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| PC World - 27 Aug (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
ProsGreat gaming performanceA good valueDecent battery lifeConsDim displayKeyboard is on the mushy sideNo biometric login supportOur VerdictThe Acer Nitro 14 delivers great RTX 4060-powered gaming performance at a low retail price. This machine makes many compromises to keep the price down, but they’re all reasonable.
The Acer Nitro 14 is a gaming laptop that’s all about value. I have a soft spot for this type of laptop: Expensive gaming laptops are impressive, but you don’t have to spend a lot of money for a great gaming experience. There’s something beautiful about any laptop that delivers solid performance at a low price. But you’ll have to accept some compromises to keep the price down.
Further reading: Best gaming laptops 2024: What to look for and highest-rated models
Acer Nitro 14: Specs
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Acer Nitro 14 includes an eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS CPU. AMD launched the Ryzen 8000 CPUs back in December 2023. It’s not one of AMD’s latest Ryzen AI CPUs that are just rolling out, but it’s a solid CPU with reasonable gaming performance, as we’ll see in the benchmarks.
The Nitro 14 also includes an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB of LPDDR5X memory, and a 512 GB solid-state drive. It’s a reasonable package for gaming on a budget, but Acer doesn’t provide any configuration options: This is the one hardware configuration available.
Since that’s the case, it’s worth flagging that the 512 GB SSD may be a little on the small side in a world where some games are coming in at over 100 GB each. I prefer having some extra space to work with, as the uninstall-a-game-to-make-room shuffle can get annoying.
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS
Memory: 16 GB LPDDR5X
Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060
Display: 14.5-inch 1920×1200 IPS display with 120Hz refresh rate
Storage: 512 GB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD
Webcam: 720p webcam
Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (One USB4 Full Function, one USB 3.2 Gen 2), 2x USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 2), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x combo headphone jack, 1x microSD card slot, 1x DC power in, 1x Kensington lock slot
Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Biometrics: None
Battery capacity: 76 Watt-hours
Dimensions: 12.77 x 10.16 x 1.03 inches
Weight: 4.4 pounds
MSRP: $1,299 as tested
Acer Nitro 14: Design and build quality
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Acer Nitro 14 has a classic-looking design. This 14.5-inch laptop is all black – except for the silver Nitro logo on the lid and below the screen and the orange plastic fins on the back of the machine. It’s a little chunky, but not hugely so. At 4.4 pounds, it’s on the heavy side compared to some other 14-inch gaming laptop.
This laptop’s chassis is made entirely out of plastic. There are no metal components here, as there are on some more expensive laptops. That’s one of the ways Acer is keeping costs down.
You don’t need the fanciest, most expensive laptop to have a great gaming experience, and this machine proves it.
While plastic doesn’t feel as “premium” to the touch as metal, the build quality feels good and sturdy. There’s no weird flex to the laptop’s chassis. The hinge action is particularly solid and smooth, and it’s easy to open the laptop with a single hand.
The laptop’s cooling system also works well. Hot air is directed out both sides of the laptop, as well as the back. While gaming, the hot air spraying out the sides of the laptop wasn’t particularly intense, and it wasn’t annoying on my mouse hand — a problem that many other gaming laptops do have.
The Acer Nitro 14’s keyboard deck does get a little hot while running intensive games, but not unusually so. However, most of the heat stays in the middle of the keyboard. The WASD area stayed very reasonable to the touch.
Acer Nitro 14: Keyboard and trackpad
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Acer Nitro 14 includes a full-size keyboard with three zones of LED backlighting. Out of the box, the keyboard is configured to animate between different colors, and it looks great if you’re a fan of the rainbow LED gamer aesthetic. (Of course, you can configure the backlight however you like).
Like many other parts of this laptop, the keyboard feels fine. It’s not an unusually snappy keyboard, and you won’t rave about it to anyone. But the keys are responsive. While the action feels mushy, it doesn’t feel bad. It’s fine. It won’t slow you down when typing or gaming. You aren’t going to get the best key feel on a value-focused gaming laptop.
I’m a fan of the full-size arrow keys on the keyboard — no half-height arrow keys here, as you see on many modern laptops. There’s also a dedicated NitroSense key that launches the Acer NitroSense software, where you can change power profiles on the laptop. At the top-left corner of the keyboard, there’s a Turbo button that overclocks the hardware and turns the fans to maximum when you press it. (Also, there’s a Copilot key to open Microsoft’s AI chatbot).
The trackpad on this machine is a good size, and the palm rejection worked well while I was gaming. It’s reasonably smooth to glide your finger over it, but it is made of plastic — a good glass touchpad feels much nicer. I’m not a huge fan of the click-down feeling on the touchpad, which doesn’t feel as crisp and responsive as the ones on some more expensive machines. Like some other aspects of this machine, it’s usable — but not great.
Acer Nitro 14: Display and speakers
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Acer Nitro 14’s display isn’t the highest-resolution or brightest display you’ll find. At 14.5 inches with a 1920×1200 resolution, it’s well paired to provide good gaming performance with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. The 120Hz refresh rate and 3ms response rate are solid, the colors look good, and the display also uses Nvidia G-Sync to reduce tearing.
