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Ask HN: I have two most basic requirements for a laptop. Why can't I find one?

11 pointsby motiejusabout 13 years ago
1. 8+ hours of battery life running only vim and Erlang unit tests on Linux. Would honestly enjoy 12 hours.<p>2. &#60;=1.6 kg (3.5 lb)<p>I don't care about GPU or processor. It can be ARM (well.. Vim implies it has to have a workable-size physical keyboard).<p>Why is it so hard to find one? Or do I miss the one?

9 comments

jdietrichabout 13 years ago
The x220 with a 9-cell battery weighs 1650g. It is in every other respect the perfect development ultraportable - it's powerful, extremely frugal in lower power states and has a mSATA slot allowing for both an SSD and a HDD. It'll run for 8 hours on a realistic workload and 12 hours on idle, although like any laptop you'll want to run linux in a VM under windows, as you'll get better battery life.<p>Unless you're taking it into space, just suck up the extra two ounces and buy the better machine.
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nextparadigmsabout 13 years ago
Asus Transformer Prime should last about 15 hours with the keyboard dock. It's based on ARM. I have no idea if Vim can work on Android, though. Maybe this will work:<p><a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.aor.droidedit&#38;feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLmFvci5kcm9pZGVkaXQiXQ." rel="nofollow">https://market.android.com/details?id=com.aor.droidedit&#38;...</a>.<p><a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.touchqode.editor&#38;feature=search_result" rel="nofollow">https://market.android.com/details?id=com.touchqode.editor&#...</a><p>There are others, too. If you need it right now, this is the only one that can last that much. But if you're not in a hurry, you might want to wait for a larger screen combination, which I think will appear by summer or so.<p>Here it is, even lighter and half the price of a Macbook Air:<p><a href="http://eee.asus.com/en/eeepad/transformer-prime/specification/" rel="nofollow">http://eee.asus.com/en/eeepad/transformer-prime/specificatio...</a>
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GoldenMonkeyabout 13 years ago
How about macbook air? You can run vim on it.<p>1.35kg, 7 hrs (using wireless web).<p><a href="http://www.apple.com/macbookair/specs.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.apple.com/macbookair/specs.html</a>
gte910habout 13 years ago
With the wireless off, the 13" mba should do that<p><a href="http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/macbook-air-faq/macbook-air-mid-2011-real-world-battery-life-core-i5-core-i7.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/macbook-ai...</a><p><a href="http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC965LL/A" rel="nofollow">http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC965LL/A</a>?<p>$1300<p>Ubuntu installs on them fine.
Artagraabout 13 years ago
11" Macbook Air = 1.08kg HyperJuice 60Wh external Battery = 0.36kg<p>Comes in under your weight limit, will give you 10+ hours. Only disadvantage is it's a cumbersome / weird form factor, macbook plus external batt.<p>However, if you find a decent small bag, it won't really be that much of an issue.<p><a href="http://www.hypershop.com/HyperJuice-External-Battery-for-MacBook-iPad-60Wh-p/mbp-060.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.hypershop.com/HyperJuice-External-Battery-for-Mac...</a>
webreacabout 13 years ago
Archos 9 pc tablet SSD (800g) + Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000 (415g) + battery 6000Mah (around 8h on Windows 7, I do not know for linux)
mayabout 13 years ago
I like the Lenovo ThinkPad X120E w/ an SSD. However, you could get a better lenovo with longer battery life for more than 500.
SamReidHughesabout 13 years ago
Panasonic SX1 with large battery, weighs 1.39 kg, claims 16 h of battery life, i5 processor.
revoradabout 13 years ago
What's your budget? What size do you want? Which country are you going to buy it in?
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