Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. Missed the hot topics on our YouTube show or latest 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!  Pretend for a moment that for a satellite, the only thing that matters is what it does while in orbit. From that view, the news about Starlink’s amped-up new V3 satellites is pretty astounding—as reported by my former colleague Michael Kan, these hulking contraptions will not only dramatically expand download capacity for customers, but also support gigabit speeds. This development definitely piques my interest. And I’m diehard fan of wired internet. Wireless technology captures the heart—it always feels futuristic, no matter how mundane the application. Or how rudimentary the tech. I remember when satellite internet was synonymous with slow. Practically speaking, you signed up for such a service only because nothing better existed. But emotionally? It was comforting to have the option available. And also, as a child of the 90s (when connecting to the web happened via whining beeps and boops), knowing the internet could be beamed to you from the sky was super cool. Heck, even spoiled now by always-connected pocketable computers (aka smartphones), I still feel joy whenever I use a basic wireless keyboard. Something about breaking free of tethers is wondrous—for me, it represents freedom. Infinite possibility. When you can connect without physical contact, the sky is the limit.  (Now literally so, thanks to hardware in literal space, blasting internet into homes at the same theoretical rates as earth-bound services.) Evgeny Opanasenko / Unsplash Still, the pragmatist in me wants to see more. Not more satellites, per se—that’s actually a potential risk, given how at least one Starlink satellite burns up each day, and such debris could add to the severity (and resulting consequences) of climate change. I’m hoping to see an even tighter closing of the gap between wireless and wired technologies. Because as good as it’s become, wireless still has one main weakness. It remains bound by physics. Signal interference will always give wired connections a leg up when rock-solid dependability matters. Starlink’s improved a lot. But heck, even the wireless keyboard I’m currently reviewing acts up if I put its receiver behind the PC. If the technology could become resilient enough to trust through thick and thin, I’d consider abandoning my wired internet. (Or at least, trusting I don’t have to have wireless access points connected via Ethernet backhaul.) Maybe my other wired tech, too. I’m hoping it will. Because even though I am a hard sell on this point, I love that we have options. I love alternatives. I love that a bunch of smart folks decided to trade one set of limitations (physical linking as a requirement) for a different set, so that you can choose what best fits your situation. I love someone asked, “Isn’t this a neat idea?” Because yeah, it is. In this episode of The Full Nerd In this episode of The Full Nerd, Adam Patrick Murray, Brad Chacos, Will Smith, and special guest Tom Peterson, Fellow at Intel, dive deep into Xe3 gaming, making a better GPU, and much more. As always when TAP visits us, he guides everyone through an incredible amount of detailed, insightful information—for over two hours! Plus, Tom adds yet again to The Full Nerd cookbook with two mouth-watering suggestions—chicken ballotine and “the best brownie ever.” In his words, these brownies are not chewy but cakey, and “very, very nice.” (Also, I’m hereby proposing that for every guest we have on the show, we ask for a recipe contribution so we can put it into a TFN Cookbook collection at each year’s end.) 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 wild nerd news So apparently, I should take vacation more often—I was not expecting to come back to word of an itty bitty PCs housing a desktop 5060 Ti 16GB chip, much less a report on butt-breathing could become an actual medical treatment (yes, you read that correctly). Now that is a toy I’d want under my Christmas tree.Mikael Lindkvist ‘Butt-breathing might soon be a real medical treatment’: Look, I can’t summarize this article better than its headline, so I’ll just once again tip my hat in respect to the fine writers at Ars Technica. Also, what clever science. This takes me back: This week’s dose of 90s nostalgia comes courtesy of a Microsoft devblog post, which digs into Windows 95’s most iconic icons. Seeing that desktop computer PC icon hit me hard. Never change, Japan: I sincerely hope Japan never loses its love for physical media—books, discs, and the like. I love the charm of disc drives and calculators (yep, a whole bin full of basic, desk-sized ones) stocked alongside $1,000 AM5 motherboards in Akihabara stores. Fingers crossed mini-disc players have a revival. It doesn’t snow where I live, but I want one: OK, this smart snow blower isn’t computer hardware. It’s also $5,000. But you control it with a dupe of an Xbox controller and it looks like one of my favorite construction toys from when I was a kid. I’m in. Mini but mighty: I built a big PC just a few weeks ago, but I love tiny gaming PCs. And Zotac’s