We love a good monitor deal, and finding the 4K Samsung ViewFinity for $200 on Black Friday is a total bargain. Best Buy usually sells this one for $350, so it’s quite the discount at about 45% off. At 27 inches, this monitor provides enough real estate that you’ll have no issues splitting the screen between multiple apps whenever you need to multitask. The 4K UHD resolution means you’re going to get crystal clear images with sharp detail. HDR10 ensures the screen reproduces colors as close to lifelike as possible, and the contrast is deep with rich black and bright whites. This Samsung monitor is also TÜV-Certified, which means that it’s going to be easy on your eyes thanks to reduced screen flickering. Also, during the evenings, the Eye Saver Mode reduces blue light and adjusts brightness and color temperatures. It also doesn’t hurt that the monitor features a lot of useful ports, including HDMI and DP. This makes it easy to connect computers, laptops, or peripherals. Now’s your chance to own a 4K Samsung monitor for just $200, so take advantage of this Black Friday deal at Best Buy. The Samsung ViewFinity S7 is $150 offBuy now at Best Buy Read...

The release of Firefox 133 brings further improved privacy protection through bounce tracking protection. A number of fixed vulnerabilities improve security. Firefox ESR, Tor Browser and Thunderbird also receive updates. Mozilla’s security report 2024-63 lists 17 fixed vulnerabilities for Firefox 133. Mozilla classifies two of the vulnerabilities as high risk: CVE-2024-11691 only affects Mac computers with Apple’s M processors (“Apple Silicon”). Here, certain WebGL operations can lead to exploitable memory errors. CVE-2024-11699 concerns summarized, internally discovered vulnerabilities. These could potentially be exploited to execute arbitrary code. Several of the vulnerabilities categorized as medium risk only affect Android. What’s new in Firefox 133 The biggest new feature in Firefox 133 is privacy protection. The new anti-tracking function, called Bounce Tracking Protection, recognizes bounce trackers by their redirection behavior. Bounce trackers are designed to trick anti-tracking measures. Firefox regularly deletes associated cookies and website data. The prerequisite is that you have selected strict mode in Settings > Privacy & security > Improved protection against activity tracking. GPU-accelerated Canvas2D is now enabled by default on Windows computers, which should improve performance. Like WebGL, the Canvas API is used to draw text, images and shapes. Updates for Firefox ESR, Tor Browser and Thunderbird Mozilla has updated its long-term versions Firefox ESR 128 and ESR 115 and also eliminated vulnerabilities. Nine vulnerabilities have been fixed in Firefox ESR 128.5.0 and two in Firefox ESR 115.18.0. The updated Tor Browser 14.0.3 is based on Firefox ESR 128.5.0, but the Tor developers state that they have also ported security improvements from Firefox 133. An update for Tor Browser 13.5 to 13.5.10 is also available if you are running Windows 7 / 8.1 or macOS 10.13 / 10.14. Firefox ESR 115 and the Tor Browser 13.5 based on it will be supported at least until March 2025. The update to Thunderbird 128.5.0esr fixes nine vulnerabilities and some bugs. In contrast to Firefox, Thunderbird no longer supports older operating system versions – version 115.16.2 is the end of the line for Thunderbird 115. Thunderbird 133 (without “esr”) is currently only available for testing purposes (troubleshooting). Thunderbird for Android has now been released and is available as version 8.0 without beta status on Google Play. Mozilla plans to release Firefox 134 at the beginning of January. Read...

“I hacked your company,” says a message on the CEO’s monitor. “You should hire me to protect you.” It seems like something out of a 90s Hollywood movie (or a self-aware 2010s YouTube short). But a Missouri man allegedly tried to make it a reality by “hacking” multiple businesses and selling his security services to them. He got arrested instead. According to the US Attorney’s Office in Kansas City, Missouri, Nicholas Michael Kloster has been formally charged with accessing a protected computer and related offenses. The press release (spotted by BleepingComputer) compiles investigation from the FBI and the Kansas City Police Department. It alleges that Kloster “entered the premises” of a health club, accessed its computers, then emailed the owner and asked to be hired for his “security service.” A few weeks later, Kloster posted on social media (the exact one isn’t mentioned) with a screenshot of himself remotely controlling the club’s security cameras. “How to get a company to use your computer service” read the post, according to the US Attorney’s Office. He also allegedly reduced his own membership fee to $1 per month, erased his photo from the club’s database, and stole a staff nametag. Kloster’s other alleged crimes are a little less Hollywood. The District Attorney accuses him of also breaking into a “nonprofit corporation,” again by physically going to the building, entering an area that isn’t accessible to the public, then loading up a boot disk. He allegedly reset user passwords and installed a VPN, causing the corporation more than $5,000 in damages. He also (again, allegedly!) used his employer’s company credit card to shop for himself. His purchases, which would have been easily tracked by both his bosses and investigators, included “a thumb drive that was advertised as a means to hack into vulnerable computers.” I am not a hacker. But if I were, physically breaking into a gym where I apparently went on a regular basis wouldn’t be my first dastardly deed. Or my second, following fraudulent purchases of something advertised as a hacking tool paid for with my boss’s credit card. Read...

