Best Laptops for Programmers 2020

Best Laptops for Programmers 2020

Indepth guide of how to pick a laptop for software development.

As a professional programmer for over a decade, I talk about what specifically you should look for in a programming laptop.

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My Gear:

Programming Laptop: https://amzn.to/39BAfhl – I have the 8 core 9980HK version
Video Editing Laptop: https://amzn.to/2ShIiuC
Favorite Laptop (All Time): https://amzn.to/30Y8DjS
Monitor: https://amzn.to/3cfSTgw
Keyboard: https://amzn.to/2xq5wqu
Mouse: https://amzn.to/34wrc0d
Camera 1: https://amzn.to/2R0UKxh
Camera 2: https://amzn.to/34WOBrr
Main Lens: https://amzn.to/2LEGacy
Close Up Lens: https://amzn.to/2JAVXY0
Main Key Light: https://amzn.to/2ETUNEG
Secondary Light: https://amzn.to/31ExfgN
Shotgun Mic: https://amzn.to/30wa9aR
Lav Mic: https://amzn.to/2QlQhYq
Backup Drive: https://amzn.to/2L9NSuG
Laptop Stand: https://amzn.to/2V51vyY

#ProgrammingLaptop #SoftwareDevelopment #LaptopReview

50 Comments

  1. Devon on December 7, 2020 at 5:35 pm

    Screw that, I code on a $100 chromebook with Linux and Emacs. 😂



  2. Oybek Hudoykulov on December 7, 2020 at 5:36 pm

    Talk to much 😬



  3. Yawar Khalid on December 7, 2020 at 5:38 pm

    How much does a numpad matter? Almost nothing offers numpads in laptop keyboards and I think its an essential for coding.



  4. Aditya Patel on December 7, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    I trust this guy with my future



  5. Blink Owl on December 7, 2020 at 5:41 pm

    Linux support should have been on the criteria list.



  6. Major Gear on December 7, 2020 at 5:44 pm

    Which of these run Redhat/CentOS Linux the best? i’m looking to migrate from macOS to Linux, and I do a software development for apps that run on CentOS servers.



  7. Christopher Nuzzi on December 7, 2020 at 5:46 pm

    Or you could do what I did and buy a good used HP for $190 and put Linux on it. If you want to be a developer you should be using Linux anyway, even if your target OS is Mac or Win. Anything else is amateur hour.



  8. Chris Karagiannis on December 7, 2020 at 5:47 pm

    +1 for revisiting this one in late 2020? Paleasssssse



  9. Devansh Chaudhary on December 7, 2020 at 5:48 pm

    This video was great but what it lacks was a familiarity with viewers it was so much boring to look at the technical sides instead what we need is a list of best laptops, some basics specs like processor, graphics and storage this is what creates less confusion to the viewers and most of the viewers who are watching this video are just a starter they don’t know much about Deep tech stuffs so instead we should give a basic knowledge about a laptop and a small list to choose with budget varying from low to high and not to forget to mention the exessories. Here is my blog link is this https://diamondcoder.com/best-laptops-for-programming-and-coding/ Go and check out and don’t forget to comment.



  10. Appelkoekje on December 7, 2020 at 5:48 pm

    What about the 13 inch surface laptop 3 with i7, 16gigs and 512gb storage?



  11. Gary Riera on December 7, 2020 at 5:48 pm

    Hi there, I’m a adult new computer science student looking for a computer for school. although I did find this video to be extremely helpful I’m having trouble reconciling the "rumors" I’ve come to hear regarding Apple being one of the worst to program with. As my current class unit has us only learning Python 2/3 at the moment, I am truly still "blind" not knowing which requirements my computer may need in the future. I am familiar with and am a fan of Apple products but I’m hesitant because of these rumors as in the future I would rather avoid my machine having any portability issues in regards to coding. If you could help me in anyway , as I imagine over your 15 years of work you may have come across these issues; It will be greatly appreciated as I feel a bit lost looking for a new computer for my educational future. Please and thank you.



