I’m currently learning how to code (currently Python, then maybe JavaScript), but I’m not always around my desktop, and learning on my phone is not always an option (also, it can be quite cumbersome at times). Therefore, I’m looking into purchasing a laptop just for learning how to code and stuff.

I don’t want to get a Chromebook because I want to be able to wipe the drive and install Linux on it (probably Linux Mint). Maybe it’s changed since 2013, but the last time I had a Chromebook, it was a pain in the ass to install even bog-standard Ubuntu on it.

Problem is, I’m also heavily limited by space & budget: no more than 11 in (280 mm) total laptop width and 330 USD base price.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Please forgive me if this is not the right space for this kind of question. Lemme know if it is and I’ll delete it. :)

  • rekabis
    3·
    5 months ago

    I am also supremely space-constrained, but I also had no need to take my development device away from my desk. So I got a workstation and a KVM to switch between workstations, thereby needing only one keyboard, mouse, and set of monitors for multiple computers.

    I went further than that, because I also needed to keep the desktop largely clear and the floor space used down to an absolute minimum. So I got a 60s “tanker desk”, and put a smaller office table on top of it. the computers all sit on top of the office table, up near the ceiling (and away from a lot of the dust!) and the monitors and KVM dangle down from beneath it. This leaves only the two pedestal legs of that office table and my keyboard and mouse as the only things “on” the top surface of my desk.

    And ignoring the chair, I can have four workstations and six monitors within a 30×60 inch footprint (the tanker desk).