Notes regarding Laptop Buying

Though the time is for the smartphones, every week a new smartphone being launched by different companies. And in India there were several desi phone makers - though a handful survived the wrath of 4G and Jio, and rise of Chinese brands had came. Laptops and desktops had seen a fall of demand before 2020. But as COVID 19 pandemic striked, people are put into lockdown, WFH (work from home) regime has begun, the demand of laptops have been skyrocketed. 

I had a laptop bought in 2011 - Lenovo Z570 and it is heavy in today's term. I am looking for a light weight laptop with another 10 year of life. But I found out that taking a decision to buy a laptop is quite tough. (Dec 2020) 

My first personal desktop was bought in 2005-06 and runs on 128MB of RAM. Me and my brothers had little knowledge of computing that time except web browsing with Internet Explorer. I can remember that I once installed 3 different antivirus software on my PC and I had to ask computer technician who solved this issue by booting the PC in safe mode and removed 2 of the antivirus program. Most interesting part was that PC was running on Windows XP - that was pretty impressive while most machines around me (at cafe or friends house) were on Windows 2000. During my time period, I skipped Windows Vista and later started using Windows 7 on my laptop. Since then I did not upgrade to Windows 8 or Windows 10. Though I have used Windows 10, I don't like it all through except the fast boot. And by now (June mid, 2021) Microsoft has started teasing Windows 11.  

Here is an interesting read: how to debloat Win10 - https://christitus.com/debloat-windows-10-2020/

first make sure your specs:

Screen size - 14'' will be good to carry/ 15.6'' also okay
Processor - i3 10th Gen/i5 10th or 11th Gen processor (preferred i5 11th Gen)*
RAM - 8GB or more
Storage - minimum 512G SSD or (128G+ SSD + 1TB HDD*) 
             *note adding HDD will increase the weight
Graphics - not needed as I am not into gaming

and set your budget - I am setting it ₹ 45K  ₹60K*

* As I had shelved my purchase plan as of now, I am changing the specs for the laptop. 

Acer Aspire 5 - A514-54 
i5 11th Gen/Intel Iris X Graphics/8G/512G - MRP ₹ 62999 (on store.acer.com or flipkart.com Rs 54999, Amazon lists ₹ 57K+ ) 

but many reviews say Acer is not durable !!


Nokia Purebook X14
i5 10th Gen/8 GB/512 GB/Intel UHD
₹ 59,990 (MRP  ₹ 90000) - main usp light weight 1.1kg
Problem - new laptop brand, can't say about after sales. 

Mi Notebook 14
i5 10th Gen/8 GB/512 GB/Intel UHD 
Wt 1.5kg - comes cheapest in the lot @ ₹ 43, 999
issue - no in-built webcam*, but they are giving away a free 720p one. 
Amazon gives  ₹ 1000 discount and 9m NoCostEMI ( ₹ 4778 x 9m) 

*update Mi has launched a new version with IC tag, which includes built in webcam (720p HD, which is still rare in laptop segment) but still it lacks a SD card reader. 

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3i 
i5 10th Gen/8 GB/512 GB/Intel UHD/1.6Kg
Amazon lists ₹ 49,990 (MRP ₹ 73.890)

Asus Vivobook 14 14 X409JA-EK591T 
14''/i5 10th Gen/8 GB/512 GB/Intel UHD/1.6Kg
Amazon lists ₹ 49,490 (MRP  ₹ 60.990)

Asus Vivobook S14 M433IA-EB592TS

AMD Ryzen 5 4500U Processor, AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 Graphics 

Amazon Price 59990 (MRP ₹ 69,990.00)

Vaio made a comeback via Flipkart. But their offerings are pathetic I must say. 

Vaio SE NP14V1IN004P  - 8 GB/512 GB SSD/14 inch/1.35 kg with 8th Gen i5 comes at ₹ 62990 (MRP ₹ 84690). Their E series NE15V2IN007P, powered by Ryzen 5 3500U with similar specs are better priced at ₹ 49990. 

Lenovo ideapad S340 

81VV008TIN: 14''/i5 10th Gen/8 GB (4+4)/256 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD/1.6Kg/720p webcam @ ₹ 52901 on Amazon (Jan 27th Price) (MRP ₹ 81090) 

There is another version of S340 powered by Ryzen 5 3500U + Radeon Vega 8 Graphics @₹ 46999 (MRP ₹ 65690) at Reliance Digital

After a long thought, I am giving a pass to my project - 'buy a new laptop' for time being. It's Jan 3rd, 2020 and I am buying a new battery for my old Lenovo Z570 (bought in 2011). It would be 2nd battery buy-out for this lappy. Previously I spent  ₹ 5000 for the screen replacement. It has its speakers gone, WiFi + Bluetooth module goes on and off frequently - otherwise paired with 6GB of DDR3 RAM it works strong, like an Ambassador.