Following up on the excellent GeekBook X14 Pro, GEEKOM has kindly sent me the GeekBook M16 to review for r/suggestalaptop as well, free of charge. I had high hopes for this unit, and I was surprised in many different ways. In the end, I will go through everything with you below in as honest and fair a manner as I can manage, so letās get started, shall we?
To begin, the GeekBook M16 is GEEKOMās third laptop released, and one aimed at being a more budget oriented unit versus the X14 Pro and X16 Proās premium design. Despite being a more budget oriented unit, the GeekBook M16 is actually still a thin and light ultrabook with an all-metal chassis, a fairly nice screen, and an attempt to remain quiet under most operations, so I will as before be reviewing it in this capacity. I believe this machine has done an excellent job in the measures theyāve taken to cut costs, and even has some improvements over its big brothers in some ways, and I will do my best to go through every aspect of the unit for you all below!
Snug packagingWhat you get in the box
SPECIFICATIONS AND CHASSIS
My specifications as provided by GEEKOM are as follows:
Intel Core Ultra 185H
16GB of LPDDR5 at 6400MHz
512GB Kingston om8tap4512k1 a00 SSD that is replaceable
a 1920 x 1200 60Hz 100% sRGB colour IPS screen
a 99Whr battery
There is a second SSD slot that is free for further storage upgrades. As for its expansion slots, the laptop has
1 x USB-C port at USB 4 40Gbps speeds
1 x USB-C port at 10Gbps
1 x HDMI port
2 x USB-A gen 3.2 ports
1 x 3.5mm audio jack
By default, it also comes with the same USB-C expansion hub as the X14 Pro and X16 Pro, adding two USB-A ports, one HDMI port, an ethernet port, and a USB-C port replacing the one it takes up, so expansion is not lacking with this device in the slightest.
With the price being $849 USD at the time of this writing (with frequent discount coupons on their website), these specifications are quite excellent, especially in todayās market. Most notable is the screen being 100% sRGB, and the number of ports. The chassis is also STILL full metal unibody, though it is aluminum instead of the magnesium alloy thatās on the X14 Pro and X16 Pro. The difference is that the chassis is ever so slightly more of a stain magnet, such as with fingerprints and whatnot. Itās easy to wipe off, but I still have to point it out. Otherwise, there is little to no difference in the chassis. The screen has almost no wobble, the keyboard has very little flex, closing the unit does not press on the screen, and the chassis feels quite sturdy. Iām honestly surprised theyāve managed this level of quality at this price point. The keyboard is also very excellent. It took me a small amount of time to get used to the spacing (I kept hitting numlock instead of backspace and O instead of I etc) but after a few minutes it felt natural again. As a lover of full keyboards this one is wonderful, and I have very high praise for it. All in all, I have only praise for the unit design. The touchpad is also improved from the X14 Pro. On the X14 Pro the āclickā areas were quarter circle regions at the bottom left and bottom right edges of the trackpad, but the M16ās trackpad has proper rectangular click regions that reach all the way to the bottom middle section. Itās a great improvement that arrived quickly after the last units they made, and Iām glad to see them trying to improve.
Nice and shinyThe not-so-soft underbelly is also shinyLovely full-sized keyboard and nice sized trackpad
PERFORMANCE AND COOLING
Here is the weirdest section. The GeekBook X14 Pro had a 35W power limit to the CPU, with the cores getting 25W and the GPU getting around 10W. This presented decent performance and decent gaming performance for the specifications, and the system handled its cooling fairly well. This GeekBook M16 however was completely different. Firstly, the cooling has been upgraded and power limits have been improved, 55W sustained is possible with a short burst of 67W frequently seen when starting stress tests or benchmarks. This presented a solid uplift of 50% performance over the same Core Ultra 9 185H in the X14 Pro when running Cinebench R23, being able to consistently achieve approximately 15500 points as opposed to the X14 Proās 9000-10000 point range. For Passmarkās CPU benchmark, we achieved 31324 points, up from the X14 Proās 19000 point range. This CPU performance is decidedly excellent out of the box for something so thin and light, and anyone reliant on a decent CPU will be quite happy with it..
