Best Buy has
ASUS Creator Laptop Q (Q540VJ-I93050, 2023 Model) in
Open-Box Excellent condition on sale for
$765.99.
Shipping is free or select free store pickup where stock permits.
Thanks to community member
Dr.Wajahat for sharing this deal.
- Note, Ensure that you select 'Open Box - Excellent' under 'Buying Options' section. Availability may vary by location.
Open-Box Excellent description:
- Looks brand new
- Includes all original parts/accessories
- Typically contains packaging
Specs:- Intel Core i9-13900H, 14C (6P + 8E) / 20T, P-core 2.6 / 5.4GHz, E-core 1.9 / 4.1GHz Processor
- 15.6" 2880x1620 2.8K 120Hz OLED Display, PANTONE Validated, 600nits Peak
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 6GB GDDR6 Graphics w/ MUX Switch
- 16GB (2x8GB) DDR5 4800MHz Memory (8GB Soldered + 8GB SO-DIMM)
- 1TB M.2 PCIe 3.0 NVMe Solid State Drive
- Wi-Fi 6E 802.11ax 2x2 MU-MIMO + Bluetooth 5.3
- 720p HD Webcam w/ Windows Hello
- RGB Backlit Keyboard
- Inputs:
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-A)
- 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-C)
- 1x Thunderbolt 4.0
- 1x HDMI 2.1
- 2x DisplayPort 1.4
- 1x Ethernet
- 1x Audio Combo Jack
- 1x SD Card Reader
- Windows 11 Home
- 70 Whr Battery w/ 150W AC Adapter
- 14.03 x 9.26 x 0.79" (3.97 lbs)
Top Comments
I had bought a second laptop in case the first one had damage or did not work etc., especially given some bad experiences with back to back 'Excellent Certified' secondary room OLED TVs a couple of years ago from Best Buy - also had a good experience with another TV. (Main OLED TV for movie viewing was purchased brand new).
I may not even open the second Creator since I cannot imagine it doing much better than the first one.
Battery life notes:
I turned it on for the first time this evening and battery life (after 30 mins of Windows setup) was showing 1 hr 31 mins!
I then switched on Battery Saver and reduced the brightness to 27% and I checked and it was on Balanced Mode. It jumped to 4 hrs 34min or so (still not great considering the "almost 4 hours" of battery another user mentioned he was getting in Performance Mode with the display brightness at 100%); my 4 hrs 32 mins estimate was thus disappointing, but it was at least not terrible especially since the machine had been on for a little over 30 minutes at full brightness during Windows setup.
However, then after only a few minutes of browsing in Chrome (only 5 minutes or so after I got the 4 hrs 34 mins estimate), suddenly the battery life estimate dropped to 2 hrs 32 mins or so (forgot to make a note of it, but it was not more than 2 hrs 30 odd minutes).
So I am beyond baffled how people are getting battery life all over the map, although the majority of BB reviews are getting only 2 - 2 1/2 hours.
How can it vary so wildly that one owner is getting almost 4 hours on Performance mode with 100% display brightness on the same laptop, whereas I am getting 2 hrs 32 mins on Battery Saver, Balanced Mode and only 27% brightness.
You can add some time to the 2hrs 32 mins since it had been used for 34 minutes or so and drained from 100% to 84% in that time while it was setting Windows up, during which I could not switch to Battery Saver since it was setting everything up.
Too bad, after someone else's report of good battery life (which bucked the majority of the poor battery reviews I had seen on Best Buy) and then the one I noted above of someone getting almost 4 hours on Performance Mode with full 100% brightness, I was really optimistic and looking forward to similar performance.
Not sure what else to add / say, but I am still amazed / surprised how the battery life can vary so wildly from user to user, although the majority of Best Buy user reviews did say they were getting 2 hours or 2 1/2 hours or so.
But there were a few exceptions in the reviews getting 5 - 6 hours and one user claimed 8 hours and the 2 reports above of better battery life from SD members who are owners of this laptop.
Puzzled and disappointed.
Edited my message for an IMPORTANT UPDATE to the above:
Well, after typing my post above on another laptop, I tried the Creator Q again and after surfing for 5 minutes or so in Edge and Chrome on it, NOW Windows is saying 5 hrs 41 minutes battery time remaining with 81% battery left! This is with Battery Saver On still, brightness at 27% and Balanced Mode (think Battery Saver automatically switches it to Balanced Mode for power).
So maybe there is still hope for this laptop's battery life and maybe I spoke to soon about the poor battery life, but I know the estimated time remaining can jump up or down on a moment's notice.
So I will give it a couple of days at least and see what I actually observe in term of battery life over a long time period since the estimates (during a short time of usage) can be wildly inaccurate and vary up or down multiple times in a short timeframe.
Aside from the Creator's battery life (which we will call up in the air for now)m below are my initial impressions after using it for less than an hour:
Pros:
1. I love the OLED display and how bright it gets (I will be using it plugged in ~95%+ of the time, so I can bump up brightness and use it in full power mode to get the most out of the i9 and the display).
2. Based on my initial impressions, I think the keyboard is even better than that of my Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 (CPU is an 11th Gen i7) which is saying a lot.
