Of all the PC gaming peripherals, none is as overlooked as the humble mouse pad (or mat). That’s a pity because mouse mats come in a variety of materials which have different speed and maneuverability profiles. Read on to find out which ones are the quickest and which ones the slowest, and why you should really select your gaming mouse mat carefully. Hard mouse mat materials: Made for speed Mouse mats made from hard materials like plastic, stainless steel, wood, aluminum, and glass are the fastest of all of the material types for gaming. These materials provide less friction over their surfaces so they’re ideal for making quick sweeping movements like strafing and spinning around. Hard materials also provide a satisfying tactile feeling that many gamers like, but on the downside their slippery surfaces aren’t so easy to stop or change direction on, so they can provide less precision than some softer materials. They can also cause more discomfort to player hands over time. The fastest of these materials is tempered glass. It’s especially favored by elite gamers looking for an edge in competitive games. To that effect, the surfaces of most tempered glass mouse mats are usually embellished for the smoothest glide. The Razer Atlas mouse mat, for example, features a polished surface which has been etched to within 2 micrometers so that it’ll work optimally with optical mouse sensors. Other hard grade mouse mats considered extremely quick include the SkyPad Glass 3.0 and aluminum Corsair MM600. The Razer Atlas mouse pad made from tempered glass.  Razer Hard mouse mats are also quite durable. Surprisingly that goes for glass mouse mats too despite glass’s reputation for breakage. Tempered glass is mostly scratch and impact resistant. Soft mouse pad materials: Champion precision Soft mouse pads are made from materials like neoprene, rubber, and cloth. Many soft gaming mouse pads fall into a hybrid category, in that they’re comprised of a combination of different materials usually plastic or foam underneath, with cloth covering over the top. These kinds of materials tend to have slightly more friction than hard mouse pads which means they are slightly slower when you move your mouse over their surface. The upside to that, however, is more precise control; you can stop your mouse on a dime, so players find it easier to pull off precision maneuvers and hit targets within a smaller range. That’s the consensus. There are exceptions to the rule where manufacturers have used specialist fabric coverings for their soft mouse pads to make them quicker for pro gaming. The Japanese-made Artisan Raiden mouse pad, for example, has a very un-cloth like fast surface since it’s made out of densely knitted silky polyester. You can also largely overcome any speed differences by altering your mouse’s DPI sensitivity, so having a soft mouse pad is not really any kind of speed handicap. Ultimately, it comes down to your personal preference and what feels best for you. Another upside to soft mouse pads, is that a greater number of gaming mouse sensors will work with those materials. By comparison, only a top-tier list of quite expensive gaming mice usually work flawlessly on glass, so keep that in mind. Soft mouse pads also tend to be more comfortable for your hand. Although cheaper, they do tend to be less durable and are prone to curling of their top layers. They’ll also stain more easily from spills.Some very highly commended “fast” soft mouse pads include the QPAD FX-900 and Puretrak Talent, both with cloth surfaces. In summary If you’re still unsure as to which mouse mat (or pad) material to go for, my advice is to try out a few options to see what works best for you. If you’re going to do that, start with the soft mouse pad options first, since they’re a lot cheaper and you’ll be a lot less out of pocket than if you buy a pro-grade hard gaming mouse mat and find that it’s not a great match. Personally, I get very good results on neoprene mouse pads and find them a good mix of speed, precision, and comfort. Plus, I also really like the fact that they can be made to order with whatever designs I like. Read...

HP has unveiled its ZBook Ultra G1a laptop in Australia & New Zealand, a high-performance workstation designed for professionals, starting at AUD $3,000. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Good 10Gbps performance Super svelte and convenient retractable Type-C design Affordable for the performance Cons Slow 450GB write time Our Verdict The PNY Pro Elite V3’s clever, retractable design makes it one of my favorite 10Gbps USB sticks. It’s only the third fastest I’ve tested, but the superlative form factor makes it the one I’ll throw in my pocket for light to medium workloads. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today USB sticks are no longer the slowish commodity item they once were. Utilizing the fast 10Gbps USB 3.2 protocol, Type-C connectors, and NVMe internals they’re now more akin to what we call external SSDs than those dime-a-dozen thumb drives of the past. While not the fastest (it’s still fast) such beastie I’ve tested, the PNY Pro Elite V3’s elegant retractable design and uber-small form-factor won me over. At least for everyday workloads — it’s not the best for super-large file transfers. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best external drives for comparison. What are the PNY Pro Elite V3’s features? The Pro Elite V3 is a diminutive 10Gbps USB thumb drive that’s approximately 2.5-inches long, 0.75-inches wide, and 0.4-inches thick. It’s a two-part affair. The main body marries the grippy, textured headpiece (with a lanyard attachment point) and the Type-C connector. A rather beefy, captive sleeve slides away from the headpiece to cover/protect the Type-C connector, and slides towards that headpiece to reveal it for use. Unlike many retractable designs, where a switch, lever, or some such is used to push the connector out of the main body of the device, the one-piece Pro Elite V3 isn’t finicky torture to insert. We like it. PNY Pro Elite V3 closed, with the Type-C connector protected. Also, the protective sleeve being captive means there’s nothing to lose or keep track of other than the drive itself. If it seems like I’m a bit aglow over the Pro Elite V3’s design, it’s because of the many oaths I’ve uttered over the years due to ill-conceived retractable mechanisms and lost thumb drive caps. Though I’m not privy to the actual controller/bridge chip, the internals of the Pro Elite V3 are obviously NVMe — the drive’s performance exceeds anything SATA is capable of. Also, the way the drive slowed to 280MBps during the 450GB write test reminds us of some older TLC. That said, 280MBps is a bit faster than the 75MBps to 150MBps write rates we typically see with QLC written natively, i.e. without write-as-SLC secondary caching. PNY warranties the drive for two years, but it’s a limited promise. We’re guessing the usual qualifications abrogate it: severe physical damage or too much data written. PNY declined to provide a flat-out TBW (terabytes that may be written) rating, but generally, this rating is anywhere from 250TBW per TB of capacity for QLC to 600TBW for TLC. Note that most people don’t write nearly as much data as they think they do — the Pro Elite V3 should give you have a long and productive lifespan. How much is the PNY Pro Elite V3? The PNY Pro Elite V3 is available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB (tested) capacities for $32, $53, $84, and $152, respectively. That’s 12 cents, 10 cents, 8.4 cents, and 7.6 cents per gigabyte — not a huge spread as far as these things go. Compared to the like-performing competition you’ll see listed in the charts, pricing is pretty much a wash — i.e., they’re all priced similarly. How fast is the PNY Pro Elite V3? While performance is not quite on par overall with the SK Hynix’s Tube T31 or Seagate’s Ultra Compact SSD, the PNY Pro Elite V3 is close and turned in very good numbers. Far better than its V2 predecessor. Note that the Teamgroup X1 Max actually performed far better when we limited CrystalDiskMark 8’s data set to 16GiB. However, our standard calls for the 64GiB tests so that’s what the X1 Max was stuck with — like all the other drives in the charts. Also, the PNY Pro Elite V2 was a 256GB drive, and therefore unable to participate in the 450GB. The Pro Elite V3 was very competitive in CrystalDiskMark 8’s sequential tests. Longer bars are better. The PNY Pro Elite V3 was again a bit slower than its two top competitors in CrystalDiskMark 8’s random 4K tests. In CDM 8’s random tests, the Pro Elite V3 fell slightly back on the competition. Longer bars are better. Again, while the PNY Pro Elite V3 is fast, it wasn’t quite as fast as the Tube T31 or Ultra Compact SSD in our 48GB transfer tests. While this is a good 48GB transfer performance the Pro Elite V3 was bested by the top competitors. Shorter bars are better. The PNY Pro Elite V3 really fell off the pace in the 450GB write, barely edging out the Corsair Survivor Stealth which is more about weather resistance than performance. Again, the Pro Elite V2 was only 256GB and unable to store a 450GB file — hence the absence of a time. The PNY Pro Elite V3 really fell off the pace in the 450GB write, barely edging out the Corsair Survivor Stealth. Shorter bars are better. Below you can see the slowdown as the PNY Pro Elite V3 ran out of secondary cache in fairly short order during our 450GB write test. This native write speed likely means older TLC or some sort of new, faster QLC. Modern TLC NAND triple this native write rate, while all the QLC we’ve tested is around 100MBps or more slower. The Pro Elite V3’s write speed dropped first to around 500MBps at the 10 percent mark, then to 280MBps at the 20 percent mark for the remainder of the 450GB write. While not quite the fastest of the 10Gbps USB stick litter, the Pro Elite V3 is plenty fast enough for everyday tasks. Should you buy the PNY Pro Elite V3? The PNY Pro Elite V3 is third in line with the already discussed competitors offering around 10 percent more speed overall and far better large-file performance. However, the PNY Pro Elite V3’s svelte, super-convenient design makes it the one we’d most likely throw in a pocket for normal, everyday chores. When shopping, as you can tell from the charts above… Make very sure you’re buying and receiving V3, not the far slower V2. How we test Our storage tests currently utilize Windows 11 (22H2) 64-bit running on an X790 (PCIe 5.0) motherboard/i5-12400 CPU combo with two Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 modules (64GB of memory total). Intel integrated graphics are used. The 48GB transfer tests utilize an ImDisk RAM disk taking up 58GB of the 64GB total memory. The 450GB file is transferred from a Samsung 990 Pro 2TB, which also contains the operating system. Each test is performed on a newly formatted and TRIM’d drive so the results are optimal. Note that as any drive fills up, performance will decrease due to less NAND for secondary caching, and other factors. The performance numbers shown apply only to the drive we were shipped as well as the capacity tested. SSD performance can vary by capacity due to more or fewer chips to read/write across and the amount of NAND available for secondary caching (writing TLC/QLC as SLC). Vendors also occasionally swap components. If you ever notice a large discrepancy between the performance you experience and that which we report (systems being roughly equal), by all means—let us know. Read...