It’s a dim display, though. At just 300 nits of brightness, this is unusually dim. When I review a gaming laptop with display with 400 nits of brightness, I note those are on the dim side. This laptop has a display that’s 25 percent dimmer than the average dim screen.
Whether this matters depends on your taste and how you’ll be using the laptop. If there will be sunlight falling on the screen, you’ll definitely notice the low maximum brightness. But if you’ll be using the laptop indoors in a darker room, you may be fine with its brightness.
You’ll find laptops with higher resolution displays, OLED screens, 144Hz or faster refresh rates, and more brightness elsewhere. But they’ll often be more expensive.
The Acer Nitro 14’s display doesn’t look bad. It’s perfectly serviceable. But if you’re considering spending more money on a gaming laptop, you can get a laptop with a better display.
The integrated speakers are nothing to write home about. There’s a real lack of bass — laptop speakers in general lack bass, but these really do. They don’t get particularly loud, but they do get loud enough. They don’t have notably crisp audio or a wide soundstage. But they’re here, and they worked, and I happily gamed with them. At this price point, that’s fine — especially since most gamers will prefer plugging in a headset or external speakers, anyway.
Acer Nitro 14: Webcam, microphone, biometrics
The Acer Nitro 14’s webcam is a compromise. It’s a 720p webcam, so it looks noticeably grainy compared to the 1080p webcams that are becoming standard on many modern laptops. It works, but this isn’t the ideal machine for video conferencing — although you can always plug in a USB webcam, if you like. This machine does come with Windows Studio Effects, a package of AI effects with features like blurring your background and forcing eye contact, which is nice.
The three-microphone array also doesn’t sound particularly impressive, despite the AI-based “Acer Purified Voice” technology. It did a good job of picking up my voice, but it wasn’t with the highest sound quality. I recommend an external headset or USB microphone, especially for voice chatting while gaming — but that’s a good idea on any gaming laptop, anyway. Both the microphone and webcam are certainly usable in a pinch.
The Acer Nitro 14 also doesn’t include any biometric hardware. You won’t be able to sign in with your fingerprint or facial recognition. You’ll be entering a PIN or typing your password instead. It would be more convenient to have at least one biometric option for Windows Hello.
Acer Nitro 14: Connectivity
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Acer Nitro 14 features a decent selection of ports. On the left side, it provides a USB Type-C port (USB4 Full function), a USB Type-A port (USB 3.2 Gen 2), a combo audio jack, a DC power-in jack, and a Kensington lock slot.
On the right side, the Nitro includes a USB Type-C port (USB 3.2 Gen 2), a USB Type-A port (USB 3.2 Gen 2), an HDMI 2.1 port, and a microSD card slot.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
That’s a good selection of ports, complete with two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports, one of each on each side. Some budget gaming laptops would have cut a few of these ports to save some money. The only thing potentially missing is an Ethernet port for wired networking, but of course you could use a dongle for that.
For wireless networking, this laptop provides Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. The Wi-Fi worked well — and, while it would be nice to see Wi-Fi 7, this laptop is right at a cutoff point. The next generation of laptops look like they’ll have it as a standard feature. For the price, the lack of Wi-Fi 7 hardware is totally understandable. You probably won’t have a Wi-Fi 7 router yet, anyway.
Acer Nitro 14: Performance
The Acer Nitro 14 delivered solid gaming performance with its AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, and 16 GB of RAM. The cooling system did a good job, with the laptop’s keyboard staying a reasonable temperature – especially around the WASD keys.
As always, we ran the Acer Nitro 14 through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. While this benchmark is designed to measure performance holistically, the CPU’s performance is a huge factor.
With a PCMark 10 overall score of 7,961, the Acer Nitro 14 exceeded similarly spec’d laptops we compared it to on this benchmark, including the HP Omen Transcend 14 and Alienware m16 R2.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. It’s a quick benchmark, so cooling under extended workloads isn’t a factor. But, since it’s heavily multithreaded, CPUs with more cores have a huge advantage.
The Acer Nitro 14 achieved a score of 6,771 on the multithreaded Cinebench R20 benchmark. That’s a good score and exceeded most of the other PCs we compared it to here. The Alienware m16 R2, with its Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU, did beat it. That’s no surprise as that Intel CPU has 16 cores, while this AMD CPU has eight cores.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
We also run an encode with Handbrake. This is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period. This demands the laptop’s cooling kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load.
The Acer Nitro 14 finished the encode process in 863 seconds, or just under 14 and a half minutes. That was a better score than most other laptops we compared it to – though, again, the Alienware m16 R2 pulled ahead. (That machine is 50 percent more expensive than the Acer laptop here, though).
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run graphical benchmarks. First, we run 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance. With a score of 9,484, the Acer Nitro 14 again delivered excellent performance even compared to other RTX 4060-powered laptops. It was exceeded only by a laptop with a more expensive RTX 4070 GPU.