3. Weight (sub 4 lbs) is great for a laptop with an i9,a discrete GPU (even if only a 3050) and lots of ports and solid build quality and even a metal lid!
4. I like the clean sleek look, easy to read keys and small form factor for a 15.6".
5. Nice port selection and even an RJ45 ethernet port and TB4.
6. Build quality - the lid is made of metal and it has passed durability tests and the screen is Gorilla Glass 6.
7. i9 13th Gen power.
8. Ability to use USB-C charging.
Cons:
1. Not 16", not QHD and, more importantly, not 16:10. I love the 16:10 aspect ratio on my Lenovo X1E; it really makes a big difference to how much vertical content I can get (e.g. on Teams).
2. "Only" an RTX3050 GPU. This is not an issue for me since I do NOT game on my PCs and I have a desktop with a 3070Ti in case. While the Creator has a discrete GPU, the RTX3050 will not be for true gamers or professional video editing etc. That said, keep in mind this is only $765.99 with an OLED screen, a 13th Gen i9-13900H, solid build quality and great port selection (inc. TB4 and an RJ45 jack etc.)
Battery life is still TBD. It may end up being a con. This is the big open item on this laptop for me.
Overall I love it (see list of pros above).
Other than not being 16" and the lack of 16:10 aspect ratio (and lack of QHD) which I hope I can live with for my needs, I think only poor battery life would make me return this since it is an amazing laptop (keep in mind I am not a gamer), let alone for $765.99.
I am ordering a 100W+ GaN USB-C PD charger to use instead of the OEM power brick. I will probably also get a power bank to supplement the battery... The trick will be getting one that is not too heavy, yet powerful enough (e.g. 25,000 mAh or so).
Looking forward to others also sharing their experiences with this i9 variant of the Creator!
51 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
I will pick mine up tonight (Open Box Excellent $765.99) and also report back with my feedback.
Based on a response from someone who got one of these laptops last time and got decent battery life, I am now (cautiously) optimistic about battery life.
Hopefully giving up the 16:10 aspect ratio of my Lenovo 'X1 Extreme Gen 4' (11th Gen i7-11850H) will not be too bad. That is my only other concern with the Creator, aside from battery life.
I will pick mine up tonight (Open Box Excellent $765.99) and also report back with my feedback.
Based on a response from someone who got one of these laptops last time and got decent battery life, I am now (cautiously) optimistic about battery life.
Hopefully giving up the 16:10 aspect ratio of my Lenovo 'X1 Extreme Gen 4' (11th Gen i7-11850H) will not be too bad. That is my only other concern with the Creator, aside from battery life.
Someone in the other thread is getting at least 4 to 5 hours (no gaming) with 70% brightness on Balanced mode with still 20% to 30% battery left after 5 to 6 hours.
Also just heard from someone else who just got one who is getting 4 hours in Performance mode (and presumably brightness turned up).
I picked mine up but got home late, so will post my thoughts tomorrow...
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
I had bought a second laptop in case the first one had damage or did not work etc., especially given some bad experiences with back to back 'Excellent Certified' secondary room OLED TVs a couple of years ago from Best Buy - also had a good experience with another TV. (Main OLED TV for movie viewing was purchased brand new).
I may not even open the second Creator since I cannot imagine it doing much better than the first one.
Battery life notes:
I turned it on for the first time this evening and battery life (after 30 mins of Windows setup) was showing 1 hr 31 mins!
I then switched on Battery Saver and reduced the brightness to 27% and I checked and it was on Balanced Mode. It jumped to 4 hrs 34min or so (still not great considering the "almost 4 hours" of battery another user mentioned he was getting in Performance Mode with the display brightness at 100%); my 4 hrs 32 mins estimate was thus disappointing, but it was at least not terrible especially since the machine had been on for a little over 30 minutes at full brightness during Windows setup.
However, then after only a few minutes of browsing in Chrome (only 5 minutes or so after I got the 4 hrs 34 mins estimate), suddenly the battery life estimate dropped to 2 hrs 32 mins or so (forgot to make a note of it, but it was not more than 2 hrs 30 odd minutes).
So I am beyond baffled how people are getting battery life all over the map, although the majority of BB reviews are getting only 2 - 2 1/2 hours.
How can it vary so wildly that one owner is getting almost 4 hours on Performance mode with 100% display brightness on the same laptop, whereas I am getting 2 hrs 32 mins on Battery Saver, Balanced Mode and only 27% brightness.
You can add some time to the 2hrs 32 mins since it had been used for 34 minutes or so and drained from 100% to 84% in that time while it was setting Windows up, during which I could not switch to Battery Saver since it was setting everything up.
Too bad, after someone else's report of good battery life (which bucked the majority of the poor battery reviews I had seen on Best Buy) and then the one I noted above of someone getting almost 4 hours on Performance Mode with full 100% brightness, I was really optimistic and looking forward to similar performance.
Not sure what else to add / say, but I am still amazed / surprised how the battery life can vary so wildly from user to user, although the majority of Best Buy user reviews did say they were getting 2 hours or 2 1/2 hours or so.
