I'm thinking of buying new hardware
Preface
Rough outline of my dilemma, I have a chunky 15.6" laptop and a beefy PC full team red (AMD), both unfit for an easily movable computer.
Requirements
I'm looking for:
- 14", maybe 13" sized laptop
- a decent screen, no less than Full HD (1920×1080p)
- decent autonomy but not deal-breaker
- at least 8th gen INTEL CPU or AMD equivalent. More recent means more performance, but not fundamentally needed for my workloads.
- GPU would be nice, but makes the laptop bigger, more prone to heating and more power-hungry.
- Between NVIDIA or AMD, I'm more inclined to get an NVIDIA GPU, especially Turing architecture or later.
- Don't need a lot of space, 500Go will do. 1To might be good, but seems like a lot.
- Should have good Linux support.
Contenders
I have three main contenders. Let's do a run-down:
Spécification
| laptop | screen | cpu | gpu | ram | ports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dell Latitude 7490 | 14" | 8th Generation Intel Core up to i7 processors | Intel UHD Graphics 620 (8th Gen Intel Core) | 2 DIMM slots supporting up to 32GB | |
| ASUS Zephyrus G14 GA401IV-150T rtx 2060 max q | 14" | AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q - 6 GB VRAM, Core: 975 MHz, Memory: 1375 MHz, GDDR6, 442.59, Optimus | 16 GB, 8 GB soldered + 8 GB DDR4-3200 | 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support DisplayPort™ / power delivery / G-SYNC |
| Framework Laptop 13" (intel or amd) | 13" | intel Ultra | Intel® Arc™ graphics | 8Go - 64Go | lots of options, modular, quite costly though |
Opinions
Here is my thinking.
Third, I'm not sure whether I even want a new laptop. The NVIDIA laptop is still going strong, and while it has a few problems (hinges are breaking, the SUPER and FN keys are always switched whatever I do, it has crap battery), it can still run most things I need.
Second, I really need a good portable laptop. I go around my city via bike, and having 500g makes a difference.
First of, I'm very much unsure that I need a good GPU. I mostly use them to play around in Blender, run local LLMs and play games. But since I have my current NVIDIA GPU laptop, I could just do that through that. Even if I sell my beefy PC (that I really don't need), I'd still have enough.
The framework laptop is just out of my budget for now. Upwards of 1200 € is a lot. The refurbished version does not seem to be in stock very often. It's unfortunate, since it is unrivalled in terms of repairability and sustainability.
The g14 is an excellent form factor, though a bit heavy. And it heats up a lot I hear. The fans can even be a bit loud. I can find it on the cheap second hand. 700€ ish
The Dell is a bit ancient, but it has an 8th gen Intel, which is good enough for most things. Cheapest, max 350 €. Make sure to get the right specs !!!
All have decent RAM, though I would like to be able to go upwards of 20Go.
Disk Size wise, I don't think any are a problem.
But I really don't know...
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