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For years, Windows users have complained about “ads” touting Microsoft services, showing up in various places. Now the alarm bells should be seriously ringing: Microsoft has publicly disclosed plans for monstrous ads within Copilot, as well as a roadmap to what appears to be AI-driven advertising, too. Last week, Microsoft’s advertising blog outlined what it called the “future of audience engagement.” And you already know what that is: AI. Microsoft believes that not only will generative AI provide a more natural interface for users to shop, but agents will assist them. It gets worse: Brands may even deploy their own agent AI, too. “We are committed to helping brands create agents and making it easy to connect them to our audiences,” Microsoft wrote, via Windows Central. “As the first step in this journey, we are launching a pilot product that enables brands to create smart, AI-based agents on their websites.” “Imagine if a website could talk?” Microsoft suggested. Microsoft Advertising’s new digital ad format plants ads right next to a Copilot window.Microsoft It’s hard to say what’s worse: having a virtual version of Elon Musk knock on your virtual screen and offer to help buy you a Tesla, or just a giant ad pop up once you start digging around for the best EV available. But that’s coming, too. Microsoft now says that it has two new ad formats, “entirely designed with Copilot in mind,” it said. “These ads are interactive in nature, adapting to each user input.” The first is what Microsoft calls an “Advertising Showroom” ad, which appears nothing more than a giant ad alongside a Copilot text box. “For example, if a user starts asking questions to Copilot about a particular product and expresses purchase intent, they may be invited to enter a Showroom ads experience,” Microsoft says. “Here, rich sponsored content complements the organic experience, helping to showcase the product benefits as people ask Copilot more questions. This immersive environment allows users to interact with products in a way that closely mirrors the experience of visiting a physical showroom. In the future, the experience will be even richer, as brand agents will be integrated into the Showroom ads allowing people to engage directly with a virtual brand representative.” Suggested ads within Copilot would dynamically create new ways to shop, Microsoft believes.Microsoft Microsoft is also testing dynamic filters, which apparently is designed to narrow down a search to something you can buy: “This feature removes the friction of typing additional questions and quickly narrows down options that are more likely to drive conversions based on an individual’s preferences,” Microsoft said. But it appears that advertisers won’t even have to buy ads. Instead, Microsoft will create them, just for you! Microsoft has started to create what are known as Dynamic Seach ads, using queries as a basis to crate ads. In the future, Microsoft says, the company will “personalize ads,” such as location and seasonal events, specifically for each user’s context. Time and again, we’ve written features that show you how to turn off ads within Windows. But Microsoft’s new vision for the future of ads — start chatting with Copilot, and a digital gremlin will show up, pushing you to buy the latest sneaker, cereal, or credit card — sure doesn’t seem to be consistent with what Microsoft has said before. Save us, ad blockers! Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros High-resolution 2K video quality Dual-lens system provides extended coverage Local microSD storage up to 256GB Cons No 5GHz Wi-Fi support Cloud storage requires a separate subscription Our Verdict The Lorex 2K Dual Lens Indoor Pan-Tilt Wi-Fi Security Camera is a feature-rich, versatile option that provides excellent coverage and privacy features. It’s an deal choice for those who want a local storage-first option with PTZ capabilities. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Lorex 2K Dual Lens Indoor Pan-Tilt Wi-Fi Security Camera (model W463AQ-AA) Retailer Price $99.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket While video quality and smart features have improved, many security cameras still share a common limitation: a fixed field of view. If something happens just outside the frame, you’re out of luck. The Lorex 2K Dual Lens Indoor Pan-Tilt Wi-Fi Security Camera tackles this problem with a dual-lens system and 360-degree pan-tilt functionality. One lens offers a fixed wide-angle view, while the other moves to track motion and eliminate blind spots. The idea is to provide more coverage with a single camera, reducing the need for multiple units in larger rooms. In testing, both of this Lorex’s lenses produced sharp, detailed footage, with good color accuracy and contrast in daylight conditions. Specifications This camera is compact, lightweight, and easy to place just about anywhere indoors. It measures 3.19 x 3.19 x 5.30 inches and weighs just over half a pound, making it small enough to sit unobtrusively on a shelf. For a more permanent installation, it comes with a mounting bracket and hardware for attachment to a wall or ceiling. Both lenses capture footage in 2K resolution (which Lorex defines as 2560 × 1440 pixels). The fixed lens keeps an eye on a broad swath of your interior space, while the PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) lens provides a closer, more dynamic view when motion is detected. The pan-and-tilt control enables the camera to monitor a much larger area than a standard indoor cam. The camera’s fixed lens keeps an eye on a wide space while the PTZ lens provides a closer, view when tracking moving objects.Michael Ansaldo/Foundry The camera is also equipped with infrared night vision, enabling up to 32 feet of visibility in the dark to record clear black-and-white footage. Two-way audio allows you to hear what’s happening and talk to anyone in the room through the built-in speaker. The camera also features smart motion detection, distinguishing between people and pets to reduce unnecessary alerts. