43 ms·

Ask HN: Best developer laptop under $1700?

38 points by factorialboy 14y ago

I'll use Ubuntu / Debian based Linux. Looking at System76, any other options?

zodiac 14y ago
There was a rave review of the Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A by Jeff Atwood recently http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/09/the-last-pc-laptop.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/09/the-last-pc-laptop....
- minhajuddin 14y ago
  The zenbook has a 1.7 GHz processor. Most ultrabooks have processors with speeds 1.5 to 1.8GHz, which might not be the best for development. A T430 with SSD would be a much more compelling dev laptop.
  - b6 14y ago
    It looks like the T430's best resolution is 1600x900. The ZenBook is 1920x1080, 1.44 times as many pixels. This is the main reason I'm thinking about getting the ZenBook.
    - zcrar70 14y ago
      I have a Zenbook and love it. Would recommend the UX32VD over the UX31, as you can upgrade the SSD and the RAM. (Jeff Atwood actually uses the UX32VD - he gave the UX31 to his wife.)
nnnnnn 14y ago
Macbook air 13", just uninstall Mac OS and install Ubuntu. I switched from PC Laptop to Mac and will never look back. OS aside, the hardware is phenomenal, easily the best hardware on the market. The ultrabooks are catching up but they're still nowhere near the air. I've been doing all my dev work on here and have been impressed with the snapiness of the processor and SSD. Good luck!
- ziziyO 14y ago
  I wouldn't say easily the best hardware in the market. The zenbook prime outclasses it in raw power, though the touchpad gets bad reviews. I'd also give OSX a fair shot if you buy a Macbook Air. Most of your linux tools are available for it.
  - jessedhillon 14y ago
    Most of your linux tools are available for it. Basic tools are available, like 'ls' and 'grep'. Getting anything a little less popular requires what I would term "jumping through hoops," as is the case with many Python dependencies I've encountered. It's especially horrible if the thing needs to be compiled. For a platform where the hardware always conforms to one of a set of fixed profiles, it's bizarre that there isn't a binary package manager for these things.
    - betageek 14y ago
      May have been true on the past but Homebrew (http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew) has improved the situation immensely
    - vineel 14y ago
      I've made the switch and haven't looked back. Anything I needed from Linux, I've found in OS X somewhere.
    - riffraff 14y ago
      FYI, macports has supported binary packages for a while
    - alaaibrahim 14y ago
      Well that depends on how much attached you are to GNU tools, as OSX provides the BSD versions. I've been using OSX for 3 years now, and I still ssh to a linux box to do date calculations with date $ date -d "next sun" $ date -d "+3 years +2 months +3 hours -15 min"
graue 14y ago
What kind of developing and what are you looking for in terms of specs? I run Xubuntu on a 13" MacBook Air, which is only ~$1100 and does everything I need. For web developers, I feel like the Air is almost the default option. That your budget is so high (“under $1700” would seem to include the vast majority of laptops) suggests you may be doing something that needs serious CPU/GPU performance, in which case our goals are different. For me, portability was paramount (otherwise why get a laptop?), so I wanted it lightweight and no bigger than 13". Second, I wanted it to have an SSD so it'd be fast. I had read that replacing hard drives with SSDs makes a huge difference in responsiveness and that turns out to be absolutely true. All other specs (CPU, RAM, ...), I didn't care about because I felt confident they would be good enough. Those goals narrowed it down to either one of the PC ultrabooks (which System76 does not make, unfortunately) or the Air. Out of the PC ultrabooks, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon was the best contender, and w1ntermute's comments in this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4849781 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4849781 have convinced me that if I were buying a laptop today, I'd probably pick the X1 Carbon over the Air. Either one's great, though, and supports Ubuntu just fine.
- factorialboy 14y ago
  I can't seem to get a good display with any Ultrabook.
  - zcrar70 14y ago
