Comment by axx | Hacker News Reader

Comment by axx | Hacker News Reader

I recently switched from a MacBook Air 13" to a Lenovo X220 12,1" (Intel i5, 4 gig RAM). I bought it used and it was in perfect shape and without any scratches.

I paid ~490€ + 80€ for an SSD and a additional 70€ for an additional 9 cell battery.

The 9 cell battery gives me around 10 hours of battery life with normal usage and up to 12 hours with very little usage (mostly Terminal/SSH). But i still own the old 6 cell battery: around 5 hours on top (sure, you need to reboot, but it's still pretty cool).

The only downside is the display resolution (1366x768), but 90% of my day is using the Terminal, so not a big problem for me. If you need more screen estate, you can still hook it up to a monitor via Display Port.

I'm running Linux on it, and everything works perfectly, no drivers problems or anything.

If you're not really depending on OS X, maybe a used Lenovo X220/X230 would be an alternative.

For Hardware Specs -> ThinkWiki: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X220

I've been using the same Lenovo X200 for four years and have been extremely happy with it. I'm running Linux on it these days after getting tired of dealing with Windows for the first year.

The display resolution has become a drag though (same 1366x768 as the x220). I love the portability and durability of this machine, but I've notice I tend to hack when plugged into an external monitor more over the last year rather than just using the laptop alone.

I've started eye-balling the X230, mainly because you can cram 16GB of ram into it. I would also consider looking at some of the newish T430s/T431s. Better displays, still under 4 lbs.If you buy a Thinkpad new, get the cheapest configuration you can and upgrade the memory (I've used crucial.com) and drop in an ssd yourself - you'll save hundreds of dollars.

I just got my first Thinkpad this summer, a T430s. I absolutely love it, and I'd like to reiterate the approach of buying the cheapest configuration possible and then upgrading components separately.

I replaced the dvd with a bay battery, and I think I get about 7 hours of battery life. I never use it that long at a stretch, and I recharge it every night, so I just always have plenty of battery life.

I run Ubuntu 12.04 at the moment. My only complaint has to do with suspend. I've noticed that while closed and suspended, it still works through the battery's charge. I was surprised to leave it suspended with a mostly full battery one day, and find it off the next day. Also, when I carry it in my backpack in a case while suspended, it comes out of the case hot after a couple hours. Apparently it is still working pretty hard while suspended.

If screen size is important, another option is the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. I don't run Linux on mine, but I've read that most everything is supported. Headline price is quite high, but it seems there's often ridiculous discounts to be found.

Size and weight are basically the same. Some key differences:

+ 14" (1600x900) vs 13.3" (1440x900) screen, matte screen may be an advantage or disadvantage.

+ Stick mouse if you like such things

- Worse battery life, but charges in ~35 minutes

- X1C power brick is......a brick

At the same price, the MBA is probably a better choice. But if you can get a significant discount, it's a reasonable alternative.

EDIT: updated resolution

One thing regarding resolution/screen size:

I think as of now, the Rentina MBPs are the only systems (besides mobile) that handle high PPI screens properly.

Whenever you have small screen and high resolution paired together, on most desktops/laptops, you get incredibly tiny everything -- and suddenly you have to strain your eyes a lot to see things (which is something I'd rather not do).

Density independence[1] for desktop OSes is a serious yet-unresolved issue, and without it I don't see ultra-high PPI desktops/laptops becoming common.

I personally prefer lower PPIs (on desktops) than most people. The 13-inch MBA's ~127 PPI is almost pushing it, for me. On the other hand, I love high PPI screens on mobile, as the text looks much sharper and crisper.

[1] https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_suppor... (this section on the Android doc summarizes the "why" for density independence perfectly)

If resolution is important, Lenovo is about to release the t440s, it's going to be about 3.5lbs, finally has a 1080p IPS panel, and it's got a dual-battery system that allows you to hot-swap the secondary battery.

http://shop.lenovo.com/fi/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t440s...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com