Asus VivoBook 14" M415 - Ryzen 3500U 8GB 256GB Fingerprint W10H - $499.00 (Prime)

thats a decent price, reviews not bad neither thanks OP

US English Keyboard.

With laptops using the Ryzen U 5000 series now available on the market (e.g., Acer Canada, Best Buy USA), previous generation laptops (Ryzen U 4000 series) and even older (Ryzen U 3000 series) most likely will go on sale with good discounts or at clearance prices. This one is discounted 15% wrt its regular price.

no backlit keyboard, keep in mind

Okay deal.

I was wondering if it's worth it to add $150 to get the following upgrades:
1) becomes 2-in-1
2) 12 GB RAM
3) 512GB nvme
4) 3700U with Vega 10
5) Backlit keyboard

Here's one that costs $150 more for bigger display, more storage and a slightly faster CPU: https://www.amazon.ca/VivoBook-Display- ... B08R7X6GCV

Worth considering if your budget allows. Strangely, Ryzen 7 3700U is not much faster than Ryzen 5 3500U.

aviador wrote: ↑ With laptops using the Ryzen U 5000 series now available on the market (e.g., Acer Canada, Best Buy USA), previous generation laptops (Ryzen U 4000 series) and even older (Ryzen U 3000 series) most likely will go on sale with good discounts or at clearance prices. This one is discounted 15% wrt its regular price.

Under normal circumstances, your prediction would have been correct. However, the current situation is far from normal. There is a shortage of semiconductors and it is not going away soon. At least not this year. So instead of clearance pricing followed by discontinuation, PCs based on prior generations of CPUs will continue to be sold, at slightly lower price points, side by side along with the newer generations. This will be the case even more so in second tier markets such as Canada. This is probably because the older processes used by prior generations are already in production and are now mature.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/202 ... into-2022/
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/04 ... into-2023/
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/05/ch ... utomakers/
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/05/ ... roduction/

FunnyGamer wrote: ↑ Under normal circumstances, your prediction would have been correct. However, the current situation is far from normal. There is a shortage of semiconductors and it is not going away soon. At least not this year. So instead of clearance pricing followed by discontinuation, PCs based on prior generations of CPUs will continue to be sold, at slightly lower price points, side by side along with the newer generations. This will be the case even more so in second tier markets such as Canada. This is probably because the older processes used by prior generations are already in production and are now mature.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/202 ... into-2022/
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/04 ... into-2023/
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/05/ch ... utomakers/
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/05/ ... roduction/

Nah, similar fear mongering speculations were circulating around last Spring and people were buying Ryzen laptops at MSRP (or more) and then the prices came down to Earth later on. Laptops that were considered "hot deals" at MSRP were on sale 2 or 3 months later multiple times for 60-70% of their price during the scarcity hoax period. And last year's situation caught manufacturers and component suppliers unprepared, unlike this year's. In addition, if you are going to buy a Ryzen 3000 laptop, you might as well consider a laptop with an Intel i5-1135G7 whose prices have dropped and their technology is more recent (2 years more recent).

Here's the calculation.

You get a 14" laptop, normally a price premium at that size, with a still powerful processor and reasonable RAM and SSD allotment and IPS FHD screen for just under $500 pretax.

The next best deal is the Dell 5000 Series Ryzen 5500U with similar internal specs and a 15" screen for $200 more plus tax.

Is it worth paying $200 more for nearly double the PassMark rated performance?

Great question, for me yes, for most work-a-day office productivity users, probably not.

Everything Ryzen 3000 series and faster in laptops is fast enough for most consumers and light business users not doing gaming nor 4K media.

Good portable laptop for student, mediocre screen if not dull for some people, not the greatest battery life.

That SATA bay is looking very tempting, I'm going to confirm if it's functional.

redflagdealsguy wrote: ↑ That SATA bay is looking very tempting, I'm going to confirm if it's functional.

Confirmed working, you just need a special connector cable (should be cheap enough) and you can use a SATA drive in this laptop.



This means both the NVMe and SATA are upgradeable.

God bless, gents.

https://www.asus.com/in/Laptops/For-Hom ... /techspec/

Weight: 1.6kg -- heavy for a 14", one would expect around 1.2-1.4 kg

Add a SATA SSD/HDD and it'll weigh as much as a recent 15.6" laptop (~1.8kg)

BTW, battery is puny: 37Wh

Exterior looks sleek, though.

aviador wrote: ↑ https://www.asus.com/in/Laptops/For-Hom ... /techspec/

Weight: 1.6kg -- heavy for a 14", one would expect around 1.2-1.4 kg

Add a SATA SSD/HDD and it'll weigh as much as a recent 15.6" laptop (~1.8kg)

BTW, battery is puny: 37Wh

Exterior looks sleek, though.

Muscle wasting is a problem during COVID lockdowns.

This barbell laptop is the cure.

In all seriousness, for a typical grown man, 1.8gb should not offend the sensibilities. The 14" form factor is attractive, and normally attracts a price premium, so this pricing is fortunate.

I'm also surprised to see such aggressive pricing during our pending stagflation (where you see high prices and impaired economic output).

redflagdealsguy wrote: ↑ Muscle wasting is a problem during COVID lockdowns.

This barbell laptop is the cure.

In all seriousness, for a typical grown man, 1.8gb should not offend the sensibilities. The 14" form factor is attractive, and normally attracts a price premium, so this pricing is fortunate.

I'm also surprised to see such aggressive pricing during our pending stagflation (where you see high prices and impaired economic output).

I think that most RFD people interested on a small footprint low-specs budget laptop are parents buying them for their children or college students. But this laptop model despite being small is rather heavy and having a small battery with apparently no fast charge means carrying the charger all the time and long waiting time for recharging. The discount is not that good either, a paltry 15% off for a laptop with a CPU that's two generations behind.

2 gen old Ryzen. (released January 6, 2019)

I'd pass.

Also what's up with the blower blowing hot air inside the computer ?

Too bad there's not an advertising error like the one from back to school

Uranium101 wrote: ↑ Okay deal.

I was wondering if it's worth it to add $150 to get the following upgrades:
1) becomes 2-in-1
2) 12 GB RAM
3) 512GB nvme
4) 3700U with Vega 10
5) Backlit keyboard

For my needs that would be worth it...Where did you see the model with those specs? Link?

Of course when I actually need it it's sold out. Anything else good out there right now in this ballpark?