Help me choose a very mobile Windows computer

[Muadib]

It's an i3 with 4GB RAM, which is their minimally featured model of the Pro 7. I figure my minimum would be the i5 with 8GB RAM.

Ahhh, ok I missed that.

 

[Muse]

One customer review at Amazon for the LG gram 13 was highly critical, so much so that the 7 comments put him down. But he's not without credibility. He's the head of IT for a good sized company and he was in a position to buy almost 300 laptops for their staff. His LG screen broke (people said he shouldn't have grabbed it by the screen, a total no no), LG wanted $500 to fix it and he pitched a fit, kind of high and mighty. Anyway, his long review eventually explains how in love he is now with the Huawei MateBook X Pro. Huawei is a giant Chinese company, and that series is pretty impressive. The knock on it compared to the LG gram 13 is that it weighs 2.9lb and the gram weighs 2.1lb. The Huawei's screen is a little bigger at 13.9", compared to the LG Gram 13's 13.3". The Huawei's ratings are quite good, and this guy just thinks it's super. Aluminum body. The thing about the LG gram is that the body is made of a special carbon nano-tube magnesium alloy. It's super light and strong, but flexes a fair amount and gives the impression of being plastic, which can certainly put people off. The impression is that of a toy. I haven't seen either except online. Best Buy has the LG's, but not the Huawei. I don't know where I can get a hands-on assessment of the Huawei. The prices for the Huawei's are good compared to the super high end machines by, say, Microsoft, Apple, Lenovo, etc. The LG's price points aren't stellar. The LG grams' biggest selling point is the incredible lightness, which makes them a terrific tote machine.

The machines of both manufacturers I'm looking at have i5 8th generation Intel CPUs, 8GB DDR4 and 256 SSDs. I saw one listing for the Huawei with an 8th generation i7, 16GB DDR4 and 512GB SSD for way cheap (~$1000) but it sounds too good to be true (the same machine at Amazon is selling for almost 2x as much!!!). Jumo Computer??? Scamadviser says they appear to be safe. "The trust rating is high. They might be safe."

That high end Huawei i7 etc. has a 57wh battery. The LG gram 13's is 72wh. I kinda think the LG's battery life is gonna be way way better. I wonder about how hot the Huawei runs and how loud given it's horse power. Reviews at Amazon are pretty high a 4.4 stars average.

 

[Muadib]

I've never seen Huawei, except online. I never had an interest in them, so that could be why. I think you need to find more reviews before you take a chance on them.

 

[Muse]

I've never seen Huawei, except online. I never had an interest in them, so that could be why. I think you need to find more reviews before you take a chance on them.

I'm thinking the same thing. Well, there are over 300 reviews of that high end i7 machine at Amazon. Choosing a travel Windows machine is turning out to be a complex process.

I'm typing on my 3.75lb Lenovo P1 15.6". Portable, but relatively big and heavy. The Surface Pro line... the keyboard is detachable, which I might like if I get into tablet mode usage. But they don't sit nice on your lap, they have the kickstand, which you have to pull out and it "digs into" your legs (the words of the guy at Best Buy I was talking to on Friday).

Amazon's comparison spec shows DDR3 in the Huawei. That may be mistaken, I'd think so. Amazon often gets those specs glaringly wrong. Ah, but Provantage also shows DDR3 RAM. Don't know how significant that is, but most of the higher end ultra-portables have DDR4.

Edit: Sites are saying DDR3. Screen has 3000x2000 res, I have to think it will impact battery life. I don't see a mini SD slot. Reviews at Ebay are super positive. Has discreet Nvidia Geforce MX150 graphics card. Probably well put together. 1 year manufacturer warranty.

 

[Muadib]

I'm thinking the same thing. Well, there are over 300 reviews of that high end i7 machine at Amazon. Choosing a travel Windows machine is turning out to be a complex process. I'm typing on my 3.75lb Lenovo P1 15.6". Portable, but relatively big and heavy. The Surface Pro line... the keyboard is detachable, which I might like if I get into tablet mode usage. But they don't sit nice on your lap, they have the kickstand, which you have to pull out and it "digs into" your legs (the words of the guy at Best Buy I was talking to on Friday).

That whole kickstand thing is why I don't have a Surface today.

 

[Muse]

That whole kickstand thing is why I don't have a Surface today.

Yup. Never used one. I imagine I wouldn't care for that.

The LG grams... some have touch screen, some don't. I think it depends on if it's the 2019 or 2018 model. One reviewer said he figured he wouldn't use the touch screen feature but found that once he got the machine, he's glad it has it, he does use it. The LG, you can't just hit Home, Pg Down, PgUp, End. You have to hit the Fn key for those (with the arrow keys), which I'm not used to on any of my machines. I'd get used to it, but figure the touch screen could give that without hitting keys to some extent. Huawei does the same thing. The LG screen is glossy. I figure I prefer a non-glossy screen. Both machines have Thunderbolt 3, via a USB-C port. The Surface Pros don't! The LG comes with a proprietary port charger, which doesn't support it's USB-C ports, a knock on it. The Huawei comes with a USB-C charger, a plus. That could probably be used to charge most any device with a USB-C port, I think.

 

[Muse]

Just read a couple of highly critical reviews of that Huawei at the Amazon link. I figure it's a bad idea. Build quality issues! The review titled 90% of a Macbook at 70% of the price. There's a lot there, but there were some serious issues.

 

[Herr Kutz]

I got a thinkpad x1 carbon for work and like it.

 

[Muse]

Thin

I got a thinkpad x1 carbon for work and like it.

Thinkpads rock. I have had 4 (still do) and not a one has died or had a major problem IIRC (bought a not-working T60 for parts off Ebay, brought it back to life and it's still rocking continuous service). Can't say the same for any other small form factor computer I've owned (not talking about cell phones, another breed).

 

[Muadib]

My old Thinkpad T41 died a just over year after I sold it to my sister. I gave her a one year warranty.