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After searching and waiting for a good Ryzen APU laptop and coming up short, I finally broke down after months of limping along on my crappy Atom Pentium HP x360 11" and ordered this: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product. ... 6834234929

Asus Zenbook UX331UN - it has the downclocked MX150 but that shouldn't be much of a problem with a bit of undervolting to keep boost speeds up. I really, really wanted to buy basically the same laptop with the R5 2500U but it really doesn't exist without major compromises (single channel memory, large size, no touchscreen, etc).

AMD's partners are really screwing them over on this. The Zen APU is damn near ideal for an ultrabook but it keeps getting stuck in crappy "big" laptops with full size 2.5" disk slots and large screens clad in plastic. They'll never shake the "AMD is budget" rep if the partners keep doing this. Hell, Dell doesn't even list the AMD versions of laptops on their site, at all.

I just got my first Intel system since...the Pentium MMX 200? Ryzen is great but it just isn't there yet in the laptop market.

I went Intel for laptops years ago. My primary desktop is still AMD (an FX-8350), and I will probably put together a Ryzen rig when RAM prices return to sane levels.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-i5-8 ... r+e+series

I was just looking at this one.... seems the same thing but for a bunch cheaper. Obviously not aluminum or a Zenbook (which I do like and prefer). I've been buying the i3 versions for customers on an ultra budget... $349 is hard to beat.

The RAM and SSD location are accessed really easy by removing 2-3 screws with the old school window on the bottom, I love that. Also have M.2 and SATA slot, probably shared (maybe?), but gives you lots of options. Backlit keyboard and USB Type C, physical gigabit nic and wireless along with CD/DVD, 12 hour battery. Crazy value IMHO.

Going big helps cost dramatically. I travel a lot and the 13" was as big as I was willing to go.

Waco wrote:

Going big helps cost dramatically. I travel a lot and the 13" was as big as I was willing to go.

Fully understand, I've got a lot of customers who really need the space savings.

Completely agree that AMD's partners are really screwing up with the Ryzen APU landscape. The IdeaPad 720s was almost perfect for my needs until I saw that it was single-channel. I'm really hoping that the ThinkPad A485 (Q3 supposedly) ends up hitting all of the right checkboxes, or I may just give up.

Ideal:
Ryzen 7 2500U/2700U
13-14"
16GB RAM, dual channel
250-500GB SSD
1080p IPS (or better)
Ethernet port
SD Card slot (optional, but nice)
Optical drive (optional, but good)

I've got a 2009 Macbook Pro 13" that is really starting to show its age, and an AMD-based equivalent to the T440p that I have at work, but with faster graphics, would be wonderful.

You weak weak fool!
If you could have just waited until 2020 for Apple then you could have the magical-mystery chip that's guaranteed to be the best [insert anything you think you want here] of ALL TIME!

That is a very nice laptop. Congrats.

Veerappan wrote:

I've got a 2009 Macbook Pro 13" that is really starting to show its age, and an AMD-based equivalent to the T440p that I have at work, but with faster graphics, would be wonderful.

Hopefully Apple will update the MacBook Pro lineup with 8th gen Intel soon. A 13" MacBook Pro with a quad core CPU would kick ass.

End User wrote:

Veerappan wrote:

I've got a 2009 Macbook Pro 13" that is really starting to show its age, and an AMD-based equivalent to the T440p that I have at work, but with faster graphics, would be wonderful.

Hopefully Apple will update the MacBook Pro lineup with 8th gen Intel soon. A 13" MacBook Pro with a quad core CPU would kick ass.

Yeah, it'd be nice, but I'm really not liking the Linux compatibility with recent model MacBooks, and I want at least some level of entry/mid-level gaming capability. Nothing fancy, but I want to be able to play Civ 5, EVE, and whatever other games I've probably bought off the latest Humble Bundle even though I have way too many games I haven't finished. I also do hobby development of the AMD graphics/compute stack in Linux in my spare time, so it'd be nice to not have to ssh into one of my AMD-based machines when I'm sitting on the couch with the S.O. in the evening.

I'm ok running MacOS as long as I can actually install all of my relevant development toolchains for other projects, but I'd prefer my next laptop to just run Linux natively without any major hoops to jump through. My current laptop used to triple-boot Mac/Win7/Ubuntu, and it's currently dual-booting MacOS/Ubuntu. My primary desktop is mainly Ubuntu with a Win10 install for when I need something running windows natively (rare). All of the other machines in the house are running either Linux (Ubuntu mainly, raspbian on the Pis), BSD (freenas), or are Android phones/tablets.

End User wrote:

That is a very nice laptop. Congrats.

I'd feel less dirty about the purchase if it was powered by the red team. My patience just ran out.

I'm sure the crappy sales of the junky AMD variants will further cement the "AMD == budget" impression everyone has.

End User wrote:

Veerappan wrote:

I've got a 2009 Macbook Pro 13" that is really starting to show its age, and an AMD-based equivalent to the T440p that I have at work, but with faster graphics, would be wonderful.

Hopefully Apple will update the MacBook Pro lineup with 8th gen Intel soon. A 13" MacBook Pro with a quad core CPU would kick ass.

It's embarrassing (yet oh-so-typical) that they haven't done so yet. It's what I had wanted to buy in late January but I didn't want to wait any longer so I settled for a 15" quad. The 8th-gen i5 and i7 low-power models have been available for months. :-/

derFunkenstein wrote:

End User wrote:

Veerappan wrote:

I've got a 2009 Macbook Pro 13" that is really starting to show its age, and an AMD-based equivalent to the T440p that I have at work, but with faster graphics, would be wonderful.

