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So I'd love to post an Ask HN: Which AMD Laptops would you recommend for work, alternatives to Thinkpads? I've noticed some Thinkpads with AMD CPUs but I feel

So I'd love to post an Ask HN: Which AMD Laptops would you recommend for work, alternatives to Thinkpads? I've noticed some Thinkpads with AMD CPUs but I feel like I'm on virgin ground when it comes to AMD and their integrated GPU offerings.

strmpnk 7y ago
I've been eyeing more release details on the ThinkPad X395 which was recently announced. "Coming Soon" is probably means early June for some select configurations. I think these will fit in the premium/professional laptop space better than some of the bargain laptops that carried AMD chips in the past. I believe others OEMs are developing similar offerings as well but I can't find any quick links for newer SKUs like the Ryzen 7 3700U which offers the improved Zen+ revisions which will specifically improve battery life and heat issues.
- chx 7y ago
  Yes the T495 and the X395 ought to be the best ones.
Shelnutt2 7y ago
If you don't need a dedicated GPU, the APU offers from AMD are great. They have native linux drivers for everything (on the AMD side, double check the nic/touchscreen/touchpad). I'm using an HP envy x360 15z with a AMD Ryzen 2700u running gentoo and love it. The HP envy has a weird keyboard, but it was a good tradeoff for the AMD setup when I bought it last year. There is a much larger market in 2019 for AMD laptops, so you should be able to find something to suite your needs.
- akvadrako 7y ago
  It's not that large yet. There are sadly still no options with HiDPI screens (200+ dpi) or discrete AMD GPUs. Next year with the 7nm mobile chips will probably be much better.
bitL 7y ago
You can't really find a good AMD workhorse laptop; all of them end up with some outdated 1080p displays at best :( There is like only one notebook with a decent HiDPI screen with Ryzen (some HP, but not a workhorse). There was also terrible problem with Mobile Ryzen drivers resolved only like a month ago.
- TheOperator 7y ago
  1080p strikes me as the pinnacle of a workstation display for laptops right now since I highly doubt any productivity improvement from higher dpi is gonna beat out battery life in the vast majority of cases. Even in the one use case where it matters, 4k video production, theres a reasonable argument for using screens similar to what your consumers will use at least some of the time. Especially if it saves you money and you get to use discounted top performing cpus to boot. Realistically the AMD laptops lack of color accuracy compared to shit like the trutone Intel macs, and lack of display connectivity especially compared to a thunderbolt outfitted x1 extreme that can connect to four 4k displays is a bigger problem. Especially since external displays actually need the resolution.
  - bitL 7y ago
    Counterpoint to battery life argument against HiDPI displays are obviously retina MacBooks since 2012 (7 years ago). In addition I have a ZenBook with 3200x1800 and Core-M and its battery life is great. By outdated 1080p displays I also meant color accuracy, no HDR, bad viewing angles, slow latency etc. Seems like most AMD laptops are a dumping ground for old tech that can't be marketed as premium any longer. I'd rather suggest AMD to start manufacturing/contract somebody to develop high end models with their own brand to showcase what they can do.
    - TheOperator 7y ago
      Yeah but MBP aren't running 4k. 3k/2560p screens seem to have a lot easier time with battery life at the moment. I actually think Apple is being more sensible than say, Samsung when it comes to the resolutions they choose. I looked at reviews of several laptops with a 1080 vs a 1440 vs a 4k option and 1440 > 4k was the biggest drop in battery life.
vondur 7y ago
I've just received in some Thinkpad E485's which have the Ryzen 2500U CPU. They seem pretty nice, with a 1080p screen that's non-glare. The documentation says they support Redhat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu. So far they seem nice. I was thinking of trying PopOS on it and see how it runs.
akvadrako 7y ago
Honor Magicbook looks interesting: https://www.huaweicentral.com/honor-magicbook-ryzen-7-version-with-512gb-ssd-will-be-on-sale/ https://www.huaweicentral.com/honor-magicbook-ryzen-7-versio... The new 3700U model will probably be available on Aliexpress next month or so. I would consider it except Linux support is unknown and only 8GB of RAM.

