Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#41

Post by tomknig » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:26 PM UTC

ConceitedCode wrote: post #11

I use a Thinkpad t480s (last years model). This laptop has done a great job "getting out my way". It has one of the best keyboards on any laptop I have used. It runs ubuntu great out of the box. 14in screen happens to be be a very nice size for me. I have the touchscreen model which has been nice for testing mobile sites. The screen could be a little brighter / more vibrant, but I do prefer the matte display for when…

I am using the same device and it's also a clear recommendation from my side. Another plus to add is the support: When I called the support because I had these vertical stripes showing up in the panel from time to time, they sent a replacement mainboard and a technician who replaced it at my place in about an hour. I was 0 days without the device which is quite valuable if you are using it professionally, I'd say... This sort of support does of course not only apply to this exact model but I think it is constrained to the T and X series.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#42

Post by loudmax » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:27 PM UTC

dijit wrote: post #18

I have a Dell Precision 5520 running Linux; it’s incredibly similar to the Dell XPS line and is incredibly fantastic.

I have one of these as my work laptop. I agree, it's a lightweight powerful device and the Linux drivers worked perfectly in my experience (though I haven't asked much from the GPU).

I ended up getting a Lenovo Carbon X1 (6th gen) for my home laptop. It's even lighter, and again the Linux drivers are excellent.

I'd recommend either of these.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#43

Post by ben174 » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:27 PM UTC

ConceitedCode wrote: post #11

I use a Thinkpad t480s (last years model). This laptop has done a great job "getting out my way". It has one of the best keyboards on any laptop I have used. It runs ubuntu great out of the box. 14in screen happens to be be a very nice size for me. I have the touchscreen model which has been nice for testing mobile sites. The screen could be a little brighter / more vibrant, but I do prefer the matte display for when…

1920 x 1080 resolution is very hard to justify at that price point.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#44

Post by 11235813213455 » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:28 PM UTC

znpy wrote: post #16

I've been given a Dell Latitude 7390 at work and I think it's awesome. Basically, it has a full array of ports (Thunderbolt/USB-C, USB-A, microphone jack, an eff-ing ethernet port, hdmi, smartcard, sim and micro-sd), thin bezels (it looks like a 12" but it has a 13" display), a good display, 60WHr battery, a good enough keyboard and it's well supported by GNU/Linux (basically, only the fingerprint reader and nfc don'…

Dell's are good, I've a more modest Dell inspiron 15, i5 8250U, 16G ram

Silent, and great touchpad, I don't even use a mouse anymore actually, using it with Lubuntu 18.04

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#45

Post by peterangular » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:28 PM UTC

Heavy Debian user + webdev + automation dev myself and have ran 8, 9, and 10 with minimal issues on an old T430. In my experience you will almost always have issues with Debian laptops and hibernation.

I also run a custom fan profile for my T430 too because I tend to run it hot with multiple VMWare Workstation VMs, 5+ Docker containers in orchestration etc. It can handle IntelliJ, Chrome with tons of tabs, and the above virtualization/containerization in-parallel very successfully.

I prefer the older Thinkpads because there's more info out there for it, and they tend to be very upgrade-able. I specifically run a very similar build to "The Definitive T430" seen here: https://medium.com/@n4ru/the-definitive-t430-modding-guide-3... ... Also there's SO many great communities out there that are willing to help! (reddit.com/r/thinkpad being the top IMO)

---

I mention my old T430 because you have budget constraints - you can get a base system for approx $150 and I would STRONGLY recommend 16G of RAM (DDR3L for better battery performance) and the screen upgrade. All-in-all my build cost around $550 but I went all-in. It may not fit your "light" criteria but for me I still comfortably travel all the time with it, even with the extended battery. I also put "repairability" at the top of my list too.

Only thing I've found lacking on my custom T430 is video performance - however that's my problem because I make it run two HUGE displays for screen real estate.

I also run a T440p for a Win10 system (ewwwww) and that's outstanding as well - although the trackpad upgrade for that one is a must.

PS: Thanks for being a fellow Debian user as a webdev! Sorry for the stream-of-consciousness response ha

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#46

Post by e3a8 » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:29 PM UTC

I've used HP EliteBook series since G1 (current is G5) all worked great with Ubuntu. G5 series is lightweight and IMHO well built.

Currently using HP Zbook G3 which came with external Nvidia card that I had to take out in order for suspend and screen brightness to work, other than that Zbook G3 works great with Ubuntu but may be too bulky for some.

It is worth checking HP outlet for notebook deals: https://h41369.www4.hp.com/pps-offers.php (under section "Notebook PCs")

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#47

Post by jlgaddis » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:31 PM UTC

transistor-man wrote: post #23

Its really annoying the W series Lenovos were discontinued. The W530 could survive everything from road trip back-seat python to outdoor satellite sdr debugging, all while having a keyboard that was backlit and easy to replace.

Indeed! I've got a six and a half year old W530 that I stull use pretty much on a daily basis. It's survived I-don't-know-how-many hundreds of miles in the saddlebag of a Harley-Davidson.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#48

Post by as1mov » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:31 PM UTC

I've been using a refurbished Dell 7270 for the past few months which I bought for less than $300, this is a 12.5" ultrabook.

I've been pretty happy with it, since it has all the required ports (except maybe a VGA, which I can live without), has 2 ram slots which I can use for upgrading to 32gb for less than $100 in the future. Also it runs Ubuntu Mate flawlessly without any issues.

Overall I can't really find any flaws in few months that I've used it.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#49

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:35 PM UTC

ConceitedCode wrote: post #33

300bps wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did a lot of research on my last purchase and it came down to a Thinkpad T480s or Thinkpad Carbon X1 and I ended up going with the Carbon because it's so much lighter and thinner while still having an i7, 16 GB of RAM and SSD. And I bought it from Costco which was a great price and doubled the factory warranty for free, gives free tech support for a year and a ridiculous 90 day return policy. And the battery lasts 10…

I came down to the same choice, but went with the t480s for the extra RAM and the ethernet port (only used twice, but been a life safer each time). Both are great options.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#50

Post by loudmax » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:41 PM UTC

I used a Lenovo X230 for years and I loved it. One can be had for under $200 US and the Linux drivers are flawless, though make sure you install battery management utilities. The battery and hard drive are replaceable, and there's a slot to add RAM.

Consider getting one refurbished, then upgrade the battery and main storage.