i need a laptop for college that’s decently portable and OK battery life. i’d like it to have a 120hz panel for my viewing and my budget is $1-1.5k. A dGPU is not something I need. the x1 carbon looks like a great laptop but i’m struggling to find it for around this price. the zenbook s14 also looks pretty good but it’s not on sale and costs $1.6k. the swift edge 14 is about $1250 with about the same specs, but i don’t know much about acer and their build quality. what would be the best buy to last me the next 4?
I really suggest you add specs, ESPECIALLY FOR THE ZENBOOK as you may be looking at the 2025 model, which had a low power processor, or the 2026, which ships with the full-fat chips, whereas Acer’s naming scheme is such a nightmare that Swift 14 means very little.
yes, the 2025 zenbook with the 258v. does it suck? x1 carbon gen13 has the same processor.
after doing some more research, the acer swift edge 14 might not be the move (288v model with <1kg weight)
It’s not so much the V-series being bad as it is the H-series being very good. Given that all are V, they should have the same league of performance, whereas for build quality it’s Thinkpad > Zenbook > Swift.
The Acer’s 288V is actually better but in an ultrabook form factor it might not be fed enough power to actually prove itself (U7 vs. U9 is just some extra burst performance that really shows itself in fat well-cooled machines that make it last longer).
are you talking about panther lake cpus? like the x9 388h? they’re kind of overkill for me since i have a dedicated desktop and are very expensive lol
I did not know you have a desktop. In that case any of your three mentions should do. I’m an ASUS fanboy so would go for the Zenbook but will admit that the Thinkpad is built better.
I’ll go for the Zenbook 14 or Zenbook s16.
the thinkpad is also like $1k more lol, unless i buy from third party sellers. i might wait for the zenbook to go on sale and buy it then because prices right now are outrageous
Oh and also, always buy ASUS from third-party sellers like MediaMarkt / Best Buy. Dealing with ASUS warranty as a private user will make you go bald.