
Ask HN: Windows laptops for devs - andymurd
After recent revelations about Lenovo&#x27;s superfish and Samsung disabling Windows Update, I am curious as to which brands of Windows laptop are recommended by the HN community.<p>As a developer I want lots of RAM, decent SSD and minimal crapware out of the box. What&#x27;s good these days?
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TobbenTM
You'll want to install a clean Windows no matter what laptop you buy.

As for laptops, I prefer Thinkpads, with their excellent build quality, and
the availability of factory parts in case something goes wrong. Personally I
run a Thinkpad T530 with 1 SSD, 1 HDD in the dvd tray and a nice battery.

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rnovak
I was going to post exactly this. Our IT/Helpdesk/(whatever they want to be
called this week) puts a custom image on to every machine we get, regardless
of the brand, and I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

For one, many organizations like to control update paths/times (better
coordination I'm assuming, etc).

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davismwfl
I have been a fan of Toshiba and Samsung. Samsung is really underrated IMO. I
started using them a few years ago for a client site I worked at when the
client wanted to replace a bunch of Dell laptops. In general people don't
realize that Samsung is many times a silent vendor behind other laptop brands
but they build to spec. They brought out their own laptop line a number of
years back and they seem to really be pretty well thought out. And warranty
when I had to use it was really painless.

I can't say I have dealt with them in the last 2 years, but I'd definitely
look at Samsung and Toshiba. In general I would still follow the same advice
and freshen Windows from scratch to remove the crap and make it the way I want
it.

My primary laptops right now are a Macbook Pro and a 4 year old I7 Windows
Toshiba. I rarely touch the Tosh now adays, but it is there when I need it.

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codepeach
I have a couple of laptops with I use heavily for dev work. Dell and Acer, and
both have really impressed me.

The dell also has a docking station which connects 2x widescreen monitors on
my desk, which i find highly useful as trying to code on 1x small laptop
screen can be restrictive at times.

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andymurd
I totally forgot about docking stations, which is probably a result of having
plenty of USB ports. Is dual video the only reason to use a docking station,
or are there other benefits?

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a3n
Docking station: Arrive at work, snap the laptop down, work. Reverse at the
end of the day.

No docking station, lots of USB and other ports: Arrive at work, plug plug
plug look for cable that dropped down below the desk plug plug plug, that was
already a lot of work. Prepare to leave work ... aw, fuckit.

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brudgers
To me the brand matters less than the target sales channel. A laptop targeted
at sales to individuals will optimize around one set of features. A device
targeted at 2k units a pop to enterprise will optimize differently. Generally
the enterprise class unit will tend to be more robust and have a better
support pipeline. Or to put it another way, the SKU with a three year onsite
standard warranty is designed around business needs. That class matters more
than brand.

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zerohp
I recently ordered two Microsoft Signature Edition laptops from the Microsoft
store. Both of them were great out of the box. No crapware at all.

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i0nutzb
After long debates and tests I came to the conclusion that the best hardware
for Windows is a... mac book pro.

Running Windows on a Mac will reduce the battery daily life (from ~5-6 hours
to ~3-4 hours) but even so, is better than most non-apple devices.

The price/performance ratio is about the same on either apple or non-apple
laptops, so this is not a blocker.

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Zekio
I've been look around for ages, for a proper laptop, since my current one
needs an update, all I've found is that what I want is a gaming laptop like
specs without a dedicated graphics card pretty much, which is impossible to
find, especially if you try to it in a 17" ultra-book :S

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pointe
A clean Windows install is a must, as others mentionted.

As for hardware - there are really two options. Either a ThinkPad (whichever
flavour suits you) or a MacBook Pro with Windows (yes, it works better than
most). Hint: the MBP will probably be cheaper, based on your configuration.

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insoluble
As a simpler alternative to reinstalling Windows, the built-in "Windows
Refresh" feature available in newer versions of Windows will basically remove
the vendor-added software.

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SamReidHughes
Lenovo Thinkpads? They weren't hit by Superfish.

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andymurd
I did not know that - but you are correct, at least according to Lenovo's
statement on the vulnerability[0].

[0]
[http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/product_security/superfish](http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/product_security/superfish)

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kymair
Reinstalling a clean Windows is totally worth the time. I cannot name one
Windows laptop without crapwares.

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VOYD
I tend to go with ASUS these days.

