Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 as replacement for Dell XPS 15 9550?

[serpro69]

OK, first off I'm not filling out a template because for now the question isn't about "What laptop to buy", but rather "Is this a good laptop to replace the old one".

 

So, I'm looking for a new laptop for my lady, and she currently uses Dell XPS 15 9550 (i7, 16 RAM , 512 storage, 4k display).

 

She's been asking for a lighter replacement, and it's black deals now, so seems like a good time to look for something. (Unfortunately I don't find many good options on discounts here in Norway... and this year's black deals don't look very enticing overall)

 

Main requirement is it shouldn't be bigger/heavier than current one. And of course having something snappier is also natural in line with "upgrading". Her studies/work are related to statistics/data science (using R mostly), so having something that will compile code faster than the current one is good.

 

I've found a deal (-28% off) on Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA401QE-HZ055T) , and it seems like a nice machine overall.

- CPU is definitely an upgrade

- RAM is faster, but same capacity with only 1 slot being being upgradable ( ? ) and the other is soldered, from what I can see. So max mem can go up to 24 ? (16 + 8 soldered? ) Or does it support 32 GB in the non-soldered slot? 

- same storage (can it be upgraded ?) 

- better GPU (esp. since it's positioned as a gaming laptop), but this doesn't really matter much. She doesn't play games, and for code compilation this doesn't matter much.

- weighs a bit less, which is also a benefit for her

 

Are there any downsides to considering this laptop?

I've also never owned Asus. How is their support? What is their software updates lifetime?

All in all, is this worth it as an upgrade (with usage time horizon of 3-4 years at least) or should I keep looking for something else?

 

 

Edit:

I'm also now looking at Razer Blade Base 15 (2022) (Core i7 16GB 512GB SSD 144Hz 15.6" RTX 3060). Some specs definitely look better:

- both RAM slots are upgradable, for instance

- cpu is slightly faster

- has a webcam (not a big deal, but still nice to have)

But

- worse battery life (?)

- slightly heavier (although almost same as XPS 15 9550, so shouldn't be a deal-breaker)

- and more importantly it's ~30% more expensive ( $1.25k for G14 vs $1.8k for Blade Base 15). So the question here I suppose is whether the price difference really worth it vs the cheaper G14 model.

 

Edit2:

I've read a bit about Razer laptops, and have come to a conclusion it's best to stay away from them. Swollen batteries, defective screens, horrible support... thanks, but no thanks.

 

Can't really find any other good options for around 1.5k here where I live. Darn it, why can't there be just good affordable laptops that you don't need to compromise with... Anyways, I'm now also considering getting a newer model of XPS 15 (9510). More expensive than Asus but at least I know what to expect from it.

Edited November 20, 2022 by serpro69
No longer considering Razer Blade

[Tenoroon]

I have a first gen G14 with a 4800hs and 1650 that I use at school or when I'm out doing things. It's pretty nice. The keyboard is pretty good, and screen size is alright for doing stuff on the go. The trackpad is also really nice, but I might be a bit bias about the trackpad since I haven't really used a "real" laptop.

Though, I will say, the fans can get a bit loud when under a substantial load and that one RAM slot is really annoying IMO. Otherwise, there aren't many problems besides these first generation ones having a tendency to have motherboard faults that can kill everything, but those problems have since been fixed, so you shouldn't have to worry. Also, there is a bit of bloat on them from the factory, but a lot of that stuff can be removed when setting everything up.

As for your concern on the support, I've never really needed to deal with ASUS's support, so I can't really help you, but I'd assume it would be a lot better than Razers lol.

The G14 should be pretty good; I would still look elsewhere for more info about it if you are really considering though since I only really use this thing at school and mine is of an older model.

[serpro69]

Thanks @Tenoroon ! I've just ordered a G15 (2022 version with 6800HS) a couple hours ago and expecting delivery later today. Pretty excided about it actually :)

I've read a bit about it, and most of the feedback looks pretty OK.

The single RAM slot is indeed very annoying, I don't get why they wouldn't just make them both replaceable. But better one than none I guess. But overall I think having a total of 40 GB will be more than enough, once I replace the 8GB stick with 32 GB.

 

I've tried to just get a Dell XPS15 at first since I just know what to expect with it and because it has 2 RAM slots. Even made an order on Amazon for it yesterday. But then they decided that the purchase was suspicious, canceled the order and blocked my account lol. By the time they unblocked me, the deal on the XPS was gone, so I just went back on the original plan and ordered an Asus instead , but a G15 instead of the G14 as initially planned :)

 

[saturnotaku]

Asynchronous dual-channel memory is not ideal as you will drop back to single-channel performance once you get above 16 GB.

