Ask HN: Best development laptop? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Best development laptop?

39 pointsbhhaskin64 comments

Title kinda says it all, but in the market for a development laptop. Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!

I bought the 25th anniversary ThinkPad when they still had them and this, for sure, is the best laptop I've ever used in my life. And I've had several Macbooks, Zenbooks and ThinkPads, but this here has a few things that make it stand out:

* The perfect keyboard. Seven rows, feels perfect when writing code.

* 14" FHD screen is just the optimal size and resolution for a laptop.

* Works perfectly with Linux.

* Two batteries, both replaceable. With the larger battery you get about 13-14 hours of work before a need to recharge. And of course you can replace the other battery to a charged one easily.

* Enormously extendable. Two free memory slots. Easy to open and service. Lenovo gives video instructions on their service site. Almost everything is replaceable.

* Sturdy quality design.

Now this laptop is not available anymore, but the T470 and soon the upcoming T480 still have the same chassis and all the other bullet points. The new six row chiclet keyboard is still the best keyboard of its kind and if you to use the trackpoint, you don't need to move your hands off from the keyboard.

If you can live with 8GB RAM and a dual-core i5 at 1.8Ghz, I'd argue that the MBA is one of the best laptops to work with. The selling points for me are:

* OSX - still the best all around OS to work with.

* Lightweight, it is a laptop that weights ~ 3 pounds

* Battery life is decent

* Build quality is above average

I believe that it's an excellent choice for web development.

I second this. If you're not into intensive video editing etc. it's probably the best laptop for the price. Battery life being "decent" is underselling it - it has the best battery life of any mainstream laptop, easily lasts 19-20 hours under light workload and 12-13 under intensive work. And for a laptop imo battery life is a very crucial factor.

I have 2 in the house, an 11 and a 13. Both have a weird issue where a few minutes after waking, they go to sleep. Happens probably 1 time in 10 or 20. That aside, they are great.

Are you serious about the 20 hours battery life? So far I haven't seen a laptop that would break 10+ hours on the login screen.

I can't confirm the 20 hours, but I can say that I've never, ever thought about battery life on my MBA. And I'm a lazy fuck who spends at least half-days on the couch with no power outlet regularly.

Unless your development work entails ever computing something, including building a project?

There are a fair number of people who do most of their builds on a dedicated build machine…

.net/vs developer here, 8gb at that speed would frustrate me

Macs have good build quality but you really can't beat a ThinkPad keyboard.

I have a 2012 model (8GB and Core i7), about 5 years old now, and it's still going strong. I've been thinking of upgrading to a MBP, but, I actually might get another Air again. Maybe?

I mostly use it for mobile, web and backend development.

After MBP retina screen, MBA 1440×900 will be like nightmare.

Just one opposing data point -- I frequently switch between a 13" MBP running at 1920×1200 and a 13" MBA running at 1440×900 and I can't really feel a difference, let alone feel it's a nightmare. I wouldn't enjoy squeezing back my IDE to the MBA screen, but that's about it.

This is true, but the parent specified the retina MBP, and that does make a difference (in my experience, and others I know who’ve tried). Retina displays will spoil you quickly. I live with HD/HD-ish laptops for battery longevity, but even the retina tablet display can be jarring.

Seconded. I used it for Java/web development for a year after switching from Linux and was delighted with the ergonomics of use. The multi-desktop swiping easily compensates for multiple monitors. The light weight and huge battery life let me work anywhere, from cafes to park benches to various spots around the office, for an entire workday. The performance was more than enough for 99% of the time. I valued the comfort od use much more than that remaining 1%.

I only switched to a new MBP when 8GB RAM became too tight for my work.

OSX is the worst OS to work with.

Besides the fact that it severely limits your hardware choices, it's got terrible window management, terrible file management and trying to operate it with just a keyboard is an exercise in futility.

I'll take Windows or Linux any day over OSX, thanks very much.

I suspect that you haven’t tried very hard to get by on macos using primarily the keyboard. It used to be troublesome, but I’ve been doing it for years with very few issues. Of course, if you have an OS that works for you, keep using it, by all means! For file management, I find it superior, but I prefer cli tools for file management anyway. I myself got into Mac OS X (as it was called at the time) because I needed both ready access to tools like MS Office, and a usable cli.

Open up some window from the Mac OS menu bar. Now use the keyboard to switch away from it. Try to switch back with it to it with the keyboard. It doesn't work unless you have some third-party window management tool to fix the problem.

I have tried and I can give you a whole catalog of features that don't work with the keyboard.

