I largely agree--the post definitely seems to show its age, and explicitly doesn't really cover any laptops besides the Dell Precision 5540 vs. the Thinkpad P1. Not the author's fault--this is a great reason why post's dates are useful, but I think that any current review of the Linux development laptop landscape has to include options like the Framework or System76 offerings and exclude models like the x230 (no shade at the x230; I ran it as a Linux dev machine for several years, but it's now significantly handicapped for modern software development).
Have you seen any major changes between now and then? I looked for a linux developer laptop last year and ended up with a lenovo P1 after a previous bad experience (with power management) on an XPS13 (which I used while traveling - I don't travel now).
I didn't see any other alternatives last year vs what he's discussing. I would love to hear if there are new competitive linux-friendly laptops out there now
Anecdotal, a colleague of mine absolutely hated his to the point where he didn’t even sell it, it just ended up in a drawer until he’s calmed down enough to sort it out for sale >_<
No offense to your colleague, but if you get angry against a piece of tech to a point where you can't even stand to sell it, I think you have more issues than a bad laptop...
I don't think this is remotely credible. Without some evidence it's just scare mongering (although I find it hard to take anyone who automatically jumps to saying CCP when talking about China seriously)
Anyway, as someone without even the remotest business or personal connections to China, if someone is spying on me I hope it's them, rather than someone who can actually impact my life
This seems to be a windows spyware, the OP refers specifically to hardware, and this discussion is about linux so I don't think he was referring to Superfish.
Incidentally, the OP is troll account with -3 Karma so I think he was just trolling anyway, I didn't notice that when I first replied.
I have a 2020 model, and would concur with this post - good screen, build, thermals, lots of ram, no having to fight with drivers. Even firmware updates "just work" (apply as snaps).
If I read dmidecode correctly, I'm writing this on a laptop from 2013, which remains not only fully functional but which has high enough specs that I don't even see it struggling for quite some time. When I someday get another laptop, it's likely to be from eBay, and I would very much like to know what the best laptops were 3-5 years ago. Being from 2019 is important context, but it's not disqualifying.
I used to be the same, rocking a late 2013 MacBook Pro. I then bought a Radeon 5000 series and put it in and old PC I had lying around (Xeon E5-2667 v2, Q3'13 according to ark.intel.com).
I was amazed at how well they kept up, and even how they were faster than my 2018-2019 work laptop (an 8th gen i5u-something) when comparing Rust build times.
Then I got a new one with a Zen 3 (5650u) in December. Man, it feels sooo smooth and snappy when compared to the older computers. And I'm running Linux/i3, so nothing that requires fancy graphics or anything. What's shocking, is that the other computers never felt slow, laggy or struggling.
However, this laptop is an absolute steaming PoS on multiple other aspects (chief amongst which a broken BIOS and absurdly bad screen), so I would absolutely not recommend it.
> Then I got a new one with a Zen 3 (5650u) in December. Man, it feels sooo smooth and snappy when compared to the older computers.
> However, this laptop is an absolute steaming PoS on multiple other aspects (chief amongst which a broken BIOS and absurdly bad screen), so I would absolutely not recommend it.
I think you meant to argue that new hardware can be good, but that's really not the conclusion I walked away with.
My point was that there have been noticeable improvements in computing power. I wouldn't recommend this particular model, but it's likely that an equivalent ThinkPad would be an all round much better experience and have the same performance, or maybe even better.
This particular new laptop is a "business" series, so it tries to look fancy, but it's just cheap crap sold at a high markup. I have older models at work, and they have all failed in various ways. They're barely moved outside the office, too, so it's not like I beat on them all day every day. It's a line I would never recommend to anyone under any circumstance, be it new or old. But it is fast.
My general opinion, though, is that instead of buying cheap models often, it's usually much better to buy nicer, "higher-end" models less often, at least as far as perception is concerned, especially if you don't have anything (new) to compare it to. This can afford better "peripherals", such as a screen, keyboard, silence, etc., which cheaper models tend to never have.
That’s what I do with everything possible. Tech becomes quite cheap, and if something breaks (which it does less often than with new stuff), there is no getting upset when the company refuses to honor the warranty, because there is no warranty. Just buy another one.
It will probably more useful, because with the passed time since introduction, the drivers had a chance to mature. In opposition to the newest gadget, which lacks support of feautures to varying degrees.
