It feels like overnight AI has ended up just about everywhere. From deepfakes and ChatGPT homework, to em-dashes and political misinformation, keeping on top of the latest AI trends is almost impossible. Unfortunately, that also means it’s hard to stay protected from the latest AI scams and phishing attacks. They’re constantly evolving and that can make them more dangerous than ever. If you’re keen to find a way to protect yourself from fake calls from ‘relatives’, or the latest AI-enhanced phishing text messages, Norton 360 might be the tool for you. Alongside classic defensive measures like real-time antivirus and a smart firewall, it now comes equipped with Scam Protection. This anti-scam tool uses AI to fight AI, and can detect scams before you’ve even had a chance to read through one. Protect your family from sophisticated AI scamsVisit Norton How can you tell if a text message is a scam? Got a suspicious SMS message? Norton’s AI engine can detect a scam and warn you before you even open it. Encountered an image you think might be a deepfake, or an offer in an email that seems to good to be true? The AI Assistant is just a click away with useful advice and the ability to scan for scams, so you’re never caught out by nefarious actors ever again. Now standard in all Norton packages from its base AntiVirus Plus, right up to the Deluxe and Select Plus options, Scam Protection is there to help protect against the ever evolving threat landscape, including the latest in AI scams. That helps prevent you becoming the victim of some of the more personal attacks that malware makers are using these days, leveraging the power of AI to quickly change and personalize their scams to make them more effective than ever. Norton 360 with Scam Protection With at least 50% off on all standard Norton 360 packages at the time of writing, you can pick up the base Norton AntiVirus Plus package for the equivalent of just $2.50 per month for the first year. That gives you antivirus protection, a robust password manager for saving all your most important login data, and Scam Protection. It does only cover one device, though, so if you want to make sure you’re protected against AI scams across your phone as well as your laptop, tablet, and any other devices (not to mention those of your wider family), then there are other options available. You can add additional features with more advanced packages, too, such as secure cloud backups, a VPN for anonymous web browsing, dark web monitoring, enhanced parental controls, and real-time monitoring of your credit rating and finances. They come at a steeper cost, but even the top Select Plus package which covers 10 devices at a time is less than $10 a month equivalent for the first year. Regardless of which package works for you, though, each comes complete with anti-scam protection to make sure you and your loved ones don’t have to fear the rising issue of AI attacks. Protect your family from sophisticated AI scamsVisit Norton >> Read our Norton Security Buyer’s Guide Read...

TL;DR: Get a 5TB Internxt Cloud Storage lifetime subscription for only $219.99. Cloud storage services usually come with monthly or annual fees. It’s frustrating, but it’s also avoidable. Right now, Internxt Cloud Storage is offering a 5TB lifetime subscription with no hidden costs for $219.99 (reg. $1,900). Internxt focuses on privacy and transparency. It uses end-to-end encryption and a zero-knowledge system, which means only you can access your files. The platform is open-source and GDPR-compliant, and its code is publicly available for review. You can upload and share files securely across desktop and mobile apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, or use a browser if you prefer web access. Performance is fast and consistent, and the simple interface makes syncing and organizing files straightforward. Your documents, photos, and backups stay private, even from Internxt itself. Since it’s a lifetime plan, you avoid the cost creep that comes with other cloud storage providers. This 5TB plan is available to new users only, and codes must be redeemed within 30 days. It covers cloud storage and sharing tools, with optional extras like Internxt Mail and Antivirus sold separately. For a limited time, it’s only $220 to get a 5TB Internxt Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription. Internxt Cloud Storage: Lifetime Subscription (5TB Plan)See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

There’s nothing more frustrating than hearing the familiar ding of a dying battery. This scenario always seems to happen when there’s zero outlets in sight. Bummer, man.  Nowadays, laptops are lasting longer than ever thanks to the energy-efficient chips from Intel and Qualcomm. Many laptops we’ve tested here at PCWorld are pushing well past the 20 hour mark, a far cry from the days when eight to 10 hours was the norm.  So, if marathon battery life is a top priority of yours, you’ve come to the right spot. We’ve personally tested over 70 laptops so far this year (still counting!), over 120 last year, and many more over the past decade. I can point you to the ones that have the best battery life. Here are the five laptops we tested with the longest battery life. How PCWorld tests battery life: When it comes to testing battery life for laptops, we loop a 4K file of a short film on screen until the laptop dies. We set the brightness level to 250 to 260 nits, unplug all USB drives, disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and plug in a pair of earbuds. We run this test twice per laptop to ensure consistent results. 1. HP OmniBook 5 14 (25 hours) Pros Enjoyable keyboard Attractive 1200p OLED display Incredible battery life Ships with small GaN charger Cons Though attractive, build quality doesn’t stand out Connectivity is limited So-so performance Best Prices Today: Retailer Price $579.