

Ask HN: What is the best laptop for developer for less than 1100 USD?  - ericthegoodking

Im a web developer ,looking to upgrade my old laptop, im currently thinking about purchasing a hp laptop here are the 
-specs 4th gen processor core i7
-8 Gb Ram
-24 ssd + 750 GB harddrive
-NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M Graphics with 2048MB of dedicated video memory
-15.6-inch diagonal Full HD BrightView LED-backlit Display (1920x1080)
The cost for this laptop is 1100 including shipping. Is this worth it?
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phaus
You don't need to spend $1000 on a development computer. Yet if you do want to
spend that much, there are better options.

Lenovo is about to release their new line of thinkpads. For the first time,
most of them are going to have 1080p IPS screens. Historically, they have
supported Linux better than most other manufacturers. Keep an eye out for the
T440p, T440s, and the x240, they are all going to be around your price range,
and they should be really good machines.

The Macbook Air is another good option, unless you truly do need that much
power.

If you are going for power, the Asus N550JV is still a much better option than
the HP. It's got a metal chassis, a Quad Core i7 Haswell processor, a 1080p
IPS panel, and a Nvidia GT 750M. The best part is that it costs about the same
as the one that you were looking at.

If you want something cheaper, I'd keep watching the Lenovo Outlet. I just
bought a T430 with 8GB Ram and a 256GB SSD for 448 on the outlet, you just
have to be patient.

~~~
codemonkeymike
I would like to second this opinion. I have a T430, bought it a year ago, and
has never done me wrong. With extended battery which is only about $70 more it
lasts 7-8 hours, the screen in good enough for anyone who isn't working for
pixar, and all the function keys work on linux.

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lsiebert
Reddit has a sub reddit specifically for this, (r/suggestalaptop) which I
really liked. You might look at a clevo. I would want more ram, personally,
and You don't need a video card that powerful for web development (many people
like integrated only for the power savings).

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madmax96
I'd get a Macbook Air, but it might be just a little bit above budget. On the
plus side you get a huge battery life and you're running a *nix. You can't be
sure how difficult it'll be to get Gnu + Linux to run if the HP has Window's
'safe' boot.

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LowWalker
I just picked up the Asus Q501 from best buy, I upgraded the ram and SSD,
overall was about 1k spent. I put fedora on there and it's running like a
champ.

------
kfk
Why do you need so much horse power? I mean, you can do easily web development
on a laptop for half the price.

I think you need to understand better your needs...

~~~
ericthegoodking
I do backend development as well as front-end. I recently noticed that running
tests i.e spec tests can greatly take alot of computing power. I just want a
laptop that will speed up my work.

~~~
lsiebert
Completely unrelated to your original question, but I'd recommend you profile
the tests sometime. often its not the processor that is the bottle neck, but
the hard drive/ram.

