I’m kinda running out of ideas, after searching far and wide for a new laptop. Maybe I’m wishing for a unicorn?
My situation: I work as an independent IT consultant. Specifically my work nowadays involves working with lots of on device LLMs, usually up to 13B (like Llama 2). During work, I walk around a lot in offices / open spaces to consult different team members.
My current rig: I have an ASUS ROG Strix G17 from 2022 with a 3070 Ti, which I was reasonably happy with for the longest time. But besides the somewhat limited VRAM it’s showing it’s age from actual mechanical use. Nothing major yet, but it’s that time, where you need to start looking for a replacement.
My new rig? To have an actual upgrade, I would like the following things.
At the very minimum a 5070 Ti, better a 5080 / 5090.
(A very good setup with a highend 40 series may do as well.)
Mechanical fatigue is a major issue. Hence I need a lighter and more durable package.
Preferably around the 2kg mark (4.5lbs). There isn’t a hard line, just lighter = better, and not 3kg anymore.
Metal case. The current plastic case of my Strix is a major issue with its 3kg, as both lumping it around the torsion forces on it are likely the core contributor to its mechanical fatigue.
A 16” display. Below is too small, and while more is better, I don’t see any reasonable way to meet my requirements towards the case.
And now what looks like the unicorn part… A proper functional keyboard!
I actually like the keyboard of the Strix, as I use elements like the arrow keys, numpad and the home/end buttons regularly in code editors.
I am fine with the arrow keys + FN doubling as home/end.
NumLock + numpad as replacement for home/end doesn’t work, well… tables with lots of numbers and data…
Trackpad is secondary, as I have a bluetooth mouse anyway. But lumping around a keyboard is too bulky, and sometimes I literally working with the laptop on my knees during workshops.
Money is not a limiting factor, as this will be a business expense for my own company.
What I checked so far: There are plenty of nominal candidates, but most either fall to the wayside by their weight or limited keyboard. Top remaining picks are.
Lenovo Legion 7i non-pro: Sadly limited to a 5070 non-Ti, and AFAIK no plans for non-pro versions with better GPUs.
MSI Stealth 16: The keyboard has a limited numpad and proper arrows… but lots of that looks like being all over the place? And where are the home/end buttons?
M5 macbook pro or a M4 pro macbook pro with upgraded RAM- very capable if you want to run local LLM models.
OMEN transcend - you can have a 5080 in this- 5080 has 16 GB vram this is enough for your LLM usage locally.
I found 3 unicorns. Personally if I were in your shoes and if I didn’t care about macos then I would take the MacBook. But if I prefer windows then zephyrus or the OMEN transcend.
I am a normal dude, i do not have any vendor links. You need to find one on your own. Although I made mistake- I wanted to say the OMEN max 16. Instead of this I suggested OMEN transcend. My bad.
You seem like a nice person so I found you a link, buy one that you think is reasonable for the price. Good news is that I found a 5080 version which has 16 GB vram. You can get the ultra 9 or the ultra 7 cpu ( I say get the ultra 9 ince you said you are willing to pay any amount for the best performance) and this also has a numpad.
I am a normal dude, i do not have any vendor links. You need to find one on your own. Although I made mistake- I wanted to say the OMEN max 16. Instead of this I suggested OMEN transcend. My bad.
You seem like a nice person so I found you a link, buy one that you think is reasonable for the price. Good news is that I found a 5080 version which has 16 GB vram. You can get the ultra 9 or the ultra 7 cpu ( I say get the ultra 9 ince you said you are willing to pay any amount for the best performance) and this also has a numpad.
The Blade 16 ticks a lot of those boxes other than numberpad. If you do buy it definitely buy an upgraded warranty. As i’ve covered at length, having to deal with their support without it is a nightmare. You said money was no object. in fact thats what i’d recommend.
