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Comment by Samuel_Michon | Hacker News Reader

For that budget, I’d suggest buying a second hand MacBook Air. Looking at the listings on eBay, you could get a pristine one with 13" LED backlit screen, 1.7Ghz i5 with 128GB SSD, 4GB RAM, and with a fresh battery. The MacBook Air is a slim laptop with long battery life, and using the standard OS, you can run all the POSIX apps you could possibly want (or just install a GNU/Linux distro, which the machine is very compatible with, drivers and everything.) That generation has 7 hours of battery life, with WiFi turned on.

Otherwise, what you’re describing is an Ultrabook, and you won’t get a new one for $500.

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I find 4GB RAM isn't enough for dev. Especially if I'm doing web work and have to spin up multiple VMs to run my tests on all platforms. One weakness of the MBA: no upgradable RAM.

If I were buying again I'd get 8GB.

I'm curious why everyone is recommending a Mac. Always been a PC guy. How easy is it to get used to coding on a Mac / installing packages?

> why everyone is recommending a Mac

That’s because of the needs you listed.

Software needs: there are a lot of great code editors for OS X and they are either free or very cheap. The OS also comes with a lot of UNIX tools preinstalled and you can easily install more.

Hardware needs: “lightweight, long battery life, slim”, that’s a description of the MacBook Air if I ever read one. The description also fits Ultraboks, but because they were introduced relatively recently and so few are sold, you’re not likely to find a good one for $500.

> How easy is it to get used to coding on a Mac / installing packages?

Given that you‘re familiar with Windows and Linux distros, that’s not going to be a problem. And in the off-chance that you do not like working with OS X, you can always install another OS.

I recommended the MacBook Air because there’s a big second hand market for them, they’re available within your budget, they fulfil the needs you listed, they’re all around solid, and Apple’s service and warranty is legendary.

Especially when you have to get one with a 13" screen. I can't imagine that for development.

You can pry my 18" linux rig from my cold, dead fingers.

That must be fun to lug around. I have a 13" MacBook Air. At less than 3 pounds, I never have to choose whether I should pack it, I just take it everywhere.

The 13" screen works great for development, but at home, I do connect a 27" external display[1].

[1] http://www.apple.com/displays/

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