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Ask HN: Are Chromebooks ready for serious development?

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Re: Ask HN: Are Chromebooks ready for serious development?

#51

Post by tedmiston »

purple-again wrote: post #29
aerovistae wrote: post #4

"if we can comfortably do development without a MacBook"? What kind of premise is that for a question? You think this forum consists only of devs using Macbooks?

I'm so deeply confused right now that I thought this thread was a joke but now I'm thinking its not. I'm in the state that shall not be named on the other side of the world from California but when I go to tech meet ups, 90% of the room is running Ubuntu/Linux Mint or some other variety with a sprinkling of Macbooks. Is it seriously that different? What do the Starbucks around that area look like? edit I should point…

Pretty much all MacBook Pros. Maybe 15-20:1 these days over devs on Linux machines from what I've seen.

It's funny because growing up as an Apple user in the mid 90s it was reversed. And we didn't have a package manager like Homebrew on OS 9. It's so much easier to be a Mac dev today than historically.

Re: Ask HN: Are Chromebooks ready for serious development?

#52

Post by bhouston »

tedmiston wrote: post #44
tannhaeuser wrote: post #42

I don't understand the authors choice to limit himself to Apple or Google. You've been able to do development on Linux notebooks (and Windows notebooks, of course) since decades. I can absolutely recommend Dell (and ThinkPad, though not from personal experience) notebooks with Ubuntu preinstalled/officially supported. Or is the question if a Chromebook is en vogue to use this season at Starbucks?

There's one Dell model that all of the hardcore Linux devs in the office use that I've heard called the rough equivalent of the MacBook Pro. XPS 15, I believe.

The Dell XPS 9560 is a 7700hq + NVIDIA 1050. I had it, it was great. Just was forced to upgrade to a XPS 9570 that has a 8750H + NVIDIA 1050 Ti.

It is a great laptop and cost effective for the 9570 right now, $1699 CAD right now with the coupon code: http://www.dell.com/en-ca/shop/dell-laptops-netbooks-and-tab... I have a larger SSD and memory sitting around the office, so I don't count that in the cost.

Re: Ask HN: Are Chromebooks ready for serious development?

#53

Post by NiveaGeForce »

magoon wrote: post #13

I use a 12” MacBook and find it almost fully suitable for all development. Even with VMs and Docker containers, it’s great, but if anything misbehaves and gets it running too hot it can get sluggish. It’s unable to recover on its own because it has no fan. MacBook Pros can keep going even with CPU-abusive software. I don’t want to carry the extra weight so I choose the trade-off. But a Chromebook? I don’t understand…

ChromeOS is actually well designed and secure, has pen & touch support for 2-in-1s, and is going in the right direction. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16813796

Re: Ask HN: Are Chromebooks ready for serious development?

#54

Post by bhouston »

crystaln wrote: post #34

A few months ago my Macbook Pro screen cracked while I was on a road trip. I thought I was screwed, but decided to try development on a Chromebook I had lying around. That was when I discovered AWS Cloud 9. After getting back my repaired fully maxed out latest model Macbook Pro, I have not even bothered to restore the hard drive. Developing on Cloud 9 has been wonderful. Having everything already in the cloud in a pr…

I love coding on dual 4K screens powered by my laptop. How does a web-based Cloud 9 work on dual 4K screens? Can a Chromebook power dual 4K screens that are external?

I currently run an XPS 9560 but am waiting now for a 9570. Laptops are definitely replacing desktops even for high powered tasks, but I am not sure Chromebooks have the horsepower yet.

The other place that Chromebook's fall down is when traveling. Lots of places like airplains, trains have spotting wifi/cell coverage. With a Chromebook you are dead in the water. If you spent a lot of time traveling, not being able to work is sort of a bummer.

Re: Ask HN: Are Chromebooks ready for serious development?

#55

Post by ATsch »

namanyayg wrote: post #43
tannhaeuser wrote: post #42

I don't understand the authors choice to limit himself to Apple or Google. You've been able to do development on Linux notebooks (and Windows notebooks, of course) since decades. I can absolutely recommend Dell (and ThinkPad, though not from personal experience) notebooks with Ubuntu preinstalled/officially supported. Or is the question if a Chromebook is en vogue to use this season at Starbucks?

How has your experience been with battery and portability? I'm leaning towards buying a new laptop that I can carry around comfortably. I'm comfortable with remotely working on a more powerful PC if needed. Any models you'd recommend? I much rather would pick anything else over a MacBook.

I use a x230 with the biggest battery. It's decently thick/heavy compared to the modern ultra-slim laptops, but it's compact, fast enough and it set me back barely over 300€ total and the battery lasts 9+ hours.

It sounds like budget is not your problem, but I thought I'd just mention this for any students etc. passing by.