sub-3L offering with a desktop 5060 Ti stuffed inside is delightful. Turns out, enshittification has nuance: At least, Cory Doctorow (the original inventor of the term enshittification) takes this approach to the concept. After reading this interview, I can’t wait to get my hands on his full book. Why put Battlefield 6 on an AIO screen? Why not?Allround-PC.com Battlefield 6 blinding you? The fine folks over at PCGamer have you covered—try their suggestion for adjusting the brightness settings. Or I guess you could just play Battlefield 6 this way instead: I’m betting on a screen that small, it won’t blind you. Well, not from brightness. I’m not the only one: When an astoundingly broad range of people sign an open letter asking for AI development to be paused until it can be done safely—and with large public buy-in—it seems like maybe the tech industry is ignoring how problematic the current approach is. GoG Games has some crazy tales: I think none of us appreciate enough the lengths GoG has gone to preserve gaming—at least, I feel I didn’t after reading about this particular tale. Wow. Well, it was a good run while it lasted: I like how the earth gets a finite end date, but the calculus for humanity’s survival is generalized to, “Well, definitely not as long as earth’s lifespan.” More lucky thrift shopping: On a more cheerful note—$500 for a PC with a 2080 Ti inside. Hot dang. Catch you all next week—I believe the whole TFN crew will be celebrating Halloween in full style. At least, we will be if Adam has anything to say about it. ~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 Well-rounded hardware configuration for the price Large touchpad with virtual dial Good balance of modern and legacy connectivity Strong battery life for a laptop with a discrete GPU Cons Rigid and light chassis looks a bit mediocre Modest CPU and GPU performance Our Verdict The Asus ProArt P16 strikes a balance between portability and performance. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Asus ProArt P16 (2025) Retailer Price $2,929.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Asus ProArt P16 is a laptop that’s meant for creative professionals. Technically, just about any laptop with a fast CPU and GPU could do the job—and some pros turn towards gaming laptops for that reason. But the ProArt P16 seeks its niche by pairing performance with better battery life and a more compact chassis. Asus has to slightly reduce performance to make this possible, but the end result is alluring if you want a powerful Windows laptop that can also handle travel. Asus ProArt P16: Specs and features as-tested The Asus ProArt P16’s basic specifications are well-balanced and competitive with many mid-range laptops in the $2,000 to $3,000 price bracket. It pairs an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor with Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics, supported by 32GB of RAM and 2TB of solid state storage. Model number: H7606WP CPU: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 Memory: 32GB LPDDR5-7500 Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 5070 8GB (105W TGP) NPU: Up to 50 TOPS Display: 16-inch 2880×1800 OLED 120Hz touchscreen Storage: 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 solid state drive Webcam and microphone: 1080p with dual microphone array Connectivity: 1x USB-C 4.0 40Gbps with Power Delivery and DisplayPort, 1x USB-C 3.2 10Gbps with Power Delivery and Display Port, 2x USB-C 3.2 10Gbps, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x SD card reader, 1x 3.5 mm audio jack, 1x power connector Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Windows Hello facial recognition Battery capacity: 90 watt-hours Dimensions: 13.97 x 9.72 x 0.68 inches Weight: 4.08 Operating System: Windows 11 Home Price: $2,399.99 MSRP The model I reviewed is available for $2,399.99 at Best Buy. Asus also sells several alternative models with higher display resolutions and up to RTX 5090 graphics, as well as up to 64GB of memory. That will set you back $2,899.99. Alternatively, you can save a few hundred dollars with a $2,199.99 entry-level model that has RTX 4060 graphics and just 1TB of storage. Asus ProArt P16: Design and build quality Foundry / Matthew Smith The Asus ProArt P16 heard you like matte black, so it put matte black on your matte black so you can matte black while you matte black. The exterior, the key caps, the power button, the speaker grills, the touchpad, the little faux-dial are all matte black. Asus gets a little wild with the ProArt logo on the lid, though. It’s glossy black. Personally, I think the laptop is a bit boring, but has it where it counts. Asus finishes the laptop’s metals with a subtle but noticeable metallic luster and the shade of black is wonderfully deep. Many laptops that are supposedly black (like Apple’s MacBook laptops) look slightly blue or gray compared to the ProArt P16.  The ProArt P16’s lower chassis, display lid, and keyboard deck all feel rigid when pressed or handled roughly. You’ll still find flex if you try, but the laptop is more than rigid enough to provide a luxurious, professional feel. There’s also a nice plastic lip around the display bezel. It’s a subtle element but should help keep dust and dirt out of the interior when the laptop is in your bag. Overall, the ProArt P16 is on par with top-end competitors like the Razer Blade 16 and Lenovo Yoga 9i.  