Good (great) 14" (Dell, or maybe other) ?

[6730b]

Sooner or later will have to send the trusty old Latitude E7440 to the retirement home, a miracle it's still alive. Looking for a good replacement. Thinking Dell, been behaving great here for so many years, but of course should not rule out HP \ Lenovo.

Got the Precision 15 for 'serious' work, great device. Am seeing very good SH deals regarding getting another one, but want something smaller \ lighter to move around, like the E7440.

SH 'not too old' ok, bright + matte display, decent battery time (when new, can replace), will get w10 ltsc but should be compatible w11 (...maaaaaybe one day). No need for super-fast processor or graphics, lightweight, silent during non-heavy use.

Any great & solid 14" recommendations ? Thanks.

[6730b]

ok... so no good 14" exists :0)

[Chalybion]

Among modern 14" laptops, the ZBook Firefly/Elitebook 845 with the Ryzen 7840U APU is a very solid all-round laptop.  Lightweight, all-aluminum body, good screen quality (1080P or 2560P), all components are maintainable by removing the bottom cover, and the 7840U with 780M integrated graphics is a reasonably efficient x86 processor that can handle most anything thrown at it.

 

The Lenovo equivalent is the Thinkpad T14s, which would also be a competent laptop

 

Other issues I'm aware of on 14" business-class laptops:

- Power:  Dell uses a barrel plug, HP/Lenovo use USB-C.  Lenovo has a history of higher-than-average failure of the USB-C port due to cracked solder connection.

- Keyboard:  Dell's modern latitude keyboards are crap.  Cheap/thin/painted plastic keys with low travel and tolerable but mushy feedback.  Gone are the days with beveled keys, satisfying key travel, and full-size arrow keys :(.  The HP has the same cost-cutting keyboard layout as the Dell (and most modern laptops), BUT the key feedback and dampening feels really good when typing.  Lenovo has the best keyboard layout with full-size arrow keys, though typing feel is probably second to HP.

- Case:  Newer Dell Latitudes use "aluminum-look" painted plastic.  Utter crap.  HP and Lenovo cases are both very solid in their respective construction.

- Battery:  Dell/HP second in battery life, Lenovo for longer battery life
- Maintainability:  Dell/HP have modular components; Lenovo uses more soldered components (typically RAM and Wi-fi)

[6730b]

^^^ Thanks+ for input.

Came across an available SH Dell Precision 5470 i7-12800H, 32GB, 1TB SSD, RTX A1000. IPS 500 nits like my 5540, great display.

Reading about it. Maybe interesting for the right price.
https://aecmag.com/workstations/review-dell-precision-5470/
^^^ crazy prices when new !?! £3,119 (Ex VAT). The like new sh one is listed for (converted to £) 850.-

Easy access to inside is a plus.
 

 

[John Ratsey]

If you prioritise weight over performance then the LG Gram 14 is worth looking at. I've posted details of one version here.

[6730b]

13 minutes ago, John Ratsey said:

the LG Gram 14

Thanks, could be excellent, but nearly zero LG stuff sold around here, and certainly no SH recent.
Found a few antiques, this neanderthal model looking great :O)

[meowpressreturn]

8 hours ago, 6730b said:

this neanderthal model looking great :O)

This is a thing of beauty. Proper touchpad buttons, a touchpad small enough your wrists actually get some room to sit on the palmrest, indicator leds, decent key travel with no useless gaps between keys, fullsize cursor keys, dedicated volume keys, the correct number of copilot keys, no shutterless webcam perving at you 24/7, and all in a decently chonky case that won't break just by looking at it.  

[Chalybion]

The Precision 5470 looks like an intriguing option if you can use the extra graphics power.  Build quality looks decent, and at least in the US, there are a number of good used options in the $600-800 range.  It's a lot of power in a small volume, so reviews also say that the i7 frequently achieves 100 °C.  No undervolting, so re-pasting and lowering the power limit are the main ways to reduce temperature.  Two heatpipes/two fans is very good in a 14" form factor

23 hours ago, 6730b said:

Came across an available SH Dell Precision 5470 i7-12800H, 32GB, 1TB SSD, RTX A1000. IPS 500 nits like my 5540, great display.

 

[6730b]

ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 ? Anyone knows about the bulid quality ? Am believing they are quite sturdy.
Some good deals currently. Do not need any super-processor \ graphics, or mega battery time.

Example, 32gb, 1 tb, probably decent display (400nits) matte, low weight.
https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadp/lenovo-thinkpad-p14s-gen-5-14-inch-amd-mobile-workstation/21me000ruk

[6730b]

Just an anecdote, visiting lenovo.com 😮

 

[6730b]

Update, Thinkpad 14 \ 14s, models with the best displays + recent gen., looking interesting.
Low weight, ok battery (for my use), endless configurations. Am investigating.

[6730b]

Came across an inexpensive Lenovo Think E14 gen5 16gb, as new + "give away" price. Low specs AMD and not the 100% rgb display, but still impressed with what it delivers, Will fit all needs for travel \ basic photo editing \ office tasks \ internet browsing-music-videos. Good build quality, 2x SSD slots. Low weight, great keyboard feel. Silent and runnig cool. Good battery time. Excellent 1st impressions during some days of use.

Was 1st personal setup & use of win 11, used it for a short time without o&o shutup + Firefox without ublock ...madre de dios !! But after activating the remedies it became quite supportable. Will keep 11 for a while to gather some experience (= how to disable a ton of trash), but 10 LTSC is planned.

An initial (very positive) test of Thinpads here, before eventually some day getting a more top of the line model.