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Ask HN: What laptop *do* I buy then?

1 points by quii ↗ HN
Even though I knew there probably wouldn't be any macbook announcements, I still stupidly hoped there would be.

I really need a new laptop, I have a very old MBA which struggles to run Intellij & Chrome at the same time.

I am open to not having a macbook, seeing as they haven't been updated in a long time. But at the same time I dont know where to begin on alternatives. I am nervous about getting something and being massively disappointed at the trackpad/keyboard/display.

So what are your recommendations?

6 comments

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svennek
A good Thinkpad... T, W or P-series... Some of the X are also okay...

Please realize that not everything named Lenovo is the good ol' thinkpad-quality... If it has onsite warranty it is probably okay....

VuWall-Matt
+1. I've had a T420 for about 5-6 years now. Added an SSD to it and it still works great. It's my secondary laptop now, and I have the 2015 X1 Carbon that is my daily-driver that I couldn't be happier with. It's light, portable, and its battery is a champ. I run Win 8.1 with things like Chrome, Visual Studio, Word/Excel, light Photoshop/Illustrator, and some Xubuntu virtual machines. I'd recommend either of these laptops. In fact, we just bought a few more T420's for the office, gave them SSDs, and installed Xubuntu. They work great.
jonwachob91
I have a Lenovo t450s and love it, but I bought it for the 14.5hr battery life and often it lasts longer then that.

I also use the keyboard track dot for my navigation, and love it.

The T460s is the current model. It's worth a look.

NuSkooler
I recently purchased a Asus Zenbook NX500JK-XH72T from Newegg for $1000. Great specs, lightweight, and the keyboard & trackpad are quite nice & display is beautiful.

Elementary OS installed was a bit tricky at first, but running great now!