In the last two years, Microsoft has invested a lot of money in the ChatGPT inventor Open AI and in its own AI developments. Since then, Microsoft has been equipping more and more programs with artificial intelligence, above all the Edge browser and Office programs. But AI is also finding its way into Windows. In this article, we present the new AI functions in Windows, the Windows apps, and Microsoft 365. Windows 11 Pro Artificial intelligence: Copilot Microsoft’s AI engine Copilot has been part of the operating system since Windows 11 23H2 for U.S. users, and is available via the Copilot app in the Microsoft Store for others. It can be integrated into the taskbar or simply accessed via the Start menu. The trick: The app simply links to Copilot in Edge, where the AI then runs as an independent program in its own window with a slightly different interface. However, Edge must be installed; the app will not work without the browser. You can chat with Windows Copilot and ask questions, which the AI assistant answers with the help of Bing. It displays the sources it has used. You can choose between “Creative,” “Balanced,” and “Accurate” conversation styles. However, the differences are hardly noticeable. The AI can also write letters, articles, and poems. With the help of Microsoft Designer and the support of the open AI tool Dall-e 3, Copilot can also generate images based on descriptions. Copilot is directly integrated into Microsoft’s Edge browser. You can ask the AI questions or have it summarize the currently open website.Mark Hachman / IDG The Edge browser has been equipped with Copilot since 2023. You can open the AI function via the icon in the top right-hand corner. Compared to the app, this has two advantages: Firstly, it allows you to ask questions directly about the website currently being accessed in the browser or request a summary of an online article. In the app, you can simply formulate a command such as “Summarize this article” and then add a link to the desired website. You can also activate Copilot plugins in Edge, such as Kayak for searching for flights, accommodations, and car rental, or Opentable for searching for restaurants. This is not possible in the Windows app. Further reading: The AI PC revolution: 18 essential terms you need to know Cocreator & Imager Creator: Create images in Paint The Windows drawing program Paint gets new features from time to time, most recently working on multiple layers and the AI function Image Creator were added — previously called Cocreator. Following this renaming to Image Creator, Cocreator is now available again in parallel, albeit with more advanced functions. However, most Windows users will not be able to use the new Cocreator, as it only runs on Copilot Plus notebooks (see box “AI processors in Copilot PCs”). The new Cocreator can now be found in the Paint toolbar alongside the Image Creator. The Image Creator is a slimmed-down version of the Bing Image Creator available online and Microsoft Designer. All three tools are based on Dall-e from Open AI and create images using descriptive text. You simply type in what you want to see and Image Creator creates a corresponding image. The Cocreator also works in the same way. However, while the Image Creator accesses Microsoft’s server resources on the internet, the Cocreator works locally on the computer and uses the NPU or the AI processor of the Copilot Plus notebooks. Local processing ensures better data protection, but Cocreator still requires an internet connection. Describe what you want Image Creator to create and select the desired style.Mark Hachman / IDG The Image Creator in Paint accepts your descriptions and generates images from them. You can choose between photos and different painting styles. Retouch photos with the Windows photo viewer The Windows Photo Viewer, simply called “Photos” in earlier versions, has had a generative erase function for a few months now. This allows you to selectively remove individual objects from a photo. The software fills the empty space amazingly well in the style of the image environment, the editing is often not recognizable. To do this, open the photo display by entering photos in the search field in the taskbar. In the program, click on the “All photos” icon on the left or on “Folder;” here you can add a picture directory to the program via “Add folder.” To open, double-click on an image in the preview and then click on the “Edit” button at the top left. Now select the “Delete” command and set the brush size on the right-hand side. The smaller the object to be deleted, the smaller the brush should be. Use the mouse to select the object to be deleted or the distracting area. As soon as you release the mouse button, the software starts working and retouches the photo. You can use the delete function in the Windows photo display to mark distracting