The Logitech MX Master series is about as good as high-quality mice get, as long as you don’t need a gaming-specific model. Today, Lenovo’s online store is selling the MX Master 2S for just $50 with a coupon code. This model is a few years old, but it’s still rare to see a new version going for less than about $70. It’s a fantastic deal. The Logitech MX Master 2S features a sculpted body with premium materials, a super-fast ball bearing metal scroll wheel, and customizable thumb buttons with a second horizontal scroll. Its 4,000 DPI “Darkfield” sensor works on just about any surface, including glass. (The mouse’s curvy body won’t work for left-handed users, but otherwise it’s just about perfect for people who use their computers a lot.) This model came out in 2017 and has since been replaced by the MX Master 3 and 3S, both of which go for $100. What are you missing by going with this cheaper option? The biggest downer for me is the Micro USB charging port, as the newer designs feature USB-C now. But the mouse should last for weeks on a charge, whether you’re using the wireless dongle or multi-device Bluetooth. And it has pretty much all the same core features, like Logitech’s cross-device Flow system. The only major difference is the newer 8K sensor and quieter clicks. Lenovo To get the $50 sale price, make sure the coupon code “LOGIGIFT” is added at checkout. The code area is on the cart page, below the “Proceed to Checkout” button. (When I added it to my cart on the Lenovo store, the code was already filled in.) Shipping is free. Get a Logitech MX Master 2S mouse for $50Buy now at Lenovo`s store Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Extremely crisp 5K panel Great color performance Includes USB-C with 96 watts Power Delivery Lots of menu options and image customization Cons Contrast ratio is fine, but not great Only 60Hz; motion performance suffers HDR performance doesn’t stand out Our Verdict The Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV delivers excellent image quality and an ultra-crisp 5K image (with 218 pixels per inch) for about $800. It’s hard to beat on value and an easy recommendation to anyone who wants a 5K monitor. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today 5K monitors aren’t new, but they haven’t proven especially popular (in the Windows world, at least). Price is one big reason, as most 5K monitors available in the past have sold for $1,000 or more. The Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV, which carries an MSRP of $799.99, changes the equation. And, despite its low price, this isn’t some cut-down 5K monitor built to fit a price but instead a thoroughly modern monitor that beats the pants off its predecessors. Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV specs and features The star of the show here is obviously the 5K panel, which offers a “proper” 5K resolution of 5120×2880. This is much higher than 5K ultrawides, which have a lower resolution of 5,120 x 2,160. Asus is also packing an IPS Black panel capable of better contrast than typical for the category (though still far short of OLED). Display size: 27-inch 16:9 widescreen Native resolution: 5120×2880 Panel type: IPS Black Refresh rate: 60Hz Adaptive sync: VESA MediaSync HDR: Yes, HDR 10, VESA DisplayHDR 500 certified Ports: 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 96 watts of Power Delivery, DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1, 3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 downstream, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 downstream VESA mount: 100x100mm Speakers: 2x 2-watt speakers Price: $799.99 MSRP The monitor’s MSRP of $800 is affordable for a 5K monitor, yet Asus doesn’t hold back on features. The monitor supports VESA MediaSync, HDR10, and USB-C with DisplayPort and USB Power Delivery. While it does miss a few features, like Thunderbolt, it’s certainly the most feature-packed 5K monitor available below $1,000. Further reading: See our roundup of the best monitors to learn about competing products. Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV Design The look of the ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV isn’t exciting, but that’s not to say it’s bad. Asus has solidified the language of its ProArt monitors in recent years, opting for a simple but attractive black-and-silver design with a faux-heatsink look on the rear panel. The ProArt monitors are different enough to feel distinct but will still blend in with your home office. Matthew Smith / Foundry Looks aside, the ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV is functional but simple. It has an ergonomically adjustable stand that adjusts for height, tilt, swivel, and can pivot 90 degrees into landscape mode. The stand is sturdy, moderately sized, and flat, so it doesn’t take up much space. A hole in the stand neck provides cable management and is large enough to accommodate the power cable and several video inputs. While the default stand is good, a 100x100mm VESA mount is available for connecting a third-party monitor stand or arm. While the ProArt Display 5K does miss a few features, like Thunderbolt, it’s certainly the most feature-packed 5K monitor available below $1,000. Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV connectivity and menus The Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV has one HDMI 2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4, and one USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode, for a total of three video inputs. That’s fine, though many similarly priced monitors will up the video input count to four. Connecting via the USB-C port will also provide access to 96 watts of USB Power Delivery. That’s enough to power and charge most mid-range Windows laptops that lack discrete graphics, as well as all modern Apple MacBook computers. Additional downstream USB-C connectivity includes three USB-A ports and one USB-C port, plus a 3.5mm headphone jack. That’s a good range of USB connectivity — though, once again, the monitor isn’t a leader. Dell’s Ultrasharp U2724DE is a direct competitor with far more connectivity. But that comes with a significant trade-off: The Dell only supports 1440p resolution. I might’ve liked to see Asus squeeze in even better connectivity, such as Ethernet or Thunderbolt. To be fair, this monitor is already a great value, so I understand why these features didn’t make the cut. Still, some competitors offer them, and shoppers looking for the best connectivity might be swayed towards a display like the upcoming BenQ PD2730S, which has Thunderbolt 4. The Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV has both an ambient light sensor, which is common for this category, and a backlight sensor, which isn’t. The ambient light sensor can automatically adjust the display’s brightness as the light in a room varies, which is helpful for keeping display brightness where you need it throughout the day. The backlight sensor, meanwhile, is meant to monitor and adjust brightness when the display is turned on (backlights tend to be a bit dimmer than their maximum until they “warm up”), though I had a hard time noticing that feature with my naked eye. A KVM switch is included, too, with an automatic switch feature based on the active display input. That’s helpful if you plan to have two computers connected to the display and want to seamlessly use a single wired keyboard and mouse with each. Matthew Smith / Foundry The ProArt Display 5K, like other Asus ProArt monitors, has a long list of image quality adjustments and preset color gamut modes. You can adjust color, color temperature, and gamma, or select from sRGB, Adobe RGB, DCI-P3, Rec.2020, DICOM, or Rec.709 modes. Competitors like the BenQ photography line offer similar adjustment, but Dell Ultrasharp monitors usually have a narrower list of options (Dell really wants creators to opt for the more expensive, less common PremierColor line). A pair of built-in speakers round out the ProArt Display 5K’s features set, but they’re weak and only useful for providing basic Windows system sounds or listening to less dynamic audio content, such as a podcast. This, however, is typical for the category. Most monitors that target professionals assume users will use their own, high-quality headphones or external speakers. Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV SDR image quality The first 5K monitors available for Windows, like the Dell Ultrasharp U2715K and LG Ultrafine, delivered high resolutions but had low-contrast IPS display panels. That was fine at the time, but modern monitors have improved in that area. Thankfully, the Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV provides a modern IPS Black level. Though certainly not as immersive as an OLED gaming monitor, the IPS Black panel delivers respectable contrast and excellent color performance. Matthew Smith / Foundry The ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV packed a real punch in brightness with a maximum SDR brightness of 578 nits. That’s extremely high even among this field, which generally does rather well in brightness testing. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where the ProArt Display 5K would appear dim. If anything, the monitor is arguably a bit too bright for its intended use. I found I had to use the monitor at a very low brightness setting (below 20) for it to be appropriate for my room, which has a couple windows facing away from the sun. Still, I’d rather it have the brightness than not, as it makes the monitor more versatile. Matthew Smith / Foundry I measured a contrast ratio of 1610:1 with the ProArt Display 5K at half its maximum brightness. The quality of this result depends on your perspective. It’s much better than conventional creator monitors, like the BenQ SW272U and Asus ProArt PA278CFRV. However, the ProArt Display 5K’s contrast is not as high as some other monitors with IPS Black panels, such as the Dell U2724DE. Still, this is a good result for the category, and the boost in contrast will be noticeable if you’re upgrading from an older productivity monitor with a contrast ratio around 1000:1 (or less). Matthew Smith / Foundry The ProArt Display 5K provided a great default color gamut that covered 100 percent of sRGB and DCI-P3 as well as 91 percent of AdobeRGB. While PCWorld has tested some monitors with a wider AdobeRGB gamut, the ProArt’s result are generally excellent and should be enticing for most content creators. The monitor can display an extremely wide range of colors. It’s also a native 10-bit panel, which will please picky creators. Matthew Smith / Foundry Next up is color accuracy, where the PA27JCV provides a modest result.  This, however, is still a fine number for a monitor in this price bracket (or any bracket, really) and similar to other mid- to high-end content creation and productivity monitors. The monitor’s image accuracy is helped along by good gamma and color temperature results of 2.2 and 6600K, which is close to our targets of 2.2 and 6500K. The monitor’s multiple gamma and color temperature modes allows adjustments to target different settings, if desired.   Sharpness is a major strength and, for some people, will be the obvious reason to buy the monitor. The 5120×2880 resolution on a 27-inch 5K amounts to a pixel density of 218 pixels per inch (ppi), which is close to the highest possible pixel density on a modern computer monitor. The only monitors that reach higher are 6K and 8K display. Shoppers should also keep in mind that the ProArt Display 5K’s pixel density is much higher than 5K ultrawides, like the LG Ultrafine 34WK95U-W. A 34-inch 5K ultrawide has a pixel density of only 163 ppi, so it’s nowhere near as sharp. A 40-inch 5K ultrawide, like the Dell U4025QW, has just a pixel density of 139 ppi, which is less than a 27-inch 4K display. This is an important detail to note, as it’s otherwise easy to assume all 5K displays are the same. They’re not, and the ProArt Display 5K is much sharper than some others sold with 5K branding. The ProArt Display 5K includes a matte panel coat that Asus calls LuxPixel. It’s meant to provide a paper-like screen effect, like BenQ’s monitors with a Fine Coated Panel. Subjectively, I feel that BenQ’s coating is a bit more “paper like,” but LuxPixel remains effective at reducing glare. Overall, the Asus ProArt Display 5K provides excellent image quality across the board. It scores well by every metric and does especially well in brightness and color gamut performance. It’s important to note that the ProArt Display 5K is price-competitive with some OLED monitors, like the Alienware AW2725DF, and those will deliver a deeper, more immersive image with far superior contrast. However, OLED monitors stick to 1440p resolution in a 27-inch size, and the difference in sharpness is obvious. The ProArt Display 5K is not the best display for playing games or watching Netflix but, when it comes to productivity, it’s hard to beat. Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV HDR image quality The Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV supports HDR10 and is VESA DisplayHDR 500 certified. That’s a step higher than the more basic VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification found on many similarly priced monitors, but it’s still not great. Contrast is the real issue. The Asus ProArt Display 5K can get bright in HDR, sustaining well over 500 nits fullscreen. However, the monitor lacks a dynamic or per-pixel lighting technology (like Mini-LED or OLED), so an increase in brightness also increases the brightness of dark areas of the display. That results in a flat, washed-out look. Asus makes a small effort to combat that with a dynamic backlight feature, but the edge-lit lighting zones on the monitor are massive. Because of that, any scene that displays a small, bright object on an otherwise dark scene will lead to obvious, distracting halos and pillars of light as different segments of the backlight turn on and off. It’s distracting, and I recommend turning it off. It could be worse, but it’s not good, and I don’t recommend relying on the monitor’s HDR for games or entertainment. Still, it might be passable if you need a way to quickly preview HDR video and can’t afford a second, better HDR display for that purpose. Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV motion performance The Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV isn’t meant for gaming and entertainment, so it’s no shock to see the monitor stick to a 60Hz refresh rate. It also claims a modest gray-to-gray pixel response time of five milliseconds. What does that mean? Put simply, motion performance is mediocre, at best. Don’t get me wrong: It’s fine for most situations, including games that don’t have a lot of fast action. However, viewers with a critical eye for motion blur will absolutely notice it. It’s not all bad news, though. The ProArt Display 5K supports Adaptive Sync through VESA MediaSync, a standard focused on variable refresh rates in a tight range of 48Hz to 60Hz. Though that narrows the feature’s use in games, it’s helpful if you can use V-Sync or a frame limiter that can keep a game running at or near 60 FPS (or anywhere between 48 and 60 FPS, really). MediaSync is also designed for smooth playback of 24 FPS video, which is handy if you want to use the ProArt Display 5K to edit for film or TV. Should you buy the Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV? The Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV sets the new bar that all 5K monitors must clear. It’s not the best high-resolution display on the market (that honor goes to more extreme displays, like the Apple Pro Display XDR), but it delivers a gorgeous 5K image and long list of features at a reasonable price. Any new 5K monitor looking to compete needs to make sure that it’s at least as good as, or less expensive than, the ProArt Display 5K. Read...

Makers and tinkerers, it’s time to warm up those soldering irons. Raspberry Pi has just announced an update to its itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny microcontroller (the Pico 2), now with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The Pico 2 W is available at Raspberry Pi resellers starting at just $7, a measly two bucks more than the non-wireless version. The Pico series are microcontrollers — not standalone computers like the Pi series — but they’re still beloved tools for projects that need a little more functionality than you can get with hand-wiring or standard breakout boards. The Pico 2 was launched earlier this year with an upgraded dual-core Arm Cortex-M33 chip, 520KB of onboard SRAM, and an onboard switch-mode power supply, among other goodies. The Pico 2 W adds an Infineon CYW43439 wireless modem, which provides 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.2 capabilities. That opens up a ton of new functionality, especially for gadgets that don’t otherwise have wireless options. According to Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton, they’re looking into more Pico 2 variants and they might even be ready to talk about them early next year. For the moment, you can buy a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W at PiShop.us, Vilros, and CanaKit. Other shops don’t seem to have it just yet, though Adafruit has a “coming soon” page up. Read...