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are supported, allowing you to control the camera with voice commands, such as adjusting the pan-tilt functionality or viewing the live feed on a compatible smart display. For times when you want to disable monitoring, the Lorex uses a physical Privacy Mode that tilts the camera 180 degrees downward, fully covering the lens. This stops recording and streaming, offering a simple way to pause surveillance without powering off the camera. If you consider subscriptions anathema, this camera supports local recording via a microSD card (capacities up to 256GB are supported; a 32GB card comes pre-installed). Your other local storage alternative is to connect the camera to one of Lorex’s Fusion NVRs (the Lorex Fusion NVR–network video recorder–supports up to eight wired and eight wireless cameras). If you want the added security of offsite storage, Lorex does offer an optional cloud subscription. There’s a single-camera plan for $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year that provides 30 days storage for motion-triggered recordings; if you have multiple Lorex cameras, you’ll pay $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for all of them. Installation and setup The camera comes with everything needed to get started: the camera itself, a 6.5-foot power cable, a power adapter, and a mounting bracket with screws and anchors for wall or ceiling installation. The camera connects to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi (there’s no 5GHz support), and setup is handled through the Lorex app. It walks you through the process, from scanning a QR code on the camera to pairing it with your network. Once connected, you can adjust settings, set up motion alerts, and access live or recorded footage. The Lorex app makes it easy to control the camera, adjust detection settings, and review video. Michael Ansaldo/Foundry Performance The Lorex app is straightforward and easy to navigate. The home screen provides a live feed, along with quick access to recordings, motion alerts, and pan-tilt controls. The PTZ movement is smooth and responsive, allowing you to remotely adjust the camera’s position with minimal lag. Customization options are solid. You can adjust motion detection sensitivity, enable auto-tracking, create schedules for recording, and set up smart alerts that differentiate between people and pets and. These features help reduce unnecessary alerts while keeping you informed of important activity. In testing, both lenses produced sharp, detailed footage, with good color accuracy and contrast in daylight conditions. Night vision performance was also excellent. While details naturally softened in low light, the camera still maintained strong visibility. Motion detection was accurate and responsive, effectively distinguishing between people and pets. The camera’s ability to automatically track motion worked well, keeping subjects in view as they moved. False alerts were a rare occurrence, though tweaking sensitivity settings might be necessary depending on placement. [Further reading: TechHive’s take on the best home security cameras.] Should you buy the Lorex 2K Dual Lens Indoor Pan-Tilt Wi-Fi Security Camera? At $99.99, the Lorex 2K Dual Lens Indoor Pan-Tilt Wi-Fi Security Camera is a strong and affordable choice for homeowners who want more coverage with fewer cameras. The dual-lens system and 360-degree pan, 180-degree tilt control allow it to monitor large rooms effectively, making it a good fit for living rooms, playrooms, and open-concept spaces. It’s also ideal for privacy-conscious users. A lot of security cameras rely on software settings to pause recording, but I’m always more at ease if I can see the lens physically blocked as this Lorex model does. If you’re uncomfortable with always-on surveillance, this feature provides extra peace of mind. Read...

If you’re looking for an affordable laptop with an OLED screen, plenty of RAM, and a long-lasting battery, Best Buy has you covered. The Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED ticks all those boxes and only costs $499.99 right now with this incredible $450 discount. This Asus laptop has a new Intel Core Ultra 5 processor, which also means that it’s a Copilot+ PC compatible with all of Microsoft’s newest AI features. It’s also rocking 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, which is hard to find on a Windows laptop at the $500 price point. Other highlights include 512GB of SSD storage, a 14-inch 1920×1200 screen with a super-vivid OLED panel, Windows Hello support from the IR webcam, and a roomy touchpad. You also get a surprising variety of ports, including double USB-C and USB-A plus full-sized HDMI and a microSD card slot. When we reviewed the Vivobook S 14 last year, PCWorld contributor Chris Hoffman praised its long-lasting battery life (75 watt-hours) and generous specs for the price, with his only complaint being the lack of a touchscreen. Note that the review was for a pricier model with a faster processor, more RAM, and bigger SSD, but the rest of the specs are very similar — and at $700 less, it’s an undeniable bargain. This laptop won’t chew through games or 4K video rendering, but as a budget machine with nice upgrades and great battery life, it’s a fantastic choice. Best Buy probably has plenty of stock (including local pickup options), but there’s no telling how long the discount will last. Get this Asus OLED laptop with 16GB of RAM for just $500Buy now from Best Buy Read...

