Dell 14 - AMD Kraken Point

[RandallFlagg]

I just ordered one of these for my stepson, Dell 14 Plus with an AI 5 340.

Very few reviews available on these though, laptops with this chip seem to have mostly just hit the market in the last 6 weeks and 90% of the "reviews" are "I saw it in a store". What I was able to glean is that it is significantly faster than Meteor Lake in single core. For that matter, it's faster in single than my desktop 12700K,

Anyone have one? Any thoughts?

Dell 14+ Kraken 340 vs Meteor Lake 155U (grey is Kraken point):

Dell 14+ Kraken 340 vs my 'tweaked' desktop (12700KF etc. in profile), Kraken is grey:

Edit: Yeah Lunar Lake matches sometimes beats Kraken, but I didn't see any Lunar Lake < $900. I paid $567 for this, including tax and shipped.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Any thoughts?

My first thought was, why didn't you ask this question before ordering one? Oh well.

I personally feel 14" notebooks are too small. But that's me with my old eyes. As for the rest, under $600 for a decent notebook is a fair price these days.

You didn't tell us what your stepson will be using this for. If gaming, then again, I feel 14" might be too small - not for his eyes, but for system cooling.

Manufacturers can pack the horsepower of a PC into those tiny cases, but not the necessary cooling. If you consider even a decent tower PC case, with multiple large case fans and a huge CPU heatsink and fan assembly is still challenged to keep its innards properly cooled, it is no wonder a tiny notebook case is especially challenged to keep it running at full throttle for extended periods of demanding tasks.

You might consider the need for a decent cooling pad, one with its own external power supply so you don’t put more strain on the notebook, causing it to generate even more heat. Sadly, pads with external power supplies are getting harder to find. So if the pad runs off USB power only, I recommend using a USB Wall Adapter to power the pad whenever possible. If you can find images of the bottom of this notebook, try to find a pad where its fans align with the notebook's vents.

In any case, make sure your stepson uses the notebook on a flat hard surface so air can circulate underneath - not on his lap, the carpet, or bed.

 

[RandallFlagg]

My first thought was, why didn't you ask this question before ordering one? Oh well.

I personally feel 14" notebooks are too small. But that's me with my old eyes. As for the rest, under $600 for a decent notebook is a fair price these days.

You didn't tell us what your stepson will be using this for. If gaming, then again, I feel 14" might be too small - not for his eyes, but for system cooling.

Manufacturers can pack the horsepower of a PC into those tiny cases, but not the necessary cooling. If you consider even a decent tower PC case, with multiple large case fans and a huge CPU heatsink and fan assembly is still challenged to keep its innards properly cooled, it is no wonder a tiny notebook case is especially challenged to keep it running at full throttle for extended periods of demanding tasks.

You might consider the need for a decent cooling pad, one with its own external power supply so you don’t put more strain on the notebook, causing it to generate even more heat. Sadly, pads with external power supplies are getting harder to find. So if the pad runs off USB power only, I recommend using a USB Wall Adapter to power the pad whenever possible. If you can find images of the bottom of this notebook, try to find a pad where its fans align with the notebook's vents.

In any case, make sure your stepson uses the notebook on a flat hard surface so air can circulate underneath - not on his lap, the carpet, or bed.

It's not a gaming PC. I bought it for him with minimal research because 1 - it's his birthday, and 2 - he just found out he's losing his job in 3 weeks and hence his company laptop, needs one to search for a new job. So this was a quick purchase with < 1 day of looking.

I was just going to give him my old 7700HQ / 1070 laptop, but I had forgotten Win 11 technically doesn't work with the 7700HQ and he's not a PC techie. I'm sure he could manage, but I don't want him distracted by bs issues while looking for a job.

That said I can always return it, hence the post, but under the circumstances time is of the essence.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Totally understand. Since the primary use will be for less demanding tasks, then IMO, it will be a great tool. Considering you could have gone for a $100 refurbished Chromebook, I'd say he's lucky to have you as a stepdad!