Re: Ask HN: Are Chromebooks ready for serious development?

#56

Post by mhluongo »

tedmiston wrote: post #44
tannhaeuser wrote: post #42

I don't understand the authors choice to limit himself to Apple or Google. You've been able to do development on Linux notebooks (and Windows notebooks, of course) since decades. I can absolutely recommend Dell (and ThinkPad, though not from personal experience) notebooks with Ubuntu preinstalled/officially supported. Or is the question if a Chromebook is en vogue to use this season at Starbucks?

There's one Dell model that all of the hardcore Linux devs in the office use that I've heard called the rough equivalent of the MacBook Pro. XPS 15, I believe.

XPS 13 user here, big fan

Re: Ask HN: Are Chromebooks ready for serious development?

#57

Post by tannhaeuser »

namanyayg wrote: post #43
tannhaeuser wrote: post #42

I don't understand the authors choice to limit himself to Apple or Google. You've been able to do development on Linux notebooks (and Windows notebooks, of course) since decades. I can absolutely recommend Dell (and ThinkPad, though not from personal experience) notebooks with Ubuntu preinstalled/officially supported. Or is the question if a Chromebook is en vogue to use this season at Starbucks?

How has your experience been with battery and portability? I'm leaning towards buying a new laptop that I can carry around comfortably. I'm comfortable with remotely working on a more powerful PC if needed. Any models you'd recommend? I much rather would pick anything else over a MacBook.

I've got a Dell XPS 13", and I'm absoluting loving it; especially the keyboard works great for me as a touch typist/vi user, which I didn't expect since the keyboard is what ThinkPads are acclaimed for. That said, battery mileage is no match to Apple notebooks in my experience. I can get 3 to 4 hours max, though I'm occasionally doing CPU-intense stuff which will reduce this to 1-2 hours. If Apple actually would produce a "Pro" notebook with a usable keyboard and without the TouchBar thingy, and with actual "Pro" port options and replaceable parts, I'd be considering Apple again since I had a good experience with my PowerBook back in the day.

Re: Ask HN: Are Chromebooks ready for serious development?

#58

Post by tedmiston »

jonhendry18 wrote: post #49
yani wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, read the last sentence of my comment. Updates might re enable it. If your battery runs out, the same happens.

Did you remove the Siri button from the touch bar, or disable Siri altogether? Maybe try doing both.

I removed it once. I may be mistaken here, but if I recall, removing it slightly shifted the layout of the other keys throwing off my muscle memory for the f keys.

I'm interested in a solution. I probably hit that key unintentionally 10 times a day.

Re: Ask HN: Are Chromebooks ready for serious development?

#59

Post by greggarious »

tannhaeuser wrote: post #57
namanyayg wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How has your experience been with battery and portability? I'm leaning towards buying a new laptop that I can carry around comfortably. I'm comfortable with remotely working on a more powerful PC if needed. Any models you'd recommend? I much rather would pick anything else over a MacBook.

I've got a Dell XPS 13", and I'm absoluting loving it; especially the keyboard works great for me as a touch typist/vi user, which I didn't expect since the keyboard is what ThinkPads are acclaimed for. That said, battery mileage is no match to Apple notebooks in my experience. I can get 3 to 4 hours max, though I'm occasionally doing CPU-intense stuff which will reduce this to 1-2 hours. If Apple actually would prod…

Does it have a replacable battery? I'd be less annoyed about 4 hours of battery if I could swap.

(Also if anyone knows of a model that's got more of a focus on battery life for someone who is SSHing into external machines for most CPU intensive tasks I'd be all ears)

Re: Ask HN: Are Chromebooks ready for serious development?

#60

Post by crystaln »

bhouston wrote: post #54
crystaln wrote: post #34

A few months ago my Macbook Pro screen cracked while I was on a road trip. I thought I was screwed, but decided to try development on a Chromebook I had lying around. That was when I discovered AWS Cloud 9. After getting back my repaired fully maxed out latest model Macbook Pro, I have not even bothered to restore the hard drive. Developing on Cloud 9 has been wonderful. Having everything already in the cloud in a pr…

I love coding on dual 4K screens powered by my laptop. How does a web-based Cloud 9 work on dual 4K screens? Can a Chromebook power dual 4K screens that are external? I currently run an XPS 9560 but am waiting now for a 9570. Laptops are definitely replacing desktops even for high powered tasks, but I am not sure Chromebooks have the horsepower yet. The other place that Chromebook's fall down is when traveling. Lots…

I use a single 4k screen. Most Chromebooks have no problem with this. I have not tried dual 4k screens, however I think a Pixelbook is capable of this.

One thing I've discovered is that much screen real estate is overkill for me, and I'm more productive with less.

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