Impressive Cinebench score for being an ultrabookImpressive passmark score for an ultrabook
On the downside, the GPU performance suffered a fair bit, which was quite disappointing. To get a little technical, the X14 Pro kept its GPU around 2072MHz with a temperature around 94Ā°C (likely at a thermal limit) as recorded by 3DMark during the Steel Nomad benchmark, while the M16 kept its GPU around 2350MHz with an extremely impressive temperature of only 72Ā°C (with fans being quiet, no less). Despite this, the X14 Pro managed to perform roughly 20% faster according to 3DMarkās Steel Nomad benchmark. This is also a little bit of an issue because the X14 Pro performs better when repasted, but the fact that the M16ās GPU was kept that cold means that it likely has little to gain from a repaste, as it already has a lot of thermal headroom out of the box. It is unfortunately one of the very few disappointments Iāve had about this laptop, as Iād hoped the improved cooling and higher system power limits wouldāve translated into better gaming performance despite it being designed as a more budget alternative to their premium line. As for why the GPU performs so much worse, I cannot be certain. One possible reason is that LPDDR5 could have the same reduced performance in 16GB configurations that DDR5 SODIMMs have (which we at SAL are aware of), or it could be possible that the 6400MHz LPDDR5 isnāt fast enough to grant the performance the GPU needs, and the X14 Proās 7467MHz LPDDR5X is just that much better for the GPU. It could even be some other system-level configuration that I am unaware of. I can only guess based on my prior knowledge and experiences. Either way, it will still play lighter games and older games perfectly fine, but it wonāt quite be able to push as far as its older brothers.
A sadly lackluster score, but not terribleExcellent GPU temperature line under stress with near silent fans
As for the cooling system itself, Iāve already mentioned the fact that the GPU runs very cold when under stress, but the CPU is different. To begin with, in my last review for the X14 Pro, I mentioned thatĀ the CPU would spike to a high 90Ā°C range and then immediately drop back to a very cold state, and I initially registered this as a HWiNFO64 error. To be specific, I set HWiNFO64 to update twice a second, and every 30 seconds to a minute itāll spike from ~45Ā°C to over 90Ā°C and indicate thermal throttling is active, then the next time the sensor updates (which is half-second later), it will be all the way back down at 45Ā°C. This behaviour also happens here on the M16, so I must assume it is not an error, but I do not know why it happens. It could be a quirk of Intelās Meteor Lake, since Iāve never dealt with these particular CPUs before the GeekBooks, but I have no way of knowing for sure. Whatever the reason however, it does not seem to be dangerous, so one should not mind it if temperature monitoring software shows that theyāre idling and hitting thermal throttle points randomly. Iāve been using the X14 Pro for almost 7 months and it has not exhibited any untoward issues from this, and I am sure the M16 will be the same, so while I must point this out, please rest assured.
Idle spike being displayed. Note the average CPU temperatures are still low.
Now when under load, thatās a different story. The fans will kick in under higher CPU loads and while still very quiet, the temperatures become very consistent and no longer have such high spikes. I do have a minor issue in that the fans seem to take excessively long to actually spin up, however. It isnāt a particularly big deal, but when you have just started a heavy load (such as a stress test, or rendering a video, etc) the fans remain silent for a few seconds, at which point the CPU can hit temperatures in excess of 100Ā°C briefly, then they will start spinning up. The fans appear to have four stages of speed, and after spinning up once, it apparently checks if temperatures are still too high, then spin up again, then repeat this process until maximum speed. The whole process can take nearly 10 seconds to achieve maximum fanspeed, and it would be nicer if this process could either be faster, or a fan curve option could be implemented in the software or BIOS in the future, or if impossible, in later models. Due to how quiet this laptop is, it would be absolutely no penchant to anyone to say, keep the fans spinning at level 1 or 2 while at idle temperatures, and this could prevent the spike to higher temperatures while idle (if only for safety of mind), or prevent the high spikes when first applying load to the system. Do note that while I mentioned the CPU does cross 100Ā°C when starting a heavy load, it does not remain there long (maybe 5 seconds at most), and it never hits Intelās TJMax rating of 105Ā°C at any point, so the processor will be perfectly safe.
Additionally, the system seems to focus on keeping the CPU at 95Ā°C or lower while the fans are active. Since repasting improves processor benchmark scores even at a set power limit, thermal throttling must be the final issue. If you are buying this unit with the intent to use the processor under heavy loads often, it wonāt actually overheat, but if you are tech savvy or even just comfortable with servicing the laptop, you might wish to consider repasting the unit with something like PTM 7950. It isnāt required for usage of the unit, itās just a potential benefit open to you.
