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Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

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Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#91

Post by rgoulter »

Timpy wrote: post #77

While we're brainstorming and day dreaming about ideal tiny rigs, has anybody ever heard of a good paperwhite/e-ink screen for programming? Imagine an e-ink tablet that only had a terminal emulator. Plug a keyboard into it, ssh to your workstation, save your eyes the strain of a bright screen. I've seen e-inks with an additional red color, but imagine if you could get just a handful of colors. I would read my code in…

I'm reminded of this project from a year and a half ago. https://alternativebit.fr/posts/ultimate-writer/

Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#92

Post by AndrewOMartin »

Timpy wrote: post #77

While we're brainstorming and day dreaming about ideal tiny rigs, has anybody ever heard of a good paperwhite/e-ink screen for programming? Imagine an e-ink tablet that only had a terminal emulator. Plug a keyboard into it, ssh to your workstation, save your eyes the strain of a bright screen. I've seen e-inks with an additional red color, but imagine if you could get just a handful of colors. I would read my code in…

It comes up a lot here, if you search you'll find something, but to save you the effort the answer is it's crazy expensive and very bespoke.

Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#94

Post by nicoburns »

qpiox wrote: post #57

Nearly all comments are completely missing the most important point in the OP question: "The small form factor is important so I can keep it with me like you would keep a physical paper notebook with you". When one says a physical paper notebook, it means something that is small and portable and you can put it in your pocket or a small bag, not a 13" laptop that weighs 2 kilos that you need a special and when you ope…

The MacBook air is only 1.3kg. And it really doesn't take up a lot of space. No more than an A4 notebook. If you're keeping it in a bag, then I think it ought to be small enough.

Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#95

Post by lproven »

No no no. No!

Don't take it from me. Take it from Drew here:

https://drewdevault.com/rants/2020/02/18/Fucking-laptops.htm...

As he says: > The best laptop ever made is the ThinkPad X200

In these sad deprived days, coding means typing text. For text, you need a good keyboard.

And Lenovo made the best keyboards in laptops, later than anyone else... until they went chiclet. As chiclets go, Lenovo's are good, but they're still chiclets and chiclet keyboards are inferior.

Trackpads are large, hard to be very accurate, and you accidentally hit them while typing. All you need is a Trackpoint.

And if you're some kind of current-kit fetishist, or some poor sucker working in Javascript or worse still some Electron abomination, then you can stick a new motherboard in it for your hideous bloatware to get the CPU cycles it needs to pointlessly burn.

https://hackaday.com/2018/03/12/new-guts-make-old-thinkpads-...

Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#96

Post by drej »

bluedino wrote: post #90
drej wrote: post #26

MacOS: check out the latest MacBook Air 13", the one just released - it has a new keyboard, better base disk configuration and it's cheaper than before. Windows: Dell XPS 13 has been the go-to laptop for years, they keep refreshing it, so make sure to get at least the 2019 model (which has a camera on the top of the screen, not the bottom), or ideally the 2020 model, which features a new keyboard and even smaller bez…

12" MacBook is quite a bit smaller than the 13" Macs.

True, but it's also quite a bit more discontinued :(

Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#98

Post by himlion »

drej wrote: post #78
agloeregrets wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a great list but if they want something smaller than a 13 inch, I would add the surface go too. Seems like what they are asking for.

The Surface Go is an amazing device for work on the... go, but the ergonomics of the display and cramped keyboard make it suboptimal for any longer period of time (be it a coffee shop, your bed or anything like that). If you plan to work only at your desk, where you connect it to an external display (USB-C, ideally, to get both power and video) and external keyboard and only use it as a tablet otherwise, then sure, i…

I've used it as such for extended periods of time during a long working holiday. Not ideal but it worked well enough, and the form factor is very portable indeed. The screen cover keyboard is a must though.

Re: Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

#99

Post by _Donny »

app4soft wrote: post #60

> I'm looking for something as small as possible ASUS Eee PC.[0] FTR, The smallest laptop — Ben NanoNote.[1] BTW, I would recommend instead just use any Android device + Termux app + compact Bluetooth/WiFi/USB-keyboard . [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asus_Eee_PC [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_NanoNote

I used to have an ASUS EEE PC from about 2010 (I think it was 1215P). It was an incredible machine -- it was cheap for a student, fairly powerful for internet browsing, text editing, and a bit of coding. The battery easily lasted over 6 hours, so forgetting the small charger at home was not even a concern. Lastly, the keyboard was actually decent as well.

I have never really seen many as well-executed machine since (although I have not been looking too hard).

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