Hacker News Reader

Comment by deaddodo | Hacker News Reader

I have a laptop with the AMD 6900HS.

The CPU is great. It’s power envelope and performance feel amazing.

My biggest complaint is the there is a very limited selection of Laptops with AMD’s chips, especially the top tier. The one I bought required me to replace the Wifi/Bluetooth card (it came with a barely “supported” MediaTek one) for Linux.

View on HN

I have loved Linux for a couple decades. It was a difficult decision to migrate to the M1. Linux is so much more responsive and pliable. However Asus encouraged me. After owning three of their laptops in the past 18 months that began to fall apart anywhere from 3-12 months-I was done. Unfortunately most 5/6900hs laptops are not flagship quality. Typically they are lower-mid range gaming units. This is my first mac. The build quality is exceptional. I will just say I was expecting a better experience from an OS built by a trillion dollar company.

I’m using the Zephyrus G14. I wouldn’t call the build quality bad.

It’s a more traditional style than a Unibody, sure. But it’s fine.

Similar position. The existence of Asahi Linux convinced me to buy my first Mac, since it increased the odds that my M1 Air would be usable (to me) long-term.

I haven't made the switch yet as my old Lenovo is still hanging on. Would you mind expanding on your gripes with MacOS, in particular the comment about responsiveness?

Yeah, I'm also interested in responsiveness details.

I have my gripes with MacOS after years of linux/windows usage, but responsiveness on M1 is not one of them.

For me it is the little things. Like switching windows. Mac feels half a second slower then Linux and that delay make it feel less responsive. Opening up the terminal can iterm2 is another one. For me these things just adds up. I want my OS to get out of my way when I want to get work done.

I have turned off the genie effect and perhaps other animations, but my Ubuntu on my Lenovo still feels faster than the Mac.

Razer 14"? Or Dell Alienware?

Lenovo's is the only one I find with 16" 3840x2400 OLED, but just a 6850, $2800. Or with 6950 but just 1920x1200, $2635. None with both. Advantage, Radeon R6500M GPU. Doesn't say which wifi it has.

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/search?fq=&text=21D4000HUS

Dell has a 17" 6900HX, 4k, 32G RAM, RX6850 GPU, $2800. Or 6800H and RX6700, $2550. Mediatek MT7921 wifi...

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-laptops/alienware-...

But I swore never to buy another Lenovo. Or Dell. Hoping I won't have to swear off ASUS too.

Zephyrus G14. I certainly wouldn’t swear off ASUS over it. After you upgrade the Wifi card (and, optionally, the SSD), it’s a great laptop; especially for Linux.

Which one did you get? I was looking at Linux laptops with this CPU, but the line-up is very limited.

Me too. I just gave up and bought an ASUS H5600QM with a 5900HX (and 3840x2400 OLED, 32G socketed RAM, 2 NVMe sockets, and 3 physical touchpad buttons). If you act fast, you can still buy the version with Windows 10 and a GTX 3070 at $1999, instead of Windows 11 and a GTX 3060 for $254 more.

Build quality is excellent, but the first one died after 2 days: charge light wouldn't even go on. Waiting for #2. Wish me luck!

ASUS Zephyrus G14.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com