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Hijacking to ask HN what laptops they recommend. Ive had good luck with a Asus AFTER it was formatted. The bloatware from the original install had me trashing
by mkirklions 8y ago
Hijacking to ask HN what laptops they recommend.
Ive had good luck with a Asus AFTER it was formatted. The bloatware from the original install had me trashing Asus as a company because I thought their hardware sucked.
I dont think HP can be trusted, they have 1000 dollar laptops without onboard graphics that they sell to computer illiterate people that want big touch screens and gimmick features.
Any recs?
- AdmiralAsshat 8y agoAre you keeping it on Windows or planning to throw Linux onto it? Dell's XPS 13/15 line run Linux very well, as do Lenovo's Thinkpads.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y agoJust wanted to second your recommendation and add that they also run Windows very well (although personally I ran Fedora on my previous ThinkPad and current Dell XPS 15). If you do go down the Windows route, just make sure you create new installation media from the Microsoft website and do a clean install before anything else.
- wjoe 8y ago+1 for the Dell XPS 13. I'm running Arch Linux on one for work and I've had 0 hardware/driver issues, which is rare for a laptop.
- mtw 8y agoMacbook pro (if you can find one without keyboard issues) I also use an old Thinkpad 11.6" inch - it runs Ubuntu. I put it on a self-driving RC car and it won't die. Generally recommend Thinkpads. I also have an HP Spectre x360 13" 2017. The trackpad is a bit buggy with Ubuntu but apart from that its seriously not a bad deal. It has USB-c and I can connect an external GPU enclosure for machine learning. Also great as a Netflix device
- FussyZeus 8y ago2015 is the last good model for Macbooks, and they can be had (relatively) affordably secondhand or even via Apple Refurbished.
- pier25 8y agoI recently bought a 2017 Macbook Air with the refreshed CPU and it's a great machine for the price. Yeah, the screen is old, but it's not that big of a deal IMO.
- FussyZeus 8y agoEh, I've crossed into retina-land. There's no going back, hehe. The wife has a Macbook Air I believe from 2013. Swapped in an SSD upgrade some time ago, still kickin.
- pier25 8y agoThe DPI is not so bad. It's not retina, but at 128 DPI it's decent. The biggest issues IMO are ghosting and color gamut, but I don't really care for using Sublime or browsing Reddit and HN. The MBA is not my main machine anyway.
- post_break 8y agoYou can still buy the 2015 Macbook pro straight from apple brand new and pick up apple care.
- OldSchoolJohnny 8y agoThinkpad T series is the modern classic developers workorse for getting things done; if you feel like paying a premium for a pretty tool and want to hang out in coffee shops a lot then you can get a Macbook.
- sjm-lbm 8y agoI feel like Thinkpad Ts started taking major steps backwards around 2013. Is that just me? I kept a 2011-era one alive for a long time, but it finally died late last year - and nothing that Lenovo was selling at the time seemed very tempting.
- discreditable 8y agoI work with a lot of ThinkPad Yogas. They are decent. The business machines are not terrible on bloat. I would still download a Win10 installer and nuke the factory image.
- _trampeltier 8y agoI like Fujitsu Lifebook E series. Of course they are not the cheapest, but they come without bloatware since ever. Also my over 10 years old power supply still works with today's newer machines and via versa. And they have not just FULL SIZE CURSOR buttons, they have Page Up and Down buttons (without Fn) too, even on the 13" model. I also like the silver look with the thin red line.
- pier25 8y agoI haven't used it myself, but a lot of people recommend the Huawei Matebook X Pro. https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/huawei-matebook-pro-x https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/huawei-matebook-pr...
- chasote 8y agoI'm still beating the drums that the mid range chromebooks are the best Linux computer deals around. Take a look at something like the Asus C302 (and it won't come with the bloatware you mentioned about your previous Asus). Google's Pixelbook is a really impressive piece of hardware and you can currently get that for $675 (down from $1000).
- imjustsaying 8y agochromebooks would be great if it weren't for the rather large software limitations of their ARM processors. so many packages and libraries just wont work. at that point, chromebooks feel like just another toy similar to your phone.
- qbrass 8y agoThat's why you get an Intel one, like the one mentioned.
- jhoh 8y agoDell XPS 15! Build quality (and touch pad) are equal to MacBooks and they come with minimal bloat ware. Also Dell support for me personally has been great so far. I had a single dead pixel on my screen and they replaced without any questions within just two weeks. Most Linux distros work out of the box. Manjaro took me 20 minutes to set up.
- forapurpose 8y agoWhat do you want to do with it? For most vendors, there is a big difference between their consumer hardware, sold based on price, bells & whistles; and their corporate hardware, sold based on cost of ownership - availability, manageability, serviceability, support. In many cases, the corporate model is worth the extra cost up front - it saves much more in headaches down the road. But usually they lack features for gaming and some other consumer or specialized applications. I've seen many HP corporate models last seemingly forever - so long that the users grow frustrated because they can't justify a new computer. There's a ~14 year old one not far from where I'm sitting that runs perfectly and is in perfect condition, other than the pointstick (it has a trackpad too).
- appleiigs 8y agoI'm using a LG Gram laptop. Affordable, all the ports (regular USB and USB-C, HDMI, SD card), and great battery life. It's annoying that Dell and HP decided to continue to copy Apple by going all USB-C.