
Ask HN: Programming laptops 2018 - thejustinreyes
What are best laptops out there currently for someone just getting into programming?
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taylodl
A Dell XPS 15 is a good bet. You can run Windows and/or Linux on it. At a
minimum, get the SSD. Technically you can get by with 8 Gb of RAM, but 16 Gb
would also handle whatever else you want to do with the laptop. Likewise,
whatever else you want to do with the laptop would determine whether you want
to go with an i5 or i7 processor.

If you want to do any Mac OS or iOS development then the same concerns apply
but now you'll be looking at a MacBook Air/Standard/Pro.

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rbanffy
It really depends on what language that person will start with. For Java or
anything front-end, I'd suggest a beefy laptop, with 8 or 16 GB or RAM. For
Python, Ruby or other back-end stuff, a smaller machine is probably good
enough.

I'd also suggest using Linux, either Fedora 27 or Ubuntu 17.10. It helps when
your workstation thinks like the server that'd run your code and the person
would learn a bit about how to manage servers in the meantime.

~~~
stephenr
> It helps when your workstation thinks like the server that'd run your code

This is what virtualisation is for.

Youre not going to be able to run _exactly_ the same environment directly on
your dev machine regardless of the OS family, so use the OS you're most
productive in, and virtualise for projects.

Vagrant works quite well for this role, particularly if you don't just use the
"standard" setup of virtualbox.

~~~
rbanffy
But then you'll need a beefier, heavier laptop, possibly with shorter battery
life.

~~~
stephenr
I've used Vagrant VM's on my wife's 2012 MacBook Air with 4GB of RAM. It's not
ideal, but it worked.

Any developer-capable _real_ (i.e. not something running glorified chrome
browser) laptop in 2018 will be fine for developer VMs.

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sirjaz
Depends on how much you want to spend. If money is no object I would either go
with a surface book2 or an HP ZBook x2 Detachable Workstation. If you have a
budget I would recommend a Lenovo Flex 5. You can get one with 16GB of ram and
a TB drive for $999.

~~~
thejustinreyes
Thanks for recommendations! I just purchased the Lenovo Flex 5. 16GB and a TB
drive for $999 was a steal.

~~~
bbimbop
how is it?

