The Dream Uni Laptop | G14 Zephyrus??

LZackeroo on 19/07/2021 - 12:24
Last edited 19/07/2021 - 12:49 by 1 other user

Sooo, I've been looking at this laptop for a couple weeks now. I was very close to making a purchase, buying a used G14 with a 1650Ti for $1300, but then I realised that there could definitely be a better deal which could appear within the next few days.

First of all, I'd like to hear what you guys think?: Of this laptop/Of the upcoming deals

I've studied through literally everything for the laptop in terms of specs and reviews, and I've also just gone through and found out about price history. There has been a few deals on OzBargain for this laptop. I'm really hoping that in the next few days there will be a deal here which I could pick up. I need this laptop for Uni, and it seems absolutely perfect due to the small size and the excellent battery life (Something you'd never expect from a gaming laptop). It also packs quite a bunch for such a small laptop. I'm hoping to get the older, 1660Ti & 4800HS configured version as it seems to be the perfect balance between performance & expense. I'm hoping the deal will be around the $1400 price range (I've seen another Oz user say they got it for ~$1490 in the comment section of a deal).

Soo… What do you guys think? Any other laptop recommendations which I should have a look at while waiting around for a good deal?

Keep in mind these requirements:

  • Good battery life (About the same life as the G14 - 10-12 hours of light use, 6-8 hours of medium usage)
  • Good build quality (Keyboard and touchpad especially)
  • Good performance (I love the 4800HS as it also means that I could get it for a better price since it's last gen)

All this with a ~$1400 budget

Computing 14inch ASUS Computer Gaming Laptop Laptop

Comments

  • FireRunner on 19/07/2021 - 12:41
    +2

    G14 is a great laptop. My biggest complaint would be this high pitch noise that you can hear if the surroundings are quietly. Oddly it reduces when you turn the keyboard backlight to full brightness.

    • Zackeroo on 19/07/2021 - 12:46

      Oh lol. Thank you for that!!

      I've never heard of the keyboard backlight fix before, but I'm guessing this is the coil whine issue I've heard about for this laptop.

      That would be pretty annoying :|

      I can deal with the fan noise tho, cause I'll definitely use that tool which that Reddit user posted to make the fan stop completely when on battery. Should save battery life while also being better on the ears ahaha

      • FireRunner on 19/07/2021 - 13:03
        +1

        I know a store that you get a second hand 1660Ti version for $1200. There's only one in stock so I can post it here in the comments or you could PM me and I'll send you the link

    • Raggie255 on 19/07/2021 - 13:01
      +1

      Funny enough I know some Corsair RGB keyboards has the same issue with a coil whine type high pitch sound due to Keyboard lighting. I know if I turn off my keyboard lights the whine goes away.

      I would assume its similar issue in electronics within RGB keyboards.

      • Zackeroo on 19/07/2021 - 13:07

        Oooh well there you go. That's definitely a related issue then. Keyboards are probably the one area where I basically have no expertise other than knowing a few switches and what they're good for lmao

  • Drakesy on 19/07/2021 - 12:46
    +2

    G14 really is the holy grail.
    Although i'd skip the 1650ti povo spec and get one with at least a 20 or 30 series card (1660ti would be bare minimum), would help with the resale and game performance.

    • Zackeroo on 19/07/2021 - 12:55

      Fair point about the resale value. Game performance isn't a major thing for me as I'm definitely not a proper gamer. I'll be playing a few casual games at points, and I legit would have been fine with the 1650Ti for this gaming aspect.

      30 series cards are out of the question as they're on the more expensive 2021 G14's. As a Uni student, my budget isn't high enough for the 2021 version, hence my comment about the 4000 series Ryzen processors.

      20 series cards are also sadly out of the question unless I somehow find an amazing deal either on OzBargain or on Gumtree/Facebook or smth

      The 1660Ti being a bare minimum sounds good tho lol. Definitely gonna try and push for the 1660Ti

  • aldudeau on 19/07/2021 - 12:55
    +1

    Had this laptop. It was great. Good size. Decent build quality (although I had to get my keyboard repaired after the bottom row of keys starting caving sideways). If you’re using it for Uni, remember — now webcam, which I didn’t think would be annoying but was a lot.

    • Zackeroo on 19/07/2021 - 12:59

      Lol thank you for that reply. I don't know why I didn't ask this on OzBargain first :| Legit I've asked on a couple different places, and nothing has had such good advice - Every comment has been relatable asf hehe

      Webcam. Yup, that's an issue for some. I actually don't mind it tho. I had a think back to when I used my webcam on my laptop. I've basically never used it, even during Zoom times. I've definitely had to use my mic, and I'm glad the G14 has a mic (Even tho it's fairly average), but I should be fine to use my phone and plug it into my laptop for a webcam.

      The size is perfect on the laptop as my current X1 Carbon is also a 14" laptop. Build quality is awesome on the G14 from what I've heard, and this is a major MUST since my current laptop literally has a carbon fibre re-inforced chassis - So I don't want it to be a major downgrade

  • knightslay2 on 19/07/2021 - 13:33
    +1

    I would ask whether you want to sacrifice performance for a laptop thats designed for games or you want something like a business laptop like a Lenovo Thinkpad or other competing product that has good battery life? Being a university student myself, I value battery life and decent performance.

