If you want to be adequately prepared for any emergency situation, you can’t overlook the importance of a portable power station, especially one that lasts a long time and supports all your vital devices. Here’s a solid pick from Anker, one of our favorite power accessory brands. Right now, the Anker Solix C200 power station is just about $100 on Amazon, a whopping 41 percent off. Make sure to clip the on-page coupon to score the discount! It’s an amazing deal because you get so much for the price, including a 60,000mAh capacity that will come in clutch when you most need it. That’s enough juice to charge most phones up to 13 times and most laptops up to 3 times. And this isn’t your typical power bank with one or two ports. It fits up to five devices simultaneously and it’s able to deliver up to 200W of total charging. The main USB-C port can deliver 140W of charging if it’s the only one being used. There’s a second USB-C that goes up to 100W of charging, and a third USB-C that maxes out at 15W. Lastly, you get two USB-A ports capable of 12W charging each. Despite its power and versatility, it’s not even that big. It’s light enough to carry with you anywhere you go, and it’s even easier if you get the carrying strap (sold separately). The fastest way to recharge this power station is through the USB-C port, which can restore 80 percent in about 1.3 hours. But you can also hook it up to a solar panel, making it available and truly useful in emergency situations — or when you’re simply camping in the woods. It’s the kind of accessory you don’t want to be caught without when you need it most, yet it’s so useful you’ll probably end up using it every week if not every day. If you’re interested, go ahead and hop on this coupon that brings its price down to just $100! Save 41% on this fantastic 60K Anker power stationBuy now at Amazon Read...

Did AMD win CES 2025? Maaaaybe? We asked Donny Woligroski, senior technical marketing manager at AMD, to give us more detail on the blockbuster announcements the company squeezed into a 45-minute CES keynote: the upgraded Ryzen 9 9950X3D (and how it affects the persistent shortages of the other X3D parts) and the related 9955HX3D on laptops. Add to that AMD’s interesting 3D / AI powerhouse, the Ryzen AI Max or “Strix Halo.” In this interview, I ask about how AMD is working to alleviate Ryzen 9000-series X3D shortages, how the Ryzen AI Max equates to Threadripper, and a whole lot more! But even with over 20 minutes of discussion, we didn’t really have time to discuss AMD’s latest Ryzen AI 300 parts or the new Ryzen 200 series. We also had to break out AMD’s announcement of new Radeon 9070 graphics cards and its new Z2-series chips for gaming handhelds — which AMD didn’t even have time to mention at the keynote, by the way — to a separate interview with AMD chief gaming architect Frank Azor. It felt like we spent the majority of our time chasing down AMD executives just to learn more details of what we can expect from AMD and its partners in the next few weeks and months. (If you want even more, you can review the transcript of a private roundtable we held with AMD executives, where we went over even more of the issues you care about.) We’re still processing all the stuff we saw at CES 2025. For more great looks at the latest PC hardware from the show floor and beyond, be sure to subscribe to PCWorld on YouTube. Read...

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DirecTV has made good on its plans to launch a sports and broadcast streaming package for less than its standard TV plans, but the savings aren’t enormous. The DirecTV Stream MySports plan costs $70 per month (with an extra $20 off for the first three months) and includes a mix of local broadcast channels, national sports networks, league-specific channels such as NFL Network, and access to ESPN+. This is uncharted territory for pay TV service, which typically requires paying for a big bundle of news, entertainment, and family programming just to access live sports (and vice versa). Still, DirecTV’s new sports package is missing some major sources of sports—notably CBS and regional sports networks—and is not even available yet in every U.S. market. It can save money in some scenarios, but only if you make some trade-offs. What’s included with DirecTV MySports Here’s the full DirecTV MySports channel list: Broadcast channels: ABC, NBC, and Fox National sports channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, TBS, TNT, TruTV, USA Network, Golf Channel. League channels: MLB Network, NBA TV, NFL Network, NHL Network, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, SEC Network Other: DirecTV 4K Live, DirecTV 4K Live 2 Streaming services: ESPN+ (coming soon) The package isn’t entirely limited to sports programming. You’ll also get prime-time and daytime shows on the broadcast channels, along