Microsoft has discovered that certain Ubisoft games are crashing after users install the Windows 11 24H2 update. Affected games include well-known titles like Assassin’s Creed, Star Wars Outlaws, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. After the major fall 2024 update is installed, these games either crash immediately upon launching, freeze shortly afterwards, or have audio problems. In some games, a black screen appears after a few minutes. Users have brought this up in various places, like on Reddit and the Microsoft forums. One affected user wrote: “Recently I have updated to 24H2 version. Tried playing Star Wars Outlaws and it was unplayable. Before the update, no issues playing with ultra setting. After the 24H2 update, loading the game was awful, as if I had a PC from the 1990s, massive stuttering and long loading. I decided to rollback to 23H2. Now everything’s back to normal. What could be the issue?” On Reddit, an Assassin’s Creed Origins player wrote: “Is anybody else experiencing strange lag after the latest Windows update? I can play for some minutes and then crash. I also crash when fast travelling and in the abilities menu. Before the update, everything was running smooth.” According to BleepingComputer, Microsoft has confirmed the problems with certain Ubisoft games after upgrading to Windows 11 24H2. You can find the corresponding statement from Microsoft here, which specifically mentions these games: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Assassin’s Creed Origins Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Star Wars Outlaws In response, Microsoft has temporarily blocked automatic updating to Windows 11 24H2 on computers that have one or more of these games installed. Microsoft also strongly advises against manually installing Windows 11 24H2 on computers with these games. Microsoft and Ubisoft are currently working on a solution to the problem. While Ubisoft has released a hotfix for Star Wars Outlaws, there could be performance problems after installing it. Read...

Portable apps are applications and tools that can be started directly upon clicking them, with no prior installation needed. The advantage of this is that the programs are immediately ready for use and can be started from any storage drive — including a USB flash drive. These useful tools are then available for analyzing and maintaining any computer you slap the flash drive into, making them utterly invaluable for informal tech support duties. Let’s take a look at the best portable applications for hardware analysis and system tuning, as well as a basic setup with media player, image editing, and word processing tools. Further reading: How to permanently erase data on SSDs, hard drives, & USB flash drives Set up and use the PortableApps.com platform As a starting point for most portable applications, the PortableApp.com Platform is used to manage the programs and as a convenient program launcher. The tool also checks whether updates are available, which can be installed with a single click. PortableApps.com Platform shows a menu with categories and programs. The portable applications can also be started from a USB stick. PortableApps.com Unzip the portable app package to any directory on the hard drive or directly to a USB stick. You can specify the root directory or a subdirectory as the destination. The “PortableApps” folder contains the programs; you can use the “Documents” folder for your own files. Launcher: Start PortableApps.com Platform via “Start.exe.” The program interface opens with the application menu. When you start a program or click with the mouse on the desktop, the window closes automatically. The tool appears as a button in the taskbar and as an icon in the notification area next to the clock. The programs are sorted into categories such as “Graphics and Pictures,” “Hardware,” “Security,” and “System,” and can be started with a click of the mouse. The search bar serves as a filter; only menu entries that match the pattern entered are displayed. Configuration: PortableApps.com Platform can be configured by clicking on “Options.” On the “Organization” tab, you can define the structure of the application list. For example, select “Show all alphabetically” if you want to see the list of all programs but no categories. Under “Advanced,” “Keep menu open after application start” can be a useful option. If activated, the menu remains open after you have started a program. This allows you to try out several programs without having to call up the menu again each time. Click on “OK” to save the settings. Installing programs: Go to “Applications > More applications > By category.” A window opens with a list of additional programs that can be downloaded. Tick the desired entries and click on “Install.” Remove programs: If you do not need a program, simply delete it from the “PortableApps” folder. Add programs manually: You can also create folders with additional portable tools. PortableApps.com Platform searches for executable files in all subdirectories at startup and displays new programs in the “Other” category. A program can be assigned to another category via the “Category” context menu item. Further reading: How long does data last on a USB flash drive? Tools for Windows tuning and system maintenance Many Windows settings are hidden in the depths of the system or cannot be changed at all by default. Winaero Tweaker: The tool provides quick access to Windows options and settings, which it usually changes directly in the registry. IDG Winaero Tweaker provides access to numerous options and settings. The “tweaks” are listed in a tree view. The tool determines the version of the operating system and only displays the settings available for it. The description texts are usually brief; if you want to know more, click on “See more details how this tweak works” (or similar). The website then shows further information. Tweak Power offers an interface for a number of system tasks. Under “Cleaning” you can remove traces of web browser use. The “Windows” section provides quick access to many Windows settings — for example, in the areas of “Operation” (mouse, keyboard), “Administration” (user logon, system startup), and “Visual Styler” (system icons, screen saver). Tweak Power also offers functions for managing autostart programs, and can fix errors in the file system and optimize system settings. Tweak Power offers a host of ways you can maintain and optimize your PC.Tweak Power Tweaking.com Windows Repair AIO can fix numerous Windows problems, such as resetting incorrectly set file permissions, re-registering system files, or repairing the Windows update. Windows Repair recommends carrying out all repairs in safe mode. To do this, click on “Restart in safe mode.” As soon as Windows is running again, restart Windows Repair. First carry out the steps recommended by the wizard. Under “System tools,” create a backup of the registry before making any changes to the system. Then click on “Repairs > Main part” and “Call up repairs.” Select the desired repair functions. Hardware analysis and inventory Information about what is in the PC helps, for example, when searching for drivers. However, it is also advisable to keep an eye on the