objects. The software removes them and fills the space intelligently.Microsoft AI processors in Copilot Plus PCs The use of AI functions is very computationally intensive. For this reason, AI operations are currently mostly outsourced to the cloud, i.e. to the global data centers of Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and others. This causes potential problems with data protection, as the prompts, i.e. your queries, also end up with the IT companies and can therefore be assigned to you. At the same time, the AI operations in the data centers consume a lot of money and energy. The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge notebook is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor and thus belongs to the new class of Copilot Plus devices. Samsung This is why PCs have been developed that can also perform AI tasks locally. Microsoft certifies correspondingly powerful Windows computers with the “Copilot” logo. These new notebooks have been available since the summer, initially all models with a Snapdragon X processor from Qualcomm and Arm architecture. AMD now also offers a CPU for Copilot Plus, Intel follows with its Core Ultra 200V mobile processor. The CPUs in Copilot Plus PCs accelerate AI functions and calculations to such an extent that it is not necessary to move them to the cloud in most cases. These chips are known as Neural Processing Units (NPUs). Designer: AI functions in the Microsoft 365 apps Designer was initially only available in PowerPoint, but is now included in the Microsoft 365 word processor. You will therefore need a paid Personal or Family account to be able to use the AI functions. Corporate customers are currently excluded. With a 365 account, you can use Designer in the online version of Word and in the desktop and online versions of PowerPoint. The program appears in the “Start” ribbon in each case. In PowerPoint, give your first slide a title and call up the Designer. It suggests various design templates that match the theme of the presentation. However, this only works in English. Further reading: 9 free AI tools that run locally on your PC Advanced AI function Copilot Pro only with additional subscription If you click on “Test Copilot Pro” in one of the 365 programs under File > Account > Manage account > Account, you can play with the extended AI functions for the Office programs free of charge for one month. After that, the subscription costs $22 per month. After activation, the Copilot icon appears at the beginning of the line next to the cursor in Word. After clicking on it, you can send the AI a description of the type of text you need. For example, Copilot can write speeches on a given topic, create a template for a CV or write short stories. In Excel, Copilot automatically creates formulas and sorts, analyzes and highlights data. However, this only works in the online version of the program and the files must be stored in a Onedrive or Sharepoint folder. Although Microsoft has made improvements in the meantime, the AI in Excel is still not as good as we would like it to be. In Outlook, Copilot is also limited to the online version. There, the AI summarizes the content of emails and translates foreign-language emails into your language of choice. Copilot Pro can also compose messages itself based on a short description. Copilot Pro in the video editing tool Clipchamp and in Teams The video editor Clipchamp offers a little more AI. The tool displays the “Create video with AI” button on its start page. Click on it to call up an AI wizard, which you can use to upload the images and videos for the Clipchamp film. After asking for a few pre-settings, it combines the media into a new film. Music can also be added if required. In the online version, you will find additional functions supported by artificial intelligence. These include a text-to-speech module and a presentation coach that provides real-time feedback on camera recordings. Finally, the Teams video conferencing software has received AI support: Users can ask Copilot questions during a conference or also use it as a writing assistant that automatically formulates chat messages after a few keywords have been entered. You can also instruct the AI to summarize the content from chats and channels for you. The AI also translates foreign-language posts, which are displayed as subtitles in real time: However, “Live Captions” only runs on Copilot Plus notebooks. Microsoft waits for Recall When Microsoft announced the new AI function Recall in early summer, data protectionists expressed concerns. Microsoft Recall is supposed to take and save a screenshot every five seconds in the background. Using a timeline, users will then be able to see what they have been doing on their PC on a particular day and at a particular time. With the help of artificial intelligence, the information in the images was to be analyzed and made available for questions such as “Where did I last read something about Copilot?”. However, following protests, Microsoft has now put the project on hold for the time being. The function has now been implemented in the Insider pre-release versions. However, the function is not expected to be integrated into normal Windows before spring 2025 — and if it is, then presumably as an additional app to be installed, as with Copilot. The circle of potential users is also very limited, at least initially, because Recall requires a Copilot Plus PC. Read...

