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Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

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Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#161

Post by theluketaylor »

skrtskrt wrote: post #148
theluketaylor wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The $100 core i5 upgrade on the latest Macbook Air in particular. It's a big bang for buck (especially by Apple standards) since it goes from 2 cores to 4 and adds boost clock headroom.

What about the $250 upgrade for i7 - worth it for $150 more than the i5? I'm going to be getting it and I want to have it for 4-5 years as I have with the 2015 MBA, getting the better processor seems like a decent future-proofing. I mostly develop in Python and Go, but I do want to get into Rust and I understand the compilation is demanding.

I haven't seen any benchmarks, but I doubt you'll get a big return going to the i7, certainly nowhere near the return on investment the dual core i3 to quad core i5 is. Macbook air is mostly going to thermally limited under sustained load anyway, so the i7 benefits are likely pretty limited.

Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#162

Post by jerome-jh »

pachico wrote: post #47

I have tried many, believe me. First thing, if it has glossy screen I would quickly discard it - your vision health is worth much more than a pretty picture in Facebook. Having said this, I would go for dell XPS family. They are not cheap but they are very robust. In addition, screen border is almost nonexistent so all it's size is for your screen. Very good Linux support (there is a a version that ships with Ubuntu)…

I would add: matte, IPS screen. The latter cannot be fixed with a screen shield.

+1 for Linux support on Dell's laptops. Usually everything works straight after installation, contrary to Lenovo and HP. I do not recommend HP hardware at all BTW.

Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#163

Post by tbrock »

leetcrew wrote: post #138
tbrock wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dell makes garbage compared to Lenovo. Why not get an x390/x13 with that delicious keyboard?

bezels? it's not just aesthetics; thin bezels is a pretty important feature on an ultraportable imo, maximizes screen real estate for the space it takes up in your bag.

What? No.

They are already ultraportables. Once they are that small as a class of computer reliability and quality becomes important.

God help you with support and returns if something goes wrong with your dell. I’ve been there before and it’s hell on earth.

Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#164

Post by shireboy »

juusto wrote: post #126
shireboy wrote: post #103

I do something a bit different: I have a Surface Pro, which is OK in its own right. But I don’t develop straight on it. Instead, I spin up a VM on Azure with all my dev tools. I use RDCMan as a RDP client to connect to that, and code there. When at home or office, I dock the surface and have 2 big screens and a nice keyboard. When at a coffee shop, I just use the Surface as-is. If I upgrade my laptop or decide to use…

That sounds like a great idea, could you please elaborate further? Which instance and pricing are you using? My use case is media work when abroad. So 16Gb RAM, as much disk space as possible, around 8h a day.

I have an MSDN subscription which gets me ~200/mo Azure Credit, I think. I use the F4 instance which is 4 core/8GB. I set it in azure to shut down around 10pm, and get an email asking me if I want to extend it. Doing this, I have a few bucks to spare on my credit each month for Azure App Service, etc. I use mRemoteNG to connect to it. I keep all code, databases, etc. in source control and on a separate disk. This way, if I want a new dev VM, I just spin it up, install dev tools (I have a chocolatey script for that;) and attach the disk.

It really is enabling to have my machine be separate from my dev environment. I used get so annoyed with all the cruft dev tools, SDKs, etc. add to a system, hog disk, and bog it down. Now I just have outlook, mremoteng, and office on the local machine.

May not be appropriate for heavy media work as 1) you need more RAM and 2) audio/video may be choppy through RDP. If you can afford it, though, I highly recommend this approach.

Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#165

Post by hkiely »

salawat wrote: post #142
belltaco wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if Sony makes them still, but they used to have small VAIO portables with keyboards. https://www.amazon.com/Sony-VAIO-VGN-P530H-Lifestyle-PC/dp/B... https://www.google.com/search?q=sony+vaio+small+laptop&rlz=1...

It's a standalone company now, last I checked they only sell in Japan; but I loved my Z Series so much I had to poach another one when the old one gave up the ghost. I can't forgive them for the interior design, and how the lynchpin of the entire laptop is a PFC with two of the most awkwardly placed sockets I've ever attempted to repair; but I'll be damned if it isn't one of the most pleasantly ergonomic laptops to u…

I had these same issues.

Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#166

Post by hkiely »

Nazzareno wrote: post #84

I have a Lenovo X1 Yoga (7th), the new Dell XPS 13 and a X1 Carbon. My preferred one is X1 Carbon with FHD display which saves battery, it's also pretty lighter and thinner than the X1 Yoga. If you like touch screens and embedded pen, I'd go with the Yoga, still better than XPS13 for me. Reasons? Better ports (HDMI, USB3.0) and better keyboard (yes, you can switch the Fn and the CTRL keys, it's a BIOS option).

I had an X1 carbon, but I thought the screen was 14 inches. Regardless, it is a solid machine.
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