Developer Laptop

1 points by simplezeal 15y ago ↗ HN

After living with my junk Lenovo for last three years (battery gone bad after 1 year, HDD is slow as hell), I am looking forward to buying a new laptop for development (personal), basic email/browsing etc. No games, no high end photo/video editing.

What would you guys recommend? Are there any good build laptops which will survive my three year upgrade cycle?

I have a Lenovo T410 from work which I like but hate that it needed a battery replacement in first month and identical machine for co-worker needed a motherboard replacement (again in first month).

I am leaning towards getting 13’’ MBA and installing Win7 on it, considering that I don’t need and want to spend on MBP. Lack of 4GB in basic model is definitely drawing my attention.

2 comments

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tracert 15y ago ↗

I had to sell my MBA because it couldn't handle larger projects. (Originally intended for class work, at which it excelled.) I'd either wait for the refresh and take the gamble on the new sandy bridge MBA's with 4gb ram, go pro, or get a slick box for Linux and keep it as software-lean as you need. Screw windows.

andymoe 15y ago ↗

It sounds like you had some bad times with Lenovo - that's too bad. In the past the x series have been really really solid and a lot of linux distros run well on them without much trouble. 2-3 years ago a consulting company I was working for deployed lots and lots of them to picky VCs and hedge fund managers and they held up well to their abuse.

If you are going to go the linux route full time I would go for an x series from Lenovo or a Dell Latitude. Dual booting linux on a MBP is just a little bit more of a pain in the ass than it should be in my opinion.

That said I paid what I consider a shit-ton for a 15" MBP in late 2008 and I have no regrets though I am on my second battery and currently lusting after the 13" Air.