Do I really need… Processor cores?

What are they?

A central processing unit (CPU), usually made by Intel or AMD, is the chip that does a PC’S main computing work. Each of its cores is like a little computer in itself.

Why would I want it?

The more cores you have, the faster the CPU should get through the work your software gives it, and the less time you should spend waiting for progress bars and spinning wheels or suffering the classic ‘nothing seems to be happening’.

What’s the catch??

More cores only meansans faster results to the extent that software can take advantage of them; it’ll vary between programs. To generalise, adding a core can roughly double performance, but only if you’re trying to do several hard things at once (like rendering video effects in the background while doing something else). An extra complication is multithreading, which lets Windows give each core two simultaneous tasks. This just avoids one task slowing the other, giving a smaller performance boost.

VERDICT: It’s not cheap and it doesn’t fix the flaws all convertible laptops have, but this is a very fast machine with advanced features

★★★★☆

ALTERNATIVE: Toshiba Portégé X20W £1,600 With a properoper i7-7500u and a 1.1kg.1kkg magnesium alloy chassis, this is better,etteter, but pricier

VERDICT: This is pricey for an averagelooking portable Bluetooth speaker, but it sounds great

★★★★☆

ALTERNATIVE: Libratone Zipp Mini £167 Available in a range of fabric finishes, this quieter 360-degree speaker isn’t water resistant but it supports Airplay as well as multi-room