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by maxsilver 1090 days ago
180W isn't as bad as it seems. I have an ASUS Zephyrus 14, which ships with a 180W charger (and has a full Ryzen 9 5900HS + GeForce RTX 3060, 40GB of RAM) -- under normal use, it doesn't get particularly hot at all. (it never draws more than ~60ish watts)

If you stress-test everything to the max (Turbo Mode CPU+GPU, max power draw, while playing a game at 120fps) then yes, you can draw 150+ watts and it's too hot to safely have on your lap. But you can set it on a table and still use it comfortably. (The keyboard/trackpad never gets hot)

Notably, being able to choose which mode you want anytime is super useful. (I can turn this into a respectable gaming rig at a moment's notice, and it weighs less than a 16' MacBook Pro. I can also flip a switch and it's basically an ultrabook with 7 hours of battery life and silent fans -- or I can run it all day off a tiny 65watt USB-C charger in the office in that mode)

Having a high-watt charger means you have the option to use that electricity, not that you are required to do so.