[serpro69]

True. But the soldered RAM will still run dual-channel, and the other one single channel, right? I don't think (or well, I hope - haven't really tested it, or read too much about it either) the performance hit will not be that big.

[Custom90gt]

29 minutes ago, serpro69 said:

True. But the soldered RAM will still run dual-channel, and the other one single channel, right? I don't think (or well, I hope - haven't really tested it, or read too much about it either) the performance hit will not be that big.

 

It will run on dual channel memory for the first 16GB (assuming 8GB soldered) and then for the amount thereafter it will run single channel.

 

Example:
8GB soldered + 16GB in the ram slot = first 16GB in dual channel and last 8GB in single channel. 

 

It really depends on how much ram people utilize if asynchronous memory will be an issue or not.  For most people it's not an issue because they don't often use 16+GB of ram anyway. 

[Etern4l]

For most people, none of this is of any concern as most people are not PC enthusiasts, power users, and consequently they don't buy gaming/power laptops.  @serpro69

's wiife needs a machine for data science, and as the name implies, this often involves dealing with a lot of data, thus RAM capacity and performance tends to come into play more so than in many other domains. 

 

More generally, getting a system to utilise more than 16GB of RAM is quite straightforward, especially for people who use the devices for work, and clearly the halved RAM bandwidth past 16GB and suboptimal performance overall are not ideal. I wouldn't touch that product. Of the two evils, better to get a machine with 32GB dual channel soldered, or obviously just with two SODIMMs. Unfortunately laptops rarely support more than 2 SODIMMs or 32GB of RAM, so once memory requirements reach that barrier it will be time to drop $6k on a Precision, or swap a 2kg laptop for a 20kg workstation :) 

[kojack]

I would never buy an asus product. I had terrible service from them in the past where they did not honor their included warranty.  I purchased three devices at the same time for our business, and all three failed in the same fashion within 3 months of ownership and they told me to get bent. Said it was not their fault.  I start reading and everyone who purchased the same device had the same issue of the screen failing within 3-6 months and asus not honoring their warranty.  

 

So even if their machine was 2 times as fast as the fastest notebook and pooped gold nuggets every 20 mins, I would not buy one. Hp, dell and Acer all honor warranty without issue and are great to deal with.  I had to get one dell, one acer and 4 hp notebooks replaced under warranty.  The acer and dell were for physical damage and they honored no questions asked.  The Hp was the same DV 9000 system that had the flaky motherboard, kept replacing them, but they kept breaking...but they did keep replacing them even after the warranty period! 

[Reciever]

1 hour ago, kojack said:

I would never buy an asus product. I had terrible service from them in the past where they did not honor their included warranty.  I purchased three devices at the same time for our business, and all three failed in the same fashion within 3 months of ownership and they told me to get bent. Said it was not their fault.  I start reading and everyone who purchased the same device had the same issue of the screen failing within 3-6 months and asus not honoring their warranty.  

 

So even if their machine was 2 times as fast as the fastest notebook and pooped gold nuggets every 20 mins, I would not buy one. Hp, dell and Acer all honor warranty without issue and are great to deal with.  I had to get one dell, one acer and 4 hp notebooks replaced under warranty.  The acer and dell were for physical damage and they honored no questions asked.  The Hp was the same DV 9000 system that had the flaky motherboard, kept replacing them, but they kept breaking...but they did keep replacing them even after the warranty period! 

Warranty service is relative. Dell have been having a heck of a time with failing G5/G7 without as so much as a theory for the cause. Even my boss had the same issue for his son's laptop. Turn it off one day and never comes back to life and we are a business partner to Dell, still sitting on his desk as he hasn't been able to get it refunded or warranty service. 

 

That being said you'll find horror stories where ever you look. 

[kojack]

8 minutes ago, Reciever said:

Warranty service is relative. Dell have been having a heck of a time with failing G5/G7 without as so much as a theory for the cause. Even my boss had the same issue for his son's laptop. Turn it off one day and never comes back to life and we are a business partner to Dell, still sitting on his desk as he hasn't been able to get it refunded or warranty service. 

 

That being said you'll find horror stories where ever you look. 

I agree, but I was sharing my personal experiences.