One month later…
After getting an opportunity to test it in more use cases like travelling, I wanted to log a few more of my opinions.
Portability: So it is big, but it actually fits well in my default/non-hiking backpack without the GPU module. It still fits with the added GPU butt, but it becomes obtrusive. Battery life has been more than fine for me, except that one time I closed the lid with Davinci Resolve open, took a little nap, and woke up to a warm underside and some 20% less battery when I opened it about 1:20 or so later according to Windows events. I am just learning what “Modern Standby” is, and I am dumbfounded as to why this has replaced S3. Anyway, for a screen this big, a full keyboard, and the added modularity size tax, I find this laptop very usable on the go even as someone who tends to travel light.
Battery: Depends on a variety of factors, but I’m getting from 4 hours video editing (no encoding) on Windows with the GPU module, up to 8 or 9 just web browsing, typing, etc. on Fedora without the 7700S. I can see burning through the battery very fast by continuous encoding, compiling, or gaming, but it also seems easy to stretch very far with light use and system optimizations. I find it adequate for my needs, but I can see why it can seem disappointing to others coming from other modern systems, especially MacBooks. Oh, and re: my earlier answer about battery life between the two OS’es I’m running, I’m often getting up to 20% less on Windows for the same activities, possibly up to 50% less if I’m to believe Fedora’s current life estimation. I’ve done very little to optimize either, but the difference is significant, and disturbing.
7700S Module: Easy to swap, though honestly I almost regret buying it. Swapping in or out only takes a couple minutes once you realize that you do NOT have to take out the midplate because there is a cutout around the connector specifically for this you stupid idiot (
), but you do still need the screwdriver. It doesn’t really add all that much weight or size, but for what I need a GPU for which is pretty much just video editing, I really don’t notice much of a difference. Maybe I just haven’t unlocked its potential yet as I’m just getting to know Resolve, but so far the integrated graphics seem to be plenty good enough which is great for portability, but it does make me wonder if I really benefited from spending an extra $400…
Speakers: I am actually surprised how good they sound on a variety of surfaces. Intuitively the design seems…suboptimal…but somehow it actually works. Now I am comparing to very limited use on much cheaper laptops because speakers have historically sounded so bad they I’d just rather not use them (even MacBooks), so maybe I’m just not used to the quality of speakers that some of you are. Still, thumbs up from me.
Noise (continued): Still haven’t heard anything since initial setup. I may need to check if my fans are still connected. Seriously though, while I haven’t encoded a video yet (ah, life…), even furiously scrubbing through 4K videos with the dGPU in hasn’t made any noticeable noise. Maybe I’ll install a game just to see what all those reviews were complaining about. Update: Finally managed to spin up the GPU module fans, and yeah, they are louder than I’d like, but are probably reasonable for the cooling capacity they’re offering.
Display (continued): I’m slightly revising my take on the display. While I’m 90% not concerned with durability, I do notice that it’s not just flexible, but it’s not entirely flat. When closed, the gap between the display and the main body is not even. The display appears slightly bowed out in the middle. It’s nitpicky, but it does make me wonder if everything in there is ok with this kind of flex. I know we’re making foldable screens now, but is this one of them? Probably not.
Misc Notes:
- Forgot to mention that DIMM 1 felt pretty loose compared to DIMM 0. Is it the socket or the actual RAM module, I don’t know, but it works nonetheless so I haven’t worried about it since assembly.
- USB-C charging is awesome. OK, I know I’m very late to the party, but this is my first USB-C chargeable laptop and while the FW charger is small for its output, the ability to charge off a much more portable Steam Deck charger, or even trickle charge off 5V is a portability dream come true to me!
So yeah, still loving it. I actually feel even better about it now that I’ve travelled with it. I’m keeping my GPU and just being careful around the touchpad spacers. All things considered, for a first generation machine that they were stumbling over themselves to get into our hands, this thing is an engineering marvel. It’s everything I wanted and more. Well done, and keep it up!
Edit: Added battery section
