android minimum hardware specs for dev machine - can i code using a notebook?

Question

So far I have been developing directly on my galaxy nexus and nexus 7 using the amazing AID app.

However, as the N7 can't provide logs due to it being jelly bean, i feel the need to get a mini notebook in order to utilise adb logcat.

My main worry is that something with only 1gb (2gb if i upgrade, which i will) and a 1.5-1.83GHz atom CPU won't be powerful enough.

I can possibly get around certain worries by not using emulators and testing directly on my two devices, so that will save me a great deal. Also I am tempted to just use vim and command line tools instead of eclipse which again might save me from a slow PC.

What do you guys think? Is the notebook way under powered? What if i just use vim and no emulators?

Side note, does anyone actually code in vim/command line?

Answer 1

something with only 1gb (2gb if i upgrade, which i will) and a 1.5-1.83GHz atom CPU

will work just fine, as long as you're not planning to run a tablet emulator. I sometimes have to work at my Asus EEEPC with the same exact CPU and I've got no problems so far

Answer 2

It is doable with 1gb RAM and using vim/commandline tools. However, eclipse provides a project wide perspective which is hard to duplicate in vim (vim power users may be as productive, if not more though). So in terms of memory 1, 2gb RAM will be fine. Testing on devices is always better than emulators.

One thing else though, a commandline build with multiple module dependency is non-trivial to setup and maintain. This is because Google has historically been modifying the build.xml file, breaking existing build scripts fairly regularly. So if you are well versed with build script internals and prepared to work on them you should be ok.

Debugging Android apps without Eclipse based breakpoint debugging support may be a significant issue too. Some bugs are caught in a lot lesser time with this. So plan accordingly if you don't want to use Eclipse.

Eclipse also provides very good JUnit/Robotium support for writing test cases, You won't get this with vim.

As I wrote down these points I think running Eclipse in 2gb notebook should be possible (just don't run other apps with doing development) and thus is recommended.

I have extensively used vim just not for Android development. You can also install vim plugin for eclipse if you prefer that.

Answer 3

Modern notebook hardware certainly is capable for software development; in fact, many (hobbyists as well as professionals) use a notebook as their main development platform.

However, with a mini / ultra-small form factor, you'll pay more for a less capable machine. Unless you need extreme mobility, I would suggest a standard notebook, with a little extra money spent on RAM (8+ GB) and an SSD. (Then, neither big IDEs nor emulation is out of scope.) If money is an issue, you can still get clunky-looking, but fairly powerful 15" or 17" laptops.

Answer 4

i think you Configuration is good enought to run Eclipse , Myself i had to Remove some Composant on my PC beacause we have 1 PC for Work/Internet/Eclipse and 1 PC for Gaming Etc ... , iam using Galaxy S2 and dont use Emulator many times , Yes i have some Slow Down some Time , but try Eclipse with the Minimal Configuration and No Emulators but Upgrade to 2 GB i have myself 2 GB Here and DUal Core E5200

Answer 5

Yeah that's under powered. For a windows PC I'd want 4gb of ram, not sure about Linux but atoms are dog slow either way.

I'm sure it'll work but it won't be fun, I'd be most worried about disk speed as that's what drives me nuts most.

I'd also take advantage of the ide and all its nice features too