Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding?

Re:Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding? by flanbiscuit on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @09:04AM (#22674493)

I am currently typing this on my mid-2013 11" Macbook Air and it's still going strong. It's too bad that Apple is not making anymore 11" laptops anymore because I think it's exactly what OP wants. I had the same exact criteria when looking for a laptop and I work with similar technologies, but I've also done Android/Kotlin (using Android Studio) and C#/.NET (using full Visual Studio) with this laptop without any problems. I also play games via Steam (mostly indie games, not big AAA ones) on it. I have a bag¹ (side bag/satchel) that it fits perfectly into and makes it easy to carry around. It's been great taking this on vacation with me, super light.

I am looking to upgrade though and the new 2020 Air does look good but with the modifications I want brings the price close to $1699 and I'm not ready to spend that yet

¹ https://www.scaramangashop.co.uk/mini-leather-satchel-11-inc... <-- bought it from this company but they don't make my exact bag anymore, but this is the closest except mine is the "portrait mode" of this

edit: Forgot to add that I've also used Xcode on this in the past but I am not on Catalina yet so I have not touched Xcode in a while.

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Re:Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding? by nextos on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @01:36PM (#22676679)

I did most of my PhD on that machine, including tons of coding. With a nice window manager, it's doable. A higher resolution 16:10 screen would improve the experience, though.

It was Linus Torvalds daily driver for some time. I also wiped out OS X and went with Linux, deployed directly as an EFISTUB so no bootloader. Being all-Intel, sans a mediocre Broadcom wireless card, the machine had perfect Linux compatibility.

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Re:Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding? by singerislonely on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @12:58PM (#22676303)

+1, 2013 11" MacBook Air is still going strong! I need to be a little vigilant about not too many Chrome tabs to keep it from getting too sluggish, but it's excellent for coding, Gmail, Google Docs, video chat, Netflix.

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Re:Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding? by tbrock on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @09:30AM (#22674640)

Dell makes garbage compared to Lenovo. Why not get an x390/x13 with that delicious keyboard?

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Re:Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding? by leetcrew on Tuesday March 24, 2020 @10:39AM (#22675008)

bezels? it's not just aesthetics; thin bezels is a pretty important feature on an ultraportable imo, maximizes screen real estate for the space it takes up in your bag.

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Re:Ask HN: Smallest laptop that is decent for coding? by tbrock on Wednesday March 25, 2020 @11:05AM (#22685197)

What? No.

They are already ultraportables. Once they are that small as a class of computer reliability and quality becomes important.

God help you with support and returns if something goes wrong with your dell. I’ve been there before and it’s hell on earth.

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