There are too many ways to pay for streaming TV services now, and that includes MLB.TV. Major League Baseball’s out-of-market streaming service isn’t just available directly through the league. You can also subscribe through Amazon Prime, Sling, and Fubo. (T-Mobile customers can also redeem a full season of MLB.TV for free this week.) But unless you sign up for MLB.TV directly, you might miss out on some major subscription perks without getting anything in exchange. You might even wind up paying more for less. MLB.TV can cost more elsewhere The main reason to get MLB.TV is to stream live, out-of-market baseball games. That perk is the same no matter where you sign up, at least if want to watch any non-local team. (Watching your home team is a different story; you can read about your in-market baseball streaming options here.) But depending on where you live and which teams you want to watch, MLB.TV can cost more from other sources. Fubo and Sling TV, for instance, offer only MLB.TV’s “all teams” package, which costs $30 per month. You can’t sign up for MLB.TV’s single-team plans, which cost $130 for the entire season. Fubo and Sling don’t sell full-season subscriptions, either. They only offer monthly plans at $30 per month, versus $150 per year through MLB.TV directly. Over the full six-month season, MLB’TV’s annual plan would save you $30. (The league also typically offers MLB.TV deals as the season goes on.) For fans of the Diamondbacks, Guardians, Rockies, Twins, and Padres, there’s one more wrinkle to consider: MLB distributes those teams’ in-market games for $100 per season, with an option to bundle MLB.TV’s out-of-market coverage for an extra $100 instead of the usual $150. This bundle deal isn’t available from other providers. Similarly, the league is partnering with NBC Sports to deliver in-market games for the Phillies ($25 per month), Giants ($20 per month), and Athletics ($20 per month). You can add MLB.TV’s out-of-market games to those plans for an extra $20 per month, but you’ll pay the full $30-per-month price if you sign up anywhere else. The perks may be different If price alone doesn’t persuade you, an MLB.TV subscription has additional benefits that are only available through the MLB app: Access to the MLB Network live feed MLB Big Inning for whip around game coverage Live game audio The ability to listen to the radio broadcast while watching the telecast Depending on where you sign up, you might not have access to those features, or you might need to jump through hoops to get them. Amazon Prime’s MLB.TV subscription, for instance, doesn’t provide direct access to the MLB Network, Big Inning, or radio broadcasts, and there’s no apparent way to link an Amazon account with the MLB app. (I’ve reached out to Amazon for clarification.) MLB.TV does offer a way to link your Sling or Fubo accounts, in theory providing all the benefits of a direct subscription. But the instructions for doing so are buried deep in the MLB.TV support site, and when I tried linking a Fubo test account, it didn’t work. If you care about MLB Network, Big Inning, and live game audio, I suggest a direct MLB TV subscription to be on the safe side. There’s also one notable downside to the free season of MLB.TV that T-Mobile is offering its customers this week: Unlike a standard MLB.TV subscription, it doesn’t include an MLB Network live feed. If that channel is a must, you must pay for it separately. Think before you subscribe Third-party MLB.TV subscriptions aren’t completely without merit. If you’re already paying for Fubo or Sling TV, for instance, adding MLB.TV will let you watch out-of-market games in the same app you use to watch lots of other live sporting events. You’ll also have one fewer billing system to manage. But is that worth potentially paying more and either getting less or dealing with account linking hassles? I think not. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice. Read...

Sifting through the multitude of gaming hardware stories and there’s only been a handful about PC VR written for the start of this year. That’s a shame because new technologies will likely propel VR forward in 2025 — at least a little closer to that seamless high-resolution experience that all VR gamers want. I’m mainly referring to Nvidia’s RTX 50-series and AMDs Radeon RX 9000-series graphics cards and what they mean for VR gaming performance. I’ll get to that in a minute, but first a quick snapshot of PC VR performance in 2024. VR and the best graphics cards of 2024 In 2024 we saw some gamers adopt Nvidia’s RTX 40-series and AMD’s 7000-series graphics cards in PC VR gaming. Those that did largely saw an uptick in frame rates from what they had before. YouTubers posted impressive fps in games like Cyberpunk 2077 and iRacing, for example. The RTX 40 series added third-generation ray tracing for a boost to shadows and lighting while AMD’s 7000-series cards also saw an improvement in ray tracing. Despite 2024’s top-tier cards showing big performance differences over the previous year’s graphics cards they couldn’t quite hit the kind of frame rates we saw in flat screen gaming. Mid-range cards like the RTX 4070 reported playable experiences in triple-A PC VR games too, some averaging around the 70- to 78fps mark, but performance rarely averaged upwards of 100fps. In a nutshell, VR remained a tough gig for even the best video cards in 2024, which