Windows: Dell XPS 13 has been the go-to laptop for years, they keep refreshing it, so make sure to get at least the 2019 model (which has a camera on the top of the screen, not the bottom), or ideally the 2020 model, which features a new keyboard and even smaller bezels (and a new, 16:10 screen).
Windows runner up: look at Surface Pro 7 (x86) and Pro X (ARM), if the form factor, performance and ergonomics fit your needs, they might be preferable to the XPS 13. The Pro X is quite a wild card, since the compatibility is not quite there yet, but it's closer to a paper notebook than laptops or even the Pro 7.
I would advise against anything smaller than 13", because it will be fairly suboptimal to type on.
Honestly, it's way overdue. The widescreen style laptop has some uses ... but it really is a pain for so many things.
https://images.macrumors.com/t/xz5BJc9S6IZ0_9m5TUwd0AwNZmg=/...
If you plan to work only at your desk, where you connect it to an external display (USB-C, ideally, to get both power and video) and external keyboard and only use it as a tablet otherwise, then sure, it would work well. But using it as a standalone machine would be rather inconvenient.
Downsides are (a) butterfly keyboard and (b) tiny screen. If you do anything that requires compilation, get something with a CPU fan like the new 13" Air.
Get the 16GB model either way.
Rocked it til it broke, and I'm still missing it 3 years later. I guess I need a new one.
I am looking to upgrade though and the new 2020 Air does look good but with the modifications I want brings the price close to $1699 and I'm not ready to spend that yet
¹ https://www.scaramangashop.co.uk/mini-leather-satchel-11-inc... <-- bought it from this company but they don't make my exact bag anymore, but this is the closest except mine is the "portrait mode" of this
edit: Forgot to add that I've also used Xcode on this in the past but I am not on Catalina yet so I have not touched Xcode in a while.
They are already ultraportables. Once they are that small as a class of computer reliability and quality becomes important.
God help you with support and returns if something goes wrong with your dell. I’ve been there before and it’s hell on earth.
It was Linus Torvalds daily driver for some time. I also wiped out OS X and went with Linux, deployed directly as an EFISTUB so no bootloader. Being all-Intel, sans a mediocre Broadcom wireless card, the machine had perfect Linux compatibility.
I mostly develop in Python and Go, but I do want to get into Rust and I understand the compilation is demanding.
When one says a physical paper notebook, it means something that is small and portable and you can put it in your pocket or a small bag, not a 13" laptop that weighs 2 kilos that you need a special and when you open it takes up huge space so you need to clear the table. Even a 10-11" laptop is not really something you would keep with you all day long.
I recommend a mini laptop that is at most 8" in size. I don't have spare cash for a second laptop at this moment and I use a 14" Latitude for all coding, but I would love to have something with the following form size: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L7DVDL3
So there's a tradeoff between portability and usuability for coding.
If you want to go really small you can get something like https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/cosmo-communicator but I'm not sure I'd like to try programming on it.
Edit: I exagerated. Should have been more clear. A notebook that you would carry 12 hours or more with you is not a A4 notebook that weighs 1.3kg. It is something like this: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-NH130210120V-R-Classic-N... - 8" and 350g
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pukka-Metallic-Jotta-Wirebound-Note...
(also, the Q key is where I would want the tab key to be. It's a little thing, but one I use a lot.)
That said, it does have uses. 10 years ago, when I used to travel on the train a lot, it would have been ideal. The model I have is also impressively performant.
But, I understood the OP question as not about being productive but being capable of doing some small work if needed when on the move, a the device is small enough to be with you everywhere you go and not consider it a brick load in your bag after 10 hours of carrying it with you, but still performant enough to be able to make a patches and shorter coding session on the move.
See my another comment in this thread for a link to the description of my wearable computer.
https://www.amazon.com/Sony-VAIO-VGN-P530H-Lifestyle-PC/dp/B...
https://www.google.com/search?q=sony+vaio+small+laptop&rlz=1...
I can't forgive them for the interior design, and how the lynchpin of the entire laptop is a PFC with two of the most awkwardly placed sockets I've ever attempted to repair; but I'll be damned if it isn't one of the most pleasantly ergonomic laptops to use.
Just try to avoid having to open up the case at all costs.
https://www.fxtec.com/product/fxtec-pro1/
Discounting Blackberries, with their locked down bootloaders and weird android emulation layers.
It's a sacrifice for compactness though. It also has the "bad" keyboard, though some people don't mind.
The just released macbook air is probably an all around good choice though.
I feel I have been lucky with the keyboard, no real stuck keys and the keyboard doesn't feel cramped. And it slips into a small bag very easily.
I have replaced the screen once, when I dropped something on it and the battery, which is expensive. The bad thing about this form factor is how every small issue is back-to-workshop.
I use one plugged into a thunderbolt 3 dock so I can have a great desktop setup with a single wire, and quickly unplug when I need to move.