Want to upgrade your laptop with a proper portable gaming machine? Bring your gameplay into the modern age with this amazing Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 that’s on sale at B&H for $1,300. That’s a dream discount of $550 off its original $1,850 price! You can often find RTX 4070 laptops in this price range, but not ones that also pack a 16-core Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor and a jaw-dropping 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, plus a speedy 1TB SSD. That’s a phenomenal config that offers a lot of bang for your buck. And that RTX 4070 powering your games will look great on the 14.5-inch IPS display with 3072×1920 resolution (16:10 aspect ratio). You get the color accuracy of IPS tech, plus the fast 165Hz refresh rate that’ll make action-packed scenes both smooth and glorious. As for connectivity, you get more than the usual: a USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 port, another USB-C port with full features, plus two USB-A 3.2 ports, a full-sized HDMI port, a microSD card slot, and a 3.5mm audio port. This enormous discount makes the high-performance Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 well worth it. Grab it now for just $1,300 at B&H and save a whopping $550 that you can put towards another upgrade! Save 30% on this loaded Acer gaming laptop with RTX 4070Buy now from B&H Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Solid build quality with ergonomic stand, tripod mount Good image quality for the price Easy-to-read menu system with plenty of options 120Hz refresh rate with adaptive sync Cons Lackluster cable management Only one HDMI and one DisplayPort No USB ports Our Verdict The Acer Vero B247Y G looks boring at a glance, but it delivers good image quality and motion clarity for about $150. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Acer Vero B247Y G Retailer Price CDW $139.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Shoppers looking for a 24-inch 1080p monitor may be tempted by budget options that dip below $100. If you extend your budget to about $150, however, you can afford a more capable display like the Vero B247Y G. Though still basic, it delivers extras like an ergonomic stand and a 120Hz refresh rate, which makes it a good choice for both productivity and entertainment, including PC games. Acer Vero B247Y G specs and features The Acer Vero B247Y G’s basic specifications are nothing to get excited about. It’s a simple 24-inch, 1080p widescreen monitor with an IPS LCD panel. Dozens of competitors provide similar specifications, and quite a few are less expensive. Display size: 23.8-inch 16:9 widescreen Native resolution: 1920×1080 Panel type: 8-bit IPS LCD Refresh rate: 120Hz Adaptive sync: Adaptive Sync HDR: No Ports: 1x VGA, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort, 1x 3.5mm audio-in, 1x 3.5mm audio-out VESA mount: 100x100mm Audio: 2x 2-watt speakers Price: $154.99 MSRP ($139.99 typical retail) However, the Vero B247Y G offers a few extras. It has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and supports Adaptive Sync. Budget gaming monitors offer this but monitors that target office and productivity usually skip it. The monitor also has a VGA port, which again speaks to its target demographic: This is a monitor Acer expects will be used alongside older, less capable PCs. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best monitors for comparison. Acer Vero B247Y G design It’s hard to imagine how the Acer Vero B247Y G could look more generic. The panel is surrounded by slim bezels, while the rear of the display and stand are clad in matte-black plastic. Nothing about the monitor stands out. Of course, that’s the point. The Vero B247Y G is meant for a basic home or small business office, so it’s not supposed to stand out. While it doesn’t look like much, the Vero B247Y G provides good build quality for the price. The monitor’s plastics feel reasonably thick and sturdy, which makes the monitor seem more premium than expected. Foundry Cable management is a bit of miss, as the monitor only provides a plastic clip. It more-or-less does the job, but it’s thin and the cables can bind up if you frequently adjust the monitor’s position. Speaking of which, the included ergonomic stand is a big perk. It easily clips onto the monitor with a quick-release mechanism. The stand adjusts for height, tilt, swivel, and pivot. While this isn’t unheard of for a monitor priced around $150 or less, it’s far from guaranteed. The stand’s support for pivot into portrait mode is especially uncommon. A 100x100mm VESA mount is also available for use with third-party monitor stands and arms. The last design trait worth mention is the 1/4-inch tripod mount on the top of the stand. It can be used to attach all sorts of peripherals, such as cameras or ring lights. I’m not aware of any price-competitive alternative with a tripod mount, and while it’s certainly a niche feature, it will rocket the Vero B247Y G to the top of some shopping lists. Acer Vero B247Y G connectivity The Acer Vero B247Y G’s connectivity is extremely basic. It has one VGA port, one HDMI port, and one DisplayPort. The HDMI and DisplayPort connections support the monitor’s full refresh rate and resolution, but the VGA port is limited to 1080p at 75Hz. VGA’s presence might seem old-fashioned, but it’s still common on budget monitors that target office and productivity use, since older PCs are common in these