It even resists fingerprints well enough. Some marks are inevitable, but a quick rub with a microfiber cloth will clean it up. I expect the palmrests and keyboard will show wear after a few months of heavy use, but the same is true for every darkly-colored laptop I’ve ever used. Asus ProArt P16: Keyboard, trackpad, mouse Foundry / Matthew Smith Asus provides a spacious, centered keyboard layout without a numpad. The lack of numpad is notable, as this is a 16-inch machine and Asus could have found room. But the company instead elects to keep the keyboard centered for better typing ergonomics. The extra space on each side of the keyboard is used to provide large, user-facing speakers, which I’ll discuss shortly.  Key feel is good, if not exceptional. The keyboard offers good key travel and a smooth action that feels pleasant and doesn’t tire my fingers. Each key bottoms with a vague and subtle action, though. I prefer more tactile and audible feedback. Still, it’s a good keyboard. Keyboard backlighting is standard, though it’s not great. The keys allow a lot of light leak from around the key caps, creating an uneven look, and the minimum brightness is higher than I like to see when typing in a dark room. Still, it ultimately does the job.  The touchpad, on the other hand, is a treat. It’s spacious, measuring about six inches wide and four inches deep, and provides a surface that’s smooth yet still just rough enough to provide a sense of tactile feedback.  It includes Asus’ dial control engraved in the upper left corner. This can be used in any situation where a dial might be handy, from scrolling down a page to adjusting exposure in a photo editing app. It lacks the reassuring tactile feel of a real dial, but it’s a feature unique to Asus’ ProArt, and certainly beats fiddling with sliders by clicking with the mouse cursor and then dragging them to and fro. Asus ProArt P16: Display, audio Foundry / Matthew Smith The Asus ProArt P16’s display is a real treat. It’s a 16-inch OLED touchscreen with a 16:10 aspect ratio and 2,880 x 1,800 resolution. Like all modern laptop OLED displays, it provides incredible contrast and rich color.  It also goes the extra mile with a maximum brightness that exceeds 400 nits in HDR, which means the display doesn’t look overly dim in bright rooms (this can still be an issue with OLED displays in less expensive laptops). HDR is supported and offers decent brightness for a laptop. The display is extremely glossy, though, so you can expect mirror-like reflections from any light source sitting behind you. The refresh rate maxes out at 120Hz, which provides great motion clarity while scrolling rapidly through a video timeline or document and also, of course, looks superb in games. The display doesn’t support G-Sync, though, so you’ll have to use V-Sync in games to ensure smooth frame pacing. Interestingly, the OLED display on the ProArt P16 I reviewed is actually different from many other configurations sold by Asus. Most ProArt P16 models have an even higher display resolution of 3,840 x 2,400, but a lower refresh rate of 60Hz. Personally, I prefer an OLED display with a lower resolution and higher refresh rate. Still, creators who want to be able to see a full 4K image at its proper resolution should be wary and purchase a model with the display that meets their needs. While the display is very good, it’s not an advantage. Nearly all mid-range to high-end Windows laptops now have an OLED display. And since they’re all supplied by Samsung, they all tend to offer similar performance.  The ProArt P16 provides user-facing speakers on each side of the keyboard. They offer good audio volume and a crisp presentation in most situations. The speakers do produce a hint of bass, but they become muddy in bass-heavy music when listening at maximum or near maximum volume. Still, the speakers are above-average for a laptop. Asus ProArt P16: Webcam, microphone, biometrics A 1080p webcam and dual microphone array are tucked into the Asus ProArt P16. The webcam provides solid video quality, though it’s nothing amazing by modern standards. It’s suitable for video conferences, but the image can still look grainy in dark lighting. The dual microphones pick up quality audio and are able to cancel out moderate, repetitive background noises. The webcam and microphone are competent, but par for the course in this price bracket. The webcam doesn’t provide a physical privacy shutter. An electronic webcam disconnect is available, though, and can be selected with a keyboard shortcut. Biometric login is available through Microsoft’s Windows Hello facial recognition. I generally prefer this to a fingerprint reader, and a fingerprint reader is not available on the ProArt P16. The facial recognition is speedy, reliable, and works in both dark and bright rooms. Asus ProArt P16 : Connectivity Asus has the ProArt P16’s connectivity dialed in. It includes one USB 4 port with up to 40Gbps of data, plus a USB 3.2 port with up to 10Gbps of data. Both are USB-C ports that provide DisplayPort and Power Delivery to charge the laptop, though be warned they don’t provide enough power to charge the laptop at full speed or prevent the battery from discharging at full load. Still, they provide a good range of options for connecting to a hub, dock, or USB-C monitor.  