best computer for web development?

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Lai_ney3

i'm at the end of my first semester of my web development degree. i need a new computer and i was wondering what the best computer would be for web development. thanks for your help

Stephen_Philbin

Well it really depends on your particular area is, what your specialities are and your personal preferences. Personally I wouldn't be without SuSE 9.1 Linux running Apache 2, Open SSL 0.9.7e, MySQL 4.1.7, php5 and whatever html editor. I use Bluefish myself. On hardware somewhere around 2ghz cpu with 512 - 1024mb ram and a 40gb HDD, or better specs. Around about that though, y'know. You could easily go plenty higher or lower depending on yer budget (thankfully the total cost of the software would be fook all though.

Whilst that setup is ideal for me though, it'd be completely useless to many others. I have no intention of using Flash so any old html editor will do me fine and the OS is ideal for rolling out the latest versions of Apache, OpenSSL, MySQL, PHP and so on with no hassle. Whereas with a windows platform you are highly likely to run into some difficulties running them all together in exactly the way you need. The same would be true of trying to run a lot of MS stuff on Linux too. Portability is much better than it used to be, but I'd still much rather run the programs on the OS'es they "belong" on.

Not sure if C (if that is of any concern to you) is any easier to use to write applications on one OS or another though. My friend says he's having considerable trouble with it on Windows, but I've no idea if he'd have the same trouble on his Linux too. He hasn't writing any C on his Linux OS yet.

If you tell us which areas you specialise in, I'm sure some of our more experienced and knowledgeable members could be of more help to you.

Robert_Wellock

That depends upon what you intend on doing if you are going to use it for multimedia like movies than you’ll need something strong else a standard machine to run PHP, Apache and (x)html.

Think of what software you'll want to use.

Lai_ney3

hmm well.. i dont really know what i will be using. i havent done too much with web development yet. just a little bit of html using notepad. my last computer, which was a hand me down, crapped out and i need a new one. i have been asking around and ive been told that macs are good for graphics versus a pc. but i figured i would get actual web developers input before i go out and buy a computer.

DaveSW

In web development, the aim of the game is fast download times. So fast download times means small graphics. Which means you don't need too powerful a pc to build websites. e.g. as a backup pc I use an 800mhz p3 with 512mb ram. It's old, but it works just as well as my Athlon XP2000.

The only note I would make on that is that occasionally when working with graphics you make a high quality version before reducing the quality for the web. So lots of ram (at least 512mb) is a good idea. Other than that, you can use any fairly new pc that you want. particularly if you cut down the numbers of running programs etc to make it run faster.

Khalid_Ali

For webdevelopment you really don't need a fancy PC as dave mentioned above the only thing that you might want to consider is 512MB RAM and in my opinion any pc will work for web development.
The only time when you need a better PC with development taks in mind is ehn you are developing hard core programs using Java/C/C++ or any other serious programming language,since they require better CPU(for faster compilations) and huge RAM for faster deployment and loading of newer and big IDE's

PeOfEo

Yeah, you can developer stuff on a 486 if you want to. But I suggest just making yourself (actually order the parts and assemble them) a quality machine for a low price. It is a far better deal then going through a major comp maker.

Neczy

[font=trebuchet ms]Make sure to have a great deal of ram. I know my computer has 128 Megs of ram, but is a 2 gHz processor and it still is laggy when using photoshop and Dreamweaver together. Max the ram out.[/font]

Lai_ney3

thanks for all of the suggestions!

Jona

[font=trebuchet ms]Get a G5 iMac - I hear 1.25GB of RAM on those things are great for web design. In fact, I'm planning on getting one for myself sooner or later. [/font]

Neczy

[font=trebuchet ms]I'm planning on getting a g5 sooner or later... I just need a job, money, time to go to this job. Heh. My ibook will suffice though...[/font]

PhillMc

I have to agree that you do not need a fast, fancy machine to do WebDev. My primary machine is a AthlonXP 1500 with 768 RAM and a 40GB 7200RPM WD HDD with 8MB UDMA buffer but I am able to do my work on my ThinkPad (333 MHz, 256RAM) just as well. Again, as stated earlier, it really depends on what you plan to do with machine. If just WebDev, then just about any machine will get the job done, provided you have the space for whatever apps you plan to install.

PeOfEo

Why buy a G5 when you can build a machine with 2gig of ram for less? Macs are pricy and you can't mod them without spending uber cash because hardware for them is pricy too. Look at the price of ram for macs, it is more expencive then ddr from any vender (or ddr2 for that matter I believe).

Jona

Originally posted by PeOfEo
Why buy a G5 when you can build a machine with 2gig of ram for less? Macs are pricy and you can't mod them without spending uber cash because hardware for them is pricy too. Look at the price of ram for macs, it is more expencive then ddr from any vender (or ddr2 for that matter I believe).

[font=trebuchet ms]Because Apple is the only one who sells G5 iMacs maybe?[/font]

BuezaWebDev

Originally posted by Jona
[font=trebuchet ms]Get a G5 iMac - I hear 1.25GB of RAM on those things are great for web design. In fact, I'm planning on getting one for myself sooner or later. [/font]

If you get a mac, there goes your windows programming career down the drain. That also means, there goes your future money I've never heard of a corporation (other than Apple) that uses Macs as a standard

JK. Heheh.

Jona

[font=trebuchet ms]Mac OS X Panther is based on UNIX, to begin with; second, you can get a PowerMac which is much more efficient than a Windows machine. I'm not a strong Windows believer. I honor Microsoft - they have and still do make some great products - but I want to try something else. More than just being able to test across multiple platforms, Macs look much, much better than Windows. The XP themes are okay for a little while, but they quickly become boring and ugly. I can't skin Windows XP without paying for it, and even then it takes up too many system resources for the computer to be practical. (Yes, even on a Pentium 4 at 2.8GHz with 512MB of DDRAM and 60GB of hard disk space.) I like the way the iMacs look. Eventually I want to go spend $3,500 to get the biggest toy I can. Just think, dual 2.5GHz G5 processors, 2GB DDRAM, 120GB hard drive, graphics card, 20" LCD monitor... mmmm... I need a job at an Apple-certified retail shop...like CompUSA. I wish they lived closer to my home, though. I need discounts, darn it!!

Anyway, a larger screen and less ugly environment is definitely helpful for web design, in my opinion. Why else do all the "big names" use Macs?[/font]

Jupac

I never liked the mac mouse only one button

Jona

Originally posted by lakers01
I never liked the mac mouse only one button

[font=trebuchet ms]The less you have to click, the easier the system is to use. Think about it - you can right-click on Windows, but there is no need to on a Mac. This means that there are no "hidden options" and everything is constantly at your finger tips.[/font]

Jupac

O_o never thought it that way

Jona

Originally posted by lakers01
O_o never thought it that way

[font=trebuchet ms]Me either, but you'd be surprised what you can think of when you're trying to protect your ideals! [/font]