While it once scoffed at the possibility of offering an ad-supported tier, Netflix has since embraced the idea, with millions of users snapping up its “Standard with Ads” plan, garnering plenty of interest from Madison Avenue along the way.  Since its arrival more than two years ago, Netflix has added a variety of features to its ad-supported tier to set it apart from the streaming crowd–and for now, its price remains a fraction of Netflix’s priciest 4K streaming plan.  So, how much does Netflix with ads cost, what’s included, and is anything left out? Here’s what you need to know. How much does Netflix with ads cost? Netflix Standard with Ads costs $7.99 a month, which reflects a buck-a-month price hike that Netflix imposed back in January 2025. For some context, ad-supported Hulu costs $9.99/month, as does Disney+ Basic, while Paramount+ Essential and Peacock Premium (which, confusingly, is ad-supported) both cost $7.99 a month. Finally, Max Basic with Ads goes for $9.99 a month. As it stands, Netflix’s cheapest available ad-free tier (following the demise of Netflix’s Basic plan) is the Standard plan, which currently costs $17.99 a month. How many streams do you get with the Netflix Standard with Ads plan? At launch, Netflix’s ad-supported plan (which was initially called “Basic with Ads”) only offered a single stream. But last year, Netflix upped the number of concurrent streams available on the Standard with Ads plan to two. Does Netflix with ads offer 4K HDR video resolution? No, but the video quality of Netflix Standard with Ads has improved since the tier was first launched. While ad-supported Netflix once offered only 720p video quality, it has since been boosted to 1080p, same as Netflix’s ad-free Standard plan. Currently, only Netflix’s priciest plan–Premium ($24.99 a month)–offers 4K HDR streaming, with four concurrent streams per household. Same as Netflix, most other streamers reserve their 4K HDR streams for their ad-free subscribers, although that’s not a universal policy; Paramount+, for one, does allow ad-supported subscribers to stream in 4K. Does ad-supported Netflix offer downloads for offline viewing? One of the best perks offered by the big streamers is the ability to download videos for offline viewing, perfect for binge-watching your favorite series during a long flight or when you don’t want to bust through your ISP’s (or carrier’s) data cap. Until recently, Netflix didn’t allow its with-ads subscribers to download videos for offline viewing, a restriction shared by the other big streamers. But in November 2023, Netflix reversed course, becoming the first big streaming service to enable offline downloads for subscribers to its ad-supported tier. There is a monthly limit to downloads for Standard with Ads subscribers, however: 15 downloads per device, resetting on the first of the month. How many commercial breaks does Netflix with ads have? Netflix Standard with Ads subscribers will have to sit through 4- to 5 minutes of commercials per hour, with the ads running at the beginning and during videos (ideally during “natural plot breaks”). Each ad will be either 15 or 30 seconds. That 4- to 5-minute-per-hour figure is pretty much in line with Netflix’s competitors. For example, the “with ads” version of Max averages about four minutes an hour, while Peacock tops out at about five minutes per hour. You will get some ad-free episodes as a bonus for binge-watching, however. Netflix previously announced a new “binge” ad unit that allows advertisers to sponsor an ad-free episode for viewers who just binge-watched a few episodes in a row. Of course, you’ll need to watch a 30- to 60-second “cinematic” ad from the sponsor before you get to watch your ad-free episode. Is Netflix with ads available on all streaming devices? Most devices that work with ad-free Netflix should also support Netflix Standard with Ads, although a “small percentage” of streaming players and TVs won’t work because its Netflix software can’t be updated anymore. And while the ad-supported Netflix plan wasn’t initially supported on Apple TV streaming devices, it is now (on Apple TV HD devices and later) following an update of the Netflix tvOS app in March 2023. Netflix with ads is also available on most other streaming platforms, including Amazon’s Fire TV, Android and iOS devices, most smart TVs, Mac and Windows computers, and Google TV players. Does Netflix with ads offer the same content as ad-free Netflix? Almost, but not quite everything. While the “vast majority” of TV shows and movies on Netflix are available for “with ads” viewers, a “small number” are missing because of “licensing issues,” Netflix says. If you do run across a video that’s unavailable on the Netflix Standard with Ads plan, you’ll see a padlock on the title, or a “Change plan to watch” banner in place of the standard “Play” button. Why did Netflix launch an ad-supported plan? Netflix lost subscribers during the first and second quarters of 2022, ending a decade of growth and sending Netflix’s stock price into a tailspin. And while Netflix is ubiquitous in North America, it’s having trouble gaining traction in the rest of the world, where it’s facing tough competition from cheaper streaming services. Meanwhile, Netflix’s rapidly growing competitors, including Max, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, and Hulu, have rolled their own cheaper ad-supported plans, all of which undercut Netflix’s cheapest ad-free plans. So while it wasn’t all that long ago that Netflix executives scoffed at the idea of cheaper ad-supported plans, the company abruptly changed course when it became clear that its once seemingly unstoppable growth had stalled. In May 2024, Netflix reported that its Standard with Ads tier had roughly 40 million global active monthly users, up from just 5 million users in May 2023. (Netflix has since ceased tallying its monthly user base for the public.) Read...