isn’t really that surprising. VR does have heftier requirements than flat screen gaming, because of its stereo rendering and wide field of view, especially at higher resolutions, like 3K. What to expect in 2025 It’s early days for performance results but there’s no doubt VR gaming will be nudged further along by Nvidia and AMD’s new offerings this year. I don’t see them bringing VR into the mainstream, but they will undoubtedly make for smoother, more seamless experiences. I for one am looking forward to dusting off my VR headset considering the extra power on offer. Some of the first VR benchmark results for the RTX 5090 versus the RTX 4090, for instance, are very enticing. One using the Meta Quest 3 demonstrates a 236 percent performance jump in Metro Awakening, a 151 percent increase in Red Matter 2, and a 47 percent increase in Skyrim VR for the RTX 5090 over the RTX 4090, for example. The small print here is that at its current $2,000 price tag and 1,000W PSU recommendation, the Nvidia RTX 5090 is placed in a price and power category that may make many gamers wince. Consequently, it’s possible a lot of buyers will choose one of the step-down RTX 50 cards when they upgrade — me included. You can expect more modest performance from the Nvidia RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, and RTX 5070 GPUs in PC VR, but it’s still likely to be quite good, and better value. I especially like the sound of the RTX 5070 Ti; its performance is only slightly shy of the RTX 4090 and at $749 (instead of the RTX 4090’s $1,599) at launch, it’s a lot cheaper too, so getting rid of the jitters in some triple-A VR titles will at least be more affordable than last year. Nvidia’s RTX 5070 Ti is well priced and powerful. It’s a good choice for VR PC enthusiasts. Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry AMD’s top card is similarly placed for a respectable performance gain in PC VR games. To use the AMD RX 9070 XT as an example, you’re looking at approximately 42 percent better performance than the previous generation RX 7900, which should go a long way to making VR gameplay smoother and more enjoyable if you opt for one. mentioned in this article GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Read our review PC VR gamers will once again see more realistic rendering of lighting and shadows in VR titles, too, thanks to further advancements in these card’s ray tracing capabilities. The 4th-generation ray tracing cores in Nvidia’s RTX 50-series cards, for example, are expected to boost RT performance by between 15 to 30 percent. Quicker load times and higher resolutions VR players using the latest-generation RTX 50-series cards can expect quicker load times at higher resolutions than was previously possible. That’s thanks to the RTX 50 cards sporting GDDR7 VRAM which has 33 percent quicker bandwidth than GDDR6X VRAM in previous generation Nvidia GPUs. It will load in and out of memory at speeds up to 32Gbps (gigabits per second), compared to 24Gbps for GDDR6X, which will be especially useful for 4K per-eye VR gaming which is very graphically demanding. AMD’s Radeon RX 9000-series graphics cards feature16GB of GDDR6X VRAM. That’s still good — we can expect it to be quick, even if it’s not quite as fast as Nvidia’s latest cards. Two other new features of the Nvidia RTX 50-series GPUs look exciting for players who want to future-proof their upgraded hardware for PC VR. One is DisplayPort 1.2a, which will support 4K per-eye headsets at 120Hz or higher. The other is 4:2:2 pro-grade color encoding support for multi-view (MV-HEVC). When VR supports this kind of encoding, players will be able to experience games in more vibrant color than the 4:2:0 compression that’s currently used in VR. Nvidia DLSS 4 and AMD Fidelity FX Super Resolution 4 in VR You could say these two technologies have already had an impact in some VR games judging from gamer reactions in 2024. On the other hand, there are still only a handful of VR games that support these technologies and that’s not likely to change much in 2025. Some notable titles include games like Skyrim VR, Microsoft Flight Simulator, No Man’s Sky, and VR Kayak Mirage. Nvidia’s DLSS 4 technology is only supported in a handful of PC VR games so far. Nvidia It’s worth noting, though, that even the VR games that support them won’t utilize all the features in these technologies. DLSS 4’s Multi-Frame Generation, for example, is one feature that remains unsupported by VR PC games. In fact, it causes increased latency compared to VR frame extrapolation technologies. What else does 2025 have in store for PC VR gaming? Gamers are going to want one of the video cards I just mentioned to get the best performance out of a spate of new lightweight 3K and 4K per-eye VR headsets arriving this year. They include the 4K Pimax Dream Air and Shiftall’s MeganeX superlight 8K. From a games perspective, 2025 should bring an interesting and varied lineup of releases, from throwaway casual titles to big name blockbusters. Just a few that I’m personally looking forward to include the time travel / escape room adventure Wanderer the Fragments of Fate, the puzzle game Infinite Inside: The Lost Depths, and a demolition derby game with destructible environments called FlatOut VR. Here’s hoping they play as well as they sound. Further reading: Why I’m still using my Vive Pro for VR, six years later Read...

