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Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

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Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#771

Post by ungamedplayer »

SxC97 wrote: post #694
rmbyrro wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why Mac seems to attract so fanatic behavior? They seem to want to push everyone to use Mac, like religious fanatics try to push everyone to their "truth". I think this is a result of some marketing tactics Apple employed for decades, and it only pushes me away from this brand.

Have you not noticed the rabid Linux fan base on HN? It seems like every discussion about Macs or macOS has at least 2-3 comments about how someone had used macOS for years, then got sick of apples (intel) hardware or lack of software customizability and switched to a Linux machine running Debian/Fedora/Ubuntu/Manjaro and they are never looking back (except for commenting on every Mac related post on HN). The only re…

I feel so noticed !

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#772

Post by NGRhodes »

vmoore wrote: post #646

I'm gonna re-post this by @Tommy_Tran on Reddit. This is not me, but the comment was too good not to share it again on HN. This is from the self-post here, titled `Is Linux more private and secure than Mac OS?` https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/u6ws24/is_linux_mo... Worth considering security when about to buy a daily-driver laptop! ----------------- Linux is not more secure than macOS. Infact, it is not even…

Underrated comment, very factual. I skimmed through the reddit thread that this comment came from and its full of the usual arguments based on ideological belives and/or extensive reconfiguration possibilities way beyond the out of the box experience, mixing privacy with security.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#773

Post by allisdust »

brobinson wrote: post #518
allisdust wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 for zephyrus (though I'm using last year's model). Thanks to the hard working asus-linux community, most of the hardware features are controllable seamlessly through GUI software (fan profiles, switching between gpus, keyboard lights etc). Goes well with Fedora because they have the latest kernels with stable releases.

Could you link to this community and the GUI software you mentioned? I just got a Zephyrus M16, and I'm having quite a few issues getting stuff working on it.

I followed the guides from here: asus-linux.org/

specifically this one (because I wanted Fedora): https://asus-linux.org/wiki/fedora-guide/

There is also a reddit community for Fedora where you can ask questions (also the above link contains some discord server links I believe.

The gui software is here: https://gitlab.com/asus-linux/asusctl (the above guides anyway details the installation procedure for asusctl as well so no need to do it separately).

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#774

Post by formerkrogemp »

swozey wrote: post #400
formerkrogemp wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll pay you 5$ and shipping for that XPS.

It's being sent to my mom this week, if you make that $1k I'll do it. It's barely 2 years old and has been awful since I got it. I think I just had higher expectations out of its form factor which can't keep itself cool at all.

I'm always in support of donating laptops to relatives in need. Good on you.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#775

Post by brobinson »

allisdust wrote: post #773
brobinson wrote: post #518

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you link to this community and the GUI software you mentioned? I just got a Zephyrus M16, and I'm having quite a few issues getting stuff working on it.

I followed the guides from here: asus-linux.org/ specifically this one (because I wanted Fedora): https://asus-linux.org/wiki/fedora-guide/ There is also a reddit community for Fedora where you can ask questions (also the above link contains some discord server links I believe. The gui software is here: https://gitlab.com/asus-linux/asusctl (the above guides anyway details the installation procedure for asusctl as we…

Thank you! This is very helpful.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#776

Post by brobinson »

unpixer wrote: post #394
synergy20 wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never figured out how to toggle graphics between intel integrated and nvidia gpu as I also want to use nvidia gpu fully for CUDA algorithms, is there an app or something to do that?

