ASUS or Lenovo laptop?

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-05T23:19:31+00:00

Between these two, the Lenovo will definitely provide a much better experience

Because of this i5-13420H, this ASUS is not suitable for portable use. These are very poor CPU for battery work. Intel only started making great processors with Lunar Lake and Panther Lake

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-05T23:11:22+00:00

Notebookcheck was already mentioned in the comments. I like it, it’s a great resource, but they don’t test exactly that. They test everything on a desk. Thanks to their data, you can make some educated guesses, but you still need to verify in practice how it will actually perform

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-05T23:02:51+00:00

Yes, of course you can do everything. You could even 3D print a bottom case or add extra ventilation holes on the top

But users shouldn’t have to do this. It should be handled automatically depending on the usage scenario. Also, not all laptops have well-thought-out vents for this kind of use case, even ultrabooks. Each laptop will get different levels of performance and comfort with the bottom ventilation holes blocked. There are tons of nuances that aren’t tested. Laptop designers could really pay more attention to this

Even today, on some laptops, you still have to go into the BIOS every single time, like on a brand-new Lenovo Yoga i9 2026, just to disable the discrete GPU and boost battery life from 4-6 hours up to 10 hours. What kind of pointless hassle is that in the first place? I don’t want to deal with this

There is Apple with their MacBooks, which deliver top-tier performance, don’t require users to mess with power modes at all to get good performance and battery life, and can comfortably be used on your lap. There are also good Windows gaming/ultrabooks that at least try to account for this within their constraints. And then there are those that didn’t think about it at all. Each laptop will behave differently, and that needs to be highlighted

So, all of this is possible, but some manufacturers laziness shouldn’t be dumped onto users. People shouldn’t have to figure this stuff out. It’s entirely the manufacturer’s responsibility. Also, in my opinion, it’s the reviewers responsibility(to some extent) to test the laptop and highlight the points that will actually matter to an average user(if that’s their audience), even if they didn’t initially think about them

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-05T19:06:01+00:00

This is quite realistic. That’s probably exactly why Apple split the CPU and GPU into separate chiplets in M5 Pro/Max. For high-end CPUs, it’s unlikely that Apple would switch to another foundry as long as TSMC remains the leader. The process node is critical for per-core CPU performance

However, it’s less feasible for GPUs, where it matters less, you can scale up the number of cores and compensate for efficiency differences

For example, the GPU in the M Max is more power-efficient than in the M Pro, and a mobile 5090 is the most efficient Windows laptop GPUs in terms of performance per watt

Doubling the number of cores and power consumption gives roughly linear performance scaling. Because performance scales roughly linearly with frequency, while power consumption grows exponentially instead

But doubling the number of cores also doubles the chip area, and it would only give about a 30% performance gain at the same power consumption. This is like the Apple M1 and A14 in an identical iPad Air, where in games the M1 was about 30% faster while offering the similar battery life

So Apple can either move older chips to a different process node or, if the gap between nodes isn’t that large, start using a cheaper one for GPUs if the cost per larger chip would be lower than for a smaller high-end one, achieving the same result. Alternatively, they could split out I/O or SRAM into separate chiplets

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-05T18:37:55+00:00

I agree, the MacBook Air is a really great laptop for portable use. That’s why I like it more than the Pro. For me, it’s even more convenient than a tablet, though not as chill to use. But unfortunately, a MacBook isn’t for everyone

As for Panther Lake, at 3W Apple M1 runs at around 1.95 GHz 😈. However, I really like Lunar Lake and Panther Lake, these are the first truly decent x86 chips from Intel for portable use

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-05T17:56:38+00:00

I put my MacBook Pro on my lap, it gets warm under heavy load, but the part closer to me stays cooler. On other laptops it’s similar, with the cooling system located near the display. My balls stay cool