with any movies or shows airing on channels like TBS and TNT. Everything will be available through DirecTV’s existing apps for Roku, Fire TV, Google TV/Android TV, Samsung TVs, Apple TV, iOS, and Android mobile. Those apps also include dozens of free streaming channels, whether you subscribe to the sports package or not. As with DirecTV’s other packages, Cloud DVR service is included and lets you record an unlimited number or programs, saved for up to nine months. Limited availability (for now) At launch, DirecTV MySports is only available in 24 U.S. markets, and local channel coverage might be patchy where you live. As Variety reports, subscribers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Area will get local feeds of NBC, ABC, and Fox. Subscribers can expect partial local channel coverage in the following markets: Houston, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Austin, Detroit, Gainesville, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Orlando, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa, Miami, Boston, New Haven, and San Diego. This is all reminiscent of live TV streaming’s early days, in which local station affiliates were not all on board, but DirecTV says it will bring more markets (and more station within those markets) online “soon.” What’s missing With any live TV streaming service, the omissions are as important as the inclusions, and DirecTV MySports has its fair share. The big one is CBS, which is a major source of NFL coverage (including the Bills-Ravens AFC divisional round and the AFC championship) and March Madness college basketball games. A DirecTV spokesperson said that it’s in “in discussions” with CBS, which alone would make the service more compelling. Regional sports channels such as Fanduel Sports Network and YES Network are also absent for now, though the spokesperson said that it plans to offer regional sports as an add-on later this year. Meanwhile, a growing body of sports coverage is being split off to individual streaming services. Amazon Prime Video gets Thursday Night Football, for instance, and Netflix had its exclusive NFL games on Christmas Day. Apple TV+ has Friday Night Baseball along with every Major League Soccer match. The sad reality is that no pay TV package carries complete coverage of the most popular sporting events anymore. Adding it up With those caveats in mind, are there any scenarios in which DirecTV MySports makes sense? Consider the following: The new MySports package costs $70 per month, but lacks CBS and regional sports. Fubo costs $80 per month, but lacks TNT, TBS, and ESPN+. Regional sports adds $12 per month or more to your bill, and you must pay $8 per month more for an add-on with MLB Network, NBA Network, and NHL Network. YouTube TV costs $83 per month, but lacks ESPN+, MLB Network, NHL Network, and most regional sports (except NBC Sports). Hulu + Live TV costs $83 per month, but lacks NBA TV, NHL Network, and most regional sports (except NBC Sports). DirecTV’s Stream’s “Entertainment” package costs $87 per month but lacks ESPN+ and regional sports, and you must pay $15 per month for an add-on with the league-specific networks. DirecTV Stream’s “Choice” package costs $115 but lacks ESPN+. Sling TV Orange + Blue costs $61 per month but lacks CBS, ESPN+, and regional sports networks. It also requires an antenna for local channels in many markets, and you must pay $11 per month extra for an add-on with MLB Network, NBA TV, and NHL Network. In other words, none of these services can purport to give you everything. DirecTV MySports at least provides a lower floor from which to decide what’s worth paying for. If you’re willing to finagle a free or cheap Paramount+ subscription, for instance, MySports becomes a decent value. You might also be able to get regional sports on a standalone basis (see my guides for the NBA and NHL) and still come out ahead of FuboTV or DirecTV Stream’s Choice package. By contrast, those who want the convenience of more programming in a single package can pay extra for that luxury. This has always been the case with cord-cutting. Your move, Fubo Regardless of whether DirecTV MySports is a good deal right now, this is a fast-moving situation. The channel lineup might look different in a few months, and other providers could launch their own sports-centric bundles at lower prices. (Fubo has already indicated that it will do so, and I suspect DirecTV is trying to get ahead of that launch.) Either way, note that live sports is the most expensive programming on TV, and it’s only getting worse as sports leagues renew their rights deals for astronomically more money. Someone has to pay for those higher rates, and as more folks abandon their pay TV packages outright, diehard sports fans will be left holding the bag. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice. Read...

