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Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

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Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#371

Post by anoncow419 »

noduerme wrote: post #192

This is probably an unpopular view, but I kind of use laptops as if they were terminals. If you want to spend $2k, I'd invest $1600 of that in a great desktop machine, and spend the other $400 on a cheap chromebook and tablets / keyboards / gizmos to log into it remotely.

I went this route albeit differently. I purchased an older model Thinkpad T440 for about $300 off eBay a few years ago, and it's one of my favorite laptops to have still. 8GB of RAM, 4th gen mobile Intel i7, 240GB SSD. I've been using it for probably about 3 years now as my travel laptop.

The keyboard on it is really fantastic, but the touchpad is not something I'm proud of.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#372

Post by mort96 »

selfmodruntime wrote: post #258
c0mptonFP wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude, operating system is one of the most fundamental things to consider when getting a dev machine. MacOS is literally useless for me, because I depend on the Linux kernel.

You can still install Linux on a mac (which is what I did) and still get a powerful and beautiful machine, if you so desire.

So are you suggesting getting a 3+ year old Intel model then? Since the ARM models aren't really supported yet.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#373

Post by thawaya3113 »

brimble wrote: post #328
kibwen wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is a luxury fashion company and Apple hardware is a way for people to express social status, which means convincing as many other people as possible that Apple is desirable in order to elevate the effectiveness of their social status signaling. It's the same as any other luxury fashion brand, e.g. Louis Vuitton. The value is not in the function of the product itself, but in the perception of status that it enge…

I felt the way you do for the entire decade of the '00s. Then I started a job that issued me a MacBook Pro. And got to see, use, and develop for, a shitload of Android and iOS devices, both phones and tablets. Turns out I'd just never given them a chance. But yes, I'm sure Apple users are just dumber than you, and that's all it is.

The thread is in the context of Apple users insisting that the OP should use a Mac, when the OP has explicitly stated that it does not fit their needs.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#374

Post by kayodelycaon »

rmbyrro wrote: post #326
JabavuAdams wrote: post #200

** "I don't want to use a Mac" ** "I've had these problems with Mac" Reasonable response: Cool, use what works for you. EDIT> Here are some suggestions that match your constraints. Annoying response 1: You should reconsider because Mac works great for me. Annoying response 2: Your problems aren't real problems. Annoying response 3: Let's live debug your problems in this thread to see if they're real problems. Guys. I…

Why Mac seems to attract so fanatic behavior? They seem to want to push everyone to use Mac, like religious fanatics try to push everyone to their "truth". I think this is a result of some marketing tactics Apple employed for decades, and it only pushes me away from this brand.

> result of some marketing tactics Apple employed for decades

Or perhaps people really like macOS and their value system is different. I don't think a lot of developers are buying macs due to marketing.

Also, Linux attracts the same fanatic behavior. If you like linux, you don't notice see how many people are pushing it. If you like macOS, you're more likely to notice the people pushing linux because you disagree with them. (And notice the macOS crowd less.)

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#375

Post by tomrod »

Freaken wrote: post #276

I can vouch for the Framework. It doesn't feel beta at all. I'm running Xubuntu 21.10 on it an it rocks. Someone created a repo with salt scripts which works all the kinks of the laptop under Ubuntu. The only thing I needed it for was to fix the touchpad issue after resume from sleep (it would be at max acceleration) and to enable hibernate (just note that you must disable secure boot first). https://github.com/light…

+1 for Framework as well. With recently launching a company, I have been evaluating laptop builds for my soon-to-hire employees. Thinkpads were at the top followed by XPS builds (which have been terribly variable in quality in recent year, unfortunately).

I am now using a Framework as a daily driver w/ Fedora and it is wonderful! Deep sleep needs work still, but everything else is working great. Plus Framework works well with Windows as well.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#376

Post by tomrod »

elzbardico wrote: post #350

Never had too much problems running linux on Dell or Lenovo laptops. The fact that no matter where I am in the world I can find parts or support was a strong point to me to go the traditional route. Now I make do with a Mac M1 and a companion samsung book pro, a machine that I choose because I wanted a very light (in physical weight) intel evo as a companion mobile machine running linux for when I feel that using lin…

My recent experiences with Dells have been that they last up to two weeks after the warranty expires.

I couldn't physically pick up an XPS 15 without it freezing due to case flex. It's a laptop -- this was killer.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#378

Post by formerkrogemp »

swozey wrote: post #356
raxxorraxor wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use a Mac Book from time to time and the keyboard alone is special... I don't think Mac is a good universal machine for development to be honest. The devices overall are nice, out of the question, but a Linux machine is ultimately more powerful.

"Ultimately more powerful" As a previous BSD engineer please explain further, this entire thread is just horrendous and should be downvoted to oblivion. Nobody cares what laptop you decide to use, nor are you incapable of doing your own research. My grandmother calls me for laptop recommendations. My M1 Max 14" MBP has 64gb ram, mucho cores and is the fastest machine I've used. My gaming/dev desktop is a 12core ryzen…

I'll pay you 5$ and shipping for that XPS.

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#379

Post by a3w »

In europe, you can use a site that offers a comparison across all vendors, with actual market prices.

https://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=nb&asuch=&bpmin=&bpmax=1533&v=k...

Next step would be to add technical specifications, perhaps limit the list to vendors with generally well linux support, or set the OS to no-os/FreeDOS/Linux-preinstalled.

Is something like that available for north america, since the request was in dollars?

Re: Ask HN: What’s a good laptop for software development at around $2k?

#380

Post by jen20 »

cehrlich wrote: post #85
adhesive_wombat wrote: post #6

Second hand ThinkPad T series gets a lot of bang for the buck (maybe not as good as they used to be, but still good, repairable, generally upgradable and very available as ex-enterprise machines). Good matte displays, good hinges and great keyboards. Don't sweat the battery, they're removable, upgradeable to larger ones if you have to go a longer time on a charge and easy to replace. For the change left over from $20…

Absolutely. IMO the best current ThinkPad in terms of performance per dollar is the T480 (Quad Core Intel 8th gen). You can find them shockingly cheap if you're patient. Like only 50% more than the T420, which has an ancient Dual Core.

But with a much worse keyboard than the T420.
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