[In EU] Looking for a light Ryzen laptop (but with juice)

Thibsie

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Apr 25, 2017
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Hey all,

I'm in no hurry but looking for a new laptop.
I need something light (not the 2.5kg+, light is better) but with enough juice to power VMs as I like to have VMs ready for my different classes at different schools and this includes server/client VMs.

So I'd rather have something like Ryzen 8 cores so those VMs run smoothly. 16GB is of course strict minimum, 13-14" max, IPS screen.

I usually look at thinkpads (x13, T14s, Slim7...) but most Ryzen offerings have disappeared from Belgian Lenovo store at least.

Do you guys have any alternative in mind? Thanks.
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
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Zen 3 laptops are coming so you are either looking at left over Zen 2 stock or wait for Zen 3.
 
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Thibsie

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Apr 25, 2017
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True. But Ryzen 4xxx haven't been available a long time either.
Anyway, as I said, not in a hurry.
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
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True. But Ryzen 4xxx haven't been available a long time either.
Anyway, as I said, not in a hurry.


yeah aim for Ryzen 7 Pro 5850U and no extra gpu. go with 14 if you want a bigger battery.

I am not sure I want an HP anything these days


Here is the Thinkpad variant, no idea when it will be available though

 
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Dman8777

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I bought a Huawei Matebook 14 with a Ryzen 4600H, 16 GB/ 512 GB and a 3:2 IPS display last fall for 900€. It's been solid so far, I bought it primarily for light, mobile gaming (Civ 4, Sins of a solar empire) and occaisional 3D modelling. In normal use (web, Youtube, etc) it gets about 10 hours on a full battery. Gaming battery life on medium settings is 5 - 6 hours.
 
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Thibsie

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Apr 25, 2017
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I may order soon, almost made my mind but not in a hurry, 'cos that 20% off student/teacher deal is permanent.
So I'll probably go for a ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD.

Unfortunately not configurable in EU 'cos it's an AMD (love you Lenovo) and I know L14 get bad screen options but it is:

* Available
* Cheap (about 800€ VAT included)
* Gets 5850U + 16GB upgradeable to 64GB
* Has Ethernet without the need for a stupid adapter.

I may still chose T14 if it becomes available, is reasonably priced and offers real screen upgrade.

Thank you all again !
 

QueBert

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I recently bought an Asus Zenbook 13 with a 5700u, the EU offering has a 5800u and 16gb. It's been a really nice laptop for the week or so I've had it. I know you said IPS and this has an OLED, but I thought you might have mentioned that because you don't want a VA or TN. imho the OLED screen on this is beautiful, bright and about perfect colors.
 
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Thibsie

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Apr 25, 2017
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I recently bought an Asus Zenbook 13 with a 5700u, the EU offering has a 5800u and 16gb. It's been a really nice laptop for the week or so I've had it. I know you said IPS and this has an OLED, but I thought you might have mentioned that because you don't want a VA or TN. imho the OLED screen on this is beautiful, bright and about perfect colors.

Indeed OLED is OK too. TN is just out of the question. VA would be OK 'cos it's for work mostly.
But I guess the 16GB of yours is soldered ? That's annoying IMO. 32GB I would 't mind but I can't change laptop every 3 years so it needs to stay relevant for as long as possible.
 

QueBert

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Indeed OLED is OK too. TN is just out of the question. VA would be OK 'cos it's for work mostly.
But I guess the 16GB of yours is soldered ? That's annoying IMO. 32GB I would 't mind but I can't change laptop every 3 years so it needs to stay relevant for as long as possible.

Yeah ram's soldered, which sucks and in the US Asus only offers the Ryzen in 5700u with 8 gigs, which is really annoying. I wanted an ultraportable and every one I looked at had soldered memory. I guess that's the tradeoff if you want a super small and light laptop.
 

Thibsie

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Apr 25, 2017
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Yeah ram's soldered, which sucks and in the US Asus only offers the Ryzen in 5700u with 8 gigs, which is really annoying. I wanted an ultraportable and every one I looked at had soldered memory. I guess that's the tradeoff if you want a super small and light laptop.

Yep, I was unhappy my wife's X240 had only one Sodimm slot. It at least it was upgradeable. All soldered RAM is meh and 8GB is just no !

At least T14/P14s still have a slot so even an 8GB laptop can upgrade to 40GB, totally acceptable amount (but single channel, stupidly).

I'll wait as long as possible for the T14 and see if the screen options do justify the upgrade from L14 (that at least as double channel: 2x32GB).
 

sbansban

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Jan 1, 2022
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I know I am very late to the party, but am curious as to what you finally chose and your thoughts as of now.
Just in case you haven't bought one yet, have you looked at the ASUS ROG G14 Zephyrus 2021Model GA401QM-211.ZG14? It has a Ryzen 9 5900HS processor, 16 GB RAM upgradeable to 40 GB (the specs say 24GB but...) , and a discrete GPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060. It's 14 inches and weighs 3.6 lbs.