2024 Laptop Recommendation

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dontcryforme

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My current laptop's battery is dead and cannot find a replacement locally and everyone is complaining about custom stops on batteries. I imagine it's a NRCS clearance issue.

So I am looking to get a new laptop. Budget is R30k. Not really interested in custom shop laptops nor a fan of Dell, HP, Acer or off brand laptops.

Do we have laptops available locally with those NPU's yet?

Any recommendations will be appreciated.
 
dontcryforme said:
My current laptop's battery is dead and cannot find a replacement locally and everyone is complaining about custom stops on batteries. I imagine it's a NRCS clearance issue.

So I am looking to get a new laptop. Budget is R30k. Not really interested in custom shop laptops nor a fan of Dell, HP, Acer or off brand laptops.

Do we have laptops available locally with those NPU's yet?

Any recommendations will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Doesn’t leave much does it. MacBooks, Toshiba, Lenovo, Samsung … don’t think you’ll find anything else. Dell and HP are only two of the most popular brands in South Africa, why don’t you like those?
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Doesn’t leave much does it. MacBooks, Toshiba, Lenovo, Samsung … don’t think you’ll find anything else. Dell and HP are only two of the most popular brands in South Africa, why don’t you like those?
Click to expand...
Very bad experiences. HP not picking up an HP printer yet all the other laptops in the office did. None were HP. Dell not honouring warranty. Had a motherboard issue, they replaced the HDD three times because it wasn't their issue, they claimed back from who ever manufactured the HDD.
 
What do you need the laptop for?
do you want more portability?
do you need a GPU for gaming?
 
Sapphiron said:
What do you need the laptop for?
do you want more portability?
do you need a GPU for gaming?
Click to expand...
A GPU would be a nice to have, but not a gamer so not a must. Sometimes it does help with some software that generates AI images. Mostly need it for business and coding
 
dontcryforme said:
A GPU would be a nice to have, but not a gamer so not a must. Sometimes it does help with some software that generates AI images. Mostly need it for business and coding
Click to expand...
www.firstshop.co.za

ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED 14-inch 2.8K Laptop - Intel Core Ultra 9 185H 1TB

ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED 14-inch 2.8K Laptop - Intel Core Ultra 9 185H 1TB SSD 32GB RAM Win 11 Pro and other ASUS products available at FirstShop South-Africa. Price, availability and reviews for ASUS 90NB11R3-M00PF0
www.firstshop.co.za www.firstshop.co.za
This is the latest, greatest intel based architecture (its about the same as the current AMD platform now). GPU is integrated, but very modern, so it has things like AV1 encoders. Probably the best display you can get in a laptop today.

AI GPU acceleration in consumer products is still very rare, most acceleration is done in CPU.

I know you said no off-brands, but it depends on which model you buy. There is something to be said for a product that a reputable store backs themselves and you can spec out exactly for what you need.
www.wootware.co.za

WootBook Y15 AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS 5.10GHz Boost 8-Core 15.3" WQXGA (2560x1600) 120Hz Grey Laptop

Buy WootBook Y15 AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS 5.10GHz Boost 8-Core 15.3" WQXGA (2560x1600) 120Hz Grey Laptop at Wootware with fast shipping & superb service.
www.wootware.co.za www.wootware.co.za
Just FYI, you can get Windows keys a lot cheaper if you ask the forum nicely.
These have the newest AMD platform that has the NPU integrated in the CPU.
 
Sapphiron said:
www.firstshop.co.za

ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED 14-inch 2.8K Laptop - Intel Core Ultra 9 185H 1TB

ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED 14-inch 2.8K Laptop - Intel Core Ultra 9 185H 1TB SSD 32GB RAM Win 11 Pro and other ASUS products available at FirstShop South-Africa. Price, availability and reviews for ASUS 90NB11R3-M00PF0
www.firstshop.co.za www.firstshop.co.za
This is the latest, greatest intel based architecture (its about the same as the current AMD platform now). GPU is integrated, but very modern, so it has things like AV1 encoders. Probably the best display you can get in a laptop today.

AI GPU acceleration in consumer products is still very rare, most acceleration is done in CPU.

