2022 Laptop Buying Guide

Last year I did some research & analysis for finding out a personal laptop which suits my lifestyle. Eventually I did not buy anything new and continue to use the old one. It's 2022 now, and already January is over. Again I am in search of my dream laptop. 

Before I jump to note down the laptops for my wishlist, I like to tell you something - knowing the CPU is very important, i.e. Intel Core i5 tag is not everything, look for which product line it is. 

For eg: if the laptop's processor is Intel Core i5 11370H you must learn what is the meaning of this kind of nomenclature. 

11370H - this 11 denotes generation, 370 is SKU Numeric digits (higher is better). 

But that alphabet at the last is very important. 

Meaning of these letters in brief : 

For Desktop - K, F, KF (KF series is the beast)

For low power Mobile CPUs - P, U, Y, T (not exactly low power, as they offer basic usage at lower battery usage)

G1 to G7 - as per performance of the integrated graphics solution

H - High performance CPU 

there is also HK, HS, HX 

Detailed explanation of Intel processor nomenclature can easily be found on internet. 

In the pandemic hit era, the demand of laptops is increasing. And mobile makers like Xiaomi, realme, Nokia have launched their own branded laptops. 

Realme Book - powered by i3 1115G4 & i5 1115G7 @46,990 (256GB) & 59,990 (512GB)

RedmiBook Pro - i5 11300H (no 16G version) 

Mi Notebook Pro - i5 11300H (16GB/512GB @60,990) & i7 11370H 

Mi Notebook Ultra - i5 11300H (16GB/512GB @64,990) & i7 11370H 

Nokia PureBook S14 - i5 1115G7 @ 60,990 (16G/512G) 

Popular brands in this price segment (16G/512G) *

Acer Travelmate  @ 62,490

Asus vivobook Ultra 14 @62,990

Dell Inspiron @63,690

Lenovo ideaPad @63,990

All four laptops come with Intel Core i5 1115G7 processor. 

Therefore Mi Notebook Pro - i5 11300H (16GB/512GB @60,990) is good choice. 

>>> AMD >>>

Now coming to AMD processors which often offers better performance at lower price - on all segments, desktop, laptop or servers. Okay, even I am skeptical with AMD with its Athlon series had heat and compliance issues, but since 2017 AMD has changed a lot with its Zen microarchitecture. I am not going into details of rise of AMD. 

In simple way, AMD's present Ryzen series follow Intel's numbers, i.e. Ryzen 3 competes with Intel i3, Ryzen 5 vs Intel i5, Ryzen 7 vs Intel i7, Ryzen 9 vs Intel i9, and Ryzen Threadripper takes on Intel Xeon processors. 

A good read on the nomenclature of AMD processors can be found here: 

https://letstechready.com/2020/09/amd-ryzen-processors-naming-scheme.html

https://glennsqlperformance.com/2020/07/22/understanding-amd-processor-names/amp/

APU - Accelerated Processing Unit, a market term used by AMD. It packs both CPU & GPU. 

AMD Ryzen 9 - 5980X 

It means Ryzen 9 of 5th gen, 

9 stands for option of Enthusiast (7/8/9 - enthusiast, 4/5/6 - high performance, 1/2/3 - mainstream), 

80 - sku differentiator 

X - high performance 

AMD has: 

1000 series under Zen (2017) - 14nm/14nm+

2000 series under Zen+ (2018) - 12nm

3000 series under Zen 2 (2019) - 7nm

4000 series under Zen 2 (2019) - 7nm 

5000 series under Zen 3 (2020) - 7nm

6000 series under Zen 3+ (2022) - 6nm 

The last letter stands for: 

For laptops there are usually 3 letters.

H - High performance Mobile

U - standard performance mobile

M - low power mobile 

So after the discussion I understand that for laptop I can rely on Ryzen 3/5 with 4000/5000 series + U/H 

Common APU which are in buying list: 

5500U, 5600H, 4600H - but last two are coming in gaming laptops which are heavier. 

RAM - don't go by the numbers. 8GB is sufficient for usual work. But if you're heavy user check the frequency of the RAM provided with the laptop, like 3200, 4800, 5200, 7500 MHz. Higher is better. Usually 3200MHz RAMs are not available in most laptops. 

SSD - check the generation of SSD - 3rd, 4th or 5th are now available. 

Dedicated Graphics - (this feature only for gamers or high end users)

Check TGP (Total Graphics Power). TGP is a GPU-specific term that defines the power requirements of a graphics card. 

Screen size is also important for gamers or multimedia editors. Get 17" screen or use external monitor with your laptop. 

Also check out the ports available with the laptop. 

It is always better to have a USB-type C charger. (But you can get an adapter for your laptop to get it charged via mobile charger of 65W or higher output) 

HP 14S - 8G/512G, Ryzen5 5500U 14" @ 48,490 on Amazon - seems best deal 

Add 3K for 8G RAM 

​​Update: finally I bought HP 14S - so far it's very cool experience. However I am yet to shift all my work from old to new laptop. I am gaining knowledge regarding SSD partitioning these days. 

And now Intel is launching 12th Gen Intel processors and Core i9 12900HK happens to be fastest mobile processor, which competes with AMD Ryzen 9 6980X directly. The Alder Lake series of 12th gen Intel Processors have all i9, i7 and i5 variants except i3. You can get the comparison between Intel Core i9 12900HK v AMD Ryzen 9 6980X at online. 

In December 2023, Intel has launched their next gen mobile processors - Intel Core Ultra - H and U series. "The biggest change is that Intel is dropping the 'i' prefix, which is perhaps one of their most denominable processor identities over the last 15 years." (AnandTech) Most significantly, these processors include a neural processing unit (NPU) — that is, a dedicated AI processor. Many OEMs are already prepared for launching new laptop lineup powered by Core Ultra processors.