11–20 of 75 posts
Quantized LLMs upto 8b parameters can be easily run on above specs. Quantized models are getting better and better. I use them for code suggestion and code gen.
I have been having good experiences with Windows on ARM. Better performance, lower power, thinner, and cheaper at the same time.
You have two requirements that are at odds: * Macbook is not an option * Want to be able to mess around with some local LLMs. Your choices for a Window laptop that can run a local LLM is either to get a large amount of system RAM and have it be abysmally slow, or to run a very tiny model on a discrete GPU which will (a) not be very good due to its small size and high quantization and (b) evaporate your battery life.…
I agree that MacBook is not an option. I have a work MacBook and it has better silicon, ok, but I hate being on a Mac. Just not for me.
I'd wait until more manufacturers announce what they will do with that AMD SOC.
Easy choices with system76: https://system76.com/
System76 laptops are rebranded Clevo devices (a Taiwanese white-label ODM). Even by non-Mac laptop standards, they are known for subpar build quality, reliability, and battery life. I would pick a Framework over a Clevo, any day. And Framework has tons of paper cut issues - I’m not leaving my MacBook for high security work with Framework’s track record for firmware updates.
- Asus Zenbook Duo (2024) is a very interesting form factor. https://www.asus.com/ca-en/laptops/for-home/zenbook/asus-zen... - Framework reviews are important to figure out the current generation. I tried one out and it had few issues other than me not having the time to tweak it how I wanted. Hardware was great, battery wasn't great at that time (needed simple software optimizations), but Framework now has larger ba…
Coming from a Surface Laptop Go 2, and a Surface Pro 8 before that, the build quality on the Zenbook Duo feels worse. Even a Zenbook 14 OLED (2024) that I purchased around the same time seems like it has better quality at half the price.
The Bluetooth is finicky, it has no Miracast support, and the wireless keyboard battery seems to have degraded considerably in just a couple of months, to name a few issues.
There’s also questionable design choices, like not making the pop-out stand run edge-to-edge the way Surface does, and not including any way for the keyboard’s top portion to anchor itself when placed on the secondary screen, among others.
It’s like a beta product at a premium price, but the form factor is definitely what appealed to me. Sadly, there’s not many other choices in that area, except for the Yoga Book 9i and maybe a MacBook with an iPad anchored atop the screen.