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket The HP OmniBook 5 14 is the new king of the castle as far as battery life goes–it’s currently PCWorld’s Best Battery Life pick, and for good reason. In our battery test, which you can read more about here, it lasted an astonishing 25 hours on a single charge. That’s a jaw-dropping result for any Windows laptop, especially one that costs under $1,000. So, where does this efficiency stem from? It comes from the Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 processor that’s nestled inside.  It’s a lower-tier chip that trades raw performance for endurance. It’s not a slow machine by any means, but if you’re a power user, you may need to look elsewhere. For the day-to-day stuff, though? Totally fine. The 14-inch 1920×1200 OLED display, though it delivers good colors and contrast, tops out at just 300 nits in terms of brightness. In other words, it’s not a huge power draw. The keyboard feels snappy and comfortable, too, which is nice for long typing sessions. 2. Asus ZenBook A14 (24 hours) Pros Incredibly lightweight Ceraluminum is impressive Mind-blowing battery life Cons A $600 laptop CPU in a $1,200 machine Seriously, this is the slowest Snapdragon X chip Ceraluminum feels almost plasticky and hollow Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket The Asus ZenBook A14 is one of those laptops that’s so light it might just cloud off into the clouds if you’re not careful. It weighs just two pounds and yet it somehow manages to last 24 hours on a single charge. That’s just plain bananas! This is probably because of its 70Wh battery (this is on the bigger end for a portable laptop) and the entry-level Snapdragon X processor, which prioritizes efficiency over pure speed.  It’s fine for things like browsing the web and writing emails, but it’s not built for heavy-duty apps, so if you’re a multitasker at heart… this might not be the machine for you. That said, if your priority is to stay unplugged for as long as possible, the ZenBook A14 will definitely deliver on that front. Read our full Asus ZenBook A14 review 3. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 (24 hours) Pros Over 24 hours of battery life (in our standard test) Solid build quality Snappy desktop performance 2-in-1 experience with pen Cons On the expensive side Lunar Lake’s low multithreaded performance is an issue for some workflows Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 is a business powerhouse with loads of endurance (despite the smaller 57Wh battery sitting inside of it). This 14-inch laptop managed 24 hours in our playback video test thanks to its Intel Lunar Lake CPU and lower-power display. You could unplug it for a full day (or more!) without worrying, as long as you keep the brightness turned down some.  Battery life aside, it’s a classic ThinkPad machine through and through. You’ve got a sturdy metal chassis, an excellent keyboard with the iconic red TrackPoint, and an included pen. The 1920×1200 IPS display also hits 500 nits of brightness, and performance is snappy for productivity and some light multitasking, though it may slow down a bit when running super-heavy workloads. Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition review 4. Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition (23 hours) Pros Long battery life (almost 24 hours in our test) Beautiful OLED screen Great webcam Cons Lunar Lake’s multithreaded performance isn’t ideal for some workloads Glossy screen can be difficult to read in harsh lighting conditions A little expensive Best Prices Today: Retailer Price $1,650 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition is a good-looking laptop (it’s wrapped in aluminum!) that just keeps on going and going–and it’s no wonder it took home PCWorld’s Best Overall title this year. It’s another 14-inch convertible that runs on an Intel Lunar Lake chip (Intel Core Ultra 7 258V to be exact) and between that and its 75Wh battery, it pushed out 23.5 hours of video playback. That’s not bad for something that looks so good! It’s like the posh sibling to the more straight-laced ThinkPad X1 2-in-1, swapping the lower resolution display of the former for a sharper 2880×1800 OLED touchscreen. You’re also getting 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD, both generous amounts. The Intel Arc graphics can handle some lightweight creative apps, too.   23.5 hours of battery life is a phenomenal result, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s a tiny bit shorter than others on this list. That’s probably because of the Yoga’s higher resolution display, which eats up more of the battery life. Read our full Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 review 5. HP EliteBook X G1i (21 hours) Pros Quiet operation Strong anti-glare display Great battery life Clean, lightweight design Charging on both sides Cons Middling specs and performance for the price Nebulous pricing Mics pick up too much Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Stamina is the name of the game here and the HP EliteBook X G1i is no different in that regard. With its Intel Lunar Lake processor and 68Wh battery, it managed nearly 21 hours in our tests, which is impressive for a machine that’s built for the business crowd.  The 1920×1200 anti-glare display isn’t the most beautiful thing we’ve ever laid our eyes upon, but it’s bright and sharp and, most importantly, easy to read under fluorescent lights. The keyboard and trackpad also feel good, and the magnesium chassis keeps it pretty light at 2.7 pounds. The facial recognition stuff is pretty great, too. It doesn’t match the Yoga 9i’s 23.5-hour result nor does it dethrone the battery life champion up top (aka the OmniBook 5 14), but the EliteBook X G1 rightfully earns its place here because it’s reliable and that’s what really matters most.  Read our full HP EliteBook X G1i review Read...

Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. Missed the burning topics on our YouTube show or fresh news from across the web? You’re in the right place. Want this newsletter to come directly to your inbox? Sign up on our website! I have a plan for Ryzen 9000G chips. That is, if they come to be. It seems likely given that we’ve seen successive generations of AMD desktop APU processors—and recently, a bit of juicy speculation. The talk derives from a dig into the recent AESA 1.2.7.0 update for 800-series motherboards. Users on X/Twitter think there are hints at the coming of Strix Point for desktop.  If this projection ends up holding true, some believe we could see as many as four 9000-series APUs hit the market, with both Kraken Point and Strix Point represented. The rumor mill is pegging these as upgraded processors across the board. The vision: At the bottom of the stack, a 6-core, 12-thread Ryzen 3 9300G, with 6 RDNA 3.5 cores. In the middle, an 8C/16T Ryzen 5 9500G with 8 RDNA 3.5 cores. And at the top, a 12C/24T chip with 16 RDNA 3.5 cores. (Videocardz.com thinks it’d be named the Ryzen 7 9700G, but its core count suggests a name more like 9800G or 9900G.) For comparison, the 8300G was still stuck on 4C/8T, with just four RDNA 3 cores. The 8700G capped out at 8C/16T with 12 RDNA 3 cores. I’m excited. I love the idea of a simple, easy suggestion to give people building gaming PCs for their kids. I love the possibility of squeezing a usable gaming machine into a sub-5L DIY PC. I love a lower power bill that I min/max more than my character builds in games.  (San Francisco’s electric rates aren’t Europe-high, but they’re still pretty expensive. The LA metro area is cheaper, which I find crazy.) Right now, there aren’t many options for budget discrete graphics cards. Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry I’m also aware I’m the very problem that I worry about.  Whether or not these chips land, the budget end of discrete graphics will still be stagnating. Between tariffs, economic anxiety around inflation, and other factors, the focus on the high end has shrunk prospects for new, powerful, and affordable discrete cards. If Gordon were here, he’d probably accuse me of needless hand-wringing, but look man, things look depressed, if not outright grim. If companies think we’re willing to accept scraps, what inventive do they have to pile the table with affordable performance? Still, I take quiet delight in the prospect of high performance in limited space. I am ready to benchmark a set of Ryzen 9000G chips at 1080p. I think it’s worth recognizing the bounty of these tech times, even as future prospects feel dry. How cool is it that performance is so high that a CPU with integrated graphics is enough to game on?  That’s the silver lining for me—that even if our prospects seem thin, we have enough performance to still see us through the lean times. I hope. In this episode of The Full Nerd In this episode of The Full Nerd, Adam Patrick Murray, Brad Chacos, Alaina Yee, and Will Smith chat about a possible upcoming launch of AMD Ryzen 9000G APUs and Windows on the next Xbox console. Turns out, I get philosophical when discussing these topics—not only did I end up riffing more on the idea of 9000G chips (ahem), but I had a lot to say about Xbox, PCs, and how well they blend together. Also, if you’re normally an audio listener, I recommend peeping at least a little of the video feed. Adam committed hard to his Halloween costume this year, as teased by the picture below.(Yes, that is Will riding a chicken. And yes, Willis made the most unexpected sly comment about that costume during the video pre-show.) Willis Lai / Foundry Missed our live show? Subscribe now to The Full Nerd Network YouTube channel, and activate notifications. We also answer viewer questions in real-time! Don’t miss out on our NEW shows too—you can catch episodes of Dual Boot Diaries and The Full Nerd: Extra Edition now! And if you need more hardware talk during the rest of the week, come join our Discord community—it’s full of cool, laid-back nerds.  This week’s incredible nerd news Japan’s enduring love for physical media seems downright sensible this week after Microsoft’s Azure disruption—which came just days after the Amazon AWS outage. I found out because I couldn’t load the Xbox.com website. I would have been much more frustrated if I’d needed access to cloud content. Also low-tech but possibly high impact? Mushrooms as memory. Yeah. It’s so cool. veloci_official / Reddit Friendly BitLocker PSA: It’s worth verifying your PC’s encryption status right now—and also if you have the encryption keys saved. I’ve had odd BitLocker experiences myself, so I took this Redditor’s tale as a good precautionary reminder. Thank you, I needed the layperson version: I appreciate how this Tom’s Hardware article explains the reason for the Amazon AWS failure in terms like “Old Plan” and “New Plan.” I truly don’t know how folks who manage DNS-related systems sleep at night. A whole new take on flight sims: One of the top comments on Redditor veloci_official’s method of starting up their PC speaks deep truth. Yes, it indeed is the level of defense needed against cats and their nonchalant disregard for power buttons. We complained about a $1,000 Xbox, but…: It cost fifty cents to produce AMD’s clone of the Intel 8080 in 1975. It sold for $700. (That’s about $3 and $4,300 in today’s dollars, respectively.) Margins for computer hardware definitely aren’t like this any more. Sam Altman implies AI will eliminate jobs that aren’t “real work”: Sure, I can see how someone might think human writers and artists are equivalent to LLMs that produce slop based on their work. Dead internet theory, here we come. Leeches can get stuck WHERE? I mean, score one for medical troubleshooting, but also this is nightmare fuel. (Timely for Halloween, I suppose.) I’m now wondering when researchers will re-create GLaDos as a potato.Ohio State University Low-tech as high-tech: I love the idea of mushrooms being the future of technology. In space. Yep, plain old shiitake mushrooms as memory chips, possibly chilling in the radiation of solar flares and the like. Sus, AMD is rebadging 2022 Ryzen processors as “new” chips: Other companies have done this, but the practice of renaming Zen 2 and Zen 3+ processors as Ryzen 100-series CPUs feels murky. More games run on Linux now. I’m still not switching yet: These numbers are fascinating to dig into—almost 