Just a few months before the end of free support, Windows 10 is still the most widely used operating system version from Microsoft: Almost half of all Windows PCs are still running it. While you can count businesses among the crowd that might be loathe to change, the fact is that many consumers are just very satisfied with Windows 10 and they aren’t in any hurry to adopt a new way of doing things with Windows 11. There is still no “killer application” that would make the case for switching from Windows 10 to 11. On the contrary, Microsoft recently cancelled one of the most important new feature of Windows 11, namely support for Android apps on PCs. Still, once Windows 10 hits end of service, it will become increasingly risky for users to stick with the OS, beloved as it might be. Further reading: Windows 10 will hit end of life in 2025. Here’s what to expect The good news is that there are myriad ways to mimic the Windows 10 experience on Windows 11. Here are 9 free apps that prove that point. Windows 11 Pro Try out Windows 11 You can only really judge what Windows 11 has in store for you and how you will cope with it once you have it and use it. If you are currently still working with Windows 10 and your computer fulfils the system requirements for Windows 11, you can simply switch to the new version via the Windows update. Microsoft will even create a temporary backup copy that you can use to return to your Windows 10 with all settings, data, and programs for 10 days. After these one and a half weeks, the “Windows.old” backup folder on the system partition is automatically deleted. However, experience shows that the “Revert” function does not always work reliably. To try out Windows 11 without any worries, we recommend backing up the entire system partition. Windows 11 like Windows 10 In practice, however, the main thing is to adapt the existing system with Windows 11 to the familiar Windows 10 in terms of operation, functions, and appearance. In addition to the “Windows 10 style”, the Start11 software provides other ready-made profiles that make your own system look like an earlier version of Windows. Foundry Start11 customizes your system to the style of either Windows 7 or 10 with just a few mouse clicks. This applies in particular to the classic Start menu and the functions of the earlier versions, which Microsoft has now cancelled. After installation, select the style option for Windows 7 or 10 in the program, then click on “Start icon” in the section bar on the left and switch off the central positioning in the taskbar. Then search the internet for the desktop background of the previous system in the native resolution of your monitor using the keyword “Windows 10 wallpaper,” save the image file to your hard drive, and insert it as the background. This is done quickly, and Start11 also offers many other settings to customize your PC. Startallback is free and also easy to use; here you can choose between three styles for Windows 7, 10, and 11. Regardless of this decision, the layout of the taskbar and Windows Explorer can be defined and many other things can be changed. Another free tool for customizing is Open Shell Menu. The Explorer Patcher, which you can access via “Properties (Explorer Patcher)” in the Start menu, is also useful. Explorer Patcher customizes Windows Explorer, the taskbar, and more in a variety of ways. This also includes the ability to never have apps combine in your taskbar and bringing back classic Windows 10 context menu.Jared Newman / Foundry The software restores a number of options from previous versions of the Microsoft file manager, including the classic context menu, which offers all entries immediately and not just by clicking on “Show more options.” Alternatively, Windows 11 Classic Context Menu also does this. Finally, Winaero Tweaker combines well over 100 tools and settings in one interface, including many for customizing the desktop, taskbar, Windows Explorer, and context menu. A detailed description would go beyond the space available here. Windows themes and the Windhawk mods Windows “themes” are compilations of desktop wallpapers and modified layouts of windows, mouse pointers, icons, and more: Such themes provide a completely new Windows style. Windows 11 itself only provides a few themes under “Settings > Personalization > Themes;” Microsoft offers additional packages via the link to the Store (search “themes”) and on the internet. After downloading, you can install these theme packs by double-clicking on them and manage them under “Themes.” If you want to use third-party themes, first remove the installation lock with Ultra UX Theme Patcher. As the tool has a deep impact on the system, we recommend making a system backup beforehand. It is also important to only download themes from trustworthy sources. Themes in the form of archive files must first be unpacked and then copied to the directory “C:\Windows\Resources\Themes” together with subfolders. They can then be selected in the Settings app. On the Windhawk marketplace, developers provide so-called mods with which users can customize their Windows computers according to their wishes.IDG In addition to themes, Windhawk has established itself as a marketplace for so-called mods, which can also be used to customize Windows in a variety of ways. After installing the software, you can search for mods on the user interface and select them via “Details.” The explanations and notes are important, so read them carefully. Add the individual mods to the system by clicking on “Install -> Accept the risk (Install Mod).” Then select the desired option or function in the “Settings” tab and save the settings. RevertSV: Windows 10 perfectly imitated RevertSV promises a modern Windows 11 with the look and feel of Windows 10. The developer has already made all the customizations and offers the system as a ready-to-use ISO image. However, RevertSV is not suitable for productive use due to the U.S. settings. However, it can be tried out in a virtual machine with Vmware Player or virtualization software. The current version of RevertSV is based on Windows 11 version 21H2, a version based on Windows 11 24H2 is planned. In a YouTube video, the developer shows what the system looks like under the hood using some of the functions. Do you remember the earlier Windows photo display? It’s much better for quickly viewing and browsing through a collection of images than the later apps. IDG Read...

From typewriter to computers, from School C to NCEA, Glenys Sparling-Fenton`s seen it all. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Available in a fantastically capable free version File-level and imaging (Pro version) backup Supports prosumer/IT online storage services Cons Pro version with imaging is subscription only Lacks support for Consumer-grade online storage services Proprietary data containers and images Our Verdict In its free incarnation, MSP360 Desktop Backup is a worthwhile upgrade to Windows File History. However, the Pro version is subscription-only which makes it very pricey over time. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: MSP360 Desktop Backup Retailer Price MSP360 $29.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket I checked out both the free and paid versions of MSP360 Desktop Backup for this review. Shockingly, the free version maintains enough of the paid version’s features to warrant a 4-star rating — even without support for consumer-grade online storage support that its Cloudberry Backup ancestor featured. MSP360 Desktop Backup Jon L. Jacobi Consider the free MSP360 Desktop Backup a nicely robust upgrade from Windows eminently useful File History. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best Windows backup software for comparison. What are MSP360 Desktop Backup’s features? The most salient difference between the free and paid versions of MSP360 Desktop Backup is the former’s lack of support for image backups. It also lacks encryption/compression, backup of virtual machines, support for Exchange, and other decidedly pro features. Like I said, think File History. Beyond that, a surprising amount of functionality is present and as far as I could tell, it’s not neutered at every turn as with a number of other freebies. There are full and incremental backups; scheduling that’s granular down to minutes; culling of backups (purging older backups, including grandfather/father/son options; as well as pre- and post- program execution). Even the free version of MSP360 offers extremely granular scheduling down to the minute. Also on the feature list: NTFS options (permissions); file filters; a backup consistency check; email notifications; and a disaster recovery boot disk, albeit minus bare metal restore — i.e. the ability to restore to new, dissimilar hardware. Bare metal restore is nice, but Windows includes generic drivers for everything basic these days, so the need isn’t nearly what it was back in the day when you might need to inject the Ethernet or Wi-Fi drivers to facilitate downloading all the other drivers. You can even back up from, as well as to, network locations — if they’re already mounted as drive letters under Windows. Online storage may serve as a source as well. More on supported services in a bit. Whew! I did mention that this is the freebie, right? MSP360 Desktop’s file filtering options are extensive. My biggest disappointment with MSP360 Desktop