Ask HN: Best Dev Laptop 2020
My huawei matebook x pro has just lost its USB for the second time. The first one was replaced under warranty. Since half the screws have fallen out of the back and since I only got 2 good years out of it, huawei is off the table. Can anyone recommend a super thin powerful laptop for dev work? I actually loved the huawei with Ubuntu but the manufacturing quality was so poor I just can't go back. Was thinking of going back to Macbook air but I'd like to plug in to 3 vga monitors at the office. Thanks for any recommendations.
65 comments
[ 4.5 ms ] story [ 120 ms ] threadThere is also Thinkpad Nano coming up in January. It is super thin and lightweight, not sure if it would be good enough for heaving programming though
Pros:
- Ryzen 7 4750U is awesome.
- Lots of RAM.
- Easily customizable orders from Lenovo with great features to add
- Renoir graphics are pretty solid
- keyboard is fantastic, classic ThinkPad feel and usability
- Easy to upgrade. Ordered with a 128GB nvme and immediately upgraded to a 1TB, saved about $200.
- docking station allows for easy desktop use with multiple monitors
Cons:
- libfprint is still in it's early stages imo, so the finger printer reader is tough to set up with linux.
- no backlit keyboard (on the one I ordered, can't remember if that was an option or not)
My main thing was the viewing angle being very small for privacy in cafes. It also has Fn+D to toggle small vs. wider viewing angle.
So overall it works well for me.
The last two times I bought a new one I thought "Not happy, but let's give Apple one more chance because they used to be good and everyone makes mistakes" - Regretted it every time. Keyboard issues (went to the Apple store 6+ times), Touchbar issues and it's annoying as a whole, overheating, GPU issues with external monitors, Bluetooth issues, and more. Next time will be the first time (really!) that I'm not buying a Macbook anymore.
From looking at the threads this is a known issue running the internal and external monitors together can cause excessive power draw even with just one external monitor, something to do with mismatch refresh rate between the built in and external display and the Radeon GPU power management [1].
I also had kernel panics coming out of sleep with external monitors connected and window manager restarts although they seem to have gone away in the last Mac OS release or two [2].
Also MacOS still doesn't support display port MST so usb-c hubs with two display ports only can mirror not two independent monitors.
Overall pretty happy with latest 16 inch MacBook but MacOS has had more power management issues than I am used to, very surprising and annoying, with the usual non-acknowledgment from Apple of problems.
1. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/16-is-hot-noisy-with-an...
2. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/constant-kernel-panics-...
The fan does come on sometimes when connected to a single 4K monitor (my 2016 MBP 13" never had that problem). I understand it's because of the discreet GPU kicking in. I really wish we could opt to use the integrated GPU with external monitors connected.
Other than that though, this laptop has been exceptional.
Also, since we’re on the topic, if you get weird wake from sleep issues with external monitors, I’ve found the solution (at least for my setup) is to always wake the computer from the Touch ID button.
With all of that said, obviously these are not perfect machines. But in truth my 16” (BTO, max RAM, lowish specs on basically everything else) is the best computer I’ve ever owned.
I am now using an X1 Extreme Gen 2. (Amazon link: https://amzn.to/35BmH5y)
Kinda diminishes the recommendation.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083F8KG7N bring you to the same product. I'm sure HN can afford the storage and bandwidth for the extra 21 chars. Ironically, i'm now costing them more with my reply to your comment than if you'd just linked Amazon directly without the ref.
Clearly yes - thus me commenting on it.
> I doubt he was trying to hide anything nefarious
Do you know this person and are speaking for their integrity? Would you swear to this person's honesty in a court of law in front of your peers? (ABSURDIST PART OF COMMENT)
> I doubt he was trying to save HN bandwidth or storage.
Right, my apologies for making the absurdist part of my reply not obvious enough. Will not make this mistake again.
Why should amazon collect all the referral fee for themselves, a fee that's charged either way on any seller, without cutting a slice for someone who actually referred to?
Because they're getting paid to recommend it, which is inherently dishonest. That should be obvious.
And why link to Amazon at all? Link to the manufacturer instead:
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x1/X1...
It's his recommendation, it doesn't say he is working for Lenovo, or Amazon. If he can be paid to generate money for Amazon and Lenovo, because he recommended someone to a product on a specific platform, why shouldn't he collect it?
If it was a Lenovo shill that linked to Lenovo shop then that would be fine, because it didn't have a referral link?
https://m.do.co/c/79e624bd349b
Of all the providers I've tried, Digital Ocean™ is definitely the okayest.
Also I didn't ask for any recommendation, so what you did there is pretty much spam.
Linking to a product worth nearly 2 grand (where he gets a 5%? cut - ~$100 per purchase), then is it an honest recommendation or an easy money grab?
Runs Linux really nicely + as far as I can tell everything works. Also, the screen is gorgeous!
Fantastic keyboard, fantastic support from various BSDs and Linuxes, great build quality, good screen, has some USB-A and USB-C ports, doesn’t look silly.
Can not recommend this model enough.
The only downside is probably all the weird stuff Lenovo has done in the past - but those have all been on Windows. If you’re going to remove windows, I’m guessing it won’t matter that much.
Pros: - Great battery life, I develop in typescript currently and am getting a full day of battery
- Using a dock, I can get up to 3 displays, maybe four if I try with the on-board HDMI port
- Charges with USB-C with up to 65W, so one cable for everything.
- Full sized USB A ports for quick flash drive access
- Typing on the keyboard is very solid (however I do have one con listed below)
- Can turn off camera via software (with Pop_OS)
- Linux from the get-go
- Came packaged pretty well
- Lots of goodies came along. Pins, stickers, etc. Not everyone will care but I thought it was a nice touch
- Recyclable box, plastics, tc came in the packaging.
- It's SUPER light
- Good amount of customization in my opinion
- Has another m.2 slot you can put your own or buy it configured and filled up
Cons:
- Regardless of configured RAM, first slot is always 8gb, so anything beyond 16gb total will always be non-dual-channel. Believe this is soldered.
- Touchpad could be bigger
- I believe the max brightness is something around 300 or 350 nits, which may cause issues when working outside, haven't had the opportunity to because of COVID
- The keyboard has pg_up and pg_down on top of left and right keys, which is rather obnoxious and I wish they would have went with pg_up and pg_down for fn + arrow instead.
- Possible con for people: SD card slot is only micro, not full sized
- Only one USB-C port
- No thunderbolt
- Power button is unintuitive imo, but I'm nitpicking at this point
- Compared to the dell, the bezels are a bit larger than I like, but again, nitpicking/doesn't really bother me
Long term they're dedicated to ever increased supply chain control and customer choice in supply chain decisions. They already allow customers to choose where some key components are manufacture and even have one (smartphone) device which comes in a nearly entirely USA manufactued option.
Laptops are so bad these days for so many reasons. I can't personally get away from Apple even though I hate the current generation of laptops. However accessing the "real thing" remotely (local network) works well and lets me get cheaper Apple devices to do my work off.
In case dev, get Dell XPS Ubuntu. Latitudes with Ubuntu are even better (used one for 4 years).
Bought the MacBook Pro, due to all the hype. It already made me visit Mac service centre twice. One day it just refused to boot. Motherboard replaced. Second time due to battery swelling issue whole Touchpad, Keyboard and battery replaced. Regretting it now. Only useful if you are developing apps for iPhone/macOS.