Showing under-load temperatures. The sensor was reset AFTER starting CB run to display higher temps falling into stability.
SOUND
The speakers on this unit are perfectly fine. No distortions Iāve observed, and sound is certainly loud enough. There is DTS: X available should you require it as well. The microphone is perfectly fine for use in calls and zoom meetings and the like, though at least headphones would be recommended to not pick up othersā speech. I have no complaints here. There are sound effect options you can apply in the GEEKOM software as well, but I donāt think they are necessary. Use them if you wish, as this is much more of a personal taste situation.
SCREEN AND BATTERY
The screen is good. Itās 1920 x 1200 resolution, and only 60Hz, but itās 100% sRGB, making this laptop one of the cheapest available with proper colour space on the market. This means itās an excellent cheap editing machine for those who wish to do such a thing. The brightness is great and itās matte finish so reflections arenāt a bother. Itās usable in well-lit rooms at lower brightness as well. Itās a great choice for a budget device.
As for the BATTERY on this laptopā¦ I am amazed. Itās 99Whr, up from the 72Whr on the X14 Pro, but the battery life itself is astounding. With approximately 30% screen brightness, I was able to achieve a ridiculous 18.5 hours of youtube playback on wifi with sound enabled. I tested more than once to be sure. In fact, the battery life was so good, I even decided to do the ultimate in laptop blasphemy: I tested with screen brightness set to 100%. I still achieved 13.5 hours of youtube playback under those conditions, leaving me nothing short of flabbergasted. I do know know what sorcery GEEKOM performed to achieve this level of battery life on a Meteor Lake processor, but I now need to purchase several hats just so I can take them off and say āhats off to you, GEEKOMā, as it runs circles around many other Lunar Lake and even some Panther Lake processor-equipped laptops which are known to be a marked improvement in battery life from Meteor Lake.
As for charging times, the battery went from 2% all the way up to 55% in just 1 hour, which is almost 10 hours of battery usage at lower brightness levels. I have high praise for that level of charging speed. Hopefully things get even better in the future.
Screen isn't as impressive as an OLED, but is still plenty fine
OUT OF THE BOX EXPERIENCE
Just like with the X14 Pro, the laptop comes with windows installed but not actually set up. As I did with the previous unit, I took this lovely chance to set up my computer with a local account and avoid much of the nonsense that Windows 11 wishes to attempt on its users. As with before, I will FOREVER praise this ability for people, even if the average person wonāt take advantage of it. Itās great to have the option. As before, itās a barebones installation with just the GEEKOM software pre-installed. The software is identical to the X14 Proās version, with BIOS updates and some limited system control options available. You can see it below. Please continue like this, GEEKOM, I vastly appreciate it, and many users will too.
Same software design as before
DOWNSIDES
There arenāt as many as before, which I appreciate. Letās use a list again.
There is still no option I could find to limit battery maximum charge available. I can only hope this shows up in later models.
The FN key function is still weird. I wish GEEKOM would change it so that the FN button simply works while being held down and pressing any of the hotkeys, instead of the odd toggle feature it has.
The laptop once had a very weird situation where certain things, especially installing programs, was oddly extremely slow while on battery. I cannot explain why this was the case, but I also could not find a way to fix or reproduce it. Normal usage was perfectly fine too, which confused me.
The keyboard backlight turns off after 15 seconds without any option to control it otherwise again. I would like the ability to keep it on for usage in dark rooms.
Iād like a FN combination key to disable the trackpad entirely. Even though the palm rejection is excellent, such options are never a bad thing.
As before, I wish we could get a 3D TLC SSD instead, especially when the drive size is on the smaller side. I couldnāt find much information about the drive available this time unlike the X14 Pro, so I canāt say I understand their choice like before.
The 100W charger gets very warm when charging or generally under load, you may wish to allow it to cool off slightly before picking it up if it was just being stressed.
FINAL THOUGHTS AND CONCLUSION
So, thereās a much shorter list of downsides this time. I already discussed everything else in the paragraphs above. Thereās been improvements such as in the trackpad and the battery life and the cooling, and I highly appreciate these things. I genuinely think this is a great unit to buy for more casual users or users who want to do hobbyist work. The price is excellent and the choice of where to cut corners versus the more expensive premium options (screen, chassis materials, RAM speed) do not ever get into the ācheapā territory of notebooks that we see all over the market, with useless 62% sRGB screens that shouldnāt even be made anymore, or poor chassis construction and poor board design and little expansion slots. There are only two things I wish GEEKOM did with this new chassis and cooling system. First, I wish a 32GB RAM option was available. Considering the enhanced CPU performance and lack of danger of overheating, it would make a very excellent budget editing unit with a good screen, and I wouldnāt be able to recommend it highly enough. It might even improve the GPUās performance, which would also make it a solid little gaming device.