Backup, including the paid version, is that, unlike its Cloudberry Backup predecessor, online storage support is limited to prosumer/IT-oriented services such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon S3, S3-compatibles, Google cloud, etc. In other words, there’s no support for the Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, etc., that most of us use. Only prosumer online storage services (and local destinations) are supported by MSP360 Desktop Backup. That pretty much means that the freebie, when it comes to the average user, is good only for local storage and local network backup. I do have one or two other minor gripes. Numero uno, I wish there was support for non-proprietary container files such as VHD so that the program wasn’t required for restore operations. Also, it would be nice to be able to define multiple destinations for each data set rather than having to create a new job for every destination. On the other hand, you can chain backup jobs for execution. Those are standard suggestions on my part for a lot of backup software and don’t really affect overall functionality — or the rating. Not much at least. MSP360 also offers a WinPE boot disk, though the disk produced by the free version is limited like the Windows version. How much does MSP360 Desktop Backup cost? MSP360 Desktop Backup is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Obviously, the free version costs nothing, but the Standalone version with imaging will set you back $30 a year. There is no perpetual option — a bit of a bummer, as rarely do backup programs improve drastically in a year’s time. Blame that on their existing maturity. Are you listening, Acronis? The Pro version of MSP360 Desktop with imaging is $30 yearly. If you are interested in the paid-level features and online (remote) management of multiple computers, there’s also MSP360 Managed Backup for $2.50 per seat, per month, or $30 per seat yearly. However, storage is extra, with $72 yearly for 1TB Wasabi being the default. Alas, no consumer-grade online storage services are supported so you can’t leverage those. That makes the Managed Backup version possibly the better deal than Desktop, but only if your storage service aligns. Note that restore functionality remains intact perpetually so you can always restore your backups if you drop your paid subscription. That’s essential if you’re using proprietary data containers as MSP360 does. How does MSP360 Desktop Backup perform? I did my initial testing with the free version, and my only issue was self-inflicted — choosing a drive without enough free space to contain the backup. This forced an error. Hitting the restart button caused another error as the program tried to create an incremental backup. Obviously, the program didn’t realize that the first job had failed. I reformatted the destination to free up enough space in the mean time, and choosing the “Force full backup” command solved that issue. Am I a bit hasty? Yes. I tend to rush testing in order to better spot possible weaknesses that might bite end users. You’d be surprised how often it works. That said, the program could be just a tad smarter about checking that there’s enough space on the destination, or that there’s a valid full backup before trying to create an incremental addition. Without space-challenged destinations, MSP360 Desktop Backup proceeded through numerous jobs without issue. Restore functionality remains intact perpetually so you can always restore your backups if you drop your paid subscription. Green bars at 100% are what we like to see with any backup program. Too much red and the rating plummets. The company sent me a license for the paid version so I could test the imaging backup. I’m very happy to report that the imaging works quite well. The disaster recovery disk booted fine, and restore operations (image and file) went off without a hitch. Good on ya’, MSP360. Should you buy MS360 Desktop Backup? If you need something more powerful than Windows File History for your file backups, then the free version of MS360 Desktop Backup is a no-brainer. However, it’s difficult to recommend the paid version, which is subscription software that’s not going to evolve significantly on a year-to-year basis. On the other hand, the soon-to-be-reviewed, and like-priced MS360 Managed Backup might just be worth the expense if you need to monitor and control backup chores for several computers remotely. Read...

UTECOM is a name that probably means nothing to most people these days, no matter how much they are into computers. However, it was a very important and impressive early computer, one of the first in this part of the world. Read...

As the Trump administration’s trade war oscillates, tech manufacturers are trying to deal with the unpredictable nature of an economy held hostage to a single man’s whims. But smaller, more niche businesses simply can’t deal with the uncertainty of prices that might double tomorrow—so they’re out, at least as far as shipping to customers in the US. The latest example is Keyboardio, a custom keyboard shop run by two people in California. Keyboardio specializes in the kind of gorgeous, wood-cased ergonomic designs that always draw crowds at keyboard meetups. But because essential parts like PCBs come from China, even if their wooden cases are sourced from American wood, both the standard tariffs and the crackdowns on de minimis shipping exceptions make it impossible to remain profitable for US sales, as the two explain in a lengthy blog post. The post was updated four times in three days in April to deal with the US and China’s dueling policies. But starting May 2nd, there will simply be no way to keep sales going while remaining profitable. Keyboardio announced (spotted by Tom’s Hardware) that it will “suspend all shipping to the United States until we’re confident that your orders will get to you quickly and reliably.” Keyboardio isn’t the first small gadget supplier to make this call, and it won’t be the last. Retro Dodo reports that Anbernic—a favorite of the exploding retro handheld emulation gadget scene—announced that it would be “suspending all orders shipping from China to the United States.” Stock currently available in American warehouses will be the last available to US residents until further notice. Bigger brands are feeling the pinch, too. Razer’s high-powered gaming laptops briefly disappeared from its ordering page earlier this month even as it was announcing new accessories, and Logitech’s mice and keyboards have jumped in price by up to 25 percent. Yesterday, logistics giant Hapag Lloyd says that among its customers, 30 percent have simply cancelled shipments originating from China and bound for the United States. The International Monetary Fund predicts a slowing impact to the broader global economy as companies try to account for the apparent self-sabotage of the United States buying public. Razer If you’d like to dig deeper into how the Trump tariffs are affecting both US businesses and technology buyers, Gamers Nexus has an exhaustive breakdown available on YouTube. Notably, PC case and component maker Hyte (who’s based in California) is shutting down all shipments to the US. Hyte broke down the component, manufacturing, and shipping cost of individual cases, explaining how and why simply shifting manufacturing to the United States is economically impossible. Cooler Master, Thermal Grizzly, Corsair, and CyberPowerPC all expressed similar woes, saying that the unpredictability of the tariff situation can lead to disaster. A shipment could leave port in China when the tariff rate is 20 percent but arrive when it’s 150 percent—and that alone can be so detrimental to the business that it directly results in employee layoffs. Larger companies can try to compensate with fewer products on offer shipped in bigger batches when the situation is less chaotic, but smaller companies will simply shut down sales in the US… or may be in danger of complete collapse altogether. The full video is almost three hours long, but absolutely worth watching if you’d like to see an incredibly detailed breakdown of how US companies are being clobbered by constantly-shifting policies that are beyond anyone’s ability to predict. The Trump administration has temporarily scaled back import tariffs from most countries to “just” 10 percent, a policy that would already have been considered a huge burden. Dozens of countries have indicated a willingness to bargain to avoid the more onerous tariffs announced earlier this year. But with China refusing to bow to Trump’s demands and several rounds of one-upmanship between the countries, the current rate on most Chinese imports to the United States is a staggering 145 percent. A television made in China and valued at $100 will be charged $145 to enter the country, effectively making its price $245. Apparently, reacting to panic in the tech industry specifically, the administration later scaled back the China tariffs on computers, computer components, smartphones, and some smaller parts to “only” 20 percent. Messaging on what counts and what doesn’t, and how long these and other policies will remain in place, is confused at best. The Trump administration claims that it is actively negotiating with China and that the tariff rate will go down substantially in the near future. Chinese officials have denied that active negotiations are occurring. Read...

