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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?

#281

Post by SahAssar »

theyinwhy wrote: post #258
alexdeloy wrote: post #128

I'm sticking to the XPS family for years now and a - for me very important - thing that rarely gets mentioned is the stunning support you can book with the machine. It's usually something around EUR 200-250 for 4-5 years and you'll get a worldwide coverage on the next business day, no matter what. I had issues with my current XPS in a beach house in Portugal earlier last year due to the sand being everywhere in the f…

Ok but how is the Linux support?

The XPS'es can be configured to be preinstalled with linux, so pretty much as good as it gets from a major OEM.

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

#282

Post by rpedela »

I use a Dell XPS 13 with Ubuntu and I love it. Most of the complaints I have seen are either nitpicky or because the early versions did not have good HW support in the kernel. The latter has largely been fixed, and the former is only relevant if you are also nitpicky (which is okay!).

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

#283

Post by confounded »

manish_gill wrote: post #262

I'd love to have a better hardware quality build than my current Macbook Air, but my problem is that I've become quite fond of MacOS over the last few years. I don't miss the days when I was running Xubuntu and trying to tinker out everything to get the basics working. Windows hasn't been to my taste lately either. Are the current generation of Linux desktop environments as user friendly as MacOS?

Nope, but there is way less tinkering required than there used to be.

For the last two years, getting going with modern peripherals and a browser/terminal/editor hasn’t involved any futzing (I use ThinkPads).

Gnome is the standard for ‘Mac-like’ desktop environments on Linux, the version shipped with Ubuntu 18.04 will likely be well polished and welcoming to new users.

Personally, if you like to avoid a mouse, I’d recommend a tiling window manager — the quality and range of these on Linux is just fantastic. The full concept doesn’t quite seem to exist anywhere else. Extremely un-friendly to a novice user, but extremely productive and enjoyable for ‘professional’ use.

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

#285

Post by dingleberry »

I do not recommend lenovo yoga (thin flippable)

the keyboard is ok; however, i often get double press on random key press -> get 'dd' if i press 'd', 'xx' if 'x', 'zz' if 'z', etc

enough to frustrate me and throw me out of flow every time. not worth it.

os is arch linux if that matters.

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

#286

Post by MaxfordAndSons »

lunulata wrote: post #234

System76 is groovy for laptops if you like Linux for your dev env

They're allllright. I have a ~2 year old Gazelle. Performance and linux support wise it's great. But unfortunately almost all of the physical attributes are minuses: keyboard, monitor, build quality, design/look. I'm planning on trying something different next time I buy.

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

#287

Post by ratsimihah »

always_good wrote: post #161
ratsimihah wrote: post #95

I use both an MBP 2015 and an old Lenovo x220 running Arch Linux with i3. Both are equally outstanding to do front-end and back-end. But I can do native iOS on the MBP, play some games, and make music more easily than I could with the Linux Box. To each our own, but I moved away from Windows over a decade ago and never looked back.

Just know that you have the last MBP that I'd consider worthwhile. I bought a newer one and 2 keys have already popped off the new ultrathin keyboard. They didn't break, the C-clamps have just already worn out. This laptop is 5 months old. I type a lot. The keys now regularly come up with my fingers as I type. I'm traveling so I can't fix it. And this has happened to most of my friends in some way. Or constantly havi…

That’s a shame. I should hold onto mine dearly then, they might be worth a lot on secondhand marketplaces soon.

I believe they’re still selling the old MBP model without the touch bar, not sure if it’s the same build as the 2015 though, and there’s no dedicated GPU option.

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro?product=MJLQ2...

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

#288

Post by thomastjeffery »

aviraldg wrote: post #223
CoffeeOnWrite wrote: post #194

I’m on my 4th Thinkpad T-series - T520, T530, T450s, T460s - each one was a a winner. I ditched the T5XX series when they borked the keyboard layout by adding a numpad. Used to run Ubuntu, now I run Debian, stable or testing depending on point in release cycle at install time. I plan to take another look at Ubuntu now that they gave up on Unity. A coworker is happily on the T470s (first USB-C in the series). I always…

Do your co-workers not have issues with HiDPI support on Linux? I've heard it's not the best experience and can require quite some fiddling to get working correctly.

Most apps are written in GTK or Qt, which do scaling well.

The main issue is that scaling can't really be done on a per-display basis.

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

#289

Post by voodootrucker »

Gaming laptops make great developer workstations.

I love my MSI GS63VR. Nice having real CPU and GPU horse power in a laptop. I threw linux on it right away and never looked back. It has all the ports (HDMI, mini-dp, and USB-C), even ethernet. It's as slim as a MBP and much lighter. The trackpad and battery life suck though, and at 180W, don't try to use it on a plane.

The Razor Blade series is really good too.

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

#290

Post by pmontra »

ericabiz wrote: post #73
latch wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One problem with the 13" XPS is that 16GB configuration without a 4K+touchscreen display is only available in some countries (Europe, Hong Kong, ...?) I've been looking to get one (new macbook pro keyoard keeps breaking), but the buying experience has been pretty bad where I am. I'll be in Japan later this month, and I'll probably buy an HP Envy. The XPS doesn't come in the aforementioned configuration and the Carbon…

I was able to custom-configure the XPS 13 with a non-touch display and 16GB here: http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/xps-13/spd/xps-1... (US link) I run repair shops for a living, and I'd certainly recommend the XPS 13 over a HP. The build quality of the HP Envy laptops we get in are terrible. The XPS 13 is just a better laptop.

I've got a HP ZBook 15 in 2014. I'm happy with it but it's only a data point. Did you service any of them, how do they compare?
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