If you’ve bought a laptop in the last couple of years, you’ve probably heard some marketing guff about the super-cool NPU inside of it. What you haven’t heard much of is what that NPU can actually do, since most of those flashy AI capabilities rely on remote data centers and most of the “AI” apps that run on your local hardware aren’t even using it yet. That’s about to change, according to Microsoft. Related: What the heck is an NPU? AI chips, explained As part of this year’s Ignite developer conference, Microsoft says Windows 11’s built-in search function will be accelerated by the NPU in Copilot+ laptops and other hardware. According to the announcement, the improved version of search will come to the broader Windows Search (the thing that lives in the Start menu) as well as more granular searches in File Explorer and Settings. get windows 11 pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro “Users will be able to find the right files, including documents and photos, without needing to remember file names or exact file content. Users will be able to search for local documents by describing their content or using synonyms of content in documents,” says the press release. And because it runs locally, this new capability won’t be dependent upon an internet connection. The most useful capability mentioned is the ability to “search by image content, including any text found in an image.” I can think of a lot of different better-save-this-just-in-case document photos I have in my Dropbox folder that would be a lot easier to track down this way. Windows’ ability to search local files and their contents definitely leaves a lot to be desired in its current form. As the press release says, if you can’t remember the file name or its approximate location in the folder hierarchy, you’re basically out of luck. That said, the announcement is nebulous enough that I wouldn’t hold my breath for a huge improvement, especially in terms of speed. I’m guessing Windows will need to process each image in your personal folders for both content and context, otherwise the AI-bolstered search would slow to a crawl, with or without an NPU. But that’s one prediction I’d be happy to get wrong. We’ll find out in early 2025. The new Windows Search is coming to all Copilot+ PCs eventually, but Snapdragon machines will get the first test via the Windows Insider program. Further reading: Crucial things to know before buying a Copilot+ PC Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Unique, compact stand  Good menu system with many options   Vivid, high-contrast image in SDR and HDR  Top-tier motion performance you must see to believe  Cons No USB-C  Expensive for a 27-inch OLED monitor  Lacks a few helpful features, like brightness adjustment in HDR  Our Verdict The Sony Inzone M10S learns from the mistakes of its predecessor to deliver a monitor more focused on competitive PC gamers. It’s a great sophomore effort that delivers superb image quality and motion performance, but high pricing remains an obstacle.   Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Sony Inzone M10S Retailer Price $1,099.99 View Deal Sony $1099.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Sony’s first gaming monitor, the Inzone M9, was released in 2022 to a fair amount of hype, but reviews were mixed. The monitor’s design was polarizing and its image quality, though good, didn’t live up to its high price tag. Now, Sony is back with a second generation of gaming monitors, which includes the M10S. The Sony Inzone M10S is an OLED display that learns several valuable lessons from its predecessor.  Sony Inzone M10S specs and features  Sony is not pulling any punches with the M10S. The monitor has an LG OLED panel with a display resolution of 2560×1440 and a refresh rate of up to 480Hz. While it’s not the first monitor to use this OLED panel, it sits at the extreme upper end of refresh rates available from OLED. When it comes to motion clarity, at least, it doesn’t get much better than this.  