Best laptop for Web design

promise · Nov 22, 2012, 04:06 AM

i am a web designer and also taking PHP programming course at Computer Education in Nepal and i hope to pursue myself as a successful designer and programmer in the future . The thing is now i need to know about the best laptop for designing . Which laptop is most suited for web design ?please help.

pedromartins · Nov 22, 2012, 04:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by promise

i am a web designer and also taking PHP programming course at Computer Education in Nepal and i hope to pursue myself as a successful designer and programmer in the future . The thing is now i need to know about the best laptop for designing . Which laptop is most suited for web design ?please help.

Macbook pro with retina display. The best screen, the fastest laptop, great battery life, great build quality, the best GPU available (unless you want to fry some eggs).

In fact, this is just the best laptop available for everyone.

Personal tip: If you can, wait for haswell/V2.

Santabean2000 · Nov 22, 2012, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pedromartins

Macbook pro with retina display. The best screen, the fastest laptop, great battery life, great build quality, the best GPU available (unless you want to fry some eggs).

In fact, this is just the best laptop available for everyone.

Personal tip: If you can, wait for haswell/V2.

Also the most expensive option. Prob the right one for a pro, but for someone just starting out, even the 13" MBA would be fine.

I would go with a refurb base 15" cMBP (with hi-res if available) as a starting out point.

Ariii · 07:59 PM

You could probably get by with an MBA or even an earlier-gen MacBook. They can all run Windows 7, which supports almost all modern browsers once the browsers for your version of Mac OS X become obsolete. Also, you'll end up saving a lot of money.

jablko · Nov 24, 2012, 12:25 AM

Web design doesn't take a lot of processing or graphics power. What you do need is a lot of RAM. As much as you can get. Browsers tend to be RAM hogs, and you'll need to have several open at the same time for testing your code. You'll also want to virtualize a copy of Windows in Fusion or Parallels to test Internet Explorer compatibility, and that also requires a lot of RAM to run efficiently.

I'd also recommend getting an external monitor. The larger your desktop, the more efficiently you can work with browsers, code, email, etc. all up at the same time. It also really helps when editing photos or creating graphics for your sites.

So, if I were you, I'd set a budget, then subtract the amount of a decent monitor and a RAM upgrade (and you probably don't need to get either of those from Apple unless you're rich). Get the best laptop you can afford with what's left.

xnatex · Nov 24, 2012, 12:59 AM

If you're a beginner, you definitely don't need to dish out the cash for the most expensive most powerful laptop. A php/apache server is not very demanding when developing and you're the only one sending requests. You don't need to build a server, just have a simple development machine.

I would also say that having the most high-def screen is unimportant with web design as you will likely be saving somewhat compressed images in order to serve files faster. Don't just test your site in your native resolution. Be sure to look at it in various resolutions. 1024x768 is still used in many schools and offices.

Also (as others have said), be sure to test it in all major browsers in order to make sure it works with everything. You'll likely be running multiple browsers with multiple tabs open simultaneously. Remember, code for Chrome/Firefox, fix for IE. I completely agree with buying additional RAM, running dual displays, and virtualizing Windows for IE. Also, be sure to virtualize IE 7, 8, and 9 (not just the most current IE version because they all act differently...). If you have an old windows machine laying around, you could always just test your sites on it for IE, or VPN into it to test.

I work at a company that does web design and I still have an older dell machine that I run Ubuntu 12.04, a Ruby on Rails server, and two monitors with. It gets the job done just fine and only has 1.5GB RAM. When you get more into web design you'll realize you wish you had three monitors even.

Nov 22, 2012, 04:06 AM	#1
promise macrumors newbie Join Date: Nov 2012	Best laptop for Web design i am a web designer and also taking PHP programming course at Computer Education in Nepal and i hope to pursue myself as a successful designer and programmer in the future . The thing is now i need to know about the best laptop for designing . Which laptop is most suited for web design ?please help.
	0

Nov 23, 2012, 07:48 PM	#4
Ariii macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Chicago	You could probably get by with an MBA or even an earlier-gen MacBook. They can all run Windows 7, which supports almost all modern browsers once the browsers for your version of Mac OS X become obsolete. Also, you'll end up saving a lot of money. __________________ •Indigo iBook Clamshell, MacOS 9; Lime iBook Clamshell, Panther; MacOS 9 users: Use Classilla \| MacOS 9 Lives I'm on IRC at #macrumors on irc.krono.net Tumblr Last edited by Ariii; Nov 23, 2012 at 07:59 PM.
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Nov 24, 2012, 12:25 AM	#5
jablko macrumors member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Lincoln, Nebraska	Web design doesn't take a lot of processing or graphics power. What you do need is a lot of RAM. As much as you can get. Browsers tend to be RAM hogs, and you'll need to have several open at the same time for testing your code. You'll also want to virtualize a copy of Windows in Fusion or Parallels to test Internet Explorer compatibility, and that also requires a lot of RAM to run efficiently. I'd also recommend getting an external monitor. The larger your desktop, the more efficiently you can work with browsers, code, email, etc. all up at the same time. It also really helps when editing photos or creating graphics for your sites. So, if I were you, I'd set a budget, then subtract the amount of a decent monitor and a RAM upgrade (and you probably don't need to get either of those from Apple unless you're rich). Get the best laptop you can afford with what's left. __________________ Macs are my tools, but not my only tools.
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Nov 24, 2012, 12:59 AM	#6
xnatex macrumors newbie Join Date: Nov 2012	If you're a beginner, you definitely don't need to dish out the cash for the most expensive most powerful laptop. A php/apache server is not very demanding when developing and you're the only one sending requests. You don't need to build a server, just have a simple development machine. I would also say that having the most high-def screen is unimportant with web design as you will likely be saving somewhat compressed images in order to serve files faster. Don't just test your site in your native resolution. Be sure to look at it in various resolutions. 1024x768 is still used in many schools and offices. Also (as others have said), be sure to test it in all major browsers in order to make sure it works with everything. You'll likely be running multiple browsers with multiple tabs open simultaneously. Remember, code for Chrome/Firefox, fix for IE. I completely agree with buying additional RAM, running dual displays, and virtualizing Windows for IE. Also, be sure to virtualize IE 7, 8, and 9 (not just the most current IE version because they all act differently...). If you have an old windows machine laying around, you could always just test your sites on it for IE, or VPN into it to test. I work at a company that does web design and I still have an older dell machine that I run Ubuntu 12.04, a Ruby on Rails server, and two monitors with. It gets the job done just fine and only has 1.5GB RAM. When you get more into web design you'll realize you wish you had three monitors even.
	0