    The Asus UX32VD has a 1920x1080 resolution. I have one and love it. You'll have to change the default HDD to an SSD, and upgrade the RAM to 10GB though. Jeff Atwood also has one - his review is here: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/09/the-last-pc-laptop.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/09/the-last-pc-laptop....
    - aclimatt 14y ago
      What is your battery life like?
    - Jean-Philipe 14y ago
ixacto 14y ago
You can get a thinkpad off of ebay for <700 that will run debian or ubuntu + compiz if you want it.
kushti 14y ago
Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook NH570 - The real power(but 18'') http://www.notebookcheck.net/Fujitsu-LifeBook-NH570-MF012DE.41623.0.html http://www.notebookcheck.net/Fujitsu-LifeBook-NH570-MF012DE....
- tluyben2 14y ago
  Fujitsu laptops are fantastic and their support is amazing. However; low res... They need to spruce up the resolution to stay relevant. I would never buy anything else if they do.
  - damian2000 14y ago
    They make one of the few laptops that still has a built in serial port which is good for custom hardware dev. And they are made in Japan.
  - manveru 14y ago
    I'm using my third Fujitsu now, never had a single problem and the first one i bought in 2004 still runs fine :) I love their keyboards the most, but yeah, resolution isn't something they can be proud of. Been thinking of getting their new ultrabook, http://www.fmworld.net/fmv/pcpm1210/uh/spec/ http://www.fmworld.net/fmv/pcpm1210/uh/spec/ (around $1400 USD) but resolution is only 1366×768, the same as the machine I already bought in 2010. And if you look closely, even external monitors via HDMI are limited to 1920×1080 which is just mean.
  - onetwothreefour 14y ago
    Lifebooks are amazingly awesome for non-Apple hardware, but yeah, low res has been letting them down for a while. The build quality is insanely good though.
binarysolo 14y ago
Going through Craigslist/eBay/Amazon, you can get a 17" MacBook Pro 2011 + 256GB SSD for about that price. Slap Ubuntu onto the 2nd partition or just wipe it completely. I personally enjoy development mobility and need to crunch data so I need the horsepower. Alternately getting a 13" Macbook Air + a 27" LCD (Catleap/Yamasaki/Shimian or another Korean flavor) + Apple display connector works beautifully as well, having the options of mobility as well as a good home office screen.
- cmsj 14y ago
  The 17" isn't what I would call portable ;) The thing is a wall of metal!
  - taligent 14y ago
    Actually you get used to it pretty quick. I regularly use it in bed for coding, surfing websites etc. I think it just looks intimidating. The best bit though is that it doubles as a breakfast tray for those Sunday morning bacon, eggs and coffee.
NateDad 14y ago
You don't need $1700 for a laptop to develop on. Especially if it's going to be Linux-based. Get an SSD, a midrange CPU, and 8 gigs of RAM. The rest is totally personal preference and has no real impact on development. What hardware you're running is almost completely irrelevant for most development jobs.
- derrida 14y ago
  Agree... I have an i5, 8gb of ram with an SSD for $500. Save the $1200. Look for Thinkpads on Ebay & just buy the SSD and extra RAM separately. 4gb of ram is $20 at my local store.
  - krenel 14y ago
    I recommend you to buy the SSD and the extra memory at Crucial. The price is very competitive and the hardware very good. I have both 8 gigs of memory and 128 SSD and I'm very happy with it. The other think, that is a personal preference, is the size of the keyboard and the keys. There are some laptops that have a small size of a key and this is not the best kind for programing. The Lenovo keyboard are one of the best out there (well, in MO, but it's the opinion of a lot Lenovo owners) and you shuld really give it a shot. I recommend you the series X of Lenovo and the X230[1] if you want a small but powerful laptop (12.5''). This is the one I'm using and I'm very happy with it. And if you want something bigger take a look at the X1 Carbon[2]. If you buy the SSD and the extra memory in Curcial instead of Lenovo you will save some bucks. [1] http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=42D5009B1EABB377BFC4965EE083D306 http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPo... [2] http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=0E6E3D0084869C3EB4172DA2F965A301 http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPo...