90% of Windows games are said to run on Linux, according to ProtonDB. But look at how many run well. (I think Will has more to say on this…) Thanks, Steve: Gamers Nexus always does us a solid by answering our burning questions. I’ve sincerely wanted to know how Yeston makes their waifu graphics cards. (I would also take a video on how they made that cat chassis, please and thank you.) Medical science FTW: Not everyone creates effective antibodies to ward off viruses. The idea of isolating broadly effective antibodies and then injecting them into a person’s DNA for replication (to help individuals better fight viral infections) is rad as heck. I thought I was in r/MaliciousCompliance at first: This anecdote from Reddit is why we always confirm instructions before executing a plan. (Also I can’t stop staring at the picture with dread—I live in earthquake country.) Catch you all next week—I’ll probably have a candy hangover from my usual November 1 discount haul. My future self will have no regrets. Also, how is it already time to change our clocks back? ~Alaina This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Brilliant display Sleek design and hardware Respectable gaming performance Great speakers Strong battery life Cons CPU and GPU aren’t top of the pack Non-upgradeable memory Our Verdict The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 offers a well-rounded package with plenty of performance and surprising battery life for a 3.3-pound system. The fact that it’s built so well with a good selection of ports, a solid keyboard and trackpad, and a truly great display and speaker pairing make it all the more compelling. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 Retailer Price $1,678.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Asus had a great machine on its hands with the 2024 ROG Zephyrus G14, and the 2025 model brings some commendable updates without messing with the formula. While much remains unchanged in the chassis and display, the 2025 model brings some under-the-hood updates for a boost in graphical performance and efficiency. All of this culminates in a laptop that’s great for work on-the-go, a joy to use, and potent enough for gaming at home with a few tweaks to graphics. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 being so well rounded may not make it the best laptop for pure gaming, but it makes it an excellent all-arounder. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Specs and features CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 270 Memory: 16GB LPDDR5X-7500 Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 5060 8GB 100W Display: 14-inch 2880×1800 120Hz OLED, Glossy, G-Sync Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD Webcam: 1080p IR Connectivity: 1x USB4 with Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 with Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x microSD card reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio Networking: WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Windows Hello facial recognition Battery capacity: 73 watt-hours Dimensions: 12.24 x 8.66 x 0.64 inches Weight: 3.3 pounds MSRP: $1,799 as-tested ($1,799 base) This test unit with the specs above is a unique Best Buy offering (though a similar config has shown up on Amazon and Walmart from third-party sellers) with lower specs and a lower base price than what Asus offers directly from its store. There, the G14 starts with an RTX 5070, double the memory, and a $2,099 price tag but is otherwise identical. For $2,499, that can bump up to a configuration with a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, an RTX 5070 Ti, and 2TB of storage. That CPU upgrade for the top-tier configuration is notable, as it not only jumps to a different class of CPU but also a very different architecture. It also brings along a much more powerful NPU that pushes the system up into Co-pilot+ territory thanks to 50 TOPS of NPU compute compared to the Ryzen 9 270 NPU’s 16 TOPS. Even with those upgrades, the chip has a lower default TDP (though both have overlap in their configurable TDP ranges) and has the potential to make that configuration more efficient than the one tested here. While the base configuration offers decent value, its 16GB of soldered on memory could become an issue, and the upgraded $2,099 model will likely be more competitive with its extra GPU horsepower and the better longevity it can provide thanks to its 32GB of memory.  For anyone after a gaming laptop that can work well on-the-go, this is an excellent choice. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Design and build quality Foundry / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a brilliant piece of hardware. Between its slim, 0.64-inch design, its 3.3-pound weight, and its CNC’d aluminum construction, it feels like a great little laptop. And that’s before considering how nice the design looks and feels. The display has a clean glass cover and swings up on a smooth and firm hinge that still allows one-handed opening. The bottom bezel may be a little thick, and the top bezel isn’t even with the sides, but it’s easy to overlook once you see the display.  The keyboard deck is a lovely piece of aluminum with a very smooth finish and very little flex. It wraps down the side with chamfered corners that improve comfort. And the bottom aluminum panel offers clean seams with the upper portion of the frame. The display lid is smooth and adorned with small ROG branding in one corner and a bold, mirror-finished, diagonal slash across it with integrated lighting.  The system sits on two wide rubber feet that angle the laptop up slightly and provide an air intake channel underneath. Surprisingly, there are no exhaust vents leading out of the hinge and up toward the display, nor are there exhausts above the keyboard or at the sides. The exhaust in the rear sits below the display hinge in very cramped slits and behind the rear rubber foot.  All in all, I’d be happy to have a laptop with this build whether it was a gaming laptop or not. It feels sturdy, smooth, and well polished.