settings. However, providing VGA means the monitor is effectively limited to two video inputs when it’s paired with newer PCs that don’t support VGA. The audio connectivity is also a bit unique, as the monitor includes both a 3.5mm audio input and an audio output. I assume the audio input is included because the monitor has a VGA input. HDMI and DisplayPort can carry audio, but VGA can’t. USB connectivity is absent and arguably the monitor’s most significant downside. While it’s true that many budget monitors skip USB-A ports, it remains sorely missed. The lack of USB-A also means the monitor doesn’t have a KVM switch function, which is found on a fair number of budget and mid-range productivity monitors. A 1/4-inch tripod mount on the top of the Vero B247Y G’s stand can be used to attach all sorts of peripherals, such as cameras or ring lights. Acer Vero B247Y G menu and features I was pleasantly surprised by the Acer Vero B247Y G’s on-screen menu system. It’s controlled by a quick, responsive joystick. The on-screen menu system includes clear feature descriptions and uses relatively large, easy-to-read text. This is an area where many budget monitors fall short, as they often have tiny, confusing menu systems. The range of image quality adjustment is quite limited, but it’s fine for the price. There’s a wide variety of preset modes and adjustments for adaptive sync and response times, among other things. It covers the basics. Foundry I did notice one oddity. The monitor has a Max Brightness setting that must be turned on to reach the full monitor brightness; the monitor ships with this setting turned off, which restricts its brightness to about 115 nits. I expect this has to do with energy consumption certifications. A pair of 2-watt speakers round out the monitor’s features. They’re thin and tinny but do provide enough volume for basic use, like video calls or podcasts. Still, external speakers or a headset is highly recommended.  Acer Vero B247Y G SDR image quality The Acer Vero B247Y G is a budget monitor, so expectations about its image quality should be kept in check. However, while it’s obviously no threat to more expensive monitors, the Vero B247 G scores well overall. Foundry I measured a maximum sustained SDR brightness of 305 nits, which is great for a budget display. The Gigabyte M27QA ICE is the only similar, recently reviewed monitor that’s brighter, but it’s also starting the creep outside of budget territory at a price of $279.99 The Vero B247Y G’s brightness, along with the monitor’s matte coat, will make the monitor easy to view in most rooms. A higher level of brightness is only required in very bright, sunlit rooms, or in a very bright office. But you’ll typically need to up your budget to $300 or more if you want an LCD monitor that reaches above 400 nits. Foundry The Vero B247 G’s contrast is surprisingly good. I measured a maximum contrast ratio of 1530:1 which, as the graph shows, is much better than usual for an IPS LCD monitor. This level of contrast helps the monitor deliver a deeper, more immersive image. It doesn’t make much difference in office productivity, but it’s appreciated when viewing photos, videos, and games. Foundry Color gamut, on the other hand, is a minor weakness. The Vero B247 G spanned 99 percent of sRGB, 84 percent of DCI-P3, and 77 percent of AdobeRGB. These results aren’t bad, and they’re good enough to provide a vivid and colorful image. They’re also in line with some budget competitors, such as the Pixio Wave. Still, it’s possible to find similar monitors with superior color, such as the KTC H24T09P. Foundry Color accuracy is a bit of a wash. While these numbers appear to differ greatly on the graph, in truth, numbers clustered this tightly tend to look rather similar, and the Vero B247 G lands right in the middle of the pack. Though its color accuracy is far from the best monitor, which can achieve an average error of around 0.5 (lower is better), the overall color accuracy is solid. It’s a similar story with the monitor’s gamma and color temperature. I measured a gamma curve of 2.3, which is slightly off the target of 2.2. This means the image looks a tad darker than it should. I also measured a color temperature of 6600K, only a hair off the target of 6500K. This technically means the image is a bit cooler than preferred, but I found the difference hard to appreciate in real-world use. The monitor’s 1080p resolution works out to 92 pixels per inch across the 23.8-inch panel. That’s not particularly sharp for a monitor in 2025. The image is crisp at a glance, but small fonts and high-contrast edges can reveal some aliasing or pixelation, while video can look a bit soft. This is typical for a budget monitor, however; it’s difficult to find a feature-comparable 1440p display. Overall, the Acer Vero B247Y G has good image quality for a monitor in its price bracket. It does best in brightness and contrast, where it outperforms many similar monitors. While the monitor’s budget price means shoppers should keep expectations in check, it’s generally a vivid, sharp monitor that looks good in a wide range of content. Acer Vero B247Y G HDR image quality The Acer Vero B247Y G doesn’t support HDR. That’s preferable for a budget monitor, as displays in this price bracket lack the image quality to make HDR pop. Some budget monitors technically support HDR, but the quality of the HDR image makes it pointless. Acer Vero B247Y G motion performance The Acer Vero B247Y G has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and supports Adaptive Sync (including FreeSync and G-Sync) for smooth frame pacing. These features aren’t hard to come by even among budget monitors, but monitors meant for office