expired Posted by Dr.Wajahat • Jan 14, 2025
Jan 14, 2025 5:22 AM
Item 1 of 2
Item 1 of 2
expired Posted by Dr.Wajahat • Jan 14, 2025
Jan 14, 2025 5:22 AM
Asus VivoBook: Ryzen 5 7530U, 15.6" FHD TN, 16GB DDR4, 512GB SSD (Quiet Blue)
+ Free Shipping$280
$550
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The star of this laptop is the r5 7530u processor, which is basically a renamed r5 5625u with slightly higher clocks. The 7530u is a 6-core 12-thread zen3 cpu (two generations old) with a higher clocked Radeon RX Vega 7 (7 cu) igpu (unable to hardware decode av1 if that matters to you). Overall, the 7530u is slightly superior compared to cpus you'll usually find in ~$300 laptops, such as the intel i5-1235u (7530u has worse singlethreaded performance for apps that will only use up to two cores, but better multithreaded performance and power efficiency).
Having 16gb of ram is good for this price class (especially since it's running dual channel), and should be sufficient for general use in windows for years to come. Having a 512gb ssd is also decent for the price, though being limited to gen3 obviously diminishes the value proposition. The assortment of ports is also decent.
Regarding the downsides of this laptop, the most significant is the screen, which is very bad. It's tn (twisted nematic), 60hz, 250nit, 45% ntsc (~62% srgb). Literally the only redeeming qualities are that it isn't below 1080p resolution, and that it's 30nits brighter than the 220nit absolute bottom tier fhd tn screens. This is essentially only a single step above the lowest tier fhd screens you'll find in laptops period. Viewing angles are non-existent, the screen is quite dim, and colors are dull and washed out.
Moving on to other downsides: the wifi and bluetooth versions (wifi 5 a bt 4.1 respectively) are extremely out of date, the single m.2 slot (occupied by the 512gb ssd) in this laptop is limited to pcie gen3, the maximum officially supported memory is 16gb (8gb onboard, the single sodimm slot is occupied by an 8gb stick, the sodimm slot only officially supports 8gb and I have no clue if this laptop can even run with 24gb (8+16) or supports asynchronous dual channel), the battery is rather small at only 42whr (standard for budget tier, but still somewhat disappointing), and the keyboard is not backlit.
Overall, if the screen isn't a dealbreaker for you, such as if you'll primarily be using this laptop with an external monitor, this isn't a bad deal at $280. I'd say it's a better deal overall than the previous frontpage deal of the acer aspire 3 with the 5700u for $300 due to the superior cpu and slightly better screen, though it's less upgradeable and has a couple of worse specs. There have been arguably superior deals with previous gen intel inspiron i5-1235u laptops in the past if you were willing to jump through hoops and do a memory upgrade yourself, though the inspiron chassis has a poor reputation for hinge failure. Otherwise, if you live near a microcenter, there have been some slightly more expensive but overall superior deals available (in store only, and often out of stock).
The TN panel 45% NTSC might be a dealbreaker for some but the igpu is above and beyond those $300s laptops (NEW) that had been posted recently (Don't got a Micro Center).
The Vega 6 igpu seems really good compared to the Xe graphics in the $320 laptop posted recently (https://slickdeals.net/f/18050049-lenovo-ideapad-1i-15-6-fhd-ips-touch-i5-1235u-8gb-ddr4-512gb-ssd-319-99?p=175212261#
The Xe has to go 720p in many games to do 40-60fps so I hesitated to get it...
Example: CSGO/CS2 (Dust map) 1080p low, Xe does 60fps dipping to 50-55 often while this does 85-89fps...That's about 50% more (Based on various youtube videos of i5 1235u's Xe and this Ryzen 5 7530U's Vega 6 igpu both in dual channel ram config).