I’ve been using Windows for as long as I can remember. It was on the very first PC I recall using, literally on my father’s knee. But I don’t need it anymore. That’s a weird thing to say as a writer for a site named PCWorld. But it’s been a long time coming, a slow mix of broad tech trends, feeling betrayed by multiple brands, and a little bit of intention on my part.  To be clear, I still use Windows. It’s what I’m using right now to type this, on a beefy gaming desktop I assembled myself, with triple monitors and all sorts of googaws attached. But I don’t need all that anymore, and for the first time in my adult life, I can see myself transitioning to an entirely different operating system.  That’s a big deal for me, and I suspect I’m far from alone. Microsoft might want to make a note of it.  Why I don’t need Windows So here’s what I mean when I say that I don’t need Windows anymore: Every tool, program, and piece of information I rely upon is now essentially separate from whatever machine I’m using at the moment. I’m writing the words you’re reading right now in Google Docs. When I’m done, I’ll edit them in WordPress. Throughout my work day I’m talking with my coworkers and bosses on Slack, I’m chatting with my friends via text, WhatsApp, and some other platforms. I’m managing my own to-do list in Google Keep, updating my work tasks in a tool called Monday, and checking personal and professional email in Gmail and Outlook, respectively. I’m keeping an eye on news and social trends in BlueSky and The Old Reader for RSS.  I still use local files, of course. But they’re all backed up weekly via Backblaze and accessible wherever I go, with whatever hardware I have to hand. Most of the time I don’t even need that. Aside from installed game files, the odd business/tax document, and a huge library of photos, both my own and my family’s, I barely even think about the storage on my PC.  Michael Crider/Foundry Here’s a screenshot of my main Windows taskbar: Vivaldi, Gmail, Outlook, the PCWorld logo for WordPress, a certain green “P” I’ll address shortly, Slack, Explorer, Monday, Google Keep, Google Docs, YouTube. If you haven’t spotted the common thread here: every single one of these experiences is either a web tool or has a web interface. I use my favorite browser, Vivaldi, to access almost all of them, usually in a progressive web app (PWA) or merely a shortcut wrapper without a full browser interface. It’s one of my most essential features of modern browsers, allowing me to separate these tools more easily and focus on them when I need to.  Every one of them is accessible on the web, and on other platforms. I can use all of them on a tablet or even my phone, and most of the time not lose any functionality. In fact even though I work from home, I access a lot of that on my phone during the day, on the same platforms. At this point Windows is basically just a means for accessing the web in a comfortable way, on expensive hardware I’m familiar with. I think a lot of users feel the same way, especially younger folks who grew up post-iPhone. Further reading: The best Chromebooks we’ve tested Photoshop was the last holdout The very last domino to fall in this chain was image editing. I’ve been using Photoshop for over 20 years. Since I learned it in a high school media class, it’s been incredibly difficult to break myself of the reliance on it for creating article header images or editing review photos. Not that I didn’t want to — I’ve had a chip on my shoulder for Adobe for almost as long, especially after it transitioned its extremely expensive Creative Suite software to an even more expensive Creative Cloud subscription setup. It reeked of “you’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy.”  I liked owning Photoshop, and I was not and am not happy that the option was taken away. Until a few weeks ago I was still keeping an ancient copy of Creative Suite 6 from 2012 (the last time it was offered as a real purchase) alive and kicking. I’ve tried alternatives many times, including the tastelessly-titled GIMP, Affinity Photo, and Pixlr X. All are pretty good tools, but to my shame, I kept crawling back to the familiarity of Photoshop.  Foundry My memory, both conventional and muscle, made it difficult to use any of these programs, even though each one of them covers the vast majority of Photoshop’s core functions. I’ve spent years of my life using Photoshop, a few of them using it for up to eight hours a day in a print shop. It’s a hard experience for me to quantify if you’re not married to a piece of software like that — imagine it as the feeling you get from wearing someone else’s prescription glasses. It’s that kind of functional discomfort.  I’m fairly certain Adobe banks on this, and that’s why you can access Photoshop and other programs at a huge discount if you’re a student or otherwise working at a school. To paraphrase Aristotle, “Give me a high-schooler until they are 17, and I will show you the foundations of a life-long subscription customer.”  But after a long-overdue Windows reinstallation, I decided to forego the hassle of getting my trusty, rusty copy of CS6 operational. Instead I tried out Photopea, an online raster image editor with a shameless and wonderful clone of the Photoshop interface.  Attack of the Clones I’ve tried Photopea a few times before, with this exact aim in mind. And I couldn’t quite get it to stick. To be honest I can’t recall if it was a lack of performance in the tool, or simply that it wasn’t as capable as CS6 even over a decade later. But whichever part of the equation has changed — the performance in a modern browser on a powerful desktop, the server-side performance, or the image editing options being improved — it just clicked.  Now I’m using Photopea (pronounced “photo-pee” if you’re wondering, but the creators don’t really care) in place of Photoshop for all my work purposes. I don’t even have the latter installed, though I still have my copy just in case. I’m paying $5 a month for the ad-free version of Photopea, which still rankles my “just let me buy it” heart a bit. But the fact that it’s completely free with ads, not to mention far, far cheaper than an Adobe subscription even if you banish them, is a balm to my skinflint soul.  