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- factorialboy 14y ago
tzury 14y ago
ThinkPad X1 Carbon.
gavanwoolery 14y ago
Going to throw this out there, you decide if it is viable: You can use a Nexus 10 or iPad with Linode or other VNC software, and a bluetooth keyboard/mouse. It is also possible to rig a tablet with an ethernet connection directly to a host Mac/Linux/Windows device to eliminate any performance issues that a wifi connection might present, although for this to work effectively the device needs a USB 3.0 connection (some newer tablets are sporting this), both for speed and full duplex communication. Android supports IP over USB (even outside of the debugger, but requires some trickery if I remember correctly). Advantages: Cheap: ($400-$500) Potential to use satellite connection (if whatever tablet you are buying supports it). 9+ hours of battery life in some cases. 2560x1600 resolution (slightly less for iPad 3). Disadvantages: lag/performance issues portability (carrying more pieces) Other than that, you kind of have to prioritize what is most important for you. In my case, portability is not such a big issue, as long as the device can easily be set up in a hotel room or office I am set. This means I don't really need to limit myself to devices that are battery-powered, and I have considered using a Mac Mini with a portable monitor/keyboard, or even modding a 21 inch iMac to fit in a suitcase (I am unfortunately limited to Apple devices as I do a lot of work with iOS). The performance difference between my iMac (27) and Macbook Air is night and day (and both are new). In general, there are many hacky ways to avoid buying a laptop, and I recommend it because laptops are often over-priced and under-powered.
- jlgreco 14y ago
  I would add "having to carry two things around now" to that list. That is what keeps me from adopting a setup like that.
  - gavanwoolery 14y ago
    fixed :) Although I should add you can create any number of mods that convert the pieces into one cohesive device, although obviously that is not for everybody.
- nextstep 14y ago
  What tablets support a satellite connection?
pajju 14y ago
If portability is your primary concern go with - Macbook Air 13" or any Asus ultrabook's with i5 3rd generation and 13" screen size, considering you are fixed with Debian. Your feature checklist should have 8Gigs or more expandable RAM + Excellent display resolution + Battery backup + at least minimum 128GB SSD. A checkpoint - Most ultrabooks have many many driver issues, esp graphics, so do a research. Best safe bet is to go with Mac Air 13", they run perfect! Worth mentioning the huge community of users.
kyriakos 14y ago
Whatever you get make sure its display is high res enough. Coding in an IDE like Eclipse or Visual Studio on screen resolution smaller than 1080p is a pain. I still don't understand why most laptops nowadays still have 720p screens.
cmsj 14y ago
$1700 is retina MacBook Pro territory!
- phaus 14y ago
  The retina Macbook Pro would be a good choice, but I haven't seen a single review that didn't mention that the machine gets choppy even during web browsing. Apple should have never released a retina Macbook with only integrated graphics. It's a real shame because I really wanted a retina machine that was roughly the size and weight of a Macbook Air, but not if it struggles to run even the most basic of programs.
  - onetwothreefour 14y ago
    Any Apple v1 is usually going to have one downside. That's the rMBPs. I was crazy enough to buy a v1 MBA. That thing ran so slowly due to overheating it wasn't funny. Now they're the most awesome portable notebook you can buy. :) The v2 of a 13" rMBP might be the perfect laptop. :)
    - phaus 14y ago
      Yea, I know that it's technically a V1 for the 13", but you would think that Apple would have noticed that the discrete graphics on the larger model (which has only a slightly higher resolution) were barely getting the job done as it was. I have high hopes for the next version, I'm hoping that they can work out the performance issues and at the same time implement retina screens into the actual Macbook Air product line.
eLobato 14y ago
