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Ask HN: what is the best laptop for a web development?

These are my top criteria. Battery life, portability, performance, costs.

NeverWinter 13y ago
Depends on your budget. Will you commute? I'm personally using a Samsung 9 Series which is very lightweight. Plays well with linux as well, no driver-issues what so ever. Second choice would probably be Lenovo's newer generation IdeaPad, then again it's really about what you're personally looking for and what setting you'll be using it in.
- ericthegoodking 13y ago
  I prefer working most of time
  - NeverWinter 13y ago
    Try find a higher-resolution laptop if you're not going to use external monitors. That was the key-feature I was looking for (1920x1080).
    - ericthegoodking 13y ago
      i actually meant to say i prefer walking* sorry about that. I will definitely take your recommendation and look for a laptop with high resolution.
      - vizeroth 13y ago
        MacBook Pro w/ Retina, 2880 X 1800 Unless you're going to be working in Windows, since Windows doesn't play so well at higher resolutions.
mrjoelkemp 13y ago
Macbook air. Beautiful tools create beautiful products.
- hackula1 13y ago
  MBA is great but this saying is dead wrong.
- phaus 13y ago
  If you are going to recommend the Macbook Air, you should probably talk about what makes it a great web development machine instead of making one of the most ridiculous statements I've ever read. For example, the Macbook Air has excellent build quality, a great keyboard, decent (but not stellar) color reproduction, and an operating system that is well supported by pretty much any tool that a web developer or designer would ever need. There are plenty of ugly tools that are capable of making pretty much every artificial thing on the planet that's considered beautiful.
27182818284 13y ago
Probably the MacBook Air, and when you're at a desk, another monitor for it. I got the Macbook Pro Retina and I'm not sure if it was worth the extra dollars and the very small amount of extra weight. I think I would be fine with an Air. In fact, if I did it over, I'd get the Air and then spend a little bit more along with the difference in price to create a nicer desktop machine.
- ericthegoodking 13y ago
  will consider your option
Systemic33 13y ago
I picked the ASUS Zenbook UX31A when it arrived june last year, it's very similar to Apple MBA, but has 1080p. The next gen of it is the ASUS Zenbook UX301 [1] with the insane resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 on a 13" IPS touchscreen. It's bundled with Windows, but Linux runs very well on them. Mine has been running linux since last christmas. Price is equivalent to the MBA. [1] http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/04/asus-zenbook-ux301-hands-on/ http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/04/asus-zenbook-ux301-hands-...
elclanrs 13y ago
ASUS Zenbooks are great, very light, solid aluminum build, 1080p IPS matte panel, 6+ hours battery life. I'm quite happy with mine.
hardwaresofton 13y ago
So I personally ran into this problem a while ago -- I posted something along the lines of "why do people develop on macbook airs", trying to decide which computer to purchase. For me, it was between the Zenbook and the Macbook Air. To be honest, the first thing I would do on a Zenbook is put Linux on it (I just can't develop in Windows any more, I don't know if something is wrong with me, but everything just feels wrong when I try). I reasoned this way: 1. If I ever decide to do iOS, the Macbook is a plus 2. It's UNIX-compatible, and pretty much a hop, skip and some GNU tools from linux. 3. If you really want to, there's pretty well tested software for putting windows on it. Then I went on craigslist and bought a $500 Macbook Air (10"), and have been happy with my decision ever since. I should also note that I do most of my programming on my desktop.
hackula1 13y ago
For me, mbpr 13 is a really good balance between usability and portability. I was Thinkpad + linux for years, but I find the mbp hardware feels a bit sturdier, compared to other options in the same price range. The main contender for me was the Thinkpad Carbon, but I liked the feel of the mbp keyboard and trackpad a bit better (The latest TP has weird rounded keys).
phaus 13y ago
The Lenovo Yoga Pro 2 is out. It starts at ~1100 and has a 13" 3200x1800 screen. Early reviews say they improved every aspect of the original Yoga. It weighs a hair over 3 lbs, has a Haswell processor, up to 8GB ram, and gets about 6 hours of battery life. The battery life isn't stellar for a Haswell ultrabook, but the absolutely amazing screen uses more power than a lower-res one would. As another option, the Thinkpad T440s just launched. It has an option for a 1080p IPS, weighs about 3.5 lbs, and has a hot-swappable battery. Lenovo also has really good Linux support.
- ericthegoodking 13y ago
  It looks like the new thinkpads costs as much as new mac books , why would i consider thinkpads over MBA? Thanks .
  - runjake 13y ago
    Upgradability, durability, ports, running Windows (Boot Camp isn't all that great with battery and fans), running Linux on something well-supported.
    - iamtechaddict 13y ago
      I don't understand why to use linux(Lack Adobe creative suite and many other softawares though could be run via Wine but with a performance glitch) and Windows(For developers ?? :P) when there is OSX is already doing a very good job.
      - phaus 13y ago
        Not every web developer does web design. If you only code, there's no advantage to using OSX. Judging from your other comment, you have already picked OSX. If it works better for you thats all that matters, but its silly to pretend that you can't comprehend why other OSs exist. The answer is simple, not everyone likes the same thing.
        13y ago

These are my top criteria. Battery life, portability, performance, costs.