strmpnk 7y ago

I've been eyeing more release details on the ThinkPad X395 which was recently announced. "Coming Soon" is probably means early June for some select configurations. I think these will fit in the premium/professional laptop space better than some of the bargain laptops that carried AMD chips in the past. I believe others OEMs are developing similar offerings as well but I can't find any quick links for newer SKUs like the Ryzen 7 3700U which offers the improved Zen+ revisions which will specifically improve battery life and heat issues.

chx 7y ago
Yes the T495 and the X395 ought to be the best ones.

Shelnutt2 7y ago

If you don't need a dedicated GPU, the APU offers from AMD are great. They have native linux drivers for everything (on the AMD side, double check the nic/touchscreen/touchpad). I'm using an HP envy x360 15z with a AMD Ryzen 2700u running gentoo and love it. The HP envy has a weird keyboard, but it was a good tradeoff for the AMD setup when I bought it last year. There is a much larger market in 2019 for AMD laptops, so you should be able to find something to suite your needs.

akvadrako 7y ago
It's not that large yet. There are sadly still no options with HiDPI screens (200+ dpi) or discrete AMD GPUs. Next year with the 7nm mobile chips will probably be much better.

bitL 7y ago

You can't really find a good AMD workhorse laptop; all of them end up with some outdated 1080p displays at best :( There is like only one notebook with a decent HiDPI screen with Ryzen (some HP, but not a workhorse). There was also terrible problem with Mobile Ryzen drivers resolved only like a month ago.

TheOperator 7y ago
1080p strikes me as the pinnacle of a workstation display for laptops right now since I highly doubt any productivity improvement from higher dpi is gonna beat out battery life in the vast majority of cases. Even in the one use case where it matters, 4k video production, theres a reasonable argument for using screens similar to what your consumers will use at least some of the time. Especially if it saves you money and you get to use discounted top performing cpus to boot. Realistically the AMD laptops lack of color accuracy compared to shit like the trutone Intel macs, and lack of display connectivity especially compared to a thunderbolt outfitted x1 extreme that can connect to four 4k displays is a bigger problem. Especially since external displays actually need the resolution.
- bitL 7y ago
  Counterpoint to battery life argument against HiDPI displays are obviously retina MacBooks since 2012 (7 years ago). In addition I have a ZenBook with 3200x1800 and Core-M and its battery life is great. By outdated 1080p displays I also meant color accuracy, no HDR, bad viewing angles, slow latency etc. Seems like most AMD laptops are a dumping ground for old tech that can't be marketed as premium any longer. I'd rather suggest AMD to start manufacturing/contract somebody to develop high end models with their own brand to showcase what they can do.
  - TheOperator 7y ago
    Yeah but MBP aren't running 4k. 3k/2560p screens seem to have a lot easier time with battery life at the moment. I actually think Apple is being more sensible than say, Samsung when it comes to the resolutions they choose. I looked at reviews of several laptops with a 1080 vs a 1440 vs a 4k option and 1440 > 4k was the biggest drop in battery life.

vondur 7y ago

I've just received in some Thinkpad E485's which have the Ryzen 2500U CPU. They seem pretty nice, with a 1080p screen that's non-glare. The documentation says they support Redhat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu. So far they seem nice. I was thinking of trying PopOS on it and see how it runs.

akvadrako 7y ago

Honor Magicbook looks interesting: https://www.huaweicentral.com/honor-magicbook-ryzen-7-version-with-512gb-ssd-will-be-on-sale/ https://www.huaweicentral.com/honor-magicbook-ryzen-7-versio... The new 3700U model will probably be available on Aliexpress next month or so. I would consider it except Linux support is unknown and only 8GB of RAM.