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Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

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121–130 of 538 posts

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#121
post #106

I love my super heavy and bulky Lenovo P53. Love it for horsepower, also because Arch runs on it n without problem, and finally because tech support exceeded my expectations, doing cleaning after 2 years for free (part of cleaning was to recover from little coffe spill...). I would prefer if it was not so plasticky, but I can't have everything :)

I have a Lenovo P53 maxed out, it got everything it could have. It's great. I'm looking forward to buy another P Series in a few years.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#122
post #62

Checkout system76, slimbook, tuxedo computers or the framework laptop. All of these companies make amazing laptops.

I own a slimbook and have been quite satisfied with it - it's got everything I wanted and needed for normal price.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#123

Is there any laptop that can match Apple's touchpad? This is all I need to know. The touchpad is the only thing that keeps me tied to Apple. It works so wonderful.

Yes, I use Macs quite regularly and the trackpad is the one feature that keeps me coming back. Just recently bought a cheap ThinkBook (Lenovo) 14 4th gen and was very surprised that the trackpad works so well. Feels like 95% of the Mac trackpad. The rest of the build quality isn’t bad either. Not a Mac for sure, but quite sturdy and runs well. Running Linux within Windows via VM.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#125
post #72
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thinkpad X is for marketing types. Programmers want Thinkpad T or P.

I don't understand this comment. I'm a programmer and my X1 Carbon is the finest computer I've ever used. I don't have any noise issue with it. I can hear the CPU in a very quiet room but I've never used a computer that didn't have it, and I'm quite sensitive to noises too. Many people in my company have Lenovo X machines. And why marketing types should not care about comfort / noise? Is this a "Real men [...]" thing…

He is probably referring to x1 extreme. I have a 3rd gen and it’s like a jet engine and space heather had a baby. Even after undervolting in bios, limiting cpu frequency in windows and only using it for very light jobs it’s super noisy. Not to mention the max 5 hour battery life… This chassis with an AMD cpu and no dedicated GPU would be perfect, but I’ve had enough and a M2 MacBook Air is on its way from Apple.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#126

Perhaps https://puri.sm/products/librem-14 should fit well for your requirements. I'm happy with their previous model, Librem 15.

Could you elaborate about your experience more? I'm looking for a new laptop in the next few months and I'm basically debating between the Librem 14 and Framework. My criteria would be

- Repairability/longevity

- Privacy and security

- Usability

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#127
last year I got maxed out Tuxedo Pulse 14, which I'm using as a daily driver. so far no complains and it does the job

for business option I got Dell Precision 5470 this summer, and it looks pretty solid so far

Both laptops are running Linux and look like they could last 5 years without any issues, which is usually fairly enough.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#128

Apple’s customer support is truly terrible in countries where they don’t have an official presence. My wireless Magic Keyboard with Numpad and Touch ID just stopped working one day. I took it to the Apple Premium Reseller store where it was purchased for service, and it took them FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS to replace it. I should have walked out of that store with a new one in my hands, because it’s impossible to repair.…

If they didn’t have me a new one within a few weeks I’d be calling the bank or the consumer protection contact of the government to have a refund.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#129

My coworkers really like their Xioami laptops. I'm not sure what country you're in, but in my "developing economy" country, their service has been perfectly decent.

I never knew they did laptops too. A bit surprising (to me) that their prices don't seem to be any lower than the established competitors.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#130
Not sure if this falls in line with your workstyle but...

I'm using a few XCP-NG vm's for anything dev related(including test environment). I keep a few main images depending on what I'm working on and just add/remove resources if/when needed. A lot more effective (for me) than being tied to a specific machine.

I carry with me a cheap 13" laptop and my phone, both with VPN's set up to dial in into my home network. I can use either. When I'm travelling somewhere I don't even take the laptop. I only have a foldable keyboard, mouse, small pocket projector.

For remote connectivity without my VPN I use Splashtop business (very very rare). It happened to me a few times that the VPN was not working over 4G (still don't have a cliue why)

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