Data loss is a common occurrence. According to a study of Backblaze customers, nearly one in two (46%) users experience data loss each year. More specifically, memory card data loss is a common problem. The good news is that memory card file recovery is possible–provided that you apply reliable recovery solutions after the initial data loss. So, you no longer need to worry too much about the possibility of accidentally deleting important media from your memory card. This article covers reliable recovery plans for retrieving missing data from a memory card. We’ll also share some graphical user interface (GUI) and command line interface (CLI) memory card recovery software that can assist. Memory card data loss: causes and solutions Accidental deletion. Most users encounter data loss because they accidentally removed video or photos from the memory card. In this situation, stop using the card and apply professional memory card recovery software such as EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard as soon as possible to maximize your chances of data recovery. Memory card formatted. Sometimes you’ll receive a prompt that asks you to format the card for use, but formatting removes all data from the card. You’ll need to lean on a recovery tool or backup to recover the data. Corrupted file system. Sudden power loss, removing the card directly from a computer, or malware can cause the memory card’s file system to become corrupted. You cannot usually access files on the memory card until you repair the file system with the CHKDSK command. Physical damage. Accidental dropping, bending, water damage, or exposure to extreme temperatures can cause permanent data loss on a memory card. If you have encountered physical damage, it’s best to contact a professional data recovery service. In the next section, you will find a detailed tutorial on how to recover data from a memory card. Remove the card from your device and begin data recovery now. Memory card data recovery: step-by-step guide In most situations, applying specialized recovery software can be one of the best solutions for undeleting memory card data, especially in some complex data loss scenarios, such as when dealing with formatted or corrupted memory cards. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is a trustworthy memory card recovery tool for all card types, including SD, microSD (TF), CF, MMC, and more. This memory card file recovery software is lightweight, easy to set up, and works on Windows and macOS operating systems. After installing it, follow the tutorials below to recover deleted files in minutes. Step 1. Connect the memory card to the computer For most computers, a card reader is necessary to connect the memory card to the PC. Insert your SD card, TF card, CF card, or other memory card into a card reader and connect it to your computer. Step 2. Scan your memory card with data recovery software After launching EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on the PC, select the SD Card recovery tab. Then, choose your memory card from the available drives; this software supports most top brands like SanDisk, Samsung, Lexar, Kingston, and Sony. Click the “Scan for lost data” button to initiate the quick and thorough scanning process, ensuring a comprehensive search for lost files. EaseUS Step 3. Preview and filter recoverable files No need to wait for the scanning process to complete; it’s possible to filter files during the scan. You can browse the recovered files using the innovative filtering feature – sort by file path, file type, date, or name to find exactly what you need. You can also preview photos, videos, and documents before recovery. EaseUS Step 4. Save the recoverable files on local disk/cloud Select the photos or videos you want to restore and click “Recover” to save them. It’s important to select a secure storage location (different to the scanned memory card) to prevent data being overwritten. If you don’t have enough space on the local drive, you can also save the recovered files to cloud storage, such as OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox. EaseUS Which memory card data recovery tool should you use? If you have multiple important files on the memory card that need to be recovered, selecting the right recovery tool can make a significant difference. There are many GUI and command-line recovery tools available, including those from PhotoRec, TestDisk, Scalpel, Windows File Recovery, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, and Extundelete. Two of those are shown in more detail in the table below. FeatureEaseUS Data Recovery WizardPhotoRecFree or paidFree for 2GB data recovery Paid version for unlimited dataFreeSupported file typesOver 1000 file types of images, videos, documents, and emailsMost photos and videos, limited support for documentsSupported storage devicesSD cards, microSD cards, CF cards, MMC, USB drives, HDDs, SSDs, cameras, etc.SD cards, USB drives, and HDDs.Ease of useBeginner-friendly with intuitive UICommand-line interfacePreviewAllow file preview before recoveryNo preview optionAdditional featuresPartition recovery, corrupted file repair, bootable recovery, etc.Basic file recovery onlyCustomer support24/7 customer support and technical assistanceNo official supportBest forUsers looking for a reliable, easy-to-use, and feature-rich recovery toolTech-savvy users are comfortable with command lines Although PhotoRec is totally free, the command line interface is not simple for newcomers to understand or operate. If you are unfamiliar with the command line and need a powerful, easy-to-use, and secure memory card recovery software, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is a wise choice. When to seek professional help for memory card recovery We have discussed how you can recover deleted files from memory cards using powerful data recovery software; however, the software may not be able to handle all data loss situations. So, when should you seek professional help for memory card recovery? Memory card physical damage The memory card is not showing up in File Explorer or Disk Management, and after some DIY fixes, even the software cannot detect the memory card. The memory card is bent, damaged by water, or torn apart. The memory card is overheating and makes weird sounds. Severe file system damage or encrypted The memory card has become RAW and has been formatted multiple times. The files on the card are encrypted, damaged, or deleted by malware or computer viruses. The partition table is corrupted, and the data on the memory card cannot be accessed. Overwritten part of data on memory card After deleting files from the memory card, you have written some new data on the card. For example, after deleting photos from your digital camera, the card is not removed, and you continue using the camera to take more pictures. How do you choose a reliable data recovery service if you encounter one of the above situations? EaseUS data recovery services offer a free online memory card diagnosis, and our recovery team is available 24 hours a day to solve problems. Your data will be safe with this trustworthy data recovery center. How to avoid future data loss on the memory card Besides regularly backing up important files to cloud storage, properly removing the memory card, and using other common methods to prevent data loss, here are additional tips to help you protect your data on the memory card. Avoid using fake memory cards. When you need to purchase a new memory card, order it from a trustworthy source, such as the official website. Avoid using the memory card for too long. Using the memory card to record high-quality videos like 4K or 8K can cause the temperature to rise, and overheating may cause the memory card to stop working properly. Use a backup memory card. You can prepare multiple memory cards and store your data separately to avoid losing all your data should something go wrong. Avoid transferring files on a low battery. A sudden power loss can cause data loss and even file system corruption. Ensure your device has sufficient power when downloading or transferring files. Conclusion Although memory card file deletion or missing can be very annoying, there are many data recovery solutions you can apply. And you should understand that file deletion does not mean permanent data loss; you have a 70-90% chance of recovering deleted data from a memory card. To recover all your data from a memory card, act now! You can download professional recovery software such as EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard or consult an expert to recover your precious data. FAQ 1. Can I recover data from a corrupted memory card? If your SD card is corrupted, try to fix it with CHKDSK or the Diskpart command first. Then, you can try professional memory card recovery software such as EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. 2. How can I recover data from a physically damaged memory card? It’s challenging to recover data from a physically damaged memory card. It’s recommended to send it to a professional data recovery center. Professional data recovery engineers will use chip-level extraction technology to read data directly from NAND flash chips and help you recover data. 3. Can I recover data from my memory card for free? Yes, you can use open-source data recovery software, such as PhotoRec or TestDisk. However, free tools have limited capabilities and may not be able to fully recover your data. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Based on the latest Z-Wave 800 chipset Supports incandescent, CFL, LED, and MLV lighting Very easy to install Cons Requires a neutral wire Companion switch required for 3-way installations Our Verdict Leviton, one of the biggest electrical component manufacturers in the world, makes high-quality products and offers a comprehensive collection of Z-Wave-compatible devices in addition to this Z-Wave 800 dimmer and switch. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Leviton Decora Smart Z-Wave 800 Dimmer (model ZW6HD) Retailer Price $46.