Hey Hacker News,
I am in the market for a new laptop and have a few ideas but want to hear your guys suggestions or forewarnings about whats out there. I'd like to keep it in the $500 range but a little more (if it's worth it) is ok.<p>It's main use will be for all my dev work and a little graphic design here and there. I won't be doing a whole lot of gaming and will most likely be putting a Linux OS (in addition to whatever it comes pre-installed with) on it a somepoint.<p>Any suggestions?
Thanks and Happy Holidays!
Hmm... that's a tough price range. The two laptops I bought in that range (Gateway MT6729 and HP dv6700, i think) were bought in 2008 and are long gone. They lasted all of 2 years max, so I would consider them to be of low quality. And that's the problem with ~$500 machines.<p>I don't use MacBooks anymore because they make it difficult for me to get a Linux distro on them, but I have had two and they lasted considerably longer. Unfortunately, there seems to be a high correlation with increase in price and increase in quality.<p>So it's not pretty, but I have had good luck with a thinkpad once upon a time (at a higher price point). So in the end, here is my tangible recommendation: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834310605" rel="nofollow">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834310...</a>
I use a lenovo T530 and it does quite well under Linux. But it was not $500, even with a significant discount. Think pads are known for being good for Linux.<p>However, you might want to get a brand like clevo or sager, where you can build your own system.<p>I know there is a suggest a Laptop sub reddit, where they may be able to point you to a good setup.<p>You also could look for a used system, or one with a bad hd you can replace.<p>Best of luck, sorry I couldn't help more.
A (not so much of a suggestion) different take.
Why not get a mac mini if portability is not too much of a requirement. Its priced around $600 and will serve you really well for years to come.<p>You can also run VM on it without worrying about battery obviously.
Oh, I recall someone who used a arm android tablet with a keyboard as a thin client to a always online desktop pc. Or you can boot linux directly on a chrome book. You could explore those.