Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Best robust laptop for everyday software development

news.ycombinator.com

21–30 of 100 posts

Re: Ask HN: Best robust laptop for everyday software development

#24
post #4

From an ergonomic viewpoint, the best laptop is no laptop at all, but instead use a desktop computer.

I second that. However, there are situations where I need a mobile computing device. For e.g., as a manager, I need to walk away from my desk to attend meetings, attend calls from a room etc. I've been using a OSX/MacOS mobile device for many years now, but now I am looking for alternatives that do not burn a hole in my pocket.

Re: Ask HN: Best robust laptop for everyday software development

#25
I bought a ThinkPad T480 at the beginning of this year and I really like the quality. The only comparison I have is my old Toshiba Satellite, compared to which the ThinkPad is miles ahead when it comes to build quality. It has two batteries and on a single charge it can work for 8-10 hours.

One thing I dislike about it is when I carry it in my backpack the keyboard keys seem to press on the screen, which would cause it to wear. To protect against it I'm keeping a microfibre cloth sandwiched in there when I carry it around.

Re: Ask HN: Best robust laptop for everyday software development

#28
post #18

The X220/30 is still a very viable Dev machine if you don't mind the screen. As a word of caution, I went down the MBP route myself and was recently caught with the dust under the keyboard membrane problem. You probably aren't accurately evaluating how annoying it is to randomly lose your laptop for a few weeks while they repair the keyboard. I certainly was not.

Compressed air duster didn't fix it?

It is a design issue with the keyboard.

Re: Ask HN: Best robust laptop for everyday software development

#29
I recently purchased a HP Envy x360 15z [1] and it might not be the most rugged I feel it is a solid laptop with good build quality. I also like that its one of the few on the market today with a AMD Ryzen APU (I got it with the 2700U). This gives the advantage of great linux support with the AMDGPU drivers and a nice compromise between Intel integrated graphics and some of the dual gpu offerings. The only issue in linux is the touchscreen is currently not functional out of the box. There is a bugzilla entry and patches but they have not been upstreamed yet [2].

[1] https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-envy-x360-15z-touch-laptop...

[2] https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=198715

Re: Ask HN: Best robust laptop for everyday software development

#30
post #19

I have just bought a ThinkPad T480 (the latest upgrade of the T4XX series) and I absolutely love it. Great finish, great performance, great battery life.

How many hours of real world use do you get? I've been meaning to upgrade from a 440s and want to know how the battery performs on the newer models.
Post reply on HN