Asus S56CA + 180GB SSD + extra 4GB RAM (it only has two slots and one of them comes with a 2GB memory). http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Superior_Mobility/S56CM/ http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Superior_Mobility/S56CM/ Would be around $1000 and its a beast. It's powerful enough for everything you will want to do, battery is about 4.5 hours, and it has this NVIDIA Optimus technology that switches between a powerful GT 635 and Intel Ivybridge depending on your graphical needs so battery doesn't drain out that quickly. I play Counter Strike: Global offensive on high res and it works perfectly. 4 different VMs? The SSD handles it. Need to develop 3d stuff on Android? No probs. You'll need Bumblebee (OS project) to handle both GPUs but it's easy as pie to install. Also its an ultrabook so pretty thin. Not as lightweight as I'd like it to be but still very portable.
- Legogris 14y ago
  I have a GT 555M and last time I checked, I was not able to use two external displays (one through VGA and one with HDMI) under Linux, even with Bumblebee. Also, I don't think you get much of the actual benefits from Optimus through Bumblebee. Mostly because of nVidia being douchy with their drivers. My current solution is to boot to Windows and then work in Linux trough a VM. It works, but if I would by a new laptop for Linux today I would try to avoid Optimus.
z3phyr 14y ago
I have hp mini 1000 netbook, with Ubuntu + XMonad. Everything under $300.
rileya 14y ago
Thinkpad x230 I've had one for a few months now and it's been excellent, good keyboard, great Linux support and really good battery life (with the 9-cell battery I can get 8hrs+). It's nice and compact, and pretty darn light, if a little on the thick side. With 8gb of RAM, 128gb SSD, and a midrange Core i5 it runs about $1200-1300, but you could probably buy the RAM/SSD separately and save a fair amount. The one weak point is the screen resolution (1366x768), but the screen is IPS and very good quality otherwise.
RivieraKid 14y ago
Samsung NP900X3C, probably the best ultrabook. It has slightly higher resolution than the newest Air, matte screen, is slighly lighter and thinner.
18hrs 14y ago
I recently learned about these guys: http://zareason.com/shop/Laptops/ http://zareason.com/shop/Laptops/ If I were on the market for a dev machine today my choice would be between their UltraLap 430 and Dell's XPS 13.
antoncohen 14y ago
For $1699 you can get either: 13" MacBook Air with 2.0GHz i7, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, or 13" MacBook Pro Retina, 2.5GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD Don't worry about the Air's CPU speed, the i7 actually Turbo Boosts to 3.2GHz, vs the Retina i5's 3.1GHz, plus it has an extra 1MB of cache. The choice is basically crazy good display vs larger SSD. Try using Mac OS X (depending on the type of development you are doing). It can run almost anything Linux can, plus a lot of stuff Linux can't (Netflix, WebEx, MS Office, Photoshop). Don't pretend your laptop is a production environment, it will lead to problems, use Vagrant to run a realistic production environment.
- antihero 14y ago
  Window management on OSX is utterly hideous if you're used to a proper tiling WM.
6d65 14y ago
My next development laptop will certainly be thinkpad x1 carbon. 8GB of RAM and 256 SSD are enough for running development virtual machines. My current machine is good enough but i will buy it when they'll upgrade to Haswell CPU's and maybe some higher resolution screens.
SanjeevSharma 14y ago
My vote for the MacBook Air 13'. Hands down. I installed Windows 8 on it (bootcamp) and have Ubuntu running in a VM.
general_failure 14y ago
XPS 13 easily. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/11/dell-releases-powerful-well-supported-linux-ultrabook/ http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/11/dell-releases-powerfu...
mattspitz 14y ago
Dell just released "Project Sputnik", which looks like a beast of Windows ultrabook repurposed for Linux. http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx I'm also looking for a developer laptop. I'm not too thrilled about my experience with OS X and I don't really feel compelled to dig through config files to make basic things like the fan work. Sputnik looks interesting, as it's configured with its own PPA for drivers specific to that machine, meaning that someone else is looking at those config files for your specific setup. You might be stuck with Ubuntu and have to clean out some "instant cloud" features, though.