It's a shame lenovo stopped updating the 12 inch X series as it would be the obvious answer to this question.
X280 - 12.11 x 8.26 x 0.7 in
X13 - 12.2 x 8.6 x 0.7 in
The X13 is the old X 12in size.
I would still take the Carbon probably. One thing I like about it that is underrated in reviews is its flexibility. People think they want a rigid, aluminum milled laptop, but I actually quite appreciate how the entire computer can bend slightly, as an alternative way to make it more durable.
Which instance and pricing are you using?
My use case is media work when abroad. So 16Gb RAM, as much disk space as possible, around 8h a day.
It really is enabling to have my machine be separate from my dev environment. I used get so annoyed with all the cruft dev tools, SDKs, etc. add to a system, hog disk, and bog it down. Now I just have outlook, mremoteng, and office on the local machine.
May not be appropriate for heavy media work as 1) you need more RAM and 2) audio/video may be choppy through RDP. If you can afford it, though, I highly recommend this approach.
ASUS Eee PC.[0]
FTR, The smallest laptop — Ben NanoNote.[1]
BTW, I would recommend instead just use any Android device + Termux app + compact Bluetooth/WiFi/USB-keyboard.
I have never really seen many as well-executed machine since (although I have not been looking too hard).
To be honest, there was some small Sony VAIO laptops (in same scale as ASUS Eee PC), but its price is too high.
I believe there's an updated version too.
* The best laptop keyboard I've ever typed on!
* Great screen
* Weights 1 kg
* Solid 8 hours of work on batteryWill definitely check that out just to see the keyboard. Getting really fed up with all the new Apple's keyboard design / experiences.
It should be okay for note taking and basic coding.
You can't go wrong with that little workhorse. The new one (high spec) will even do Java development just fine and run two 4K screens.
I like compact devices, I miss 11" form factor netbooks Samsung NP netbooks, great for sticking in my bag and just using/code with.
(Note I don't have a recommendation for a particular screen protector, I used a local supplier in my tiny little European country).
+1 for Linux support on Dell's laptops. Usually everything works straight after installation, contrary to Lenovo and HP. I do not recommend HP hardware at all BTW.
I mean there aren't that many "small" laptop, just reading between the line of your needs.
Today most laptop starts at 13". I am not sure if that fit your definition of Small. But the new MacBook Air is pretty decently priced for an Apple product.
an iPad Pro 11" which I absolutely love, but is abysmal and no where near any good for coding on.
And currently eyeing that MacBook Air with a massive 2TB, 16GB, and i7 option for still less than the lowest end 16" MacBook Pro and just barely more than the stock 13" high end MacBook Pro.
I'm currently using an X1 Carbon ThinkPad Gen 4 with a 4K screen and it is pretty nice too. It's a step up both performance wise and size wise from the MacBook.
What's your budget?
Can anyone chime in about the Asus Eee PCs, or the Dell Inspiron Mini series? Or anything else near the 10 to 11-inch form factor? Would they be hard to type on for someone under 6ft tall?
I'm personally looking for something that can run Linux (perhaps even as slimmed down as Puppy Linux), Vim (or maybe VSCode) can run a browser (preferably Firefox but Pale Moon or other might be fine). Just bought an Asus VivoBook X202E on Ebay, but that's an 11.6" display, so I'll see how it goes.
What I'd really love is to find a blog post of the "Best Linux-compatible Netbooks Through the Ages". Has anyone come across anything like this? Would help me search Ebay for successively older machines until I get to the price point I'm looking for.
I traded in my MacBook Pro for this one because this has native Linux support, and the cost was the same at $1,600. The hardware qualities are night-and-day different. Granted, a small company like System76 doesn't have the economy of scale that Apple does, but this knowledge doesn't make me feel much better about my purchase.
System76 just came out with a new version of their Lemur laptop, which is slimmer and more portable. It may be worth a look. See here: https://system76.com/laptops/lemur
Because that was a tad too small, I then went for a 17" workstation, which turned out to be a little bit too big.
So now I've settled on a 15.6" Asus FX-505. Love the design and hardware, hate having to use Windows 10. Not quite ready to make the jump to Linux, yet.
Overall, I settled for one device compromising size, comfort and portability. I think I could go for a 13-14" device, if I wanted more portability, but 11" is just about the limit for comfortable coding, IMHO.
I.e. fit into messenger bag? Maybe even Macbook Air would fit. You actually have some selection of smallish notebooks around ~10 inch, or x86 based tablets. Old EeePC line might be a good fit, if you don't need much power. You might even opt for iPad and keyboard-cover.
Personally, I have bought myself an underpowered arm-based 10' lenovo chromebook. Has decent enough keyboard for touch-typing, and I can run most of my dev-setup with the linux support.
Do you need to go smaller? You are then entering a niche teritory, where you might want to try Gemini PDA (a Psion 5MX clone running android or linux with surprisingly good keyboard that can fit your pocket), but every time I considered it, I figured it is too expensive for what it would give me.