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Smart lighting controls that operate over Wi-Fi are great, because they don’t require a hub; they connect directly to your router. The downside is that they must compete with all the other clients on your home network: Your computers, gaming consoles, media streamers, smart speakers, home security cameras, smart plugs, and many, many more. I live in a very small home—less than 800 square feet—but there are still more than 80 devices connected to the Eero 6 router in my Ring Alarm Pro. Given that the Eero 6’s practical limit is 128 clients, there just isn’t a lot of room for light switches and dimmers. Hence, my affinity for Z-Wave, the connected home technology at the heart of Leviton’s Decora Smart Z-Wave product line. I first embraced Z-Wave when I built a smart home from the ground up back in 2007. A Z-Wave hub will take just one slot on your router’s client list while managing up to 232 Z-Wave clients. And unlike Wi-Fi and Zigbee, which both operate in the 2.4GHz radio spectrum, Z-Wave devices use spectrum in the 900MHz frequency range, which is not only a lot less-crowded, but also renders Z-Wave signals less susceptible to being absorbed by a home’s building materials. For the in-wall Leviton Decora Smart Z-Wave dimmer and on/off switch reviewed here, Leviton specifies a range of 50 feet from any other Z-Wave device or your home’s Z-Wave hub. If you’ve settled on Z-Wave as your smart home ecosystem of choice, no one makes better lighting controls than Leviton. Unlike Zigbee, Z-Wave is not part of the Matter ecosystem—and I honestly don’t care. I’m not throwing shade at Matter here; I just haven’t found that standard to be critical to how my smart home operates. I’m an iPhone user, and it would be great to have all my smart home devices incorporated into my Apple Home app, but I’m also an Alexa user and I use voice commands spoken to my Echo smart speakers far more often than I pull out my smartphone and tap on its screen—or summon Siri—to operate my smart home devices. Both the Decora Smart Z-800-series dimmer (left) and switch have locator LEDs beneath their toggles. The dimmer also has a stacked set of LEDs to indicate the current brightness level. All the LEDs go dark when the connected load is powered on.Michael Brown/Foundry Given that the various generations of Z-Wave comprise an installed base of more than 100 million devices, according to Silicon Labs, it’s just a matter of time before someone comes out with a Z-Wave-to-Matter bridge. I’m not only willing to wait for a Z-Wave-to-Matter bridge, but I’m also not convinced I’ll ever really need one. Specifications Both the Decora Smart Z-Wave Dimmer 800 Series (model ZW6HD) and the Decora Smart Z-Wave Switch (model ZW15S) use the latest-generation Z-Wave 800 chipset, which is backward-compatible with every previous version of Z-Wave, and the Z-Wave Plus protocol. As for the Z-Wave hub I use, I chose a Vivint Smart Home panel as the foundation for my first smart home in 2007, and I had it installed in my new home when I moved from California to the Pacific Northwest in the fall of 2023. Leviton Decora Smart Z-Wave 800 switch (model ZW15S) Best Prices Today: $43.99 at Amazon You don’t need a professionally installed smart home system to use Z-Wave devices, of course; there are many, many DIY alternatives, including Ring Alarm Pro, LG’s Homey line, Home Assistant, Samsung SmartThings (Samsung’s earlier hub and Aeotec’s version that is; the newer Samsung SmartThings Station doesn’t have a Z-Wave radio). Perhaps the most important thing you need to know about these Decora Smart products is that they depend on the presence of a neutral wire in the box where they’ll be installed. If you don’t have that and can’t bring a neutral wire to the box, you might want to consider one of Lutron’s Caséta or Diva Smart products. They also depend on a hub—Lutron’s own, which isn’t compatible with a Vivint system—but they don’t depend on neutral wires. Both the dimmer (left) and toggle switch have pigtails for connecting to your home’s electrical wiring: black for line, red for load, white for neutral, green for ground, and a striped red/yellow wire for 3-way installations.Michael Brown/Foundry Both the dimmer and the switch can handle incandescent loads up to 600 watts, LED and CFL (compact fluorescent) loads up to 300 watts, and MLV (magnetic low voltage) loads up to 600VA (volt amps). These are both paddle-style switches that come with white paddles mounted on the device that you can swap out with an ivory paddle that comes in the box. If you want something other than white or ivory, you can buy color-change kits in light almond, gray, brown, or black for about $4 each. The industrial designs of the dimmer and switch are necessarily slightly different. Both have a small green LED centered beneath their paddles that glows when the device is receiving power. These make the switches easy to find in the dark. The Dimmer has a stack of seven green LEDs to the left of the paddle that light up in sequence when the switch is turned on (lighting up from bottom to top), turned off (from top to bottom), or when the dimming level is changed (the LED representing the brightness level glows brighter than the other six). Dimming the connected load is accomplished by pressing and holding the bottom of a narrow toggle on the right-hand side of the paddle; doing the same to the top of the toggle increases the light output. The vertical orientation of the dimmer mechanism is an improvement over the horizontal toggle on earlier-generation Z-Wave dimmers. Installation and setup I installed both switches as single-pole devices, but both can also operate in 3-way scenarios where the connected load can be controlled by a switch—or switches—at other locations in the room. In a 3-way installation, however, you’ll need to purchase one of Leviton’s “companion” switches: the Leviton DD00R Wired Dimmer Companion or the DD0SR Wired Switch Companion (street priced at about $23 and $17 respectively). The Decora Smart Z-Wave dimmer and switch both have pigtails (line, load, neutral, traveler, and ground) that you’ll connect to the electrical wiring in your home using the provided wire nuts. While both devices are considerably bulkier than their dumb counterparts, I had no problem stuffing them side by side back into box after I’d made the required connections. These are Z-Wave lighting controls, so you’ll need a Z-Wave hub to connect them to your home network. I connected them to my Vivint Smart Home system. Michael Brown/Foundry Both switches come with two-piece wall plates that hide the screws that attach them to the switches (you screw one piece to the switch and then snap on the second piece that’s exposed to the room), but I couldn’t use them because I installed both switches in the same box. I made a run to the hardware store to buy a conventional 2-gang wall plate, which cost less than $3. I could have opted for one of Leviton’s “screwless” wall plates, but the store didn’t stock them and one would have cost more than twice as much as the conventional plate, even on Amazon. The next step is to enroll the devices to your Z-Wave smart home hub of choice. Doing so with a Vivint smart home panel requires contacting customer support, which I did via online chat, and asking them to provide access to the installer’s menu on the control panel. Once you’ve provided your verbal password, they’ll unlock the panel and provide the installer password needed for the next step. You won’t need to involve anyone else if you have your own Z-Wave hub. In either scenario, you’ll initiate pairing on the hub, then push a button on the switch to add the device to the hub’s Z-Wave routing table. Rinse, lather, repeat for each new Z-Wave device you wish to add to your system. Performance There’s not a lot to say about the performance of the Leviton Decora Z-Wave switch, other than it works. I connected it to pair of dumb BR30 LED ceiling lights in my hallway, and it dutifully turned them on and off: at the switch itself, with the Vivint app and at the physical Vivint control panel, and with Alexa voice commands (I need to say “Alexa, tell Vivint to turn on—or off—the hallway,” but that’s a Vivint thing). You can do the same with a “Hey Google” command if your smart home revolves around Google Home. Once you’ve enrolled the switches into your smart home hub of choice, you can control them with that device’s app or with voice commands spoken to Amazon Alexa or Google Home voice assistants. These screenshots are of the Vivint Smart Home app.Michael Brown/Foundry The same is true of the dimmer, except that I can specify in the Vivint app, control panel, or as part of my voice command the percentage of brightness at which I want the twin LEDs in the connected ceiling fixture to glow). More importantly, the dimmer control to the right of the primary paddle smoothly dimmed and brightened the connected LED bulbs and the corresponding green LEDs to the left of the paddle accurately displayed the brightness level. Tapping the paddle to turn the bulbs does so instantly but tapping it to turn them off gradually dims them until they’re off—after a little more than 2 seconds. At no point did any of the LED bulbs flicker or behave erratically. This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart lighting controls. Should you buy the Leviton Decora Smart Z-Wave 800-series? If you’ve settled on Z-Wave as your smart home ecosystem of choice, no one makes better lighting controls than Leviton. The Leviton Decora Smart Z-Wave Dimmer 800 Series (model ZW6HD) and the Decora Smart Z-Wave Switch (model ZW15S) feature the latest generation of Z-Wave 800 chips, and they’re robustly built, easy to install, and compatible with a wide range of smart home and home security hubs. While Leviton doesn’t offer Z-Wave 800 in-wall outlets or fan-speed controllers, or plug-in dimmers and smart plugs with the latest generation of Z-Wave silicon, it does offer those device types with previous generations of Z-Wave technology, and those products are fully interoperable with these new ones. Leviton is one of the largest manufacturers of smart lighting controls, and it was one of the earliest adopters of Z-Wave technology. You can buy its Z-Wave 800 smart dimmer and switch with confidence. Read...