use tend to skip them, so these features give the Vero B247Y G an edge. Motion clarity is decent. Fast-moving objects present with good clarity, though some small details remain easy to miss. Scrolling through text also reveals better clarity, which makes it easier to flip through documents, and generally makes the monitor feel more responsive than competitors stuck at 60- to 75Hz. And wait — there’s more! The Vero B247Y G also has Acer VRB, a black frame insertion feature. It inserts blank frames between real frames which, due to a trick of human perception, improves motion clarity. While it does lead to a “double image” effect and reduces brightness, it’s successful in improving clarity, which can be useful in competitive games. Keep in mind, however, that VRB doesn’t work alongside Adaptive Sync (you can’t have both turned on at the same time). The Vero B247Y G’s combination of a 120Hz refresh rate, Adaptive Sync, and black frame insertion is odd for an office monitor. These features are more likely to be found in a gaming monitor, and their inclusion makes the Vero a good choice if you need one budget monitor that can handle both productivity and gaming. Should you buy the Acer Vero B247Y G? The Acer Vero B247Y G is a good choice for shoppers looking to buy a capable, versatile monitor for a home office or small business. Its retail price of $154.99, sometimes discounted to $139.99, is towards the high end for a 24-inch 1080p monitor. However, it’s justified by the monitor’s build quality, ergonomic stand, image quality, and improved refresh rate. In fact, I’d really urge most shoppers to buy the Vero B247Y G over the least expensive 1080p alternatives. It’s possible to buy a 24-inch 1080p monitor for as little as $80, but pricing that low forces a monitor to compromise on build and image quality. The Vero monitor’s slightly higher pricing helps it avoid mistakes and allows it to offer extra features, like a 120Hz refresh rate and Adaptive Sync, that competitors may lack. Read...

If you’ve got an old laptop sitting at home and taking up space, you may be tempted to dispose of it. But before you give it the heave-ho, know this: Your old laptop actually has more potential than you think and that’s worth exploring, even if you have a new laptop up and running. You can do a lot of neat things with an old laptop, both practical and recreational. To boost productivity, you can turn it into a second monitor or a distraction-free writing device. If you’re looking to have a bit of fun, you can even set it up to play your favorite retro games. If you can avoid ditching your old laptop and adding to the e-waste problem, I’d really recommend it. You’d be saving money and helping the environment–that’s a win-win right there. Here are five creative ways to repurpose your aging laptop.  Install Plex to stream movies, TV shows, and music You can use your old laptop as a central location for all of your movies, music, TV shows, and so on. This is a great solution if you’re sick of juggling files between different devices. I’d recommend downloading the free version of Plex onto your old laptop as a way to store and organize all of your digital media. This app allows you to access your content remotely and from any device that’s connected to your Wi-Fi. It also automatically organizes your movies and grabs information like plot summaries and ratings, saving you a ton of extra work. Plus, you don’t have to pay for multiple streaming devices, which can be a real drag as it adds up and gets criminally expensive. Let the film festival begin!Ben Patterson/Foundry Turn it into a distraction-free writing device If you’re looking to boost your productivity, I’d recommend installing FocusWriter on your old laptop. It’s a simple, lightweight word processor with an interface that hides your menus and toolbars until you’re ready to use them again. It also has a lot of cool features like typewriter sound effects, daily word count goals, timed sessions, and more. It’s free to use and it’s available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Download a lightweight OS for basic tasks Installing a lightweight operating system like Ubuntu or Puppy Linux can breathe new life into your machine. It doesn’t need a lot of power to run and it’s great for day-to-day tasks like checking Facebook, writing papers, and so on. Not only is this an excellent way to extend the life of your old laptop, but you’re also saving money you would’ve spent on a Chromebook or a comparable machine that’s designed for daily use. If you’re going the Ubuntu route, make sure you’ve got at least 4GB of RAM and a dual-core processor to ensure smooth performance. You can also use Ubuntu’s lighter version Lubuntu, which runs on as little as 512MB-1GB of RAM.  Lubuntu is an even lighter version of Ubuntu. Lubuntu Use it as a second monitor I’m a big fan of dual monitor setups. It helps me be more productive at work and it’s also useful when I’m playing a game and need to reference the accompanying Wiki page without minimizing or pausing the window I’m on. If you fancy the idea of using your old laptop as a second monitor, there are a couple ways to go about it. However, make sure both devices are running Windows 10 or 11, otherwise this won’t work. If you’ve got a Windows 10 or 11 PC, you can wirelessly connect to another Windows PC (aka your old laptop) with the Wireless Display feature. The first thing you’ll need to do is set up the Wireless Display feature on your old laptop. To do this, go to Settings > System > Projecting to this PC and set “Some Windows and Android devices can project to this PC” to “Available Everywhere.” Next pick “First Time Only” and then open the Connect