condition of the drives and the temperature of the components in order to prevent failures. Speccy: Find out what hardware is installed in the PC and display the temperatures of the motherboard, CPU, graphics chip, hard drives and SSDs. IDG Speccy quickly provides the most important data on CPU, RAM, graphics chip and motherboard. It shows the manufacturer and type designations of the components as well as the temperature of the CPU and SSDs or hard drives. The S.MA.R.T values provide information on the status of the drives. Hwinfo displays particularly extensive details about the hardware. The “System overview” window provides data on the CPU, motherboard, and GPU, while the main window lists all components found. “Sensors” provides a more detailed insight into the current values of the CPU, RAM, drives, and network adapters — for example, the clock frequency, voltage supply, temperature, power consumption, and transfer rates. CPU-Z, GPU-Z, SSD-Z, and PCI-Z specialize in the values of the processor, graphics chip, SSD, and PCI bus. Crystal Disk Info displays drives and the requested S.M.A.R.T. data. Crystal Disk Mark: The tool measures the read and write speed of hard disks and SSDs. You can find out whether a drive actually delivers the expected performance. IDG Crystal Disk Mark is a performance test for hard disks and SSDs. The tool can determine the transfer rate with different file sizes. This can be used to determine whether an SSD is working as fast as it should. Using a USB stick for system installation Windows or Linux systems can be set up quickly from a USB stick. Installation systems are usually delivered as an ISO file, the contents of which you must first transfer to a USB stick. This works particularly reliably for a large number of systems with Rufus. If you start Rufus from a stick with the portable tool collection, you need a second USB stick as the installation target. The stick will be formatted and all files on it will be lost. Ventoy: Several ISO files can be booted from a USB stick prepared with this tool, for example for Windows or Linux installation. IDG An alternative is Ventoy. This tool also reformats the USB stick. However, you can copy the portable tool collection to the hard drive, then format the stick with Ventoy and then copy the tool collection back to the stick. Place the ISO files of the operating systems on the stick. When you boot the PC from the stick, Ventoy displays a menu from which you can start the desired installation system. Programs for network and internet Windows only offers a few diagnostic options for the network. You can display the most important data, such as IP address and connection speed, in the “Settings” via “Network and Internet.” In the terminal, ipconfig can help. Angry IP Scanner: Enter the IP range of the network and click on “Start.” The IP numbers of all devices in the local network are then displayed in the list. Angry IP Scanner Angry IP Scanner scans an IP range and displays the network resources found. This is useful in foreign networks to track down all devices. The tool also shows whether a device is listening on ports 80 and/or 443, which indicates a configuration interface that can be called up in the browser. Port Expert shows processes that are currently using the internet connection. Web browsers that establish a connection via ports 80 or 443 (HTTP and HTTPS) are to be expected. If unknown programs that use unusual ports appear in the list, this could be malware. Firefox is useful as a portable version if you want to use the browser on other people’s computers with the usual settings. Access data can also be saved with the portable browser. Protect them in the settings under “Privacy and security” with a sufficiently complex master password. Graphics, image editing, and office applications A basic software package should also include image viewers and image editing as well as simple programs for document processing. Irfan View is a powerful image viewer that supports numerous graphic formats and can therefore open almost any image file. In addition to image viewing and browser functions, Irfan View also enables the post-processing of graphic files. You can rotate, flip, crop, sharpen, or add effects to images without loss. Paint.Net can be used to edit photos and create drawings. Functions such as image cropping, scaling, red-eye removal, color saturation, contrast, and brightness adjustment are available. Screentogif is helpful if you want to record some work steps on the PC as a tutorial. The screen recorder creates a sequence of images that can be saved as an animated GIF. The animation can be opened and played in the web browser or in Irfan View. Abi Word is a clearly organized word processor and can also handle files created with Microsoft Word or Libre Office, for example. The Windows version is no longer being developed, but Abi Word is certainly sufficient for occasional use. The text editor Notepad++ does more than Microsoft Notepad. Files can be opened in several tabs and syntax highlighting makes it easier to edit configuration files, for example. The PDF reader Sumatra PDF fulfils simple requirements. It displays bookmarks and you can rotate pages if necessary. If you want to edit PDFs, you can use PDF-Xchange Editor. You can use it to change or add text to PDFs. Programs for audio and video Not every PC has programs that can play all audio and video formats. To be prepared for presentations, for example, you should have your own media player ready. VLC Media Player can play all common audio and video files. It comes with all the necessary codecs and is not dependent on what is installed on the PC. SMPlayer has many of the same capabilities as the popular VLC Media Player, but with more customization options.SMPlayer Smplayer has roughly the same capabilities as VLC. The program is a good alternative if you want more customization options for the user interface. Audacity is an audio editor that is suitable for recording, editing, and playing back audio files in various formats. As of version 3.5, AI functions can also be used in the program. Audacity: The audio editor offers a wide range of editing functions. Withthe Openvino plug-in, Audacity can also convert audio files into text.Audacity Tools for more security Clam Win: The free virus scanner is easy to use and scans the selected drive or only certain folders or files. IDG A virus scanner can probably be found on every PC by now. However, it can’t hurt to get a second opinion if malware is suspected. ClamWin is a free open-source virus scanner. When starting, you confirm the update of the signature files, then select the drive, folder, or file and click on “Scan.” Stinger was originally developed by McAfee, but is now maintained by Trellix. After starting, simply click on “Scan” to check the system drive. Click on “Customize my scan” if you want to select drives or folders. Spybot – Search & Destroy is a long-established product for searching for unwanted software and browser tracking cookies. After clicking on “Scan system,” the tool scans the drives and displays the findings. Check the results, uncheck the boxes next to entries that you do not want to delete, and click on “Fix selected.” Read...

