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Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

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Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#51

Post by Teichopsia »

I recently came across the Acer 5, that runs AMD ryzen 3 with 4GB ram at 315$ on amazon. I did a bit of research (and that's my only experience with it) and if budget is a factor, from what I saw you can't beat this one. If you can buy more RAM do it. Make sure to use both slots to activate the dual channel, as it will perfor better.

I managed to find a post from someone that has installed Linux on it, with no issues. And another that did have issues, but that's probably someone who was quite noobish to Linux.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Display-Graphics-Keyboard-A515-4...

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#52

Post by sam_lowry_ »

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…

Come on, the Ethernet port is a joke, I have to ask people with long nails or use a knife to get the RJ-45 cable out.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#53

Post by orhmeh09 »

ben174 wrote: post #43
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…

1920 x 1080 resolution is very hard to justify at that price point.

I disagree. I have had a T480 for some time, the 1440p one. I regret getting th is screen and wish I had gone for the 1080p. While I hear HiDPI may work OK for displays that are scaled up in integer ratios, I basically expect that fractional scaling is never really going to work that well unless all the software you use written in the latest frameworks. (Based on experiences with Arch, Debian 10, Fedora 31 beta)

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#54

Post by sam_lowry_ »

icr0 wrote: post #35
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.

T495 is on par with t490 and ~250€ cheaper

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#55

Post by Congeec »

ifthenelseend wrote: post #38

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

I've been looking at this laptop recently. How do you feel when you use it? Is it heavy or light? How is the temperature when it is fully loaded?

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#56

Post by sam_lowry_ »

anuragsoni wrote: post #9

You can't go wrong with anything from the Thinkpad T or X lines (you might be able to find them refurbished/used for pretty reasonable price). The Dell XPS 13 is another decent option but can be pricy. For my personal use i've been using the Huawei Matebook X pro since last year. Things i dislike: no linux driver for the fingerprint scanner, there wasn't an option for me to buy the model with 16GB ram without Nvidia…

Keep away from t440, t440s and x240, they usually have really bad screen panels.

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#57

Post by windyaskew »

davidw wrote: post #30

Dell XPS 13 is pretty good and ships with Ubuntu: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/cty/pdp/spd/xps-13-7390...

My XPS 15 (9550) has treated me very very well for the past 4 years! Ubuntu works straight out of the box and the battery life is wonderful. The super slim bezels keep it looking modern looking, too, if you care about things like that. I do somewhat wish I waited a year to get the fingerprint reader, though (not sure if it would work on Ubuntu).

Re: Ask HN: Best Laptop for Developer?

#59

Post by [deleted] »

greatjack613 wrote: post #7
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 :)

forgot to mention, the 16gb and core i7 version is mandatory

[deleted]
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