Display size: 27-inch 16:9 widescreen  Native resolution: 2560×1440  Panel type: LG WOLED  Refresh rate: Up to 480Hz  Adaptive Sync: VESA Adaptive Sync, VRR, Nvidia G-Sync  HDR: Yes, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 Certified  Ports: 1x DisplayPort 2.1, 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB-B upstream, 2x USB-A downstream, 1x 3.5mm headphone out, 1x USB Type-A for software update  VESA mount: 100x100mm  Speakers: None  Price: $1,099.99 MSRP  Aside from the impressive display panel, the monitor’s feature set is typical for a high-end OLED gaming monitor. It includes one DisplayPort 2.1 (in fact, this is the first DP2.1 monitor I’ve tested) alongside two HDMI 2.1 ports.   Further reading: The best gaming monitors Unfortunately, USB-C is not included, but the monitor does have a USB upstream port that connects to two USB ports. It also supports VESA Adaptive Sync and VRR, which means it will work broadly with Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync (though only the former is officially listed).  At 480Hz, the MS10S sits at the extreme upper end of refresh rates available from OLED. Sony Inzone M10S design   There’s a lot to discuss regarding the Sony Inzone M10S’s design.  Sony’s first gaming monitor, the Inzone M9, had a controversial design clearly intended to complement the look and feel of the PlayStation 5 console and other Sony PlayStation products. While it made sense from a branding or marketing perspective, it also meant the monitor had an unusually wide stand that was awkward to set up and use.  Fortunately, Sony has rethought its approach with the M10S, though it hasn’t simply followed the lead of its competitors.   The M10S instead has a unique, disk-shaped stand designed to minimize its footprint on a desk. It also swivels up to 180 degrees, far exceeding the typical 25 to 35 degrees offered by most gaming monitor stands. I like the stand, as it highlights the practicality that’s often missing from the large, tripod-style stands used by brands like Asus ROG and, occasionally, Alienware.   Matthew Smith / Foundry In addition to 180 degrees of swivel, the stand also offers height and tilt adjustments. It doesn’t support rotation into portrait orientation, however, which makes the M10S slightly less suitable as a second monitor. The monitor is also compatible with a 100x100mm VESA mount, allowing it to be used with third-party monitor arms or stands.  But while I like the functionality of Sony’s design, I’m still not sure it quite understands the PC market.   Though undoubtedly a step in the right direction, the M10S now feels bit too plain (especially for a monitor with a premium price tag). The plastics used are fine, but unremarkable, and lack the interesting textures found on monitors from Alienware and Asus. Samsung offers a more luxurious feel, as its recent Samsung Odyssey OLED monitors feature an all-metal back panel. Sony also opts out of RGB-LED lighting.   I suspect Sony would argue the M10S (which was made with feedback from esports team Fnatic) has a minimalist vibe that gets out of the player’s way. That’s understandable, but the M10S is priced at the top of the market, so it needs to feel worth the premium. However, if you’re more concerned about function than aesthetics, the M10S design has perks.  Sony Inzone M10S connectivity and menus   The Sony Inzone M10S has a single DisplayPort 2.1 port and two HDMI 2.1 ports for a total of three video inputs, all of which support the monitor’s full feature set including refresh rates up to 480Hz. That’s good. At this price, however, I’d prefer to also see USB-C input with DisplayPort and Power Delivery.   About the DisplayPort 2.1 port: This is the first monitor I’ve reviewed with DisplayPort 2.1 and one of the first displays of any type to support it. However, it uses the lowest tier of DisplayPort 2.1 (called UHBR10). Because of that, the monitor still uses Display Stream Compression (DSC)—as do most high-refresh monitors available today. DSC is virtually impossible to notice in games, so it’s not a big deal either way, but worth mention as Sony calls out DisplayPort 2.1 in its marketing.   USB connectivity is less impressive. It lacks USB-C, as mentioned, so it instead has a single USB-B upstream port connected to two USB-A downstream ports. The ports are all USB 3.0, though Sony otherwise doesn’t mention the details. While it’s good to see the monitor can at least handle a wired USB-A keyboard and mouse, most monitors sold in 2024 do more with USB.  Matthew Smith / Foundry The M10S’ monitor options are controlled with a joystick on its right rear flank. The joystick is a bit too responsive and often accelerated past my intended selection, but I think most users will get used to that quirk over time. The menus are logically arranged and look attractive, which adds to the monitor’s premium feel. Some menu options can also be accessed through Sony’s Inzone Hub software utility, which is available for Windows PCs. Inzone Hub can also be used with other Inzone peripherals like the Sony Inzone Buds (which, I’ll add, are quite good).  