  12. Harsh Vardhan on December 7, 2020 at 5:49 pm

    You are surely a saleboy of Apple or Microsoft , Good Luck🙄🙄



  13. Gidy Descendent on December 7, 2020 at 5:52 pm

    Oh and the other thing you need is Bluelight blocking glasses.



  14. ReducedCellz on December 7, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    I trust this man with my life



  15. Aryonna Hamilton on December 7, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    Hi I want to ask you a question. I’m going to be starting a online web development class soon but the professor said she only wants us to have a windows based pc so we’re able to run the programs. I’m wondering if you take an apple macbook and bootcamp it if it will be fine? It should be able to have all the necessary programs shouldn’t it?



  16. Jimmy Cheng on December 7, 2020 at 5:54 pm

    Awesome stuff Josh, hopefully you’ll come out with a 2021 version once all these fleshy 11th gen intel and Apple silicon based laptops hit the market. As a programmer myself, I have been using macs and found the unix based system priceless. However, I am a sucker for thinkpad keyboards, but I despise the 16:9 aspect ratio and I prefer macos over linux in most cases. That being said, I am extremely interested in future generation x1s (nano, carbon and so forth which are rumored to be 16:10) and apple silicon based macbooks for their efficiency.



  17. theodis brown on December 7, 2020 at 5:54 pm

    I sped the video to 1.5x and now it sounds normal



  18. Raghavendran T B on December 7, 2020 at 5:54 pm

    Can we buy 8gb ram and upgrade to 16gb ram ?



  19. Janmajay Kumar on December 7, 2020 at 5:55 pm

    Great advice



  20. Draxgon Egal on December 7, 2020 at 5:55 pm

    I use 150% or lower on my 3:2 screen… Simple as that for more lines of code on the screen



  21. Leon on December 7, 2020 at 5:56 pm

    I know I’m a bit late but being limited money-wise at the moment, I got the Air 2020 for studying and coding and it would have been a great buy if the cooling issues weren’t that big of an issue. I regularly get CPU temperatures above 90 degrees celsius when on group video calls or having more than one program running. On idle it rarely goes below 60. I handed it over to get it fixed (I even have Apple Care) and they said: "It is only throwing yellow errors and we only pay for the red ones, you can have your fan replaced for 250 bucks but you’ll have to pay that out of your pocket." I hope the CPU burns up within the next months so I can get a fix that falls under warranty. I definitely do NOT recommend buying an Air. The only thing that keeps me from selling it and getting another laptop is that during the semester I don’t have time to spend weeks or even months without a laptop until I can afford a new one. Also I had a Pro late 2017 for some two and a half years that broke right after the warranty ended. I used it every day for 8 hours straight so it did a good job but I hated the TouchBar, it has to be the worst invention Apple has ever come up with. DO NOT ever buy a MacBook with a TouchBar if you actually want to get some work done and not just play around and watch movies.



  22. Jo Buen on December 7, 2020 at 5:58 pm

    Man thanks for this. Was somehow reminded of ICTS Custom Software. They specialize in custom software dev and mobile app dev. Can check them out at http://www.icts.io 🙂



  23. cyberpunk jutsu on December 7, 2020 at 6:03 pm

    I got a Thinkpad X1E gen 2 with 32gb RAM, and I’m buying another 32gb, for a total of 64. I need trackpoint and don’t share Apple’s vision of having the computer as an appliance and their totalitarian supply chain.

    But seeing as much code as possible is good but moving fast in your code is more important.