Photopea’s interface apes Photoshop closely enough that I can use it without problems. And yes, I used it to edit this story’s header image, and even this screenshot. Photopea And after all, Photopea is a web tool hosted on a server — it at least has a basic justification for charging a subscription. Nothing stops Adobe from selling a stand-alone, non-subscription version of Photoshop. Except greed. Photopea is a clone of Photoshop, not a perfect replacement. There are things it can’t do, notably load up custom fonts without a lot of extra steps, that would make it unsuitable if I were still doing graphics full time. And to be perfectly honest, I’m not quite as good at it as I used to be with Photoshop. Some of the effects I’d throw together with ease just don’t look as good. That could be equal parts my own unfamiliarity with the deeper tools and the web-based program’s lack of Photoshop’s most powerful, deeply buried options. Maybe I’ll get back to my old expertise in time. But I’m not a graphic designer anymore. I’m a keyboard jockey who needs a lot of cropping for PR images, a bit of background work, clone-stamp and color adjustments for original photos, that sort of thing. And I can do all that, without sacrificing speed or most capability, and without local software. I can do it on any machine, from a laptop or a tablet or even my phone in a pinch (with a mouse and keyboard), and I can log in on all of those to get access to it ad-free.  Samsung Oh, and even if you prefer to pay Adobe’s exorbitant prices, you might still not need a local installation of the program. Photoshop has an online version now, very similar to Photopea, included with the subscription. Everything I need to do my job, and most of whatever else I want, is completely divorced from Windows. Or if not divorced, then at least amicably separated. I realize that a lot of people got to this place before I did, people younger than me, older than me, both more tech-savvy and less. But it still feels like a personal milestone. Gaming still lives on Windows…for now I’m still using Windows 11, warts and all, even while I moan about ever-encroaching advertising in allegedly premium software, not to mention the hard upsell for “AI” tools I don’t want. These are where Microsoft is hoping to get that real (read: recurring) money out of me, and where I refuse to let it go. But Windows is still my personal and professional home, even as I increasingly “live” on my phone, just like everyone else.  Gaming is a big part of this. I own a Switch and a PS5 and a nice tablet and a few other wingdings for games — over a recent vacation I even played through Skies of Arcadia to the end on an Android emulator. But PC gaming is where I really sink my teeth into the medium, and that’s unlikely to change. Not just because I like building desktop PCs (again, check the name of the site up top!), but because Steam is my primary means of acquiring and playing games.  Lenovo/Valve And even that is not a sacred cow I’m unwilling to eat. Valve is making Steam its own OS, spreading into hardware from partners like Lenovo and Asus, and I think it has a legitimate shot at dethroning Windows as the home of PC gaming. To say nothing of trends that let you access your games anywhere, including Nvidia’s cloud-powered GeForce Now (which plays my Steam games!) and Microsoft’s own Xbox Game Pass streaming. I’ve used both of them on the go, enjoyably if far less smoothly than on my fancy-pants desktop at home, and been keenly aware of their platform-agnostic nature.  I played the PC version of Fortnite, complete with mouse and keyboard, by using my Samsung phone’s DeX desktop mode, a USB-C monitor, and GeForce Now. Hey, at least one tiny sliver of the future doesn’t suck.   A new world of options This newfound freedom is liberating, if only in a consumer sense. For the first time I can seriously consider a Mac or a Chromebook laptop, safe in the knowledge that everything I need will be accessible with barely even an adjustment to my routine. An iPad Pro, while not my first choice, would probably be doable. I could even see myself trying out Linux on the desktop, though I confess I’d probably keep it dual-booting at first. And maybe using SteamOS or a derivative like Bazzite, just to satiate my degenerate gaming needs.  I don’t need Windows anymore. There’s a pretty good chance you don’t, either, or at least that it’s easier than ever to work around it. I think you should keep it in mind…especially if you’re a Microsoft executive who wants me to buy a new laptop. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Spectacular battery life Attractive and robust design Plenty of RAM and solid-state storage for the price Cons Cramped keyboard and touchpad IPS touchscreen’s image quality doesn’t stand out Lackluster CPU and GPU performance Our Verdict The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo doesn’t score high marks in performance benchmarks, but it does achieve superb battery life. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo is a 13-inch Windows 2-in-1, which is part of a rare breed. Though once considered the future of Windows, 2-in-1’s have gone out of fashion and many companies have turned attention towards larger 14-inch laptops. That has consequences for the Summit 13 AI+ Evo’s performance, but some will forgive its modest benchmark scores once they see its battery life.  MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo: Specs and features The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo’s specifications are towards the high end of what’s typical for a thin-and-light Windows device. That’s not because of the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V chip, which is found in many devices, but instead because of the memory and solid-state storage, which weigh in at 32GB and 2TB, respectively.  It’s certainly possible to find 13-inch devices with this much RAM and storage (or more!), but it’s not common and better-equipped laptops are usually much more expensive. Model number: A2VMTG-017US CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 258V Memory: 32GB LPDDR5x Graphics/GPU: Intel Arc 140V  NPU: Intel AI Boost up to 47 TOPS (Int8) Display: 13.3-inch 1920×1200 60Hz IPS Touchscreen Storage: 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD Webcam: 1080p 30fps camera with physical privacy shutter, dual array microphone Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C 4 with Power Delivery and DisplayPort, 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm combo audio jack Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Fingerprint reader  Battery capacity: 70 watt-hours Dimensions: 11.82 x 8.75 x 0.64 inches Weight: 2.98 pounds Other features: MSI Pen 2 active stylus Operating System: Windows 11 Pro Price: $1,599 MSRP The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo comes in two flavors: 012US and 017US. I reviewed the slightly more expensive 017US model. The two variants are mostly the same, as the only difference is the solid-state drive, which is upgraded from 1TB to 2TB in the 017US model. That upgrade adds $100 to the price.  