I got the mid 2013 13" i7 as soon as it was released. I had to replace the battery just over a year ago but it's still my main development machine. I feel like buying another Apple machine in the current line up wouldn't even be an upgrade

A few months ago I would of said a new Asus zenbook with ubuntu LTS 16.04 as everything works out the box and 10hr battery life with Linux, however I had to take to service center recently so they could hard reset it because I switched it off and on too quickly (my taxi arrived just as I switched it on, so immediately held button down again) and it never switch on since. Service center being a bunch of idiots wanted to book it in for 2 weeks, I pleaded (with some profanity laced in as they pushed me beyond frustration with their robotics responses) with them to do a hard reset there and then (they needs opening to remove the bios battery), they caved, and surprise surprise 10mins later I have a working laptop again. I probably wouldn't buy Asus again because service centers are truely shit and obviously there is a race condition with the on switch and bios or whatever that isn't fully tested. In fact I bought some torx screwdrivers to do it myself next time.

Dell XPS next I think.

I wouldn't recommend XPS. I have version 9350 and it constantly have one problem after another. In no particular order: slow boot time (it can take 7 seconds to see dell logo after pressing power button), coil whine, a firmware update killed the laptop once. I don't know how much of these problems can be attributed to Intel but I fear hardware manufacturers have adopted "release early fix later through firmware" mind-set. Good things about Dell: next business day warranty where a guy will come and replace the motherboard in case the update renders it useless.

I have a 2017 XPS 15 (9560) and it has been pretty good with the exception of a 1-2 second pause about once a day. I use it for Windows development.

Could it be some SSD firmware issue? I could live with a few second pause a day.

I’d heard that some had fixed the problem by updating the intel graphics driver. I did a Dell “update everything including the BIOS” and it made my QT development IDE and my application have bad rendering problems so I did a system restore.

The “pause” is a complete lock up, mouse and keyboard stop responding.

Happy Dell XPS 13 user here. I have been using it for the past 3 years without any issue. In the same timespan many of my coworkers had to replace/return macbooks (kb glitches, screen issues, battery problems etc).

I was a thinkpad only person before that, but the quality went downhill.

I am tempted to buy a pixelbook and use linux on it next, the specs/price/quality seem just right.

Out of curiosity which version do you have?

XPS 9333 i7 from 2014

I've got the 9343 and am happy with it as well.

I bought an i7-6600U Lenovo Carbon X1 thinkpad earlier this year and absolutely love it. excellent keyboard, the screen is pretty great, battery life isn't bad and I can upgrade the memory. It's stupidly lightweight. Sure it doesn't have a HQ processor, but the U is getting me by perfectly well.

If I'd need to carry my laptop around, this would be my choice too. It's just a very nice laptop, small and the keyboard is the best in class as with all business ThinkPads.

But I mostly use my laptop at home, so having a T-series gives a bit better performance and upgradeability in a still small package.

I have recently bought a refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad X220 for about $200. For that price it is the best machine you can have. It can be upgraded up to 16 GB RAM, I use two disks (SSD in mSATA slot + bigger HDD), awesome connectivity (3 USBs, DisplayPort, Ethernet, docking station, SD card reader). Runs Linux smoothly.

Of course it it weights slightly more then MBP and the display is not Retina, but I'd rather buy 10 of these than one MBP (which I also own so I can compare) for the same price.

I recently upgraded to a Lenovo Thinkpad p51s with a 1TB SSD and 32GB ram. It is basically a t570 with a better graphics stack. Runs Linux beautifully.

Marco has an opinion on this: http://marco.org/2017/11/14/best-laptop-ever

And he's not wrong. I've been holding to this 2012 rMBP because I can't stomach paying $1600+ for a downgrade. I would just be getting more RAM, better CPU and GPU (but who cares if you don't game), but the same screen, worse connectivity, worse keyboard, no F-keys, no Esc key, no Magsafe.

When this 2012 breaks I hope Apple has either come up with a pro laptop worth upgrading to, or I'll jump ship to an ugly, heavy, unsightly PC laptop; but at least I trust will be functional.

I had a 2013 MBP and just upgraded to 2017 when I took a contract that required a more powerful dev env. I don’t miss function or escape keys, and Touch ID to unlock/auth 1Password is fantastic. I really don’t understand the dislike of the new models, but YMMV and you’re certainly entitled to your opinion.

still holding on and using my 2012 15" rMBP. Was tempted to upgrade to the new one, but the absence of USB ports on the new ones makes me think twice about letting go of my 2012.

Typing from a Early 2015 MacBook Pro, I agree with him. I love this computer–it has everything I could want: macOS, a bunch of ports (including MagSafe), a great keyboard (I'm very partial to the inverted-T arrow key layout), and it's still reasonably thin, fast, and light.

Purism Librem, to minimize the amount of proprietary crap and spyware on my laptop. Unfortunately, even it has a vulnerable Intel processor. You can't have everything... yet.

Check out the System76 laptops. I have the GazelleP6 from 2011 and it still runs perfectly fine, although I upgraded to 16gb snd a SSD

the best development laptop is NO development laptop. under all circumstances work at an ergonomic workplace whenever possible.

This is still achievable with a laptop. I have a good quality keyboard, monitor and mouse at home and at work, along with a proper desk and chair.

