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

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

#811

Post by eoerl » Tue, Apr 26, 2022, 2:44 PM UTC

fy20 wrote: post #51

A few years ago I would have said ThinkPads but I think there are better options available now. At the end of last year I wanted to replace my T470, and wanted to upgrade to something with a more powerful (not U-series) CPU. The ThinkPad option that fitted my requirements was on back order for months, so I looked around... The ASUS ROG line of gaming laptops had exactly what I wanted, although they look a bit garish,…

I’m using a similar setup (G15) for “AI” dev on Linux, it works very well with the Asus-laptop utils.

To complement other points:

- you can put the nvidia card in “compute” or “hybrid” mode, which removes the need for X restarts. Compute is really nice, the computer runs on IGP (which is vey capable) and all cuda workloads seamlessly wake up the nvidia card, no question asked

- the above means that the pc is nearly silent, maybe helped by the AMD cpu, while being pretty capable with the 8 real zen3 cores

- no issues really on Linux, and the Asus-laptop tools allow you to switch off the leds or cap the battery charge. The wifi card was an issue initially, quickly fixed with a newer kernel

- the screen is 120Hz, and this is really appreciated actually

I would buy a newer version in a pinch

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

#812

Post by cassepipe » Thu, Apr 28, 2022, 6:16 AM UTC

jjcon wrote: post #804

cassepipe wrote: post #783

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha this is one of the thing I wanted to know about the framework, thanks for the feedback. All of my laptops were still running fine when they became unusable because of the broken plastic structure around the hinges. I managed to fix that on this one using small bolts. I was eyeing towards Framework for my next laptop after this one falls apart wondering how durable it could be. Maybe I'll still buy that if they e…

Framework has said they are going to release new hinges that are sturdier, and they are extremely easy to swap out. The benefit of the Framework is that any kinks can be easily fixed... still kinks are annoying.

Thanks for the information.I may have changed mind once again.

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

#813

Post by JSavageOne » Sun, May 01, 2022, 8:30 PM UTC

I'm a big fan of the LG Gram 17. It's the lightest laptop with a 17 inch screen ever made, even lighter than a Macbook Air. It's not the most performant machine so I wouldn't buy it if you need the best performance, but it's certainly good enough for software development. Just get a anti-glare screen protector with it since the screen is very reflective.