Though it was a bit rough around the edges in terms of backwards compatibility, my first look at 80Gbps Thunderbolt 5 storage reveals a very nice uptick in performance — about twice the 40Gbps of Thunderbolt 3/USB 4 in certain benchmarks. Logical. By way of comparison, that’s roughly as fast as an NVMe SSD on the PCIe 4.0 bus. And a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD is exactly what’s inside the OWC Envoy Ultra portable drive I used to test Thunderbolt 5 storage. Note that you’ll see 120Gbps listed in the Thunderbolt 5 specs, but that’s uni-directional output for driving multiple high-resolution displays. Bi-directional transfers such as those used by storage devices are “limited” to 80Gbps, or roughly 6- to 7GBps after overhead. How well does Thunderbolt 5 work? Mark Hachman / IDG My debut look at Thunderbolt 5 came courtesy of the aforementioned Envoy Ultra attached to a Thunderbolt 5, 32GB Maingear ML-17 (Mk. II) laptop. Obviously, I wasn’t able to use the 59GB RAM disk in my standard test PC for 48GB transfers, but the T-Force NVMe SSD in the laptop provided a decently fast substitute. Alas, the Envoy Ultra completely failed to appear on our official Asus ROG Strix Z790-I (Thunderbolt 4) test bed. It didn’t appear in the BIOS, disk manager, or the Thunderbolt utility. The issue is being cooperatively investigated by OWC, Intel, and Asus as the drive failed to enumerate on an Asus Maximus Z890 Hero board as well. In case you weren’t aware, Thunderbolt 5 is supposed to be full backward compatible with versions 3 and 4. Further, only the newer Sonoma and Sequoia versions of macOS would recognize the Envoy Ultra for use on my Apple Silicon Mac Studio, though it was enumerated on the Thunderbolt bus in System Info as far back as Ventura. Sequoia is required for Intel-based Macs. Finally, I was unable to test on older Thunderbolt 2 systems as the Envoy Ultra sports a captive Type-C cable which prevented me from employing Apple’s Thunderbolt 2 to 3 adapter. This is an extremely small sample size of equipment, so I’m not sure just how pervasive the issues are, but there have been rumblings around the industry about the current state of compatibility. It’s definitely toe-in-water-time for Thunderbolt 5 — even for early adopters. Further reading from another PCWorld expert: My first Thunderbolt 5 experience has been a massive bust What Thunderbolt 5 gear is available? Another Thunderbolt 5 laptop currently shipping is the Razer Blade 18. Both Asus and Gigabyte have announced a slew of motherboards that either feature Thunderbolt 5 or sport headers so they can be upgraded to it via add-on cards. Can you upgrade older computers with add-on cards? According to my inquiries, no. There are some clever engineers and hackers out there, but there are timing issues and other factors that make porting backwards highly unlikely. Yup, you’ll need new stuff to get Thunderbolt 5 speeds. And note that neither Thunderbolt 4 or 5 are compatible with older Thunderbolt 2. How fast is Thunderbolt 5 storage? How about 6GBps sequential reading, and nearly 4GBps sequential writing with multiple queues? Then there’s nearly 4GBps sequential reading and writing single-queued. That’s a very nice bump up from the previous highs of around 3GBps multi-queued and 2.5GBps single-queued delivered by 40Gbps USB 4. It’s about what we’d expect from doubling bandwidth from 40Gbps to 80Gbps. You can see the evidence below from CrystalDiskMark 8. The Thunderbolt 5 OWC Envoy Ultra absolutely rocked CrystalDiskMark 8’s sequential throughput tests. However, when it comes to random performance under CrystalDiskMark 8, the test picture painted no particular improvement. This stands to reason as increased throughput isn’t going to help any drive find/seek data faster. Random performance, according to CrystalDiskMark 8, is little improved over 40Gbps technologies. To reiterate, this was a pre-production drive on a brand-new laptop rather than our official test bed. As I had to transfer my 48GB files from SSD to SSD I omitted those results. However, in total with this arrangement the Envoy Ultra still finished a mere second slower than the first place OWC 1M2 — easily within the margin of error for these tests. The ATTO benchmark thought highly of the Envoy Ultra, if not as highly as CrystalDiskMark 8. We also omitted the results for our usual 450GB write as it’s more a test of the SSD inside and the amount of secondary cache it offers, rather than the speed of the bus. The Envoy Ultra was on pace for a stellar result if it hadn’t slowed to 1.2GBps when secondary cache was exhausted. Again, official Envoy Ultra numbers will have to wait until we upgrade our test bed to Thunderbolt 5. The test results above are simply to illustrate the rough difference between Thunderbolt 3/4, USB 4, 10Gbps USB, and Thunderbolt 5 performance. In summation, there was a marked increase in sequential transfers — with multiple queues and with only one. On suitably fast systems, it should save you time. Once again, random ops are minimally improved so don’t expect an uptick in lots-of-small-files scenarios. Note that these tests were run on a pre-production version of the Envoy Ultra, though OWC did eventually get a shipping version to us. What does Thunderbolt 5 mean for you? Thunderbolt 5 is here and you probably want it (we do), even if it saves you only modest amounts of time in the real world. Time is money, of course, but to see a profit, you’ll have to overcome some hefty initial investments — the 2TB OWC Envoy Ultra I tested is $400 and the 4TB is $600. Gulp. Thunderbolt 5 motherboards and Windows laptops are priced for the top-shelf as well, and the high cost-to-performance ratio carries over to the Mac. Only high-end newbies such as the Mac Mini (M4 Pro) offer Thunderbolt 5. Long story short… For the nonce, Thunderbolt 5 is for adventurous early adopters, enthusiasts, and prosumers who actually need the speed, and have the software and hardware to take advantage of it. This is par for the course with any new technology, though we don’t remember these kind of compatibility issues with Thunderbolt 4. Most folks will be just fine with less expensive and — at the moment — more trustworthy 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4, including our top-rated external drive, the Adata SE920. Read...

