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Ask HN: Feasible Alternative to the MacBook Pro?

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Re: Ask HN: Feasible Alternative to the MacBook Pro?

#331

Post by tristanperry »

sandreas wrote: post #325

I like this question because I'm in a similar situation with my MacBook Pro 2015 despite having bought a MBP 2019, because i was not convinced of the quality... Unfortunately i did not find a real alternative for now... My thoughts about alternatives are: # Software / OS: - Hackintosh - I don't want to bug around with hackish scripts or repeating the whole procedure on upgrades, so I refuse to do this. - Elementary O…

I have a Clevo N131WU and whilst Clevo's are good for the price, the poor battery life and loud fans (without their Windows-only 'Control Centre' software) would prevent me buying one again. It's definitely not a MBP competitor.

Re: Ask HN: Feasible Alternative to the MacBook Pro?

#332

Post by okennedy »

sandreas wrote: post #325

I like this question because I'm in a similar situation with my MacBook Pro 2015 despite having bought a MBP 2019, because i was not convinced of the quality... Unfortunately i did not find a real alternative for now... My thoughts about alternatives are: # Software / OS: - Hackintosh - I don't want to bug around with hackish scripts or repeating the whole procedure on upgrades, so I refuse to do this. - Elementary O…

Two other hardware resources to consider: Purism (https://puri.sm) and System76 (https://system76.com/). Both of which actively target Linux with their hardware. Both have OS distributions tailored to their hardware (less need for tinkering), and both (to varying degrees) attempt to keep hardware and software as open as possible.

Re: Ask HN: Feasible Alternative to the MacBook Pro?

#333

Post by robert_foss »

new_realist wrote: post #310
robert_foss wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no real package manager. You can't rebuild your kernel. You can't upgrade your hardware. Once your HW is unsupported by Apple you're stuck with an old OS that is unsupported by third party software as well.

“You can’t rebuild your kernel.” Are you kidding me? Apple supports the hardware it ships on day one, then provides free updates until the device is obsolete. If you must rebuild Apple’s OSS kernel, you can follow the instructions here: https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Da...

What about hardware Apple doesn't ship? Or support that is buggy? What about GPU support using a non Apple-only APIs (I'm looking at you Metal).

Re: Ask HN: Feasible Alternative to the MacBook Pro?

#334

Post by Myrmornis »

okennedy wrote: post #330
cytzol wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In a hotel (=on Mac), everything is stylish and cared for, but you have very little freedom to change things. I've heard this over and over — that Macs are locked-down, uncustomisable machines — and I don't agree with it at all. I use replacements for almost all the built-in apps. I use a custom launcher. My editor config Git repo is approaching ten years old, and my shell config Git repo is almost eight. There are…

Once upon a time this was true. User-facing documentation was scarce (usually requiring internet searches). However, between unofficial package managers like homebrew, the excellent efforts of a few devs (LaunchBar/Quicksilver, PathFinder, Little Snitch, etc...), `osascript`, and the internet providing defaults documentation for obscure apple apps, I always felt like I could get the system to behave the way I needed…

> but lacked any cmd-key shortcuts

Not true. The shortcut is cmd-shift-g which allows one to select files via the standard filesystem directory hierarchy, using a widget which supports tab completion.

Re: Ask HN: Feasible Alternative to the MacBook Pro?

#335

Post by freehunter »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #311
fortran77 wrote: post #259

Windows 10 on good hardware is very, very nice. My advice is "don't fight windows". I've seen many people try to make Windows like Unix. Don't. Use Windows versions of things, not things compiled under Cygwin or MinGW. Learn to use Powershell and Powershell scripting language. I do development (C/C++/CUDA/Erlang/Python) all day long on Windows 10 and in addition use desktop applications like Microsoft Office and Adob…

Seconding the Surface line, been using one for around a year and find it on par or surpasses an Apple laptop hardware wise. Trackpad difference is negligible, keyboard has real key travel and feels great to type on, pen support without buying a $1000 iPad, light and thin but with both usb-a and c. Don’t even mind using Windows, I still like MacOS but until a hardware option exists again that serves my needs then I’m…

The $329 iPad supports pens too.

Re: Ask HN: Feasible Alternative to the MacBook Pro?

