Originally Posted by
Mitsu3000gt
Asus Zephyrus 14/15 if you do end up wanting a discrete GPU. Nothing can really touch those right now for the combination of size, features, and performance. Reviews have been extremely positive as well. You can also get 11+ hours of battery life out of these units when not gaming or doing anything power-intensive for the best of both worlds. The 'lower end' configurations might not be too far off what you were willing to spend for something with a U-series CPU and integrated graphics and you could do some gaming on it. Of course it would be a bit thicker and heavier than an ultra-slim but they are still very compact for what they are. Asus put much better screens on them for 2021 as well.
If you want integrated graphics, you probably do not want a Ryzen 5300U, 5500U, or 5700U as those are still built on Zen 2 architecture. The 5800U and 5600U along with every "H" series is Zen 3. 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM is pretty common nowadays, the one thing to look out for is if the SSD is using a SATA or PCI interface, and if it's PCI, if it's getting 2 or 4 lanes. That is the first area they start cheeping out on and for that reason they also do not advertise that so you usually need to find a detailed review. As for the RAM, ideally you want to make sure it's dual channel and not just a single 16GB stick if possible, unless you plan on adding some yourself. Not the end of the world either way, but Ryzen mobile benefits from the same RAM characteristics as Ryzen desktop. At the moment, Lenovo and Asus are probably going to be the only brands you might find in stock with a Ryzen 5000 series so I would start there and see what styles/prices appeal to you. The other thing I would look out for is USB-C charging - not every laptop offers it and IMO that is a must-have going forward. I think your biggest challenge will be finding something in stock with a 5XXXU in it.
Dell (XPS) and Gigabyte (AERO) shot themselves in the foot this year recycling garbage Intel CPUs, otherwise the XPS 15 would probably be an easy recommendation. I see RAZOR just announced Ryzen based laptops, as they are also still using 10th gen Intel.
Ryzen 4XXXU laptops are easier to find, inexpensive, and still excellent, but of course you may not want to buy into prior-gen architecture. If it's just for meetings and MS Office though, maybe it's something to consider.