Now that AMD’s boffo Ryzen 4000 chips and Intel’s 10th-gen Comet Lake H are both out, laptop shoppers have to decide whether to wait for shiny new models to ship, or jump now to find some good deals on the current generation still available.
The biggest surprise was the Ryzen 9 4900HS (go.pcworld.com/49hs) we reviewed in the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 laptop (see page 47). We expected the CPU to be fast, but we didn’t know it would handle its acoustics and thermals so well, too. Ryzen 4000 and the ROG Zephyrus G14 have reset what to expect out of a gaming laptop for performance and portability.
Not to be outdone, Intel’s new 10th-gen Comet Lake H (go.pcworld.com/lkhr) also resets what to expect out of gaming and workhorse laptops with a Core i7. That’s because Intel has now introduced 8-core CPUs with Core i7 branding, after previously restricting that high core count to the premium Core i9. It brought enough of an improvement for us to pronounce the 10th-gen Comet Lake H Core i7 the best Core i7 we’ve ever seen.
Should you wait for the new laptops, or find a good deal on existing models? We’ll help you decide by going through the pros and cons for each generation.
WAIT: IF YOU WANT A HIGH‑END RYZEN LAPTOP
The biggest problem for those excited to buy a Ryzen 4000 laptop today is there just aren’t that many available, let alone with the hardware you might want.
This story is from the May 2020 edition of PCWorld.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2020 edition of PCWorld.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
5 Compelling Reasons to Buy a Windows Laptop Instead of a MacBook
MacBooks are powerful and chic. That's also true of many Window Notebooks - And they have other advantages that MacBook can't counter.
5 tips to make Gmail more secure
Bank statements, contracts, tickets, love letters…most things in this world can be sent via email, and protecting your email is extremely important.
TunnelBear VPN: It's just right for beginners
Come for the bear puns, stay for the security.
Contour SliderMouse Pro: This mouse saves your hands
Unusual ergonomic mouse is here to save your hands
Woohoo! You can get a Raspberry Pi again
Availability hasn't completely recovered, but it's looking much better already.
Microsoft begins pulling the plug on Cortana
Cortana probably won't live for much longer.
Norton's free Al-powered Genie tool helps you spot online scams
Not sure if the message, email, link or social media post you've received is a scam? The Al-powered Norton Genie is designed to help.
Google now alerts you if your contact info appears online
Better decades late than never.
Microsoft 365 makeover: Office docs are getting new default look
Significant changes are coming to your Office documents with Microsoft 365's new default theme.
Smart Answers: GenAl tool makes it easier to find the info you need on PCWorld
Smart Answers puts you in the driving seat for content discovery.