I use a laptop at the desk, with a monitor and proper keyboard / mouse and task chair. I use MacBooks mostly because of OS X and the need to interface with Linux and Unix infrastructure. I don't need horsepower on my workstation, because all the CPU or disk IO I need is in the data center.
MacBook Pro 15" because our entire org runs on MacOS. It's fantastic since we have Linux/Unix infrastructure and also have iOS/Android apps to build. It's great for everything we do and they're super reliable.
Can't imagine working on anything else.
Some of my colleagues have an iMac + MacBook Pro setup. The iMac is at their desk and the MacBook Pro is for taking to meetings and working from home.
For the last 5+ years I've been using ZenBook UX32LN - it's still the best machine I've bought (I've replaced my MacBook 2012 for it with no regrets).
I was working linux for these years on it, but switched recently to Windows 10 + Microsoft's linux subsystem thingie - it works pretty nice - once this machine will totally break I think I'll consider one of Surface Books since the OS is not a problem for me anymore.
Why I work on it? It's fast (SSD + i7 (even if it's an outdated model) + 12GB of RAM) makes it really reliable for fullstack development. Besides that, 13" Screen is enough for me, makes it pretty mobile machine.
15" MacbookPro because it just works, integrates perfectly with phone and watch, great support etc. And after 3 years I can still sell it for a good price.
Chromebook because it runs all day on a charge and I ssh into the many servers at cloud providers to perform the grunt work. Apps on Chrome are sufficient to whip up documents, etc if and when required. I use a desktop for editing images and running tests.
2015 15" macbook pro.
It has sufficient computing power for software development and linux server management.
I've been a mac/linux user for all my adult life.
Simply put, I enjoy the hardware.
Mid-2012 13" MacBook Pro. Because I can (and have) easily take it apart to add SD storage and replace its previous hard drive, or battery, or etc. It pairs perfectly with my other devices. It can handle most post-production software I throw at it.
It's also a tank, built in the era before Apple got the idea that they can make their machines more flimsy and make more money.
Desktop workstation for most of day work
Laptop(Dell M5510) only for meetings, I prefer a 12 inch, slim laptop, but my company only provide 1 option....
Dell Precision M3520. Good keyboard, good size, good complement of ports (3x USB3.0, HDMI, Thunderbolt, NIC, even VGA), excellent performance (i7 + expandable RAM + Quadro graphics), nice 1920x1080 screen too. Leagues above our standard XPS 13s for usability, if much larger and heavier. I have it running Ubuntu 18.04.
Now: X1 Carbon 1st gen. its tough as old boots and light as a feather. sadly its also pretty old now
Soon: Undecided, was going to be an x1 extreme until they put the price up by £500 for no reason so itll likely be an xps15 or a 13-14" laptop and an eGPU next
The reason is that it's an "extreme" model. It has a better processor and way better graphics card. You can also still get this year's "non-extreme" X1 Carbon, the 6th generation. That's still the same price.
no i mean the X1 extreme was originally £1384 for the base model, then a few weeks ago they increased the price to £1859 for no reason at all (in the US, canada and japan its still around £1400)
None. Laptops offer terrible value for money for the sort of work I do. I have an MS Surface Pro for when I want to work on the move (which is surprisingly great for what it is and the keyboard is far more comfortable than it has any right to be), but not for day to day work.
System76 Bonobo. My day job involves cloud (k8s) GPU stuff and it's the only linux laptop I could find with two Nvidia GPUs. The trackpad sucks ass, the power connector is stupid. It's full of batteries that only provide an hour (max) of battery and it's only a laptop in the sense that it can (technically) fit on my lap.
A coworker recently got the single GPU Serval, and I could see using that daily. Ubuntu 18.04 is a great desktop OS. I have tentative plans to take apart my Bonobo, remove the batteries, put power supplies inside with a standard power plug out the back and cut out the trackpad and fit in an Apple trackpad.
LXD+QEMU makes it a pretty nice machine. I almost don't miss OSX and this [0] project has solved a lot of those issues.
I don't use a laptop for my actual day job, for all hobby coding is done on a 2016 X1 Carbon. It is durable, light, and was relatively easy to install Linux on.
8 years old HP Pavilion g6 with 1.9gHz dual core with 2.4gHz boost, overclocked to 3.0gHz. Upgraded to SSD, 8GB RAM and run Chrome off a Ram drive. Windows 10.
It just won't die. I tear it down once a year and clean it. I've started transitioning everything off of it to an Ubuntu VM on a home Proxmox server with a pass-through GPU, provisioned with 4-core 4gHz processing power.
