Will there be anything left to run it on in Windows 11 that isn’t ruined with ads and bloat?
Run Linux. Use KDE desktop for windows 7 like experience - I stopped using windows 7 years ago - as long as you don’t trap yourself in garbage popular distro like Ubuntu or Debian - you’ll be fine. Install Fedora with KDE, or Manjaro. After some learning curve (no disk mounting by default, wtf?) it does it’s job pretty damn good, (unless you don’t play games with anticheat ect.)
You’re right about “run Linux” but not sure what you’re on about with “trap yourself in garbage popular distro like Ubuntu or Debian” there.
Those distros are just fine; like anything else, use what is best for you, no reason to be negative.
I used Ubuntu initially - These distros aren’t fine. Time wasted on fixing problems I shouldn’t need to fix is wasted forever. It was a never ending stream of issues that wasted countless hours of my life
Is there a non-AI model?
I don’t want to pay money and watts for silicon I won’t use
The closest thing is probably the 7840HS, 7940HS or the U variants (same thing at a lower TDP so slightly slower). The 8945HS, 8845HS, etc. are very similar but with a better NPU, which you won’t want to pay for (and which still doesn’t quite meet Copilot specs), so the 7xxx ones are better value. The performance of the AI 300 looks very similar to the 7940HS. Power efficiency may be better in the new one though.
It’s the kind of thing that in a few years you’ll be glad to have because some tasks will be offloaded from the GPU to the NPU, one I can think of is the background blur in video conferencing software or microphone noise suppression
GPUs are already really good at those, and GPUs are not a fad.
GPUs are already good at those things. But NPUs can be better at those things - and probably more energy efficient too - given optimized domain-specific models to work with.
Cpus are already good enough for terminal display, why would I want a GPU? ;)
This but unironically. I’m obsessed with off-grid, low power processing. I don’t want a stupid fucking NPU I won’t need nor use.
Then don’t get one? I don’t use tampons bit I don’t feel the need to yell about not buying them
I know they gotta do this to remain competitive and not concede that entire market subsection, but this is just one more product I won’t be buying.
Until AI can build me a custom wooden desk or mow my lawn (there’s already robots that do that), it’s just a novelty.