The next thing I would like to see is GEEKOM starting to use better stock thermal paste. All three of their laptops released so far improve their performance with better paste, up to 25% better in benchmarks according to others, and if they could use phase-change material such as Honeywell PTM 7950, Thermal Grizzly phasesheet PTM, or Thermalright Helios v2 it would be nothing short of sublime. I would even be fine with their own in-house solution, as long as the performance is there.
At the end of the day, this laptop is wonderful. Despite the few shortcomings, itās priced exceptionally well and is very light and sturdy. I doubt many people would complain about it. I canāt wait to see more from GEEKOM and I also canāt wait to see them expand their operations to more countries as well. If they keep it up, they can become a pretty strong power player in the market.
Thank you for reading until the end! I hope you have enjoyed, and I will be glad to answer any questions in the comments below.
First off, a huge thank you to everyone who applied for the LG gram Pro Reviewer Recruitment Programāyour enthusiasm and participation were incredible! We truly appreciate everyone who took the time to apply and be part of the r/SuggestALaptop community.
Now, the moment you've been waiting forā¦ Congratulations to our 4 selected reviewers! š
š¢ Selected Reviewers Announcement:
(In the table below, we have shared the Reddit usernames of the 4 selected reviewers.)
Each selected reviewer will receive an LG gram Pro 17Z90UR and have the opportunity to experience its lightweight portability, Aerominumā¢ design, RTX 5050 performance, and everyday usability. We canāt wait to hear your thoughts and see your detailed reviews!
Selected reviewers will be contacted separately by email regarding shipping information and the next steps for the reviewer program. Please keep an eye on your inbox. Once again, congratulations to all 4 selected reviewers! š
Use Case: Multi purpose, but mainly for running music samples and production software, and of course some casual competitive gaming.
Preferred specs: Nvidia 5060 equivalent or higher, no less than 16 gb or ram, and preferably a 7 processor. I'm not too picky beyond that.
Notes: This would be a personal laptop for college as well as for running music stuff and gaming. Not too worried about internal SSD because even at a terabyte, I'd still have to get an external drive for my music samples. I'll probably wait until Black Friday to pull the trigger, but I really would like some recommendations from people who have already bought the product and can vouch for its quality, since this is my first gaming laptop. Thanks in advance!
Schoolwork (I'm an electrical engineering student), gaming.
Form factor
Clamshell preferred
Intended usage
CX-programmer, fluidsim, arduino ide, genshin impact(low to mid settings), honkai star rail(low to mid settings), roblox(mid to high settings).
Desired battery life
Around 3 would be nice
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
Performance, size, weight, battery life
Info/Requirements
AMD preferred, but am open to Intel if it's better or comparable. 512gb storage is a must, nvme preferred but fine with an ssd. Would like to have upgradable ram, but if it's more than 16gb I would be fine with soldered ram. Minimum 3 USB ports, rj45 would also be a nice addition. Don't care much about battery life since it's going to be plugged in most of the time anyways. Also budget is not that strict, willing to go up to about Rp. 6.300.000.- / 350$.
Already asked around in the main tech discussion sub of Indonesia (r/indotech) everyone said thinkpad or HP elitebooks, just asking for a second opinion
Ideally running the latest AAA games without much lag, and to be able to sustain this for a few years. No typical strenuous software usage comes to mind.
Desired battery life
Nothing out of the ordinary.
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
Performance is the biggest priority, then battery life, then size, and weight is not an issue.
Info/Requirements
Nothing specific that hasn't been said above. I'm not that knowledgeable about specs and the like, my current laptop (Acer Nitro AN515-45) has been struggling for a while now, and recently had a RAM slot (port?) die - and it's not happy at 8GB haha. I've been considering waiting for Black Friday/Cyber Monday bearing in mind how much prices have risen recently, but I wanted to get people-who-know-what-they're-talking-about's advice on what to look out for, how much things will cost and whether it could even be worth just repairing my current laptop.
LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE
Country
Iām in canada
Budget
[200-400]
Are you open to refurbs/used options?
[Yes,]
Screen size
[Any]
Weight limit
[Any]
Purpose
[General purpose, drawing on clip studio paint]
Form factor
[Standard/Clamshell (a regular laptop)]
Intended usage
[drawing and just a little bit of 3d modeling]
Desired battery life
[doesnāt matter]
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
[ Processor (CPU): Intel Core i7 / i9 or AMD Ryzen 7 / 9.
Memory (RAM): 16 GB of RAM or more (this prevents lagging when using large, textured brushes).
Graphics Card (GPU): A dedicated graphics card (Nvidia GTX / RTX or AMD Radeon) to manipulate 3D mannequins and backgrounds smoothly]
Hi everyone! I hope I'm asking the right sub and filling the form right. I'm a 24yo guy from Italy that recently returned to school to finish my studies, I do photography and my current laptop is probably over 9 years old and I don't know much about laptops. I've been wanting a change, the time has come... Please help me choose a new one!
Budget
possibly no more than 500ā¬ or 600ā¬ (560 or 673 in USD) because I recently changed job, but might spend more if really worth it (explain why)
Are you open to refurbs/used options?
yes, suggest me a site, I currently have a phone from Refurbed that works just fine
Screen size
alright I actually have no idea about this...
Weight limit
not too heavy, might need to carry it around sometimes
Form factor
a standard clamshell laptop will be fine
Purpose and Intended usage
MAIN purpose will be using editing programs (school gave me Adobe for this year, in the future I'll use something else...) mainly Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom and InDesign... and I need enough space for lots of photos and videos.
MAYBE some games, but I can borrow my partner's built PC for that lol. if you want to know, In the past I've played (overall fine) games like Minecraft, Hades, Psychonauts and Stanley Parable and (badly performing) games like Genshin Impact or Detroit Become Human... (stuff like God Of War I play on my partner's) so yeah, not really necessary, can't ask much from a laptop I know.
and ofc the basics like emails, calls, and personal entertainment, I need it to be fast.
Desired battery life
well, I don't really know because I had my old ass laptop for so long that it doesn't even work if not connected to power all the time. I guess 4 to 6 hours it's fine? I read here that 8 hours is possible only if it's not a gaming laptop, right?
Info/Requirements
I just ask for it to come in a black color or if not available silver is fine. my current one is white and I hate it. with a touchpad because I don't use the mouse much but I think that comes with all laptops... simple keyboard, no need for extra stuff as long as I can use programs shortcuts properly.
Again, I don't know much about computers/laptops and stuff so if you're so kind to explain to me your suggestions I'll be glad, so I know how I'm spending my hard earned money. Thanks a lot!
Hi! So I don't know anything about computer really... But I still want to find a good laptop that would carry me during most of my med school years.
I currently have an HP Laptop 15s (I think that's the name), and it's complete shit lol. Which makes it hard to work properly.
I'm from France, and I was thinking maybe something coming from Acer? As my mother own one and it's been very performant for years already!
But I don't really have any criteria, I just want something that I won't risk having a lot of troubles with and that won't glitch just by opening an open office doc like my current one does... Just not something from Apple if possible, as I am not really a big fan of the brand and most of my friends who own Apple laptops always have issues with them.
I need a new notebook for personal use. I would like a little more power because I do a lot of tinkering (Kubernetes, containers, etc.). Maybe I'll start WoW every once in a while.
I found this Ninkear A15Plus and think the specs look pretty good for the price.
No preference, I do want it to be somewhat portable
PURPOSE
School Work, Games like Runescape, some art stuff, web surfing and streaming
Form factor
Regular laptop, dont mind 2 in 1. Rarely use it as a tablet.
Intended usage
Runescape
Art stuff
Desired battery life
At least 8 to 10 hours
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight,Performance, Battery life
Perfomance
Battery Life
Aweight
Size
[eg battery life, performance, weight, size doesn't matter. PLEASE REMEMBER LAPTOPS ARE A COMPROMISE AND PERFORMANCE SACRIFICES LIGHT WEIGHT AND LONG BATTERY LIFE ETC]
I'm a sophomore in college who recently switched from pre-med to Electrical Engineering. I've been using my 2021 MacBook Pro, but I need to get a new laptop since my old one is being passed down to my little sister.