I know you said no off-brands, but it depends on which model you buy. There is something to be said for a product that a reputable store backs themselves and you can spec out exactly for what you need.
www.wootware.co.za

WootBook Y15 AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS 5.10GHz Boost 8-Core 15.3" WQXGA (2560x1600) 120Hz Grey Laptop

Buy WootBook Y15 AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS 5.10GHz Boost 8-Core 15.3" WQXGA (2560x1600) 120Hz Grey Laptop at Wootware with fast shipping & superb service.
www.wootware.co.za www.wootware.co.za
Just FYI, you can get Windows keys a lot cheaper if you ask the forum nicely.
These have the newest AMD platform that has the NPU integrated in the CPU.
Click to expand...
Thank you. With the Asus though the title says Intel Core Ultra 9 185H 1TB SSD 32GB RAM but the description says 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 Processor
 
dontcryforme said:
Thank you. With the Asus though the title says Intel Core Ultra 9 185H 1TB SSD 32GB RAM but the description says 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 Processor
Click to expand...
SKU checks out

But it's cheaper with ASUS directly now
za.store.asus.com

ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED UX3405MA-OU93210BL0X Ultra 9 Processor with AI 32GB Ram 1TB SSD OLED

Ultimate Zenbook: Thin and light with Ultra 9 Processor AI Ready: Enhanced with Ai Ready features Operating System: Windows 11 Home Display: 14.0 inch 3K (2880 x 1800) OLED 16:10 aspect ratio Processor: Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 Processor 185H 2.3 GHz (24MB Cache, up to 5.1 GHz, 16 cores, 22...
za.store.asus.com za.store.asus.com
 
Over your budget, but this got launched today
za.store.asus.com

ASUS Zenbook S16 UM5606WA | AI PC AI laptop 2024 ASUS South Africa store

ASUS Zenbook S16 UM5606WA | AI PC AI laptop AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX 370 processor with AMD Radeon™ graphic. Up to 50 TOPS. Plus, up to 32 GB of fast RAM and a 2 TB PCIe® 4.0 SSD. Uses Ceraluminum™ and CNC milling to create 1.1 cm ultrathin design and unique geometric grille design. 16" 3K 120 Hz...
za.store.asus.com za.store.asus.com
 
dontcryforme said:
X1504ZA-I785 and then upgraded the RAM to 16gb for another R500 bucks. See its even cheaper now
Click to expand...
Nice, how's the battery life? I'm guessing 6-8 hours with fair usage... How does is fare when idling?

I see it has 42WHrs vs the Asus Zenbook Oled 14 which has 70WHrs. Although the Zenbook is almost double the price...
 
Moonlit8377 said:
Nice, how's the battery life? I'm guessing 6-8 hours with fair usage... How does is fare when idling?

I see it has 42WHrs vs the Asus Zenbook Oled 14 which has 70WHrs. Although the Zenbook is almost double the price...
Click to expand...
Not hard on battery since no graphics and low end screen. When idling it lasts for well over 8 hours (with screen off most of the time) but I am a heavy user with at least 10 browser tabs open at a time and multiple apps like Skype, Outlook, the Ubuntu subsystem (also running multiple apps and processes) and Visual Studio Code, then I get a good 3 hours. If I only browse I get more. With battery saver you can stretch that further, that being said, I get 3 hours of heavy use between 80% to 30% charge as I use the smart battery feature.

I have a Zenbook with oled too, nice 2 in 1 laptop/tablet. Battery lasted me a year and then had to charge after an hour on battery. By the time it reached 6 years it didnt even want to switch on without the charger and by then I couldnt find a replacement battery anymore.

Only reason I bought the cheapy was I had a power outage and didnt want to struggle anymore.
 
dontcryforme said:
Not hard on battery since no graphics and low end screen. When idling it lasts for well over 8 hours (with screen off most of the time) but I am a heavy user with at least 10 browser tabs open at a time and multiple apps like Skype, Outlook, the Ubuntu subsystem (also running multiple apps and processes) and Visual Studio Code, then I get a good 3 hours. If I only browse I get more. With battery saver you can stretch that further, that being said, I get 3 hours of heavy use between 80% to 30% charge as I use the smart battery feature.

I have a Zenbook with oled too, nice 2 in 1 laptop/tablet. Battery lasted me a year and then had to charge after an hour on battery. By the time it reached 6 years it didnt even want to switch on without the charger and by then I couldnt find a replacement battery anymore.

Only reason I bought the cheapy was I had a power outage and didnt want to struggle anymore.
Click to expand...
I'll be running a very similar workload to yours as well but would like at least 6 hours min of battery life.

I was also looking at some of the Windows on ARM offerings like the Asus Vivobook S15 with the Snapdragon X Elite but the concern is running into issues with certain programs (based on x86)

I'll wait for early next year before pulling the trigger (see if any thing new comes out or if current prices drop as I'll only need it by Feb)

Thanks for the level of detail. Much appreciated.
 
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