Dev on a laptop?

Anyone actually use a laptop as their main dev machine?

I used to, some years ago, until it became hopelessly out of date.

I do have one (sempron3200), but only for when I'm remote. Tho if you have a nice usb keyboard and usb mouse, there's no reason why you couldn't make something big on it in an equally comfy way as on a normal desktop..

Yes for blitz3d, for everything else i use my 'ubuntubox'.

Its not really any different to dev on a desktop, except you can use it in the garden :)

I use my laptop as my main dev machine (sold the desktop years ago). Mind you I do wonder sometimes if I'd use less space with a desktop as I have an external hard drive, DVDRW, card reader and SB Audigy NX2 (usb cable madness).

*edit*

Forgot to mention a mouse as well.

No, a laptop is way too fiddly. I guess pluggin in a mouse would help but the reduce or limited keyset always really annoyes me.

I use my laptop for dev when I can't be arsed to walk up two flights of stairs to my main PC.

Its 5 years old and a bit slow, but it does the job... eventually.

...probably quicker to just walk upstairs ...

Maybe. But I can't watch The Jeremy Kyle Show up there - no TV. :)

I use mine, its a large sized laptop and its mroe comfy for me to use it on the settee than the desktop ;)

yeah I use my Macbook for internet browsing on the sofa or in bed and for movies in bed. But not for serious typing.

Get a huge 17" laptop, sporting a complete keyboard. I used to use mine until the battery collapsed.

they even have some 19" now, suopposedly. but even though a laptop may have a full built-in keyboard, it introduces another problem -- thanks to the numerical keypad, it means that the main typing area itself is off-center with the screen. That by itself is a major annoyance, and not very good from an ergonomic point of view.
Add to that the bad ergonomics of wlways having to look down at the screen (bad posture) and annoying keyboard style (tactile feedback is worth something as well) and I could never see myself using a laptop as a primary machine -- not without an external keyboard, monitor and mouse anyway, and at that point-- what's the point anymore?

Add to that the typically sub-standard video card and small, slow harddrives, and I really see very little reason to use it as a primary machine. A cheaper laptop as a secondary machine -- sure, no problem. I have an old one I use for the occasional odd-job, but I don't see myself switching to a laptop exclusively any time soon.

gotta agree with xlsior here.

I used to use a Tiny laptop years ago for dev projects, but little did I know at the time Tiny built its machines with utter crap and my £1300 investment turned out to be nightmare!

The fan they used only had a lifespan of 6 months, I had it a year, sent back twice to be 'fixed', third time it went, Tiny went under!

Sold it under 'spares/repairs' for £125

Now, I build/stick with a desktop pc for development, and I will never EVER buy a 'off the shelf' system again.

Though, I do have a crap laptop for testing (500mhz thing) which only cost me £20! :)

Dabz

I do 100% of my dev on a laptop now, really wouldn't go back to a desktop when I can happily work in the garden / conservatory / front room depending on weather :D

Only addition is a usb mouse.

Backups are pushed daily to one of my desktop machines, and testing is done on those machines as well, but for the actual development process I've not had any problems, apart from a hot leg!!

Using a laptop here too. My main reason is so I can put it on a high windowsill in my flat and stand whilst I work. It also means I can look out the window for inspiration ie the pretty ladies that work across the road. ;)

Heh, I used to code standing up - i thought I was the only one. I once wrote an entire Speccy adventure game standing up. I'm getting old now, so need to be seated. :P

I almost always use a mouse with a laptop,

Those damn glidepads are the Devils baldspot and those 'IPD' things are his nipples!! >:( Especially when dragging files and you run out of well... drag.
whatever happened to a good ol fashioned trackball? with modern optics there would be no clogging.. :/

Doesnt matter though, I got this cool little wireless mouse that has a really streamline reciever and have a bit of velcro to stick the 2" mouse to the top so i dont loose the thing.

(geeky, but it great, so i dont care :)

I always got on fine with my GlidePad. :)

(grumble mumble)

Humph

(guess im turning into a grumpy old 32 y/o :)

I use my i-Qon laptop as my dev machine mainly because its much lower spec than my 64-bit 3400+ AMD machine, not everyone has a powerful machine to play games on so I got a small laptop to code games on that means my games will run on a MUCH wider audience.