Sony also provides some useful extra features. It has a brightness stabilizer, which can be used to reduce brightness fluctuations when switching between brighter and darker content (a common quirk of OLED panels).   It also has a dedicated 24.5-inch monitor mode that restricts the viewable area of the display. While this mode might seem odd, it’s useful for competitive gamers who want to keep the entire display space in their field of vision. In addition to that, the monitor has the usual gaming features like on-screen crosshairs, an FPS counter, and a timer.   While the M10S provides a good range of connectivity and options, it’s only average for the class. The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP has a nearly identical feature set, and the Gigabyte Aorus FO27Q3 has USB-C.   Speakers are absent, too: There’s no audio built in. That, however, is typical for the category. Only a handful of high-end monitors, like the LG Ultragear 32GS95UE-B, offer a good audio experience.   Sony Inzone M10S SDR image quality  The Sony Inzone M10S has an LG W-OLED panel. I’ve tried several monitors with this type of panel over the past year, so I have a good idea what to expect—and the M10S didn’t surprise me. Though it can’t quite match Samsung QD-OLED monitors, it still delivers excellent overall image quality in SDR  Matthew Smith / Foundry I measured a maximum SDR brightness of about 267 nits from the M10S. That, as the graph shows, is an expected result for an OLED monitor but well behind the brightness of an LCD display.   For most people, the M10S will still be bright enough, and I used the monitor at 35 to 50 percent of maximum brightness. However, the monitor’s maximum brightness can begin to feel dim if placed next to a bright, sunlit window. I doubt most shoppers looking at the M10S are planning to use it that way, given how heavily its marketing leans towards gaming and esports, but it’s worth knowing.   I’ve decided to ditch the contrast graph because the M10S, like other OLED monitors, can achieve an effectively infinite contrast ratio. The result is a rich, immersive image that draws your eye into the display and makes LCD displays look terrible by comparison. However, the M10S has no advantage over its direct competitors. All modern OLED monitors achieve the same amazing contrast.  Matthew Smith / Foundry Color performance is a mix bag for the M10S.   On the plus side, the monitor’s color gamut is excellent by any historical measure. It reached 96 percent of DCI-P3 and 89 percent of AdobeRGB. Both results indicate that the monitor can display a wide range of colors well-suited not only to games but also content creation. The monitor has a dedicated sRGB mode, too, which is useful if you want to purposefully narrow the color gamut for more accurate viewing of content meant for sRGB.  However, as the graph shows, the M10S isn’t a remarkable performer in 2024. Samsung QD-OLED monitors typically have a wider color gamut. The same is true of Mini-LED displays with a Quantum Dots coating, like the Redmagic 4K Gaming Monitor. The M10S is good, but behind the leaders.  Matthew Smith / Foundry It’s a similar story in color accuracy. The monitor’s accuracy is certainly good enough for games or movies, and fine for all but the most demanding professional content creation. Still, the monitor is slightly behind class leaders.   I can report similar results in gamma and color temperature.   The monitor hit a default SDR gamma curve of 2.1, which is slightly off our target of 2.2 and indicates that the image was a tad more luminant than preferred (though, really, I didn’t notice).   Color temperature was a bigger problem, as the default color temperature came in way above our target of 6500K and instead hit 7700K. That means the monitor’s white point has a noticeable cool, bluish hue. Fortunately, the monitor has a Warm color temperature mode that sets the temperature to 6600K, which is more in line with our preference.  Sharpness is either fine or good, depending on your needs. The monitor’s 2560×1440 resolution works out to a pixel density of about 110 pixels per inch across the 26.5-inch display panel.   It generally looks sharp but, like other OLED panels, the particulars of OLED’s sub-pixel arrangement can cause small text and high-contrast edges to look a bit pixelated or display odd, off-color artifacts. It’s not obvious at first glance but easy to pick out on close inspection. However, every 1440p panel suffers this to some degree: You really need to go for a 32-inch 4K OLED if sharpness tops your list of must-have features.   OLED purists should know this monitor has an anti-glare coat. This is a point of some contention among super-fans: Some swear by the clean and vivid look of a glossy panel, while others prefer the reflection handling of anti-glare. I lean towards the second camp and enjoyed the anti-glare finish Sony has here. It’s effective at combating ambient light yet doesn’t dampen the display panel’s vibrance.   