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

#271

Post by kramerger »

ihateolives wrote: post #111
anddt wrote: post #82

Currently using a T490s (win-based on WSL, work machine) and a T480s (Fedora, upgraded to 24gb ram) for personal projects and they're both fine machines. The T480s runs a bit cooler after a repaste than the T490s but I'd say they can handle fine whatever I throw at them.

Sure, but both are older models and have (T480s) roughly half the performance of M1 base model. For some things (in Photoshop/Lr) the difference is even greater.

People specifically prefer older Lenovos for other reasons than raw performance (cost, keyboard, max ram, Linux support, ...).

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

#272

Post by camgunz »

I bought an MBP 14" (Max, 32 core GPU, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD) which I mostly don't regret. The things that give me pause are the battery life is only (only, haha) 9 hours or so, the resolution isn't ideal (the integer scaling options are either tiny or gigantic) and it was... $3,700? If I'd bumped down to the pro I would've saved money and gotten better battery life.

When I made this decision, I was between the Framework and a ThinkPad P14s Gen 2 AMD. I still think I made the right choice, but I think the P14s would've been a great option.

Lenovo hasn't released an AMD Gen 3 for the P14s, so you'd have to live with the ThinkPad T14 Gen 3 AMD instead (they're the same laptop, it turns out). It's:

- Ryzen 6850U

- 32GB RAM

- 14" 3840x2400 IPS Matte display (500 nits, 100% DCI-P3)

- 1080p camera

- $1,600

The extra nice thing about this is you get Ryzen and USB4, which lets you use eGPUs and the like.

---

All that said, I can't at all vouch for Lenovo support. If this is the defining characteristic for you I'd do more research before picking one of these up.

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

#274

Post by kramerger »

sputr wrote: post #122
ranguna wrote: 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.

Have heard since good things about Slimbooks.

Could you tell us more about your experience and how much you paid for it?

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

#275

Post by fbr »

aerique wrote: post #198
zivkovicp wrote: post #137

Please excuse the long-winded answer... I have also given up on Apple, but mostly because I can't see the value in it anymore, otherwise my experience with them has been satisfactory (Intel CPU models). For the past few years I used a Microsoft Surface Pro because it seemed to have good build quality and high screen resolution, but despite this I have had to replace it as part of a recall due to a graphics hardware i…

Due to Lenovo shortages I could pick an MSI gaming laptop (GS66 Stealth) to replace my broken work laptop. It's awesome. Happily been running Guix on it for the past six months. (As expected, since it is Linux on an unsupported machine, I had to put in some time to get it running smoothly but the person after me does not have to do that anymore.)

I'm super happy with it. The perf are great.

2 big drawbacks: the plastic is super fragile and you will need an external microphone (or your coworkers will complain about fan noises)

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

#276

Post by akvadrako »

KptMarchewa wrote: post #235
akvadrako wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Matte displays are just glossy displays with a coating that disperses light. You can achieve the same effect by adding a layer. Something like this: https://viascreens.com/screen-protectors/framework/ However turning a matte display into a glossy one isn't possible. FYI, https://community.frame.work/t/matte-screen-please/577/114 .

Sometimes the display is so closed to the keyboard when closed that adding any layer is going to damage the display. Macs are good example, you can regularly see keyboard imprints on the display even when there are no additional layers. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/keyboard-marks-on-displ...

I've had a mac like that. But then adding a replaceable film will actually help protect the display.

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

#277

Post by thombles »

ajvs wrote: post #259
weberer wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just make sure the model you're getting supports S3 sleep mode (AKA real sleep mode) before hand. A lot of the newer Dells don't. Its something the OEM needs to support in the BIOS, so you can't just fix it by installing a new distro.

Since at least the 2019 model Dell XPS 13s no longer have S3 sleep mode and instead uses Microsoft's "Modern Standby" (s0ix)[1], which consumes tons of power whilst in "sleep" in order to have slightly quicker wake times. [1] https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/XPS-15-9570-BIOS-1-3-0-sl...

s0ix is fine so long as it actually activates. The problem is that in some default configurations it doesn't and you end up using a poorer sleep. On my 9305 it was a matter of changing a storage setting in the BIOS and afterwards it was perfectly fine. (If you'll pardon linking my own blog, I wrote about this particular issue a little while ago: https://thomask.sdf.org/blog/2021/08/15/debian-11-bullseye-o...)

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

#278

Post by mszcz »

aerique wrote: post #198
zivkovicp wrote: post #137

Please excuse the long-winded answer... I have also given up on Apple, but mostly because I can't see the value in it anymore, otherwise my experience with them has been satisfactory (Intel CPU models). For the past few years I used a Microsoft Surface Pro because it seemed to have good build quality and high screen resolution, but despite this I have had to replace it as part of a recall due to a graphics hardware i…

Due to Lenovo shortages I could pick an MSI gaming laptop (GS66 Stealth) to replace my broken work laptop. It's awesome. Happily been running Guix on it for the past six months. (As expected, since it is Linux on an unsupported machine, I had to put in some time to get it running smoothly but the person after me does not have to do that anymore.)

Did a similar thing about 1.5 years ago. Bought a Lenovo Legion 15 with 4800H Ryzen and 32 GB RAM. Upgraded the drives to 1 TB NVMe and 4 TB SATA SSD. It's super fast, discreet graphics, replaceable storage and still cost less than half of a similarity configed Macbook Pro.

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

#279

Post by secondcoming »

cranium wrote: post #119

I'm a happy owner of a Dell Precision 5520 that is already 5 years old. It shipped with a Ubuntu LTS by default and I took a 3-year next day repair warranty that I used once for a swollen battery. I cannot express how happy I was to have my laptop repaired in less than an hour in my kitchen by a Dell certified technician. Given how dependent I am on my computer for work, if I had to send it I would have lost at least…

I have a Precision 7750 that I stuck 128GB RAM into. It's a beast, but I use it as a desktop really, so I'm not sure what the battery life is like.

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

#280

Post by hu3 »

djbusby wrote: post #208
blurrybird wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should see their 4 hour 24x7 ProSupport option. We managed to bundle it in with a 1600-device order one year and I was (un)fortunate enough to get to experience it. “So if I understand correctly, You’ve just spilt a red bull on your work laptop at a LAN party you’re facilitating just now, and it’s 1AM, and you need your laptop tomorrow morning for bump out…? Ok does 3:30am work for you?”

In 2000 I spilled grape juice on my Dell Inspiron laptop, while 1000 miles from home. They were out fixing it the next day. It's not a new play for Dell.

In 2001 I fried a Dell desktop motherboard and processor while toying with overclocking.

They flown someone with brand new parts to my home, more than a 1000km away, and replaced it all no question asked.

It's surreal.

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