Thunderbolt is absent, however, as is often the case with laptops that have AMD inside. I don’t think this is a major issue, but shoppers should note that a laptop with Thunderbolt 5 can achieve even higher data rates of up to 80Gbps. That might be a factor if you often move very, very large files between your laptop’s storage and external storage.  The two USB-C ports are paired with two USB-A 3.2 ports, each with 10Gbps of data. There’s also HDMI 2.1, an SD Express card reader, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. These ports give the ProArt P16 a good range of options that will have particular appeal to photographers and videographers. The HDMI-out is great for connecting to a variety of media devices and the SD Express card reader removes the need to carry a hub or adapter.  On the whole, I think the ProArt P16’s connectivity strikes the right balance of connectivity for most people. A MacBook Pro 16 has more high-speed Thunderbolt / USB-C connectivity, but it lacks USB-A. Other high-end consumer and prosumer laptops, like the Dell 16 Premium and Lenovo Yoga 9i 16, rely almost entirely on Thunderbolt / USB-C for connectivity. Wireless connectivity includes Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, which are the latest versions of each wireless standard. Most competitive laptops also support Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, but it’s good to see Asus didn’t skimp here. Asus ProArt P16: Performance The Asus ProArt P16 comes in a variety of configurations, but all the current 2025 models, including the one that I reviewed, have an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. That is paired with up to Nvidia RTX 5090 graphics, but the more affordable model I tested stuck to the RTX 5070. 32GB of LPDDR5X-7500 memory and a 2TB PCIe 4.0 solid state drive round out the specifications. Foundry / Matthew Smith We start with PCMark 10, a holistic system benchmark, where the Asus ProArt P16 scored 8,017. That’s an improvement over the 2024 model, which scored 7,608. However, the ProArt P16 is still towards the bottom half of this pack. It basically ties the Razer Blade 16, which scored 8,048, but ends up a few hundred points behind other 16-inch gaming and workstation laptops PCWorld has reviewed this year.   Foundry / Matthew Smith Next up is Cinebench 2024 where, perhaps unsurprisingly, the new Asus ProArt P16 doesn’t outperform last year’s model. That’s unsurprising because they both have the same AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor inside. As the graph makes clear, Intel’s Core Ultra 9 is undoubtedly a better performer in heavily multithreaded tasks. All of the Intel powered laptops leave the AMD alternatives in the dust. Foundry / Matthew Smith It’s the same story in Handbrake. The laptops with AMD Ryzen AI 9 chips are slower than the Intel alternatives. Still, the new Asus ProArt P16 can at least keep up with latest Razer Blade 16 in this test, which is good to see. Foundry / Matthew Smith CPU performance doesn’t seem to be the Asus ProArt P16’s forte, so what about the GPU? Well, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the Asus ProArt P16 with RTX 5070 sees a healthy boost over last year’s model with the RTX 4070. The 3DMark Time Spy and Port Royale scores increase by roughly 20 percent. However, the Asus ProArt P16 is still towards the lower end of the performance that can be expected from an Nvidia RTX 5070 mobile GPU. The ProArt P16 is a relatively slim and light laptop for a Windows machine with discrete graphics and that seems to throttle its performance. Foundry / Matthew Smith Next up is Shadow of the Tomb Raider, an older title that most modern laptop GPUs can handle without much trouble. The RTX 5070 in the Asus ProArt P16 is no exception with an average of 140 frames per second. However, it’s not any quicker than last year’s model, and a bit behind other RTX 5070 laptops we’ve recently reviewed. The CPU may be a factor here: both the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S and Alienware 16X have the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX. Foundry / Matthew Smith Metro Exodus is a more demanding title when played at the Extreme preset. The Acer ProArt P16 averages 53 frames per second here, a slight increase from the prior year’s model, and more competitive compared to other RTX 5070 laptops. Foundry / Matthew Smith We finish things off with Cyberpunk 2077, which speaks favorably of the Asus ProArt P16. The 2025 model with the RTX 5070 sees a major improvement over the 2024 model with RTX 4070. The average frame rate is boosted from 74 to 94 when playing at 1080p with the Ultra preset and no ray tracing in use. The Overdrive ray traced preset is still more than Asus ProArt P16 can handle, which is to be expected. None of the RTX 5070 laptops do well in that extremely demanding workload. Keep in mind, though, that Overdrive is a real system-killer, and we are not using DLSS or FSR in our testing. Sticking to a lower ray traced preset and engaging DLSS will result in a perfectly playable experience. It’s a laptop that can easily hit 60 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra detail settings, but also lasts up to 10 hours on a charge—and there aren’t many Windows laptops that manage that in 2025. Overall, the Asus ProArt P16’s performance is decent but not exceptional. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 remains behind the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX in mutlithreaded CPU benchmarks. The P16’s graphics performance is also healthy but in some situations lags behind thicker, beefier machines with the same GPU. That’s not too surprising, as a thicker chassis often allows space for improved cooling. Asus ProArt P16: Battery life and portability The Asus ProArt P16 is portable for a 16-inch laptop. It measures a tad under seven-tenths of an inch thick and weighs a few ounces over four pounds. It’s compact for its display size, too, so it should fit in most backpacks designed for a 15-inch laptop. You can find more portable laptops, like those in the LG Gram series, but the ProArt P16 weighs less than a Razer Blade 16 or MacBook Pro 16.  A 90 watt-hour battery powers the laptop, which is a typical size for a laptop with discrete graphics. The laptop tries to make the most of the battery with a switchable graphics solution that can turn off the Nvidia GPU when its performance isn’t required. Foundry / Matthew Smith That works to the Asus ProArt P16’s favor. The laptop managed to reach 10 hours and 42 minutes in our standard battery test, which loops a 4K file of the short film Tears of Steel. This is a light-load test, but my subjective experience showed the laptop’s real-world battery life is often close to that number. I saw eight to nine hours of battery life in a mix of web browsing, document editing, and photo editing. These results aren’t going to beat Apple’s MacBook Pro 16, of course, but they’re good for a Windows laptop with discrete graphics and a capable CPU. The ProArt P16 compares well to other laptops that provide similar performance.  AMD also deserves credit here. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 doesn’t hold a candle to the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX in multi-core CPU workloads, but it’s more miserly about power consumption. The Intel-powered alternatives posted far less impressive battery life results. When it comes time to recharge, you’ll need to connect the beefy 200-watt power adapter over a proprietary power connection. USB-C charging is possible, but the charging speed will be reduced, and USB-C won’t supply enough power to charge the laptop while you’re using it for a demanding task (like gaming or heavy video editing). Asus ProArt P16: Conclusion The Asus ProArt P16 is a laptop that delivers what it was designed to deliver. It’s expected to provide the performance required for more demanding workloads, from 4K video editing to modern PC games. Yet it must also be portable enough for travel. Balancing these competing priorities means the ProArt P16 must give up performance when compared to bulkier alternatives. But it also means the ProArt P16 provides a better balance of portability and performance. It’s a laptop that can easily hit 60 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 at Ultra detail settings, but also lasts up to 10 hours on a charge—and there aren’t many Windows laptops that manage that in 2025. Read...

Versa has launched automated integration of its Secure SD-WAN with Microsoft Entra Internet Access, simplifying secure networking for branch offices and enhancing SASE solutions. Read...

Power is still out in Eketahuna and internet and cell phone reception is patchy. Read...

OpenAI recently launched ChatGPT Atlas, which is “a new web browser built with ChatGPT at its core.” It’s based on Chromium—which is true of pretty much all browsers these days except Firefox and Safari—and its unique selling point is that it integrates ChatGPT right into the browser, allowing users to chat with their search results and use a side panel that automatically provides ChatGPT with on-screen context. ChatGPT Atlas also has access to your browsing history, allowing the AI assistant to customize its responses based on your activity. For paid ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Business users, Atlas also has an “agent mode” where the AI can perform simple web-based tasks on your behalf. ChatGPT Atlas is currently only available for macOS, but support for Windows, iOS, and Android is on the way. The browser will be available to all free users at launch with some paywalled features. Furthermore, head of ChatGPT Atlas team Adam Fry posted on social media a list of “post-launch fixes” that will be addressed “over the coming weeks,” including multiprofile support, tab groups, opt-in ad blocker, and various user experience improvements. Read...

