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Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

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Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#281

Post by jiggywiggy »

omnimus wrote: post #255
jiggywiggy wrote: post #247

It's still a Mac. But the i love the MacBook pro series from 2016-17. With ssd. Before they took away all the plugs. If my m1 would break I would probably just buy one of those from a reputable refurbished company. They are affordable, often between 500-800 (mostly dependent on hard drive size), and great specs. My new m1 theoretically is better, but I experience much more issues. And if any issues I can deal with th…

I have both and the cheapest air replaced the pro instantly. The pro is heavy and loud and hot and less performant. But i didnt run into any issues so i guess lucky me.

Yeah maybe it's luck. But have to restart my m1 air every evening, memory just gets out of control, then starts to blow up and get really hot and slow. Hopefully next OS version has some improvements.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#282

Post by Hendrikto »

tymm wrote: post #186
jgb1984 wrote: post #162

Laptops are all together awful. I can't imagine working on one for more than a few hours. My self built desktop blows any laptop out of the water in speed, comfort, reliability, upgrade / repair potential and ergonomics (obviously ignoring portability).

In terms of speed, at least when we look at mostly single-threaded work load (like most dev work is), a M2 Macbook Air is faster than every Desktop PC. Correct me if I'm wrong.

> mostly single-threaded work load (like most dev work is)

Citation needed. This definitely does not match any of my experiences at all.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#283

Post by TacticalCoder »

als0 wrote: post #211
ur-whale wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For 2022 I decided to buy a "gaming" laptop and switch to 100% Linux. I researched this option before opting for an LG gram. I might research it again soon. Would you care to share exactly what gaming laptop you picked?

If I may ask, what do you think of the LG Gram?

Not GP but I'm very happy with mine. Can't speak for every model but I've got an old 15Z970 with 24 GB of RAM (from 2017 I think).

LG Grams aren't cheap laptops. They don't have the retina display. But they're nice, lightweight (lighter than Mac laptops) and overall feel good.

I'd say it doesn't feel as polished as the latest Mac laptops but it feels way sturdier. My M1 Macbook Air always felt like it's screen was brittle: some porcelaine to be manipulated with the greatest care or it'd break. And break it did, after 10 months, seemingly for no reason.

While my 5 years old LG Gram is still going perfectly fine.

I use it every time I'm not at my beasty desktop.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#284

Post by nisegami »

toberoni wrote: post #250
nisegami wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the hinge is a known issue on earlier models and you can get a replacement from Framework. Probably start here: https://community.frame.work/t/explainer-lid-rigidity-hinge-... Key section: "However, we identified that for a period of time last fall, our hinge supplier shipped a subset of hinges with forces below our accepted spec range. We’ve since added additional tests both at the hinge supplier and at ou…

Thank you for the link. Apparently I received a batch where this problem has been fixed. The hinge is not very wobbly when typing and won't move if I lift the laptop carefully. However, it won't stay in position when moving it quicker. Maybe this is by design so one can open the lid with a single hand. I prefer the sturdy hinge on my old Thinkpads though - it's difficult to open them with one hand but they stay in po…

Ah, it really did sound like you got one of the defective hinges. Though, you still do have the option of buying the 4.0 kg hinge kit for $24 and installing it. Having to buy a part isn't ideal, at least it's available.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#285

Post by Hendrikto »

stonith wrote: post #207
tymm wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In terms of speed, at least when we look at mostly single-threaded work load (like most dev work is), a M2 Macbook Air is faster than every Desktop PC. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Not sure most dev work is single threaded. Test suites can be multithreaded/multiprocess and so can compiling, just for two examples.

* IDE

* Docker daemon

* backend container

* frontend container

* database container

* local web server

* browser with Gitlab, Slack, Email, etc.

No idea how dev work is suppsed to be mostly single-threaded.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#286

Post by Smerity »

NorwegianDude wrote: post #174

You don't say where you are located, but unless you are in one of the few places where Dell doesn't offer on-site next business day support then XPS 13 is a great laptop. Their support is amazing: "We're not sure what is causing it, but we'll send someone to replace the whole motherboard tomorrow." "OH, your currently halfway across the world on a island? No problem, we'll be there tomorrow" I really don't understand…

I have had my XPS 13 laptop die four times in the past two years, needing a replacement logic board each time.

The laptop is amazing when it's working, default Linux support too, but so far have literally had to ship it back to Dell for at least two months total since I've used it. Usually the turn around is only a few days but they were waiting on a part at one stage for weeks.

I am now looking to do a system exchange with them but am not certain if it's going to go through. At this stage I can't imagine they'd be profitable on this machine given how many times I've had to ship it in for repair.

Hence I sadly cannot recommend the XPS 13 even though I truly love it when it's working and laugh with glee at having 32GB of RAM =]

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#287

Post by Tsiklon »

adrian_b wrote: post #163
ur-whale wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For my next laptop, I'm waiting for Framework Can the Framework laptop be powered via USB-C or are they still using power jacks like in the 20th century?

Actually I strongly hate the laptops that can be powered only via USB-C, blocking thus a very useful I/O port, unless you also carry with you a docking station. Powering via USB-C would be OK only on laptops with at least 4 or 5 USB-C/Thunderbolt ports, but such laptops are non-existent. Laptops with only 2 USB-C ports, where 1 is blocked by the charger, are useless for me. When I have access to a power plug, I usual…

Unfortunately the only example of a laptop I was aware of with 4x Thunderbolt ports was the much maligned 2016-2019 MacBook Pro series. the new models have 3 - and a dedicated charger port in the new iteration of MagSafe, but can also still charge off the Thunderbolt ports.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#288

Post by anddt »

ihateolives wrote: post #111
anddt wrote: post #82

Currently using a T490s (win-based on WSL, work machine) and a T480s (Fedora, upgraded to 24gb ram) for personal projects and they're both fine machines. The T480s runs a bit cooler after a repaste than the T490s but I'd say they can handle fine whatever I throw at them.

Sure, but both are older models and have (T480s) roughly half the performance of M1 base model. For some things (in Photoshop/Lr) the difference is even greater.

Yes, both machines are not too recent (by now I'd expect to find them for cheap on ebay) but they support my workloads more than well. I work in ML and they're fine for general Python programming and exploratory data analysis. I spin a VM for anything that requires more memory/threads.

I'd would probably buy a beefier laptop from Tuxedo Computers or Slimbook if I needed more performances hoping to win the Clevo/Tongfang QC lottery (my T480s was fairly expensive in Italy 3/4 years ago).

So I guess that it ultimately boils down to the type of workload that OP deals with.

edit: poor grammar

Re: Ask HN: Is there a developer laptop that does not suck and is not a Mac in 2022?

#289

Post by [deleted] »

weberer wrote: post #189
NorwegianDude wrote: post #174

You don't say where you are located, but unless you are in one of the few places where Dell doesn't offer on-site next business day support then XPS 13 is a great laptop. Their support is amazing: "We're not sure what is causing it, but we'll send someone to replace the whole motherboard tomorrow." "OH, your currently halfway across the world on a island? No problem, we'll be there tomorrow" I really don't understand…

Just make sure the model you're getting supports S3 sleep mode (AKA real sleep mode) before hand. A lot of the newer Dells don't. Its something the OEM needs to support in the BIOS, so you can't just fix it by installing a new distro.

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