41-50k Heavy Daily/Office-Type Use 14in Laptop With Some Light Gaming

sid41299

Forerunner
I've narrowed down to a custom ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 (specs will be posted below) for the size and features (mainly the size, it's really hard to get good compact laptops here) but are there any other laptops I should take a look at before finalizing? Any good deals running on other sites? I don't mind compromising on the size and specs if it's really worth the tradeoff, but yeah, just want to know what the market is like around laptops like these. Some people recommended the Vivobook, but I'm not able to find any equivalent Vivobook models at similar prices and specs.

Also, anything I should know about the ThinkPad before buying? Any major cons that don't show up in the reviews/spec sheets? Anything I should know about Lenovo Service too? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Sid

P.s.: There's a 10% cashback offer on custom laptop purchases so the actual cost of the laptop comes down to Rs. 51,180

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???

That's not a bad thing right? Zen3 still has equivalent performance with superior efficiency?
Ohh yeah Zen-3 is still awesome and will be awesome for a few more years. Just mentioned in case your intention was to buy a Zen 4 7000 series Laptop.
 
Is it even possible to get Zen 4 at this price range?

Add.:

How does this deal compare?

I haven't yet seen a Zen 4 laptop online. But it will ofcourse be a bit costlier.

Also, don't look at any other brand you might get a better deal but you compromise on build quality.
 
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ThinkPads are known for their build quality and performance. You can still see someone recommending old ThinkPad T4s for beginners. From my experience, you could additionally purchase extended warranty/Onsite warranty from them for an extra cushion.
 
ThinkPads are known for their build quality and performance. You can still see someone recommending old ThinkPad T4s for beginners. From my experience, you could additionally purchase extended warranty/Onsite warranty from them for an extra cushion.
They offered add-on Onsite warranty for an extra rupee (Along with a backpack - also for a rupee!) and I did get that
 
I recently bought a thinkpad e14 from Amazon, same config as above for 48k

Would definitely recommend. It's been only a week, so can't really comment on longevity, but definitely feels solid all around.

I added a 16 GB module and another 500 GB SSD in the second M.2 slot. Removing the back cover took a bit of patience, but it was manageable if you've done this kind of thing before. So total cost including upgrades was ~53.5k, total 24 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD
They offered add-on Onsite warranty for an extra rupee
This was not extended warranty, it was just an upgrade from carry-in to on-site. Useful still, but not a real upgrade.
 
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I read somewhere that build quality of L series is more mainstream thinkpad than E series which is just a low cost version. Build quality might be a notch inferior in E series.
See if you can physically check both varieties and then take the call.
Also, I personally used E430 for 7 years and vouch for it's build quality be it hinge, screen, battery and it's sweet keyboard
 
@sid41299

so what you settled for?
E14 Gen 5 AMD, the same specs as I posted above + another 8GB RAM

This was not extended warranty, it was just an upgrade from carry-in to on-site. Useful still, but not a real upgrade.
Yeah I know. I recently bought an extra year of warranty + ADP for the whole two years for 7.5K. Lots of peace of mind now

I read somewhere that build quality of L series is more mainstream thinkpad than E series which is just a low cost version. Build quality might be a notch inferior in E series.
See if you can physically check both varieties and then take the call.
Also, I personally used E430 for 7 years and vouch for it's build quality be it hinge, screen, battery and it's sweet keyboard
I haven't had any issues in my 4 months of ownership, but I did hear that the hinge mounts are made of plastic, and they're very likely to fail over time. Obviously I can't speak for that, but I did buy warranty + ADP till 2026 so
 
I read somewhere that build quality of L series is more mainstream thinkpad than E series which is just a low cost version. Build quality might be a notch inferior in E series.
See if you can physically check both varieties and then take the call.
Also, I personally used E430 for 7 years and vouch for it's build quality be it hinge, screen, battery and it's sweet keyboard
Yes, L series and T series have better build quality. T, of course, is significantly more expensive. L, while not that expensive, is still 10-15k more than E series. And E series is quite solid even with the compromises.
I have had quite a few laptops over the years and haven't had the hinge fail on any of them. So I doubt Thinkpad's hinge will fail if you take proper care of it. Just don't push it from one edge and it should be fine for years.