The store will be closed on Sunday while the cause of the fire is investigated. Read...

The Government has released new information on the planned school. Read...

First there was Clippy. Now Microsoft Copilot has a face, with reactions to what you tell it. Microsoft is showing off how Copilot could “look”: as an anthropomorphic teardrop of sorts, with expressions that react to your interactions in real time. The discovery was reported Friday by The Verge. Right now, the new look of Copilot is being presented to a limited number of users. Microsoft’s web page shows how to discover if you have it: by opening Copilot, clicking the “mic” icon to launch verbal interactions with Copilot, then clicking the “gear,” or settings, icon. That will open up the options to toggle the “appearance” off or on. “What if you could see Copilot react and speak as you chat?” Microsoft says. “With this experiment, we are bringing more non-verbal communication to Copilot, enhancing voice conversations with real-time visual expression. This early prototype allows you to chat, brainstorm, seek advice, or just mess around with Copilot, in a more engaging and expressive way.” Right now, the new Copilot appearance option is just being offered to consumers, and not people who subscribe to a Microsoft 365 business plan. Microsoft has tended to try and give its assistants a friendlier face, from the Office Assistant (which included Clippit/Clippy) as well as Microsoft Bob and its coterie of animated assistants. That didn’t go so well, however, when Microsoft launched and cancelled Microsoft Tay, its assistant who was quickly corrupted by internet trolls. Anthropomorphic mascots have also become a staple in some cultures, such as Japan. Copilot already leans pretty heavily on emojis to communicate how it “feels.” Ironically, when Bing Search / Copilot was launched, it was pretty personable — probably too much. Now, it’s much more bland. Here’s what you should see within the Microsoft Copilot Settings menu if you’re part of the appearance test.Microsoft Will users clamor for a Clippy option? Why not? If you have opinions, let us know on our Facebook page or on Bluesky. We can promise that our PCWorld logo will remain just the static image it is. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Outstanding industrial design Lots of ingress options—provided you have an iPhone Seamless integration with Apple Home and Home Keys Comes with two NFC fobs Cons Initial setup required multiple re-installs to resolve Only supports 10 PIN codes No backup power feature iOS only Our Verdict A bold design gives this Apple Home-centric smart lock a sophisticated look, but there’s very limited support for non-iPhone users, and installation can be a one-time challenge. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Avia Smart Deadbolt+ Retailer Price $299 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Spend enough time in this business and you’ll begin to feel like you’ve seen everything. After reviewing more than 80 smart locks to date, I was sure that there were no more design or functionality stones left to overturn in this segment of the smart home market. And then along comes Avia. A European brand newly available in the U.S., Avia is an altogether different concept in smart locks no matter which way you look at it. So, let’s start with its design. While the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ is a standard smart lock that replaces both exterior and interior escutcheons, you won’t notice it from the outside, at least from a distance. Externally, the lock—which is available in black and satin nickel—looks a lot like a traditional, non-smart device (or for that matter, a Level Lock+ smart lock): Its circular escutcheon is just barely larger than the borehole it fits into, and there’s a keyhole in its center. Look closely, however, and you’ll find 10 physical number buttons arranged along the top of lock, arranged in two rows of five. You need to pay extra to get an exterior PIN pad for a Level Lock. The PIN pad on the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ makes it one of the most unique smart locks on the market. Christopher Null/Foundry A plastic-covered sensor hides beneath the lock, nearly invisible to the casual observer. Press one of the buttons on the keypad and the numerals light up in color (in the hue of your choice), along with the Avia logo, which appears on both sides of the device, providing a postmodern vibe to an otherwise classic-looking lock. The Avia Smart Deadbolt+ boasts outstanding design and smooth operation, provided you’re an iPhone user. While the exterior effect is striking, the interior escutcheon is far more traditional (and very much unlike a Level Lock). It’s a squat rectangle in two-tone silver and black with a simple thumb turn, powered by four AA batteries under a plastic panel. Note that there is no external port for emergency power. Avia says fresh cells will last for up to 18 months. The manufacturer also says its lock meets the highest level of ANSI and BHMA testing but that it is still awaiting formal certifications. Installation and setup The lock goes together somewhat unusually, thanks to the inclusion of a second mounting frame that fits on the inside of the door. This is an additional plastic frame upon which a smaller metal frame sits, both of which are sandwiched together with the exterior escutcheon via two small bolts. (The need for this second frame isn’t explained in the lock’s documentation.) The exterior escutcheon has two electrical