More than a year has passed since Asus’ acquisition of the NUC brand from Intel, which marked the first major change the brand had seen since Intel launched it back in 2013. After more than a decade of continuity — including last year’s transition year where Intel still had a say on design — this will be the real first year in which Asus has done most of the groundwork, fronting up with its own designs and innovations. So how is the NUC different now in this new era? I spoke to Kuo Wei Chao, general manager of Asus IoT business unit, to find out. The new Asus NUC models and 2025 focus The Asus NUC lineup announced at CES 2025 in Las Vegas included the NUC 14 AI and the more premium NUC 14 Pro AI+ with 48 TOPS NPU AI power and a dedicated Copilot+ button for quick access to the AI assistant. They were on display alongside two new powerful mini-PCs for everyday use featuring the latest Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) chips: the NUC 15 and NUC 15 Pro+. A fourth model, the NUC 14 Essential is the efficiency workhorse, designed to provide maximum performance while sipping tiny amounts of power. Last but certainly not least, Asus’ ROG NUC makes a comeback with the most powerful CPU and GPU combination we’ve seen to date. Chao said Asus’ focus for its second year of NUC is threefold. Like other PCs at CES 2025, the addition of AI hardware is a big change allowing users a high degree of AI task mobility. Asus is also keen to communicate its commitment to “improving performance while keeping NUC sizes as small as possible.” The third focus reeks of Asus’ company ethos and is arguably the reason why it has been so successful with product lines like the Asus ROG gaming laptops. Chao said there has been a concerted effort to “incorporate a lot of user feedback in the NUC range.” In other words, it has added features and design elements that specifically tailor the NUC experience to what consumers want. But what does all that product talk actually mean? I picked one model, the 2025 ROG NUC to find out! The Asus NUC 14 Essential Asus The 2025 Asus ROG NUC leads the charge The Asus ROG NUC is perhaps the most impressive of the 2025 NUCs, and the best example of those Asus changes to the NUC brand in action. Here Asus has not only increased the performance power on offer by bumping the ROG NUC’s CPU and GPU up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 mobile CPU and mobile Blackwell variant of the Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU, respectively — both titans of Intel and Nvidia’s 2025 performance offerings — but it has also made cooling, upgradability, and connectivity priorities in 2025. Asus didn’t reveal what model of the Intel Core Ultra 9 (Series 2) chip it has used in the 2025 ROG NUC at CES, but based on the turbo clock speed of 5.5GHz in the specs sheet, I surmise that it can only be Intel’s flagship Arrow Lake mobile CPU, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX. No other mini gaming PC announced at CES is as stacked for performance, upgradable, overclockable, and yet so portable. The 2025 Asus ROG NUC. Asus It goes without saying that’s one heck of a chip. It puts 24 cores of raw processing power at your disposal, including 36 TOPS of AI power to capitalize on innovations in AI. Personally, I’m not sure what 5.5GHz looks like in a game, let alone the kind of performance I’d get when that’s paired with 16GB of fast DDR5-6400 memory and the 7,680 CUDA cores in the RTX 5080. But I’m really excited to find out. The RTX 5080 GPU in particular is a great choice in hardware. It means the 2025 ROG NUC’s GPU will be fully compatible with Nvidia’s new DLSS 4 AI technology so it can access a full suite of features including Nvidia’s Multi Frame Generation, which older Nvidia RTX GPUs cannot. More changes including overclocking Another cherry on top of the cake with this year’s ROG NUC is, wait for it… overclocking! Yep, the bump up from an Intel H series chip in 2024 to an Intel mobile HX Series Arrow Lake chip in 2025 gives gamers more control over their NUC’s maximum CPU speed, for the first time. Overclocking is accomplished in Asus’ Armory Crate software, where gamers can also control their fan speed settings. Among the other cascade of changes is a “more comprehensive cooling system,” Chao explained. “It comprises an integrated triple-fan design with twin vapor chambers that not only provides enhanced cooling but also makes the 2025 ROG quieter than its 2024 counterpart,” he said. It works in conjunction with a perforated chassis that provides more airflow than before, too. Asus’ NUC mini-PC lineup. The Asus ROG NUC is shown top left.  Asus A new chassis size measuring 11.1 x 7.4 x 2.2 inches does make this year’s model slightly larger (3 liters versus 2.5 liters in volume), but the larger size provides users with “more capacity to upgrade,” Chao promised. “We upgraded the CPU to support a higher TDP and reserved some buffers because we know that many gamers want to overclock and increase performance. So, gamers who want to upgrade, it will be easier to do that,” he said. In regard to that upgradability, the 16GB starter RAM can be expanded to a whopping 96GB. Swapping out RAM is also made easier by a new single-screw design that allows gamers to access the internal components in seconds. Connectivity options galore The ROG NUC also hits the right note with connectivity. In fact, the I/O lists off like a fine wine menu, including no less than 6x USB-A 3.2 ports, 2x HDMI 2.1 FRL ports, and 2x DisplayPort 2.1 ports. It also has a Thunderbolt 4 port, a USB-C 3.2 Gen2 port, a 3.5mm combo jack, and a 2.5Gb Ethernet port. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 make up the wireless connectivity. The choice of Thunderbolt 4 port instead of the newer Thunderbolt 5 is an interesting choice considering that Asus’ own 2025 XG Mobile eGPU uses the latter this year. On that point Chao said: “We listened and had many discussions with gamers. I think that Thunderbolt 5 would be very important in the long term. But I think right now, from an ecosystem perspective, it’s not so complete and in its infancy. So, we focused on what the majority want and the best choice for gamers in 2025 — that’s Thunderbolt 4.” On top of all that, Asus’ ROG branding brings the device in line with Asus’ ROG portfolio aesthetically. If you’re thinking Asus just won over a whole lot of gamers this year, you may be right. No other mini gaming PC announced at CES is as upgradable, overclockable, stacked for performance, and yet so portable. Let’s hope it lives up to expectations. Read...

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