I always thought the idea of a 5G laptop was little more than a gimmick. Public Wi-Fi is everywhere these days, plus you can always tether your laptop to your phone’s 5G hotspot in a pinch. That’s enough, right? But after doing a hands-on review of an HP laptop with built-in 5G—the HP EliteBook 6 G1q, if you’re curious what it was—I have to confess that I was wrong. 5G laptops are actually amazing! Here’s a quick explainer on HP Go and 5G laptops, plus what made me change my mind on 5G laptops and why I hope to see manufacturers start putting out a wide range of 5G models soon. What is HP Go? There are some things you need to know about 5G laptops before getting one, such as the fact they’re still pretty hard to find. Whereas tablets with cellular connectivity are common, you have to go out of your way to hunt down a laptop with 5G hardware—and even if you do find the right machine, not all 5G plans support laptops. 5G laptop plans are expensive, and they’re often just sold to businesses. Microsoft Surface Laptop 5GMicrosoft Such is the case for HP Go, which is a 5G service plan provided by HP for businesses, and it’s built right into their 5G laptops. Under the hood, HP’s 5G laptops have multiple eSIMs that can connect to AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon networks. The laptops automatically choose the strongest network without any input needed from you. Conceptually, this reminds me of Google’s original plan for Google Fi—a multi-network cellular plan that automatically switches between networks. The first version of HP Go is designed strictly for businesses, but I asked HP about a consumer version and one representative hinted they were also thinking about 5G laptops for consumers. What makes a 5G laptop so amazing? A 5G laptop transforms how you use your laptop on the go. That’s easy to say, but it actually feels unreal in the real world. I went to downtown Boston, sat on a park bench, and pulled the laptop out of my bag. As soon as I opened it, I had an active internet connection. I later drove to the beach, got out of the car, and opened the laptop. Right away, the 5G was ready to go. Chris Hoffman / Foundry It’s the speed and convenience that wowed me. You can pull out your laptop, check your email and shoot a reply, then close it in under a minute. (It beats typing the email on your phone!) You don’t have to hunt down public Wi-Fi and click through a portal while wondering if you should be using a VPN for public Wi-Fi security. You don’t have to pull out your phone, tether it to your laptop, and drain your phone’s battery to power your laptop’s internet. 5G on a laptop just works. No need for Wi-Fi or Ethernet When I was setting up the HP EliteBook 6 G1q, I took it out of the box, turned it on, signed into my Microsoft account, and configured Windows per usual… except I never connected it to Wi-Fi. In fact, I didn’t even have to set up the 5G connection! The laptop came pre-configured with a cellular profile (a feature HP offers to businesses as part of HP Go). Chris Hoffman / Foundry The experience of setting up a Windows laptop and being able to jump right into using it without connecting to Wi-Fi is surreal. The 5G laptop experience feels like magic. More than that, an always-on cellular data connection provides better anti-theft capabilities for a laptop as well as remote manageability. Like a 5G phone or tablet, you can remotely track a 5G laptop even when it isn’t connected to Wi-Fi. 5G laptops can compete with tablets I remember being at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, which was branded “the year of 5G.” Now, over five years later, it’s still difficult to get your hands on a laptop with 5G. Want a portable device with a keyboard that has 5G? You’re nudged towards an iPad or Android tablet instead. But I want a PC, not an iPad or Android tablet. For real, 5G is a feature that PCs desperately need to steal from tablets—all popular laptop models should offer the option to pay a little extra for 5G. Chris Hoffman / Foundry If PC manufacturers want to compete with iPads in a world where Apple is increasingly offering more desktop-style features on iPadOS, then they need to get serious about 5G laptop models. I want my portable productivity machine to run Windows. How many people have switched to using a 5G iPad as a “laptop” just for the connectivity alone? Cellular laptops are awesome, period I’ve previously argued against 5G laptops, and some of those arguments still hold water: you only have a few hardware options; 5G cellular plans are expensive; you can make do with a dedicated 5G hotspot device. Those are still reasons to avoid buying a 5G laptop right now. But those problems could be fixed by the industry at large, and this HP laptop powered by HP Go hints at such a future. A 5G laptop will never need to drain your phone’s battery via mobile hotspot.Chris Hoffman / Foundry Later on, when 5G laptops are easily accessible and cellular plans are reasonably priced, I’m sure most people would prefer 5G laptops. The idea of having a cellular connection everywhere is a killer business feature, so it’s no surprise that HP is mainly marketing this to businesses to start—but many consumers and individual knowledge workers (like me) would also love this in our day-to-day portable laptops. That day is still a few years away at least, so maybe don’t rush out to buy a 5G laptop just yet. But definitely keep the tech on your radar. I want to see more 5G-powered laptops from other manufacturers soon, and I look forward to the day when opening a laptop is just like taking out a phone. The only question is, which manufacturer is going to take this seriously and be the first to offer 5G laptops to consumers? Read...