Overall, the Sony Inzone M10S delivers typical image quality for an LG WOLED monitor. It scores extremely well in most areas and doesn’t suffer any significant defeats, but lags slightly behind Samsung QD-OLED monitors in color performance. With that said, though, the Sony Inzone M10S has a subjectively alluring image with vivid color and rich contrast that’s lightyears ahead of cheaper LCD displays.   Sony Inzone M10S HDR image quality  The Sony Inzone M10S supports HDR and is VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certified. In my testing it achieved a maximum sustained HDR brightness of 667 nits in a 10 percent window, 381 nits in a 50 percent window, and 213 nits in a 100 percent window (where the percentage represents the amount of the display lit to above 1,000 nits, while the rest of the display is black).  Matthew Smith / Foundry This is typical performance for a modern OLED monitor, but better than many models from 2023. It’s also good enough to deliver convincing results in HDR content that relies on bright, but fleeting, highlights (like the explosions of Mad Max: Fury Road and the neon-lit alleys of Cyberpunk 2077). While monitors like the Samsung Odyssey G8 OLED are probably better for HDR overall, the Sony Inzone M10S does well.  It’s not a flawless performance, though, for two reasons. First, the M10S doesn’t allow brightness adjustment in HDR. This is typical of HDR, as the content normally controls the brightness. However, on a PC monitor it’s best to have a brightness override, as HDR content can sometimes look annoyingly bright. The M10S also experiences a lot of luminance instability on the Windows desktop in HDR. That’s annoying if, say, you’re trying to edit an HDR movie in one window while the script is open on the other side of your display.   Still, the Sony M10S is a good monitor for HDR gaming. It has the contrast and, in most situations, the brightness needed to provide a punchy HDR image.   Sony Inzone M10S motion performance  While the Sony Inzone M10S has an excellent SDR and good HDR image, motion clarity is the real reason to buy the display. It’s one of a small handful of monitors with an LG WOLED panel that can reach 480Hz at a resolution of 1440p. Put more simply, the monitor can update the image up to 480 times every second—that’s eight times higher than a 60Hz monitor.  Because of that, the M10S is literally able to deliver more visual information to your eyes. OLED’s low pixel response time helps, as well, reducing blur caused by sluggish pixels (a common problem in inexpensive IPS and VA panel monitors). Combined, these factors make for a remarkably crisp image.   When I reviewed the Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP, the first 480Hz OLED to cross my desk, I called its motion clarity “almost perfect.” The same applies to the Sony Inzone M10S. It’s something that you really must see to believe. And, once you see it, you might find yourself miffed when you go back to a 60Hz, 144Hz, or 240Hz monitor which, by comparison, will look sluggish and blurry.   While the Sony Inzone M10S has great motion clarity, it lacks a black frame insertion (BFI) feature. BFI tosses a black frame between real frames, which has the effect of reducing perceived motion blur. Many OLED monitors skip it, but Asus’ PG27AQDP makes it available at a refresh rate of 240Hz or below (Asus calls it ELMB). That’s helpful if you like to play visually demanding games that will struggle to reach high frame rates, as it can improve motion clarity in those titles.   The M10S supports VESA Adaptive Sync, VRR, and Nvidia G-Sync. By extension, this means it will also support AMD FreeSync (which I confirmed by using the monitor with an AMD Radeon 7800 XT video card). Because of this, the M10S can provide smooth, even frame pacing alongside any modern video card. Sony says VRR will also work with a PlayStation 5, but I didn’t have one on hand to test.   While I have no shortage of praise for the M10S when it comes to motion performance, it encounters the same small problem it encounters in image quality: The competition is also excellent. The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP, which won PCWorld’s Editors’ Choice award, is a tough act to follow. The M10S appears to perform just as well but doesn’t have an advantage.   Is the Sony Inzone M10S worth it? The Sony Inzone M10S is a huge improvement over its predecessor, the Inzone M9. While the Inzone M9 was technically a computer monitor, it looked and felt more like a PlayStation 5 peripheral. The M10S, by contrast, is a proper PC gaming monitor that delivers the design, features, image quality, and motion performance that PC gamers expect from a cutting-edge monitor.  However, the M10S shares one problem with its predecessor: It’s expensive. Priced at $1,099.99, the M10S is $100 more expensive than the Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP—and it’s not clear what that buys you. Also, the less expensive Asus has a three-year warranty, while the Sony is stuck with a one-year warranty. That puts the Sony Inzone M10S a tad behind the Asus.   Still, the M10S is a top-tier gaming monitor that’s well worth your attention, especially if discounted in the future (which often happens). Read...