If you’re a PC gamer, you know how expensive it can be. In addition to purchasing your favorite triple-A titles, you also need a powerful machine to run them on. When it comes to gaming laptops, it gets even more complicated, as it requires an intricate cooling system to handle the heat-generating components inside. Fortunately for you, there are some inexpensive options out there. In fact, when it comes to a sub-$1,000 gaming laptop, you don’t have to cut as many corners as you may think. If you’re feeling totally lost, don’t worry–we did the hard work for you. The laptops below have been personally tested and vetted by members of the PCWorld team, so you know you’re getting a good machine. Just note that laptop prices can fluctuate, so our picks below may occasionally go over $1,000. For more recommendations on gaming laptops, see our roundup of the best gaming laptops across all prices, or take a look at our roundup of the best laptop deals. Why you should trust us: Hey, it’s in our name! PCWorld prides itself on laptop experience and expertise. We’ve been covering PCs since 1983, and we now review more than 70 laptops every year. All of the picks below have been personally tested and vetted by our experts, who’ve applied not only performance benchmarks but rigorous usability standards. We’re also committed to reviewing PC laptops at every price point to help you find a machine that matches your budget. Quick links to select top recommendations Best overall: Acer Nitro V 16 Most portable: MSI Thin GF63 Best connectivity: Acer Nitro V 15 Acer Nitro V 16 – Best overall Pros Solid performance Competitive price Dedicated button for quick performance mode switching Fast 165Hz display with good colors Cons Fully plastic build Mushy keyboard Weak battery life Why we like the Acer Nitro V 16 The Acer Nitro V 16 is a really good sub-$1,000 laptop, full stop. The IPS display is big and fast, and the RTX 4060 GPU has enough power to run most games on the Medium or High graphics preset. While running the built-in Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark, the Nitro turned in a respectable 136 frames-per-second. Sure, it’s an older game/bench, but the fps shows that it’s very playable. The 16-inch 1920×1200 display’s 165Hz refresh rates ensures nothing but smooth gameplay. Who should buy the Acer Nitro V 16 Anyone who’s looking for an affordable laptop that doesn’t compromise on performance. The display is a great choice for action-packed worlds because it’s big and fast and the RTX 4060 GPU is capable of “running any modern game,” according to our review. The battery life isn’t the best (four hours on a single charge), but that’s about par for the course with gaming laptops. The gamer aesthetic is also a bit, ahem, loud. If you can live with those trade-offs, then you can’t pick a better value than the Nitro V 16. Alternative option: The Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition ($1,099.99), which was our previous Best Overall pick until the Acer Nitro V 16 usurped its throne, is still a good option to consider. For about a grand, you’re getting reliable graphics performance, a spacious keyboard, and long battery life. The HP Victus 15 ($1,099.99) is a more subtle-looking gaming laptop if that’s your cup of tea. In addition to the sophisticated design, gameplay should look smooth thanks to the high refresh rate display (144Hz). Read our full Acer Nitro V 16 review MSI Thin GF63 (2023) – Most portable Pros Good 1080p gaming Attractive backlighting Rugged build Cons Not the most color-accurate screen Best Prices Today: $815 at Amazon Why we like the MSI Thin GF63 The MSI Thin GF63 weighs just over four pounds, which is lightweight for a gaming laptop. For context, most gaming laptops tip the scales at five or six pounds. In addition to the MSI Thin GF63 being portable, it’s also packing a good amount of power. Between the Intel Core i5-12450H CPU and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, you should be able to run most games on the Medium or High graphics preset. The 1080p display is also spacious at 15.6-inches with a refresh rate of 144Hz. Who should buy the MSI Thin GF63 The MSI Thin GF63 is a good option for college students, as it’s light enough to take with you from class-to-class. It’s also powerful enough for everyday tasks like watching Netflix, writing papers, and so on. It’ll scratch the gaming itch, too. Read our full MSI Thin GF63 (2023) review Acer Nitro V 15 – Best connectivity Pros Solid build quality Loads of connectivity options Good gaming performance Cons Mediocre display Small amount of RAM Why we like the Acer Nitro V 15 The Acer Nitro V 15 is a well-rounded gaming laptop with a ton of connectivity options, which may appeal to those who prefer to plug into an external monitor or mouse. Most of the ports live on the left side of the laptop. Those are one Gigabit Ethernet, one HDMI 2.0, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, and one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2. You’ll also find an additional USB-A 3.2 and one 3.5mm audio jack, which brings the total of USB-A ports to three. That’s excellent news, especially if you want to connect to “a keyboard, mouse, and still have room left over for a webcam or external hard drive,” according to our review.” As for the guts, the Acer Nitro V 15 is rocking an Intel Core i5-13420H CPU and an Nvidia RTX 4050 6GB GPU, which is more than enough graphics firepower. In fact, this machine hit an average of 105 frames-per-second during the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark, which is a sizable improvement over laptops with RTX 3050 and 3050 Ti graphics. The only caveats are the limited amount of RAM and the mediocre display. Who should buy the Acer Nitro V 15 Anyone that needs a good amount of connectivity options in their life. Overall, the Acer Nitro V 15 delivers respectable gaming performance for a fair price. In addition to that, it also comes loaded up with a wide array of ports, which is good news for those who want to have a wired connection or plug into a monitor. The RAM is light at 8GB and the display is just okay, but if you can live with those minor nitpicks, then the Acer Nitro V 15 is a fantastic option. Read our full Acer Nitro V 15 review Dell Inspiron 16 Plus – If you`re willing to spend a little more… Pros Metal build Long battery life Respectable graphics performance Cons Light on ports Gets loud under heavier workloads Why we like the Dell Inspiron Plus 16 7630 The Dell Inspiron Plus 16 7630 is something of a sleeper hit due to its powerful internal components and high refresh-rate display. Inside, you’ll find an Intel Core i7-13700H CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, which delivers solid gaming performance. The reviewer was able to play Cyberpunk 2077 at a respectable 30 frames-per-second at 1080p with the Ray Tracing: Ultra preset turned on. In addition to the good performance, you’re also getting a quality metal build as well as good battery life. Who should buy the Dell Inspiron Plus 16 7630 If you’re able to stretch your budget another $200 or so, we feel as though the Dell Inspiron Plus 16 7630 is a good option for college students and remote workers. It can handle anything from multimedia applications and day-to-day productivity as well as some gaming. It’s a little light on the port selection and it can get loud under heavier loads, but those are minor nitpicks in the grand scheme of things. Alternative option: The $1,349 Gigabyte G6X is a great alternative option to the Dell Inspiron Plus 16. It’s similar to the Dell in terms of sheer power, but it has a higher refresh rate display (165Hz) as well as a wider array of connectivity options. Recent laptop reviews We’ve reviewed several new laptops recently, though many cost more than $1,000. Lenovo IdeaPad 5x 2-in-1: The Lenovo IdeaPad 5x 2-in-1 delivers good bang for the buck. Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360: The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 is an excellent 2-in-1 laptop with long battery life thanks to Intel’s Lunar Lake hardware. But Lunar Lake’s focus on battery life comes at a cost, and this hardware doesn’t excel at multi-threaded CPU performance. Lenovo Chromebook Duet: The 2024 edition of the Chromebook Duet doubles down on its hybrid form factor and budget price. Lenovo has refined this design very well, and it remains a great choice if you want a cheap, reliable Chromebook that fits in small spaces and can do some light tablet duty. Just keep an eye on your tabs. Acer Swift 14 AI: The Acer Swift 14 AI isn’t exciting, but it packs well-rounded performance, good battery life, and a nice buffet of connectivity at a reasonable price. HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14: If you’re looking for a solid 2-in-1 that gets the job done and you can get behind the idea of efficiency over power, then the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 is worth your consideration. Dell Inspiron 14: The choice to switch to a Qualcomm SoC should have come with some advantage over other systems, but our testing couldn’t really find one. How we test gaming laptops under $1000 The PCWorld team puts each and every Windows laptop through a series of benchmarks that test GPU and CPU performance, battery life, and so on. The idea is to push the laptop to its limits and then compare it against others we’ve tested. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of each test and the reasons why we run them. For a much deeper look at our review methodology, check out how PCWorld tests laptops. Windows laptops PCMark 10: PCMark 10 is how we determine how well the laptop handles lighter tasks like web browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, and so on. HandBrake: HandBrake is more intensive than PCMark 10. It basically measures how long a laptop’s CPU takes to encode a hefty 30GB file. Cinebench: Cinebench is a brief stress test of the CPU cores. It does this by rendering a 2D scene over a short period of time. 3DMark: 3DMark checks if 3D performance remains consistent over time by running graphic-intensive clips. Gaming tests: We benchmark each gaming laptop using several titles. Video rundown test: To gauge battery life, we loop a 4K video using Windows 10’s Movies & TV app until the laptop dies. What you should look for in a budget gaming laptop When it comes to picking the right gaming laptop, it really depends on what you want to do with it. Do you plan on playing lightweight indie titles like Stardew Valley (no shade, I love this game) or something more visually demanding like Cyberpunk 2077? Are you going to use the machine for work as well as play? It’s possible to get reliable performance out of a gaming laptop that costs under a grand, but you’ll need to take a hard look at the individual components. You don’t need a powerful GPU for something like Fortnite. You can run even most of the newest games very well at 1080p resolution with even entry level graphics cards if you don’t mind dialing down the in-game visual settings from Ultra to more-reasonable High to Medium settings. You’ll almost certainly need to do so to hit 60 frames per second in modern games on a gaming laptop under $1,000, but the good news is they should still look good, especially on a laptop display. GPU: The thing about the GPU is that it can’t be swapped out and upgraded later, so you need to be real choosy about which one you pick, as this component will determine how well your machine runs games. Luckily, you don’t need the best of the best to get reliable gaming performance. The GTX 1650 is an entry-level GPU that’s affordable and good enough for 1080p gaming with low-to-mid graphics settings. That said, expect lower frame rates on newer titles. If you’re looking for a bit more power, the more modern RTX 4050 and 4050 Ti are preferred options, and commonly found in gaming laptops under $1,000. These perform well at Medium to High settings at 1080p. You may occasionally find a deal on an RTX 3060- or 4060-powered laptop under $1,000, but they’re relatively rare, and your best option for 1080p gaming with few compromises. CPU: Like the GPU, the processor can’t be upgraded either, so you’ll want to be selective. For Intel, we’d recommend an 13th-gen Intel Core i5 or i7 or newer. For AMD, you’ll want to spring for a Ryzen 5000 or 7000. A processor with at least four cores is good, but six cores or more is better. RAM: You’ll want at least 8GB of RAM. If you can afford 16GB of RAM, it’s highly recommended. Memory is normally upgradable, so you can always swap it out and add more later on. Storage: Storage impacts how many games and applications you can install on your laptop. Like RAM, storage is often upgradable and can be swapped out later. However, you should aim for at least 512GB of SSD storage plus a hard drive, as AAA titles tend to eat up a lot of space. SSDs load games faster, as data is stored on chips rather than spinning disks. Display: 1080p is what you can expect at this price range, either with a 60Hz or 144Hz (preferred) refresh rate. Budget gaming laptops don’t always have the best displays, as that’s where manufacturers tend to cut corners to keep the cost low. If you’ve got a dim display, you can always pick up an external monitor to plug into it. Battery life: Generally speaking, gaming laptops are known for having poor battery life. That’s because they use a ton of power. They also tend to be heavier than other laptops because they need more space for heatsinks and other cooling components. Depending on the use, most will last anywhere from four to six hours on a single charge. That said, there are a few exceptions. For a deeper dive into the nitty-gritty details, check out our guide on the specifications you want in a sub-$1,000 gaming laptop. FAQ 1. Are Chromebooks good gaming laptops? This will depend on the type of gaming you want to do. But frankly, no they don’t make good gaming laptops in a general sense. Chromebooks can handle web games and Android games just fine. But a Chromebook won’t cut it if you’re looking to play the latest high-powered AAA games. This comes down to two factors, they don’t run Windows and they likely don’t have sufficient graphics power.With that said, Google is trying to bring cloud gaming to Chromebooks and it will likely be available in the future. Cloud gaming services use a remote PC or console to play games streamed through the cloud onto the Chromebook. Until that service is up and running though, Chromebooks will not be able to compete in the gaming arena. 2. Can you game with integrated graphics? Nowadays, the latest processors with integrated graphics can run a faire amount of modern PC games at reasonable settings. Intel’s newer Iris Xe line of processors with integrated graphics, for example, have been shown to run some of the latest games at 1080p and 30fps. You should know though that not all integrated graphics are capable of the same things. Intel and AMD’s integrated graphics have made huge leaps in recent years with regard to gaming performance. If you’re on a budget or looking for an ultra thin laptop with integrated graphics you can still enjoy some light gaming as well. Check out our article about Intel’s Core 12th-gen Iris Xe and AMD’s brand new Ryzen 6000 RDNA 2 for more detailed info. 3. What size laptop is best? This will come down to personal preference and intended use. If you plan to travel a lot with your laptop, then a small ultraportable size in the neighborhood of 13 to 14 inches is best. However, if want to use it as a gaming machine, then something in the 15- to 17-inch range would be ideal. Also, don’t forget to check the weight of the laptop before you buy it. Ultra thin laptops can weigh a featherlight 2 pounds while beefy gaming computers top the scales at three or four times that. Read...