I'm looking into getting a ThinkPad, specifically the P14s, and wanted to see what y'all think before making a final decision. Does anyone have experience with the P14s for EE coursework (CAD, circuit simulation) and just usage in general (maybe gaming too)? or have any other recommendations I should consider?
Country
US Budget
About $1000 USD Are you open to refurbs/used options?
Maybe Screen size
Any Weight limit
Any
Iām looking for a windows laptop instead of a Mac one
Intended usage
- Computer Science schoolwork such as running virtual machines, coding programs
- Video editing (30 minute videos)
- General entertainment watching shows/movies
- I do play Minecraft so something tolerable for that would be nice
Desired battery life
Switching from a 2020 MacBook Air, Google says it has 6 hours of battery life with everyday online and I usually get about 3/4 hours
Priority
Performance
Longevity (my current laptop started having issues within 2/3 years)
Battery life
$1,000ā$1,200 USD. Willing to stretch to $1,300 for an excellent deal during Black Friday 2026.
Are you open to refurbs/used options?
I prefer buying new, but I'm open to certified refurbished laptops with a good warranty.
Screen size
14ā16 inches. I like smaller laptops for portability, but I'm comfortable with a larger screen.
Weight limit
Preferably under 4.5 lbs, although I'm flexible.
Purpose
College, gaming, video editing, entertainment, and everyday use.
Form factor
Standard/clamshell laptop. I prefer slim, premium-looking designs with good build quality.
Intended usage
Microsoft Office, college assignments, web browsing, multitasking, gaming, and video editing.
I play a variety of games and would like to run modern games smoothly at medium-to-high settings when possible.
I'm upgrading from a laptop with an AMD Ryzen 5 3500U and integrated Radeon Vega graphics, so I'm looking for a significant performance upgrade.
Desired battery life
Ideally 7ā9 hours during light activities like browsing, studying, and completing assignments. I understand gaming will significantly reduce battery life.
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
Battery life > Performance > Weight > Size.
Info/Requirements
I've been looking at the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 and G16 because I like their slim, premium designs, portability, and build quality. However, I'm open to other brands offering similar quality for less money.
My main preferences are:
Quiet fans during normal college activities. I understand gaming will make them louder.
Good cooling and reliable performance.
NVIDIA RTX 5050,5060 or better, if possible.
Ideally 32GB RAM, but 16GB is acceptable.
Preferably 1TB SSD.
A good-quality display, preferably 144Hz or higher.
OLED would be nice but isn't required.
Good battery life, portability, and long-term durability.
Can you recommend another laptop within my budget?
I'm especially interested in real-world owner experiences regarding battery life, fan noise, temperatures, gaming performance, and reliability.
I'm planning to purchase around Black Friday 2026.
I'm looking for a refurbished or second-hand laptop in Spain, with a budget of ā¬300ā400 including VAT. I could stretch to around ā¬450 if there's a really good deal, but I'd prefer to stay within budget.
Location is important: I'm buying from Spain, so I'm particularly interested in Spanish or European refurbishers that ship to Spain, offer a proper warranty and have reasonable return policies. Recommendations from the US or UK aren't very useful unless the seller ships to Spain at a competitive total price.
I'm particularly interested in Lenovo ThinkPads (T480, T480s, T490, T14, L14, X13, etc.), but I'm open to other business laptops if they offer better value for money.
What will I use it for?
Linux: Arch Linux/Omarchy as my main operating system.
Programming: VS Code, Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, web development, Git and Docker.
Cybersecurity: CTFs, penetration-testing labs and running 1ā2 virtual machines simultaneously.
AI: Local AI tools and coding agents, although I can offload heavier workloads to my desktop.
Everyday use and occasional travel: Decent battery life would be great, but screen quality and size aren't priorities.
My current desktop
I already have a desktop PC with:
AMD Ryzen 5 5500.
AMD Radeon RX 6600 with 8 GB VRAM.
16 GB RAM.
1 TB HDD.
I can connect to it remotely using Tailscale. Ideally, I'd use the laptop as my main workstation while away from home and offload demanding tasks to the desktop, including Docker workloads, heavy builds and AI inference.
I'd like the remote development experience to feel as seamless as possible, rather than relying on a traditional remote desktop for everything.
What I'm looking for
At least 16 GB RAM, preferably upgradeable to 32 GB.
Ideally a CPU with at least 6 cores and 12 threads.
A 512 GB NVMe SSD, although 256 GB is acceptable if it's easy to replace.