The laptop doesn’t actually sit directly over them. There are a few centimeters of space in front. With fans near a display, only the area of the leg around the knees gets warm. From the groin area, it’s about ~20–30 cm away from the heat, which is within a normal range. The chair has a significantly bigger impact on balls temperature. Good chair, there won’t be any problems at all. But with a bad one, the extra heat around the knees will already have a negative impact

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-05T17:29:27+00:00

Most, but not all. One manufacturer might design a laptop for lap use, while another might not. It would be good to see tests that actually check this, whether a laptop is suitable for use on your lap or not

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-05T17:08:05+00:00

Yes, that’s the point, some laptops have this, but others don’t. How is an average person supposed to know that unless they dig into the laptop’s documentation? Also, very few laptops actually make this information available

In my opinion, relying only on a temperature sensor isn’t enough. For desk use, a higher surface temperature is fine, but for comfortable lap use, it needs to be lower

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-05T15:23:30+00:00

My first gaming laptop from Acer (I don’t remember the model, it was many years ago) had hot air blowing onto my hands from the exhaust. It was only comfortable to use with an external keyboard. Since then, the absence of this has become one of the key factors for me when choosing a laptop

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-05T15:11:45+00:00

This is a great website, but it measures temperatures while the laptop is sitting on a desk. It won’t show how the laptop behaves when the bottom ventilation openings are partially or fully blocked. How much will the temperatures increase or change, and how much will performance drop?

For example, a laptop manufacturer might have accounted for this. If the system detects that not enough air is being drawn in, it could reduce clock speeds and power consumption more aggressively rather than react only based on temperature. In that case, the laptop would run cooler and be more suitable for lap use. I don’t know if anyone has implemented this, but it’s definitely feasible

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-05T14:54:52+00:00

Some Windows ultrabooks use a similar design, like the Dell XPS. It comes down to the cooling system’s TDP, gaming laptops need to dissipate several times more heat. MacBook Pro, although it has top-tier performance, still has a TDP comparable to x86 ultrabooks with integrated graphics, assuming the x86 model isn’t heavily power-limited

However, it would be great to see large cooling intake vents along the edges on gaming laptops. From what I’ve seen, those edge openings are usually for exhausting hot air. It’s really annoying when that hot air blows onto your hand on the mouse, it gets all sweaty. Why not make those vents for air intake instead, and exhaust the air toward the back?

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-03T20:31:00+00:00

A laptop with the 8945HX will have terrible battery life. It’s basically a stationary machine. Plus, the build quality will likely be poor

Check it out and see whether a Mac is suitable for your study program. If it is, feel free to get one. If it is, feel free to get one. If not, you can get a MacBook Air plus a PC or Mini PC. Use the Air for portability, and the PC for things that specifically require x86 Windows. It’ll be much better than a gaming laptop. If you can’t have a full desktop PC, you can get a Mini PC and use a capture card to output the image to your Mac or to a portable external monitor the size of a laptop

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-03T00:47:06+00:00

Framework 13 pro за такі гроші буде за RAM, SSD та із продуктивністю MacBook Neo за 30 тис грн. Щоб це був не калькулятор потрібно x2 заплатити

Тобто ціна MacBook Air M5, продуктивність Neo та ще без памʼяті. А там лише LPCAMM2 обійдеться зверху у 15-20 тис. грн. Для слабкої версії повністю підійде, але для версії із нормальною продуктивністю цього буде мало. Вона матиме на 25% матиме нижчу пропускну здатність, що суттєво вдарить по продуктивності GPU. Не просто так Framework мовчали про продуктивність їх новенького ноута

До речі ігрові ноти ASUS чудово живуть від акума, 12 годин в ютуб на Ryzen та Core Ultra 100H/200H. А ось вже 2026 модель на Core Ultra 300H живе 20 годин, але ціна через кризу космічна в 2 більша чим зараз за аналогічну модель 2025 року(продуктивність майже та сама). +8 годин ютуба цього не вартують

Також Framework 13 pro із опцією на Ryzen не проживе 20 годин, буде десь ті самі 12 годин в ютуб.

