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Ask HN: Which Non-Macbook notebook would you recommend?

17 points by sl911 ↗ HN
Hey All,

Need recommendations for a Non-Macbook notebook with these 2 chief requirements:

1. Longest battery uptime. 2. Excellent build quality.

Appreciate all the help I can get.

PS: I've got nothing against the Macbooks, its just that I live in LinuxLand and I'm in love with Ubuntu 10.04.

16 comments

[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 47.5 ms ] thread
sajid
Lenovo Thinkpad X series:

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/notebooks/thinkpad/x-series

Superb build quality, ultraportable (< 3 lbs), long battery life (up to 11hrs).

someone_here
Be careful with video drivers... some of them are incompatible with Linux due to custom tweaks (such as 50hz monitors)
yosh
http://www.thinkwiki.org/ is a good resource for figuring out Linux compatibility.

I also recommend Thinkpads. The T and W series are good too.

jdietrich
Seconded. Worth looking on eBay for an X200s - it's arguably superior to the current X201. It was the superlight version of the x200, available with a 1440*900 display and had all sorts of carbon fibre bits and an ultra-low-voltage processor. With the 9-cell battery, you've got a machine that weighs under 1.5kg and will run for ten hours away from the mains. Randall Munroe has one - http://blog.xkcd.com/2009/06/12/laptop-update/
superdude
Unless you get a tablet, expect your Thinkpad to have a terrible screen with a cheap TN LCD panel. Newer Lenovo screens may have high resolutions, but contrast and color reproduction is awful. They are generally good quality machines otherwise, but the display could be a dealbreaker.
fhirzall
I have an x200. The screen isn't amazing but the build quality and warranty are incredible. I got the protection plan, managed to spill water/coffee on my laptop in two separate occasions nad had 90% of the parts on the laptop replaced within 3-4 days including shipping.
pogos
I'm in the same position as you, looking for a good linux laptop. Haven't found one yet.

I had a chance to play with Thinkpad t410 and x201 and I have to say they weren't as good as I expected. There was very strange whining noise emitting from the cpu area and displays were just awful. I heard that the noise problem persists with newer Core i3/i5/i7 Thinkpads.

DanBlake
Sony Z series.

13 inch laptop // dual SSD's // Gaming graphics card // 1080P resolution (wow- in a 13) // 11 hours battery life // .75 inches thick (iirc)

metabrew
Only slight linux issue is you can't switch from nvidia to onboard graphics card without restarting X (last I checked).

I have an older model 11.1" vaio TZ running linux atm, it's great.

profquail
I'm planning on getting one of these as soon as I can get a US-model, configurable one with the 1920x1080 screen (it's currently only available with the 1600x900 screen). Looks like an awesome dev laptop!
docgnome
I've always found Dell to have decent hardware at a reasonable price. They also have an N series which comes with FreeDOS so you don't have to pay the extra MS tax.
aohtsab
Also looking for a Linux laptop.

Any recommendations/feedback for ASUS models? I'm looking into the K501D-X3 laptop.

ecolonsmak
I have had an Asus N61JQ for the last couple of months. 300GB HD, 4GB RAM 1333mhz, Quad core i7 1.6ghz, and ATI 5730 w/ 1GB. good solid build quality, noisy keyboard that didn't come w/ a backlight. decent system for $999. Plays well with linux as well. I bought one of their netbook models and that's been pretty solid as well.