On February 2nd, 2025, computer scientist and OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy made a flippant tweet that launched a new phrase into the internet’s collective consciousness. He posted that he’d “fully given into the vibes” when programming with AI assistance. There`s a new kind of coding I call `vibe coding`, where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists. It`s possible because the LLMs (e.g. Cursor Composer w Sonnet) are getting too good. Also I just talk to Composer with SuperWhisper…— Andrej Karpathy (@karpathy) February 2, 2025 The tweet of course kicked off a flame war, because that’s how X works, especially under the current management. But for me, the tweet hit home—because it perfectly describes how I use AI to code. My experience with vibe coding I’ve always had an interest in programming, because I’ve always had an interest in computers. I put together websites in HTML as a teenager (which, yes, were hosted on GeoCities) and have been occasionally dabbling in Python since. Yet none of my projects got very far and, apart from my early websites, I never made anything useful. My efforts all followed a familiar pattern: I’d fixate on a particular resource—like an O’Reilly book or an online course—and get started with great enthusiasm, but as I’d realize I was months or years away from creating anything remotely useful, I’d give up. I’ve used Claude AI to quickly generate a simple dice roller web app.Matt Smith / Foundry That changed in late 2024 when my general frustration with WordPress, which I was using for my personal website, got the better of me. In a fit, I threw my website’s content plus a screenshot of it into Claude 3.5 Sonnet and asked the AI to replicate my site with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. To my amazement, Claude 3.5 generated a functional website. It wasn’t perfect, but after a couple hours of working with Claude, I wound up with a website I liked even better than its WordPress predecessor. My approach was exactly what Karpathy described. I didn’t read the code, nor did I really try to understand it (though I did have to think a bit about how the featured articles carousel works). That aside, I just told Claude what to do, copy-and-pasted the results in VSCode, saved the file, and reloaded my browser to see what changed. And it worked. A work-in-progress screenshot of my Pico-8 puzzle game and the vibe-coded source.Matt Smith / Foundry But the most important part? It was fun! Fun enough that I’ve since tried my hand at several other coding projects. I made an online tool to track initiative and roll dice when DMing tabletop roleplaying games, I made another tool to simplify rolling dice in Battletech, and I’m currently making a puzzle game for the Pico-8 virtual game console. I also used AI to guide me through setting up tools that require a bit of fussing, like OpenAI’s Whisper speech-to-text model. Notably, all three projects were in different programming languages—HTML/JavaScript, Python, and Lua—none of which I’m even remotely proficient with. I’ve also dabbled in some C#, as I started to make the puzzle game in Unity before deciding it was overbuilt for my needs and swapping to Pico-8. I also toyed with turning my tabletop RPG tool into a Windows app before deciding that wasn’t helpful. The risks and pitfalls of vibe coding So, yeah, I’m vibing. But is it all good vibes? Or does vibe coding herald the same kind of AI slop-driven era for software as we’re seeing for blogs, forums, artwork, video, and music? That’s the big fear of critics, and it’s easy to understand those fears. Karpathy’s “vibe coding” is fast, fun, and approachable, but it isn’t rigorous, detail-oriented, or careful. The code written by AI will often work, but it can contain flaws that aren’t immediately obvious—and that raises an obvious question: how does a know-nothing programmer spot bugs and security flaws in AI-generated code? The simple answer is… they can’t. Take the case of Leonel Acevedo—better known as just “leo”—who posted about his experience vibe coding a SaaS startup, only to find himself dealing with major issues like unsecured API keys. It led to hundreds of videos and social media posts dunking on Leo’s naïveté: guys, i`m under attackever since I started to share how I built my SaaS using Cursorrandom thing are happening, maxed out usage on api keys, people bypassing the subscription, creating random shit on dbas you know, I`m not technical so this is taking me longer that usual to…— leo (@leojr94_) March 17, 2025 To be clear, I don’t have much sympathy for Leo. He used social media to promote his business with posts clearly built to drive engagement. And, well, that’s how chasing influence on social media works. Sometimes you’re the hero and sometimes you’re the villain. (Predictably, Leo is already making content about “rebuilding my SaaS in 30 days.”) Yet, I question what his problems are supposed to prove. Is vibe coding a SaaS and going straight into production dumb? Sure. But are most people vibe coding a SaaS startup and flinging it into the world like the baby in an Xbox commercial? Of course not. The reality is a lot more practical. Some people, like me, see vibe coding as a fun way to tackle simple projects that were previously out of reach. Others, including many software engineers, will use it as way to build prototypes, demonstrate proofs of concept, and—yes!—learn. It’s the blogging revolution… for code In a strange way, vibe coding reminds me of the circumstances from decades ago that paved the way for me to become a tech journalist. I grew up in a small midwestern town. My high school was so small, we didn’t even have a school newspaper. Then I went to college and got a degree… in English Literature. Not journalism or communications. I never wrote for the college paper, either. I then graduated college with no useful contacts or work experience. But I lucked out. I graduated right when the blogsphere exploded and social media took over the internet. Suddenly, formal credentials and an industry-specific degree, though helpful, weren’t necessary. So, I started writing—and eventually publications started paying me for it. I’ve been doing this now for 17 years. To me, vibe coding looks like it will do something similar for future software engineers and the programming landscape. Forget formal training. With AI assistance, people who are interested in programming don’t even need informal training. Anyone who knows their way around a laptop can ask ChatGPT about the tools they need to get started, how to install them and get them working, and generate the very code they need to get the first version of their project up and running. These people will make mistakes. A lot of the code generated will be bad, or at least inelegant. People will lose projects because they encounter a bug they can’t fix. The AI-generated code in my own projects is enough to make a senior software engineer go blind, I’m sure. But if it opens programming a bit wider to people (like me) who otherwise lack the patience to spend six months reading an O’Reilly tome just to spin up a halfway decent Python program, well, that seems like a win. Further reading: I spent $200/mo on ChatGPT Pro so you don’t have to. Here’s what I found and whether it’s worth it Read...

