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Dell Announces A Linux Laptop Designed For Developers

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Re: Dell Announces A Linux Laptop Designed For Developers

#131

Post by BadassFractal »

ntkachov wrote: post #6

How about a laptop with a better key board, slim figure, larger special character keys and more feedback for keys? Then shove a great processor, a mouse pad that's not accidentally click able while typing, and a high resolution screen. That's a developer laptop. Ill install my own software, Thank you very much.

You hit the nail on the head there. My ideal hacker laptop would have something like:

Realforce 87U keyboard

2x (yeah they do exist I think) 1920x1200 screens, perhaps with really high PPI like the new ones Apple is releasing soon.

No touchpad (I'm quite happy with plugging in a mouse), I'd rather use a nipple.

Light, lots of battery, no need for a fancy graphics card. Decent CPU, doesn't have to be extreme.

Tons of memory, 16gb at least, the more the better.

No software at all. I'll install my own distro.

Re: Dell Announces A Linux Laptop Designed For Developers

#132

Post by BadassFractal »

kamechan wrote: post #107
wyclif wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the old-school ThinkPad keyboards were the best you could get on a laptop. Chiclet keyboards are made for non-touch typists, the kind of people who need to hunt and peck with big fat fingers. My fave keyboard is my Unicomp Linux model, with the Caps Lock and Ctrl keys swapped...but best of all, with positive keyclick and actual mechanical switches under each key instead of dopey, squishy foam like what you get w…

I thought this for a while as well, but I wouldn't put it past manufacturers to have done some comprehensive testing before just moving to island-style keyboards. I prefer the thinkpad keyboards myself and use a mechanical keyboard on my desktop (one which I consider to have the best tactile feedback available: a Topre Realforce). However, as a dvorak touch-typist I was curious to find out just how well different key…

Realforce completely spoiled all the other keyboards for me. Totally worth the $400 pricetag.

Re: Dell Announces A Linux Laptop Designed For Developers

#133

Post by dsirijus »

xaa wrote: post #34

People can develop on 13" screens?

I do it on 12". Absolutely no need for any more for development, not even one bit.

Now, design work obviously needs a lot more, but that's offset by the fact that my HP 2730p is also a tablet with stylus, which made me extremely productive in dishing out graphics.

Re: Dell Announces A Linux Laptop Designed For Developers

#135

Post by gurkendoktor »

gbog wrote: post #113
jmsduran wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you are describing sounds like my 5 year-old HP DV9000. The keyboard & track-pad were surprisingly of very high quality, very close to that of Apple's IMO. Too bad though the hardware & chasis design of the product line was extremely shoddy & defective; if the notebook didn't fry itself so often it probably would've been noticed more.

Everybody is praising Apple keyboards here. Strange thing is at my work place many have a "real" keyboard beside their MBA or MB.

Why? Do they use it when the laptop is closed? Did they miss a numpad? Did all their keys pop off and the devices are out of warranty? Is it about the "click" feeling?

I haven't seen this so I am curious. The biggest bummer for me about Apple is the lack of a USB external trackpad.

Re: Dell Announces A Linux Laptop Designed For Developers

#136

Post by magnetikonline »

xando wrote: post #86

This is kind of interesting for me. I'm trying to find for myself a proper Linux machine. Right now on Dell e6410, a bit regret that I bought it. In my opinion nearest to the ideal developer machine on Linux is Lenovo X1 or X220. Screen 13": is enough, even 12" is enough. If you are kind of developer who moves his behind from meeting to meeting or spends some time on plains or conferences. 13" (max) is your choice. Y…

+1 to the NVIDIA requirement with Linux - when looking for a new Linux dev laptop, this was a must since I use an external monitor most of the time when docked - you can trust this will work 110% with NVIDIA - Intel GPU's have been a bit shaky with this in the past. But this might be better with newer Linux kernels/Xorg shipping with distros like Ubuntu 12.04.

In the end, I went for a speced up Thinkpad T420 with i7/NVIDIA/8GB - works really, really well.

Re: Dell Announces A Linux Laptop Designed For Developers

#137

Post by sliverstorm »

kamechan wrote: post #107
wyclif wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the old-school ThinkPad keyboards were the best you could get on a laptop. Chiclet keyboards are made for non-touch typists, the kind of people who need to hunt and peck with big fat fingers. My fave keyboard is my Unicomp Linux model, with the Caps Lock and Ctrl keys swapped...but best of all, with positive keyclick and actual mechanical switches under each key instead of dopey, squishy foam like what you get w…

I thought this for a while as well, but I wouldn't put it past manufacturers to have done some comprehensive testing before just moving to island-style keyboards. I prefer the thinkpad keyboards myself and use a mechanical keyboard on my desktop (one which I consider to have the best tactile feedback available: a Topre Realforce). However, as a dvorak touch-typist I was curious to find out just how well different key…

The last time I remember this discussed, I believe the main points in favor of chiclet keyboards were:

- looks stylish

- very cheap to manufacture

Obviously the manufacturers wouldn't switch arbitrarily, but I wouldn't be surprised if those two reasons alone weren't enough to drive the switch.

Re: Dell Announces A Linux Laptop Designed For Developers

#138

Post by helpbygrace »

kamechan wrote: post #107
wyclif wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the old-school ThinkPad keyboards were the best you could get on a laptop. Chiclet keyboards are made for non-touch typists, the kind of people who need to hunt and peck with big fat fingers. My fave keyboard is my Unicomp Linux model, with the Caps Lock and Ctrl keys swapped...but best of all, with positive keyclick and actual mechanical switches under each key instead of dopey, squishy foam like what you get w…

I thought this for a while as well, but I wouldn't put it past manufacturers to have done some comprehensive testing before just moving to island-style keyboards. I prefer the thinkpad keyboards myself and use a mechanical keyboard on my desktop (one which I consider to have the best tactile feedback available: a Topre Realforce). However, as a dvorak touch-typist I was curious to find out just how well different key…

you are really super fast! I just got 80 WPM with mechanical keyboard (The Cheat CMA)
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