Transferring data from your PC to your phone in 2025 is easier than ever—and that’s great because we’re all dealing with (and moving around) more data across more devices than ever before. Software and hardware developers know this, which is why there are so many different methods for moving data between larger and smaller devices, from cloud storage and backup apps to nearby sharing opportunities to tried-and-true USB cables. But what are the easiest, fastest, and most convenient ways to move files between PC and phone? I’ll take you through them. Device-to-device USB cable Still my favorite way to transfer data I know this one makes me a bit of a dinosaur—you might even see it as one of my many PC sins as a tech expert—and it’s certainly not as convenient as some of the other file transfer methods I’m about to show you below, but it still has a lot of advantages. A USB cable is still one of the fastest way to transfer masses of data between two devices. While the latest smartphones don’t have cutting-edge USB4 support yet, many still have at least USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) or Gen 1 (5 Gbps), which is still a lot faster than Bluetooth and most home Wi-Fi connections. And unlike wireless transfers, USB doesn’t have the same risk of failing mid-transfer (unless it gets accidentally unplugged), and that’s important for exceptionally large transfers. Maxence Pira / Unsplash Better yet, USB doesn’t need any setup. If you have a phone and a desktop PC or a laptop and want to get data from one of those to the other, just connect them with a USB cable and you can do it. You don’t need to sign up for any accounts, download any apps, or whatever else. It’s plug-and-play in the literal sense. The downside here is that the devices need to be within physical proximity, and you need a fast USB cable with each end matching either port on either device. Fortunately, fast USB-C and USB-A cables (and USB-C-to-USB-A cables) are easy to get and pretty cheap these days. microSD card swap The best way to transfer lots of data untethered If your phone has a microSD card for expanded storage, you can always take that out and plug it directly into your PC or laptop. Then, you can transfer the files off the card, then plug the card right back into your phone when you’re done. (Don’t have a microSD card slot in your laptop or PC? Get something like this microSD USB-C adapter!) Anker 2-in-1 SD and microSD card adapterAnker This method is relatively fast, especially if you have one of the newer microSD card standards with a fast adapter. It’s not quite as easy as a wireless pairing, of course, but it does let you keep using your phone while the transfer is in progress—and that can be useful if you’re waiting on a huge data transfer to complete. Cloud storage sync The easiest way to move files between remote devices Whether you’re an Android or iPhone user, uploading your files and folders to the cloud makes them readily accessible across all your synced devices. Some of our favorite cloud storage services include Google Drive and iCloud, but there are many others to choose from. Nopparat Khokthong / Shutterstock.com I’m personally a fan of iDrive, which supports multiple devices and PCs on a single account, with compatible apps for Windows and various smart devices. It’s relatively affordable, and it even has a 10GB free plan (which may be all you need for smaller file transfers to and from your phone). The greatest advantage of using cloud storage synchronization to move files between devices is that it works no matter where the devices are, as long as they’re all connected to the internet. You also keep a copy of the data on each device, which is a nice hedge against data loss. If you do this, check out our tips on maximizing your cloud storage. Quick Share on Windows The simplest way to wirelessly move files PC to phone Quick Share is a handy little app that lets you send files and folders from your PC to your phone (and vice versa) in the same way you “share” content from phone to phone on messaging apps. It takes a little setting up and it isn’t as fast as other ways of moving files around, but if you have multiple devices, it’s arguably the most straightforward. After installing the Quick Share app on Windows (if you have a Samsung PC, you’ll need this version of Quick Share instead), you just have to sign in with your Google account and add your compatible devices. As soon as you do that, you can start sharing with devices that are nearby. Jon Martindale / Foundry To share from your PC, open the app, select the file or folder you want to share, then select the device to send it to. To go the other way, find the file or folder on your phone, select Share, and then Quick Share, followed by your PC of choice. Quick Share uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct for transfers, so expect speeds to be underwhelming compared to the alternatives. Still, I’ve found it useful when I have multiple PCs and/or phones I want to send data to and from, because I can do it all from within a single app. Phone Link on Windows Slower and less reliable, but great when it works The Phone Link app for Windows is mainly for syncing your phone to your PC, allowing you to do things like see and respond to your phone notifications on your PC, use your phone as a webcam, lock your PC with your phone, and mirror your phone screen on your PC. But Phone Link also works well for sending data back and forth. Jon Martindale / Foundry You’ll need to install the Phone Link app on your PC as well as on your phone (Android or iPhone), then jump through some hoops to get your phone and PC connected. After you’ve done that, sharing between the two devices is pretty straightforward. To share files directly, just right-click on the file you want to send in Windows, select Share with, then select your phone from the list of recipient devices. It’s one of the best tips that’ll make you a Windows 11 master. Although I’d love to recommend Phone Link more because it’s so useful on paper, I find it rather buggy in practice. My phone sometimes fails to connect to my PC despite being on the same network, and it’s frustrating enough that I’d rather rely on something else. Still, if it works well for you, it’s a wonderfully convenient wireless option. Email or messaging apps Works in a pinch If you can’t use any of the above methods, or if you just need to transfer some files right now without setting anything up or scrambling for cables, then email is your best bet—as long as the file isn’t too big. Compose a new email to yourself, attach the file, then save as draft. Open the draft on the receiving device and download the attachment. Done! Justin Morgan / Unsplash This works with messaging apps, too. Log in to WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal—your preferred messaging app of choice—whether via web app or local app, then send the file as an attachment in a message to yourself. (Most messaging apps let you message yourself like this.) Access the app on the recipient device and download the attachment there. USB is still the best, if you ask me There are so many ways to get files from your PC to your phone and back again, but most of them require some setup, are limited by Wi-Fi network speeds and uptime, and are prone to interruption. That’s why I’m still partial to plugging in a USB cable and calling it a day. It’s fast, it works even when my internet is down, and it’s universally compatible with every device I own. I don’t need to download any apps or remember login codes. Just plug and send. (And if I don’t have the right USB cable for a device, adapters and hubs are cheap.) Don’t agree? That’s okay! I’ve shown you several other methods you can use, so find the one that works best for you and start effortlessly moving your files around between devices like a pro. Further reading: Ways to add laptop storage without a new SSD Read...