app. On the PC you’re projecting from, press Win+P, select Extend, and click on “Connect to a Wireless Display.” Select your old laptop from the list of available devices and voila! You’ve officially transformed your old laptop into a usable secondary display. If the built-in Wireless Display feature doesn’t work for some reason, you can always use Spacedesk, a third-party application that allows you turn another device into a secondary monitor. Once you’ve installed Spacedesk on your main PC and on your old laptop, you’ll want to make sure both devices are on the same Wi-Fi. Now open the Spacedesk app on your old laptop and connect to your main PC. That’s really all there is to it! Play your favorite retro games Sometimes you just want to relive your childhood by playing your favorite NES games, you know? Fortunately, you can do this on an old laptop. All you have to do is install an emulator, which mimics a gaming console, onto your old laptop. Personally, I’d recommend installing RetroArch. The interface is easy to navigate and it houses multiple consoles in one program, so you don’t have to go installing separate emulators for each console. It also has tons of popular classic games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Final Fantasy VII, Spyro the Dragon, and more. To get the most out of your gaming experience, I’d recommend using a USB or Bluetooth controller and connecting an HDMI cable to play on a TV screen. RetroArch Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Exclusive access to the Operator agent Full access to GPT-4o and all reasoning models Full access to o1 pro mode Increased rate limits for Deep Research, Sora, Advanced Voice, and other features Cons Far cheaper to subscribe individually to alternative AI tools à la carte Dall-E (image generation) and Sora (video generation) just aren’t that good Operator’s usefulness is still limited and impractical Our Verdict While ChatGPT Pro’s exclusive Operator agent is novel and fun to play with, it doesn’t provide enough practical value yet. The best part of ChatGPT Pro is the boost to rate limits, especially for Deep Research. If you aren’t making heavy use of Deep Research, then ChatGPT Plus offers better bang for your buck. Or you might be better off cobbling together a bunch of other premium AI services to suit your specific needs. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: ChatGPT Pro Retailer Price OpenAI $200 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket OpenAI’s ChatGPT Pro — the highest tier of access for individuals — is far from cheap. It costs $200 per month and, unlike most competitors, OpenAI doesn’t offer any discounts for an annual subscription. The company also avoids limited-time sales. That’s a hefty price to swallow. At $200 per month, it’s more than twice the price of Adobe Creative Cloud’s Business Plan. It’s enough to finance the monthly payment on a Hyundai Ioniq 5 lease. It’d even make a huge dent in paying down student loans or credit card debt. So, is ChatGPT Pro worth it? To find out, I spent $200 of my own money and used ChatGPT Pro’s features for a month so you don’t have to. What you get with ChatGPT Pro What exactly do you get with ChatGPT Pro that you can’t get in the free version? Or even the much cheaper ChatGPT Plus plan that only costs $20 per month? The short answer is, every single feature OpenAI has to offer — and that list continues to grow quite quickly. The longer answer is that ChatGPT Pro provides access to all OpenAI LLMs (including GPT-4o, GPT-4.5o, o3-mini, o3-mini-high, and o1) along with all the latest features like Operator and Deep Research. On top of that, ChatGPT Pro includes full access to the company’s AI models for media generation, which includes Dall-E for image generation and Sora for video generation. Pro users get priority video generation and, in the case of Sora, access to better resolutions (up to 1080p) and extended durations (up to 20 seconds). ChatGPT Free vs. Plus vs. Pro If you’re still feeling a bit confused about what you get with the different ChatGPT plans, don’t worry, you aren’t alone. Here’s a quick chart I whipped up to help you visualize the differences: Matt Smith / Foundry, made with Claude As the chart shows, upgrading from ChatGPT Free to ChatGPT Plus unlocks access to multiple features, while upgrading from ChatGPT Plus to ChatGPT Pro only unlocks one wholly exclusive feature: Operator. However, I want to draw your attention to the last feature listed in the comparison, which is rate limits. OpenAI regularly changes the rate limits for ChatGPT Free, Plus, and Pro, and they aren’t always documented. ChatGPT Free Generally, though, the rate limit for ChatGPT Free is extremely low. You can exhaust resources with just a few conversations, forcing you to wait hours before you can ask another question. ChatGPT Free’s rate limits for more advanced features (like the o3 reasoning model and Dall-E image generation) are so low that they border on useless. ChatGPT Plus ChatGPT Plus is much more generous. While OpenAI’s LLMs still have firm rate limits in this tier, they’re high enough that most people won’t hit them with typical usage. The rate limits for other advanced features (like Dall-E, Sora, and Deep Research) are still tight, though. ChatGPT Pro ChatGPT Pro’s rate limits are much higher. Certain advanced features are still kind of limited (e.g., Deep Research is capped at 120 generations per month) but high enough that most people won’t come close to hitting them. I used ChatGPT Pro heavily, racking up more than a dozen full conversations a day, and never hit any rate limits. In other words, the rate limits on ChatGPT Pro will only become an issue if