#336

Post by mattlondon »

I have a Dell Precision 5520 running linux that I got when I rejected the 2018 MBP touchbar that I returned to our tech team in disgust (keyboard sucks)

Some observations of the 5520:

- con: really really stupid web cam position: it is at the bottom left of the screen so in any video calls it is basically looking up your nose and if you are typing there are GIANT fingers on screen obscuring your face.

- pro&con: feels well built (metal frame), but it is bulky and feels very heavy

- pro: keyboard is nice to type on

- con: trackpad is nice but sometimes the clicks get "stuck" and you end up inadvertently "dragging" things (e.g. tabs) when you try to click. This might be drivers - who knows.

- pro: It has a little button on the side you can press which shows the rough battery charge level (5 LEDs light up for 20/40/60/80/100%)

- con: there is no "scoop" to make opening the lid easy, so you need to use two hands.

- con: fan is loud and seems to be on almost all the time

It is ok but I have not been particularly pleased with it - the webcam position, the trackpad, and the sheer bulk are the killers. I wont opt for one of these again - probably go for a thinkpad carbon next.

Re: Ask HN: Feasible Alternative to the MacBook Pro?

#337

Post by sharms »

kingkongjaffa wrote: post #301
eggsyntax wrote: post #298

I switched a few years ago from MBP to ThinkPads running Ubuntu (with Gnome). It's been an overall improvement for sure, and there are very few things I miss (iTerm2 is the big one; there's no Linux terminal emulator that has all the advanced features I loved in iTerm2 like incremental search/highlight/copy. Gnome terminal with tmux is...acceptable). And of course it's much cheaper; on both computers (P51 and X1 Extr…

This is such a strange story - my thinkpad T490 lasts all day, my MBP lasts about 4 hours. (granted it's a 2012 model but still). Battery life isn't one of the things Mac books have ever had going for them in my experience.

I have the same experience: My T470 always goes at least 10 hours, and the battery estimate shows 16+ from a full charge. My work Macbook might get 5 on a good day?

Re: Ask HN: Feasible Alternative to the MacBook Pro?

#338

Post by zerotolerance »

inopinatus wrote: post #285
drevil-v2 wrote: post #5

Slightly OT however for what it’s worth the new 16inch MBP with a redesigned non-butterfly keyboard is supposed to be available soon. I would suggest you hold off any laptop decision until then.

The first hurdle for me is still whether it has an Escape key.

Get yourself a clutch :) https://github.com/alevchuk/vim-clutch

Re: Ask HN: Feasible Alternative to the MacBook Pro?

#339

Post by rvanmil »

Not an answer to your question, but I’m of the opinion that Apple should have a product recall for all butterfly keyboard equipped MacBooks.

My own MBP (late 2018) also just went in for its 3rd repair to the keyboard, it’s ridiculous.

I absolutely love everything about the MacBook and Apple ecosystem but god the keyboards are such an embarrassment.

All anecdotal of course but at the office many of our MacBooks have keyboard issues. And quite some people I know also have issues with the keyboard. Just from my observations the problem is gigantic and I wonder if Apple knows this; almost everyone I talked to about the issue is not willing to have it repaired and just live with the shitty keyboard, because they don’t want to wait 2+ weeks for Apple to repair it.

I’m nowhere near the point of switching to something else because I don’t want Windows or Linux, but I cannot wait for Apple to get their shit together with their keyboards.

Re: Ask HN: Feasible Alternative to the MacBook Pro?

#340

Post by coldtea »

TacticalTable wrote: post #283
coldtea wrote: post #239

> However, Apple has demonstrated their inability to be reliable. I bought my MBP in January of this year (2019) and tomorrow I’ll pick it up from its 3rd repair. Well, I've had 5 or so MBs and MBPs since 2003 and hardly ever needed a repair (I had to repair an iMac once). So what happened to one machine, which could have been part of a faulty production run is not necessarily indicative. In general, the fact the MBP…

I don't think OP is referring to Apple's permanent inability to be reliable, but rather the current MBP series. That keyboard is atrocious, and there is no alternative to it. Maybe the 2020 MBP design refresh will fix the issues, but there could also be another set of issues that emerge after a few months. Apple has broken their user's trust.

>but rather the current MBP series. That keyboard is atrocious, and there is no alternative to it.

To that I agree. I simply resorted to using an external keyboard with the laptop 90% of the time (at home or at work) -- until I can upgrade in 1-2 years in a new model with hopefully improved keyboard.

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