
Ask HN: What is the best non-Mac laptop for development today? - burritofanatic
I&#x27;m thinking about jumping ship and using Ubuntu. Anyone have something they&#x27;re in love with?
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dzonga
Lenovo X1 carbon!

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abusoufiyan
I use Ubuntu on an X1 Carbon at work and it's been a delight! Long long
battery life (I can leave my charger at home any day and it's not a problem).
All important development software works on it. You're closer to the
environment your servers run on, which is a plus if you are doing web dev.

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andrei_says_
Which generation?

And, what about graphics/adobe suite?

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imhoguy
I still use maxed out spec HP EliteBook 8560W workstation notebook from 2012
for most of my work, love the keyboard and solid magnesium case. Runs Xubuntu
and 2 VMs fine. I also use Ubuntu on clients' Dell Latitude from time to time,
they have very good battery life. For mobility I would try Lenovo ThinkPad X1
Yoga - got older Yoga 13 and it was very comfortable, haven't tried Ubuntu
there though.

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xstartup
None. I am using linux for a long time yet font sucks on vscode. I'll buying a
macbook pro soon. (when i get some time)

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qubex
Definitely the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition. My sister has had two (one of
2014 vintage, the second one purchased just weeks ago) and they are rock
solid, svelte, impressive machines with flawless Linux support.

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anzoxe
Looking at the dell website I can't find any difference between the new xps 13
and xps 13 developer edition. Besides the regular edition having 8gb RAM
instead of 4gb.

If they're the same price, why would anyone pay the same for less RAM and pre-
installed Ubuntu?

Legitmetly curious what other differences there are.

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godot
My guess is the convenience of having Linux pre-installed instead of having to
go through a new installation yourself?

I don't own either, so I wouldn't know for sure, but I think it's somewhat
valid that not every high level developer nowadays want to deal with
installing Linux OSes. Having Ubuntu preinstalled is welcoming for a lot of
the dev userbase who comes from a Macbook world expecting things to be plug
and play.

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kasperset
No personal experience but I have read good things about Dell XPS developer
edition. Other choices include Dell Precision laptop brand. I guess any laptop
lines that are made for businesses rather than consumers should be fine. Other
options include System76 (search keyword).

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dabockster
Probably a used IT laptop (Thinkpad, Elitebook, etc) from eBay. OS is pretty
much up to you either way (Windows and Linux like usual, with Hackintosh
installs being possible on a variety of models).

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jdowner
I have used and like Dell XPS, ThinkPads, and System76.

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O_H_E
Thinkpads X or T series

System76, especially the Galago pro

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LeviEster
Used ThinkPads.

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chatmasta
You’ll be able to develop everything except iOS apps. What if you want to
build one at some point?

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codegladiator
lenovo yoga thinkpads are great !

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nukeop
Thinkpads. Macs are horrible for development.