connectors: One connects to the interior motor unit, as expected, but the other attaches to a port on one of the frames. This all might be more intuitive if Avia included a printed instruction manual; unfortunately, your only educational option is to follow one of Avia’s online videos or go step-by-step with the Avia app. I found getting everything seated properly to be a bit more complicated than the typical lock I’ve reviewed, thanks to the extra mounting frame and that second cable; but for the most part, it was a straightforward installation—or so I thought (more on that later). You’ll need an iPhone to set up the Avia Smart Deadbolt+, but non-iPhone users will be able to open the door if you give them one of the included NFC keyfobs.Christopher Null/Foundry The Avia Smart Deadbolt+ supports Matter over Thread, but it currently works with iOS exclusively, being designed entirely around Apple HomeKit and Apple’s Home Key technology. If you don’t already have an iOS home hub (e.g., an Apple TV, HomePod, HomePod mini), Avia says you can use the lock directly over Bluetooth. But there’s really no point in purchasing this lock if you don’t also have one of those three devices, as you’ll miss out on many of the lock’s features—along with any kind of remote accessibility. Setup is very much in line with standard HomeKit configurations, and while you can set the lock up directly in iOS Home, you’re well advised to use Avia’s app to get started, beginning with scanning the QR code printed on the inside of the battery cover. I had to run through the scan-and-wait process a couple of times before it completed successfully; otherwise, the process was straightforward. Using the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ Once configured, Avia’s lock offers a robust collection of access methods, including the previously mentioned numeric keypad and a bevy of “smart” ways to open the door. The lock is compatible with Apple Home Key, so once it’s installed and configured, you can just tap your iPhone or Apple Watch on the lock to open it—you don’t need to open the app on your phone. The PIN pad and the Avia logo both light up in your choice from millions of colors.Christopher Null/Foundry Users without an iPhone can use one of the two included NFC fobs to do the same trick; these are easily enrolled within the Avia app. You can even unlock the door with a Siri voice command—after you authenticate yourself on your iPhone. One restriction of note: While you can share Home Key access with as many users as you’d like, the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ supports only 10 PIN codes and six key fobs (two of these are included with the lock). PIN and fob access must be configured through the Avia app directly. PINs can be restricted based on a schedule (recurring or otherwise), but fobs have 24/7 access. Home Key access must be granted through the iOS Home app. There is no facility for one-time access codes. The lock has just a few other features, including auto-locking (delayed by up to 4 minutes) and the PIN pad lighting effects I mentioned earlier. These are configured via a color wheel in the app. You can also select a two-digit code to lock the door from the outside, a step made necessary by the absence of a “lock” button on the exterior escutcheon. A robust logging system (see the screenshot above) keeps track of every lock and unlock operation. The understated design of the Avia Smart Deadbolt+’s exterior escutcheon is surpassed only by that of the Level Lock+Avia Smart The Avia Smart Deadbolt+ is a nifty device, except for one rather big and bizarre anomaly I encountered right after I finished setting it up; namely, the lock wouldn’t open unless I had the physical key in its cylinder, and I could only remove the key from the lock when it was in the locked position. Any attempt to unlock the lock without the key resulted in a jam, no matter how I tried to open it, including physically turning the interior thumb turn. I asked Avia about this and the company suggested the lock had either been installed with the spindle the wrong way or with the deadbolt not retracted, but upon disassembly, everything looked as though it was installed correctly. Nevertheless, after several more reassemblies and resets of the lock, carefully following Avia’s emailed instructions, I did finally get it working properly. All told it was a frustrating situation, but perhaps just a fluke since it was eventually resolved. Should you buy the Avia Smart Deadbolt+? Apart from than that significant setup hiccup, the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ works well, and its design is outstanding. The lock operates smoothly and reasonably quietly, the keypad is responsive, and every one of its means of electronic access worked flawlessly and nearly instantly in my testing. The robust Home Key support is really a game-changer, since you don’t need to open an app or even have your phone with you—as long as you’re wearing your Apple Watch. Needing to open an app or tap in a code to get into the house becomes tedious over time. At $299, however, the lock is very high-priced, especially given its limitations. For that kind of outlay, I’d expect flawless operation right out of the box, more robust user support, and a USB-C port for emergency power. All that said, it’s still $30 cheaper than the Level Lock+ that is its closest competitor. This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart locks. Read...

Business owners fear higher prices will keep customers from the CBD. Read...