After that, we run the benchmarks built into a few games. First, we use the built-in benchmark in Shadow of the Tomb Raider to test all the gaming laptops we review. It’s an older game, but it’s a great way to compare graphical performance across different PCs.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
With an average of 118 frames per second in the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark, the Acer Nitro 14 again delivered excellent performance – especially for a laptop with RTX 4060 graphics.
Finally, we run the built-in benchmark in Metro Exodus. This is a more demanding game, and we set the benchmark to 1080p resolution at the Extreme detail setting.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Acer Nitro 14 delivered an excellent score of 37 frames per second in the benchmark. Again, that’s on the high end compared to other RTX 4060-powered laptops.
Overall, the Acer Nitro 14 delivers excellent performance in games – especially for the price. The CPU performs well, and this laptop gets a lot of performance from its RTX 4060. With a little extra thickness, this machine likely has the thermal room to push the hardware harder. Naturally, you will see better performance on laptops with higher-end GPUs like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 and 4080, but those will cost you extra.
Acer Nitro 14: Battery life
The Acer Nitro 14 includes a 76 Watt-hour battery. You can find gaming laptops with larger batteries, but they’ll add some weight — and cost.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
IDG / Chris Hoffman
To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat in the Movies & TV app on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled until the laptop suspends itself. We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks. This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient, and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this.
The Acer Nitro 14 lasted an average of 531 minutes in our standard battery life benchmark. That’s nearly nine hours. It’s more runtime than the other laptops we’re comparing it against: AMD CPUs tend to get better battery life than similar Intel CPUs, in my experience. Perhaps that will change with Intel’s Lunar Lake hardware.
Bear in mind that you’ll get substantially less than our benchmarked nine hours of battery life in the real world. You can use this laptop away from an outlet for a few hours, but you won’t get all-workday battery life.
It’s also worth noting that gaming laptops don’t deliver their serious gaming performance unless they’re plugged in, anyway. You’ll want to plug in any gaming laptop when playing anything but the lightest games.
Acer Nitro 14: Conclusion
The Acer Nitro 14 offers great performance for the price. It’s a solid deal compared to other 14-inch gaming laptops with RTX 4060 hardware, like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and HP Omen Transcend 14. The Acer Nitro 14 costs hundreds of dollars less than those machines.
I love seeing high-performing budget gaming laptops around the $1,000 mark. You don’t need the fanciest, most expensive laptop to have a great gaming experience, and this machine proves it.
You do have to make some compromises, and you’ll find features like OLED screens, all-metal construction, snappier keyboards, and higher-resolution webcams on more expensive machines. But if your main priorities are speedy gaming performance at a low price, this machine is a good value. Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | ITBrief - 27 Aug (ITBrief)At the Hot Chips 2024 conference, Intel unveiled groundbreaking advancements in edge computing, AI acceleration, photonics, and SoC technology. Read...Newslink ©2024 to ITBrief | |
| | | PC World - 27 Aug (PC World)Once upon a time, “reinstalling Windows” was an often recommended remedy for all sorts of computer problems. Windows 95 and XP were notorious for becoming less stable over time, with “crap in the machine” in the form of settings left in the Registry, traces of uninstalled programs that had not been properly removed, and other things that lurked. Indeed, many people chose to reinstall from time to time even if the computer showed no symptoms, as part of regular maintenance.
get windows 11 pro for cheap
Windows 11 Pro
Windows 10 and 11 are much better at keeping order and cleaning up automatically. Today, frequent reinstallations are not something we at PCWorld or any other experts recommend. But sometimes it can still be appropriate.
Maybe you want to make the move from Windows 10 to 11 and prefer to start over with a fresh system instead of upgrading. Maybe you have so much junk in your system that it will simply be easier to reinstall the OS and only install the programs you really need than to sit and remove everything you don’t need by hand. Whatever the reason, this is your guide to a safe and secure computer reset.
Before you start
Don’t start a reset without first making sure you know you can recover your computer, and more importantly your files, if something goes wrong.
Samsung
Samsung
Samsung
1. Back up
No matter how you go about reinstalling Windows, it’s a good idea to review your backups and make sure you don’t have any files on your computer that you don’t have at least one copy of elsewhere. See our roundups of the best backup software and best cloud backup services for recommendations.
If you have an external hard drive you can spare that is at least as big as your computer’s internal disc (C:), you can create a clone of it in addition to your regular backups. A clone backup means that you mirror all the contents of the internal disc to the external one, and if something goes wrong, you can restore the same way in the other direction to get your computer back to the way it was before, including all installed programs. Choose a backup program, such as our favorite one, R-Drive Image that will do this.
Foundry
Foundry
Foundry
2. Remember what you have installed today
It’s also a good idea to create an inventory of what programs you have installed on your computer, and any extensions and plugins to these. The most common example of the latter is browser plugins, and it is sufficient to take a picture or write down the list of installed extensions in the browser(s) you use.
For installed applications, you can use Settings or Control Panel to get a list of all installed applications. You can then use the same list after reinstalling to see which are included in Windows and which are missing. You can then find and install the missing programs you actually want to keep and ignore the rest.
