Ask HN: Developer laptop that doesn't suck in 2024 and it's not Apple silicone

There was a similar post a few years back - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32632720

I'm asking for something similar because I'm mainly a dev in the Microsoft ecosystem and I feel comfortable using it for work. I do have a macbook M1 for private use and I love it!

I personally love my Vivobook. It doesn't get too hot or loud and was a good price.

I actually built a tool to compare laptops that you might find useful: https://comparelaptopprices.com

Renewed Lenovo Thinkpads are around $200 or less on Amazon.

Depends on what you're developing and what you want. I got a mid-level AMD based Acer. I don't even remember the specs but something like 6-8 cores and 16-32GB RAM, and probably on yhe lower end of that range. After removing the bloatware, it works just fine. It cost about $450 from ANTonline. I do smaller personal projects on it, with the most resource intensive being some Android dev with emulation, or maybe some "small" big data analysis. If you were running multiple large servers for a single project and running performance tests, then I'd probably get something beefier. Anything graphics intensive would benefit from a discrete graphics card. At that point, you might be better off setting up a desktop or workstation and just remoting in from a cheap refurbished thinkpad.

I have a Dell Latitude 7490 (2019), bought secondhand from ebay. Works great for me, but I put Linux on it and I've been able to trim it down to only the essentials (Alpine Linux with Sway). Barely warm and the screen is 157dpi so nice enough for text.

If you're going with Windows, you can have much more recent hardware with no worry about compatibility (I'd take the Surface for the 3:2 screen ratio). But these days, I tend to use a desktop as I'm spending most of my time on my desk with a good keyboard and a nice 4k 24" screen (I ssh from the laptop when I'm on the couch).