Hopefully Apple will update the MacBook Pro lineup with 8th gen Intel soon. A 13" MacBook Pro with a quad core CPU would kick ass.

It's embarrassing (yet oh-so-typical) that they haven't done so yet. It's what I had wanted to buy in late January but I didn't want to wait any longer so I settled for a 15" quad. The 8th-gen i5 and i7 low-power models have been available for months. :-/

Apple rarely follows the PC industry schedule. Perhaps they are waiting for the i9 launch’ish timeframe - quad 13” and 6 core 15” launch together.

Waco wrote:

I'm sure the crappy sales of the junky AMD variants will further cement the "AMD == budget" impression everyone has.

Traditionally AMD has just had problems with the OEMs inventory not clearing out fast enough, so they might just be on a slow ramp up here. There might still be Bristol Ridge and Carrizo stuff in the channel to clear out...I don't know.

When Ryzen desktop stuff was new it had a slow ramp too (starting with the expensive procs and working its way down) so it just seems like they're taking it slower than we're used to.

I don't know. It seemed like their market position had been improving since Kaveri up to this point so I can't really say what's going on exactly.

Welch wrote:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-i5-8250U-GeForce-E5-576G-5762/dp/B075FLBJV7/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1522717147&sr=8-4&keywords=acer+e+series
The RAM and SSD location are accessed really easy by removing 2-3 screws with the old school window on the bottom, I love that. Also have M.2 and SATA slot, probably shared (maybe?), but gives you lots of options. Backlit keyboard and USB Type C, physical gigabit nic and wireless along with CD/DVD, 12 hour battery. Crazy value IMHO.

Thanks for pointing this one out. Does look like a nice deal with the options I like. I purchased an HP 15 series not long that operates fine but it is extremely flimsy and inconvenient when taking off the back panel to swap out the drive and memory.

This just came out:

https://hothardware.com/reviews/dell-xp ... n-1-review
Dell XPS 15 2-In-1 Review

15" laptops are just too dam big to use on a plane.

It's here! No pics because I'm lazy, but once Windows update is done chewing I'll be undervolting the CPU and the GPU to eek out some more performance.

Looks like Dells 13.3" Ryzen builds just hit the market...a couple I definitely would've wanted just showed up at my local BB.

Waco wrote:

15" laptops are just too dam big to use on a plane.

It's about an inch shorter along both dimensions than is typical, basically a 15" screen squeezed into a 14" chassis.

LostCat wrote:

Looks like Dells 13.3" Ryzen builds just hit the market...a couple I definitely would've wanted just showed up at my local BB.

They ship with single channel memory, but you can add a stick. I nearly bought the Inspiron 7000 2 in 1 with the 2500U but it's 1.3 pounds (over 50%) heavier than the Zenbook and nearly 50% thicker as well. And plastic.

I think I've settled on my mostly final settings: https://www.3dmark.com/compare/sd/5061832/sd/5061194

Undervolt on the CPU by 100 mV at all states. Stable with Linpack and everything else I can toss at it.
GPU locked at .9 volts max with a 100 MHz offset, it boosts to a little over 1.2 GHz in heavy scenes and sits at the power limit. GPU memory at +500 MHz for 3 GHz overall. There's probably more there, but it's not super useful with the GPU sitting on the power limit.

No complaints. Fan noise isn't silent under heavy load, but it's a low woosh that's super easy to ignore. The keyboard is the one weak point so far (and the glossy lid) in that it feels precise, but it takes more overall pressure and throw than it seems like it should to register a press.

LostCat wrote:

Looks like Dells 13.3" Ryzen builds just hit the market...a couple I definitely would've wanted just showed up at my local BB.

Dell is actually going to make a Ryzen Laptop?!

I'm still waiting for more AMD Ryzen options and it just feels like no one is making any.

LostCat wrote:

Looks like Dells 13.3" Ryzen builds just hit the market...a couple I definitely would've wanted just showed up at my local BB.

Those look really promising. 13", IPS, officially supports 16GB ram but I suspect that they can go to 32GB, 256GB SSD, Mixture of HDMI, USB-C, and USB-A, with an SD slot.

I might still wait to see if the ThinkPad A485 ends up being worthwhile, but a 2-in-1 with the 2700U (the mid-spec Inspiron 13 7000) looks really nice.

Base model (2500U): http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-lap ... wdamd1102s
All Configurations: http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-lap ... igurations

MileageMayVary wrote:

Dell is actually going to make a Ryzen Laptop?!

I'm still waiting for more AMD Ryzen options and it just feels like no one is making any.

They're already released. IIRC I only ever saw one non APU Ryzen build so I think manufacturers were just waiting for AMD to get their crap together.

Waco wrote:

LostCat wrote:

Looks like Dells 13.3" Ryzen builds just hit the market...a couple I definitely would've wanted just showed up at my local BB.

They ship with single channel memory, but you can add a stick. I nearly bought the Inspiron 7000 2 in 1 with the 2500U but it's 1.3 pounds (over 50%) heavier than the Zenbook and nearly 50% thicker as well. And plastic.

The Inspiron 7000 13.3" models used to be aluminum...the ones with Kaby Lake CPUs, anyway. Plastic would be a shame.

Perhaps they just look like plastic in the ads then? I only have Best Buy and Ebay (Best Buy selling there) pictures as reference since Dell refuses to list the AMD versions on their website.