I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but I use the system76-power extension ( https://github.com/pop-os/system76-power ) to toggle between the integrated Intel Xe unit and the dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 in my Galago Pro. While at first glance it might seem that it's a System76 utility for a System76 distribution on System76 hardware, I'm currently using it on Fedora, and the hardware itself should…

Thanks for this tip.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#777

Post by vgel »

excitednumber wrote: post #19
francis-io wrote: post #4

The professional (T series) line of the Thinkpads are my go to. I've been running ubuntu 20.04 for the past few years. You can have hot swap batteries and an inbuilt SIM slot if you choose. Not sure if the fingerprint is working (I didn't select that option) but everything else works flawlessly. Side note: I have been maintaining an Ansible playbook for years now that sets up my developer workstation. I do know Ansib…

I recently wimped out of buying a thinkpad due to uncertainty regarding getting Ubuntu running correctly and the time it would take me to do it. Do you have a guide you’ve used or instructions you have stashed somewhere?

I run PopOS (System 76's Ubuntu derivative) on my T490, and it works flawlessly with all the upgrades (aftermarket SSD and RAM). I think the only major system-level config I've done is install TLP for better power management.

I would recommend PopOS over plain Ubuntu because they have some nice utilities for managing things like hidpi, and in my experience hardware "just works" more often, e.g. wifi.

Caveat, I didn't get the discrete GPU, those can be hell, and I made sure to get an Intel wifi chipset (same price) since it has the best Linux support.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#778

Post by jpetso »

ho_schi wrote: post #403
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Lenovo X13 Gen 2 with a 16 thread Ryzen 5850U and 32GB of RAM. It’s about the most powerful you can get while still having a power efficient CPU under load. I spend all day compiling with all cores and battery is still around 8-9 hours with a 90% charging cap set in the bios to preserve battery longevity. Linux works great on the AMD chipset but I had to replace the Wi-Fi card with an Intel AX220. After buyi…

Using still a ThinkPad X220 with Linux and will switch likely this year to a X13 AMD Gen3. I personally prefer the X13 because it is solid, powerful and provide many connectors. I hope the next MediaTek WiFi-Chips are better this time, if not Intel-WiFi. The X1 is slimmer, lightweight but scarifies a lot and is expensive. The X13 ARM is passively cooled which a major benefit, similar to the MacBook Air but due to ARM…

The T14s Gen 3 is apparently using Qualcomm wifi chips instead of MediaTek or Intel this time around, it seems likely that we'll see the same for the X13 Gen 3 as well.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#779

Post by taylodl »

Melatonic wrote: post #701
hollandia wrote: post #634

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a developer/gamer I use all these systems and with every year I'm less and less motivated to use macOS. Linux is clear winner for everything I need server related and Windows is fine for everything client related. macOS is in this weird spot where it lacks most of the server side stuff (lack of hosting, poor virtualization support etc.), but it also lacks some of the client side things (poor gaming, no hardware cu…

Yeah I am kind of in this boat as well - Windows is held back by some legacy stuff but has also gotten better and better. It also has a bunch more spyware crap (but if you know what to do thankfully you can disable most of that). It used to be back in the day you had to choose between a smooth OSX experience or a bloated adware filled windows XP. Linux has also gotten dramatically easier as well of course and is free…

Last I checked, and it's been a couple years, the MacOS license allows you to run up to three MacOS images on your MacOS hardware. We do that on our MacOS build servers we use for building iOS apps since you can't have multiple versions of Xcode installed simultaneously.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#780

Post by ho_schi »

jpetso wrote: post #778
ho_schi wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using still a ThinkPad X220 with Linux and will switch likely this year to a X13 AMD Gen3. I personally prefer the X13 because it is solid, powerful and provide many connectors. I hope the next MediaTek WiFi-Chips are better this time, if not Intel-WiFi. The X1 is slimmer, lightweight but scarifies a lot and is expensive. The X13 ARM is passively cooled which a major benefit, similar to the MacBook Air but due to ARM…

The T14s Gen 3 is apparently using Qualcomm wifi chips instead of MediaTek or Intel this time around, it seems likely that we'll see the same for the X13 Gen 3 as well.

Interesting! If Qualcomm means actually WiFI chips from Atheros this could mean good WiFi and good Linux drivers. Atheros has a good reputation, it is just Qualcomms ARM and GPUs drivers which are problem.
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