A few days ago, President Donald Trump admitted that he had never heard of Nvidia or its CEO Jensen Huang even as he wanted to break the company up, reports Tom’s Hardware. All of this occurred at Trump’s presentation of his AI Action Plan in Washington, making the remarks while presenting on stage: “I said, look, we’ll break this guy up—this is before I learned the facts of life—I said we’ll break ’em up,” he continued. “They said ‘very hard’, I said ‘Why?’ I said, what percentages of the market does he have? ‘Sir, he has 100%.`” Trump continued, “I said, ‘Who the hell is he? What’s his name?’ ‘His name is Jensen Huang, Nvidia, ‘ I said, ‘What the hell is Nvidia?’ I’ve never heard of it before.” According to Tom’s Hardware, Trump even claimed that he suggested putting together “the greatest minds” to work “hand in hand for a couple of years” to try and match Nvidia’s success. “I figured we could go in and we could sort of break them up a little bit, get them a little competition, and I found it’s not easy in that business.” He was then told it would take 10 years to catch up with Nvidia, and only if Huang ran the company “totally incompetently from now on.” He concluded: “And then I got to know Jensen, and now I see why.” The so-called AI Action Plan outlines how President Trump wants to secure US supremacy in the field of artificial intelligence. Read...

Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardcore PC hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. Missed the latest topics on our YouTube show or flaming controversies across the web? You’re in the right spot. Want this newsletter to come directly to your inbox? Sign up on our website! Is hardware boring now? I asked myself this question after our crew’s discussion on Tuesday about the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE. Adam gave us the performance lowdown on the card (which still hasn’t reached U.S. shores but seems likely to), summarizing his findings from his testing. In his own words, “This literally does just slot right [into the Radeon 9000 stack]. Everything from the pricing to the performance, it’s like, okay, cool.” “Okay, cool.” I found myself saying the same thing about the next expected version of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 too, when it resurfaced in the news again. This “A” variant will shift from an Ampere chip to one from Team Green’s newer Ada Lovelace architecture, making this rehash of an older budget GPU a little more modern. Am I glad to see the Radeon 9000 series lineup fill out? Is it good that the RTX 3050 isn’t completely stuck in 2022? Yes, of course. But also this week, I blurted out a very different phrase about the latest flagship Ryzen Threadripper Pro chip, the 9995WX. It’s such a beast that an overclocker finessed it to run at 5GHz on all 96 cores, at a ludicrous power draw of 948 watts. I can’t repeat what I initially said for politeness’s sake, but dang is a workable alternative. AMD Very likely I’m experiencing summer doldrums, given how slow news is at this time of year. Other tech journalists and hardware enthusiasts might be, too. Adam’s tone when discussing the 9070 GRE sounded subdued to me—even Brad’s as well, and he’s the best (realistic and grounded) hype man I know. The Tom’s Hardware headline for the RTX 3050 news used the phrase “RTX 3050 refuses to die.” And our YouTube comments have sounded more reserved (and even pessimistic) than usual, across all topics. Still, I worry a bit we’re not in a temporary slump—that we’re instead experiencing a shift in what to expect from hardware launches. In talks I’ve had with various folks in tech or adjacent to tech, the idea that performance far exceeds need has come up more than once. That’s great for us as consumers, but a potential bummer for those of us who avidly follow technology’s twists and turns. As long-time TFN fans know, I’m a big champion of the budget and mid-range. I crave incredible performance at every price. I love revolutionary yet affordable products I can point to as highlights of the year—and not just during our annual wrap-up show in December, but in future episodes of our Hardware Hall of Fame. I want to feel excitement again. Not only from arguing with my coworkers about the merits of individual parts, or even what deserves the status of all-time notable hardware, but when I mention their existence to people who need them. In this episode of The Full Nerd… Willis Lai / Foundry In this episode of The Full Nerd, Adam Patrick Murray, Brad Chacos, Alaina Yee, and Will Smith talk about the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE’s place among graphics cards, and the changes we’d like to see to ATX. (Brad tackles this second topic head-on with a list of four concrete updates he wants.) The funny part: The guys all think I was ranting about ATX and its decrepit nature in last week’s newsletter. You and I both know I dove deep into broody feelings. I still got what I wanted though, which was hearing people’s thoughts on what should come next!  Less funny: Brad’s horrifying personal story about cockroaches during the pre-show. As for other noteworthy news, we had a couple of big announcements! First: Adam and Will are starting a limited-run podcast about Linux—they’ll be chronicling the experience of making the switch from Windows. Also: We’ve got a Hardware Hall of Fame episode coming up! Check back in two weeks for our return to fighting over what we think deserves GOAT status. And as with past years, we want to hear your nominees for the Hardware Hall of Fame, too. Share them with us on our Discord server, give me a shout on Bluesky, or send them to us at thefullnerd@pcworld.com! I’m not even trying to hide one of my nominees for this year’s HOF episode.Thiago Trevisan/IDG Missed our live show? Subscribe now to The Full Nerd YouTube channel, and activate notifications. We also answer viewer questions in real-time!  