Ask HN: What's the best laptop for a programmer that isn't a MacBook Pro?
Here are some thoughts.<p>I have a Lenovo Thinkpad w510, which I bought in 2009. I work as a software developer, scientist and play games occasionally.<p>Pros:<p>- Extremely Powerful.<p>- i7, 4 Cores<p>- Came with 4 GB RAM<p>- GeForce Quatro Fx 880M<p>- 1920x1080 Color Calibrated Matte Touch Screen<p>- TrackPoint Style Pointer, see: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;xkcd.com&#x2F;243&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;xkcd.com&#x2F;243&#x2F;</a><p>- It&#x27;s ugly and heavy, so less likely to be stolen<p>Cons:<p>- Heavy<p>- Battery lasts 30-40 mins, used to be 1.5 hrs.<p>- Loud after a couple of years of clogged up fan<p>- Price: I got a 30% academia discount, but it still was € 2600<p>- Screen is a little dim<p>My laptop is 7 years old now, but it is still running very well. I recently replaced the fan and it was quite easy to get replacement components. The old model came with 4GB RAM and a 500GB HDD, which I replaced with a 500GB SSD and 16GB RAM. It looks like it will last for another couple of years.<p># Usabilty<p>Sturdy Keyboard. Good layout, F-Keys, and dedicated Power button, Volume controls, Home&#x2F;End&#x2F;Pg&#x2F;Del button block. None of this &quot;PRESS FN TO USE WINDOWS nonsense&quot;.<p>Touchscreen is nice, but I rarely use it as a primary input device. The touchscreen was unusable on Windows 7, but since Windows 8 it handles nicely. I didn&#x27;t want it when I bought it, but it came piggybackriding the Full HD display, which I desparately wanted. Back then, most manufacturers were switching from 4:3 to a wide screen display layout and I didn&#x27;t see myself using a 1388x&lt;RandomNumber&gt; display, especially because my old laptop had 1400x1050 resolution.<p>I can&#x27;t stress enough how great the TrackPoint Stick mouse is on IBM Notebooks. Many people really hate it (please don&#x27;t start a flamewar), but I love it, for it allows you to use the mouse without ever leaving the home row. It can be used quite precisely, but it takes some getting used to. I once played through the shooter &quot;Return to Castle Wolfenstein&quot; on a 4 hour train ride using only the track point mouse.<p># Power<p>- During Software Development, I occasionally run several Windows &#x2F; Ubuntu VMs at once, Visual Studio, IntelliJ, and it still handles nicely.<p>- I played Borderlands 2 for a long time on this machine. I had to reduce some graphic effects a little, but I could play it on full res (1080p).<p>- I run Photoshop and Lightroom, which can be resource hogs, but the machine can easily handle them<p># Mobility<p>It is really heavy and also the power supply weighs a ton. The massive battery sticks out from the back. I bought it as a work horse, I got a work horse. Heavy, but reliable.<p># Compatibility<p>I ran Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Arch Linux, Windows 10, each at least a year (except for my first Windows 10 install). Everything worked with arch, Windows 10 has all drivers and everything works fine. Just don&#x27;t try to get into OpenGL programming when running nouveau drivers for the Nvidia Quatro FX on Arch Linux. They produce random system lockups (reported by others on the web) and don&#x27;t support full sharder lang profiles. But other than that, you&#x27;re going to be fine.<p># Longevity<p>Getting replacement parts was really great, and I feel I made the right choice. My girlfriend as a MbP which she also bought around 2009&#x2F;2010, which is running really slowly these days. She can&#x27;t replace the harddrive, her battery is weak and she is stuck with 4GB RAM.<p>Being able to alter my hardware was a factor I didn&#x27;t consider when I bought my laptop, but it turned out to be really handy. This is something you might want to look out for - how long the laptop will run and how you can extend its life.<p>Modern slim notebooks are very limited in this regard (it&#x27;s nothing specific to the mbp), as it can be difficult to impossible to replace outdated components. However, a multicore system, SSD and decent amount of RAM should have you set up for the future.<p># Other Recommendations<p>- I recently bought a new DELL XPS 13 for my mum, who travels a lot and still needs a bit of power. I would recommend it, but I can&#x27;t say anything for its longevity. It&#x27;s mobility is unmatched, the battery lasts an eternity, and it&#x27;s quite powerfull, compared to its size.<p>- I have a Lenovo W (Workstation), but I heard Lenovo T are the best. I once used one during an internship, but its specs weren&#x27;t that good, but it was robust and reliable. I wouldn&#x27;t overgeneralize but most T users I have met were really happy with their laptops.<p>- I have worked with professionals, students, friends and relatives. One thing to me is clear: I will not buy a consumer class notebooks. These notebooks are usually between 300 - 900 Euros, and often cheaply made. Although there is nothing obviously wrong with them, there are odds and quirks that I find really confusing. It will be one or the other Wifi you can&#x27;t connect to. Your bluetooth adapter will randomly switch on and off. The battery is dying for some reason. They break and fall apart. Keys get stuck or break off. Displays gets tinted and so on. Business line notebooks tend to do that less often, or at least later in their lifetime. I have been using my laptop for 7 years now and I won&#x27;t (have to) replace it any time soon, given I don&#x27;t drop it or it gets stolen. The people using consumer laptops tend to replace their notebooks every 3-4 years, which I believe is more expensive in the end.<p>- I would not just buy a modern Lenovo - or ANY other modern laptop for that matter - straight from the internet, but I would try to get my hands on it first (much like buying shoes: Try to put them on before buying). The manufacturers have been playing around with the keyboard layouts and other basic functionality, and some of these changes are a dealbreaker.<p>- Others in the comments have mentioned it: The quality and service got worse over the years. Try to get a decent service contract.<p># Summary<p>- I believe I would buy a ThinkPad T series, if I had to decide now<p>- I value power &amp; longevity, which is often limited to business class notebooks<p>- I&#x27;d rather pay for good quality once than for poor quality often<p>- Try it out before you buy<p>- Service is important