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Comment by skizm | Hacker News Reader

I'm curious what device the author prefers, for software development: iPad Pro or the surface. Also, the conclusion is that "it’s quite possible" to use the iPad Pro, but that isn't necessarily an endorsement.

I only ask because I've been toying with the idea of buying a surface / iPad Pro.

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I have a 2015 15-inch retina macbook pro and a surface pro 4. Ever since Windows 10 added a native ubuntu bash shell to its OS, I have preferred using the surface for all of my development (some web stuff where I ssh into other boxes and some python number crunching done locally). A big factor is that the surface pro 4's screen looks a lot better than my retina macbook pro because it is more dense and has a higher resolution. A few years ago I would not have believed the stuff I am writing in this comment, but here we are!

You do most of your coding without an external monitor?

I carry both at times. During commute and travel I use the iPad for development as it has smaller form factor and longer battery life. Developing on it is enjoyable given the right “homework” with the automated deployment. Obviously the feedback is not as fast as using the surface as all compilations and vm or containers works locally.

I think the right tool for the right situation would best describe this. Mind you that the comparison was with surface pro 4, as I understood the new Surface should have better battery life.

We've got a gen-3 Surface in the office for when we need to do Windows stuff and I'd say: definitely try before you buy. Given how much positive stuff I'd heard about it, almost every part of the reality was... surprising.

> gen-3 Surface

I don’t think anyone ever said positive stuff about a “gen-3 Surface”... and it’s certainly not representative of the modern Windows experience

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