Knowledge Ascent

Moving onto Zephyrus G14

Vaibhav Balloli -

Some backstory...

Recently, I've shifted to a complete Windows/WSL dev environment - both in my professional and personal work, with the Zephyrus G14 replacing my MacBook Air 2015(8G+128G i5 5th gen). Hands down, the MacBook Air was and is one of the best, most reliable devices I've ever worked on! The entire MacOS environment is the best dev experience anyone can ask for, but it's time I said goodbye to a wonderful machine. I was and still am a huge proponent of MacBooks for a lot of dev work, hence this transition was tough for me. This decision involved a couple of factors which swayed me towards a Windows laptop:

  1. I needed a new one(obviously) - the Mac was having boot issues/stability issues, etc. It's time I shifted from an almost 4.5 year old laptop.
  2. I needed a machine with some decent NVidia GPU(leaning towards one from the Ampere series) to test GPU code and play some occasional light weight games when I'm really really bored.
  3. From my experience working on the Thinkpad T450 for work, Windows + WSL covers everything that's required. It was time I reconsidered why Windows could be a better environment.

While I needed the laptop to be light weight, the decision to get the G14 was pretty obvious and one of the only few laptops that actually fit the requirement.

Review: It's pretty good

Specs: Ryzen 9 + 3050Ti, 16GB RAM. I'll be very brief about this:

  1. The light and small form factor feels really good and fits perfectly for my requirements.
  2. Windows + WSL had no hiccups and the Armoury crate gives good control over various hardware stuff.
  3. Typing experience - really good(good key travel, comfortable key presses - Note: I'm light on touch) - Two subtle things which I liked and didn't like: 1) The W key has a ridge similar to the F and J keys (not sure if it's a common thing among gaming laptops) which I really liked; 2) The control and function key placement on the left side of the laptop - I think Thinkpad does this right with the Fn key towards the left and Ctrl key beside the Windows key. Call it MacBook bias, I think the natural tendency to access these keys tis through the thumb and not the little finger. Not a deal breaker, but just something I didn't like.
  4. Good trackpad, fingerprint sensor (people have said otherwise, I think it's good)
  5. Great display, awesome anime matrix behind!
  6. No webcam - which I prefer but also the room for webcam on top of the screen is not that much, hence a bad webcam clamp can ruin the display.

I'll be updating this post with images soon once I get some time(hopefully with some cool Anime matrix stuff!). Overall, really happy about this decision.

Desktop Wallpaper: Photo by Mado El Khouly on Unsplash\

Lockscreen wallpaper: Photo by Anders Jildén on Unsplash