Ditching Your Laptop for a Tablet? . . .You Might Want to Reconsider. . .

Interesting title, but yes, you guys that have laptops but have contemplated going to a tablet for the touch screen, smaller size, and longer battery life, might want to reconsider sticking with a laptop. Intel, the processor company that makes 70% of the PC industry processors, recently released a new generation of processors for its Core i family (i3, i5, i7) 8 weeks ago. This new processor is the 4th generation of the Intel Core i series, with the code name Haswell. 

Here's the exciting part. This new Haswell has doubled the battery life of previous generation PCs and if you purchase a Haswell Ultrabook (smaller/lighter version of a laptop), you will not only get a 7-9 hour battery but you will also have a touchscreen. So you've got the lighter weight and size of an Ultrabook, combined with a very long battery life, and a touch screen. As if that isn't enough of a reason to stick with a laptop, you also get enhanced graphics and a potpourri of minor improvements including a 10% performance increase over previous generation models.

Here's the downside; it will cost you. You will be looking at the high $700s price point on the low side and $1,200-1,300 price on the high side for an Ultrabook.  If the attractiveness of an Ultrabook with its smaller size and weight isn't as big of a factor as longer battery life and enhanced graphics, you can still opt for a laptop for a little price relief, since the Haswell is available in laptop versions as well. 

To my knowledge, Best Buy in Lexington is the only retailer in town currently offering the Haswell. They are offering some HP, Toshiba P-Series laptops, as well as the Apple MacBook Pro Air, to name a few of the potential candidates. When you shop for it, the two keywords that identify that you're getting this new processor are Haswell and Intel 4th generation Core i. Mention that to the salesperson and you should be led to the correct one.

Those of you considering a desktop, yes, there are desktops that have the Haswell, although there are not that many available now. Be on the lookout for more support in that realm this Fall. 

I'm pretty excited about this new Haswell processor from Intel. It has all of the positive traits associated with tablets, but as a laptop. Those of you that are current Haswell laptop owners, I would love to hear your comments about your experiences with it!

I will be doing a more in-depth article about the Haswell in my blog soon. Be on the look out for that. I'm Jim Scarbrough and you can check-out my blog at http://pcjournal.typepad.com/blog.