38 points by factorialboy 14y ago

I'll use Ubuntu / Debian based Linux. Looking at System76, any other options?

There was a rave review of the Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A by Jeff Atwood recently http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/09/the-last-pc-laptop.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/09/the-last-pc-laptop....

minhajuddin 14y ago
The zenbook has a 1.7 GHz processor. Most ultrabooks have processors with speeds 1.5 to 1.8GHz, which might not be the best for development. A T430 with SSD would be a much more compelling dev laptop.
- b6 14y ago
  It looks like the T430's best resolution is 1600x900. The ZenBook is 1920x1080, 1.44 times as many pixels. This is the main reason I'm thinking about getting the ZenBook.
  - zcrar70 14y ago
    I have a Zenbook and love it. Would recommend the UX32VD over the UX31, as you can upgrade the SSD and the RAM. (Jeff Atwood actually uses the UX32VD - he gave the UX31 to his wife.)

nnnnnn 14y ago

Macbook air 13", just uninstall Mac OS and install Ubuntu. I switched from PC Laptop to Mac and will never look back. OS aside, the hardware is phenomenal, easily the best hardware on the market. The ultrabooks are catching up but they're still nowhere near the air. I've been doing all my dev work on here and have been impressed with the snapiness of the processor and SSD. Good luck!

ziziyO 14y ago
I wouldn't say easily the best hardware in the market. The zenbook prime outclasses it in raw power, though the touchpad gets bad reviews. I'd also give OSX a fair shot if you buy a Macbook Air. Most of your linux tools are available for it.
- jessedhillon 14y ago
  Most of your linux tools are available for it. Basic tools are available, like 'ls' and 'grep'. Getting anything a little less popular requires what I would term "jumping through hoops," as is the case with many Python dependencies I've encountered. It's especially horrible if the thing needs to be compiled. For a platform where the hardware always conforms to one of a set of fixed profiles, it's bizarre that there isn't a binary package manager for these things.
  - betageek 14y ago
    May have been true on the past but Homebrew (http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew) has improved the situation immensely
  - vineel 14y ago
    I've made the switch and haven't looked back. Anything I needed from Linux, I've found in OS X somewhere.
  - riffraff 14y ago
    FYI, macports has supported binary packages for a while
  - alaaibrahim 14y ago
    Well that depends on how much attached you are to GNU tools, as OSX provides the BSD versions. I've been using OSX for 3 years now, and I still ssh to a linux box to do date calculations with date $ date -d "next sun" $ date -d "+3 years +2 months +3 hours -15 min"

graue 14y ago

What kind of developing and what are you looking for in terms of specs? I run Xubuntu on a 13" MacBook Air, which is only ~$1100 and does everything I need. For web developers, I feel like the Air is almost the default option. That your budget is so high (“under $1700” would seem to include the vast majority of laptops) suggests you may be doing something that needs serious CPU/GPU performance, in which case our goals are different. For me, portability was paramount (otherwise why get a laptop?), so I wanted it lightweight and no bigger than 13". Second, I wanted it to have an SSD so it'd be fast. I had read that replacing hard drives with SSDs makes a huge difference in responsiveness and that turns out to be absolutely true. All other specs (CPU, RAM, ...), I didn't care about because I felt confident they would be good enough. Those goals narrowed it down to either one of the PC ultrabooks (which System76 does not make, unfortunately) or the Air. Out of the PC ultrabooks, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon was the best contender, and w1ntermute's comments in this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4849781 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4849781 have convinced me that if I were buying a laptop today, I'd probably pick the X1 Carbon over the Air. Either one's great, though, and supports Ubuntu just fine.

