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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?

#291
post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Since at least the 2019 model Dell XPS 13s no longer have S3 sleep mode and instead uses Microsoft's "Modern Standby" (s0ix)[1], which consumes tons of power whilst in "sleep" in order to have slightly quicker wake times. [1] https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/XPS-15-9570-BIOS-1-3-0-sl...

I found this with my ThinkPad. If I don't remember to completely power it down, I'll pull it out of my bag and it will be hot.

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

#292
I've just switched from Surface Book 2 to Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3402ZA)

Pros:

- beautiful, bright display with 16:10 aspect ratio

- comfortable keyboard with backlight

- pretty decent battery life for my programming needs

- port selection (1 x USB 3.2 (2 Gen), 2x Thunderbolt 4, HDMI and audio jack)

- good performance

- beautiful design

Cons:

- if you try to run some games on it (it has Iris Xe Graphic card) - it will become hot very quickly

I've choose Zenbook, because I had one in the past (UX32LN model) - and it still holds up pretty well and works flawlessly while being used for office stuff by my wife (it will have 7 years now)

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

#293

The current (2022) LG Gram come with Intel Alder Lake and dual USB4/TB4, they basically seem to be the only interesting competitors to the lightweight Apple laptops. The 14" model is 1.0 kg compared to the M1 Macbook Air at 1.3 kg. Linux compatibility is very good with current kernels (I had a few DRM/GuC restarts with 5.18, those seem to be fixed in 5.19), all hardware works out of the box. ADL-P power management is…

> Edit: One issue with virtually any better-ish new laptop will be that the display won't be native sRGB. The LG Gram series uses P3 displays, for example (most will be similar), which means that colors will be over-saturated and especially reds will be very intense and orange-y.

I spent a week fine tuning Linux/Win11 with a new Dell monitor because reds were really weird. I know nothing about color management so it was really frustrating.

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

#294
Apologies in advance for being off-topic, but —

is it just my perception, or has it become increasingly common over the last year or two to end questions with _in _?

I vaguely associate that with SEO spam sites, and I feel a little pinch each time I see an actual person pick up that pattern. It is as if a black hat SEO trope has invaded our consciousness.

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

#296
I am a 25 year Apple user but wanted to work on VR more alongside my normal dev work while remaining portable.

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 inch is an excellent laptop. Fast, AMD Ryzen 9, NVIDIA 3070 or 3080, 32 GB RAM up to 48 GB, good battery, decent keyboard and trackpad, lots of ports, fast HDR 1440p screen.

only two issues from my late 2020 model: fans get hot and loud when you push it (this may have gotten better), and previous versions to 2022 had no camera.

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

#298
post #106

I love my super heavy and bulky Lenovo P53. Love it for horsepower, also because Arch runs on it n without problem, and finally because tech support exceeded my expectations, doing cleaning after 2 years for free (part of cleaning was to recover from little coffe spill...). I would prefer if it was not so plasticky, but I can't have everything :)

The Lenovo P-series are amazing. I used to use my P50 as a portable ESX server. The P16 is out now, I would love the larger screen but the newest hardware doesn't work perfectly on Linux yet.

I tried a P5xS model for a while, which is supposed to be a slimmer, lighter 'workstation', but the performance was severely lacking. They are only as powerful as the T series machines they are based on.

I no longer needed such a machine so I switched back to the X1 which is as close to a Mac as I think you can get.

From time to time I am issued various Dell or HP laptops from work, and frankly they aren't really comparable. The keyboards and trackpads are horrible, they're buggy...

However, I will say this about the Dell Latitude that is my currrent take home from the office: it will sit in the 90 degree weather, in the sun, and operate without any issues - unlike my iPhone. I'm sure it clocks down (I can hear the fan going), but it works without a hitch. The screen is a bit hard to read in the bright outdoors, but after changing profiles in my terminal/editor and bumping the font up 2 sizes it's not terrible.

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

#299

The current (2022) LG Gram come with Intel Alder Lake and dual USB4/TB4, they basically seem to be the only interesting competitors to the lightweight Apple laptops. The 14" model is 1.0 kg compared to the M1 Macbook Air at 1.3 kg. Linux compatibility is very good with current kernels (I had a few DRM/GuC restarts with 5.18, those seem to be fixed in 5.19), all hardware works out of the box. ADL-P power management is…

Windows 10 and 11 can run https://github.com/ledoge/dwm_lut ("applies 3D LUTs to the Windows desktop by hooking into DWM")

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

#300

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).

I dont know how anyone can work all day on a 15 in screen, drives me crazy.
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