Choosing a laptop for Rich, Windows 8, Intel Haswell, Iris Graphics, HD 5200, LGA 1150 socket, On-Die Voltage Regulator, ASUS VivoBook, Ultrabooks – RRPG022

The guys from Home Tech Podcast show #117 hang around post-show to help me, Rich O’Neil, figure out what to buy as a replacement for my 2 1/2-year old $199 Acer Aspire 5251-1317 laptop. The cheap little laptop has been holding its own, especially since I had I installed an SSD in it, but the screen is beginning to die and I don’t know if I’m going to replace it. Besides, it really doesn’t have enough power to run virtual machines well, something I occasionally require for testing and  schoolwork.

The guys and I talk about hardware and choice of OS – Windows 7 or Windows 8. If I’m going with W8,  they recommend getting the touchscreen so I can experience Windows 8 in all it’s glory. I agree. I also like the fact that W8’s Hyper-V feature makes working with virtual machines fairly easy. It’s nice to have a decent alternative to VirtualBox. As far as when to pull the trigger on a purchase, Michael Martis suggests waiting until Haswell, Intel’s newest CPU series, arrives next month on June 3rd or 4th. It’s a good idea and I think I’ll wait. The decreased power consumption by itself is reason enough – Intel is claiming at least 20x power consumption improvement over Ivy Bridge. But Intel is also claiming up to a 2x boost in graphics performance with support for 4k video. Whoa! I guess it’s a tough time right now to be in the market for a new laptop.

Having said that, Martis recommends the ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T 11.6” Touch Laptop he recently picked up from his local Best Buy, and Jim Collison snaps up one of these from Amazon after the show. For $399, it’s a really nice, tight little laptop with touchscreen included. But I cannot deal with an 11.9-inch screen. Ultrabooks with SSD caching and a 15.6” touchscreen are an interesting thought. Maybe I’ll look for a Haswell proc in one of those? Anyway, thanks to the guys for giving me good stuff to think about and letting me bounce some of my thoughts off them.

– Rich

Rich’s RPG is a podcast hosted by Jim Collison and Rich O’Neil in Google+ Hangout. We talk tech with like-minded folks, covering stuff that’s interesting to us. No outlines, no agenda, no worries. And we welcome newcomers. Got your headset and a bit of free time? Join us on the show by contacting us at:podcast@theaverageguy.tv orrich@theaverageguy.tv

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