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Ask HN: What to replace my MacBook with?

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Re: Ask HN: What to replace my MacBook with?

#21

Post by ajford »

I highly recommend a decently modern Lenovo Thinkpad.

The T470 and T470s/p are pretty nice. I managed to get a good bargin on a T460 off Craigslist, and it runs like a dream. After some minute tweaks (mostly installing tlp), it's running Ubuntu 17.10 fantastically.

If you want something a bit smaller, the X series is the line with a 12.5inch screen. Downside is the latest model (the X270) only has a FHD screen, with 1920x1080 max. The T470s and T470p both have a 14 inch WQHD screen with 2560x1440 max. The 15 inch T570 has a UHD screen with 3840x2160 max, which is definitely Retina-like.

Re: Ask HN: What to replace my MacBook with?

#22

Post by krutzger »

contingencies wrote: post #18

I just did this because my MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) / 16GB / 1TB machine finally developed a hardware fault they want motherboard replacement money to fix (occasional but frequent hard resets). After checking the cost of a new MBP (basically almost same specs as the old one, plus touch bar!) and then noticing a Dell sale on before Xmas here in Sydney, I decided to replace it with a Dell XPS 15 9560 (l…

Seriously, you went from osx to Gentoo? It's like going from using computers to designing your own cpus...

Just install Ubuntu and be done with it

Re: Ask HN: What to replace my MacBook with?

#23

Post by ajford »

dpark wrote: post #17
drawnwren wrote: post #15

I went from a stolen 2015 MBP to an X230 (modified with an X220 keyboard) to a new MBP. With the thinkpads, the smaller screen and lower resolution will take some getting used to. Running a customized window manager in Linux is the best solution when it works but you shouldn't discount the amount of time you will lose to tinkering and random breakages. My personal belief is that, for a working dev, MacOS is still the…

> With the thinkpads, the smaller screen and lower resolution will take some getting used to What takes getting used to is that Thinkpad screens are trash. :( I’ve been so disappointed in them. They start mediocre and decline rapidly with blotching and ghosting. I’ve used Thinkpads for my personal laptop and my work laptop and refuse to own another. My manager has a recent Thinkpad with an OLED screen which seems pre…

Gotta say, I've used a fair number of thinkpads across the last 10 years, and I've never seen any blotching or ghosting.

I will admit that the older models had fairly crappy resolutions (I mean 1366x768 and 1600x800 was crap, and Lenovo held on to those resolutions far longer than they should), and pretty dim (I could barely use my X200t and X201 in the shade outside), but I feel most models in the last 2-3 years have made plenty of progress in that regard.

Re: Ask HN: What to replace my MacBook with?

#24

Post by npolet »

yarinr wrote: post #14

I'd look into the Dell XPS. Its build quality competes with the MacBook, it's one of the smallest laptops of it size (either 13 or 15) and the 4k screen is absolutely stunning (although some prefer fhd for the improved battery life). I got mine recently and I'm loving it.

I've got a little 13" XPS Developer Edition and it's a really solid option. The build quality is perfect and I've yet to come across any issues with it. Use daily for web development in work and for personal projects.

With an i7 it runs really smooth. I opted for the FHD option for the longer battery life, but would have gone UHD if I didn't mind about battery life.

It's really nice to see Dell make Linux part of it's line-up. Part of me bought it as a little heads-up to Dell that Linux laptops are a good thing. I've always just installed Ubuntu over existing windows laptops, but it's nice to see it somewhat as a first class citizen with Dell.

Re: Ask HN: What to replace my MacBook with?

#25

Post by contingencies »

krutzger wrote: post #22
contingencies wrote: post #18

I just did this because my MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) / 16GB / 1TB machine finally developed a hardware fault they want motherboard replacement money to fix (occasional but frequent hard resets). After checking the cost of a new MBP (basically almost same specs as the old one, plus touch bar!) and then noticing a Dell sale on before Xmas here in Sydney, I decided to replace it with a Dell XPS 15 9560 (l…

Seriously, you went from osx to Gentoo? It's like going from using computers to designing your own cpus... Just install Ubuntu and be done with it

Those who do not understand Unix are condemned to reinvent it, poorly.