Depends on your budget. Will you commute? I'm personally using a Samsung 9 Series which is very lightweight. Plays well with linux as well, no driver-issues what so ever. Second choice would probably be Lenovo's newer generation IdeaPad, then again it's really about what you're personally looking for and what setting you'll be using it in.

ericthegoodking 13y ago
I prefer working most of time
- NeverWinter 13y ago
  Try find a higher-resolution laptop if you're not going to use external monitors. That was the key-feature I was looking for (1920x1080).
  - ericthegoodking 13y ago
    i actually meant to say i prefer walking* sorry about that. I will definitely take your recommendation and look for a laptop with high resolution.
    - vizeroth 13y ago
      MacBook Pro w/ Retina, 2880 X 1800 Unless you're going to be working in Windows, since Windows doesn't play so well at higher resolutions.

mrjoelkemp 13y ago

Macbook air. Beautiful tools create beautiful products.

hackula1 13y ago
MBA is great but this saying is dead wrong.
phaus 13y ago
If you are going to recommend the Macbook Air, you should probably talk about what makes it a great web development machine instead of making one of the most ridiculous statements I've ever read. For example, the Macbook Air has excellent build quality, a great keyboard, decent (but not stellar) color reproduction, and an operating system that is well supported by pretty much any tool that a web developer or designer would ever need. There are plenty of ugly tools that are capable of making pretty much every artificial thing on the planet that's considered beautiful.

27182818284 13y ago

Probably the MacBook Air, and when you're at a desk, another monitor for it. I got the Macbook Pro Retina and I'm not sure if it was worth the extra dollars and the very small amount of extra weight. I think I would be fine with an Air. In fact, if I did it over, I'd get the Air and then spend a little bit more along with the difference in price to create a nicer desktop machine.

ericthegoodking 13y ago
will consider your option

Systemic33 13y ago

I picked the ASUS Zenbook UX31A when it arrived june last year, it's very similar to Apple MBA, but has 1080p. The next gen of it is the ASUS Zenbook UX301 [1] with the insane resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 on a 13" IPS touchscreen. It's bundled with Windows, but Linux runs very well on them. Mine has been running linux since last christmas. Price is equivalent to the MBA. [1] http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/04/asus-zenbook-ux301-hands-on/ http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/04/asus-zenbook-ux301-hands-...

elclanrs 13y ago

ASUS Zenbooks are great, very light, solid aluminum build, 1080p IPS matte panel, 6+ hours battery life. I'm quite happy with mine.

hardwaresofton 13y ago

So I personally ran into this problem a while ago -- I posted something along the lines of "why do people develop on macbook airs", trying to decide which computer to purchase. For me, it was between the Zenbook and the Macbook Air. To be honest, the first thing I would do on a Zenbook is put Linux on it (I just can't develop in Windows any more, I don't know if something is wrong with me, but everything just feels wrong when I try). I reasoned this way: 1. If I ever decide to do iOS, the Macbook is a plus 2. It's UNIX-compatible, and pretty much a hop, skip and some GNU tools from linux. 3. If you really want to, there's pretty well tested software for putting windows on it. Then I went on craigslist and bought a $500 Macbook Air (10"), and have been happy with my decision ever since. I should also note that I do most of my programming on my desktop.

hackula1 13y ago

For me, mbpr 13 is a really good balance between usability and portability. I was Thinkpad + linux for years, but I find the mbp hardware feels a bit sturdier, compared to other options in the same price range. The main contender for me was the Thinkpad Carbon, but I liked the feel of the mbp keyboard and trackpad a bit better (The latest TP has weird rounded keys).

phaus 13y ago

The Lenovo Yoga Pro 2 is out. It starts at ~1100 and has a 13" 3200x1800 screen. Early reviews say they improved every aspect of the original Yoga. It weighs a hair over 3 lbs, has a Haswell processor, up to 8GB ram, and gets about 6 hours of battery life. The battery life isn't stellar for a Haswell ultrabook, but the absolutely amazing screen uses more power than a lower-res one would. As another option, the Thinkpad T440s just launched. It has an option for a 1080p IPS, weighs about 3.5 lbs, and has a hot-swappable battery. Lenovo also has really good Linux support.

ericthegoodking 13y ago
It looks like the new thinkpads costs as much as new mac books , why would i consider thinkpads over MBA? Thanks .
- runjake 13y ago
  Upgradability, durability, ports, running Windows (Boot Camp isn't all that great with battery and fans), running Linux on something well-supported.
  - iamtechaddict 13y ago
    I don't understand why to use linux(Lack Adobe creative suite and many other softawares though could be run via Wine but with a performance glitch) and Windows(For developers ?? :P) when there is OSX is already doing a very good job.
    - phaus 13y ago
      Not every web developer does web design. If you only code, there's no advantage to using OSX. Judging from your other comment, you have already picked OSX. If it works better for you thats all that matters, but its silly to pretend that you can't comprehend why other OSs exist. The answer is simple, not everyone likes the same thing.
      - 13y ago