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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?

#311

Post by detaro »

peterashwell wrote: post #310
alexandercrohde wrote: post #298

As somebody who got later into macbooks, and begrudingly had to admit they were objectively superior, here's what I'd like to know about a competitor. 1. Does the screen ever flicker? 2. Has a key ever come off? 3. Does it ever fail to sleep when you close the lid 4. Would you worry if you drop it from waste height 5 times (closed, but running, onto a hard-wood floor) ? 5. Have you had any driver problems, have you e…

big +1 to this response. I got a lenovo (thinkpad x series) and it hit 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7, obviously implying 4. I tried really, really hard to like the lenovo. It just was not built good enough for every day use. It was just a piece of shit. One more very important point: If it breaks and you need support, what happens then? MBP: take it in to a nearby apple store. if not immediate fix or replacement then very rap…

You can bring a Thinkpad to any authorized service partner and have them fix it, just like with Apple. And unlike Apple, Lenovo actually has on-site support if you want it (even standard with some models). I had one Thinkpad that developed issues, but they always quickly fixed it.

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

#312

Post by blinkingled »

ericd wrote: post #188
shazow wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't want to have to modify the DSDT for S3. While I did end up doing that (it wasn't as scary as I thought), turns out just adding `acpi.ec_no_wakeup=1` is sufficient on many distros (I presume ones with recent kernel/systemd versions, older versions seem to require hitting power to wake up). > I wish it had better speakers though I find the speakers fairly comparable to my old MBP, fwiw. > and I still feel lik…

I find the speakers to be awful, but I just use headphones most of the time anyway, so nbd. I have the last gen, so may be different. I'm curious how you tuned the thermal throttling, though!

It might be this - https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/870u0a/t480s_linu...

TL;DR Booting Linux the throttling triggers at much lower temp than on Windows. Fixed by overwriting some MSRs I think.

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

#313

Post by closeparen »

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…

Friendly reminder that Lenovo made a deliberate choice to ship malware payloads to its customers from the factory [0] by preinstalling an SSL MITM proxy configuration from an adware vendor. This is not some suspicious technology with legitimate uses like Intel Management Engine. This is not concerns about the second-order implications of your voluntary uploads to Facebook and Google. It's not even an agency with a real national-security mission overstepping its bounds. It's honest-to-goodness we're-going-to-fuck-you-because-we-can pwnage officially authorized at the highest levels of the company to make a few bucks. When you ask your Lenovo machine to browse the web, you're not seeing the web, you're seeing a version edited by Lenovo's advertising partners. Sure, anyone here can beat it, but where else in the stack have they subverted your machine?

If you're even slightly concerned about data privacy and user freedom, please do not be complicit in Lenovo's continued existence.

[0] https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/6/16261988/lenovo-adware-sup...

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

#314

Post by lancewiggs »

Consider your use cases - how often do you really need the computer to be portable? Do you work in more than 2 locations? Would a powerful (and cheap) desktop and a skinny (and cheap) laptop, perhaps with a great screen, work for when not at your desk? Laptops command a premium price for portability and desirability, so if you can reduce your need for those then you can get a lot more value for your hard-earned money.

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

#316

Post by el_cid »

I use a 2017 Thinkpad at work... The screen is worse than my MBP, the touchpad is crap, it crashes once a month or so. I could have used it as a replacement for my rMBP 15 2012, but I got a 2017 13" nTB MBP for home use and side projects. And I love it - except the keyboard which is a downgrade... The TouchBar is retarded.

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

#317

Post by looki »

dingleberry wrote: post #285

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.

On top of that, mine (Yoga 910) has an incredibly sensitive fan that not only gets loud easily, but also has a very high pitched frequency. My desktop computer gets loud easily, but it's white noise so it's fine. This is not.

EDIT: "On top of that" was bad wording, I do not encounter the double key issue.

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

#318

Post by EpicEng »

forapurpose wrote: post #307
confounded wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where would such a bug be? If you’re installing Linux, that wipes out software bugs (seems the most likely place to me). Lenovo provide details about the components and design, which means you could verify/replace things if you like. ThinkPads are trusted enough by the USG for various uses (though they seem to prefer Dell). Personally I’m more freaked out by Intel’s Management Engine.

> If you’re installing Linux, that wipes out software bugs Linux would address OS bugs, and it brings bugs of its own. All your applications also could be exploited. > Intel’s Management Engine That and other pre-boot subsystems are exploitable by adversaries.

Nothing you said is specific to Lenovo.

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

#319

Post by phillnom »

el_cid wrote: post #316

I use a 2017 Thinkpad at work... The screen is worse than my MBP, the touchpad is crap, it crashes once a month or so. I could have used it as a replacement for my rMBP 15 2012, but I got a 2017 13" nTB MBP for home use and side projects. And I love it - except the keyboard which is a downgrade... The TouchBar is retarded.

What OS do you run on your Thinkpad?

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

#320

Post by MightySCollins »

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.

I wish everything just used wayland and scaled correctly I am sick of having to launch chrome with an environment variable so it can run on one screen and having another instance for another. Also silly things like file dialogs not fitting. It's annoying when you look and the issues are all from years ago and still not fixed.
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