3. Check your software licences
If you own any expensive software whose license only allows installation on a certain number of computers, it might be a good idea to deactivate the licence on your computer before you reset it. Otherwise, the old installation will continue to count as one of your authorized installations.
This was a bigger problem in the past. Today Adobe and others have features that can automatically move licenses to a new computer or system after reinstallation. But if you have a feeling that a program you’ve bought might get lost, it’s worth checking before you go any further.
4. Windows license key
Speaking of licenses, it’s also a good idea to check that you have the Windows license key to activate your computer after reinstallation. Depending on how you acquired the system and have activated it, this may work slightly differently.
Foundry
Foundry
Foundry
Open Settings > System > Activation and click on Activation Status. If it says that Windows has been activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account, you don’t need to do anything special. As long as you don’t make any hardware changes, the system should activate automatically when you log in to the same Microsoft account after the reinstallation.
It may also say that the system is activated with a digital license, but without mentioning anything about your Microsoft account. In this case, you should choose to add an account, otherwise Microsoft may not be able to find the digital license after reinstallation or if you make changes to the hardware. By linking the license to your account, you can activate the system using the activation troubleshooter.
However, if it says that the system has been activated with a license key, open Powershell/Terminal and type the following command:
wmic path softwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey
If a key is displayed, you can write it down. If no key is displayed, it is probably because Windows was included when you bought the computer and the key is embedded in the hardware. This means that the same version of Windows should be activated automatically after reinstallation.
5. Synchronize settings
Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft
If you use a Microsoft account, you can now synchronize many system settings, both between multiple computers and as a kind of settings backup when you reinstall your system. Go to Settings > Accounts > Windows Backup. Here you can activate two features:
Remember my apps: The system will offer to automatically install the so-called modern Windows apps you had installed via the Microsoft store. Does not apply to regular programs that are installed with a custom installer.
Remember my settings: This saves settings such as Wi-Fi, assistive technology, personalization, and language. In short, most things.
When you log in to your account after the reinstallation, the system will read the synced settings and set everything up again.
Zapping everything or just the system?
How total do you want your reboot to be? That question determines which type of reinstallation you should choose. There are two basic methods of reinstalling, and for each method there are a few different options that affect the outcome.
From Settings or through your computer’s recovery environment, you can reinstall Windows over the current installation, and either keep or delete files in the user folder. This will remove installed programs, except those that came with the computer.
Creating installation media on a USB stick gives you a few more options, including the ability to reinstall the system and keep both your files and any installed programs. The table below shows the different options.
Type of reinstallationOptions for reinstallationWhat happens to programmesFiles in your home folderFiles in other folders and on other discsIn settingsFixing problems with Windows UpdateAll programs and settings are preservedPreservedPreservedIn Settings or via the recovery environmentKeep my filesProgrammes that did not come with the computer are deletedPreservedPreservedIn Settings or via the recovery environmentDelete everythingDeletes programs that did not come with the computerDeletedDeletedWith installation mediaKeep everything (default)All programs and settings are preservedRetainPreservedWith installation mediaKeep personal dataAll programmes are deletedRetainedRetainedWith installation mediaDo not retain anythingAll programmes are deletedDeletedDeletedClean install with installation mediaReformats C: or all disks and partitions. All files and programs are deleted.
Caution: Warning! Keep in mind that if you choose to reformat the entire computer with installation media, disks other than C: will also be deleted.
Method 1: Via settings
The easiest way if the computer still boots is to restore Windows via Settings > System > Recovery. Here you have three options. If you think something is wrong with Windows itself but are not looking to clean up in other ways, you can start by trying Fixing problems with Windows Update. It will download and reinstall all system files without affecting installed programs, settings or your files.
If you want to start from scratch instead, select Reset this PC. You will then be given another choice, to keep or delete your own files. Whichever you choose, installed programs will disappear and all settings will be reset. This is a good choice if you want to remove all the old junk that has accumulated over the years, but still want to keep the files in your home folder. You can also access this feature from the Windows recovery environment.
Foundry
Foundry
Foundry
With all three options, the system takes care of the rest. The computer will reboot a few times during the process, just like with some system updates. Once that’s done, you’ll have to go through the Windows Welcome Wizard, sign in to your Microsoft account again, and so on.
Then you can just start installing programs you really need. You’ll also have to redo some system settings, but if you made sure to synchronize settings (see above), most of them will be restored.
Method 2: With installation media
These are actually two different methods, but they both start the same way: with a USB stick that turns into installation media.
You can create the installation media on any Windows computer, not necessarily the computer you are reinstalling the system on. You need a USB stick of at least 8GB, which will be reformatted (i.e. all files will be deleted), and the Media Creation Tool which you can download here.
When you run the program, you will have to choose the edition and language of Windows. After that, select the correct USB drive and click on it. The program will first download Windows and then create the installation media.
If the computer boots properly, you can start the reinstallation by running setup.exe on the USB stick via Explorer. The program will chew for a while. Then click past user agreements and other things until you get to a dialog where you can choose what you want to keep.
Select the Keep personal files and apps to upgrade in place.
The options Keep only personal files and Nothing work as via Reset this computer in Settings (see above).
