Hi,

Currently using this Asus UX461A. A 2-in-1 laptop with touchscreen. I think I bought it in 2017. The laptop itself is still good actually.

Current specs are:

Intel core i5-8250U
Intel UHD graphics 620
8GB LPDDR3 RAM.

Drive upgraded to 500GB.

Ram soldered which is annoying-stuck at 8 GB ram, on Win11 Pro and Office 365.

RAM usage seems to be at 85% average. CPU at 35%. My wife has the same laptop specs , but lenovo, but the RAM is upgradable. Adding another 8 GB RAM seems just enough for Win11 and Office 365. Even now while I'm typing, sometimes, my typing is faster than what is displayed on screen. Formatted the laptop 6 months ago. Backgruond apps include onedrive, Eset AV, Snyology drive, Powertoys and rainmeter (ram, CPU load monitor).

At home, I hook the laptop to a monitor and use an external keyboard and mouse. Basically the laptop is just a secondary screen. On average, when I go outstation, (average once a month), I will need to use the laptop for work.

Any ideas on what laptop to get? Prefer something the size of 14inch (7kg flight restriction) but with lots of ports and good battery life and non-soldered parts. 32GB RAM is fine with me (or any option to go increase RAM in the future, better). I also noticed that all the laptops I had until now had Harman/Kardon speakers, so good speakers is ok. Don't care if it is 2-in-1 since I already have a tablet for that. Nice to have though, but not necessary since pen input and windows interface is awful.

pointless to upgrade laptop

resell, buy used.


a Microsoft Surface Laptop 3, 10th Gen i5, 2.2k PixelSense Display, Touch

8|256

solid Microsoft Premium Build, Superior Design


RM1.3k in shopee. ( reminder, shopee take 10++% commission )


upgrade laptop...................................

Budget?

Might want to look at certain ThinkPad models (the L series are the easiest option out there), or HP Pro/EliteBook series as they often has fairly decent upgradability

This post has been edited by chocobo7779: Mar 6 2025, 08:21 PM

I suggest look for laptop with Intel Core Ultra Series 2 or AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series. These give good processing performance while also battery efficient. Qualcomm Snapdragon X Series is the best in battery efficiency but being an ARM architecture some programs might not run or run poorly in emulation mode.

16GB RAM is a must, if can get 32GB will be even better. Unfortunately most laptop now comes with soldered RAM for better performance while also block it's upgradability.

Most new laptop now comes with thunderbolt or USB 4 so it's good for connecting to USB hub that you can connect HDMI, USB-type A port, charging, RJ45 port. So port should not be a big concern.

For now, you can try debloat your Windows so that all the unnecessary services will not run and used up the already limited resources. Can try this utility from Chris Titus Tech
https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/winutil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UQZ5oQg8XA

Only 1.7GB RAM usage and 84 processes. While my PC currently using 11.2GB RAM and 227 processes.

Already debloat laptop, running work related software. Opening Firefox, WhatsApp, telegram and outlook uses 6.9/8 gb ram.

Budget 5k ok?

Used surface is good?

Portables are typically soldered RAM & even BGA CPU for that purpose.

If want best upgradability go with hulking gamer notebooks which allows upgrading nearly everything.

you should check out Acer Nitro V 14, 14.5 in screen with only approx. 1.7kg weight.

Ram is non soldered 16gb ddr5 and is on Ryzen 7 and RTX 4050, should be more than enough for your average use.

8Gb ram on Win11 is kinda low nowadays and totally not sufficient if you are running google chrome and any multitask.

I would suggest Tiny11 for lightweight systems but theres risk in running customised Windows not endosed by Microsoft. So its your own risk.

Another is changing over to Linux.

Thinkpad series allows for easier diy upgrade options, which is one of the reasons why it's more expensive than other similarly spec laptops. I once upgraded the SSD, RAM and Wi-fi card off my old Thinkpad easily with no special tools. Just need the normal screwdriver.

My Latitude 5490 is highly modded.

1. LCD upgraded to FHD IPS.
2. RAM bumped to 32GB.
3. Storage now using 3 types. NVME, SATA and NGFF. For the SATA, need to discard the 2.5 inch case and shoved the SSD below the NVME and protected with kapton tape.
4. Keyboard is backlit.
5. Battery is high capacity from AliExpress.

With all 3 storage running, easily 6-7 hours.

If you are willing to forgo Windows and upgradability, the base M4 Mac Air 13 is arguably the best choice out there
Extremely powerful single threaded performance and efficiency (we are talking about 14900K levels of S/T performance here, and unlike most Windows machines, Macs don't throttle its performance on battery), fanless design, class leading sound, display and touchpad. It's very well built too, much better than most Windows laptops at the same price tag

https://www.apple.com/my/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air

This post has been edited by chocobo7779: Mar 8 2025, 04:05 PM

For windows, my institution has an enterprise version, if that can lower cost.

For apple, can't do. Not all my work software will place nicely with apple.

I just found out that dell is refreshing it's lineup. No more xps, inspiron. Just standard Dell, pro, pro max.

I like the pro version. Very modular.

But pricing what I want is 6k with 32 gb ram. Now for that money, I'm now really thinking of just building a home pc, since this laptop is hooked at home with external peripherals and only used when I am on the move.

better off getting mini pc if for home.

If you're not set on a specific brand, maybe check out some of the ThinkPads or Latitudes?

just get a desktop if you're not mobile.

After further reflecting on my use case, I've decided just that. Found a cheap used Dell RTX3060 and building a AM5 system around that.

Thanks all.