Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#401

Post by sergiosgc » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 2:42 PM UTC

octagons wrote: post #313

jwalton wrote: post #223

Lenovo has some pretty good sales on thinkpad X1s (at least they do in Canada - didn't check the US site). But, if you're in Canada, I just bought this: https://www.newegg.ca/p/N82E16834233446?Description=gigabyte... It's got a gorgeous 4K OLED screen, a quite decent CPU and GPU, and it's currently $350 off + a $300 mail in rebate (there was an additional $350 off over the easter weekend, too). The track pad is not m…

Absolutely love the X1 series. I use it as a daily driver running Linux and can vouch for some of the points made in this thread about them.

I second that. I only use X1Cs. Had a gen3, gen7 and currently use a gen9. The one I have now (X1C Gen9) is the first one that turns the fans on without any CPU heavy task (compiling, blender, stuff like that). Low RPM, but fanning nonetheless. I throttled the CPU (i7-1165G7@2.8GHz) to 2GHz (the hardware limit is 4.7GHz), and it no longer heats up; bullet dodged.

The gen7 had a screen malfunction, repaired under warranty with flawless service. I just upgraded because it would take two weeks for service turnaround, and we might as well have a spare laptop around.

Excellent keyboard, much better than Macs. I use trackpoint, so I'm unable to evaluate the trackpad. The internal display is 1920x1200, and I have nothing bad to say about it. Excellent linux driver coverage. Runs cool, even if it required capping its performance.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#402

Post by camdenreslink » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 2:45 PM UTC

I bought a Dell Latitude 7490 refurbished from the Dell Outlet a few years ago for 1. Installed Ubuntu on it, never had any driver issues 2. Keyboard was pretty nice 3. Screen wasn’t very good, although I did appreciate it having a matte finish. Not in the same ballpark as a MacBook screen.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#403

Post by ho_schi » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 2:45 PM UTC

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #293

jwalton wrote: post #223

Lenovo has some pretty good sales on thinkpad X1s (at least they do in Canada - didn't check the US site). But, if you're in Canada, I just bought this: https://www.newegg.ca/p/N82E16834233446?Description=gigabyte... It's got a gorgeous 4K OLED screen, a quite decent CPU and GPU, and it's currently $350 off + a $300 mail in rebate (there was an additional $350 off over the easter weekend, too). The track pad is not m…

I have a Lenovo X13 Gen 2 with a 16 thread Ryzen 5850U and 32GB of RAM. It’s about the most powerful you can get while still having a power efficient CPU under load. I spend all day compiling with all cores and battery is still around 8-9 hours with a 90% charging cap set in the bios to preserve battery longevity. Linux works great on the AMD chipset but I had to replace the Wi-Fi card with an Intel AX220. After buyi…

Using still a ThinkPad X220 with Linux and will switch likely this year to a X13 AMD Gen3. I personally prefer the X13 because it is solid, powerful and provide many connectors. I hope the next MediaTek WiFi-Chips are better this time, if not Intel-WiFi.

The X1 is slimmer, lightweight but scarifies a lot and is expensive. The X13 ARM is passively cooled which a major benefit, similar to the MacBook Air but due to ARMs and Qualcomm bad support of Linux not even an option. A passively cooled AMD variant would be more interesting.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#404

Post by pSYoniK » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 2:49 PM UTC

Depending on where you are I would probably recommend looking at used Thinkpad P1/X1 Extreme. They tend to be within your budget if you're looking at a model from a year or two ago and they work very well on Ubuntu (Debian as well if you look at grabbing non-free drivers for whatever isn't working) and Ubuntu derivatives.

While I know there are a few suggestions for gaming oriented laptops, but I'd suggest you are careful going down that route as some of the cheaper models feel very flimsy and if you end up working on this for longer periods of time, things such as sharp edges, sub-par (rattly) keyboard, bad screen or hell, even weak hinges, can be very frustrating. There is also the issue that Linux support might not be as good.

I had an E460 and it worked fine for 6 years (I dropped it a few times and someone spilled coffee on it) but even 4-5-6 years down the line I could find replacement keyboard, replacement battery and even replacement case for it. When I gave it to be used by someone else, I had swapped these parts out, paid probably 60$ for them but I knew that the laptop will keep running fine for a few more years. I don't think I could find replacement case/keyboard for some gaming laptop 6 years down the line...? Or maybe I could and I just haven't had the chance to look.

To sum up, get an older Thinkpad or maybe even an older Dell Precision.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#405

Post by swozey » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 2:49 PM UTC

raxxorraxor wrote: post #385

swozey wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Ultimately more powerful" As a previous BSD engineer please explain further, this entire thread is just horrendous and should be downvoted to oblivion. Nobody cares what laptop you decide to use, nor are you incapable of doing your own research. My grandmother calls me for laptop recommendations. My M1 Max 14" MBP has 64gb ram, mucho cores and is the fastest machine I've used. My gaming/dev desktop is a 12core ryzen…

Well, you might be able to make it work, but the OS simply leaves you less freedom compared to a Linux machine. And you would need to jump through hoops. I am an embedded dev and I have tried. Theoretically it is possible, but you would miss a lot of tooling on the way. I don't really care about performance that much. I have an MB Air with M1 and I like it because the battery and display is very good. But it isn't re…

Unique devices is definitely a concern! I wasn't sure when I got my Garmin watch if I'd be able to update it from my mac. Thankfully I can.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#406

Post by derbOac » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 2:50 PM UTC

I'm in a similar boat and the ones you're mentioning are all ones I've considered, along with some in the comments.

