Do laptop computers need rest?
99% a no from me. Processors cool in seconds when the load stops. There is only so much more heat that is going to be dissipated. Heat IS the enemy and consumer grade components aren’t intended to be stressed 24/7. But giving it an hour rest once or twice a day really won’t change much.I pushed my gaming laptop to the limit for years. Truly it should have died. I upgraded the processor which shares its cooling with the graphics card. GPU temps raised 10 degrees and then I overclocked the CPU. Beyond that I overvolted and overclocked the GPU. I gamed on it for 3 years and it was in use for 8 years now running at insane temperatures (98 Celsius). Thats my extreme case scenario.
Do I really need a laptop for CS at college? Or can I just go with a PC at home for the whole 4 years?
You can manage with a PC as well, but I would suggest that please buy a laptop instead. Apart from your homework, there will be hackathons, coding competitions and a lot of other cool stuff which you surely don't want to miss out on. You need a personal laptop for these competitions.Sometime if you need to show your project to a professor and if you have a laptop, you can bring it to the university and get your work done. It will make things easier for you. You can store it in a pendrive or email it to your professor too but you are getting my point right? Buying a laptop will make things easier for you and you can carry it anywhere with all your movies, photos, games. It's my best companion during travelling.I was in same situation when I was about to start my CS degree. But I was given a laptop by my university only and most of the time universities provide a laptop to new students. So I would suggest wait until you get enrolled in a college or a university and then decide. To be honest, you don’t need a laptop or PC with high end specs, I am using an i5 with 4GB ram , 500gb Hard disk and no external GPU. It works perfectly fine and I can code decently on it. Now I am switching to macbook pro because I feel my current system is bit slow for android development and few other things. But if you just want to do homework and write basic code then you can get a decent laptop in less than 900$. And if you are a hard core gamer then just don't buy PC for that because it has 2x power than your laptop. Trust me, there will a lot of files of your code, books, PDFs, PPTs, projects, notes, question papers, softwares etc. I suggest to use your laptop ( if you are buying one) for school work only and if you want to play games then buy a console like xbox1 or PS 4. I know it's not related to this question but it came to my mind when I read about the power thing in your question details. Feel free to ask if you have any doubts regarding CS. Good luck :)
Do I need a Laptop for college?
First of all, congratulations on starting college in the fall. Secondly, I do not think you need a laptop or any sort of computer in college. Most major universities and colleges have computer labs on campus that are open late into the night or sometimes 24 hours a day. These are incredibly useful and sort of negate the need to have a personal computer or laptop. The only downside to some of their computer labs is that they may be crowded during final exams or they may not permit you to take food and drinks in with you. Having your own computer might be more convenient, however, if the weather outside if less than outstanding (i.e. -10 degrees F). It means you won't always have to walk outside to use the computer lab, unless one is located in your residence hall. I suppose it also depends on your area of study. For instance, I knew a lot of pre-med students who didn't really need to use their computers because their classes were mostly lab or textbook oriented. I, however, was an English major and a vast majority of my time was spent writing papers. For me, specifically, a personal computer was necessary. It won't necessarily be the same with you. Try checking out your college or university's website and searching for computer labs on campus. You can check how late they are open, whether they charge for printing, etc. It may help you make your decision.
Parents don't want to buy me laptop computer (Cheapskate parents) ?
I was like this when I was a kid & term too... to an extent anyway as I’m 35 & back then the internet alone was very young. But like most kids & teens I wanted lots of what other people my age at the time had & usually I never got it as I complained most of the time & had no access to money until I had a job. Chances are unfortunately you won’t be getting this laptop or whatever any time soon because of that alone. If your lucky then maybe by the time you turn 15 (16 in some areas/or in some cases) then ask again & by then much better hardware will be available then anyway. It’s the pits I know but it’s a time in our lives we all had to & in your case have to deal with. I’m not sure if kids even get allowances anymore or if that’s a thing of the past but just the same you could try to work that in if you are nowhere even close to age 15 yet. When you get to 15 though in some areas even McDonald’s might hire you. My advice for now is basically “hang in there”.
Do you need a laptop for college?
I would say it is pretty necessary. It also depends on what school you go to though; I go to a very large, progressive-ish university, and a lot of teachers have us do hw assignments on the internet, and it would have REALLY sucked this past year to not have my own computer. It would also really suck to not have your own desktop w/ which to save your own essays etc..... if you really can't afford a computer just make sure you have access to one (on campus or otherwise) at all times, and bring a little Flash Drive around to store essays on etc. :)