The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo is a thin-and-light 13-inch 2-in-1 with an attractive design and great battery life. These traits will appeal to shoppers who don’t need a high-performance PC but do want outstanding battery life that may allow use over multiple days without needing a charge.  MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo: Design and build quality IDG / Matthew Smith The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo makes a good first impression. Clad in black with gold accents, it strikes a distinctive and luxurious profile. I suspect the gold accents won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I like them, and they set the laptop apart from its peers. Material quality is a highlight, too. The laptop is clad in stiff aluminum that holds up to rough handling. There’s minimal flex when opening or closing the laptop or when picking it up from one side or corner. This is typical for small, premium 2-in-1s like the Summit 13 AI+ Evo, but it’s still good to see.  And, yes, the Summit 13 AI+ Evo is a 2-in-1, though you could be forgiven for missing that. The design’s sharp edges and lines don’t scream “use me as a tablet!” and make it uncomfortable to hold if you chose to do that. The Summit ships with the MSI Pen 2 (which typically retails for $100).  The Summit 13 AI+ Evo’s design will appeal to people who travel light. It weighs just 2.98 pounds, measures 0.64 inches thick, and is less than a foot wide. This is similar to most competitors though some, like the Qualcomm-powered Dell XPS 13 and Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, are even smaller. MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo: Keyboard, trackpad IDG / Matthew Smith I never felt comfortable using the MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo’s keyboard. The layout is acceptable but opts for large spaces between keys which, due to the laptop’s small size, means many keys are smaller than usual.  All of this makes for a cramped experience. It’s workable, and individual key feel is good, but a Dell XPS 13 or Surface Laptop 13 will feel more spacious. The Summit’s touchpad is small, too, measuring just under five inches wide and a tad more than 2 inches deep. It’s among the smallest touchpads I’ve used in the past year, and it’s noticeably cramped when trying to execute Windows multi-touch gestures (like vertical scroll or pinch-to-minimize).  MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo: Display, audio IDG / Matthew Smith The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo ships with a 1920×1200 IPS-LCD touchscreen. It looks nice, but it’s far from the best display available from a laptop or 2-in-1 in this price range.  You can expect bright, vivid color, but the limited contrast ratio of IPS-LCD panels can make the display look washed-out in comparison to competitors with an OLED panel. The dreaded “IPS glow” — a hazy gray sheen over darker scenes — is noticeable when viewing the display in a dark or dim room. The IPS display is a touchscreen. It’s responsive and smooth. But, like most touchscreens, it opts for a glossy display finish. Glare can make the display difficult to see outdoors or near bright lights.  Motion clarity is mediocre, too, as the Summit’s display has a refresh rate that never exceeds 60Hz. That’s disappointing, as many competitors (especially those with an OLED panel) have a refresh rate of 90Hz or 120Hz. A pair of downward-firing speakers provide the laptop’s audio. They can reach impressive volumes, but they lack bass, which means music, movies, games, and other entertainment will sound harsh and tinny at higher volumes. Even so, I think the audio is slightly above average for a small 2-in-1 and fine for entertainment at lower volumes.  MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo: Webcam, microphone, biometrics MSI ships the Summit 13 AI+ Evo with a 1080p webcam that looks reasonably sharp and vibrant (for a webcam). However, many competitors now offer a 1440p webcam, which looks even sharper. Still, it’s a fine camera, and good enough for Zoom calls.  The same is true of the microphone array. Nothing about it stands out, but it provides good audio capture and does a reasonable job of canceling background noise. Biometric login is available through both Windows Hello facial recognition and a fingerprint reader below the keyboard on the right-hand side. I prefer facial recognition, but both options work well.  MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo: Connectivity IDG / Matthew Smith The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo’s connectivity is limited and focused on modern ports.  It has two Thunderbolt 4 ports. Both support Power Delivery and DisplayPort, which means both can be used to charge the laptop and/or connect to a monitor. The ports also provide USB-C.  These are joined by a single USB-A port, HDMI 2.1, and a 3.5mm audio jack. A wired Ethernet port is not included (though that’s typical for thin laptops and 2-in-1s in 2025).  That’s not a lot of ports, so the MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo will need to be paired with a hub or dock if you want to connect multiple monitors and USB peripherals at once.  Also, all the USB ports are on the left flank. You’ll be fine if your dock would normally sit to the left of the 2-in-1 but, if it sits to the right, cable management is finicky.  MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo: Performance The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo is built for portability more than performance. It has an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V inside with four performance cores and four efficient cores (a total of eight cores). As usual, this is paired with Intel Arc 140V integrated graphics. The model I reviewed also had 32GB of memory and 2TB of solid-state storage.  