AFAIK, Gentoo is the best full-control Linux distro out there, possibly only rivalled by arch. It's not for everyone, but I do want that level of control. Using OSX I constantly run up against annoying irritations and have to spin up special VMs, which is tedious. I gave it a good go - almost seven years. Enough. IMHO ZFS root (snapshots and rewind) goes a long way towards resolving the worst irritations in using Gentoo as a desktop OS.

Re: Ask HN: What to replace my MacBook with?

#26

Post by ajford »

krutzger wrote: post #20

I see a lot of ThinkPads and Dells here, but how about hp? Are they good for Linux?

I've heard decent things about the HP Spectre, but it was fairly new, either a 2016 or 2017 model. Some minor quirks with Ubuntu and older kernels, but I think they got 16.04 or 16.10 working well.

Re: Ask HN: What to replace my MacBook with?

#27

Post by switch007 »

yarinr wrote: post #14

I'd look into the Dell XPS. Its build quality competes with the MacBook, it's one of the smallest laptops of it size (either 13 or 15) and the 4k screen is absolutely stunning (although some prefer fhd for the improved battery life). I got mine recently and I'm loving it.

Curious if you had a Macbook Pro retina before the XPS? My annoyances with the XPS 9360 (mostly compared to my 2015 rMBP 13"): i7 throttled all the time, coil whine, the hinge pinches your legs on opening, can't open with one hand, terrible trackpad, the webcam position is a joke, one usb slot is misaligned, poor speakers, no graphics port (you need e.g. a USB C to HDMI adapter)

Re: Ask HN: What to replace my MacBook with?

#28

Post by krutzger »

mmanulis wrote: post #8
bproven wrote: post #5

If you can get something preloaded with Linux it is probably best. System 76 or the Dell precision line of laptops are good options. In the case of dell I would go precision over XPS - I believe you get better support and a better tested product with the business line. I have an XPS and have had a few QA issues with it. However, once I got it sorted it has been great running Ubuntu - but it was a ..... journey to say…

I switched to Dell Precision Develop Edition 15" at the start of the year. It comes preloaded with Ubuntu 16.04. I have really enjoyed this machine and don't miss my MacBook Pro at all. The machine worked great out of the box, I made a few minor changes to how I like to work. The two major changes I made were: * Install a libinput and get rid of synaptics driver * Install the latest kernel I run with a bunch of propr…

How well does the precision work out of the box? I would prefer to run standard Ubuntu with no modifications or proprietary drivers of possible.

Re: Ask HN: What to replace my MacBook with?

#29

Post by delhanty »

bproven wrote: post #16
godot wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been thinking about getting a XPS 13 and getting Linux on it too. Currently, I repurposed a very old laptop (heavy and poor battery life) by installing CentOS Linux on it, and it runs great and I can do productive dev work on it (just can't carry it anywhere since it's too heavy). Curious, are the issues you had with the XPS bad enough that you'd recommend getting a different line (like Precision) over it? I r…

Some of the issues I had with 9550 XPS: - battery swelling - fan spinning on high speed for no apparent reason (not due to CPU load) - random wakeups while sleeping (happened in my bag once and the laptop almost overheated :( ). This was eventually fixed via BIOS updates - lots and lots of BIOS updates to fix all kinds of issues- at least 1-2 every month since its initial release. Although I am glad they are being fi…

Thanks - v. informative.

Do you know how well Dell Precision does for international warranty and support?

Re: Ask HN: What to replace my MacBook with?

#30

Post by krutzger »

sigmonsays wrote: post #3

I too am interested in this. Not sure what your platform choice is, linux or windows, but this post is all with a linux bias. I have a 15" macbook pro from late 2013. I do not upgrade computers very often and expect them to last a long time. Laptops are especially hard because I am also a linux user who has never operated a linux laptop. The departure from Mac leaves me with Windows which I will not ever operate. I'v…

You can get a refurbished x220 for $200. It won't be the best laptop ever, but probably enough to learn Linux.

Had multiple co-workers going this route and now they are full-time ThinkPad users.

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