Well, I'm older than you, so that's no excuse. :)

Its a good idea, theres not much point in developing to tax the latest GPUs etc if hardly anyones got them. Laptops are quite good like this as they are usually always a step behind the desktops in terms of power.

@big10p LOL :P

I just 'retired' my desktop to under the stairs for a nice new laptop. I much prefer it, the only thing I would suggest getting would be a keyboard, mouse and stand, so you can basically make it into a desktop, looking down on a laptop screen hurts your neck after a few days (as its lower than a desktop monitor would be).

I use my 17" laptop as my dev machine, it has full keyboard, only addition is a wireless mouse, the graphic card is a Geforce Go 7800 GT which gets really hot when used full speed, I dont miss my desktop at all, it's the most powerfull machine I ever had.

Using laptops can make you sterile!


[edit]
Oh wait...That's partially true...Bugger!
[/edit]

I use laptop and PC. about equal amounts. I do alot of travel.

I actually have my Blitz folder on a fast SD card so I can just swap the card from Lap to PC and get coding. (yes, i back up pretty often)

i have thought about having everything on a server or synching files across PC/Laptop and the like but I am really into simplicity. the SD card is simple. (it takes a few more secs to compile but not really noticeable. some SD cards can be SLOW though)

I use a Lap board with a wireless mouse and use the laptop keyboard. I like to kick back in a chair and code :)

Just be careful you don't get anything trapped when you close the lid ;)

I use a laptop, too. Since then, my desktop has been lying around the house somewhere. On my desk, I have a printer/scanner and two external HD's, but usually I take the machine downstairs, so I can watch television at the same time.. which doesn't work out well by the way. I can't focus with reruns of 'the nanny' in the background.
I did too try to work in the garden. Unf., I couldn't see anything because of the bright sunlight. When the sun went down, it sorta worked out for about an hour, but then the wind started and my laptop (and me) became covered with dust. So finally, I gave up. I don't need fresh air that bad.

I think I see what's going on here...!

Hmm, now that my laptop's been upgraded to Vista, I probably may wait for some updates from BRL before continuing any games on my Inspiron 6000. Hopefully Vista will be nice with me, just like XP Pro was.

GrahamK: How do you use your laptop in the garden? Isn't it too bright?

I use a Macbook Pro 15" exclusively for development. Up until recently it was a more powerful system than my desktop.

The Macbook Pro keyboard is very nice as laptop keyboards go, and I got a little plastic Laptop rest thing with USB powered fans in it to keep me from becoming sterile.

I've done all my BlitzMax development (a small game and some random stuff) on my little 12" iBook. Works just fine. I tend to sit or lie in bed with it when I code, but have also coded on the beach (on the grassy part), on a plane, train, in parks and more. (Ctrl-alt-command-8 inverts the colors on the screen, which sometimes helps in bright sunlight). I also use it for mail, surfing, web design and more. I love the keyboard (I like to keep my hands in the touch-typing position), and actually use the trackpad for all navigation.

I have a much more powerful desktop machine running WinXp and Ubuntu, with a 24" screen, which I mostly use to watch DVDs and play the odd game on. :P

The laptop is just too damn convenient.

@Grey,
Can be a pain at times, but I've got a nice screen on this one (I've seen some where you don't have a chance).

Sometimes there is no choice but to scamper back to the shadows. ;)

Damn :O

add that to;
cycling, cellphones, peppermints, dioxins in potatoes,
drinking, organo-phosphates, artificial sweetners, soy
sauce, watching cnn/bbc world, taking anti-malaria pils
hot baths, MSG, late nights and past smoking,

its a wonder i managed to reproduce!

The plumber is a dead man!

I've been using a 14" Gericom X5 Force as my one and only computer for a couple of years. I was traveling a lot and not really at home anywhere, so a notebook was the logical choice.

Now I have a 17" PowerBook G4 which I take to work with me occasionaly, but my main machine is my iMac Core Duo.