And if you need more hardware talk during the rest of the week, come join our Discord community—it’s full of cool, laid-back nerds. This week’s fresh nerd news One news blurb caught my eye and made me think of Gordon immediately—and so I’m honoring him this week by using a benchmark he came up with. Did I do it as well as him? No. But you know what, you can never properly replicate an original. Also making me happy are some really cool “books” available for sale. These look so cool!Bolt Industries (via Tom’s Hardware) You probably shouldn’t juice the heck out of your RTX laptop GPU: I agree with my colleague Michael Crider that most people should not use shunt mods for their laptop GPUs. You all, though? I know you understand the risks. Mod responsibly, folks. Would you willingly let Microsoft monitor you? We all hate sluggish performance, especially in Windows. But I’m not sure I’m willing to let Microsoft gather telemetry data on my usage to help them squash performance issues, even if it’s in developer and beta builds. Why use your MacBook Pro trackpad as a scale? Why not? Another to be filed under “YOLO.” (No shade to this person; they chose something far more productive to do than me, the reviewer who benchmarks games on integrated graphics—though in my defense, how can you criticize where the floor is if you don’t know its location?) This business is selling stolen personal data for $50: Its founder presents this reselling of details as legitimate, even going as far as to claim that “doing good is in our DNA.” But putting lipstick on a pig doesn’t change what animal it is. I want these PCB reference books made from actual PCBs: I write for a living, but I’m a big visual and tactile learner. So a physical “book” that teaches the basics of DC circuits, LEDs, transistors, and oscillators with PC boards that light up? Heck yeah. $37 isn’t even that expensive. (I’ve paid more for plain ol’ regular novels for English literature classes. College textbooks are such a racket.) Humans triumph over AI in coding championship—for now: Some times, it’s more important that you prove a thing is possible. (Even with the eventuality that a thing man created will be the reason for man’s downfall.) What lets me sleep at night is knowing humans will integrate data better than AI for a while yet. AMD Threadripper Pro 9000 CPU prices, plus the 2016-era Intel 6950X for historical pricing context.Alaina Yee / PCWorld $11,700 for a 96-core, 192-thread CPU? Not too bad: You know that Threadripper Pro 9995WX I talked about above? I’ve been side-eyeing the headlines that poke at its price. The MSRP did rise compared to the 7995WX, yes. And it is almost $12K, yes. But if we map out these prices in a chart (aka the benchmark pioneered by one Gordon Mah Ung), HEDT fans are still coming out ahead. ‘Entry-level’ Threadripper buyers even win this generation—the 9955WX has a lower price tag than its predecessor. Not sure if a Steam game is on Xbox Game Pass? This add-on will tell you: Unless you truly love a game (or its developers), you don’t need to buy it if you already have it available as a rental. This Chrome extension makes cross-checking easier. And while you’re at it, if you want to know if a Steam game is truly discounted, check out Is There Any Deal too. U.S. and state warring over internet prices is a loss for all: I’m bummed about this one. Not everyone can afford standard internet prices, much less deal with the cost-raising shenanigans of major internet service providers. The fact that anyone in government is against affordable internet is a real shame. What’s the cost of American-made? AMD says 5-20% for its Ryzen chips: AMD CEO Lisa Su also went on to comment to Bloomberg that the additional cost for fabrication at TSMC’s Arizona location is “worth it,” due to the diversification of chip supply. This latter info isn’t wholly new, as it was one of the driving motivators when the CHIPS act passed under the Biden administration—but now we have a clearer picture for what to expect from these efforts. If you love a website, click on its articles: We’re all pressed for time. But I will tell you, those of us in publishing have concerns about AI-generated search result summaries. Less traffic ultimately means less reporting—which means everyone ends up with fewer sources for quality information. Yooooo, Lego is launching a Nintendo Game Boy tribute: $60 bucks. That’s it. I don’t think any of my nostalgia purchases so far have been this reasonably priced. Your body can be fingerprinted and tracked using Wi-Fi signals: Remember how in an earlier newsletter, I got cranky about Comcast trying to use Wi-Fi signals to monitor movement around your modem? Well, this drives home the point a little further for why you don’t want a big corp quietly offering such a “service.” Catch you all next week, when both Adam and Brad are off—so Will and I are going to get up to (moderate) no good on The Full Nerd.  Don’t worry, it’s not like my boss reads this newsletter regularly. (eyeballs emoji -Brad) Alaina This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld. Read...