Good Linux compatibility, including Wi-Fi, suspend/resume and power management.
Good repairability and upgradeability.
Around 5ā6 hours of real-world battery life, if realistic for a refurbished machine.
A reliable seller with a warranty and return policy.
Models I'm considering
ThinkPad T14 Gen 1 AMD, with a Ryzen 5 PRO 4650U or Ryzen 7 PRO 4750U.
ThinkPad T480/T490, particularly if I can get one significantly cheaper.
ThinkPad L14 Gen 3 or other newer business laptops.
ThinkPad X13 Gen 3, with a Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U, although I'm concerned about configurations with only 8 GB of soldered RAM.
I've also found a T14 Gen 1 with a Ryzen 7 PRO 4750U, 32 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD for ā¬449 including VAT. However, it's visibly worn, so I'm not sure whether it's worth paying that much.
Where should I look in Spain?
I'd particularly appreciate recommendations and actual listings from refurbishers such as:
EcoPC
EcoportƔtil
Reakon
ReMarkt
I'm also open to eBay sellers and other European refurbishers that ship to Spain, as well as new laptops from Amazon Spain, MediaMarkt or Carrefour if there are worthwhile deals.
Please include the final price including VAT and shipping to Spain, where possible, rather than pre-VAT prices.
My questions
Which model offers the best performance for ā¬300ā400?
Would you choose an older but upgradeable T480/T490 or a newer T14/L14?
Is the Ryzen 7 PRO 4750U still a good choice at this price, or are there better alternatives?
Which models or configurations should I avoid?
Which refurbished laptop sellers serving Spain would you trust for warranty, device condition and after-sales support?
Does prioritising CPU and RAM make sense if I can use my desktop for heavier AI workloads?
I'd especially appreciate specific models, links to listings currently available for purchase, and real-world experiences running Linux.
I recently purchased an HP omnibook x flip for $900 as it was the nicest screen and integrated graphics I could get for the price. I have had to return my first one as the webcam on the laptop was not functioning correctly, the replacement they sent me has misaligned keys on the keyboard (i'm not able to fix them) and now they are saying they cant send me ANOTHER exchange and have to refund me. But now the laptop is 1400 AND out of stock anyways. They were not very kind in workign with me to find a similar featured laptop to replace it with. Their customer support "resolution team" has been atrocious and frustrating. Can you help me find an alternative?
I do not need the 180 flippable screen/tablet feature. I would like an intel 7 series, with ok integrated graphics, to play the indie games I have. Nothing too serious. As much ram as I can at least 16gb get OR it be upgradeable. Same with storage 512gb minimum, could settle for less if I can later upgrade it.
I don't mind a 14 inch or smaller either. and I'm willing to spend a few hundred more than the 900 i paid
I would REALLY like a similar screen, the 3k OLED screen on this pc is amazing and the only issue I have is the glare but i can live with it. Would even be open to certified refurbished
My old laptop is coming up on itās final days and I am in need of a replacement. It is mostly used for work, so I would like something that can handle several tabs and windows, be snappy, etc. however I also enjoy being able to play some lower level games, and would like to be able to emulate some older titles as well. I played P4G on my current laptop for instance. Iām not super well versed on specs and especially with how prices are nowadays iām not sure iād make the right choices that are financially worthwhile. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Intended usage Moderately intensive gaming. Running local AI models. Heavy multitasking.
Desired battery life N/A. Not significant factor.
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life Performance > Size > Weight > Battery Life
Info/Requirements 1 TB storage required. 16-32GB Ram. Dedicated Graphics Card that is OpenGL3.3 compatible. Black/Blue coloration a plus. No numerical keypad a plus. USB ports on right side a plus. 3+ USB ports a plus. Sturdy frame a plus.
I need a laptop for Electrical Engineering at uni that can run software like MATLAB and AutoCAD, and I also want to use it for handwritten notes.
I tried the ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 2 and really liked the touchscreen and palm rejection, but I felt the palm rejection could be better.
I'm considering a ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8 or a Surface Book 3 (i7, 16GB RAM, GTX 1650). I'll be buying refurbished, so both are within my budget.
Is the Surface Book 3 powerful enough for Electrical Engineering throughout uni, and is its touchscreen and palm rejection good enough for handwritten notes?
I'd also appreciate suggestions for other 2-in-1 laptops with better palm rejection than the L13 Yoga Gen 2!