Buying a used laptop can be a great way to save a lot of money, especially if you’re looking to buy one that’s pretty powerful. The best laptops can be very expensive brand-new, so buying used (or refurbished) can shave off a non-trivial amount — and you still get to enjoy all the same features and performance advantages. But buying a used laptop can also be fraught with risks. What if the seller lied to you about its condition? What if the battery has been cycled too many times? What if there’s a dead pixel or two on the display? Or what if it doesn’t come with a valid Windows license key? I addressed a lot of these concerns in my previous article on whether buying a used laptop is safe. In this article, I’m going further with mistakes you need to avoid when buying a second-hand laptop. Mistake #1: Ignoring the warning signs You probably already know what I mean by this one. Does it seem too good to be true? Then it probably is. There are enough scammers, scalpers, and gray-area resellers on the web that any sufficiently good deal is going to catch interest. The chances of you being the only one who found that laptop at that spectacularly low price with all those impressive features before anyone else did… well, the chances are quite slim. Maybe if you’re browsing through your neighbor’s garage sale. But online? Forget about it. Maxim Hopman / Unsplash Any laptop that’s priced extremely low is either an outright lie or there’s something wrong with it that isn’t being disclosed. The laptop itself might even be in fantastic condition, but perhaps it’s stolen. Or maybe it’s been unofficially repaired and has voided its warranty. The same warning goes for any seller who has a poor reputation (or none at all). Don’t buy from new accounts (on open marketplaces like eBay) and don’t buy from non-reputable online stores that rank poorly on Trustpilot. Go one step further and don’t buy from anyone who clearly doesn’t know much about what they’re selling, and don’t buy a used laptop from anyone who can’t, or won’t, disclose details. When in doubt, walk away. It’s far better to get an okay deal on an okay laptop than to get a great deal on a bad laptop or to get scammed. Mistake #2: Not asking any questions I know it can be awkward to be a hardball buyer, but when you’re buying a used laptop, it’s really important to get as much information from the current owner as you can. How long have they had it? How hard have they run it? Does it have any physical defects? Can they send you a picture of the screen turned on? Can they send you a battery health report? (If they don’t know how to, send them to our quick guide to checking battery health.) Ashkan Forouzani / Unsplash If you’re buying a top-end laptop and you’re worried about performance loss, get them to run a few benchmarks for you, too. Don’t forget to get warranty information and, if they still have it, ask for a copy of the receipt from their original purchase. If the seller is evasive or overly combative about any of this, look elsewhere. The risk isn’t worth it. Mistake #3: Overlooking hands-on time Whenever you’re buying something you intend to use day in and day out, the gold standard is to always try it hands-on yourself. Nothing beats the ability to look at the screen up close, run your own performance and battery tests, check that none of the keys are sticky or broken, listen to the fan noise, feel the chassis and make sure it doesn’t overheat, etc. It’s all invaluable information. Vardan Papikyan / Unsplash Of course, hands-on testing isn’t always possible when buying online. But if you’re buying locally — such as on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist — and if you’re going to do local pickup, then you may as well negotiate a little bit of hands-on time when you go to pick it up. If you find a problem during hands-on testing, you’ll be in a much better position to decide whether to go through with the purchase, or haggle for a discount, or walk away altogether. Mistake #4: Buying an outdated model Laptop makes and models can be confusing, especially in cases where a certain laptop model has the exact same name across multiple generations. But even models within the same generation can have wildly different hardware under the hood despite similar names. This issue makes it riskier when buying a