PCs have a reputation for being staid and sort of business-like, right? Nah, that’s just an image pushed by a Apple’s famous ad campaign. The truth is, your PC is a blank slate for as much creativity as you can muster. It can be especially useful as a tool to show off fun personalizations. Take this hilarious mod to the Recycle Bin as an example. In a few simple steps you can change it into an image of yourself that chomps down on files like you’d chow down on a hot dog. It’s a fun trick that will lighten up even the most serious Windows desktops. How to change your Recycle Bin into a chomping selfie Ask someone to shoot two images of you — one with your mouth shut and one with your mouth open. The two images should be framed so that they’re the same size and you’re in the exact same position. To make sure the files look like icons in windows, you need to cut out the images of you from their background in a photo-editing app. I used the magic select tool in Windows 11 Paint 3D since I still had the app loaded on my laptop, but since Paint 3D is being discontinued, you might want to use a free alternative app like GIMP, Photopea or Paint.NET. Save both files as .png files with transparent backgrounds. Now visit a free image conversion website like Free Convert and convert each of the .png files to .ico format. Name the closed-mouth image full.ico and the open-mouthed image empty.ico. Right click on your desktop and select Personalize. Navigate to Themes > Desktop Icon settings. Click on the Recycle Bin (full) icon and select the Change Icon button. Select your full.ico image, then Apply and OK. Follow the same steps to change the Recycle Bin (empty) icon to the empty.ico image. Click Apply and OK when prompted. Dominic Bayley / Foundry Your Recycle Bin should now be a chomping version of your own likeness that will chomp down on files that you drag into it. Try it out for instant laughs! If you want more tips like this one delivered into your inbox, twice a week, every week be sure to sign-up to our PCWorld Try This newsletter. Read...

Windows runs well, most of the time. But if the system suddenly starts acting up, important data disappears or programs no longer start properly, the cause is often not the technology itself, but the user. To be more precise: small oversights that can have annoying consequences. Many problems are homemade and thus, can easily be avoided. Anyone who forgets a backup, misplaces the Bitlocker key or blindly relies on Windows Defender sometimes risks more than they think. The good news is that most problems can be easily avoided. You just need to know where the typical pitfalls lurk. In this guide, we show you the five most common Windows errors and how you can avoid them with a few simple steps so that your system runs reliably, securely and stress-free. 1. Not creating a backup: The classic with consequences Handier than most smartphones: backup hard drives such as the SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD (1 TB) enable quick and easy backups.SanDisk It always happens when you least need it: The hard drive gives up the ghost, a virus encrypts important data, or a careless click deletes half your working life. If you don’t have a backup, you’re quickly left out in the digital rain and annoyed by your own carelessness. Here’s how to back up your data quickly and easily: Use an external hard drive: Set up a regular backup to an external drive using the Windows “File History” or “Backup and Restore” function. Check out our roundup of the best external drives to see which models we recommend. Supplement cloud backup: Services such as Onedrive, Google Drive or Dropbox offer additional protection, especially for documents and photos. Take a look at our list of the best cloud backup services to see even more great options Automation helps: Set up automatic backups (daily or weekly) so that you don’t have to think about it. Tip: Occasionally test your backup—an unusable backup is almost more annoying than having no backup at all. We present the best software for secure backups in this article. 2. Not backing up the BitLocker key: The digital door key BitLocker is like a digital safe: the hard drive is encrypted, making unauthorized access impossible. This is practical and convenient, as long as you don’t lose the key. Because without the so-called “recovery key”, all encrypted data remains just that: encrypted and inaccessible forever. How to use Bitlocker correctly: Back up the key: When you activate BitLocker (usually automatically with Windows Pro or Business), a recovery key is generated. Select secure storage: Save the key in your Microsoft account, print it out or make a secure note of it—but never just locally on the same PC. How to find your key in your Microsoft account: Log in to https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey, where your saved keys are listed. Tip: Do a quick check: Is your hard drive encrypted? Enter “Manage Bitlocker” in the Windows search and check the status: better now than after a total failure. 