Thinking about a laptop again... suggestions? Thin AMD?

[CMetaphor]

So between the bad weather, some setbacks on projects and some health concerns... yeah, I'm thinking of an impulse buy.

Except I'm crap at impulse buying. I always research and overthink things, usually to the point of just convincing myself to not buy at all.

Well regardless, I'm at least researching again, and as per usual, I've come to good ol' HWC for help.

The laptop:
MUST HAVEs:
1) ThinER, lightER, and NOT a lap -burner. (My AW R13r3 remains the hottest dang thing in my house* and I don't want another one. Its also very heavy and like an inch thick, which is ridiculous for a 13in laptop)
2) AMD CPU
3) Somewhere between a 13" and 16" display.
4) Around $1k CAD new or used. (Mayyybe can stretch for a really good choice)

LOVE TO HAVEs:
A) AMD 7xxx or 8xxx series APU.
B) USB4 (to allow for a possible future external gpu which could enable some light gaming, especially if it's only got a 680m or weaker iGPU)
C) OLED (Still a sucker for OLED displays, theyre just sooooo good looking to me)
D) Under $750 CAD new or used
E) A Flip/Fold design that vents out the side or "top" (when standing like a tent) would be great
F) Quiet but study-feeling keyboard, at least 60% sized or bigger but don't need a numpad (prefer not to have a numpad at all really) (just after the OLED panel, the keyboard feel on my AW R13r3 remains the second and only other reason I still use it. Such great, fast and quiet typing).

Nice to Haves:
i) Wifi AX or AC
ii) two NVME slots would be nice, even if they're not 2280s.
iii) if it's got a Webcam, a shutter is always a good call for privacy.
iv) A backlit keyboard would be a really nice feature to have as well.

(*= I did once have the idea of a project to re-paste the entire AW R13r3 as well as modify the heatsink and fan grilles once upon a time, but never got around to doing it. Still have the parts though, so I'll probably do it someday regardless... but It's just so big and heavy for a 13" laptop, slow by current standards and annoying to bring around.)

That's all I can think of for now, will edit this OP if I add or change anything.

Current models under consideration =
- Lenovo Yoga series (Yoga 6? 7?)
- Lenovo P14? Probably too expensive
- GPD ____ ? Some are getting around 1k or under used nowadays, but the tiny display and weird keyboards might be a deal-breaker... would appreciate input though, as I've still got a Pocket 1 and love it for mobile tech work)
- HP Envy 360 models have always tempted me too.

Sorry for my typical wall of text, and thanks in advance for any/all input HWC

 

[Bond007]

Have you found anything meeting all your wants yet? At a glance I am not sure there is a modern thin and light with usb4/egpu support, and an oled for $600 or less. But I will try to look a bit more later. Not saying there isn’t, but I didn’t see anything with that price bracket off hand.

 

[Marzipan]

I can't say I've really seen any true thin / light AMD Ultrabooks. mebe Asus or perhaps Lenovo IdeaPad has a 'slim' variant.

 

[JD]

There's the new Ryzen AI laptops coming, if you can save up a bit more?
https://www.asus.com/ca-en/laptops/for-home/vivobook/asus-vivobook-s-14-oled-m5406/ ($1599 with the OLED)
https://www.acer.com/ca-en/laptops/swift/swift-14-ai-amd ($1499 with IPS, OLED unknown?)

If $1000 is the hard cap, then I think the Yoga 7 would be your best bet. I don't think the Yoga 6 is in production anymore. This one is right on $999: https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/p/lapt...vo-yoga-7-2-in-1-gen-9-14-inch-amd/83dk000bus

 

[CMetaphor]

Fun fact I learned recently:
because USB4 is fully backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3, and because of Microsoft (apparently), pretty much ALL USB4 ports fully support eGPU handshake/hand-off.
So ya, if it's got a single USB4 port on it, the eGPU part should be good to go.

 

[CMetaphor]

Edited OP, but I'll write it here too:

The "Thin and Light" part might be overemphasized. I'm talking thin and light as compared to my AW13r3, which is like 8lbs and an Inch thick. I'm not after (nor do I really want) like MacBook air -kinda thin.

 

[Marzipan]

Fun fact I learned recently:
because USB4 is fully backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3, and because of Microsoft (apparently), pretty much ALL USB4 ports fully support eGPU handshake/hand-off.
So ya, if it's got a single USB4 port on it, the eGPU part should be good to go.

keep in mind that USB4 has a few possible configurations within itself. USB4 was supposed to combine and create a standard that is set, but they were pressured to the point they capitulated and now there are USB4 with and without TB support.

 

[CMetaphor]

keep in mind that USB4 has a few possible configurations within itself. USB4 was supposed to combine and create a standard that is set, but they were pressured to the point they capitulated and now there are USB4 with and without TB support.

Oh? I wasn't aware of that.

From what I've researched so far: USB4 directly uses Thunderbolt 3 pcie tunneling, which is the major part of eGPU support. I thought for anything to be called USB4, it would always have that feature (which is also the part that enables 40gbps bandwidth), otherwise it was considered USB3.2g2 or 3.2 2x2, which is only 10gbps and doesn't have pcie tunneling.

 

[Marzipan]

Oh? I wasn't aware of that.

From what I've researched so far: USB4 directly uses Thunderbolt 3 pcie tunneling, which is the major part of eGPU support. I thought for anything to be called USB4, it would always have that feature (which is also the part that enables 40gbps bandwidth), otherwise it was considered USB3.2g2 or 3.2 2x2, which is only 10gbps and doesn't have pcie tunneling.

turns out there are three variants...

 

[CMetaphor]

turns out there are three variants...

View attachment 43034

Weird... I would've called those (in order):
USB-C gen 3.2x2
USB 4 standard
USB 4 dual channel / dual controller*

*= for this last one, it's apparently a feature on only a handful of USB4 peripherals, including the one Id likely get, if I wanted a USB4 eGPU right now: the Razer Core X chroma. It (supposedly) used TWO Thunderbolt 3 (they're not TB4 it seems) controllers on the eGPU side, so that all the extras (the Chroma variant has several USB3 ports, ethernet and something else I think) don't steal any bandwidth from the GPU itself. In other words, there's a 40gbps TB3 controller for gpu bandwidth, and a second one for everything else, also 40gpbs.

But then again, all my research so far only yields eGPU stuff that's 2-3 years old or older, no eGPU box (yet? That I've found?) have native Thundebolt 4 or USB4 controllers, they all seem to be using TB3 controllers, because (I thought) USB4 was guaranteed to be backwards -compatible with them? IDK for sure.