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Keyboard, trackpad Foundry / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 continues to demonstrate its rocking hardware with the keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard offers flat, square keys with strong stabilization, a firm actuation force, and a modest travel. It can make quick, light typing a little difficult, but I was able to get up to a typing speed of 113 words-per-minute at 98 percent accuracy with little practice in Monkeytype, which is a good result. Slightly more contour to the keycaps would help some, as the force needed combined with the flat surfaces made it hard for me to get up to a great typing speed and accuracy on the keyboard. The arrow keys are small, but at least not cramped into the space that should be home to other keys. Asus also included dedicated volume keys above the function row that can come in handy.  The keys have RGB backlighting that does a good job of lighting up the primary legends on most keys, but they don’t illuminate some of the bigger legends on some keys (like Enter) and they struggle to illuminate legends for secondary functions almost at all. It’s a small and common fumble, but a fumble nonetheless.  The trackpad is lovely. Asus used up just about all the available vertical space and made it quite wide as well. It has a super-smooth glass surface and matches the surrounding metal well for a cohesive look. Depressing it offers a gentle pop with a soft clicking sound.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Display, audio Foundry / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 has a brilliant display. It provides a sharp picture with a 2880×1800 resolution across its 14-inch panel. It can run that at 120Hz for smooth game visuals, and it supports G-Sync to avoid tearing. As an OLED display, it also has a very fast pixel response time that makes visuals appear all the more fluid. It’s also a stunner for its color, which covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color space. That color is accurate as well with an average dE1976 of 1.08. OLED hasn’t always been known for being bright, but the display here happily reaches up to 401 nits in SDR and was able to hit 631 nits in HDR for a full white screen. For folks with eyes sensitive to alternating current flicker, Asus offers DC dimming support for the display in its Armoury Crate program.  The speakers only enhance the experience further. Asus has packed six speakers into the system, combining four woofers and two tweeters, to provide impressively rich sound. These fire out of the bottom of the laptop and at the sides of the keyboard. Not only does the volume reach uncomfortable peaks without significant distortion or terribly harsh sound, but the bass depth is considerable for a laptop. There can be a little sibilance at max volume, but it doesn’t ruin the experience. The soundstage is even surprisingly wide, with some stereo audio even sounding like it’s coming from outside the bounds of the system. These are simply some of the best laptop speakers I’ve heard, and it’s all the more impressive they’re squeezed into a 14-inch laptop that’s also housing a large battery and high-power hardware. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The web camera on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is decent but not exceptional. It captures decently exposed video with natural color, but even with its 1080p resolution, visuals appear a bit grainy and soft. Having IR sensors for Windows Hello facial recognition is nice, though, providing a consistently quick way to sign on. The three-mic array on the laptop is also decent. It captures my voice with a modest fullness and doesn’t sound overly compressed, but I do sound somewhat distant. It avoids picking up too much background noise, like that of a fan I had running loudly nearby, but it didn’t eliminate the sound of me typing while I recorded.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Connectivity Foundry / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 offers up respectable connectivity for a laptop of its size. You’ll find USB-C ports on either side of the system, and both are capable of charging the laptop (requires 20V/5A) or transmitting display data. Only the left one offers USB4 speeds, but the right one connects to the GPU to support G-Sync with its video output. Asus has also put USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports on both sides — this splitting is a lovely gesture for those who want some flexibility on where they plug in accessories.  The system includes a UHS-II microSD card reader on the right side as well. An HDMI 2.1 port and 3.5mm jack on the left side round out the ports. Since the system also comes with its own proprietary charging port, you can run the system on AC power and still keep all the ports freed up for whatever you want. Wireless connectivity is also a plus on the Zephyrus G14. It supports tri-band Wi-Fi 7, and it has proven very fast and stable in my testing, albeit while connected to a Wi-Fi 6 network. Its Bluetooth 5.4 connection has also proven consistent, though it’s getting disappointing to not see Bluetooth 6.0 nowadays.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Performance The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 offers excellent performance thanks to its potent hardware, though it may not be quite as powerful as one would hope from a gaming system. In particular, its CPU performance lags a bit behind many of its competitors, even trailing the 2024 model slightly, though it can still come out ahead next to thin-and-light productivity laptops. One surprising thing is that the Zephyrus G14 never seems to get very hot under load. It does get warm, but the base and keyboard area where you’re likely to rest your hands avoid getting painfully hot. The AMD Ryzen 9 270 inside the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is solid, but not a showstopper. It’s older architecture from AMD, and therefore isn’t showing the kind of single-core or multi-core performance uplift you can get from newer Ryzen AI and Intel Core Ultra chips. Across Cinebench CPU benchmarks, the Zephyrus G14 generally trails the Alienware 16 Aurora, which uses an Intel CPU, though Alienware’s laptop is also much larger and should have the advantage in cooling. Meanwhile, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 can’t keep up with AMD Ryzen AI 9 365-powered Razer Blade 14, but the Zephyrus G14 is also much cheaper. Perhaps the bigger blow is the Intel Core i7-14700HX-powered Lenovo Legion 5i 15IRX10 (at $1,199) dominates the Zephyrus G14 and the rest of the group here in CPU performance The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 puts a stronger foot forward where graphics come into