I have a pre-order in for the 12, but am considering after some reviews changing to a 13 instead, as I don’t need the touchscreen and it isn’t that much bigger…
My biggest use case is light browsing (8-10 tabs, maybe one with discord and/or youtube and a google sheet) - but I primarily use my current device (Pixelbook Go) on my lap…
One thing that I’m concerned about is how warm the laptop gets on the lap in such conditions ^^ it’s my biggest concern, so if you use yours on your lap, how warm does it get in this kind of scenario, and which Processor did you go for?
On the site I see Ryzen AI 300 series, There’s a 7640U (AM I right in thinking this would be the ‘coolest’ ? ) - and some Core Ultra ones - which stays the coolest when under light-moderate usage ? Is the fan noisy?
Do not place the portable computer directly on the user’s lap and exposed skin. Avoid using your portable
computer with the base resting directly on the skin. The surface temperature may rise during normal operation.
Sustained contact with exposed skin may cause discomfort or burn.
Ah ok, probably not the device for me then especially when I’m wearing shorts in the summer… I know that in fairness is not directly on the skin, but I was hoping the laptop part would be relevant - however many ‘laptops’ these days aren’t so great to use on the lap
I’ve never used a laptop directly on my lap without a cooling pad. Right now my 13’s sitting pretty on a decent little Klim I picked up. In any case, using the Ryzen 7840 (I think) the only time it ever gets hot is when I’m gaming. Otherwise most other workloads keep it reasonably warm, but not uncomfortable. I did upgrade the stock paste to PTM 7950, however, because before that on high load this thing could get blazing hot (near 90C). Now it barely peaks above 85. That said, it is pretty warm right now after gaming for a few hours (me and those addictive puzzle games…). But you’ve got to put some stank on those CPU cycles to get up to temps I’d consider worrisome.
Despite what the manual says, I do occasionally lap it when I am doing casual browsing and light tasks, without a problem. Just make sure the vents on the bottom are not blocked. This is with any modern laptop. Also if you stick it in powersaver mode it should also alleviate any issues. For the most part though laptop is a misnomer.
I got my fw13 a week ago with the ai 5 340. With Linux mint, balanced mode and basically the same use case you described, it doesn’t get hot at all, fan never has to turn on. I’ve been mainly using it on my lap, sitting in my recliner.
The line in the manual about not using it on your lap is probably just a CYA line for the ding dongs that will prime95 it on their laps just for a lawsuit or something dumb.
I believe they have that written just to cover their bases. But in actual long term daily use, my FW13 fan only kicks in when I watch Youtube or after running ML/CAD software for awhile. I have about 20 tabs open in Chrome at the moment (granted none of them playing any video) and the laptop is cool.
I use my FW13 on my lap and the heat has never been so bad that it’s unusable. But while watching videos, I use this Kikkerland Lap Desk that my husband got me and it happens to fit the FW13 perfectly. When I’m at an odd angle, I position the groove towards me and slot the feet in it to prevent it from sliding around. It’s just the right size if you don’t use a mouse.
I’m often recommended this kind of thing but it kind of defeats the object of having such a portable device to me if I need to take this with me too to use it on my lap to be honest
I would say that unless you are running extremely heavy loads on a regular basis, using the laptop on your lap will be fine, it will not be extremely hot.
I don’t take the lap desk outside of the home, that would be ridiculous, I only use it when watching videos for long periods at home on my lap. Most of the time, I’m just using my laptop on my lap.