I've got 2 PCs - one which is an AMD 500 MHz desktop - hasn't been switched on more than a dozen times in the last 12 months. The other is my main machine - an ASUS Laptop (decent hardware as of early 2005) which I do all my development on. Have thought about another desktop from time to time but like the portability and the fact the laptop comes with all the drivers and stuff it needs out of the box (after many problems with vid card & sound card drivers on my win95/98 boxes I avoid downloading 'new drivers' for anything)

I used to develop on a laptop until I got my current desktop, and I don't think there's any way I will go back for serious development. You literally cannot buy a laptop as fast as my desktop, and I'm already considering upgrading it.

But speed isn't the main reason why I won't go back - 2x24" monitors are now my baseline. I wouldn't rule out getting another one (though I'd hook it up to another machine) or even two, but I definitely wouldn't go back to anything smaller except to do a small patch while overseas.

I do all my development on my laptop. Its an HP Presario with 64-bit AMD processor... I honestly don't know much else about the hardware, but it works. Its actually the only PC I've personally brought. I wanted a laptop over a desktop because of the convenience of traveling with it. But I can't possibly sit outside and code, the sunlight leaves my screen unreadable, even with black text on white - even without being in direct sunlight. I've wondered how much people pay for better laptops that can be read during the day.

The only other real quirk I've had with it is that it's a 64-bit processor (I didn't realize it was when I brought it) which means my webcam doesn't work with it. The keyboard took a bit of getting used to, with the arrow and end-home-etc keys organized differently, but its layout is one thing I shopped for. I brought a USB mouse (with retractable cord for better traveling) the day I brought the machine, as I didn't much like the mousepad, but I use that much more often these days.

Laptop all the way here too, both professionally and for my pet projects. Been using my HP Compaq nc8230 for the last two years, and I haven´t ever been in a situation where I've wished that I had a desktop instead. Being a consultant, the benefit of bringing your own development environment wherever you go, by far outweighs the performance advantages of a stationary desktop computer. However, a good, compact external keyboard is a must.

//PetBom

Has anyone noticed that recent, "high quality" laptop screens are actually glossy rather than matt? It looks good yes, but oh GOD the glare is awful.

That ClearView thing? It's awesome! If you're getting awful glare off it you need to clean it!

Clearview? just the "glased" screen surface. When its clean the screen is readable but I can comb my hair, find spots and shave using the reflection.

Not that you'd want to do the above but still...

I dont like reflective screens either. It looks a lot better when its clean, but it rarely is, so i see myself more than the display in light conditions.

GrahamK: OK thanks.

I avoided the glossy screen on purpose too in the hope it would work outside, but no luck.

I have to admit, it's a bit of "luck of the draw". My prior laptop was very very poor outside (matt screen), the current one is nice, but you do need to be careful, as there is no way to really tell if it will be ok or not.

I've got a nice shady tree which helps :)

yeah my garden has no shade, well not until about 5pm. Anyway the reason I want to be outside is the sun :-)

So clean it then.

Can't you read the sun indoors? Haven't you got lights? :o>

I've just been using my laptop for the last 3 years. I don't understand why anyone buys a desktop anymore. Also my friends in college only have laptops. It looks like its the way of the future.

As for dev, mine has all the home/end/insert etc. keys, they are just in a different position as a normal keyboard. I can also work in class, and if my internet goes down or the relatives are over I can just go somewhere else.

I don't read national newspapers, only my local one, and I like to read it outside in the sun :-)

"So clean it then."
LOL I do! (..occasionally mabe once a week :) Doesnt make a difference for long tho' especially in the hayfever and flu months :P

That just sounds too familiair :D

I use one

Of course, since Grey lives in the UK, the 'sun' is something almost mythical over there, kind of like 'dry land' in the Waterworld movie -- some people claimed to have seen it, but almost noone actually has.

I know that out here in the semi-desert, I almost can't tell if my laptop is even turned on when I look at it in the sun.

Sorry to bump the thread but I'm thinking of upgrading. I'll be off to Australia for a year which will involve a lot of travelling, so I want a nice portable laptop with a dedicated gfx card.