Upgrades:
RAM: 8gb SOLDERED + 8gb replaceable
STORAGE: 512gb M.2 NVMe SSD (1x M.2 Slot 2280 used)
I/O:
1x USB-C 3.0 / 3.1/3.2 Gen 1 / Supports Power Delivery
2x USB-A 3.0 / 3.1/3.2 Gen 1
1x USB-A 2.0
HDMI 1.4
55 Comments
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank TinyTimslick
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The star of this laptop is the r5 7530u processor, which is basically a renamed r5 5625u with slightly higher clocks. The 7530u is a 6-core 12-thread zen3 cpu (two generations old) with a higher clocked Radeon RX Vega 7 (7 cu) igpu (unable to hardware decode av1 if that matters to you). Overall, the 7530u is slightly superior compared to cpus you'll usually find in ~$300 laptops, such as the intel i5-1235u (7530u has worse singlethreaded performance for apps that will only use up to two cores, but better multithreaded performance and power efficiency).
Having 16gb of ram is good for this price class (especially since it's running dual channel), and should be sufficient for general use in windows for years to come. Having a 512gb ssd is also decent for the price, though being limited to gen3 obviously diminishes the value proposition. The assortment of ports is also decent.
Regarding the downsides of this laptop, the most significant is the screen, which is very bad. It's tn (twisted nematic), 60hz, 250nit, 45% ntsc (~62% srgb). Literally the only redeeming qualities are that it isn't below 1080p resolution, and that it's 30nits brighter than the 220nit absolute bottom tier fhd tn screens. This is essentially only a single step above the lowest tier fhd screens you'll find in laptops period. Viewing angles are non-existent, the screen is quite dim, and colors are dull and washed out.
Moving on to other downsides: the wifi and bluetooth versions (wifi 5 a bt 4.1 respectively) are extremely out of date, the single m.2 slot (occupied by the 512gb ssd) in this laptop is limited to pcie gen3, the maximum officially supported memory is 16gb (8gb onboard, the single sodimm slot is occupied by an 8gb stick, the sodimm slot only officially supports 8gb and I have no clue if this laptop can even run with 24gb (8+16) or supports asynchronous dual channel), the battery is rather small at only 42whr (standard for budget tier, but still somewhat disappointing), and the keyboard is not backlit.
Overall, if the screen isn't a dealbreaker for you, such as if you'll primarily be using this laptop with an external monitor, this isn't a bad deal at $280. I'd say it's a better deal overall than the previous frontpage deal of the acer aspire 3 with the 5700u for $300 due to the superior cpu and slightly better screen, though it's less upgradeable and has a couple of worse specs. There have been arguably superior deals with previous gen intel inspiron i5-1235u laptops in the past if you were willing to jump through hoops and do a memory upgrade yourself, though the inspiron chassis has a poor reputation for hinge failure. Otherwise, if you live near a microcenter, there have been some slightly more expensive but overall superior deals available (in store only, and often out of stock).
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank WreckerALeX
The TN panel 45% NTSC might be a dealbreaker for some but the igpu is above and beyond those $300s laptops (NEW) that had been posted recently (Don't got a Micro Center).
The Vega 6 igpu seems really good compared to the Xe graphics in the $320 laptop posted recently (https://slickdeals.net/f/18050049-lenovo-ideapad-1i-15-6-fhd-ips-touch-i5-1235u-8gb-ddr4-512gb-ssd-319-99?p=175212261#
The Xe has to go 720p in many games to do 40-60fps so I hesitated to get it...
Example: CSGO/CS2 (Dust map) 1080p low, Xe does 60fps dipping to 50-55 often while this does 85-89fps...That's about 50% more (Based on various youtube videos of i5 1235u's Xe and this Ryzen 5 7530U's Vega 6 igpu both in dual channel ram config).
Upgrades:
RAM: 8gb SOLDERED + 8gb replaceable
STORAGE: 512gb M.2 NVMe SSD (1x M.2 Slot 2280 used)
I/O:
1x USB-C 3.0 / 3.1/3.2 Gen 1 / Supports Power Delivery
2x USB-A 3.0 / 3.1/3.2 Gen 1
1x USB-A 2.0
HDMI 1.4
Ram upgradeable? Dual channel mode 2x8gb?
etc,,,
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