SHOULD YOU WAIT FOR AMD RYZEN 4000 OR INTEL COMET LAKE H LAPTOPS, OR GET AN OLDER MODEL FOR CHEAP?

SOME PEOPLE SHOULD WAIT. OTHERS HAVE A CHANCE TO SNAG A PRETTY GREAT BARGAIN.

- GORDON MAH UNG

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.