Boot your computer from the USB stick
If you have a major problem and Windows doesn’t start up as usual, you can boot your computer from the installation media and reinstall the system from there. Unfortunately, the Windows installer is not very good at handling more than one hard drive or SSD in the computer, so if you have discs other than C: it is a good idea to physically disconnect them. This avoids potential errors and means you don’t risk deleting something you don’t want to delete. You can reconnect the discs once Windows is installed and the computer boots properly.
Boot your computer from the USB stick by plugging it in, starting your computer and pressing the button that opens the boot menu.
Foundry
Foundry
Foundry
Once it has booted, select the language and keyboard, click next, and then Install now and the installer will start. Fill in the product key or proceed without, and select the correct edition of Windows in the next step. Accept the user agreement and you will be presented with two options: Upgrade or Custom.
Upgrade works just like Keep personal files and apps and Fix problems with Windows Update above, and only works if Windows Update can install the system on top of the existing one. All files and installed applications will remain, but the reinstallation may not do any good.
Custom can either reinstall Windows and move all your old files to a new folder on C: called Windows.old, or reformat (delete) C: and install a completely new system without any other files on the disc.
To keep the old files, select the Windows partition from the list of available partitions and move on without doing anything more. To start from scratch, delete all partitions from your computer’s boot disc, where the current Windows resides. If you have more than one hard drive or SSD in your computer and haven’t unplugged them as I recommend above, you need to be careful here, as you can easily accidentally delete the other disks.
Look for a partition that is named something with Windows and is of type Primary. Note the drive number. My Windows partition is on Drive 1. Select each partition on that drive in turn and click Delete. When the whole drive is just Unallocated space you can select it and click Next. The installer will then format the drive appropriately and begin the installation of Windows.
Once everything is ready, just sign in to your Microsoft account and let the settings sync if you chose to. Then you can move your files back from the backup and install the programs you need. Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | ITBrief - 26 Aug (ITBrief)New Zealand businesses are rapidly embracing AI, with 67% now utilising the technology, up from 48% in 2023, according to Datacom’s latest research. Read...Newslink ©2024 to ITBrief | |
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| | | PC World - 24 Aug (PC World)If you’re heading off to college soon and still don’t have a reliable laptop to get you through your studies, here’s a great deal for you: Lenovo’s Yoga 7i 2-in-1 laptop is down to $680 at Best Buy, a significant discount of $370 off its original price.
This laptop has a gorgeous 16-inch display with a 1920×1200 resolution and IPS panel technology for color accuracy. The display is also touch-enabled, so you can swipe instead of using a mouse when you’re reading documents or navigating apps while on the go.
Under the hood, you’ll find an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor that delivers speedy performance, which is bolstered by 16GB of RAM. This machine can easily handle resource-intensive tasks and multitask as many apps and browser tabs as your heart desires.
Capping it off is a 1TB SSD, offering plenty of fast storage space for your files, apps, photos, videos, and whatever other data you have. The laptop is only 4.63 pounds and 0.75 inches thick, so it’s light and portable.
And don’t forget this is in Lenovo’s Yoga line of 2-in-1 laptops, also known as convertible laptops. You can hinge the screen and shift into tablet mode, or prop up the screen like a tent. It’s highly versatile and conforms to any circumstance — perfect for students.
You don’t want to miss this back-to-school bargain, so grab this Lenovo Yoga 7i for $680 at Best Buy while you still can.
The Lenovo Yoga 7i is perfect for students and 35% offBuy now at Best Buy Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | PC World - 24 Aug (PC World)Modern technology introduces new ways to enhance creativity. One such example is the introduction of AI video quality enhancer tools.
If, after creating a video, you feel its quality needs to be improved, an AI video enhancer like HitPaw Video Enhancer can help you get much better results.
Read on to learn more about HitPaw Video Enhancer and how to use this free AI video enhancer.
What is HitPaw Video Enhancer?
HitPaw Video Enhancer uses AI-powered technology to automatically perform all the video-enhancing operations you require. As well as enhancing video quality, HitPaw Video Enhancer can remove watermarks, eliminate backgrounds, and effortlessly repair videos.
Key AI features of HitPaw AI Video Enhancer
1. Upscale low-quality video to 4K/8K
If you have low-quality videos and would like to improve their quality, HitPaw Video Enhancer can help you increase the video resolution to 4K/8K. For example, with HitPaw Video Enhancer you could instantly increase the video resolution of HD or 720p videos that are just too small.
2. Perfectly enhance portrait videos
HitPaw Video Enhancer can optimize portrait videos with various AI-driven enhancements. It can adjust the video for more balanced lighting, refined details, and smoother skin tones.
3. 8 AI models available for any video
With the HitPaw video enhance AI tool, you can enjoy the presence of the eight high-profile AI models, including: the Animation model, face model, colorize model, general denoise, frame interpolation model, color enhancement model, low light enhancement model, and stabilization model.
4. Instantly repair corrupted video
If your video was corrupted by a virus or malware attack, HitPaw Video Enhancer could come in handy. Its Video Repair feature can eliminate all types of video corruption with minimal effort.