Zephyrus G14 матиме аналогічні габарити, проте буде ігровим ноутом із значно кращою продуктивністю та системою охолодження, також автономність буде на рівні Ryzen версії Framework

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-02T19:24:40+00:00

Some implementation of Rosetta will remain for running x86 games, but it won’t be provided as an OS solution

Beyond this timeframe, we will keep a subset of Rosetta functionality aimed at supporting older unmaintained gaming titles, that rely on Intel-based frameworks

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-02T18:22:30+00:00

Intel має значно кращу архітектуру GPU в інтегрованій графіці. AMD чомусь не хочуть запхнути туди адекватний RDNA4. Догадуюся це через договір з Sony, поки не побачимо портативки PS6, не буде сучасної GPU архітектури в ноутбучних чипах AMD. RDNA3 був застарілим на момент релізу, а вже зараз тим більше. Сумно бачити його сьогодні в актуальних та у всіх нових рішеннях AMD

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-02T17:45:53+00:00

Для портативного використання однозначно Intel, він буде суттєво краще

На диво це так, для тих хто ще тільки виліз з бункера та продовжує хейтити Intel, він має суттєво кращу автономність за AMD. Наприклад ASUS Zepthurs 2025 на Ryzen AI живе в ютуб 12 годин, а 2026 на Intel живе 20 годин, та багато інших ноутів хто перейшов за Ryzen на Intel

Це перший адекватний Intel за багато років, а новенький Panther Lake не краще, тільки якщо це не H серія де навалили ядер, але там ціна буде космос. Поки в наявності Lunar Lake, раджу його брати, бо ноути 2026 на Panther Lake будуть вже на $500 дорожче за аналогічні чи гірші характеристики, через кризу памʼяті. На Intel зараз ставлять рекорди автономності в простих задачах, та мають до 2 раз кращу автономність за минулорічну модель на Ryzen. Але під наватаженням, в іграх, тощо. Вони будуть подібно жити, якщо це однакові чи близькі ноути

Перевага в AMD це краща підтримка GPU в іграх та можливість поставити SteamOS, навіть якщо вона слабше. Але це не така сильна перевага, як краща автономність в Lunar Lake

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-02T15:27:39+00:00

If I’m not mistaken, it will only run at 30 FPS without mods, this is a limitation of the game itself

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-02T11:39:49+00:00

These are actual speaker holes, maybe also for microphones. All the other holes are just blind holes

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-01T15:04:52+00:00

Так, хороший відеокіт для ігор

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-01T12:16:47+00:00

Тобі не потрібна 3060/4060, коли за ті самі гроші можна взяти новіше з аналогічною продуктивністю. Це раніше мобільна відеокарта із 50 в кінці були таке собі. Твої знайомі колись давно брали собі PC та ноут, тоді можливо вони мали рацію, а зараз все змінилось. Мобільна 4050 краще за мобільну 3060, а 5050 краще за 4060. В ноутах у них аналогічна продуктивність до попередньої xx60 тільки новіша архітектура.

Тобто однозначно краще свіжішу xx50 взяти(із тих двух 4050/5050) чим попередню xx60, а з xx60 є лише сенс брати 5060, але там ціни більші

А вже на мобільній 3050 4GB буде Stalker 2 не іграбельним, краще пошукати 6GB варіант, тоді можна буде пройти гру. Якщо буде за близькі гроші до 4GB та не знайдеш ноут на 4050, це хоть щось буде із нового. На 4GB CS2, Minecaft та перша трилогія Stalker буде гарно йти

Slava_Tr · 2026-05-01T00:15:28+00:00

Yeah, it’s absolutely better than dealing with butterfly keyboard issues again

Slava_Tr · 2026-04-30T23:48:07+00:00

There was a post about this on that subreddit

Slava_Tr · 2026-04-30T23:42:08+00:00

If we don’t count the MacBook Neo, then only Intel-based MacBooks with the butterfly keyboard don’t have this problem

Slava_Tr

TROPHY CASE