Students must provide their own laptops for classes at NSS and having the right laptop will make a difference in your bootcamp experience. It's important that you follow these guidelines for machine specifications. 

See below for our recommendations for laptops to use during our full-time or part-time bootcamps for web development, data analytics, and data science.

First, a couple of overall thoughts on hardware.

1. You do not need a new laptop for NSS - many machines manufactured since 2014 will work just fine although some may benefit from upgrades (in particular to RAM).
   
   
2. Even if you are going to acquire a laptop it need not be a brand-new machine. Many students acquire used or refurbished machines.
   
   
3. No matter which technology you will be learning, you can use either a Mac or Windows laptop that meets our requirements as outlined below.

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Web Development Bootcamps

Updated February 17, 2021

C# Web Development Cohorts

Windows Laptop for C#

It is recommended that you get a laptop with the Windows operating system in you are enrolled in a C# cohort. Minimum specs are as follows.

Mac Laptop for C#

Updated February 18, 2021

If you are planning to buy a new laptop for the course and are planning to take a C# bootcamp, at the present time, we DO NOT recommend that you purchase a new Mac laptop that uses the Apple M1 processor chip, but rather acquire a Windows laptop or a Macbook Pro laptop with an Intel chipset. Apple is currently transitioning the processor chips in their laptops from Intel to a proprietary Apple chip. There have been some software compatibility issues noted with the new Apple chips.

If you already own a Mac and want to use it for the course, it must meet the following, minimum specifications.

If your Mac does not meet these minimum requirements, then we urge you to get a new or refurbished laptop with Windows installed. Employers will expect that you have familiarity with the Windows operating system.

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Python Web Development Cohorts

Mac Laptop for Python

It is recommended to have a Mac if you are in a Python cohort.

Windows Laptop for Python

The Windows operating system will easily work for a Python cohort, but setup and configuration are more difficult.

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analytics + Data Science Bootcamps

Updated June 17, 2021

You can use a Mac or Windows laptop for our Data Analytics or Data Science Bootcamps.

Data Analytics Cohorts

You will need the latest operating system for your computer. You are required to have either Windows, MacOS, or a recent Linux distribution. If using MacOS or Linux, you will need to install VMWare Fusion Player Personal - Use License Edition (if the free version becomes unavailable, the cost of the software is approximately $150). If using VMWare Fusion, NSS will provide Windows software for the duration of the program.

Data Science

Backup Drive

You will be learning amazing things during your time at NSS. However, with great power comes responsibility. You will be pushing your laptop harder that you ever had before. You may also spill water or coffee on your laptop while in class. You may drop your laptop. You may inadvertently run a command that permanently deletes very important files that make your operating system work.

Because of these common issues that students have, we strongly urge you to buy a backup drive for your laptop to ensure that you don’t lose the investment you’ve made in your computer and your time at NSS.