3. Ignoring Windows updates: Opening the door to security vulnerabilities When Windows reports new updates, many users reflexively click on “Remind me later” and sometimes postpone important updates until it becomes dangerous. This is because Windows updates are often essential: they plug security holes, improve performance and add new functions. We therefore advise you to install updates as soon as possible. This will keep your system up to date: Keep updates active: Go to“Settings > Windows Update” and make sure that automatic updates are activated. Do not postpone restarting: Schedule a restart on a regular basis. Many updates only take effect after a full restart—not just putting your computer to sleep. Check optional updates: Under “Advanced options” you will also see driver and quality updates, it may be worth taking a look here. Tip: Set fixed and convenient update times, for example in the evening or at lunchtime. Then restarts won’t disrupt your work and will become part of your digital routine. 4. Disabling Windows Defender—and not installing another antivirus Many people think: “I don’t need a virus scanner, I’ll just watch out for myself.” However, this is a risky philosophy, as digital attacks often take place silently in the background these days, via email attachments, websites or manipulated adverts. If you deactivate Windows Defender (and don’t install a replacement), you’re basically travelling through the virtual world without a seatbelt. How to protect your PC effectively: Keep Windows Defender active: The integrated protection is now amazingly powerful—and is completely sufficient for many users. No parallel virus scanners: Several antivirus programs often interfere with each other. Opt for a single digital bodyguard and leave it active at all times. Optional: Use alternatives if you want more protection (e.g. banking protection, VPN, parental controls). Programs such as Bitdefender, Kaspersky or ESET are a good addition – but please don’t use them in parallel with Defender. We present the best antivirus programs here. Tip: Check the status regularly: Open the Windows security area (“Windows security” in the search) and take a look at virus and threat protection. 5. Always working with the admin account: Full rights for malware Windows distinguishes between normal user accounts and administrators. Anyone who surfs, installs programs, or reads emails with an admin account is always taking a certain risk: namely that malware can operate with the same rights. The digital front door is then wide open for malware which can delete data, change system files, or install treacherous backdoors. Here’s how to play it safe: Set up a second user account: Create a standard user account outside of the admin account. This will make your everyday work safer. Only act as admin when required: If programs need admin rights, Windows automatically asks for the admin password and you can retain control over software rights. This is how it works: Under “Settings > Accounts > Other users”, you can add a new user account and manage the permissions of accounts. Tip: Even if it may be a little unfamiliar at first, the security level-up is worth it. If the worst comes to the worst, malware with a standard account has fewer rights and can cause less damage. Conclusion: Small mistakes with a big impact are often easily avoidable Many classic Windows mishaps are not caused by technical failures, but by mistakes. No backup, no updates, or missing security measures: All of this can be avoided with just a few clicks. If you have your system under control, you’ll not only save yourself nerves, but often also a lot of time, trouble, and even money. Our advice: Take your time to go through the five points above. Set up a backup, check your security options, and create a user account with fewer rights. It only takes a few minutes, but can save your digital life in an emergency. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros High-end CPU performance Bright and beautiful display Great gaming experience Very competitive price Cons You can get better gaming performance with a faster GPU (of course) Some hot air blows out the sides Our Verdict The Alienware 16X Aurora has a high-end CPU, a fast GPU, and a beautiful display. You’d have a hard time finding comparable hardware at this price. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Alienware 16X Aurora Retailer Price $2,149 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The Alienware 16X Aurora is a 16-inch gaming laptop with a screaming-fast Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU, and a bright, beautiful, and smooth display. A $1,999 is a good price for these specs. With the Aurora 16X, Alienware is delivering real value. Alienware isn’t just a high-end premium brand anymore. Alienware 16X Aurora: Specs The Alienware 16X Aurora is a 16-inch gaming laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU. This is a high-end laptop gaming CPU based on Intel’s Arrow Lake architecture, although Intel brands it an Intel Core (Series 2) — just like Lunar Lake and some Meteor Lake chips. Our $1,999 review unit had an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU, although Alienware also offers this machine with RTX 5060 graphics. It had 32 GB of DDR5 RAM, but Dell offers this machine with up to 64 GB of RAM. Dell offers other configurations of this laptop starting at $1,549. Model number: AC16251 CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX Memory: 32 GB DDR5 RAM Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 NPU: Intel AI Boost Display: 16-inch 2560×1600 IPS display with 240Hz refresh rate Storage: 1 TB PCIe Gen4 SSD Webcam: 1080p camera Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (one Thunderbolt 4, one USB 3.2 Gen 2), 2x USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1), 1x HDMI 2.1 out, 1x Ethernet (RJ-45), 