Eight hundred bucks for a laptop with an older processor isn’t a great deal, but chop that price almost in half and it gets a lot more appealing. Today, Best Buy is offering a 15-inch HP laptop with 16GB of memory for just $449.99—a nice $350 off its retail price. The HP 15-FC0307DX is definitely on the lower end of specs, especially since the AMD Ryzen 7 5825U processor and DDR4 RAM are a little long in the tooth. But that older processor is still packing 8 cores and a surprisingly capable integrated graphics setup, and 16GB of RAM is nothing to sneeze at, especially paired with 1TB of SSD storage. That should be more than enough to handle all your Windows 11 basics and plenty of web browsing, plus some light gaming on the side. This laptop is also bigger than a lot of the ones in this price range, with a 15.6-inch 1080p screen and a full number pad on the keyboard. It doesn’t have a touchscreen and there’s no mention of an IR webcam for Windows Hello, but it includes USB-C, double USB-A, and a full-sized HDMI port. The triple-cell battery is rated for 11.25 hours according to the specs… so I’d guess it’s closer to 6 or 7 hours for standard use. A year ago I probably would have skipped this deal, but affordable laptops that have enough hardware to run Windows 11 without problems are getting harder to find. Grab this laptop for $449.99 from Best Buy if you’re interested, otherwise maybe check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops on the market. Get this 15-inch laptop with 16GB of RAM for just $450 (44% off)Buy now from Best Buy Read...

Anthropic recently launched Claude Code for the web and as an iOS preview, making it easier for developers to use the AI coding assistant without the need for a terminal or command line. Users can connect Claude to their GitHub projects and ask the AI agent to perform coding tasks, follow the work in real time, and provide new instructions during the coding process. Claude Code can handle multiple tasks simultaneously, and each session runs in an isolated sandbox environment with limited network and file system access to protect code and login credentials. Claude Code is offered to subscribers of Anthropic’s Pro plan, which costs $20/month (or $17/month if paid annually), and the Max plan, which costs $100+ per month depending on usage. Read...

Hey Microsoft, you should apply a little dating advice when trying to win over your users: desperation is never attractive. The company has employed Windows’ built-in Edge browser as a marketing tool many times before, often in trying to convince people not to use Chrome. Now it’s pulling some similar moves, begging people to use Microsoft’s Copilot “AI” system rather than ChatGPT or Perplexity. If you happen to be reading this in Edge right now (hey, it’s not impossible), then try heading over to ChatGPT.com, Perplexity.ai, or DeepSeek.com. You might see a little flashing banner in the URL bar inviting you to “Try Copilot.” That’s according to Windows Latest, which also says that you’ll be seeing Copilot ads in Bing Search if you look for competing products. I’m not able to replicate the results on my own desktop (where I have Copilot turned off) or laptop, and neither are other PCWorld team members. But considering how much Microsoft has plastered Copilot over every possible surface for the last year, I’m not in any doubt that it’s an active campaign for at least some users. There’s a bit of irony in the prompt, since many Copilot functions use ChatGPT itself—Microsoft and OpenAI are close partners, as ChatGPT and other systems tap into Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. But Microsoft would surely prefer that you use its own branded and integrated interface rather than the LLM/chatbot that’s become phenomenally popular with web spammers, cheating students, and lawyers charging hundreds of dollars an hour to create fake case references. (And I guess some other people use ChatGPT, too.) Apparently that big push for Windows 11 isn’t occupying all of the marketing team’s time just yet. But I suppose it’s only fair, since going to Perplexity’s site opened up an ad for that company’s Comet browser. Read...