Isn’t it just a beautiful day when you’re all set to blast your favorite playlist, but instead of beats, your speakers just start producing crackling noises? Now, you’re not exactly looking for a free fireworks audio experience, so what’s happening? 1Faulty Speaker Hardware Your speakers have seen better days. They’ve belted out your highs and consoled you in your lows. Over time, components like the speaker cone or the diaphragm might suffer from good old wear and tear....

Quick Links As TVs have become thinner, so has the quality of their sound become thinner and less pleasant. Though some TVs do have acceptable sound, chances are you’re probably not entirely happy. So, what can be done? 1Add a Compact Sound Bar Sound bars were essentially invented because of how terrible flat panel TV audio is on average. These devices try to give you good sound for watching movies or listening to music, without taking up much space....

Quick Links Windows has come a long way, and Microsoft has phased out many tools we once couldn’t do without. Many of them have been removed, but some are still around. You might even find them useful. 6Character Map: Type Special Characters Sometimes, you might need to type a special character that’s not on your keyboard. For instance, it could be accented letters like é or ü, math and scientific notation for equations or formulas, or currency symbols like €, £, and ¥....

The Steam Deck is a versatile piece of machinery, bridging the gap between PC and console gaming in ways I never imagined before its arrival. The handheld regularly pulls above its weight in running modern games, but it’s starting to show its age. Valve has yet to officially announce a successor, but plenty of must-have features would put the Steam Deck 2 on par with current-gen consoles. Some of these features would be obvious iterative improvements, but there are plenty of tricks Valve could learn from the major console manufacturers to push handheld gaming to new heights....

Quick Links The cost of a like-for-like Disney+ subscription has doubled since the service launched, and it’s not going to get any cheaper. That’s why you must use these tips to get more bang for your buck from Disney+. 1Binge for a Month Conversely, if you know you will watch Disney+ consistently every month, consider signing up for an annual plan to get 12 months for the price of 10. Or, if you also use ESPN+ and/or Hulu, get one of the bundles that packages them together and save money that way....

From October 2025, regular editions of Windows 10 will no longer receive security updates, but you might not be able to upgrade your computer to Windows 11 due to its strict hardware requirements. That doesn’t mean you should throw that PC out yet! There are plenty of great ways you can repurpose your computer. 1. Install Linux Instead Linux has many distros that are more than capable of replacing Windows for the vast majority of users....

Summary A smart doorbell could run you anywhere from $50 to a few hundred dollars. This is far more expensive than a conventional doorbell, but you also get a lot more for your money. Convenience and Safety in One There’s an argument to be made for paying for a product or service that makes your life easier. This is largely a subjective measurement. Not everyone will find a smart doorbell to be transformative, but for many, the convenience of a smart doorbell is immediately apparent....

Quick Links The evolution of modern technology has been great at offering new ways to simplify daily life and make mundane tasks more exciting. Once such act involves your teeth. Enter the smart electric toothbrush, an innovation with the potential to transform how you approach your oral health and hygiene. But how do you improve upon something as simple as brushing your teeth? It seems the standard toothbrushdoes the job fairly welland has been since its inception in the 15th century....

Quick Links There isn’t a dedicated Mac app for Microsoft’s Copilot AI companion. Fortunately, if you want to use it on your Mac, you’ve got two good options to choose from. Let’s take a look at them. Use the Copilot Web App Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant is available on the web in any web browser. you’re able to simply load it up in whatever browser you use and access it from there....

Summary When reinstalling Windows 11, you might worry about what will happen to your files, apps, and settings. Luckily, there’s a way to reinstall Windows without losing your personal data. We’re going to show you how to perform an in-place upgrade. What Is an In-Place Upgrade? An in-place upgrade is a way to reinstall and upgrade your Windows installation to the latest version without deleting any of your personal files, apps, and settings....

Summary With the popularity of laptops, the theft of laptops is probably at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts. However, just because laptops are a juicy target doesn’t mean your desktop computer is safe. Apart from the obvious stuff, like locking your door, andlocking your computerwhen you’re away, there are a few things you can do to make someone walking off with your desktop PC less likely, or at least prevent them from breaching your data if they do get away with it....

Summary The Steam Deck is the perfect handheld gaming companion for any PC gamer who wants to take their library on the go, but it’s not just a one-trick pony for personal play. With the right accessories and some carefully chosen games, your Steam Deck can be the ultimate portable party machine. Here’s how to turn Valve’s handheld into the life of the party. Buy a Dock for TV Play The Steam Deck is equipped with a single USB-C port on the top of the unit....

Quick Links Looking for a way to tidy up your spreadsheet and reduce its size without having to use dynamic range formulas like OFFSET, INDEX, or TOCOL? TRIMRANGE detects the cells your data occupies and automatically expands and contracts with it. The Trim Ref operator is a simpler shorthand version of the TRIMRANGE function, and I’ll cover this later in the article. where If you omit argumentsband/orc, Excel will default to trimming both the leading and trailing rows and/or columns....