With a lightweight laptop that I don't mind carrying this means I have the exact same development environment when working from home or the office.

I'll agree I have to compromise on computing resources, but I find that to be less of a problem with a good internet connection and the existence of very cheap servers.

A laptop doesn't have to be uncomfortable. With a portable stand + keyboard/mouse, and given a good chair and desk (flex desk, library, definitely not cafe stool), it feels very comfortable for long work sessions.

I'm happy with the 16GB i7 1.4ghz (turbo to 3.6ghz) Macbook.

It's retina. It's less than 1kg (2 lbs.). It has between 7-10hrs battery; I can work the entire long haul London to NYC/PHL no problem.

I can load a big data set into memory and crunch; I can work on a web app in all the different browsers that I need to (Parallels is brilliant). I have docker. I have Powerpoint.

I close the laptop, it goes to sleep. I open the laptop it's awake. I didn't even realise this was still a problem in 2017 until I tried some Windows laptops for a few months (a dell XPS and an HP EliteBook).

WiFi kicks on fast; easily within a second of opening the laptop. If I choose my phone from the WiFi menu, it turns on the tethering. If I disconnect, it turns it off.

The low travel on the keyword feels weird, but it doesn't affect my typing speed. Each key feels distinct, unlike the squishy feeling I get on the HP or even my older Macbook Air.

> If I choose my phone from the WiFi menu, it turns on the tethering.

I wonder why we still can't put a Sim card into a laptop.

You can, but got need to get the right laptop.

Dell Precision 15" with 4k and 97Wh battery. One of the few laptops that ship with Ubuntu if that's your thing.

I personally own a Precision 5510 and use a 5520 everyday for work. Both run Arch with no issues other then minor display scaling issues that can be blamed on the state of Linux desktop environments, not the laptop.

About those scaling issues, is it when using an external monitor? If so I got those too. Switching from DP to HDMI helped and fiddling with xrandr settings like scale and dpi helped also. For some apps like android studio I change dpi before launching it then reset dpi after launch.

I am loving my Surface Pro. Great build quality, extremely portable, 8+ hours of battery life, detachable, writable screen, Windows 10 is pretty good, especially with Ubuntu built in (or VirtualBox if you need Docker).

If you can wait 3 months then wait. In Q1 2018 we should see first laptops with Coffe Lake processors, like Dell XPS 15 refresh and Thinkpad T480p. If you can't wait then go with current versions of those.

I use a Thinkpad T460p maxed out with a Core i7 HQ and 32GB RAM. Its the perfect workstation for me at 14“. I run Ubuntu on it.

I suggest you look at the new T470p.

B&H has a big discount of a few hundred dollars on late 2016 MBP if you're interested. For the price drop it's worth the price.

I have msi phantom. Not the best Linux support. It works, and I can have some fun with GPU. Depends on what you developing, having some fun with CUDA is beneficial for me.

2kg. 14inch. Not nerfed CPU with lots of RAM and small battery.

I am thinking now of getting Microsoft Surface, to have a more portable alternative, But Termux on Android is enough for now

Thinkpad X260.

I really wanted to like the x260, but we equipped a team of 6 programmers with the x260 and not one was without fault. The build construction or QA must have been on the fritz with our batch because half of them would crash when even the slightest pressure was applied to the bottom left corner of the laptop. I cannot recommend it in good faith.

Sounds weird. Applying pressure to plastics case covering aluminum frame should not crash anything. Have you tried calling support?

Since we are sharing anecdotal evidence here's mine: I traveled 5 countries with my Thinkpad in last year. Carried it thought and worked on it in airports, hotels, cafes. I also bike with it year long in any weather in my backpack. Works great.

Our x240 had a similar problem, if you picked it up by the corner it would crash.

Pretty small screen for a development machine imo. I think you want at least 13" but personally I think 14 is the sweet spot. I say this having used an x220 a few years back.

Dell XPS last time i checked

If you need lots of ram in a small formfactor: Toshiba Portege x30. Extremely Happy with it, i'd just wish it already had an 8th gen 8550u quad-core instead the 7500u dual-core.

I'm a happy Asus zenbook 3 user. I setup arch on it and it's been great so far. Only problem with it is it's crappy audio

The one you install from scratch with your own scripts. confidence on where you are standing beats screen resolution or anything

It's not like your CPU isn't backdooring your custom scripts anyway. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_Engine

Just go with Macbook Pro 2016 without touchpad. Its cheap & if u change your mind on developing for MAC or IPHONE then you can do it. If you don't buy a MAC you won't be able to build apps for MAC or IPHONE. So buy it now & you'll use it for 3 years until you have a big fat salary to buy a new one.

I would also make sure you know that you need laptop. I made the mistake thinking I would commute with my laptop (or have BYOD) setup at work but at the end I did not. I spent shitloads of money on a portable device that I never take out of my desk.

Get a proper desktop if you can and a pair of good monitors. And if you need / want your portable daily driver can be macbook or mba or chromebook.

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