buying a new laptop

Hi Troy,

I am probably not going to be that helpful to you, because it seems like you are after alternatives to macs.

I was in a similar situation to yourself (financially), but I saved a little while longer and got a Macbook Pro and I don't regret spending the extra money at all.

Not once since I got a Macbook have I wished I had a Windows-based laptop. They are amazing in everything they do.

Other people will certainly be more helpful and offer you good advice on alternatives to Macs. But in my opinion, macs are the only option.

Sorry for being a pain, but someone has to be the devil on one's shoulder.

Yup, Macs are such an amazing one. I have a PC right now but it's really sucks in every way. even on W10 it still a pain. save some money and go for a Mac, you won't regret it later ;)

I would say, try to save money and buy a Macbook, it is the best thing i have done!

Yes, Mac is probably the ideal choice as web development machine if you can afford it; However, unless you wanna become an iOS developer or you really need to use a program that's Mac-exclusive, I don't see why you must buy a Macbook.

I've been using a Chromebook as development machine for over a year and loving it.

The truth of the matter is, the only piece of software that's absolutely must-have for web development is the web browser itself. Nowadays, the Cloud-based IDEs are getting so polished and robust that can totally replace the local development environment. Here're some of the very best.

• Cloud9 https://c9.io/
• Koding https://koding.com/
• Nitrous.io https://www.nitrous.io/

For example, Cloud9 comes with a very capable code Editor + UNIX terminal + built-in image editor + real-time pair programming with chat, easily the nicest Web development environment I've ever experienced, it requires far less time to set everything up, and in many cases, streamlines and simplifies the web development routine.

If, however, Cloud-based IDE isn't your thing, another worthwhile alternative is a Windows-based PC + Ubuntu (running as VM via VirtualBox or VMware), and the upside of this combo is that you can run all of Adobe's software on Windows.

I'm going to have to suggest a Mac.

Two reasons: screen quality, and productivity.

PCs have advantages in certain areas like playing games, or tinkering with things. Macs have an advantage in being able to get work done without dickering around with the OS.

Try pricing a PC with an IPS display, SSD drive, and the latest generation processor . Compare that with the Mac competition. You'll find there's not much of a price difference especially once you include all the corollary benefits like aluminum chassis, battery efficiency, trackpad usefulness, and other useful implementations.

Macs are cheaper in the long run.

Unless you are editing video some really heavy graphics work, you'll be fine on a modern PC laptop. You'll notice faster performance with a solid state drive over anything else. If you're just doing some light weight Photoshop like basic photo editing, you don't need a heavy duty machine at all (i3, 4gb ram). But if you think you are going to stick to more development work, you can do that on anything. A lot of people just get chrome books and a cloud IDE and are set!

You might want to try a fresh install or just installing Ubuntu (or other version of Linux) on the machine that you have and saving all the money. Setting up an Ubuntu machine is a great learning experience and you'll get really comfortable with the command line and setting up a system. This will really help out when you start doing more server side stuff.

But if you still want a Mac, get a refurbished one. I'd rather buy a motorcycle than a really nice Mac. :)

It really depends on the work you do. I use my Mac for all of my video work(I'm a linux fanboy and still think the video tools suck.) My primary development machine is an old Dell Latitude running xubuntu. But I'd second both of Ryan's comments - If you're mostly doing dev work, I'd say use linux. It's cheaper than a mac, ALOT of the tools you'll use crossover(sublime, brackets, git), and it will help you really understand your mac terminal (OSX is BSD'ish).

Save the rest and buy a motorcycle...