you’re incorporating it into automated workflows — in which case you’re really meant to access OpenAI’s models through its APIs. ChatGPT Pro vs. Claude with Perplexity, Midjourney, ElevenLabs, and Kling OpenAI is the most famous of AI companies, but it’s far from the only one. Its many competitors include DeepSeek, Anthropic, Midjourney, ElevenLabs, Meta, and Google to name a few. Which raises the question: If ChatGPT Pro is so dang expensive, how does it compare to the competition? Well, the $200/month spent on ChatGPT Pro would actually be enough to cover the monthly plans for several different AI alternatives, spreading the cost across multiple. For this review, I tried ChatGPT Pro against five alternative services: Anthropic Claude Pro (AI chatbot) — $20/month Perplexity Pro (web search) — $20/month Midjourney Standard (image generation) — $30/month Kling AI Pro (video generation) — $25/month ElevenLabs Creator (speech-to-text/text-to-speech) — $22/month Total cost — $117/month Choosing a suite of competitive AI services with capabilities similar to ChatGPT Pro certainly looks appealing on paper. The total cost is nearly half the price, a steep discount compared to ChatGPT Pro. Matt Smith / Foundry This à la carte approach arguably provides access to a better selection of AI services, too. Coders generally prefer Claude over ChatGPT while Perplexity is better for web search than ChatGPT’s built-in search, for example. Creatives hugely prefer Midjourney’s image generation model to Dall-E, and Kling AI’s titular video models are often recommended over Sora. ElevenLabs, meanwhile, offers speech-to-text and text-to-speech capabilities that ChatGPT doesn’t even provide. On the other hand, ChatGPT Pro offers some features that competitive services don’t emulate. Claude doesn’t offer alternatives to Deep Research or Operator. ElevenLabs’ text-to-speech and speech-to-text are useful but not the same as ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice. And while a variety of AI agents exist, no competitor offers a simple, ready-to-use AI agent like OpenAI’s Operator. This comparison between ChatGPT Pro and a suite of alternative services shows an important point: if you’re subscribing to ChatGPT Pro, it’s likely for access to features that are exclusive to ChatGPT Pro (or rate limited in such a way that they’re only useful with ChatGPT Pro). In that case, we need to dive into those exclusive ChatGPT Pro features and evaluate them for value. Are they worth it? Let’s find out. ChatGPT Pro’s reasoning models Let’s start with ChatGPT Pro’s access to OpenAI reasoning models. These models use chain-of-thought reasoning to prompt themselves as they try to work through a problem. This helps the model whenever it’s asked to deal with something that involves logic or requires understanding the real world to reach the correct answer. Reasoning models score well across a wide range of publicly available benchmarks, but they stand out in math, coding, science, and related fields. Matt Smith / Foundry For example, when asked to write code for a particular feature in an app, a reasoning model will often do a better job. It can reason through potential use cases for the feature, as well as the varying approaches to implementation, as it looks for an adequate response. This is more likely to result in code that’s immediately useful without modification. Because of this, reasoning models like OpenAI o1 tend to dominate AI benchmarks focused on math and coding. It’s not all good news for reasoning models, though. They’re slower than conventional AI chatbots, and the more reasoning an AI does, the slower it gets. (ChatGPT o1 can leave you waiting for a minute or longer before it starts to generate a reply.) Reasoning models also tend to have more limited access to files and tools. If you want to use OpenAI o1 to analyze a PDF, for example, you can’t upload it. The best you can do is copy and paste the text into the prompt, which limits the usefulness of reasoning models depending on what you want ChatGPT to do. Reasoning models are great if you want an AI model to help you brainstorm difficult problems or write code that’s more relevant to your software. But if you want to use ChatGPT as a writing or editing assistant, or to analyze files and information, or to answer complex questions, then reasoning models are often less useful than GPT-4.5o. Deep Research is pretty awesome Deep Research is a ChatGPT feature that employs an AI agent to search the web, ingest relevant information, and compile it into a lengthy summary with sources cited. That report can be used for more serious topics (like researching career opportunities in a specific industry) or for more casual pursuits (like compiling a history of cat memes). No matter how you decide to use it, Deep Research’s reports deliver generally useful information and often pick up on details that would be hard to find when searching the web manually. Matt Smith / Foundry Say you want to open a restaurant. You can ask Deep Research to write a report on the restaurant industry for your specific region, and you can even prompt it to find competitors and look for gaps in the market. Deep Research can provide granular recommendations that include underserved niches you can fill, and it can make recommendations down to the neighborhood level, citing specific competitors in said neighborhood to justify its conclusions. The reports aren’t perfect, though. Hallucinations can cause Deep Research to generate incorrect information. And because it searches the web to build its report, it’s susceptible to oft-repeated generalizations, myths, and inaccuracies. Then again, even if you tried compiling that research on