I’ve been testing AI hardware for years — NPUs, GPUs, dedicated accelerators, the works. But the most surprising AI upgrade I’ve made in the last six months didn’t involve a new computer at all. It came from three devices sitting on my desk that I hadn’t thought about in years: my webcam, my headset, and …
The NPU+GPU Hybrid Revolution: Why the Best Local AI Setups Use Both in 2026 I’ve spent the better part of two decades testing hardware configurations, but nothing has disrupted the workstation landscape quite like the current hybrid revolution. We’re witnessing a fundamental shift in how local AI systems are architected, and it’s not just about …
The AI Hype Is Over—But the Good Stuff Just Arrived I spent 2023 and 2024 testing AI tools that promised everything and delivered little. But something shifted in the last year. We moved from AI-as-gimmick to AI-as-infrastructure. The devices hitting the market now don’t just slap “AI” on the box—they integrate neural processing in ways …
I’ve been covering hardware launches for over two decades, and most chip announcements follow a predictable script: bigger numbers, marginally better benchmarks, a new architecture name to slap on a box. But every so often, something lands that genuinely shifts the ground beneath the industry. NVIDIA’s RTX Spark, announced at Computex last week and now …
I’ve been testing laptops professionally for over two decades, and I can’t remember a year where the gap between platforms was this narrow — or this interesting. Four major AI-accelerated laptop platforms are battling for your desk right now, and after spending the better part of two months living with each one, I’m ready to …
Computex 2026 wrapped up last week, and I’m still processing what I saw on the show floor. For the first time in years, the biggest story wasn’t about raw GPU frame rates or CPU clock speeds — it was about running AI models locally, on your own hardware, without ever touching a cloud API. The …
After testing dozens of AI tools over the past year, I’ve seen the hype cycle play out in real time. Some tools promised to revolutionize how we work, while others turned out to be glorified chatbots that added more friction than they solved. But through all the noise, I’ve found a core group of AI …
I’ve been testing AMD’s new Ryzen AI Max+ 395 for the past month, and I have to say—I’m impressed. This isn’t just another incremental upgrade; it’s a fundamental shift in what’s possible with portable AI hardware. When AMD announced this chip, they claimed it could run 120-billion-parameter models in a laptop form factor, and after …
For years, I’ve been testing the latest tech that makes creative work faster and more efficient. As a seasoned tech reviewer who’s spent decades with cameras, editing software, and the hardware that powers it all, I’ve seen the evolution from basic video editing to today’s AI-driven creative workflows. But nothing has transformed the industry quite …
There’s a moment every hardware nerd lives for — when you power on something genuinely new and the benchmarks start scrolling across your screen like a revelation. That happened to me about four weeks ago when I first booted a machine built around AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ 395, better known by its codename: Strix Halo. …