Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#31

Post by philsnow » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

Lots of recommendations for X/T lenovos in here; does anybody know of a way to navigate the lenovo outlet without screaming into the void? https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/outletus/laptops/c/LAPTOPS

It doesn't seem possible to constrain it to just X and T series, you have to pick on dimensions that are ancillary like screen dimensions and weight, but their data seems to be really dirty because there's only two laptops (out of 600+ right now) with a 'weight' field.

The best I can see is to search by "memory: 16GB" since then you don't have to wade through the ideapads etc.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#32

Post by Jeaye » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

I've been using my System76 Oryx Pro for a few years, which comes with Pop!_OS or Ubuntu on it (your choice), but works well with other distros. I use Arch with it just fine.

The Oryx may be a bit bigger than you'd like, so you may want one of their lighter models. My laptop mostly sits on my desk all day, so I opted for the better CPU, GPU, and memory (which makes this machine better than the latest Macbook Pro while costing much less).

One nice thing is that System76 laptops ship with IME disabled and, soon, will be shipping with coreboot.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#33

Post by ConceitedCode » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

300bps wrote: post #26

ConceitedCode wrote: post #11

I use a Thinkpad t480s (last years model). This laptop has done a great job "getting out my way". It has one of the best keyboards on any laptop I have used. It runs ubuntu great out of the box. 14in screen happens to be be a very nice size for me. I have the touchscreen model which has been nice for testing mobile sites. The screen could be a little brighter / more vibrant, but I do prefer the matte display for when…

Did a lot of research on my last purchase and it came down to a Thinkpad T480s or Thinkpad Carbon X1 and I ended up going with the Carbon because it's so much lighter and thinner while still having an i7, 16 GB of RAM and SSD. And I bought it from Costco which was a great price and doubled the factory warranty for free, gives free tech support for a year and a ridiculous 90 day return policy. And the battery lasts 10…

I came down to the same choice, but went with the t480s for the extra RAM and the ethernet port (only used twice, but been a life safer each time).

Both are great options.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#34

Post by anuragsoni » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:15 PM UTC

throwitawayfam wrote: post #24

greatjack613 wrote: post #5

Matebook x pro, try to get the 2018 one due to its higher performance (weirdly) than the 2019 one. Also linux works great on it, and build quality is a smigen under apple but very very close. Oh and the keyboard works :)

Does the touchpad support gestures and does any driver exist for it? That's the biggest thing keeping me on macOS

It does support gestures. Gnome and KDE use libinput these days which has support for 3-finger, 4-finger gestures (Both have some gestures enabled by default when using wayland)

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#35

Post by icr0 » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:15 PM UTC

ConceitedCode wrote: post #11

I use a Thinkpad t480s (last years model). This laptop has done a great job "getting out my way". It has one of the best keyboards on any laptop I have used. It runs ubuntu great out of the box. 14in screen happens to be be a very nice size for me. I have the touchscreen model which has been nice for testing mobile sites. The screen could be a little brighter / more vibrant, but I do prefer the matte display for when…

Has anybody tried the amd version, the t485? I was considering buying one of the two.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#36

Post by ChefboyOG » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:15 PM UTC

For your requirements, would 10/10 recommend an older Thinkpad. Checkout r/Thinkpad for more resources than you could ever need to find a steal.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#37

Post by icr0 » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:17 PM UTC

vermooten wrote: post #29

It's still a Macbook Pro, by miles!

yeah, no. unless you're an ios developer

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#38

Post by ifthenelseend » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:20 PM UTC

Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Extreme / P1

- up to 64 GB RAM

- 15' display with 4K resolution & 500 cd/m²

- Super fast CPU with 12 MB cache & 4,6 Ghz, 12 cores

- Best keyboard (much better than Mac)

- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 or Quadro T2000 for the P series

- only 1.7 kg (~3.5 pounds)

- USB-C & Thunderbolt

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#39

Post by ltbarcly3 » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:21 PM UTC

T490, great laptop, the 3k display is fantastic. Runs Debian like a champ.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#40

Post by rpmisms » Fri, Oct 11, 2019, 6:25 PM UTC

Get a thinkpad, preferably T-series. Avoid ones with no physical trackpoint buttons. The Trackpoint is on par with a Mac trackpad for a mobile pointing device.

The T420 is an older model that's incredibly good and tough for what it is, and can be got for under $200. The T440 is also a fantastic option for a slightly higher price.