I am looking to get a new laptop for development. What do you suggest, and why?

I currently have the last model of the 15' MacBook pro (without touch bar) which I love. I haven't heard too much positive about the newest MacBook pro so I'm looking for other options. I'm not biased on software or hardware.

It depends on several factors, such as OS preference, budget, etc. I'm using a Surface Pro 4, and I love it. More than any of the Macs I ever had.

Budget doesn't matter. Battery doesn't matter. I program a lot on my lap, plugged in. I like Mac OS and I'm OK with Windows, but would likely swap it out with a Linux OS

@curlmudgeon Same here. I also use a Surface Pro 4, its great.

@DivByZero the down factor (kickstand) isn't ideal on my lap, but I hardly ever do that.

@curlmudgeon what is it about the surface pro you like? Dislikes?

@curlmudgeon I do 70% of my development on my lap; how does the surface pro do there?

@LoyalRayne I like:
- Its weight and size (easy to slip into a bag)
- Performance (I have the i7 version), amazing for what is a souped-up tablet
- the pen. Marking up stuff in the browser or on any app screen, or being able to jot down a OneNote just from clicking the pen even when the machine is asleep
- the fact that with the dock, I can drive 3 screens at once. Eat that, iPad Pro...
- battery life. I get a full day on battery when I'm not being too intense.
- the screen. It's fucking gorgeous. And the 3:2 ratio makes sense in a tablet
- keyboard cover. I can type as fast on that as on my real keyboard

I like less:
- the fact that it's a dual-core i7
- the Intel Iris 520 GPU. It'll play games, but you have to turn the resolution down, and the quality settings

@LoyalRayne on your lap, the kickstand and type cover are... wobbly. If that is a major use case then I'd recommend looking into a Surface Book instead, it's a laptop, and thus opens like a normal clamshell

I personally use a Lenovo. They sometimes have cheap sales when they are about to bring out a new series and I like them because they're pretty robust (droped it once from the table, still running, as if nothing has happened). I usually look just at cpu and gpu, as you can still put in more ram/(bigger) ssd afterwards, which usually is cheaper. Take care to check if this is possible with what ever you choose, as a ssd or more ram can do wonders with an old llaptop.

Since I started university, I've got myself a Surface Pro, which is also a decent device, to really work however you need at leasg one monitorand a leyboard/mouse which means since it only has one usb port an usb hub. So in my opinion not the perfect work laptop. If you'd like to use it for other things (like education and taking notes on a touch screen), I can only recommend it (however you can't open it and put more ram in, so that's a minus)

@pascalwacker well, 16 gig seems to be OK and for the screens, I recommend the desktop dock, as that plugs everything into the Surface through 1 port

Saving!

If you got a home pc also then try a subnotebook with good hardware .
Then its up to your wallet m8 .personally i have a i5 processor 16gb ram, 14" display,intel 4400 graphics and i love to work with it .if you want to game a bit to relax, for example games like guild wars 2 are running good :D

One word: Thinkpad! 👌

There's some great buying guides out there. Check out /r/thinkpad on reddit.

Im a fan of Dell XPS line. I have a 13'.
Had the 15' 4k display on last job. Love both, but still prefer the 13'.

I just spent a couple hours dodging best buy associates. I am leaning towards the Surface Book.

If you work, ask them if they get any special offers/prices. If you're in university, there are usually also discount offerings.