used laptop because the seller may have it listed as one thing when it’s actually another — and they may not even be doing it intentionally or maliciously. You might be paying the price for a 2024 model but getting the 2023 or 2022 model, which is likely outdated and flat-out worse. Even if this laptop is in brand-new condition, it’s still several years old — and even back when it came out, it was entry-level! Avoid.Asus Make sure that you’re certain of the laptop model you’re buying and what hardware it should have inside. Get the seller to send you a screenshot of the system’s specifications, then check laptop reviews for that model with that hardware to see how good it performed when it was new. If you can, look at reviews for comparably priced new laptop models, too. If it’s more than a couple of years old, you might find something newer that’s equally capable but with fresh features and a longer warranty. Mistake #5: Skipping the return policy Unless you’re okay with the idea of buying a laptop and receiving a total brick that you have to toss, always make sure to buy through a site or marketplace that offers a proper return policy and protections. Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, eBay, Swappa, and even Facebook Marketplace are pretty good with returns. You can even use these return policies to try out laptops at home before committing. Markus Spiske / Unsplash Be wary of buying big-ticket items like laptops through sites like Craigslist, as there’s little in the way that protects you as the buyer from outright scams and lies. If you have to use a site like that, make sure you test the laptop yourself in person before handing over any money. Mistake #6: Expecting perfect battery life If the used laptop you end up buying has been used a non-trivial amount, it’s unlikely to have the best battery life. Every time a laptop battery is recharged, it loses a tiny bit of its overall capacity — so the more often it’s been used, the more its battery will have deteriorated. That said, it’s probably not going to be terrible, either. A MacBook Air that had almost 20 hours of battery life when brand-new is still going to have plenty of battery life even after hundreds of hours of use. Panos Sakalakis / Unsplash For most used laptops that aren’t beaten into the ground, expect something like 50 to 85 percent of its original battery life. Gaming laptops might be more noticeable, though. Those usually only have a few hours of battery life to begin with, so once their batteries are worn down, you might only have an hour or two total capacity. Related: Is it bad to leave a laptop always plugged in? Fortunately, there’s a simple way to check any laptop’s battery health. if you’re really worried about it, you can ask the seller (see Mistake #2) to generate a laptop battery health report for you. Hopefully it’s been looked after well and hasn’t deteriorated too much. Mistake #7: Not securing a valid OS license When buying a used laptop, make sure it comes with a valid license (also known as product key) for whatever operating system it ships with. You’ll need the OS license key if you ever make hardware upgrades to the laptop or if you ever reinstall the operating system. Alexander Grey / Unsplash In most cases, the product key is on a physical sticker on the laptop. Otherwise, you should ask for a paper copy. (Rarely, a laptop’s OS product key is tied to the machine as a “digital entitlement,” in which case you don’t need it as it’ll auto-activate.) If the seller doesn’t have it, or if they provide it as digital text only, then the operating system might be counterfeit, stolen, or pirated. Sure, you could always buy a retail product key on your own, but that’s an additional expense to bear. Plus, it could be a red flag that the laptop isn’t as legitimate as the seller is letting on. Proceed with caution. Get Windows 11 Pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro Mistake #8: Forgetting to wipe and reset Whether you buy a used laptop from a person or an online store, it will probably have been wiped clean and it almost certainly won’t have been loaded with malware to steal your data. But there’s a non-zero chance of that happening — better to be safe than sorry, right? FeriDhaniHasri / Shutterstock If you have even the slightest doubt as to whether your newly acquired used or refurbished laptop is completely clean, then you should go ahead and wipe it yourself with a factory reset. Better yet, zero-fill the drive and manually re-install the operating system just to be sure. It’s probably not a bad idea to physically wipe down the laptop with something anti-microbial, too, since even the best used laptops can come with a side of ickiness, especially in the keys. Further reading: How to properly clean a disgusting laptop Read...

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