Same size, same small bazel, weighs meaybe 100g more, but has all of the ports you could need and ram, disk and battery are easily replaceable. Probably has better thermals too, since less compromises were done in head dissipation.
I can't really understand why people are buying the XPS13 when the Latitude 7390 is available (probably for less money).
<edit> the size is 13", basically the size of an A4 sheet of paper. My 7390 from work is equipped with an 8th gen i7 (4c8t) and 16gb ram and an nvme add, more than enough to do most things. Lower end models exist too of course. </edit>
If youre looking for something on the cheap, probably an used thinkpad will do: X or T series, 40-50-60 series (X2[456]0, T4[456]0)
RAM upgradable to 16gb
Good enough for android dev.
The two I'd consider would be the Microsoft Surface Go or the Asus Chromebook Flip C101. One is Intel (but Windows). The other is real Linux underneath (but ARM). Both are pretty cheap and seem to do well on most measures considering their size.
Pretty much any 8th gen / 10th gen ulta-low-voltage quad core would be more than sufficient.
As suggest, If you'd like the lockdown. the 2020 MacBook Air is finally an Apple machine balancing it all for developers.
The Lenovo Carbon X1 is also a power machine.
Main advantage choosing non-Mac machine is ability to replace key components. Most PCs even the slimmest, allow replacing at least the NVMe so you could get even 2TB for ~200$.
Smallest size you could go imho is 12". but keyboard is the 2nd key factor for a dev I guess.
Also been using iPad 10.5" with keyboard as a thin client to do dev work on Linux VPS. With Blink shell and Working Copy, it is quite enjoyable. Also I got Shadow PC for my game dev projects (my MBP is not powerful enough to do that), I can use Shadow PC app on iPad and it is mostly usable.
I am definitely using iPad as a carry around notebook. I just wish it had real local dev environment so I don't need to worry about wifi.
These days I'd probably use it as a terminal for an AWS workspace instead.
These new touch-screen tablet/PCs with a detachable keyboard, plus a virtual remote server, may be the future for this kind of thing.
The surface pro typecover is surprisingly good - AFAIK it's the best keyboard option for any new laptop these days. And the surface kinda-sorta can be lugged about like a notebook.
Going smaller... A foldable/clamshell Bluetooth keyboard to pair with your phone? Optionally a suitable size android tablet?
My preferred one is X1 Carbon with FHD display which saves battery, it's also pretty lighter and thinner than the X1 Yoga. If you like touch screens and embedded pen, I'd go with the Yoga, still better than XPS13 for me.
Reasons? Better ports (HDMI, USB3.0) and better keyboard (yes, you can switch the Fn and the CTRL keys, it's a BIOS option).
https://geizhals.eu/?cat=nb&xf=10_1000%7E12128_11%7E12128_12...
It would seem that a feasible option is HP EliteBook Folio G1 or Apple MacBook 12.
Maybe a different tablet device that can run Linux or an Android variant capable of providing the tools you require.
A nice thing about tablets is instantaneous sleep to on even vs. modern desktop OS.
My Pinebook is probably a bit bigger that you are asking for but it is light in weight.
https://liliputing.com/2019/06/first-look-gpd-p2-max-8-9-inc...
It’s a bit weak on vertical screen resolution but perfectly capable of building and running small web apps.
It weighs almost nothing and the keyboard is comfortable.
I mostly do Python development with Vim (web, DevOps, ML/NLP) and Dart/Flutter stuff with VSCode. For bigger workloads I ssh into my iMac.
Chromebook is a fantastic option in terms of price, though everything may have to stay in the cloud.
Bonus: you get a function key row
We have a fairly large development team all using MacBook Air, the previous version. It's a little workhorse, but you gotta know its limitations.
It struggles a little with Java development (i.e. running NetBeans or IntelliJ), but the new version (i.e. 2019 model) will do that just fine.
[1] https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/install-ubuntu-on-chromebook
And can run Linux just fine.
Surface Go is an option to consider, however it can't really be used on a lap.
Don't take it from me. Take it from Drew here:
https://drewdevault.com/rants/2020/02/18/Fucking-laptops.htm...
As he says: > The best laptop ever made is the ThinkPad X200
In these sad deprived days, coding means typing text. For text, you need a good keyboard.
And Lenovo made the best keyboards in laptops, later than anyone else... until they went chiclet. As chiclets go, Lenovo's are good, but they're still chiclets and chiclet keyboards are inferior.
Trackpads are large, hard to be very accurate, and you accidentally hit them while typing. All you need is a Trackpoint.
And if you're some kind of current-kit fetishist, or some poor sucker working in Javascript or worse still some Electron abomination, then you can stick a new motherboard in it for your hideous bloatware to get the CPU cycles it needs to pointlessly burn.
https://hackaday.com/2018/03/12/new-guts-make-old-thinkpads-...