Chromebooks have come a long way and are now giving Windows PCs and Macs a real run for their money in price, features, and performance. Whether you’re shopping for a work device, school companion, photo editor, or even a lightweight gaming setup, there’s a Chromebook ready to do the job. ASUS Chromebook CM14 What to Look for in a Chromebook A Chromebook is a laptop or tablet that runs Google’s ChromeOS....
Summary Personally, I love the Fairphone range. It goes against everything that’s “normal” in the smartphone ecosystem to put together a repairable, long-lasting phone. Now, an iFixit teardown reveals that the new Fairphone 6 is, indeed, every bit as repairable as you’d expect it to be. iFixit has just uploaded its teardown of the Fairphone 6, giving us a good look at how it’s put together from the inside. And it’s not exactly surprising to see that not only it’s not a regression from its predecessors, but does almost everything right as far as repairability goes....
Smart home ecosystems such as Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Home have become incredibly popular, as they allow you to control devices from multiple brands from a single app. You don’t need to pay to use one of these smart home ecosystems to control your smart home, but they come with some significant hidden costs. 6Smart Home Hubs A smart home hub isn’t essential for controlling smart home devices using a closed smart home ecosystem....
Summary Everything seems to have an “Ultra” version these days, and that includes Apple CarPlay.In 2022, the company said the next generation of CarPlay would be launching in 2024—that didn’t happen. Regardless, CarPlay Ultra is here now. The obvious first question is, what makes this “Ultra?” It’s all about taking CarPlay beyond just a single central touchscreen. This isn’t just an extended version of your iPhone’s screen. It’s integrating deeply with the car’s systems....
There are few cars that consistently rank in the top spots of reliability lists. However, it’s almost guaranteed to be a Japanesecar. Lexus is one manufacturer that seems to get it right every time. Between official rankings and real owner satisfaction surveys, this brand has a strong history of building reliable cars. Now, these used Lexus models are luxury car bargains that require little maintenance. Lexus Another benefit of scoring highly in every category is that they stay desirable, meaningJapanese luxury vehiclesoffer great resale value....
Acer Nitro V ANV15 The Acer Nitro V gaming laptop offers a budget-friendly 15.6" 144Hz display powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS processor and RTX 4050 graphics. While not high-end, it is pretty good and can handle modern games at 1080p with lower settings. Upgradable RAM and storage, plus a cool design, make it a decent option for students or casual gamers. Best Buy has a great deal on the Acer Nitro V gaming laptop, giving you a rare chance to get a dedicated graphics machine for under $300 less than it normally goes for....
Quick Links Setting a wallpaper is one of the first things we do on our new phones–it makes a device feel like home. For around a decade, I’ve been using the same app to make my phone background feel like my own. Wallpapers Clash With Your Icons, Muzei Fixes That Phones generally come with backgrounds that harmonize with the icons on your dock or in the app drawer. These images are carefully curated so that you can easily make out app icons....
The holiday season is almost upon us, which means that the holiday shopping rush is nigh as well. Some stores and companies have begun offering early Black Friday sales, so there are plenty of discounts on electronics, accessories, and other tech products already available. For instance, this week you’ll be able to buy a Blink video doorbell and indoor camera bundle for its best price of the month, grab an expansive SSD from Samsung for its lowest price tag ever, snag the Amazon Fire TV Cube for the best possible price, and much more....
Did you know that a lot of the beautiful, custom-engraved products you see in the store can be made in your own home? The swell of consumer interest in personalized goods has caused a boom in the at-home creative market. Digital crafting tools and personal fabrication machines have grown in popularity, evolving to become more user-friendly so that hobbyists of all ages and skill levels can experiment and express their creativity....
A recent Digital Foundry podcast addressed a long-running debate over the Unreal Engine. There is an argument over whether Unreal Engine ini mods actually improve game performance, especially the stuttering problems in theOblivion Remasterededition. The team carefully tested two popular mods and has ended this debate, at least forOblivion. These widely used mods deliver almost no real performance benefits. One of the mods tested was the “OblivionBSA Uncompressor.” This is meant to reduce stuttering by decompressing game files ahead of time instead of during gameplay....
Summary I recently tried to do some basic chores on my Meta Quest while watching football, and soon learned that just about everything I tried was either not possible, or only possible for someone used to operating half-blind. That has to change! Passthrough Should Be Good Enough for Everything Because I use VR regularly, I can accept that utilizing passthrough mode means the battery will be consumed much quicker than in regular VR....
Quick Links If you’ve ever thought about whether popping a modern SIM card into your old phone would connect it to 5G, I’m here to break the bad news: it’s not going to happen. But why? There’s a lot more to 5G than just faster speeds and a fancy name. It’s a bit like dropping a Blu-ray disc into a DVD-only player and expecting crisp, high-definition video. It’s an extreme example for sure, but it really all comes down to older phones not having the right antennas, radio hardware, or software to use 5G technology....
Quick Links TV static, that snowy hiss of white noise, was a fixture of the 20th-century TV experience, but now it’s a thing of the past. Where did it go? Why Did Old TVs Have Static? Call it static, white noise, or snow—if you’re a reader of a certain age, you’re more than familiar with the hissing and constantly changing random chaotic noise you’d see when tuning your TV to unused channels....