You simply import the video to HitPaw Video Enhancer’s timeline and choose the Video Repair icon. Your videos can quickly be repaired, without loss of quality.
HitPaw
HitPaw
HitPaw
5. AI background and watermark removal
If you’re not happy with the background in your video, HitPaw Video Enhancer can fix this with its AI background removal featurs. As well as removing or changing the background, HitPaw Video Enhancer can remove objects, watermarks, logos and more from the video.
HitPaw
HitPaw
HitPaw
HitPaw
HitPaw
HitPaw
6. Sky replacement in video
As well as changing video backgrounds, you can change the color of the sky in your videos. HitPaw Video Enhancer’s Sky replacement feature lets you choose from several colors for your sky background, and retains the original video quality when adjusting it.
HitPaw
HitPaw
HitPaw
How to use AI to enhance video quality with HitPaw Video Enhancer
HitPaw Video Enhancer’s effortless user interface means you really don’t have to do much to improve the quality of your videos. Follow our step-by-step guide below to start enhancing your videos using HitPaw Video Enhancer.
1.
Launch and upload
HitPaw
After installing HitPaw Video Enhancer from the official website, launch the program on your computer. Tap the Video Enhancer button, then upload the video you wish to enhance. HitPaw Video Enhancer also supports batch uploads.
2.
Select AI model
HitPaw
HitPaw Video Enhancer offers eight AI models that can enhance the quality of your video, so simply choose the most appropriate option:
Face Model: Repairs portrait videos by enhancing facial features.
General Denoise Model: Uses AI technology to reduce noise in videos, enhancing picture details and overall image quality. Suitable for various scenes, including landscapes, objects, and animals.
Animation Model: AI model specialized in restoring anime and cartoon videos to high-definition quality.
Colorize Model: Perfect for colorizing black-and-white videos.
Color Enhancement Model: Enhances colors to improve video appearance.
Frame Rate Enhancement Model: Intelligently converts low frame rate videos to high frame rate, making motion smoother and details clearer.
Stabilize Model: Automatically detects and corrects shaking in videos, providing more stable and clear output.
Low-Light Enhancement Model: Designed for night-shooting scenarios, it intelligently enhances brightness and contrast, restoring details in dark areas and making low-light videos brighter and clearer.
3.
Preview and export
HitPaw
After choosing the appropriate AI model, press the Preview button to review the settings. Finally, choose the Export icon to download the enhanced video to your computer.
Use cases of HitPaw Video Enhancer
1. Old video restoration
Have you ever dreamed of watching your old black-and-white family videos in vivid color? HitPaw Video Enhancer lets you add the much-needed colors. Filmmakers, home video enthusiasts and historians alike can use this feature to improve video quality.
2. Noise reduction
Is too much noise detracting from your beautiful night shots? If you’re concerned about noise in your videos, whether you’re a content creator, videographer, or filmmaker, you can rely on HitPaw Video Enhancer’s noise reduction feature to improve your footage.
3. Upscaling resolution
Are you a YouTuber struggling with low-quality video footage? Low-resolution videos won’t appeal to your subscribers, but HitPaw Video Enhancer can effortlessly increase the resolution of your videos, making it ideal for production companies, content creators, and video artists.
Final thoughts
Many AI video enhancer tools are available, but HitPaw Video Enhancer stands out for its ability to quickly enhance your video without reducing its quality. As well as Windows and Mac versions, you can use HitPaw Video Enhancer online.
FAQ
1.
How to enhance video quality online?
HitPaw has an online video enhancer, which offers five AI models: Face, General Denoise, Animation, Colorize and Color Enhancement.
2.
How much does HitPaw Video Enhancer cost?
The price starts at $42.99, with individual and business plans to suit your needs. Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | PC World - 23 Aug (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
ProsImmersive contrastVery wide, vivid color gamutAppealing motion clarity at 175HzConsGeneric look and feelColor accuracy is a tad behind competitorsDoesn’t stand out from QD-OLED alternativesOur VerdictThe Gigabyte MO34WQC is a generically great QD-OLED display. Unfortunately, opting for its dull design doesn’t save you any cash.
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Shoppers looking to buy a 34-inch ultrawide OLED monitor have no shortage of options this summer, and that means the details matter. Gigabyte’s MO34WQC has an OLED panel with image quality and motion clarity typical of the competition, but tries to stand out with additional USB-C and USB connectivity. While this does improve its appeal, your decision is likely to be based on its price.
Gigabyte MO34WQC specs and features
The Gigabyte MO34WQC has a Samsung QD-OLED panel with a resolution of 3440×1440 and a refresh rate of up to 175Hz. This is similar to most QD-OLED monitors on the market, but behind the latest panels, which can hit 240Hz or higher.
Gigabyte offers an alternative model, the MO34WQC2, which has a QD-OLED panel with a higher maximum refresh rate of 240Hz. It’s also more expensive with a typical retail price of $1,000. The two monitors are similar enough that Gigabyte issued the same user manual for both, but we haven’t tested the MO34WQC2 yet.