  24. BUY BEST PHONE on December 7, 2020 at 6:05 pm

    U’ve really beautiful eyes!❤️



  25. michael hernandez on December 7, 2020 at 6:05 pm

    when this dude said that 4.5 pounds will feel like a lot in your backpack i got a flashback into a time when i was doing ruck marches for uncle sam



  26. hamza hamza on December 7, 2020 at 6:07 pm

    Programming with laptop is something evil for your health
    Use an external screen and keyboard and have a good site position dude👍



  27. iLike toCode on December 7, 2020 at 6:08 pm

    i have no idea which one to buy 🙁



  28. Rodgers Kimwei on December 7, 2020 at 6:12 pm

    Am here coz I want to start a coding journey, which laptop would you recommend for fix budget of $700-800 with good specs…



  29. EpicLedger LLC on December 7, 2020 at 6:13 pm

    one IT support idiot once ask me, why do I need a different machine (Macbook Pro) vs the other users in the company (Lenovo). I told him, it’s simple, I’m special.. 🙂



  30. iLike toCode on December 7, 2020 at 6:15 pm

    you forgot to talk about number pad. I hate coding without number pad > : ( im not some sort of animal.



  31. Vasily Urosov on December 7, 2020 at 6:19 pm

    Shish, those default fn keys can be disabled in bios, man. There’s always a way to reassign F1-F12 and other keys to standard



  32. Nithin Goka on December 7, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    I am programming student, and i basically like playing games. So, which laptop is best for me to take, so that i can play games as well as programming too



  33. HeiderTV on December 7, 2020 at 6:22 pm

    Thinkpad T430 is the best laptop for coding.



  34. Keenan Schouten on December 7, 2020 at 6:24 pm

    Bjarne uses "the most basic machine he can easily travel with."



  35. iLike toCode on December 7, 2020 at 6:24 pm

    ooo reviews by an actual computer scientist this is AWESOME!!!



  36. Alexis BESSON on December 7, 2020 at 6:24 pm

    Good MacBook Keyboard … "LoL". Awfully keyboard



  37. Chaudhry Usama on December 7, 2020 at 6:24 pm

    Ooo shut up , he first recommended those laptops then said I don’t recommend this 😡😂



  38. abhitechie on December 7, 2020 at 6:25 pm

    Videos starts at 1:45



  39. Mohamed Iz'aan on December 7, 2020 at 6:25 pm

    If josh plays geometry dash:
    Hi! Im tosh



  40. Kal Petkoff on December 7, 2020 at 6:25 pm

    I’m developing on HP Elitebook 8570W and 8770W and I’m not switching anytime soon for another Windows machine. Having said that, I’m on the verge of trying the new MacBook Pro 16. Still on the fence and thinking if I should get it.



  41. Miguel Trujillo on December 7, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    i am barely begining to learn to code from scratch dont know anything yet i want to by the newest ipad with 1tb so i can use it for like so may things. i thinks its a 12 inch screen. you think for a beginer that cool ?



  42. Умяр Юсупов on December 7, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    Omg, awesome review!



  43. Mattia Ranfagni on December 7, 2020 at 6:28 pm

    Hello! I loved your video, this is very very helpful!!
    By the way you talked about MacOS font which allows the users to see more code. My question is: why not think about changing the default font in Windows 10? In that case, what font should I consider?
    I hope you can see and answer this question 🙂



  44. Amazing Cyan on December 7, 2020 at 6:28 pm

    Man u gonna kill my little eyes with ur light mode



  45. Richard G on December 7, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    Is there a cheap version? Im still in university…



  46. Shadaluc on December 7, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    just use linux, problem solved!



  47. Paolo Solla on December 7, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    For all that are just starting, trust me buy an old t430 for like 200$ and mess with it. It have one of the best keyboard in the market and there is a giant community and availability of replacement parts. And don’t forget to try some Linux distros, it’s the best way to exercise yourself on problem solving while you are learning phyton, java or whatever.



  48. Aagam Shah on December 7, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    Ridiculous! Buy a Macbook PRO 16" just for the use of coding is insane! Fuck ergonomics! I can’t afford 2300 dollars laptops just for my comfort.



  49. Ronak Patel on December 7, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    your not doing your degrees justice by using a white theme in you IDLE



  50. S.M.Farhan Ahmed on December 7, 2020 at 6:33 pm

    I use Apple MacBook Air 2017. RIP me for display.LOL
    Its really great for me.