As the title suggests: What's your favourite laptop for coding and development? Why?
Mine? I really like the Dell XPS series. But I know there are probably some better ones out there 😉
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Latest comments (50)
I use a Macbook Pro and booting into Windows as I am working on WPF apps. This particular Macbook is from 2014 with 16GB of RAM and an i&. It is still nice, but now it is time to upgrade to something stronger. I am looking at the 16-inch Macbook but I find it very expensive at the moment
I am typing this from a late 2008 unibody Macbook (been coding on it since I started learning programming 5 years ago). I even run Docker Toolbox. It is obviously time to upgrade, but you get the idea. Macs are great. Even this old one gives me a chance to balance between coding and ocassional design (I use Affinity Designer a lot) and when it comes time to develop, the setup is so so simple to get started, with
brewand all other tools.I will always recommend a Macbook. Even if you are on a budget, I have heard people say nice things about the 2013/2014 15'' Retina Macbook Pros. Get a used one in good condition and it will serve you way more than 4 years to come.
I'm working with a Dell G7 7588 running Pop_OS! right now with really great performance. I work mainly with ruby, python, netcore and js with some VMs for windows-only projects and this laptop either with windows or linux has excelent performance.
Theres any special thing to consider when installing this OS on dell g7?
Not really, it's the first time a Linux distro worked clean with no issues or steps to fix some things.
Love my Dell XPS 9570. I've ran VMs, done 3D modelling, animation and all sorts of extensive tasks and it doesn't sweat. Love the display plus it has a nice trackpad. It's nice material to rest your hand against too.
ThinkPad X1 Carbon with Fedora on it. ThinkPads were in my mind the only laptops comparable or even better than Macbooks. They have decent touchbar (Macbook is better here), trackpoint (unique feature helping you avoid mouse and carpal tunnel syndrome), specs (they fixed the sound now, but still lacking in graphic cards), and probably the best build (better alloy than just aluminum in Macbooks + you can fully open your lid). On top of this it's important that most things works in Linux and since most of Red Hat runs on ThinkPads the corner cases get usually polished over time.
Thinkpad T&X Series.
I love theirs keyboards and touchpad. I'm not a big fan of trackpoint but you can use it for navigate a file easily with it. Thinkpad have a great battery life. Also, their are robust as tanks! I bought a x230T years ago and i think i'll use it for a couple of years more.
My whole office once bought a host of top of the line Surface Pro's against my recommendation of the Dell XPS. Most were decommissioned in the first year, by the 2nd year they were all gone in favor of the XPS.
Surface is the worst possible choice, there is nothing "pro" about them. They are under performant, unpredictably throttling, works with no monitors, flimsy and they become very quickly dependant on their power cable.
My point is, anything other than Surface! I've had my personal XPS for 5 years it's it's only now starting to show it's age. It's a fantastic machine. Light, powerful, well made and decently priced.
I notice a trend of devs moving towards Mac but I simply hate the OS and the unbelievably stupid price for it and it's accessories.
It depends on what your company gives you.
For work I have a 15" 2018 MacBook Pro which is okay I guess. I work remotely from my home office and am docked almost all the time. I haven't had any keyboard issues but I guess I'm just underwhelmed with the OS for development. I'd much prefer a pure Linux environment since that more closely mirrors our deployment targets.
For personal stuff I recently got a Dell XPS 13 9380 from their outlet store and it's been wonderful. I had to jump through a few hurdles to get Linux on it but I've been running ArchLinux on it now for a month or two and it's been terrific.
Thinkpad T-Series: Trackpoint mouse, matte screen, and upgradable.
That said, I'll be honest and say that the surprisingly nice, cheap and cheerful 11" Acer Spin 1 that my wife picked up a couple months ago has me questioning my long-held Thinkpad obsession. As opposed to compromising with the laptop form factor, one day I may switch to an inexpensive ultra-portable (Pentium Silver processor, FHD screen, half-day battery), plus a formidable desktop configured for power and ergonomics.