USB Type-C is the most flexible connection for notebooks and smartphones. The most important of its many capabilities is as a charging socket for battery-powered devices. USB-C should finally make everything simple: One socket, one cable, one power supply for all devices – from computers to smartphones and tablets to headphones and other peripherals. So much for the theory, which always sounds simple with USB. The reality is much more confusing. Not every USB-C power supply is suitable for every device. Not all Type-C ports can be used to charge devices quickly or at all. And not every Type-C cable ensures reliable power transmission. This guide will give you an overview of the technical possibilities of Type-C charging and recommends suitable power supply units for all devices. If you’d like to avoid all the background and simply know which cords as worth your hard-earned money, be sure to check out our roundup of the best USB-C cables. We perform hands-on tests that go far deeper than most other sources on the web. Further reading: Buying a USB-C cable? Look out for these 6 gotchas! USB Type-C: The standard connection for charging There are many symbols that identify a USB-C port on a laptop as a charging port. In practice, however, you will usually only find the Thunderbolt lightning bolt (at the bottom) on the housing. IDG Almost all mobile devices can now be charged via USB Type-C: For smartphones, Apple was the last major manufacturer to switch from the proprietary Lightning connector to USB-C last year with the iPhone 15. Apart from that, there are only very cheap bargain smartphones that still rely on micro USB as a charging port. The situation is similar for tablets, where market leader Apple already favored USB-C over Lightning three years ago with the iPad 9. You will also hardly find any devices without USB-C for headphones, ebook, readers, and mobile speakers. Only laptops still have numerous models that do not use Type-C to charge the battery: These are often older model series from the entry-level range. More frequently, however, USB-C is not the main connection for charging. Although powerful gaming and multimedia laptops have USB-C, they also have a dedicated power connection with a higher charging capacity that fits the power supply unit supplied. Business laptops with a USB-C port and power supply unit often still have the hollow plug connection so that companies can continue to use power supply units from decommissioned models. A Type-C connection on a laptop also does not always handle power delivery. The only way to find out whether a Type C socket is capable of power delivery is to look at the technical data. A Type-C port with Thunderbolt supports charging in any case. Further reading: We tested 43 old USB-C to USB-A cables. 1 was great. 10 were dangerous Advantages of power delivery via USB-C The triumph of Type-C is easy to explain, as the connection offers numerous advantages for users and manufacturers: Cables can be connected quickly and easily because the symmetrical plug is twist-proof. The socket takes up little space so that devices can be made lighter and flatter. And as Type-C can handle data and video transmission as well as charging, ideally a single cable is all that is needed between the computer and peripherals, which keeps the desk tidy. Whether a mobile device supports USB-C Power Delivery is usually stated in the technical data for the connections. If so, you can use a suitable power adapter for charging. IDG Devices can also be charged faster with USB-C: Power supply units for micro USB only deliver up to 10 watts, while chargers with a Type A connection usually deliver 15 to 18 watts. Type-C, on the other hand, supports the improved USB Power Delivery (PD) transmission protocol, which usually allows charging capacities of up to 100 watts and even up to 240 watts in the current version. our favorite Usb-c Charging cable Belkin BoostCharge 240-watt charging cable Best Prices Today: $15.99 at Amazon However, this does not apply to all Type-C connections, devices, and cables: Although everything fits together mechanically, not every combination has to provide the optimum charging power — for example, because different levels of the Power Delivery standard are supported or devices and power supply units do not implement the standard correctly. USB-C and Power Delivery: How the charging technology works The technical basis for charging via USB-C is the USB Power Delivery (USB PD) standard. It specifies voltage levels of 5 to 48 volts and currents of 3 or 5 amps in so-called “power profiles” or “power rules.” Depending on the power supply unit, power cable, and device, charging capacities of between 10 and 240 watts are possible. A typical smartphone power supply unit with 30 watts, for example, offers power profiles for a charging capacity of 15, 27, and 30 watts, while a laptop power supply unit also offers power profiles for 45, 60, 65, or 100 watts. Before transmission begins, the power supply unit (source) and consumer (sink) agree on the required voltage and current: The power supply unit first checks the cable to see whether it can transmit up to 3 or 5 amps and provides a basic voltage of 5 volts. It then tells the consumer what other voltages it can supply. The consumer answers which one it needs so that both can agree on a suitable power profile. Some multiple power supply units, such as this one from Ugreen, use the semiconductor material gallium nitride (GaN): this allows them to be built very compactly despite their high charging power. Ugreen Ideally, any USB-C power supply will charge the device with a Type-C charging socket with optimum performance and as quickly as possible. Even if the power supply does not completely fulfil the requirements of the device, it should provide a minimum charging power, even if the charging process then takes longer. Conversely, it does not speed up the charging process to use a power supply unit that offers a higher output than the device requires because the consumer cannot call it up. Since version 3 of USB PD, the power supply unit and consumer can adjust the voltage and current more dynamically. To do this, both must support the optional standard extension PPS (Programmable Power Supply Protocol). Best 3-port usb-C wall charger Ugreen Nexode Pro 65W 3-Port GaN Fast Charger Best Prices Today: $47.59 at Amazon Prime | $55.99 at Amazon The device can then request voltage and current from the power supply unit that deviate minimally from the prescribed power profiles: This speeds up the charging process, but can also ensure that the battery is less stressed during charging or that a smartphone or notebook receives the appropriate charging power in real time depending on the current system load. Labels such as Fast Charge or Super Fast Charge 2.0 on Samsung smartphones and power supply units, for example, indicate support for PPS. Further reading: Best USB-C PD laptop chargers 2024: More portable power How to find out whether a power adapter fits the device The easiest way to do this is to use the power adapter recommended by the manufacturer for charging. This is common for laptops, as new devices are supplied with a suitable power supply unit. Smartphones and tablets now often do not come with a power adapter in the sales box: You can buy the right charger from the device manufacturer. USB-C should make this investment superfluous and put an end to the confusion of power adapters that only fit one device. A power supply unit that can charge all your devices without any problems is therefore ideal. To do this, the power supply and device must have a USB-C connection and support USB Power Delivery: You should be able to find this information in the technical data, often as an abbreviation such as “PD” or “PPS.” If the power supply unit or device does not support USB PD despite Type-C, charging can start, but only at 15 watts. So that you can charge all devices with one power supply unit, it should have sufficient charging power for the most powerful device and suitable power profiles for devices