play. It’s not going to be an absolute performance powerhouse considering its running a lower-tier RTX 5060 GPU and doing so in a thinner and lighter chassis than most other gaming laptops. But that actually makes it all the more impressive that it can manage fairly decent performance. In the demanding Port Royale graphics benchmark, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 actually manages to narrowly exceed the much larger Alienware 16 Aurora. Though it’s still clear there’s room for improvement as the two Lenovo systems offer a nearly 20 percent uplift running the same RTX 5060 GPUs. Lenovo has a knack for making the most of the GPUs in its gaming laptops, but that doesn’t excuse Asus for lagging behind. Even with Asus’s Turbo profile boosting performance in this benchmark to 7132 points, Asus trails Lenovo. While 3DMark demonstrated a more extreme scenario where the system is largely bottlenecked by the GPU, actual game benchmarks can show some differences. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 actually manages to flip the script in some cases, having a little extra CPU potency helps it actually step out ahead of the Lenovo LOQ 15, which may offer faster GPU performance but doesn’t have the CPU speed to keep up with the Zephyrus G14.  Unfortunately for the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, some games are so graphically demanding, they can still create heavily GPU-bottlenecked scenarios. That’s the case for Metro Exodus with its Extreme graphics preset turned on. This sees the Zephyrus G14 struggle to break an average of 40fps. The curve here ends up looking a lot more like what we saw in 3DMark’s Port Royale test with the exception of the Alienware 16 Aurora managing to lead the Zephyrus G14, likely thanks to more effective cooling over the course of this longer benchmark.  Cyberpunk 2077 demonstrates another highlight demanding scenario for the GPU, and the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 continues to fall behind here. It does manage a playable average framerate over 60fps at 1080p Ultra, but the beefier systems it stacks up against lead it by a considerable margin, showing that extra cooling can go a long way when you need to run a power-hungry component like the GPU hard. While the Razer Blade 14 demonstrates that a higher-end chip alone can make a difference, the RTX 5060-powered Zephyrus G14 might be a more attractive option for those seeking extra performance in a compact form, especially since it’s available at a substantial discount compared to the higher-end system. Alas, none of the systems provide playable framerates at 1080p with Cyberpunk 2077’s RT Overdrive settings.  To the Zephyrus G14’s credit, Asus does a good job managing thermals. Running 3DMark’s Steel Nomad Stress Test, the Zephyrus G14 maintained 98.7 percent consistent performance over the course of 20 runs. That’s all the more impressive considering that the fans aren’t very loud.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Battery life The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 may have fallen short in performance, but it more than makes up for that in battery life. The system runs on a 73-watt-hour battery, which is sizable for a 14-inch laptop. And Asus pulled all the right levers to ensure that when the system is operating on battery power, it can sip on power. This let it run for almost 13 hours in our video playback test, dramatically outstripping its competition here and offering a marked improvement over the 2024 model. That’s a great showing for a gaming laptop, and it’s helped by Asus’s software automatically ensuring the GPU is disabled on battery power when it’s not needed.  Running on battery power and using the integrated graphics has its downsides though. The system still experiences the same freezing issues I’ve seen for years on AMD’s Radeon integrated graphics. It seems to crop up whenever there’s a call for too much video memory. This will commonly occur while browsing with a window on one half of the screen and playing a YouTube video on the other half.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Conclusion The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 isn’t a perfect machine, but it’s brilliant. For the most part, it’s delivering great hardware with a largely elegant design, solid inputs, ample I/O, a wonderful display, and outstanding speakers. Pairing that with respectable performance and excellent battery life in its class, the Zephyrus G14 proves a very well balanced system that should have the Razer Blade 14 shaking in its boots because Asus’s system is nearly the same size, lighter, and much cheaper. For anyone after a gaming laptop that can work well on-the-go, this is an excellent choice. Read...

No one who assembles a PC or sets up a new computer can avoid the BIOS or UEFI. That’s where you define the basics, from the boot sequence and memory profiles to security features like Secure Boot. Modern UEFI interfaces are graphical, can be operated using a mouse, and are much more convenient than legacy BIOS text menus… but they can still be daunting for first-time users. If you’re reluctant to dive into your PC’s BIOS/UEFI, have no fear! These tips will get you familiar and comfortable in no time. How to boot into BIOS/UEFI settings Mark Hachman / Foundry In order to boot into BIOS/UEFI, you have to press a key (or a combination of keys) during the startup process. If you aren’t quick enough, or if you press the wrong keys, you’ll end up in Windows. The exact key(s) you need to press depend on your motherboard’s manufacturer, but most of them use one of the following standardized keys: Delete, F2, F10, or F12. The correct key is often displayed on the screen for a brief moment with the motherboard logo, and it’s best to press the key several times as soon as you see it. However, there’s also an alternative way in Windows 11: open Settings > System > Recovery, scroll down to the Recovery options and look for “Advanced startup,” then click the button labeled Restart now. There you can directly call up the UEFI firmware settings. Step 1: Update your BIOS/UEFI Before you even start fine-tuning, you should update your BIOS/UEFI to the latest version. New versions often bring better RAM compatibility, extend CPU support, and/or fix security vulnerabilities. Download the update from the manufacturer’s website. (Pay attention to the exact model of your motherboard.) It will usually come