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

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

#421

Post by nullbytesmatter »

lelanthran wrote: post #99

Depends on the development. I am doing C development, with some Javascript thrown in for the client, quite comfortably on a laptop from 2008 (Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM, 320GB spinning rust HDD). I use WindowMaker, Firefox, Xterm, Vim, Git, Clang and GCC. from login Window to my first xterm opened in the project directory is around 500ms. My build (C only) is currently around 700ms. My editing is lag-free only as long as…

What cul option? Cursor line highlighting? I also recommend putting synmaxcol to something low, like 80-128.

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

#424

Post by xvello »

esaym wrote: post #370
xvello wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intel has removed support for S3 sleep from their platform, so every laptop with 11th+ generation Intel is plagued with this issue. Dell even put out an advisory that a sleeping laptop is not safe to store in a backpack anymore! AMD still supports S3 sleep on their Ryzen processors, but you'll need to check user feedback to make sure that the vendor did their job implementing it properly. In S3 sleep, the UEFI/BIOS i…

>Intel has removed support for S3 sleep from their platform Wait what? How is that allowed?? What is the replacement?

> How is that allowed??

Looks like they can get away with it ¯\_O_/¯

> What is the replacement?

S0ix sleep (named s2idle in Linux), where the OS is responsible for suspending / resuming all non-essential functions. Work is ongoing on the Kernel and drivers to improve it, but there is a long way to go (yay Monday mornings with an empty battery because the power draw is still > 1W).

Even Windows is unable to make it correctly work without killing the battery overnight, so they now default to hibernating to disk after a couple of hours. This strategy is also possible with Linux, but making it work alongside full disk encryption is tricky: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dm-crypt/Swap_encryption#Wi...

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

#425

Post by uuyi »

c0mptonFP wrote: post #226
JabavuAdams wrote: post #200

** "I don't want to use a Mac" ** "I've had these problems with Mac" Reasonable response: Cool, use what works for you. EDIT> Here are some suggestions that match your constraints. Annoying response 1: You should reconsider because Mac works great for me. Annoying response 2: Your problems aren't real problems. Annoying response 3: Let's live debug your problems in this thread to see if they're real problems. Guys. I…

Dude, operating system is one of the most fundamental things to consider when getting a dev machine. MacOS is literally useless for me, because I depend on the Linux kernel.

Maybe, maybe not. I'm a Linux person. I run Debian in a UTM VM on my MacBook Pro and do all the work in that.

Why? Because the host machine sucks less at all the desktop stuff that Linux is horrible at and the VM wins at all the server and dev stuff the Mac sucks at.

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

#427

Post by scruple »

sergiosgc wrote: post #401
octagons wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 warr…

I have the X1C gen 7 and love it, has been a wonderful machine for me. It's my personal laptop, and I do most of my personal development on a desktop machine, but it sees use many days each week. I'm running linux. I haven't had any complaints about this machine whatsoever.

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

#428

Post by uuyi »

rmbyrro wrote: post #326
JabavuAdams wrote: post #200

** "I don't want to use a Mac" ** "I've had these problems with Mac" Reasonable response: Cool, use what works for you. EDIT> Here are some suggestions that match your constraints. Annoying response 1: You should reconsider because Mac works great for me. Annoying response 2: Your problems aren't real problems. Annoying response 3: Let's live debug your problems in this thread to see if they're real problems. Guys. I…

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.

It's not fanaticism really. A lot of us find it's the only computer that actually does a half decent job of trying to work properly and doesn't kick you in the balls. Well it does but rarely.

Honestly I'd rather be using Windows on a ThinkPad. I really really like windows, PuTTY, MS office etc and I even like spending time in Visual Studio. But the hardware quality has declined to near zero in the PC market and lets not even get into a discussion about the shit show that windows and the dev story on it has become in the last few years.

Please don't suggest WSL either. I have no energy for that and its associated problems.

Really it comes down to the least stinky turd. I wish one of the big vendors (MS / Apple / Linux Vendor X) would really try and concentrate on making the best user-centric experience because at the moment they're all failing. Apple is just failing less hard and when time is money, I'm just having to pay through the nose for a little bit of edge.

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

#429

Post by carlsborg »

loeg wrote: post #314
carlsborg wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Second this. I run an Arch derived distro on my ASUS AMD Zen3 5900 with 8 cores/16 hw threads and the cpu benchmarks are close to the M1 macs for about half the price. The Realtek WiFi device is a problem with hp laptops too. Works but needs a cold reboot after the hibernate wakes up. Are you saying the intel WiFi chip is pin compatible with the Realtek? That’s an amazing find.

8C/16T is probably Ryzen 5800 unless mobile uses a really confusing numbering scheme relative to desktop.

5900hx

# of CPU Cores 8 # of Threads 16 Default TDP 45+W

AMD really knocked it out the park with zen3

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

#430

Post by exdsq »

I’d suggest relooking at Framework because I’ve seen so many positive reviews from people I respect, and it’s good to support that project. FWIW I’d buy one myself if I needed a new laptop. Might not be the solution for you, but I don’t think it’s worth discounting due to ‘Beta’ status!
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