your own, you’d likely run into the same issues. So, it’s up to you to decide what to trust and what to filter out. Yes, it has its limits and flaws, but Deep Research is a great feature. The information it compiles is often more detailed than what I could hope to achieve on my own, and it tends to find deeper web sources that I might otherwise miss, skip, or overlook. Deep Research is the best feature currently bundled in ChatGPT Pro, and while competitors are rapidly trying to mimic it, none have matched it yet. Deep Research is available with ChatGPT Plus, but Plus users are limited to 10 queries per month. ChatGPT Pro gives you 120 queries per month (as of March 2025), and that number will likely increase later. Dall-E and Sora sadly disappoint OpenAI’s Dall-E image generator and Sora video generator aren’t exclusive to ChatGPT Pro, but upgrading to Pro makes them more useful. It also exposes some limitations. Dall-E Dall-E is tightly integrated into ChatGPT. The chatbot doesn’t just generate images on request, but also whenever it thinks a visual response is warranted. But Dall-E’s quality is lacking and it hasn’t improved much over the past year, even as competitors like Midjourney continue to make progress. Most competitors also offer advanced features Dall-E lacks, such as storyboarding, detailed image editing, and concurrent jobs. ChatGPT Free has access to Dall-E, but usage rate limits with Free and Plus plans are tight. You’ll need ChatGPT Pro if you want to generate dozens or hundreds of images in a session. Sora Unlike Dall-E, Sora video generation isn’t accessed through ChatGPT itself. It’s a separate tool — one that still requires a ChatGPT subscription to use. While ChatGPT Plus users get limited access to Sora, ChatGPT Pro users enjoy enhanced quality (up to 1080p) and longer videos (up to 20 seconds versus Plus’s limit of 5 seconds). Rate limits on ChatGPT Plus are tight, too, so if you’re looking to use Sora as anything more than a toy, you’ll need a ChatGPT Pro subscription. Matt Smith / Foundry Unfortunately, Sora disappoints. It struggles with basic tasks like stable camera pans and fails almost completely with fast action sequences. Competitors like Kling AI can produce better results while other services like Runway and Pika Labs offer specific AI models for different tasks (like character animation or special effects) with more reliable results. Dall-E and Sora are weak spots in the ChatGPT Pro subscription. Professional artists and creators looking to make ChatGPT part of their workflow are likely to find it isn’t up to snuff. Operator falls short of its potential Operator is OpenAI’s advanced reasoning agent for executing simple tasks in a web browser. It’s notable for being the only feature exclusive to the ChatGPT Pro tier subscription (as of March 2025). Like Sora, Operator is a separate tool outside of ChatGPT that still requires a ChatGPT Pro subscription to use. After entering a prompt with your requested action(s), you’ll see a real-time feed of the agent attempting to fulfill your request in a virtual machine. In the video below, you can see OpenAI’s real-world demonstration of Operator: In theory, an AI agent like Operator could function as a virtual assistant that handles everything from online shopping to completing forms or organizing emails. Operator sometimes succeeds with these tasks. Beyond the basics, however, Operator remains quite limited. It can’t bypass security measures like CAPTCHAs, instead prompting you to complete them. It won’t automatically enter payment details either. (The reasons for that are obvious, right? I wouldn’t trust Operator with my credit card details.) Even so, these limitations make Operator a lot less useful. As of now, you still have to help Operator over various hurdles, which defeats the point of an autonomous AI agent. Should you pay up for ChatGPT Pro? As this lengthy review shows, ChatGPT isn’t just an AI chatbot. It’s a bundle of AI tools that each target completely different tasks. That’s actually one of ChatGPT Pro’s greatest weaknesses compared to alternatives. You can cobble together multiple competing AI services that are each optimized for their particular tasks, and it’ll likely cost significantly less. This piecemeal approach does mean managing more subscriptions, but it feels more practical than OpenAI’s strategy of bundling everything into one flat subscription fee. To be fair, ChatGPT Pro does offer some features that you can’t get elsewhere or don’t live up to OpenAI’s quality. Deep Research is especially compelling if you want an AI research assistant at your beck and call. But the other stuff, like OpenAI’s Operator agent, aren’t reliable enough yet to deliver enough value for the price. As of this writing, the best reason to get ChatGPT Pro is to boost usage rate limits. The rate limits with ChatGPT Pro are high enough that they’re virtually non-existent. Competing services, like Anthropic’s Claude or DeepSeek, can get bogged down at peak times and will throttle you even if you’re a paid subscriber. Even so, the exorbitant price of ChatGPT Pro is hard to justify unless you’re hitting its AI services with hundreds of requests every day. And if that’s the case, you might be better off accessing OpenAI’s models directly through its API services (which charge you per millions of tokens instead of a flat monthly fee). For most people, ChatGPT Plus should suffice. Otherwise, if you’re a power user, professional, or enthusiast looking to benefit from the latest AI advancements, I recommend subscribing to multiple different AI services that each target more specific use cases rather than adopting ChatGPT Pro’s all-in-one package approach. Read...