as a ZIP file, which you can unzip and copy to a USB flash drive. Then, you should be able to find the update function in the BIOS under “EZ Flash,” “M-Flash,” or similar. (If you can’t find it, run a web search for instructions on how to update your particular motherboard.) Important: Make sure your PC doesn’t crash, restart, or shut down during a BIOS/UEFI update. Also, refrain from experimenting with overclocking or unstable power supplies while updating. Also, avoid the update if there’s an impending thunderstorm or if there are known power fluctuations affecting your area/house. Step 2: Set language and interface Many modern UEFI menus offer a graphical view, and some of them even let you interact using mouse controls. You’ll usually find the language setting directly in the main menu or under a tab labeled “General Settings.” Always change the language first so that you can find your way around more easily later. Some motherboards also offer a “Simple view” for beginners and an “Advanced mode” for fine-tuning. Step 3: Customize the boot sequence In order to install Windows on a PC, the PC must be bootable from a USB flash drive. That means you might have to re-order the boot sequence so that if the system detects a plugged-in USB drive, it first tries to boot off of it before moving on to the internal SSD (for example). You can do this in the BIOS/UEFI by navigating to the appropriate section and dragging the USB flash drive option to the top. After Windows is installed, make sure to change the order back and select the Windows Boot Manager or your system hard drive as the first boot device. Tip: If your PC doesn’t reliably recognize your USB drive at startup, try deactivating “Fastboot Mode.” Step 4: Optimize working memory Foundry By default, RAM often only runs at base clock rate. Activate the appropriate profile in the UEFI—depending on the manufacturer, this is called XMP (Intel), DOCP (Asus/AMD), or EXPO (AMD). This allows your RAM to utilize the full speed for which it’s designed without you having to manually overclock. You can usually find this option on the main page of the UEFI menu or under a tab such as “AI Tweaker” (for Asus), “OC” (for Gigabyte), or “Advanced Memory Settings.” Step 5: Set the fan and temperatures You can adjust fan curves under menu items such as “Q-Fan” or “Smart Fan Control,” which allows you to determine how loudly or quietly your PC fans run in everyday use. A steeper curve (i.e., faster at higher temperatures) is recommended for gaming while a flat curve (i.e., remain slow even when temperatures rise slightly) is more suitable for office or home server use, ensuring peace and quiet. Step 6: Optimize energy and performance Many motherboards offer power-saving features such as “C-States” (reduces the CPU voltage when idle) or “ErP ready” (reduces power consumption when switched off). If you need more power, activate Turbo Boost (Intel) or Precision Boost Overdrive (AMD). The latter ensures higher clock rates, but requires good cooling. Note: The combination of power-saving features and aggressive performance options can lead to instability on cheaper motherboards. If your PC crashes frequently after making such changes, switch Turbo Boost/PBO/C-States off again as a test. Step 7: Check security settings In order for Windows 11 to be installed, certain security features must be active in the BIOS/UEFI. If they’re missing, the setup will be canceled or even refuse to start. The two most important options are: Enable Secure Boot: Ensures that only boot loaders signed by Microsoft are loaded. Without Secure Boot, malware could be installed before the operating system starts. As a security measure, Windows 11 will refuse to install without Secure Boot. Enable TPM 2.0: Referred to as “fTPM” (AMD) or “PTT” (Intel) depending on the manufacturer. TPM 2.0 stores cryptographic keys securely in the system. Windows 11 will refuse to install without it. It’s also worth taking a look at the extended security options: BitLocker support: With TPM enabled, hard drive encryption such as BitLocker can be used without additional effort. This protects your data in the events of theft or loss of the computer. Supervisor/BIOS password: Protects the firmware settings from unauthorized access. Lock interfaces: Some motherboards allow you to deactivate USB ports or network adapters directly in the UEFI. This is practical for particularly sensitive environments where access to external devices needs to be restricted for security reasons. Step 8: Other advanced features If your PC is still running stably after all of the above tweaks, it’s now worth taking a look at some additional options: SATA/NVMe mode: For single SSDs and HDDs, AHCI is the standard. This ensures full performance and TRIM support. RAID is only worthwhile if you want to use several drives for purposes of data mirroring (RAID 1) or performance (RAID 0). Importantly, this setting must be defined before Windows is installed, as changing it later can lead to startup errors. Learn more about RAID setups and multiple drives working together. Activate virtualization: Features such as Intel VT-x and AMD-V make it possible to run virtual machines efficiently. If you want to use Hyper-V, VirtualBox, or VMware, you should switch this option on. Without virtualization activated, many things will still run but with significantly reduced performance. IOMMU/SR-IOV (optional): This feature is interesting for advanced users who want to use device passthrough or special virtualization scenarios. Tip: Even if you don’t need virtualization immediately, you can activate the feature directly now. This will save you having to search the BIOS later if you ever end up experimenting with virtual machines. Get comfortable with your BIOS/UEFI In short, the BIOS/UEFI is the control center of your PC. Just a few settings—such as RAM profile, boot sequence, and Secure Boot—can make a world of difference between a system that’s limping along versus a system that’s stable, fast, and secure. If you feel like it, you can eventually try your hand at fine-tuning the deeper settings, from individual fan curves to overclocking. But even without experimenting, with the right BIOS/UEFI settings, your new PC will now be ready to start and optimally prepared. Good to know: You only need to make most BIOS/UEFI adjustments once. After that, your computer will run permanently with the optimum settings without needing any annoying readjustments. Read...

