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Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

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Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#51

Post by SlowBro »

qume wrote: post #33
SlowBro wrote: post #5

Lots of people love the Lenovo X220, which can be upgraded with simple screwdrivers to the latest and greatest processors and motherboards using fan-made motherboards. (That’s how popular they are, fans are making newer motherboards for them. I don’t know the experience, I’m using a very old Toughbook to devel since my needs aren’t great.) What’s with the hinges? I’ve never had one fail. Granted, I’m no road warrior.

I'm surrounded by fancy machines but the X220 just keeps on finding an excuse to be used. I would say I use it more than any other machine. The thing has a soul. I love it. I took > 20,000 photos today from a cessna using it's inbuilt ethernet port and four machine vision cameras. When you're paying for aircraft time and are bumping around a bit, having that thing on your lap makes you feel like you have a good wing…

> I took > 20,000 photos today from a cessna using it's inbuilt ethernet port and four machine vision cameras.

That sounds like a cool project. What was the goal?

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#52

Post by nemoniac »

I just bought a Thinkpad x230 to replace the one that I bought new soon after they first came out.

It cost me €250. The original one cost more like €2000.

It has a rock-solid build with metal hinges, i7, 16GB RAM.

For me it's an ideal development machine. I run ArchLinux with a window manager that has all windows at full-screen size and can easily switch between them using keystrokes. Typically I only use a code editor, browser and terminals.

I couldn't be happier. Or more efficient.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#53

Post by colomon »

eeZah7Ux wrote: post #20

Thinkpads are robust, reliable and have good Linux support. However, Purism Librem 15 is interesting as well: https://puri.sm/products/librem-15/

Huh.

On the one hand, that sounds like a nice laptop.

On the other hand, that landing page ad copy reads like someone took a challenge to add twice again to the snake oil of your usual Apple PR...

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#54

Post by manveru »

bonsai80 wrote: post #46

Does anyone know of good options with 32gb of ram? I have been happy with my 2 different dell xps machines and ubuntu, but everything still maxes out at 16gb ram.

I'm using notebooks from Tuxedo, they preinstall Linux (although I usually put NixOS on them) and make sure that they have fully supported hardware.

https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Linux-Hardware/Linux-Note... has some models with 32GB options as well.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#55

Post by anon1253 »

I recently wondered the same thing to replace my 15" 2014 Macbook Pro Retina. I went with the 2018 Lenovo Carbon X1 (16GB, WQHD, i7) and ... it's awful. Linux doesn't work due to a bug in the trackpad drivers, for which there is no reliable fix yet. And, I personally just can't stand Windows (that's a whole different rant). Hardware wise: the sound quality is so horrendous that even watching youtube is a no-go (think dollar store earbuds). That's on low volume, on medium-high volume, in addition to the audio quality, the whole case resonates making it very uncomfortable to even type. And, even though the battery life is rated at "15 hours", with just normal browsing and text edit I get 4 tops. Also it gets really really hot, for no reason (CPU I'm probably going to try to get the latest 2016 (I think?) Retina model if my 2014 machine breaks, and see how long that lasts.

I know the barrier to entry is enormous, and there are fundamental problems with doing it better than Dell etc (patents), but a hardware startup that builds better laptops would be great. It feels so silly, but it's a solid reminder for me that consumer hardware progress has definitely stalled; a 2014 machine performs equally, if not better, than a 2018 one in the same price range.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#56

Post by archi42 »

> What computer[...]

I'll take you literally there ;-)

I know laptops are becoming more and more capable, but if you don't really work on the go (it's not clear from the post): I've had great experience using a refurbished quality laptop for non-demanding stuff (e.g. ssh and off-time surfing, reading,...); and a capable desktop computer to do the heavy lifting at home (at the office I use the workstation that's supplied by my employer).

My Sandybridge system is out-dated, so no use of giving specs, but Ryzen 1800X, and i7-8700k should all be well in your price range (plus a nice monitor or two; assuming you don't need an expensive GPU for your work). Maybe even Threadripper 1920X or the next iteration of the i7-7820X.

All of these should easily beat anything that's the size of a MBP (my CPU cooler alone weighs over 500g = 25% of a 2015 2000$ MBP).

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#57

Post by robotmay »

xab9 wrote: post #23
robotmay wrote: post #10

I use a 13" ThinkPad X250 when I'm not at my desk and I've been pretty impressed by it. I picked it up second-hand for I'm not sure what the newer and bigger models are like, however, so maybe someone else would have more experience there. The other guys at work have all opted for XPS 13" machines. They haven't arrived yet, but I'm curious as to what they'll be like.

Now that you mention it on my X230, IPS panel, impermanent burn in is visible too, mostly with gray or dark wallpapers. I got used to it during the years though.

Yeah it was only really noticeable when moving between the browser and my terminal (dark theme). I think they cheaped out a bit on the panel used in it, which is a shame as otherwise it's a cracking little laptop.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#59

Post by drivingmenuts »

MacBook Pros haven't changed much since 2012, at least not in ways that would affect your work, in particular. You might upgrade the storage, but unless (or until) Apple replaces the Intel processor with one of their own (rumored), you're golden.

Rumor has it Apple might switch to an internally-developed processor at some point, and that might mean a significant memory upgrade, but that's at least a year away, near as I can tell.

In short, unless you're looking to change platforms entirely, don't worry about it.

And remember, you can always boot camp. PC Magazine once claimed that the best machine to run Windows on was a Mac.

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