factorialboy 14y ago
I can't seem to get a good display with any Ultrabook.
- zcrar70 14y ago
  The Asus UX32VD has a 1920x1080 resolution. I have one and love it. You'll have to change the default HDD to an SSD, and upgrade the RAM to 10GB though. Jeff Atwood also has one - his review is here: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/09/the-last-pc-laptop.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/09/the-last-pc-laptop....
  - aclimatt 14y ago
    What is your battery life like?
  - Jean-Philipe 14y ago

ixacto 14y ago

You can get a thinkpad off of ebay for <700 that will run debian or ubuntu + compiz if you want it.

kushti 14y ago

Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook NH570 - The real power(but 18'') http://www.notebookcheck.net/Fujitsu-LifeBook-NH570-MF012DE.41623.0.html http://www.notebookcheck.net/Fujitsu-LifeBook-NH570-MF012DE....

tluyben2 14y ago
Fujitsu laptops are fantastic and their support is amazing. However; low res... They need to spruce up the resolution to stay relevant. I would never buy anything else if they do.
- damian2000 14y ago
  They make one of the few laptops that still has a built in serial port which is good for custom hardware dev. And they are made in Japan.
- manveru 14y ago
  I'm using my third Fujitsu now, never had a single problem and the first one i bought in 2004 still runs fine :) I love their keyboards the most, but yeah, resolution isn't something they can be proud of. Been thinking of getting their new ultrabook, http://www.fmworld.net/fmv/pcpm1210/uh/spec/ http://www.fmworld.net/fmv/pcpm1210/uh/spec/ (around $1400 USD) but resolution is only 1366×768, the same as the machine I already bought in 2010. And if you look closely, even external monitors via HDMI are limited to 1920×1080 which is just mean.
- onetwothreefour 14y ago
  Lifebooks are amazingly awesome for non-Apple hardware, but yeah, low res has been letting them down for a while. The build quality is insanely good though.

binarysolo 14y ago

Going through Craigslist/eBay/Amazon, you can get a 17" MacBook Pro 2011 + 256GB SSD for about that price. Slap Ubuntu onto the 2nd partition or just wipe it completely. I personally enjoy development mobility and need to crunch data so I need the horsepower. Alternately getting a 13" Macbook Air + a 27" LCD (Catleap/Yamasaki/Shimian or another Korean flavor) + Apple display connector works beautifully as well, having the options of mobility as well as a good home office screen.

cmsj 14y ago
The 17" isn't what I would call portable ;) The thing is a wall of metal!
- taligent 14y ago
  Actually you get used to it pretty quick. I regularly use it in bed for coding, surfing websites etc. I think it just looks intimidating. The best bit though is that it doubles as a breakfast tray for those Sunday morning bacon, eggs and coffee.

NateDad 14y ago

You don't need $1700 for a laptop to develop on. Especially if it's going to be Linux-based. Get an SSD, a midrange CPU, and 8 gigs of RAM. The rest is totally personal preference and has no real impact on development. What hardware you're running is almost completely irrelevant for most development jobs.

derrida 14y ago
Agree... I have an i5, 8gb of ram with an SSD for $500. Save the $1200. Look for Thinkpads on Ebay & just buy the SSD and extra RAM separately. 4gb of ram is $20 at my local store.
- krenel 14y ago
  I recommend you to buy the SSD and the extra memory at Crucial. The price is very competitive and the hardware very good. I have both 8 gigs of memory and 128 SSD and I'm very happy with it. The other think, that is a personal preference, is the size of the keyboard and the keys. There are some laptops that have a small size of a key and this is not the best kind for programing. The Lenovo keyboard are one of the best out there (well, in MO, but it's the opinion of a lot Lenovo owners) and you shuld really give it a shot. I recommend you the series X of Lenovo and the X230[1] if you want a small but powerful laptop (12.5''). This is the one I'm using and I'm very happy with it. And if you want something bigger take a look at the X1 Carbon[2]. If you buy the SSD and the extra memory in Curcial instead of Lenovo you will save some bucks. [1] http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=42D5009B1EABB377BFC4965EE083D306 http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPo... [2] http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=0E6E3D0084869C3EB4172DA2F965A301 http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPo...
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
factorialboy 14y ago

tzury 14y ago

ThinkPad X1 Carbon.

