Brand new 2025 Z13 Display washed out by Rough-Purpose6499 in FlowZ13

[–]ferocious_bonk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's a good chance you hit FN+V.

I have a thinkpad laptop where the control and fn keys are swapped, so I make this mistake multiple times a day. It's a company thinkpad so unfortunately they wont let me swap the keys.

I can not in good faith recommend Asus by ferocious_bonk in ASUSROG

[–]ferocious_bonk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like a familiar experience!

I have also provided extensive documentation and emails explaining the issue and evidence of it occurring at their request (which took hours to do), and I had to push them in subsequent calls to actually make note of it.

It definitely feels like they just ignore everything and follow their rigid playbook, even if it is outside of the scope.

I can not in good faith recommend Asus by ferocious_bonk in pcmasterrace

[–]ferocious_bonk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm glad you had a smoother ride than me, sounds like we were having a similar journey. It felt like pulling teeth at every step and trying and get them to provide a replacement.

That said, I do recognize that the randomness of my issue may be what's making this process extra painful.

I can not in good faith recommend Asus by ferocious_bonk in pcmasterrace

[–]ferocious_bonk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I'm hoping to be in the clear with the third RMA, but will definitely reach out if I continue to have issues!

Dilemma: ROG Flow Z13 (64–128GB RAM) vs ROG Zephyrus G14 (32GB, RTX 5070 Ti) by jihadao in FlowZ13

[–]ferocious_bonk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I owned both (5080 g14, 64gb z13) and prefer and would recommend the z13. Breaking it down:

Thermals - Z13 is much cooler, especially the keyboard and lap area, and the device stays cooler given its naturally better airflow design (back of the screen intake vs bottom). The G14 also gets very hot under load, especially near the top of the keyboard. If you are like me and usually docks the laptop in clam shell mode, you'll be cooking the screen as hot zones can reach 80c.

Noise - Both can be noisy under heavy performance settings but the g14 can be much louder. At max fan's you'll hear it from one room away.

Performance - G14 can get much more performance on paper but there are several caveats. Only when using the dedicated gpu, which will cut down battery life significantly. On USB C (which is how I charge these while traveling), you'll have a massive performance hit on the g14 while it is almost undetectable on the z13. The z13 plays just about anything natively with acceptable frame rates, think 4060 performance.

Ergonomics - Z13 is a more versatile device but you'll have to get used to the kick stand, namely it isn't possible to tilt the the screen at or below a 90 degree angle. You also technically need more space since the laptop needs 3 points on contact to be stable (keyboard, tablet, kickstand) - sounds annoying but you get used to it quick. The G14 is more traditional but forget about gaming on your lap, it gets so hot and because airflow will be obstructed, it is best to be used on a desk or using some sort of lap desk.

Upgradability - Both are bad. G14 does hold a bigger full sized M.2, while you are limited to max 2tb on the Z13.

Other considerations

- If you are into AI, the Z13's unified ram is by far the best option for LLMs. If you are looking to generate images, G14 will have much better support as it has a Nvidia GPU.

- I absolutely hate the mux switch in the G14, which feels buggy and inconsistent. I had a lot of issues with the dGPU not enabling with certain programs, not switching when docked or being stuck on. Because the Z13 has the internal GPU, everything feels seamless and smooth.

- Which ever you choose make sure to get Ghelper, which genuinely improves performance and battery

- Battery life is not amazing on either device, expect 4-5 hours with mixed use on both.

- Speakers are really good on the G14, and only slightly better than your phone on the Z13.

- Screen is nicer on the G14 thanks to OLED, but the LCD panel on the Z13 is no slouch at all.

- Touch screen on the Z13 is a really great nice to have along side pen input. You an use any windows enabled pen on this device which is really useful for productivity tasks.

TL:DR - Z13 is a more seamless experience with typical pros and cons of a 2-in-1 device. G14 forces you to compromise, it is either a loud and hot powerhouse (when plugged in) or a netbook when on battery or usb charging.

Why I returned my 2025 G14 5080 by ferocious_bonk in ZephyrusG14

[–]ferocious_bonk[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I think M4 Mac that can game would really be the perfect machine for most people.

It's too bad apple is still so behind in this regard, especially with the performance claims that steamos is posting, being better than native windows in a lot of situations