Display size: 34-inch ultrawide 21:9 aspect ratio
Native resolution: 3440×1440
Panel type: Anti-reflection QD-OLED
Refresh rate: Up to 175Hz
Adaptive sync: Adaptive Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro
Ports: 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 18 watts USB Power Delivery, 2x USB-A 3.2 downstream, 1x USB-B 3.2 upstream, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack, 1x 3.5mm microphone jack
VESA mount: 100x100mm
Speakers: Yes, 2x 3-watt speaker system
Price: $949.99 MSRP, $849.99 typical retail
Panel aside, the MO34WQC’s specifications have a few highlights. The monitor features two HDMI 2.1 ports, in addition to DisplayPort and a USB-C port with DisplayPort support, for a total of four video inputs. The USB-C port also provides power, though not enough to charge a PC laptop quickly. Built-in speakers are included as well, which isn’t true of all competitors.
Further reading: See our roundup of the best monitors to learn about competing products.
Gigabyte MO34WQC design
The Gigabyte MO34WQC is sold as a gaming monitor but it’s not part of Gigabyte’s Aorus gaming sub-brand, so it delivers a more basic, workmanlike design. The front of the panel boasts slim black bezels on three sides and a small plastic chin at the bottom, while the rear of the panel is coated in black plastic that feels sturdy but looks unremarkable. The MO34WQC strikes a much more generic profile than design leaders like the Alienware AW3423DWF or Samsung Odyssey G85SB.
Gigabyte ships the monitor with an ergonomic stand that adjusts for height, tilt, and swivel. The stand has a wide base that takes up a fair bit of room on a desk, but the base is flat and not too thick, so it’s possible to place items on the space it occupies. The stand also feels sturdy and proves easy to adjust with modest effort. A 100x100mm VESA mount is available for use with a third-party monitor arm, stand, or wall mount.
The monitor is curved with a radius of 1800R, meaning the display panel would need to continue for 1,800 millimeters (about 6 feet) to form a full circle. The curve is noticeable but doesn’t draw too much attention, and most 34-inch QD-OLED monitors have settled on 1800R as the preferred curve radius for this size of monitor.
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Gigabyte MO34WQC design connectivity and menus
Gigabyte provides a total of four video inputs for the MO34WQC: two HDMI 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 port, and a USB-C port, which also supports DisplayPort mode. While four video inputs are not unusual for a monitor in this price range, they do cover most use cases, and all available ports support the display’s maximum refresh rate.
The monitor also has two USB-A downstream ports, which can be driven either by the USB-C port or, if your PC lacks USB-C, through a USB-A to USB-B connection. Gigabyte includes a KVM switch function, allowing you to use the monitor as a KVM switch if you connect your wired keyboard and mouse to the monitor. The USB-C port has Power Delivery, but only up to 18 watts, which means it’s not a good choice for powering and charging a laptop with USB-C.
Gigabyte provides an intuitive and responsive joystick to control the on-screen menus. The menus themselves are large and well-organized but, despite their size, the font is still thin and a bit difficult to read. Gigabyte offers a good range of image quality options, including multiple color temperature, gamma presets, and six-axis color calibration — but that’s typical at this price point.
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Also typical is the monitor’s gaming features: It has a black equalizer to elevate the brightness of dark areas in games and some optional on-screen elements like a crosshair. There’s multiple aspect ratio modes, too, which emulate the size of a 24-inch or 22-inch display, as well as a 1:1 aspect ratio mode. Picture-by-picture and picture-in-picture modes are also available.
While the MO34WQC includes built-in speakers, they’re unremarkable. The maximum volume is adequate, and sound quality is clear in basic situations such as listening to podcasts. But games, movies, and other entertainment will quickly overwhelm them, resulting in muddy and unpleasant sound. External speakers or headphones are still recommended for most people.
Gigabyte MO34WQC SDR image quality
At this point, you might be sensing a theme: The Gigabyte MO34WQC is a good QD-OLED monitor, but not one that stands out from the crowd. This continues to be true when it comes to image quality. It’s a fantastic monitor for SDR content, but no more so than its QD-OLED peers.
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Matthew Smith / Foundry
The MO34WQC’s brightness is typical for an OLED monitor, with a maximum measured sustained SDR brightness of 245 nits. This is in line with other OLED monitors and is bright enough for use in a room with moderate light control. However, the monitor might appear dim or suffer from glare if used in a room with bright, sunlit windows. In that case, no OLED monitor is a great choice, and a brighter IPS-LED or Mini-LED display would be a better fit for your environment.
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Unsurprisingly, contrast is excellent, with an effectively infinite contrast ratio thanks to the monitor’s ability to achieve a perfect minimum luminance of zero nits. This is a defining characteristic of modern OLED display panels, so Gigabyte has no advantage here. Still, it contributes to the monitor’s overall image quality. An OLED display panel like the one on the MO34WQC achieves a level of depth and immersion LCD monitors can’t match.
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Color gamut is among the MO34WQC’s best traits but, once again, it’s similar to other monitors with a Samsung QD-OLED panel.