TL;DR: Right now, it’s only $55 to get Microsoft Office Pro and Windows 11 Pro for life. This year, Microsoft raised the price for Microsoft 365 and ended support for Windows 10. If you want to avoid subscription fees and protect your computer, then get Microsoft Office Pro and Windows 11 Pro for life for only $54.97 (reg. $418.99). This sale will not last much longer. The Microsoft Office lifetime license comes with Word Excel PowerPoint Outlook Teams (free version) OneNote Publisher Access There are no recurring fees or renewals, and the software connects to your device rather than your Microsoft account. You can use it offline without losing access, and updates are included. Part two of this bundle is a lifetime license for Windows 11 Pro, which has a cleaner interface, faster performance, and stronger built-in security. It includes features like BitLocker drive encryption, Hyper-V virtualization, and Windows Sandbox for testing new apps in a safe environment. Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant, is integrated to help with tasks like changing settings or summarizing web content. Right now, it’s only $54.97 to get Microsoft Office and Windows 11 Pro for life. The Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License + Windows 11 Pro BundleSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

Police minister Mark Mitchell says he willl be briefed on the allegations, including an officer who has been stood down after inappropriate material was found on a police-issued device. Read...

Samsung is bringing its mobile browser to the Windows PC, most likely as a way of making its ecosystem stickier for customers who are considering another brand. Beginning today, United States customers can sign up for a beta of the free Samsung Internet for PC browser, which will run on both Windows 10 and Windows 11. My colleague Michael Crider, with experience covering Android phones, tells me that the Samsung browser for Android phones has some fans, who believe it offers a simpler and cleaner version of the Chrome browser that Google installs on Android PCs. But it’s likely that Samsung’s new browser is designed to help sync up users of Galaxy phones, laptops, and now other PCs into a more cohesive ecosystem, as Samsung’s rather interesting Galaxy software tries to do. “As users move more fluidly between devices, Samsung Internet for PC also adds a new layer of intelligence powered by Galaxy AI, designed to make browsing smarter and more efficient,” Samsung said. “When logged into their Samsung Account, users can access some key Galaxy AI capabilities like Browsing Assist for instant webpage summarization and translation, helping them find the information they need faster.” Naturally, like other browsers that traverse various platforms—basically all of them, at this point—you’ll be able to sync favorites and the browser history to move seamlessly between devices. Samsungs browser does have some other advantages. Anti-tracking is built in, the company said, helping to ensure that users aren’t followed all over the web. A privacy dashboard is included, too. Still, Samsung’s blog post points to the ability to “unlock” even more intuitive browsing experiences in the future, including ambient AI. That’s probably a key here: if Samsung is going to invest in AI like everyone else, it’s going to need a dedicated customer base to take advantage. Voila, Samsung Internet for PC. Read...

Microsoft Copilot is tapping a key feature from Windows 11 Pro to enable Copilot’s AI to dig even further than it already has. It’s part of an update to Microsoft 365 Copilot called Researcher with Computer Use, debuting today for a limited subset of Microsoft 365 Copilot users. LLMs that engage in deep research, like Copilot, face a problem: some content is locked away behind an authentication process, like requiring a password. Researcher with Computer Use is adding a “secure virtual computer” with a virtual browser, terminal, and a text interface that will trigger when needed and also provide a visual “chain of thought” that can show you what’s happening and if you need to step in. All of this takes place within a “sandbox,” an optional virtual environment that has existed within Windows since the launch of Windows 10 Pro. Windows Sandbox is a powerful utility in Windows 10 and Windows 11 for surfing the web safely, since it creates a virtual OS within Windows that’s sealed off from your “main” Windows environment. It’s a much more secure way of visiting dodgy sites on the web or opening untrusted files—once you close the sandbox, the OS and everything within it vanishes. But you can still open files within it and read their contents, which is where Researcher steps in. Recently, Microsoft has also tip-toed into letting Copilot access a sandbox via Copilot Actions, an upcoming feature that would allow Copilot to take actions on the PC. In the near term, Microsoft also released a fall 2025 update for Copilot with long-term memory and integration into various services. In this case, Researcher with Computer Use isn’t designed for dodging malware, although that’s one benefit of it. The created sandbox is primarily designed as a test bed for code that Copilot creates, so it doesn’t put your machine at risk. The virtual browser can be used by Researcher to navigate the web and perform actions, Microsoft notes in a blog post, while the terminal interface is used for command-line-based code execution. “Deep research” LLMs typically come up with a plan, then execute it while keeping you abreast of what they’re doing and what’s going on. Researcher with Computer Use does this visually, snapping screenshots of the virtual sandbox as it works. While you can take over whenever you want, it’s also useful for when Researcher runs into roadblocks and needs a username and password to proceed further. That takes place via a “secure screen-sharing connection,” Microsoft says. Microsoft 365 Copilot Researcher with Computer Use will hand back control to the user to enter a password when needed.Microsoft Microsoft says that users at any given organization won’t have access to internal or proprietary information by default, though users and IT admins can choose to turn that on. The sources of data that Researcher sifts through can also be managed. “The user sees the actions of Researcher while it is accessing the web through the browser or using any computer use tools,” Microsoft added. “Researcher will always ask for explicit confirmation before taking any actions or request the user securely log in to any web sources in the browser when required to complete a task.” On BrowseComp—a benchmark focused on complex, multi-step browsing tasks—Researcher with Computer Use performed 44 percent better than the current version of Researcher, Microsoft said. Read...