with lower energy requirements. A laptop is usually the device that requires the highest charging power: Ultra-mobile laptops usually need a power supply unit with 45 watts, standard laptops require 60 watts, and particularly powerful laptops 100 watts. For smartphones, tablets, and portable speakers or headphones, on the other hand, 30 watts or less is sufficient. Further reading: Don’t buy these dangerous USB-C accessories To ensure that a USB-C power supply for the laptop charges other mobile devices, it should support power profiles for 15 and 27 watts via USB-PD. With third-party power supplies, you will often find a list of other devices that can be charged with it in the technical data of a laptop power supply. If tablets such as Apple iPad Pro and smartphones — for example Samsung Galaxy S24 — are listed, the power supply is also suitable for smaller mobile devices. If you want to use the power adapter that came with your laptop, check the manufacturer’s website for information on its output power: If you find information such as “9 volts – 3 amps,” the power adapter is suitable for smartphones and tablets. These values are usually also printed on the power supply unit under “Output.” Conversely, notebooks can also be charged with a smartphone power supply unit: This is helpful when travelling if you only want to take the lighter mobile phone charger with you. The power supply unit should offer at least 27 watts of charging power and a voltage of 9 volts. This is sufficient for small and light laptops. It is best to switch off the notebook when charging, because if it consumes more power during operation than the mains adapter supplies, the battery will be drained even when the charger is connected. However, many notebooks require 15 volts and most require 20 volts as the charging voltage. If your smartphone power supply delivers this, the notebook can also be charged with it – but usually only slowly. The best cable for charging via USB-C A good USB-C cable is crucial to ensure that the charging power from the power supply unit to the device is stable. The cables transmit a current of up to 3 amps as standard. This is sufficient for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Notebooks can also be charged with up to 60 watts using such cables – this is sufficient for small and lightweight laptops. For larger and more powerful laptops, however, charging will take longer depending on the battery size and operating load. To charge these laptops at optimum speed via USB-C, you need a cable that can transfer 5 amps. The fast charging functions of some smartphones and tablets also require an appropriate cable – for example, Super Fast Charging from Samsung. Many smartphones can be charged faster: However, you need the right power adapter and the right USB-C cable for this, both of which support the PPS standard or a higher current transfer of 5 amps. IDG These cables contain a chip, the so-called e-marker: It contains information about the capabilities of the cable, such as the maximum power supply capacity, voltage, and current values and supported charging protocols. It outputs this information when the power supply unit and consumer negotiate the optimum charging power via USB-PD to ensure that the charger delivers the appropriate voltage and current values for the cable and the connected device. Further reading: Samsung Galaxy owners: Buy this GAN charger for the fastest charges Most manufacturers usually describe the corresponding cables as “100 watt cables.” You will also often find a reference to the e-marker chip in the technical data. In addition to power transfer, USB-C also supports data and image transfer — if you want to use a cable for all applications, you must pay attention to this in its description: These multifunction cables are usually slightly more expensive than pure charging cables. Cables for Thunderbolt are guaranteed to support all USB-C transmission types. Good value Usb-c charging cables Anker New Nylon Series 3 USB-C to USB-C 2-pack Best Prices Today: $9.99 at Amazon You can‘t tell how well a charging cable transmits data: In theory, longer cables are more susceptible to voltage loss and limit the flow of current due to a higher resistance. Thicker cables are supposed to ensure more stable transmission. In practice, however, you cannot use this as a rule of thumb: The quality of a cable depends on its internal workmanship. A basic tip: Buy cables for higher charging capacities from well-known suppliers such as Anker, Belkin, or Ugreen. They are reliable and usually cheaper than the corresponding offerings from the laptop or smartphone manufacturer. Chargers with multiple ports: One power supply for all devices A single power supply unit is usually not enough for a large number of devices: You often want to charge different devices at the same time via USB-C. This is why there are power supply units with several USB-C and USB-A ports, which can be used to charge a notebook, smartphone, and headphones in parallel, for example. This is also useful when travelling if you only have one socket available on the train, for example. When making your choice, you should first consider how many devices you want to charge at the same time and on which ports: Multiple power supply units are available with numerous connection combinations, so you should always be able to find a suitable model. Devices with two USB-C ports cost from around $20, while prices with three Type-C ports start at around $40. In most cases, the power supply units also have a charging port with a Type A connection in addition to the USB-C outputs. You also need to decide what maximum charging power the multi power supply should have: Up to 45 watts is sufficient for a smartphone and headphones. If you also want to charge a laptop, at least 60 watts is recommended. USB power supply units with multiple connections: ManufacturerManufacturer ProductPrice (Euro)max. charging power (watts)Number of type CNumber of type AAnkerPrime (GaN)8010021Armature735 (Nano II)356521Armature735 Prime (GaN)506521Armature323203211BelkinBoost Charge Pro40652–UgreenNexode Pro Mini (GaN)10016031UgreenNexode (GaN)306521UgreenNexode (GaN)5510031UgreenNexode Pro Mini (GaN)456521 It is important to know how the power is distributed over the individual ports: The maximum charging power specified by the manufacturer usually applies to all ports together, only for the combination of certain ports or only if only one port is occupied. For example, if you choose a 65-watt power supply because you also want to charge your laptop, it will usually only deliver this charging power if a single USB-C port is occupied. If you charge another device on the second Type-C port, the power is then divided between 45 watts on one port and 20 watts on the other – the laptop will then charge more slowly. If all the ports on a three-port power supply are occupied by consumers, the power on a single port can drop even further. In addition, not all type C connections on the power supply unit have to deliver the same charging power: for example, the laptop may only receive up to 65 watts at port 1. If you connect it to port 2, it will only receive up to 45 watts. best single-port usb-C charger Anker 713 Nano II 45W Charger Best Prices Today: $27.99 at Amazon | $27.99 at Best Buy You should therefore look for the technical data for a model on the power supply provider’s website before buying: Well-known manufacturers such as Anker or Belkin list the charging power that the individual ports offer with single or multiple connections. The desired power supply should definitely support USB-C Power Delivery and preferably also PPS! Many manufacturers advertise more expensive models with the abbreviation “GaN”: This stands for the semiconductor material gallium nitride, from which, for example, the voltage converters in corresponding power supplies are made: They work very efficiently without overheating, which enables small power supply units with a high charging capacity. This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de. Read...