Probably looking for an impossible laptop (suggest compromises please?)

[Goobley]

I posted here about chromebooks a while back and while that may still be the way to go, but as you folks suggested, I'm not sure they're right for my needs.

What I currently have: MacBook Pro 15" from late 2011. (quad core i7, Radeon 6750M) From memory it weighs about 2.7kg!

What I do on my laptop: Run linux, code (C, C++, Python, a few OpenCL extensions), write lab reports in LaTeX, and normal stuff (read fairly large PDFs, browse web, watch videos etc.).

The MBP is larger and heavier than I like to carry daily, in fact I tend to try and manage with my 7" tablet to avoid carrying it if I'm going to walking across campus a couple of times a day. It is certainly not an efficient way of going about things.

So criteria for a new laptop would be: Small(ish) and light. 11-13" and as light as possible. Easy to get linux running on (in my experience this is generally achieved by having intel hardware throughout (no discrete graphics)). Decent battery life (7+ hours browsing or coding), trackpad and keyboard that don't make me want to slowly stab every nearby radioactive source into my eyeballs. NO touchscreen - DO NOT WANT, just adds weight and munches battery as far as I'm concerned. Avoid the devil's resolution (1366x768) if possible, but I'm willing to compromise on a smaller panel.

Budget: As cheap as possible whilst fulfilling my major requirements; I don't need oodles of power (have the desktop under my name too.) I should think a pentium or i3 would be largely sufficient, as is 4GB of RAM, 2GB would probably do as I'm going to be using it in linux all the time. Lets say limit of £600 for now but as low as possible.

You're my only hope Hexus... well not quite but after two days of looking and not really seeing much that appeals I thought I'd ask people in the know. I'm expecting to have to compromise on a few criteria, so throw your ideas out there.

Many thanks,
Chris

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Why don't you sell your MBP and get an MBA or Asus or Lenovo equivalent??

Edit!!

I had a look on HUKD,the MBA 11.6" can be had for around £600 to £700,plus many universities get discounted Apple products too.

[kompukare]

Or try a used ex-corporate thinpad X series (12", ~1.5KG) like the X220 (SB) or X230 (IB). Really well built machines. Yes plain and a bit bigger than some but there is a very good reason why they are a bit bigger: they are serviceable with no glued parts, removable batteries and internal connections etc. (change a keyboard on a Thinkpad: remove screws and unplug; change the keyboard on a consumer junkpad: remove a ton of screws and hope you don't break the connector when taking it out).

Any of these should be well within your budget used and for some you can even buy them with remaining warranty:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X220
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X230
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X1

Most Thinkpad X's can be had with IPS screens (most T series only have rather poor TN options) but most ex-corporate machines tend to have been bought with the lowest options

[Goobley]

Thanks guys
@CAT: The MBP is going to my parents who are struggling with an aged late 2008 C2D MacBook - as soon as I can convince them to accept it anyway. Besides the MBP was a really challenge to get running linux. My previous 2007 MacBook was easy but on this one the EFI loader needs extra OpCodes and is broken by EVERY software update...

@kompukare: I'll have a loook at procuring one of those, they look like a pretty good option. I remember my Mum having an old 10" IBM thinkpad for a while, it was built like a tank.

More suggestions always welcome. Thanks again

[TheAnimus]

Hmm..... I've heard mixed things about this, but I'll mention it here:
https://teksyndicate.com/videos/micr...3-depth-review

So you can get linux running in some ways on it, myself I'd probably just VM it, the performance hit in hyper-v is almost nothing.

But I'm ignoring your comment on touchscreens because at 800grams, it doesn't matter, you mention you've got a nexus 7 at the moment, well would you need that too? It ticks the battery life box, the one that you might like less is the keyboard touchpad, it's OK, but it's not good, the keyboard itself I was quite surprised with, it's still a laptop one (I can never type as fast on something that isn't a nice mechanical feel), but it's not bad at all.

I'm umming and ahhing over one myself. I've a problem that if I pull the trigger on one, other people will be asking how come I get one and they don't. I'm worried about the fact you can't say swap the SSD too.

Myself I like high DPI screens, I like a lot of screen real estate because I'm an IDE kind of guy who programs by a series of key combinations and context aware / heuristic macros, I also demand to be able to debug the full stack from one place, no wasting time making 'debug hooks' etc. Ultra portable laptops definitely haven't kept up in that space with the tablets.

[jameskgowan]

How about selling the MPB and replacing with a Dell XPS 13?

Known to work with Ubuntu well and comes with a solid hardware spec now they have 4th gen i7 processors.

http://www.dell.com/uk/p/xps-13-9333/pd?ref=PD_OC

[KeyboardDemon]

Why don't you get a decent tablet with a bluetooth keyboard and mifi dongle then use remote access to work on a desktop PC back at your room/dorm that will give you all the power you need without having to carry obscene amounts of hardware where ever you go?

[jameskgowan]

iPad + ClamCase perhaps? Or iPad + SmartCase + Apple Keyboard. Smart looking setup and you could setup SSH to a machine back at home or on Linode for your coding necessities?