Three series, five models, and eight variants. That is how I described this announcement to the editor. Most of them share the same specifications and some of them even share the same price despite the differences in screen size.

The challenge was to differentiate the different variants while highlighting their uniqueness. All in under 400 words while listing out their specifications.

When it comes to laptops like these, pay close attention to their cooling and power management system. ASUS has its own called the ASUS Intelligent Performance Technology, a combination of software and hardware solution.

This is important because when almost all laptops use the same processor and boast to be the best, what separates them is how they manage to regulate that power.

As processor power increases, so is the heat output of the laptop. As the laptop gets hotter, the processor will have to deal with that heat to avoid damaging itself. As the laptops get smaller and more compact, there are fewer and fewer places where the heat can dissipate to.

Solutions include fans and throttling the performance of the processor to a point where it is cooled down enough. A good solution includes but not limited to smart performance management and quiet efficient cooling fans and systems.

That’s is why gaming laptops are thick and a lot of cooling to get that performance, and why it is better to call these portable PCs notebooks. Try and put them on your lap, they will cook your thighs.

So, if this information is so important, why did I omit it from the published story? I didn’t. Editorial did.

Most of these laptops use the same processor (i7-1165 or i5-1135), the same amount of RAM (8GB), the same amount of storage (512GB SSD), and the same graphics processor (Intel Iris Xe Graphics) with only one exception that is using the (NVIDIA MX 350).

The even the laptop in the same series with the same specifications but different screen size share the same price. And it ranges between RM3,099 and RM4,699.

I’m not saying that these are bad laptops at all. My take? Aim for the VivoBook 15 (K513) with the NVIDIA MX 350. It looks to have the best balance of price and features. Go for the top end ZenBook with the i7 both priced at RM4,699 if you hate ports.

Go to the ASUS website for the full details.

Go here for the published story.