gavanwoolery 14y ago

Going to throw this out there, you decide if it is viable: You can use a Nexus 10 or iPad with Linode or other VNC software, and a bluetooth keyboard/mouse. It is also possible to rig a tablet with an ethernet connection directly to a host Mac/Linux/Windows device to eliminate any performance issues that a wifi connection might present, although for this to work effectively the device needs a USB 3.0 connection (some newer tablets are sporting this), both for speed and full duplex communication. Android supports IP over USB (even outside of the debugger, but requires some trickery if I remember correctly). Advantages: Cheap: ($400-$500) Potential to use satellite connection (if whatever tablet you are buying supports it). 9+ hours of battery life in some cases. 2560x1600 resolution (slightly less for iPad 3). Disadvantages: lag/performance issues portability (carrying more pieces) Other than that, you kind of have to prioritize what is most important for you. In my case, portability is not such a big issue, as long as the device can easily be set up in a hotel room or office I am set. This means I don't really need to limit myself to devices that are battery-powered, and I have considered using a Mac Mini with a portable monitor/keyboard, or even modding a 21 inch iMac to fit in a suitcase (I am unfortunately limited to Apple devices as I do a lot of work with iOS). The performance difference between my iMac (27) and Macbook Air is night and day (and both are new). In general, there are many hacky ways to avoid buying a laptop, and I recommend it because laptops are often over-priced and under-powered.

jlgreco 14y ago
I would add "having to carry two things around now" to that list. That is what keeps me from adopting a setup like that.
- gavanwoolery 14y ago
  fixed :) Although I should add you can create any number of mods that convert the pieces into one cohesive device, although obviously that is not for everybody.
nextstep 14y ago
What tablets support a satellite connection?

pajju 14y ago

If portability is your primary concern go with - Macbook Air 13" or any Asus ultrabook's with i5 3rd generation and 13" screen size, considering you are fixed with Debian. Your feature checklist should have 8Gigs or more expandable RAM + Excellent display resolution + Battery backup + at least minimum 128GB SSD. A checkpoint - Most ultrabooks have many many driver issues, esp graphics, so do a research. Best safe bet is to go with Mac Air 13", they run perfect! Worth mentioning the huge community of users.

kyriakos 14y ago

Whatever you get make sure its display is high res enough. Coding in an IDE like Eclipse or Visual Studio on screen resolution smaller than 1080p is a pain. I still don't understand why most laptops nowadays still have 720p screens.

cmsj 14y ago

$1700 is retina MacBook Pro territory!

phaus 14y ago
The retina Macbook Pro would be a good choice, but I haven't seen a single review that didn't mention that the machine gets choppy even during web browsing. Apple should have never released a retina Macbook with only integrated graphics. It's a real shame because I really wanted a retina machine that was roughly the size and weight of a Macbook Air, but not if it struggles to run even the most basic of programs.
- onetwothreefour 14y ago
  Any Apple v1 is usually going to have one downside. That's the rMBPs. I was crazy enough to buy a v1 MBA. That thing ran so slowly due to overheating it wasn't funny. Now they're the most awesome portable notebook you can buy. :) The v2 of a 13" rMBP might be the perfect laptop. :)
  - phaus 14y ago
    Yea, I know that it's technically a V1 for the 13", but you would think that Apple would have noticed that the discrete graphics on the larger model (which has only a slightly higher resolution) were barely getting the job done as it was. I have high hopes for the next version, I'm hoping that they can work out the performance issues and at the same time implement retina screens into the actual Macbook Air product line.