I'm considering the Sony VGNSZ3VWP and the and the Dell XPS M1710. Anyone have any experience with these, or any other suggestions? As long as it's fairly light and works well with BMax and basic 3D stuff I'll be happy.

Heh... Well, I did upgrade my hard drive and RAM along with upgrading to Vista, so I can say that I have Ubuntu on my other partition, and have BlitzMax and Blitz 3D, so I mainly use this as my development machine throughout on both partitions of my 160 GB Hitachi HDD. This HDD seems to even be better than the 80 GB Dell/Toshiba HDD that this replaced.

If I were to buy a laptop for developing on the go, it would definitely be this particular one. For 800 bones, you can't beat the value and power.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?ref=google&pfp=cat3&product_code=344794&Pn=Pavilion_dv9207us_Notebook

Note the:

Video Chipset: GeForce Go 7600
Installed Video Memory: 256 MB (not shared)

I probably split my use between a desktopand the laptop 50/50. Actually I probably use the laptop more. In the evenings I tend to have the tv and the laptop on and then I sit there pondering what Im going to code next and go through it in my head until Im happy that I have a good solution. Then I grab the laptop and get to coding. Usually I then find my solution was not as good as I expected so I put the laptop aside and go back to pondering... or I power up the Wii !

Well, for bigtime gaming, I turn to either my X360 or my Wii, but for designing my own games, using Blitz, of course, using all sorts of tools, I come here to my notebook, either on the Vista or the Ubuntu partition, sit down with any of the languages I have installed, and get coding simultaneously with chatting with you guys. As long as I got a webcam or digital camera hooked into my notebook on the road, I can certainly capture a lot of images, and use those to my advantage here.

www.Voidrpg.com is my game to devlope.

its devloped to run on a Toshiba Satelite. its 3 years old. CD has stop working. and 256 mb ram mergen with gfx is not much of gaming machine.


moste of blitz3d stuff works like a charm.

Nice. I bought my self a ridiculously expensive Alienware "Desktop Replacement" gaming laptop about a year and a half ago, just before moving to NZ.

My advice is "don't".

I recently bought a cheap-ass Dell laptop for company work, and it wipes the floor with the Alienware in almost every aspect, particularly noise levels. (The Alienware had *seven* fans, and once they got even the slightest bit dusty [and with seven fans creating a perpetual vacuum underneath your laptop, that takes maybe 3 weeks] the build-in descent quality speakers, where no longer able to drown out the fan noise, even when playing Tenacious D at full volume). It also ran so hot, it could potentially give you a first degree burn.

I have a friend who bought an XPS system once. Wasn't terribly impressed with it and sol it after 8 months.

I recommend you just buy a cheap ass laptop, just powerful enough to run "last gen" games. That way at least you won't be kicking yourself 18 months later when you can get a 3 times as powerful laptop, for 1/3 the price.

I use a PC World Advent laptop as my main system for Blitz... it's a AMD 1.6ghz 512mb RAM but has a shared memory ATI 128mb graphics card... but it runs Quake 3 like a dream & so far it's run everything I've done in Blitz the same!... it does struggle a bit with lightmappers though... it takes about 45 mins to render a lightmapped scene & create the lightmaps! (using Gile(s) that is)... but thats my fault I guess... I could install it on my desktop which is a 2.66ghz P4 with 512 MB ram & Nvidia XFX 5200 128MB card (old now... but sturdy!)... but I can watch TV while I wait for my laptop to do it's stuff... I have to sit in the dining room to use my other faster machine :-S lolol

TreeMagik G3 is kinda slow on my laptop too... especially in windowed mode... in fact its practically unusable in windowed mode... but I can cope with it's speed in fullscreen!

Anyways... my desktop is on the same desk as my wifes... and DAMN!... I can't concerntrate when she telling me to "smile" at the web-cam while she's chatting to her world-wide mates?? lol... I'd rather wait a few more minutes for my laptop to do it... in SILENCE!!!!!! lololol

Ya see!... there's method in MY madness! :P lolol