Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Buying a laptop - Haswell is worth waiting for

1.92 pounds in weight...

Intel's new Haswell processor is worth waiting for. It is only a bit faster, and on laptops the improvements are likely to be only in graphics performance. But it is really not about the speed. The new models with a 15W thermal design point will result in being to double or almost double battery life on a laptop. Basically, you can expect smaller 11.6-inch models having battery life between 6 to 10 hours, and larger 13.3-inch units going up to 15 hours.

... and sliver thin.

Sony has used the new technology bring its 11-inch Sony Vaio Pro to a unprecedented 1.92 pounds in weight and that is packing a Full HD display and all. That is about the weight of a Apple iPad with a carry case. The 13-inch Sony Vaio Pro is down to 2.3 pounds in weight, which is lighter than Apple 11-inch MacBook Air.

Apple felt is MacBook Air's were light enough, and used the new technology to maximize battery life. The 11-inch MacBook Air is not rated at 9 hours endurance, and the 13-inch model has a 12 hour endurance rating. At the same time, the new MacBook Air models are cheaper. 

Basically, Haswell allows manufacturers to come up with impressive new devices. 

If you are buying a low cost laptop, price at Php25K or below, or want to get a MacBook Air, go ahead and buy one. But if you are looking at higher end Windows laptops, or a MacBook Pro or retina version, it is probably best to sit tight for a bit and wait for the new generation of Haswell powered units.

1 comment:

  1. OMG that's a Sony? How pretty! But I'm sure it costs like 3 MBAs...well I cheated and googled and I was surprised that it's way cheaper. A lot of people have been complaining about the new Sony laptops, like they randomly shutdown, won't wake up from sleep, have extremely slow wifi, and the likes (from Sony forums, I lurked there as I was eyeing a low end 14" Sony netbook with an i3 processor)...but maybe that's reserved for the lower end models.

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