HN Explorer

Ask HN: Mobile Device for Casual Coding

2 points by katzenversteher ↗ HN
Hi HN. Since my daughter was born, my free time is very fragmented. An hour here, half an hour there but no longer periods of time, especially none that can be planned in advance. However, that's fine because my energy levels also don't allow fore more endurance.

I have pretty beefy gaming laptop with Windows, an Android smartphone and an Android mobile phone. The laptop would be fine for coding but I really don't like setting it up. It's very heavy, it does not run very long on battery, the power supply is chunky and heavy and the device and power supply get pretty hot. So what I mostly use are the smartphone and tablet but they suck for coding.

That's why I'm looking for a device that fulfills the following requirements (I'm also very open for other suggestions):

- Price <= 500 Euro (limited budget unfortunately) - Long battery life - (ideally) USB C as power supply - Relatively slim and lightweight - Keyboard - Decent development environment [Linux would be fine] - Web browser - WiFi

The idea is that it's a device that I can just pick up wherever (on the couch, in bed) and whenever I feel like coding something.

What I would like to code on it:

- C/CPP (possibly SDL) - Python scripts - Web (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)

I kind of like the idea of Chromebooks but I'm a little afraid of Googles walled garden and completely depending on their web services.

4 comments

[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 24.8 ms ] thread
throwaway69070
Chromebooks can run Linux:

https://sites.google.com/a/chromium.org/dev/chromium-os/chro...

https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/install-ubuntu-on-chromebook

Another option that I'd personally strongly prefer: Buy an used Macbook Air with M1 CPU (these can be found for 500-600 EUR where I live).

Optionally set up Fedora Asahi Linux on it - macOS is good though. The machine is a beast, I work on it (have 16 GB RAM, but 8 GB is usable too) and am not planning on upgrading for a few more years.

katzenversteher
Thank you, with all the different Chromebooks around it's a little difficult to choose.

Regarding Apple: I've had some really bad experiences in the past with a Mac Mini G4 and an iBook G3, especially regarding customer service and repair and from what I've read the repair situation got even worse now. I expect that the device will be handled a little rough (like I said using it on the couch etc) I'd really worry about breaking a MacBook.

fragmede
Chromebooks are easily "rooted" (set to developer mode) if that's your concern, and they're not going anywhere any time soon. A GPD pocket 3* is just slightly over your budget. Honestly, I'd try harder with the tablet. get a keyboard and a cloud machine to use it with. Something you can use one handed, one holding the baby, the other swiping out code.

* https://gpd.hk/gpdpocket3

katzenversteher
Really interesting device, thank you for the link! Reminds me of those tiny Sony laptops that where hip a decade or so ago.