eLobato 14y ago

Asus S56CA + 180GB SSD + extra 4GB RAM (it only has two slots and one of them comes with a 2GB memory). http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Superior_Mobility/S56CM/ http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Superior_Mobility/S56CM/ Would be around $1000 and its a beast. It's powerful enough for everything you will want to do, battery is about 4.5 hours, and it has this NVIDIA Optimus technology that switches between a powerful GT 635 and Intel Ivybridge depending on your graphical needs so battery doesn't drain out that quickly. I play Counter Strike: Global offensive on high res and it works perfectly. 4 different VMs? The SSD handles it. Need to develop 3d stuff on Android? No probs. You'll need Bumblebee (OS project) to handle both GPUs but it's easy as pie to install. Also its an ultrabook so pretty thin. Not as lightweight as I'd like it to be but still very portable.

Legogris 14y ago
I have a GT 555M and last time I checked, I was not able to use two external displays (one through VGA and one with HDMI) under Linux, even with Bumblebee. Also, I don't think you get much of the actual benefits from Optimus through Bumblebee. Mostly because of nVidia being douchy with their drivers. My current solution is to boot to Windows and then work in Linux trough a VM. It works, but if I would by a new laptop for Linux today I would try to avoid Optimus.

z3phyr 14y ago

I have hp mini 1000 netbook, with Ubuntu + XMonad. Everything under $300.

rileya 14y ago

Thinkpad x230 I've had one for a few months now and it's been excellent, good keyboard, great Linux support and really good battery life (with the 9-cell battery I can get 8hrs+). It's nice and compact, and pretty darn light, if a little on the thick side. With 8gb of RAM, 128gb SSD, and a midrange Core i5 it runs about $1200-1300, but you could probably buy the RAM/SSD separately and save a fair amount. The one weak point is the screen resolution (1366x768), but the screen is IPS and very good quality otherwise.

RivieraKid 14y ago

Samsung NP900X3C, probably the best ultrabook. It has slightly higher resolution than the newest Air, matte screen, is slighly lighter and thinner.

18hrs 14y ago

I recently learned about these guys: http://zareason.com/shop/Laptops/ http://zareason.com/shop/Laptops/ If I were on the market for a dev machine today my choice would be between their UltraLap 430 and Dell's XPS 13.

antoncohen 14y ago

For $1699 you can get either: 13" MacBook Air with 2.0GHz i7, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, or 13" MacBook Pro Retina, 2.5GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD Don't worry about the Air's CPU speed, the i7 actually Turbo Boosts to 3.2GHz, vs the Retina i5's 3.1GHz, plus it has an extra 1MB of cache. The choice is basically crazy good display vs larger SSD. Try using Mac OS X (depending on the type of development you are doing). It can run almost anything Linux can, plus a lot of stuff Linux can't (Netflix, WebEx, MS Office, Photoshop). Don't pretend your laptop is a production environment, it will lead to problems, use Vagrant to run a realistic production environment.

antihero 14y ago
Window management on OSX is utterly hideous if you're used to a proper tiling WM.

6d65 14y ago

My next development laptop will certainly be thinkpad x1 carbon. 8GB of RAM and 256 SSD are enough for running development virtual machines. My current machine is good enough but i will buy it when they'll upgrade to Haswell CPU's and maybe some higher resolution screens.

SanjeevSharma 14y ago

My vote for the MacBook Air 13'. Hands down. I installed Windows 8 on it (bootcamp) and have Ubuntu running in a VM.

general_failure 14y ago

XPS 13 easily. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/11/dell-releases-powerful-well-supported-linux-ultrabook/ http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/11/dell-releases-powerfu...

mattspitz 14y ago

Dell just released "Project Sputnik", which looks like a beast of Windows ultrabook repurposed for Linux. http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx I'm also looking for a developer laptop. I'm not too thrilled about my experience with OS X and I don't really feel compelled to dig through config files to make basic things like the fan work. Sputnik looks interesting, as it's configured with its own PPA for drivers specific to that machine, meaning that someone else is looking at those config files for your specific setup. You might be stuck with Ubuntu and have to clean out some "instant cloud" features, though.