1x combo audio jack, 1x power in Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: IR camera for Windows Hello Battery capacity: 96 Watt-hours Dimensions: 14.05 x 10.45 x 0.92 inches Weight: 5.86 pounds MSRP: $1,999 as tested Aside from a reflective Alienware head on the lid, this laptop is all business and looks like it could be a workstation laptop. It doesn’t have extreme ‘gamer’ aesthetics. Alienware 16X Aurora: Design and build quality IDG / Chris Hoffman The Alienware 16X Aurora, with its “Interstellar Indigo” color scheme, looks deceptively like a black laptop from some angles, but the dark-blue-to-violet shades are visible at the right angles. Aside from a reflective Alienware head on the lid, this laptop is all business and looks like it could be a workstation laptop. It doesn’t have extreme “gamer” aesthetics. The 16X Aurora has an anodized aluminum lid and bottom cover, giving it a more premium feel — Alienware’s more budget-focused Alienware 16 Aurora just has the anodized aluminum lid. However, it’s not all aluminum — the area around the keyboard is matte plastic. Still, it feels good and looks good. It does pick up fingerprints more than I’d like, as you’ll see in some of the photos — that’s the main issue. The laptop is solid and the hinge action is great — it’s easy to open with one hand. Alienware 16X Aurora: Keyboard and trackpad IDG / Chris Hoffman The Alienware 16X Aurora has a full-size keyboard complete with a number pad. With 1.4mm of key travel, it feels good. It doesn’t have the wow factor of the snappy mechanical keyboard you’ll find in a high-end Alienware 16 Area-51 or the surprisingly hefty feeling keyboard with the higher actuation force you’ll get in a Razer Blade, but it works well. This laptop has a customizable backlighting, but it’s one zone: You can choose a single color to apply to your entire keyboard. The Alienware 16X Aurora includes a trackpad with a plastic surface. It’s fine — it’s a little on the small side and a glass trackpad would be nicer, but this works well. Alienware 16X Aurora: Display and speakers IDG / Chris Hoffman The Alienware 16X Aurora has a 16-inch 2560×1600 resolution IPS display with a 240Hz refresh rate and up to 500 nits of brightness. It’s a solid display with advanced features like Nvidia G-Sync for variable refresh rates. That high refresh rate makes the experience “buttery smooth” in games and on the desktop, and the high brightness combined with excellent color reproduction delivers a much better display experience than the lower-end Alienware 16 Aurora’s display. You’re getting a noticeably better display for your money here. While I’m often wowed by the vivid colors on OLED displays, this display delivers a beautiful picture. A high-end IPS display can look incredible, too, and this panel proves it. This isn’t a touch-screen display, so it doesn’t need the glossy coating touchscreen laptops tend to have. The matte display and its anti-glare coating combined with a high brightness means this laptop’s display does an unusually good job of minimizing reflections and glare.   I test every laptop’s speakers by playing Steely Dan’s Aja and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky. The Alienware 16X Aurora delivered decent sound quality, with a brighter, more detailed sound in Aja — the instrument separation was crisper than on the less expensive Alienware 16 Aurora I reviewed at the same time. Get Lucky had a fun sound. But, as always, it could use more bass — laptop speakers lack bass in general, and the better the rest of the speaker setup is, the more the lack of bass stands out to me from an audio quality standpoint. Alienware 16X Aurora: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The Alienware 16X Aurora has a 1080p webcam, and it’s significantly better than the 720p webcam found in the lower-end Alienware 16 Aurora. The image quality and color reproduction beat that lower-end hardware. For a gaming laptop, though, this is fine. Also, because there’s an NPU in this machine, you get access to Windows Studio Effects for fixing eye contact, blurring your background, and more. The dual-array microphone setup in this laptop sounds decent, but it isn’t up to the audio quality standard I’ve heard in business laptops where video conferencing is a major concern. The Alienware 16X Aurora features an IR camera for Windows Hello, so you can sign into Windows with your face. It works well. Alienware 16X Aurora: Connectivity IDG / Chris Hoffman The Alienware 16X has a good number of ports, and the only thing you might miss is an SD card reader. On the left, this machine has a USB Type-A port, Ethernet jack, and combo audio jack. On the back, there’s a second USB Type-A port, two USB Type-C ports (one of them is also a Thunderbolt 4 port), HDMI 2.1 out, and power-in port. You could nitpick — sure, it would be nice if both USB Type-C ports were Thunderbolt 4 ports — but this is a good setup. I always love to see ports — especially the power connection — on the back of the gaming laptop so peripherals get out of the way. Alienware includes Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 hardware in this machine, which is also good to see. The Wi-Fi worked well. Alienware 16X Aurora: Performance The Alienware 16X Aurora’s cooling system kept the system cool and the fans stayed at a reasonable volume level. Playing the latest big games like Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 and Doom: The Dark