I guess the keyboard on it is what I'm most comfortable with. It's gone through a couple batteries and power bricks, and I keep expecting it to not boot up one day.
If I had to get another laptop, I would probably not make much of the monitor, and plug in my HD TV like I have now. I would probably look for one comparable in size... For the keyboard. Laptops have wonky keyboards sometimes.
Thinkpad w520 because I replaced the cd drive with a second hdd and the original drive with an ssd. It still works like a champ. (i7 2760qm,quadro 1000m,12gb ram). It set up exactly how I like and it's predictable even in failure.
Dell xps-15 running Windows. I chose it to replace my MacBook pro because it had an Nvidia GPU, a good selection of ports and a great screen. I also use a Lenovo X1 carbon for the small amount of Linux work I do because it works well with Linux without any fuss.
If I was buying a new laptop, I’d look hard at the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Extreme.
I own a macbook air and a custom-built workstation running Debian. The workstation was built almost 7 years ago, remains my primary machine for work, and it continues to provide ample performance. On the other hand, the macbook Air cost as much as the workstation, I never enjoyed using Mac OS, and find myself longing to replace it with one I could run Debian on.
In hindsight, I shouldn't have bought the macbook. There seems to be a second market for used laptops, though, and so I may sell it.
Dell XPS 13 (9360) with Debian Sid, works flawlessly. Though some initial setup is required: turning off DBC (.exe available at Dell's support site) and using latest ath10k firmware from github. After that it's a laptop of my dreams ) Light, small, 13" screen in a typical 11" laptop chasis. The only drawback is soldered RAM, I have a 8GB version and Angular's reloader leaked memory, so I had to restart it every few hours.
Other than that, I've dropped it from my height on a tiled floor by accident, it landed on a corner. I've unbent screen part with pliers, and fixed cracked hinge with superglue, soda and steel wires, and that was it. Alternative would be to order a part of the chasis, but it would take too long. During the repair I've also weakened hinge resistance a bit, it was too strong for non-touchscreen version; should have done it from the start I guess.
46 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 94.6 ms ] threadCan't imagine working on anything else.
Some of my colleagues have an iMac + MacBook Pro setup. The iMac is at their desk and the MacBook Pro is for taking to meetings and working from home.
I was working linux for these years on it, but switched recently to Windows 10 + Microsoft's linux subsystem thingie - it works pretty nice - once this machine will totally break I think I'll consider one of Surface Books since the OS is not a problem for me anymore.
Why I work on it? It's fast (SSD + i7 (even if it's an outdated model) + 12GB of RAM) makes it really reliable for fullstack development. Besides that, 13" Screen is enough for me, makes it pretty mobile machine.
It's also a tank, built in the era before Apple got the idea that they can make their machines more flimsy and make more money.
Soon: Undecided, was going to be an x1 extreme until they put the price up by £500 for no reason so itll likely be an xps15 or a 13-14" laptop and an eGPU next
The reason is that it's an "extreme" model. It has a better processor and way better graphics card. You can also still get this year's "non-extreme" X1 Carbon, the 6th generation. That's still the same price.
A coworker recently got the single GPU Serval, and I could see using that daily. Ubuntu 18.04 is a great desktop OS. I have tentative plans to take apart my Bonobo, remove the batteries, put power supplies inside with a standard power plug out the back and cut out the trackpad and fit in an Apple trackpad.
LXD+QEMU makes it a pretty nice machine. I almost don't miss OSX and this [0] project has solved a lot of those issues.
[0] https://github.com/kholia/OSX-KVM
It just won't die. I tear it down once a year and clean it. I've started transitioning everything off of it to an Ubuntu VM on a home Proxmox server with a pass-through GPU, provisioned with 4-core 4gHz processing power.
I guess the keyboard on it is what I'm most comfortable with. It's gone through a couple batteries and power bricks, and I keep expecting it to not boot up one day.
If I had to get another laptop, I would probably not make much of the monitor, and plug in my HD TV like I have now. I would probably look for one comparable in size... For the keyboard. Laptops have wonky keyboards sometimes.
If I was buying a new laptop, I’d look hard at the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Extreme.
In hindsight, I shouldn't have bought the macbook. There seems to be a second market for used laptops, though, and so I may sell it.
All my desktops are Win10.
Other than that, I've dropped it from my height on a tiled floor by accident, it landed on a corner. I've unbent screen part with pliers, and fixed cracked hinge with superglue, soda and steel wires, and that was it. Alternative would be to order a part of the chasis, but it would take too long. During the repair I've also weakened hinge resistance a bit, it was too strong for non-touchscreen version; should have done it from the start I guess.