But there were a few exceptions in the reviews getting 5 - 6 hours and one user claimed 8 hours and the 2 reports above of better battery life from SD members who are owners of this laptop.
Puzzled and disappointed.
Edited my message for an IMPORTANT UPDATE to the above:
Well, after typing my post above on another laptop, I tried the Creator Q again and after surfing for 5 minutes or so in Edge and Chrome on it, NOW Windows is saying 5 hrs 41 minutes battery time remaining with 81% battery left! This is with Battery Saver On still, brightness at 27% and Balanced Mode (think Battery Saver automatically switches it to Balanced Mode for power).
So maybe there is still hope for this laptop's battery life and maybe I spoke to soon about the poor battery life, but I know the estimated time remaining can jump up or down on a moment's notice.
So I will give it a couple of days at least and see what I actually observe in term of battery life over a long time period since the estimates (during a short time of usage) can be wildly inaccurate and vary up or down multiple times in a short timeframe.
Aside from the Creator's battery life (which we will call up in the air for now)m below are my initial impressions after using it for less than an hour:
Pros:
1. I love the OLED display and how bright it gets (I will be using it plugged in ~95%+ of the time, so I can bump up brightness and use it in full power mode to get the most out of the i9 and the display).
2. Based on my initial impressions, I think the keyboard is even better than that of my Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 (CPU is an 11th Gen i7) which is saying a lot.
3. Weight (sub 4 lbs) is great for a laptop with an i9,a discrete GPU (even if only a 3050) and lots of ports and solid build quality and even a metal lid!
4. I like the clean sleek look, easy to read keys and small form factor for a 15.6".
5. Nice port selection and even an RJ45 ethernet port and TB4.
6. Build quality - the lid is made of metal and it has passed durability tests and the screen is Gorilla Glass 6.
7. i9 13th Gen power.
8. Ability to use USB-C charging.
Cons:
1. Not 16", not QHD and, more importantly, not 16:10. I love the 16:10 aspect ratio on my Lenovo X1E; it really makes a big difference to how much vertical content I can get (e.g. on Teams).
2. "Only" an RTX3050 GPU. This is not an issue for me since I do NOT game on my PCs and I have a desktop with a 3070Ti in case. While the Creator has a discrete GPU, the RTX3050 will not be for true gamers or professional video editing etc. That said, keep in mind this is only $765.99 with an OLED screen, a 13th Gen i9-13900H, solid build quality and great port selection (inc. TB4 and an RJ45 jack etc.)
Battery life is still TBD. It may end up being a con. This is the big open item on this laptop for me.
Overall I love it (see list of pros above).
Other than not being 16" and the lack of 16:10 aspect ratio (and lack of QHD) which I hope I can live with for my needs, I think only poor battery life would make me return this since it is an amazing laptop (keep in mind I am not a gamer), let alone for $765.99.
I am ordering a 100W+ GaN USB-C PD charger to use instead of the OEM power brick. I will probably also get a power bank to supplement the battery... The trick will be getting one that is not too heavy, yet powerful enough (e.g. 25,000 mAh or so).
Looking forward to others also sharing their experiences with this i9 variant of the Creator!
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Settings:
Both laptops playing the same youtube clip at the same time in Chrome.
Both set to 30% brightness
Both on Battery Saver.
Note - I hope Battery Saver means 'Balanced Mode' on the X1E, but I will double check that later.
Results:
After some time of leaving them both running Youtube clips on Autoplay (continuous mode) with the screen on the whole time while I worked on a desktop in parallel.
The Asus Creator laptop has 53% remaining, but keep in mind I had been using it last night and not recharged, so the battery level started much lower to begin with and still shows 3 hrs 23 mins now.
The Lenovo X1E has 64% remaining (BUT it started at full this morning) and says only 2 hrs 19 mins remaining.
Glad I checked the two against one another since it will obviously play into my decision which one to keep...
I was so focused on the Creator's battery life, that I had not thought about checking the Lenovo X1E's battery life. I recalled the X1E's battery life not being great, but it has been a long time since I ran it on battery...
So, based on these preliminary results, the good news is that it seems I will actually GAIN battery life if I keep the Creator, not lose battery life as I had thought I might.
I will run the same test tomorrow as well. Tomorrow I will start it with both laptops fully charged and see what happens!
If the results hold, I will likely keep the Asus Creator - see next point (to finalize my decision).
Aside from battery, I now just need to compare 16:9 15.6 of the Creator vs. the 16:10 16" QHD of the X1E to see how many MS Teams chats rows I can see in each.
I much prefer the 16:10 of the X1E, but the Creator has many benefits over the X1E - The Creator is two generations newer and an i9 vs an i7 and has an OLED screen, metallic lid, smaller footprint, USB/TB 4 and an ethernet port built-in.
Aside from the 16:10 and QHD apect ratio, the X1E has a 3050Ti vs. the 3050 (non-Ti) of the Creator, but I do NOT game on my PCs anyway.
I will miss some aspects of the Lenovo, but for the price of the Creator it felt like a perfect time to upgrade and sell the X1E.
Hope this helps others who may be considering getting this laptop!