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Ask HN: What is the cheapest laptop I can buy for development

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Ask HN: What is the cheapest laptop I can buy for development

#1
I like to be able to develop with :

(of course) linux/android os

gcc/g++/gdb

minimal OS GUI

Web browser with graphical gui and normal browsing (chrom /firefox)

Vim

acreen size can be 11"

the site to buy from should be able to send the laptop worldwide im not from the USA

Thanks alot

Re: Ask HN: What is the cheapest laptop I can buy for development

#2
On recent ChromeBooks you can enable developer mode, which turns them into a low-cost Linux notebook. https://au.pcmag.com/linux/89550/how-to-install-linux-on-you...

There are several retailers on Amazon that sell suitable notebooks. Would that work for you?

Re: Ask HN: What is the cheapest laptop I can buy for development

#3
Check out the compatibility first, but for quite a long time as a student I was using bargain bin laptops. Usually the components are common/old enough to work out of the box with Linux. If you're happy with performance, it's... ok.

The hardware improved enough that as long as it's got 8gb of ram and runs... You should be fine for minimal dev work.

Re: Ask HN: What is the cheapest laptop I can buy for development

#6
I’d say an older gen Thinkpad. They’re usually the best value for your money if you’re looking for a bargain.

You can find sellers who might be willing to ship internationally on eBay. You also have to factor in taxes or levies your country may charge on electronic imports.

Re: Ask HN: What is the cheapest laptop I can buy for development

#9

I’d say an older gen Thinkpad. They’re usually the best value for your money if you’re looking for a bargain. You can find sellers who might be willing to ship internationally on eBay. You also have to factor in taxes or levies your country may charge on electronic imports.

There's the German Thinkpad Wiki [1] which helped me choose a model, because they list every component/spec/variant there with all their hardware details, bugs and typical problems (with firmware versions that usually just need to be updated before you install Linux).

(A quick side note: Current mesa has issues with Haswell and Broadwell CPUs due to the (now still) incomplete Vulkan migration. Just as a heads-up)

[1] https://thinkwiki.de/ThinkPad-Modelle

Re: Ask HN: What is the cheapest laptop I can buy for development

#10
HARDWARE SIDE:

The cheapest will be to ... not buy laptop. You can go for 2 in 1 and use your Android phone (if you have one) or buy one.

Any Android phone will do the job, but best look for one with USB3.1 (these will support display port on phones USB socket) as it carries video signal as well.

Here you have phones released in 2021 and 2022 supporting it: https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2021&sFreeTex...

If you want to go for used phone feel free to refine search and set older years.

Portable screen you can get on Chinese websites for as little as 80-150USD (with shipping including)

Then get yourself bluetooth keyboard with trackpad (there are even foldable ones), or BT keyboard and BT mouse (whatever you like) and you should be already good.

Nice to have is also USB-C hub with HDMI output, so you can plug any wired USB devices or output via HDMI to regular screen or TV, these will cost 10-20USD with shipping

Optionally: You might also want a better control over your Android OS, or be able to receive updates way longer than vendor ships them - if so I will recommend to go for one of the phones supported here https://download.lineageos.org/ (most modern hardware with USB3.1 is supported by OnePlus, but you might find other brands and models that does the job)

SOFTWARE SIDE:

First you need install Termux on Android, it is kind of linux shell for Android linux kernel (all you basically need to start any development)

Once you'll have this, you can head for gcc, clang or whatever you need

Last piece is IDE, I use this one: https://github.com/coder/code-server

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