Help finding laptop

[csdio]

Hi all,

 

I currently have an old Lenovo laptop (6yo) (i3-3110M, 4GB RAM, 1TB HDD) which has been a pain functionally (~2h of battery, lags, slow boots, problematic WiFi! ...) and for my back (2.5kg / 5.5 lbs).

I was thinking about getting a new one.

 

My OS choice is Linux, so regardless of pre-installed OS it's going to be formatted first thing once bought.

I do not have a strictly set budget, but I would like it to be on budget (maybe 1000 max?). I'm still thinking if it's worth paying for much so I'm open to all kinds of suggestions as long as they  are VFM...

I also have a Desktop PC which is my main machine and might be upgraded as well in a couple of years.

 

Use-cases are mainly:

Studying / Programming

 

It's VERY important to me that the laptop is lightweight, as close to 1kg as possible.

The laptop MUST have an SSD 250GB+

I would prefer integrated graphics + optionally external GPU support would be nice (I'm not a gamer, for now I'm learning ML but currently using online resources)

I'm open to both Intel and AMD ( i5+ / Ryzen5+ )

The longer the battery the better... It would be amazing if I could carry around the laptop without the charger (eg 6h-8h + )

 

I'm from Greece, here is a list of shops:

https://www.skroutz.gr/c/25/laptop.html ( A search engine of online shops, compiles products from different sources and lists shops availability by price )

https://www.public.gr/cat/computers-and-software/laptops/ ( tech physical store )

https://www.plaisio.gr/desktop-laptop/laptops/all-laptops.htm ( tech physical store )

https://www.kotsovolos.gr/site/computing/laptop-tablet-ipad/notebook-macbook-ultrabook ( tech physical store )

 

 

First one that caught my eye was this one: https://www.skroutz.gr/s/16071585/Lenovo-IdeaPad-530S-14ARR-2500U-8GB-256GB-FHD-W10.html#specs

However I've read that there might be issues with throttling + the RAM is single channel.

 

I've also noticed some Zenbooks that look nice:

https://www.skroutz.gr/s/16271184/Asus-ZenBook-S-UX391UA-EG020T-i5-8250U-8GB-256GB-FHD-W10.html#specs

https://www.skroutz.gr/s/14211898/Asus-ZenBook-UX430UA-GV415T-i7-8550U-8GB-256GB-FHD-W10.html#specs

 

Any help and feedback would be highly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ashleyyyy]

how much ram do you think you need?

[csdio]

I think 4GB is out of date, 8GB should be enough. Shouldn't it?

I've got 16 on my Desktop and almost never seem to be using more than half.

 

[LukeSavenije]

5 minutes ago, csdio said:

I think 4GB is out of date, 8GB should be enough. Shouldn't it?

I've got 16 on my Desktop and almost never seem to be using more than half.

 

8 gigs minimum, 16 is recommended imo

i'll add @GeneXiS_X here

[csdio]

Just adding the following as an alternative idea I had, which I'm not really able to evaluate (never done it before, not sure if it's a valid option).

 

So, I've also though of buying a very cheap (for comparison I estimate this arround 300€) very lightweight laptop instead (those usually come with Celerons, 32-64GB SSDs or eMMC and 4-6GB RAM) and setting up an ssh on my Desktop so that I can do my heavy tasks there.

I really have NO IDEA though how those perform (eg lagging on simple tasks other than browsing or any other issues I haven't thought of).

Plus I'd be highly Internet-Dependent which I'm not sure I like.

 

The benefit of this being I could invest the saved amount of money on upgrading my main machine sooner.

 

Any thoughts on this scenario? Anyone tried it before?

[genexis_x]

Preferred max weight in kg/lbs? Do you need good sRGB display?

[csdio]

Preferred weight as close to 1kg as possible. I'd say no more than 1.4kg for sure, light weight is of high importance!

 

As far as the screen is not awful I'm ok with it.

[csdio]

Are there no recommendations meeting my needs?

What about the options I've referred to, are they any good?

[genexis_x]

2 hours ago, csdio said:

Are there no recommendations meeting my needs?

Sorry I'm busy preparing exams

 

So you're OK with low sRGB display?

[csdio]

Yes, I'm fine with low sRGB, as long as it is towards the mediocre rather than awful level.

 

Good luck with your exams!

[genexis_x]

Asus UX391UA

Lenovo Yoga 730 13

Asus UX461UA

Asus UX410UA

(All have soldered RAM)

 

Or tell me what you've found, there are too little options

[csdio]

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

Does the fact that RAM is soldered also mean that it runs in single channel mode?

[genexis_x]

2 hours ago, csdio said:

Does the fact that RAM is soldered also mean that it runs in single channel mode?

You need to check the model, some have dual channel soldered in. Notebookcheck is a good source

[csdio]

45 minutes ago, GeneXiS_X said:

You need to check the model, some have dual channel soldered in. Notebookcheck is a good source

That is one amazing source of information! Thanks a lot!

[Guest]

First of all if you are going to use Linux I won't suggest a dual optimus GPU setup, unless you would like to stick with Ubuntu for proper support.

Also, the less bugged with Linux are Dells and Lenovos. So I will suggest Thinkpads or XPS series

 

I think that TB3 GPU's can run only with bumblebee, which is something I don't suggest... Doesn't have Vulkan support, i don't know if nvidia-prime can work with TB3...

https://egpu.io/forums/thunderbolt-linux-setup/egpu-in-blender-18-04-works-flawlessly/

Maybe that? 

Edited December 3, 2018 by Guest

[csdio]

1 hour ago, Lukyp said:

First of all if you are going to use Linux I won't suggest a dual optimus GPU setup, unless you would like to stick with Ubuntu for proper support.

Also, the less bugged with Linux are Dells and Lenovos. So I will suggest Thinkpads or XPS series

 

I think that TB3 GPU's can run only with bumblebee, which is something I don't suggest... Doesn't have Vulkan support, i don't know if nvidia-prime can work with TB3...

https://egpu.io/forums/thunderbolt-linux-setup/egpu-in-blender-18-04-works-flawlessly/

Maybe that? 

 

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Even if Dells (eg XPS 13) was not out of my budget (in Greece they start from 1300€), I wouldn't really pay that for a laptop with a cam constantly featuring my chin  

Don't get me wrong, I've read way too many good reviews about Dell's XPS series to be a fan, still I would recommend the latest models to noone!

I'm not saying I use the camera that often, but if I'm going to use it, I'll probably be using it for meetings, interviews etc, and the end results I've seen make Dell look bad for such a terrible design anyway (seriously, who thought this was a good idea?  ).

 

From GeneXiS_X's suggestion above, I'm currently looking into the reviews on Notebookcheck, and I'm leaning towards the Lenovo Yoga.

Even though I'm still considering the other options as well.

 

As for TB3 eGPUs, I just would like to have the option/possibility of doing that in the future.

In my opinion (not being a gamer) an actual dedicated GPU pre-installed would be absolutely worthless for my use-cases and I would still have to pay for it in both money and probably battery life as well.

As stated in OP, I am currently learning ML using mainly free online resources for GPU acceleration which has been more than enough for now.

If/When those stop being enough for my needs, I'll have to review my options (eg Cloud Providers) and it would be nice to have TB3 as a +1 option when that time comes.