15" - 17" Developer laptops?

[Arvids]

Hello,

so I'm in search of a powerful laptop for development that has a good keyboard, screen, CPU and can carry more than 16GB of RAM.

So far I had Dell XPS 15 9570 - it's a great laptop, but dell being dell - it has issues - it runs too hot (I load it constantly with quite a lot of stuff, so fans are always at 3500 RPM and they are defective cause they produce screeching noises), my Killer Networks Wi-Fi card refuses to be detected (though BIOS is okay with it), and so on - basically work is thinking taking our money back and getting something else.

 

Here is where I need help - I need feedback with notebooks are quality built, have good keyboards and screens. I need something on the level of this XPS or better. So far I have found only one that is 15" and kind'a fits the bill and specs - Lenovo ThinkPad T590 compared to the XPS. What's else is there on the market? Can also be 17", but I need to be able to take it on the plane in Europe, so probably some size restrictions apply.

 

Has to be able to run Linux (Linux Mint in my case)

 

Min specs:

4 core (6-8 core prefered)

24-32GB RAM

500GB SSD m.2 PCI-E

Good IPS screen - 4k would be nice

Budget - around 2k euro area (XPS was just shy of 2k)

 

And no, MacBook Pro is not an option for me - I tried, but cannot make friends with MacOS

 

[jj9987]

As someone who has worked close with ThinkPads, I can recommend a ThinkPad. They are awesome and generally work well with Linux.

[Votivee]

Have you looked into the Dell Precisions at all? We have probably 15-20 of them where I work and they all are very reliable. They can get very heavy though so keep that in mind. No comment on it working with linux but if your XPS worked well with linux then the precision probably will too.

[Arvids]

14 minutes ago, Votivee said:

Have you looked into the Dell Precisions at all? We have probably 15-20 of them where I work and they all are very reliable. They can get very heavy though so keep that in mind. No comment on it working with linux but if your XPS worked well with linux then the precision probably will too.

Took a look - well, they are kind'a more for graphics work. And if you take 4k screen - no camera and mic, which in my case is not really convenient.

It's an option, but I hope we can do better

[aisle9]

If it's being used on a plane, even a 15" ThinkPad is pushing it. The T590 is a damn solid laptop, but I'd also consider the ThinkPad X1 Extreme or the ThinkPad P52. If you're interested in considering Dell again, their Precision line is the only laptop they make that's still worth a damn. For what you're describing, I'd almost say the P52 is the best choice, then the X1E, then the T590. If budget allows.

[Arvids]

Just now, aisle9 said:

If it's being used on a plane, even a 15" ThinkPad is pushing it. The T590 is a damn solid laptop, but I'd also consider the ThinkPad X1 Extreme or the ThinkPad P52. If you're interested in considering Dell again, their Precision line is the only laptop they make that's still worth a damn. For what you're describing, I'd almost say the P52 is the best choice, then the X1E, then the T590. If budget allows.

I might have given some confusion - I'm not using them on the planes, I have relatively short hops and thin and light for my work is way underpowered. The comment was in relation to 17" being size wise too big to fit on a typical budget or mid-level airline like WizzAir, RyanAir, AirBaltic, etc... (I travel without baggage - just laptop bag).

Precisions do look solid, but they also have Pro video cards, which is kind'a missed on me since I do not do graphics.

So T590 actually could be a better fit if it has solid quality and good keyboard.

[aisle9]

6 minutes ago, Arvids said:

I might have given some confusion - I'm not using them on the planes, I have relatively short hops and thin and light for my work is way underpowered. The comment was in relation to 17" being size wise too big to fit on a typical budget or mid-level airline like WizzAir, RyanAir, AirBaltic, etc... (I travel without baggage - just laptop bag).

Precisions do look solid, but they also have Pro video cards, which is kind'a missed on me since I do not do graphics.

So T590 actually could be a better fit if it has solid quality and good keyboard.

I can't speak for the T590, but I do frequently acquire, fix up and resell ThinkPads. You'd be amazed at the punishment these things can take. I acquired a T410 for $5 yesterday in rough cosmetic shape, but with a frame and screen that actually looked to be in really good shape after a cleaning. Then I noticed that the yellow clumps on the keyboard had fur in them. At which point I realized that it wasn't the usual Cheeto residue from the typical college kid's abused laptop. Nope. Cat piss. I'd been bringing a laptop back to life while it was covered in cat piss. And the fun part? The laptop works fine.

 

I landed a T540p a few days ago in rough (but not cat-pissed) shape. Cost me $5, and $60 worth of parts later (maybe $60 more if I go to an i7-4700MQ), I'm replacing my Dell 15.6" gaming laptop that's newer but a bigger pain in my ass.