    • Zackeroo on 19/07/2021 - 13:40

      Well, I'd think you'd be quite surprised to know that the G14 has better battery life than my current Lenovo X1 Carbon. My X1 Carbon is amazing, and is a real all-rounder. The CPU performance is decent, and the screen, keyboard and touchpad is perfect. The build quality is excellent on my X1, however…

      I've had my X1 for 3 years now, and it's actually a 4-year-old laptop (gen 5 X1). The i7 7th gen is showing it's age, and the lack of a dedicated GPU makes me keep running back to my PC for any graphics work. My YouTube channel is being slightly limited due to the lack of animations and effects which I want to add on Premiere pro. My X1 does decent on Premiere, but I know for a fact that if I bring in Adobe After Effects into the editing process, it's going to be unbearable.

      I value battery life and performance too… That's why I pick the G14

      ^ Plus, I'm a techy person, and I love getting the most out of every device I have. I've done everything I can to this X1 to make it better and quicker, and I've reached the point now when it's become a bit boring for me tbh. The G14 looks like a fun new laptop, and I'm quite happy since I can get a decent resell value for my X1

  • enigma48 on 19/07/2021 - 14:49
    +1

    I've been running a G14 (1660TI variant) since the start of the year, very happy with it so far. Just be aware it may be tricky to get the "10 hours" of use - when I re-imaged it and reinstalled my software, I was getting pretty poor battery life as the GPU would be engaged over little things. It might be a bit of confirmation bias but others were having the same issue. You can override this a bit with NVidia and Control Panel settings forcing the integrated GPU, but there's also other things like if you use the HDMI port you can only use integrated graphics; to use discrete graphics externally you must use USB-C/Alt Mode (only on 1 of the 2 ports).

    Great laptop so far, very happy - I'm coming from the Dell Latitude 5xxx/7xxx series professionally for ages, this is built very well and has excellent hardware. Can't speak much about Asus support, they responded within 24 hours with initial troubleshooting steps re: performance issues (I was using the HDMI port) but by then I'd resolved it.

    • Zackeroo on 19/07/2021 - 14:57

      Another excellent reply, thank you!! That whole 10 hour thing makes a lot of sense and I kinda figured that would happen anyway. My current laptop claims 15.5 hours of battery but irl it's more like 6-7 hours of medium usage and 10 hours of light usage (Something I never do as a power user lol).

      The whole GPU issue… sounds like fun lol. Lots of troubleshooting ig, but shouldn't be a BIG issue tho.

      I was using to use HDMI for the laptop, so that sounds a bit tricky then if I can't use dedicated graphics for that. I'll try and see what I can do tho when I get it.

      The latitudes are good laptops, and yea they are well built. I've had an Asus F550LC in the past, but it was absolutely terrible. This is a ROG tho, so I'm expecting big things - Also due to the millions of amazing reviews on it lol.

      Asus support sounds good, looks like I'm finally making the switch from my trusty ThinkPad X1

  • enigma48 on 19/07/2021 - 15:47

    You can still connect to an HDMI monitor, but you’ll need to use a USB-C/HDMI cable that supports alt mode to output using the 1660).

    I’ve got a USB-C dock that supports alt mode, so I’ve got USB-C from both laptop to dock and HDMI from both dock to monitor. I’m using my old Dell WD15 K17A dock (about $50 used on ebay)

    • Zackeroo on 19/07/2021 - 15:52

      Yea I know I thought of that. The issue is, I'd much rather just use a simple HDMI cable instead, so that's going to be a bit of a hassle

      USB-C docks are really good, but I'll have to look into whether I'm really going to use this laptop as a proper desktop replacement. $50 used on eBay is a pretty good deal, but I'd only really get a dock if it has some features which I'd really use. Just connecting to monitors isn't a major plus for me since I only have a single monitor and am not a multi-monitor person. I'd use the laptop screen with my monitor tho, that would be pretty good.

      Thanks for the reply tho

  • InvictusOverlord on 23/09/2021 - 11:58

    Ik I'm late but if you havent got it yet, get the g15 instead. The response time on the g14 is really bad. The G15 isn't much heavier or bigger and in a laptop you won't notice the difference.

    • Zackeroo on 23/09/2021 - 13:05

      I bought the laptop the day after I posted this. Ended up going with the G14 1660Ti 4800HS with the QHD panel.

      I absolutely love this laptop and I'm so happy I bought this. I've looked into the G15 and it really doesn't meet the requirements for what I need in a laptop.

      I needed something which was light and had a long battery life. The G15 has the same size battery iirc, and it's physically bigger and also significantly heavier than the G14.

      I don't need the extra performance you get on the G15 and don't really care about the response time as I'm primarily using this laptop for uni. I'll be doing some video editing too, hence the QHD display. Gaming will mostly be on an external display as well

      • arabora0 on 22/06/2022 - 22:07

        Hey man, Im also looking to get a G14 (although Id like a 2022 version). Almost a year on, what do you think of your G14?

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