[southbaybob]

Save up more money and buy a Macbook Pro. The cheapest model will do. You can probably get it from Amazon cheaper even with Tax and Shipping.

If you are getting into Linux, get a Mac since it is essentially a type of Linux. As a full stack mobile/web developer, it is nice to set everything up on your mac pretty much exactly the same way as you would in your Linux production environment. You don't need to worry about some packages you use may behaves a little different in Windows or Linux. You can run virtualization on PC, but why run virtualization when it will just work directly when you open up the OS X terminal.

To be fair. I have not always been a Mac user. I started programming when I was 16. Got my bachelor's degree in Computer Science and started to work as a software developer. I have always used a PC for 10+ years. However, it just became a pain to match your PC to your production environment which is pretty much a Linux box these days. A lot of times, in order to build something scalable, I end up trying new technologies and compiling the package from source. It is nice to set up your dev environment on a 'linux-ish' box (aka OS X) while your target production is also Linux. And if you want to do iOS dev, then you will definitely need a Mac as well to make your life much easier.

[csense]

OS X is based on Darwin, not Linux. It's a UNIX environment, not Linux.

I would disrecommend Mac, because he'd be buying an overpriced piece of junk.

[southbaybob]

Lol. I was debating whether to spell it out because I got a feeling someone is going to pop up saying what you just said. Well. more precisely it was derived from BSD.

And that is some strong feeling you just expressed there. Why so much hate? :) Overpriced or not is based on what it can do for you and how much your time is worth. Of course, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions.

By the way kido, don't just take our advices here. On the Internet, you have no ideas who is behind the typed message. See if you can find someone in your life who is successful in the field and you admire. Go visit their work environment and see what they use. That may be a more beneficial start for you.