I have a new laptop! 💻
It has been a while, but I gave myself a new laptop. I noticed that my old laptop (Acer V Nitro …) was no longer good enough for all my work and study assignments, mainly because we were working on Android app development at the time during my studies and especially the emulator demands a lot from your laptop .
In the end I bought the Asus Zenbook 15, a 14 inch model laptop with a 15″ 4K screen and an extra screen in the touchpad! Later on the details, but first a nice story how I know that this laptop exists.
Did this choice just come out of the blue? Not quite. During my visit to the IFA in Berlin (2019), I tested an earlier version of this laptop at Asus and I was quite impressed. The housing is not made of plastic but has a metal finish, when you unfold the screen the keyboard is tilted up by 3 degrees, which (according to Asus) should improve comfort if you are typing a lot. For the rest it’s a powerful workhorse and works very fast, for gaming I would not buy it that quickly (but I’m also not a hardcore gamer) but in terms of productivity it’s ideal!
What is also nice to mention is that the laptop is equipped with a 3D IR Camera that supports Windows Hello, which works quite well and so you are logged in in no time and can continue working. Although I also like those fingerprint scanners that you often encounter in laptops from Lenovo.
Hardware specifications
So what’s underneath the skin of this laptop workhorse?
- 15.6″ screen in 14″model laptop and 4K display
- Intel core i7 processor
- NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650 with Max-Q (4GB)
- Wi-Fi 6 support
- 1TB SSD
- 16GB Ram
Because this is an ultrabook, it no longer has a CD tray and no ethernet port, so if you want to use wired internet, you have to purchase a separate USB-C to ethernet adapter.
Update for Screenpad 2.0
Very recently, Asus upgraded Screenpad’s interface and I have to say I’m pretty enthusiastic about it. They have polished the interface just a bit better, making it feel more contemporary and just a bit more pleasant. Unfortunately, the range of special apps is still limited for this screen, so don’t buy this laptop because of the screen (it’s more often off than on), but mainly buy it because of the fine hardware specifications.
Archive HA config on Github 😥
You may have already seen it on Github or Twitter, but I archived one of my Home Assistant config repositories. This happened because the house this config was running in is no longer ours and we have moved. Don’t worry, there is another repository where you can get creative inspiration.
In the future there may be a new repository with the config of the new house 🏠
New started projects 🚧
Anyone who knows me a bit well knows that I’m never bored and am always busy inventing / building / programming cool things. Therefore, a short summary of what may still be to come in the future:
- Playing with radar sensors to supplement or replace PIR sensors
- Building my own integration for Home Assistant
- Developing a parking ticket grabber, for those who just can’t get to the ticket 😄
For the first 2 items, there will be a separate blog where I will go into more detail.