The Gigabyte achieves 100 percent of the sRGB gamut, 98 percent of DCI-P3, and 94 percent of Adobe RGB. That’s excellent coverage of each color gamut and close to the best available from any modern monitor. Photographers, videographers, digital artists, and other content will find the MO34WQC capable of displaying a dazzling range of color.
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Matthew Smith / Foundry
The Gigabyte MO34WQC’s color accuracy is good but technically a bit less accurate out of the box than some competitors, which might sway some shoppers towards alternatives.
Related to that, we noticed the monitor had a gamma result of 2.4, which is off the target of 2.2, and a default color temperature of 6100K, which is warmer than the target of 6500K. In general, content on the monitor looked darker and slightly warmer than it should have with the monitor at its default settings. However, calibration can help resolve the issue.
Resolution comes in at 3440×1440, which is standard for a 34-inch QD-OLED ultrawide monitor. Sharpness is good thanks to the monitor’s pixel density of about 110 pixels per inch (PPI), but QD-OLED has subpixel issues which can cause pixelation or off-color effects around high-contrast edges and small fonts. It’s rarely a problem in gaming, but the monitor’s sharpness might prove inadequate if you spend a lot of time staring at Excel spreadsheets with a 10-point font.
On balance, the Gigabyte MO34WQC’s SDR image quality is what we’ve come to expect from Samsung QD-OLED display panels in this size and resolution. The monitor benefits from an outstanding contrast ratio and an extremely wide color gamut, though its brightness is low for brighter rooms.
HDR performance is okay for most games but might not be sufficient if you plan to watch a lot of HDR movies and have a critical eye for image quality.
Gigabyte MO34WQC HDR image quality
The Gigabyte MO34WQC supports HDR and is VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certified. Most QD-OLED monitors have this level of certification, and while the QD-OLED panel provides some benefit in HDR content, it’s not the best available.
I measured a maximum HDR brightness of 402 nits in a 10 percent window, meaning 10 percent of the display’s total area was lit while the rest remained entirely black. This result is not particularly impressive, though it’s fairly typical for a Samsung QD-OLED panel. In contrast, LG’s newest WOLED panels, which are available in monitors like the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP, can achieve a much higher maximum HDR brightness; for instance, the Asus hit 731 nits in a 10 percent window.
In practice, the Gigabyte’s HDR performance is passable. HDR Highlights, like a flash of lightning or a star in the night sky, will appear reasonably bright and deliver decent luminance detail. However, there’s a noticeable reduction in luminance detail compared to an LG WOLED panel or a good Mini-LED monitor. When viewing the “Gargantua” scene from Interstellar, for example, I noticed less gradient and details to the swirling, super-heated gas surrounding the black hole. This level of HDR performance is okay for most games but might not be sufficient if you plan to watch a lot of HDR movies and have a critical eye for image quality.
Gigabyte MO34WQC motion performance
Motion clarity is a strength for the Gigabyte MO34WQC, as is true for other QD-OLED monitors. The Gigabyte offers a maximum refresh rate of 175Hz and a quoted pixel response time of 0.03 milliseconds. It also supports adaptive sync through AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, which helps improve motion fluidity.
Testing motion clarity with fast-paced games like League of Legends and DOTA 2 showed that most of the game elements were easy to view during motion. Details like character sprites and health bars remained reasonably visible, even when scrolling quickly. Yet some small details, like character names, were at times difficult to make out, especially when the text’s color didn’t contrast well with the background. This is similar to other QD-OLED monitors with refresh rates in the 160Hz to 180Hz range and close to what you can expect to find on a 240Hz IPS or VA panel monitor.
The monitor’s enhanced refresh rate is most relevant to gamers but also improves responsiveness in everyday tasks on the Windows desktop by reducing input lag and improving clarity. Viewers who are sensitive to motion clarity will notice that actions like opening and closing windows, or moving them across the desktop, look smoother and feel more fluid compared to monitors with a lower refresh rate.
Should you buy the Gigabyte MO34WQC?
The proliferation of Samsung’s excellent QD-OLED panel technology has made it difficult for monitors that use it to stand out from the crowd. It’s a bit of a catch-22 for monitor makers: They want to use QD-OLED because it’s excellent, but when everyone uses it, it’s hard for any monitor to stand out.
That’s certainly the case for the Gigabyte MO34WQC. It’s a great display for SDR content and benefits from excellent motion clarity. However, like other QD-OLED displays, it could be brighter, and sharpness can be an issue when viewing smaller fonts or other fine details.
Ultimately, your decision to buy or skip the MO34WQC should come down to the price. At the moment, it retails for $850 at most online retailers. That’s not bad but hard to recommend when competitors like the Alienware AW3423DWF are now down to $700, and even Samsung’s Odyssey G85SB is available for $800. The MO34WQC becomes a strong pick if you find it for $750 or less — a price I wouldn’t be surprised to see it hit over the holiday shopping season. Read...Newslink ©2024 to PC World | |
| | | Stuff.co.nz - 23 Aug (Stuff.co.nz)Southland’s top budding scientists have shown off their work at the Southland Science and Technology Fair. Read...Newslink ©2024 to Stuff.co.nz | |
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