Ages, the keyboard stayed a little warm, but not too hot, and most of the hot air was propelled out of the back of the machine. Some hot air does come out of the sides of the laptop — not a lot, but ideally it would all be pumped out of the back and away from your mouse hand. With a high-end Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU and Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics, this machine delivered excellent performance in those games — and the display delivered beautiful image quality, too. As always, though, we ran the Alienware 16X Aurora through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs. IDG / Chris Hoffman First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. With an overall score of 8,794, the Alienware 16X delivered incredible performance — edging out even the more expensive Alienware 16 Area-51 in this benchmark. It’s within the margin of error, but the high-end Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU here is doing work. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. It’s a quick benchmark, so cooling under extended workloads isn’t a factor. But, since it’s heavily multithreaded, CPUs with more cores have a huge advantage. With a multithreaded score of 13,872 in this benchmark, we once again saw just how impressive this machine’s CPU is. IDG / Chris Hoffman We also run an encode with Handbrake. This is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period. This demands the laptop’s cooling kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load. The Alienware 16X Aurora completed the encode in 477 seconds on average. That’s just under eight minutes. On this benchmark, the higher-end Alienware 16 Area-51 beat the 16X Aurora, despite both machines having the same CPU. I’d bet that’s thanks to the higher-end cooling setup on the more expensive Alienware laptop. IDG / Chris Hoffman Next, we run a graphical benchmark. We run 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance, on all the machines we review. With a 3Dmark Time Spy score of 13,342, the Alienware 16X Aurora’s Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics came in in the middle of the pack — a good ways ahead of the Alienware 16 Aurora with its RTX 5060 graphics but far behind Nvidia RTX 5080-powered machines. After that, we run the benchmarks built into some games. First, we use the benchmark in Shadow of the Tomb Raider to test all the gaming laptops we review. It’s an older game, but it’s a great way to compare GPU performance across different PCs. IDG / Chris Hoffman With an average FPS of 183, the Alienware 16X Aurora delivered excellent performance. You likely won’t get better performance without going up to a laptop with an RTX 5080 or 5090. Finally, we run the benchmark in Metro Exodus. This is a more demanding game, and we set the benchmark to 1080p resolution at the Extreme detail setting. IDG / Chris Hoffman With an average FPS of 53 in this high-end Metro Exodus benchmark, the Alienware 16X Aurora offered good performance even at these brutal graphical settings. Of course, it once again comes in behind laptops with higher-end GPUs. Overall, the Alienware 16 Aurora delivers incredible CPU performance thanks to its high-end CPU, but gaming laptops tend to be more GPU-constrained. You might be better off with a gaming laptop with a slower CPU and Nvidia RTX 5080 graphics, if you can find that as an option. The GPU is the bottleneck here — which is fine, but it’s not as high-end as the CPU. Alienware 16X Aurora: Battery life The Alienware 16X Aurora has a massive 96 Watt-hour battery, which is about as large as they’re allowed to get before the Transportation Security Administration won’t allow them on airplanes in the U.S. Many 16-inch gaming laptops include smaller batteries. While the hardware is power-hungry, that battery ensures you can squeeze more runtime out of your laptop when you’re away from an outlet. IDG / Chris Hoffman To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat on Windows 11 with airplane mode activated and the keyboard backlight turned off until the laptop suspends itself. We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks. This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient, and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this. The Alienware 16X Aurora lasted 407 minutes in this benchmark — that’s just under seven hours. In the real world, you’ll get a few hours away from an outlet. That’s fine for a gaming laptop — you’ll need to plug in for good gaming performance, anyway — but this isn’t the ideal machine if you want a gaming laptop that can also deliver long battery life away from an outlet. Alienware 16X Aurora: Conclusion The Alienware 16X Aurora is an impressive machine. At $1,999 for an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, an RTX 5070, and a display of this caliber, it’s serious value compared to what you’d pay for competing laptops with similar hardware — at retail price, it undercuts many similar laptops by a few hundred bucks. It’s a great experience, but some people might want a faster GPU for better gaming performance, an OLED panel, or a higher-end all-metal build quality. You’ll pay extra for touches like that, though. This is a mid-range laptop that delivers value and doesn’t feel like a budget machine. That’s very impressive coming from a brand like Alienware that’s historically been more high-end, especially with prices climbing all around. Read...