Just to throw one more out I haven't seen mentioned is Razer. I haven't purchased one but have played around with them in person.

The Razer Blade laptops in particular seem really nice to me, with nice build, screen and very nice touchpad, in a good form factor and nice specs. The MacBook Pro is maybe the closest thing I've seen to them. There's apparently a version of a Razer released by second company with linux on it (blessed by Razer), targeted at development, although the "regular" Razer laptops can be had for much less cost, more in your range. I used to think of Razer laptop as a "desktop gaming alternative" but some of the newer ones seem like they could be used for development. I've seen the Blades in AMD and Intel form.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#407

Post by Kon-Peki » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 2:50 PM UTC

jll29 wrote: post #24

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 or X1 Nano are my favorites. Small, light, but powerful. Before I used the ThinkPad X230 and DELL Latitude 7270, each for many years and bought second hand. The DELL was particularly sturdy. All of these are Ubuntu LTS friendly boxes. Avoid Microsoft Surface Laptops, which require patches to run Linux, Microsoft doesn't offer an Image ready to burn on a stick. And although I'm writing this on an M1…

> Avoid Microsoft Surface Laptops, which require patches to run Linux, Microsoft doesn't offer an Image ready to burn on a stick.

Is this indeed the case, and likely to continue for the foreseeable future? If so, that is really disappointing. I came in to recommend the Surface Laptop 4. You get the choice of an AMD or Intel processor, excellent build quality, and a 200dpi 3:2 touchscreen. And if you choose the "business" version, you can spec it with up to 32GB memory.

My wife is a die-hard ThinkPad user, but I can't stand the widescreen nature of them. I love how the notch on my MBP gives me that little extra bit of vertical real estate. But that screen on the Surface Laptop! My kids and a niece have them, they are amazing.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#408

Post by 2143 » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 2:50 PM UTC

Since you were seeking laptops I imagine you're fine with the computing power laptops usually offer.

I recently purchased a ThinkPad E14 gen 3.

It has a 6 core 12 thread Ryzen 5 5600U, with 24 GB of memory (8 GB soldered + 16 GB I installed later).

I run Linux exclusively. No Windows or dual boot or anything like that.

I currently run the latest Fedora 36 Beta. On this particular OS I have none of the usual Linux problems.

- Wifi works on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.

- Bluetooth works seamlessly. Picks up my wireless mouse and headphones right after boot/wakeup. Couldn't say the same about my older Linux laptops.

- Sleep/suspend/wakeup etc works.

- Camera works. Btw it has a shutter.

- Screen resolution is full HD.

- Battery life of about 6 to 7 hours on moderate usage. I think you might be able to customise your order with a bigger battery and faster charger.

What doesn't work: - Fingerprint sensor

Note that I did not have to do any workarounds on my machine with Fedora 36 Beta. YMMV.

Some general thoughts on the ThinkPad E14:

- Material quality of the E series is definitely not as great as the T, P, and X series of ThinkPad. But then again, it was much much cheaper, and I think the quality is okay for the price.

- You can upgrade memory, storage, and a few other things by opening up the bottom panel.

- Keyboard is great. Trackpad isn't as good as the ones on the Mac. I personally like the 3 physical buttons above the trackpad.

- Choose your display wisely. There are TN displays as well as better quality displays.

------

My friend has the same laptop, except it's on Ryzen 3, memory is only 8 GB, and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. On his machine, there are the following two problems:

- Display always goes to full brightness on boot.

- Memory shows only 6.2 GB (usually it shows 7.7 on other Ubuntu laptops with 8 gb; on my Fedora it shows the full 24 GB).

However, these are OS specific problems and workarounds exist. Also, I'm hoping things would be sorted out in the newer versions of the Linux kernel.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#409

Post by emptyfile » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 2:50 PM UTC

kayodelycaon wrote: post #374

rmbyrro wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why Mac seems to attract so fanatic behavior? They seem to want to push everyone to use Mac, like religious fanatics try to push everyone to their "truth". I think this is a result of some marketing tactics Apple employed for decades, and it only pushes me away from this brand.

> result of some marketing tactics Apple employed for decades Or perhaps people really like macOS and their value system is different. I don't think a lot of developers are buying macs due to marketing. Also, Linux attracts the same fanatic behavior. If you like linux, you don't notice see how many people are pushing it. If you like macOS, you're more likely to notice the people pushing linux because you disagree wit…

>I don't think a lot of developers are buying macs due to marketing.

I've never seen a developer with a macbook in my country. The idea sounds absurd.

Unless you need Final Cut or whatever, Apple is considered a status brand in many parts of the world.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#410

Post by eertami » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 2:51 PM UTC

swozey wrote: post #356

raxxorraxor wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use a Mac Book from time to time and the keyboard alone is special... I don't think Mac is a good universal machine for development to be honest. The devices overall are nice, out of the question, but a Linux machine is ultimately more powerful.

"Ultimately more powerful" As a previous BSD engineer please explain further, this entire thread is just horrendous and should be downvoted to oblivion. Nobody cares what laptop you decide to use, nor are you incapable of doing your own research. My grandmother calls me for laptop recommendations. My M1 Max 14" MBP has 64gb ram, mucho cores and is the fastest machine I've used. My gaming/dev desktop is a 12core ryzen…

I too have an M1 MBP and XPS 13. I pretty much always use the XPS. Side by side, there is no noticeable difference in speed for my everyday work. The MBP is more efficient for sure, but I get 8+ hours of battery from the XPS which is good enough - and I can run Linux without jumping through hoops.

Edit: Missed the 'z', sorry, possibly explains different experiences.