output, as you may consider the use of an external monitor with ultra-high resolution in such a case). – Riduidel Oct 7 '10 at 7:33
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up vote 1 down vote

Its the Java IDEs that are resource hogs more than running a server even. For this reason I prefer to use a high end laptop(mbp) no more than a year and a half old and max out the ram if I am going to run a database, etc. You might go a step down for desktops. Testing speed is also a concern. As time goes on I use more resources in my IDEs for new and improved plugins, debuggers, platforms such as the android tools, etc., so I do use more resources each year. If you want to go the vim or emacs route, you could get away with a much older computer.

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I definitely have resigned with vim; prefer nano instead :) – gadget00 Oct 6 '10 at 18:16
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up vote 0 down vote

It's depends from sizes of your purse. If u have very fast cpu, don't forget about optimization.

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