It’s time for Qualcomm to clear the air on X Elite…

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t fantastically anxious about the launch of Qualcomm’s new PC chip. While there’s always been a fun (if ruthless) rivalry between Intel and AMD, the computer scene gets a lot more interesting when an outside player can come in and disrupt.

I’ve been preaching the benefits of ARM based PCs for a while now, and I genuinely believe a lot of folks out there would have preferred having better battery life away from a charger over the more traditionally powerful laptops and convertibles offered over the last several years, even for some issues with software compatibility.

I felt validated in this when Apple switched all of their laptops and desktops over to ARM System on Chips (SOCs).

Qualcomm has offered solutions in this market in the past, but their new chip could springboard Windows users into a much more competitive tier opposite MacBooks and Mac desktops.

While we wait for manufacturers like Dell, HP, Samsung, Lenovo, and Microsoft to ship new Windows on ARM devices, I feel it’s time Qualcomm helped us understand the X Elite a little better.

Specifically, how much power does X Elite consume? Continue reading “It’s time for Qualcomm to clear the air on X Elite…”

OnePlus Pad vs a Low Cost Laptop! Can it beat a Surface Laptop Go 2?

Tablet vs Laptop!

The OnePlus Pad is a solid buy for a high performance tablet, but can it unseat a PROPER computer? The Surface Laptop GO 2 is a beautiful student-grade laptop. Let’s test some of the performance and the battery life! Will you get a better performance per dollar with the laptop? Continue reading “OnePlus Pad vs a Low Cost Laptop! Can it beat a Surface Laptop Go 2?”

MSI Creator 15 Review: THE laptop for content creators?

Getting “work” done means different things to different professionals.

For content creators, there are certain features that really help improve your production quality. It’s not just one CPU benchmark or the best battery life, a mobile workstation is a different product than a consumer focused machine.
Does the Creator 15 live up to its name? Let’s take this PC for a spin! Continue reading “MSI Creator 15 Review: THE laptop for content creators?”

How the Pixelbook Go became our Family Computer

My favorite “unnecessary” Star Trek tech is in the Holodeck.

A Starfleet officer calls out “Arch”, and an archway with a touchscreen appears in the holographic simulation. It’s an utterly silly 1990’s idea of how we’d interact with computers hundreds of years in the future. When you think about Trek Tech, there’s really no need for such an elaborate mechanism to appear. A free-standing touch panel is all you need, but you’re also standing in a holographic environment, so why not make any kind of control surface you’d want out of the same “hard light” hologram magic?

That mini-nerd rant aside, the Pixelbook Go has become our family’s “Arch”. And we love it. Continue reading “How the Pixelbook Go became our Family Computer”

Your phone is faster than a laptop.

Well, your phone is PROBABLY faster than a laptop. I don’t know exactly what phone YOU own. The line between pocket computer, and portable computer is getting really blurry. Chances are pretty good that your phone is powerful enough to meet most (or all) of your computing needs. More than just “covering the basics”, let’s see what a smartphone can REALLY do… Continue reading “Your phone is faster than a laptop.”

Huawei MateBook 13 Long Term Review: Pushing the laptop right up to the edge…

Huawei MateBook 13 Long Term Review! It sucks when political drama gets in the way of a good gadget review. I’m totally guilty of letting time pass on this laptop, when I had every intention of revisiting it sooner. How has it held up? Were too many compromises made to reach a lower price? Can laptops like this still compete against ARM powered phones and tablets? Let’s check it out! Continue reading “Huawei MateBook 13 Long Term Review: Pushing the laptop right up to the edge…”

Huawei MateBook 13: comparing price against the competition…

A whole new generation of laptops pack formidable specs in sleek, premium form factors. Not only is the MateBook 13 a surprisingly snappy little machine, it’s also a surprisingly cost effective buy when weighed against a similarly priced MacBook…

Continue reading “Huawei MateBook 13: comparing price against the competition…”

CES 2018: Aorus X9 SLI laptops and Gigabyte Aero 15 – Newegg

We had the chance to take in the sights at the GIGABYTE/Aorus booth the day before CES 2018 officially started. Between the GTX 1070 SLI X9 gaming machine and a full line of notebooks and laptops for work and for gaming, Aorus pulled out all their laptop cred and put it on the table. The GIGABYTE Aero 15 line has been updated with fresh tech, and new displays are right around the corner, so this fan favorite laptop is getting even better. Take a look at the future of laptop tech with Aorus.