That’s a lot of memory and storage. But the processor’s limited core count and the thin profile hold performance back. IDG / Matthew Smith PCMark 10 is a holistic test of CPU, GPU, and storage performance. The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo gets off to a rough start with a combined score of 6,734. Scores of around 7,000 or more are common, so the MSI lags the pack. However, it’s notable that the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, another thin-and-light 13-inch laptop, barely beats the MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo, while the 14-inch laptops steam ahead. As you’ll see, that’s a trend across all the benchmarks.  IDG / Matthew Smith Cinebench 2024 is a demanding multi-threaded processor benchmark. It also offers x86 and Arm-native variants, so I can bring a Snapdragon-powered laptop (the Asus ProArt PZ13) in for comparison. The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo struggles to stand out. Though it defeats the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, it otherwise failed to beat the competitors in its price bracket.  IDG / Matthew Smith Our Handbrake test is a heavily multi-threaded, long-duration test that transcodes a 2-hour-long movie. It serves as a gauge of performance over longer and more demanding workloads. The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo struggles once again. Though it performed better than the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (which is notable, as the Carbon is over $500 more expensive), the MSI otherwise falls way behind competitive systems. IDG / Matthew Smith Next up is 3DMark Night Raid, a 3D graphics test. This test has x86 and Arm-native versions, so I’m once again able to bring a Qualcomm-powered system into the graph. Intel’s Arc 140V graphics are quite capable and leave Qualcomm’s Adreno in the dust. However, the Summit 13 AI+ Evo delivers modest performance for a laptop with Arc 140V graphics, defeating only the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Unfortunately, the MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo’s overall benchmark performance falls behind many similarly priced competitors. I believe this comes down to the laptop’s performance tuning and size. There’s no cheating physics, and the MSI’s compact design (which, as you’ll soon see, is stuffed full of battery) leaves less room for cooling the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V.  MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo: Battery life A large 70 watt-hour battery sits inside the MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo. The battery’s size is an advantage against the competition, as many 13-inch alternatives provide a battery in the 50 to 60 watt-hour range.  IDG / Matthew Smith The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo delivered over 21 hours of battery life in our standard battery test, which loops a 4K file of the short film Tears of Steel.  As the graph shows, many devices in this category can reach about 18 to 20 hours of battery life—but the Summit 13 AI+ Evo stands out even among this tough competition. It’s a great pick if battery life is important to you. The Summit’s endurance is the upside to many of its compromises. The Summit has a large battery and Core Ultra 7 258V, though not the quickest in multi-core tests, is economical about its power use. On top of that, the Summit’s 1200p IPS-LCD display with 60Hz refresh rate is a good choice for battery life. That’s because higher resolutions, higher refresh rates, and OLED panel technology all draw a bit of extra power. The test results were backed up by my subjective experience. I used the 2-in-1 for several coffee shop trips and found that spending a couple hours away from a power outlet shaved just 10 percent off the battery. That’s excellent performance for a real-world use case.  When it does come time to charge the Summit, you’ll do so with a compact 65-watt power brick that connects to either of the 2-in-1’s Thunderbolt ports. The device’s low power requirements mean it’s easy to power with a wide range of power adapters. Even USB-C chargers that deliver a lot less power, like a 45-watt adapter, can slowly charge the laptop so long as it’s not running demanding software. MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo: Conclusion The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo is a thin-and-light 13-inch 2-in-1 with an attractive design and great battery life. These traits will appeal to shoppers who don’t need a high-performance PC but do want outstanding battery life that may allow use over multiple days without needing a charge.  The Summit 13 AI+ Evo’s lackluster performance is certainly a downside and it makes the laptop harder to recommend, as 14-inch competitors often deliver a better balance of portability and performance.  If battery life is your number one priority, though, the Summit 13 AI+ Evo should be on your list. Read...

Oracle has introduced new employee engagement features to its Fusion Cloud HCM platform, enhancing internal communication and event management capabilities. Read...

Despite the controversies over the last few years, Discord is still being used by millions every day to chat, make video calls, and play games together. But the desktop version of the app has been feeling pretty outdated for a while now, which is why many have been asking for an update—and that long-awaited update is finally here. In a recent blog post, the developers of Discord have unveiled extensive changes to the desktop app, which includes a completely new version of the game overlay feature as well as a facelift that looks better and offers more ways for you to tweak and customize it to your liking. Discord’s revamped Game Overlay feature One of the problems with the older Game Overlay was that it “hooked into” the game window, which dragged down the game’s frame rate. This also ran afoul of anti-cheat software, which meant Game Overlay wasn’t compatible with lots of popular games. The new Game Overlay isn’t just faster and more performant, but it now works with so many more games, including lots of high-profile ones. The revamped Game Overlay in Discord involves a new action bar, which you can use to access various voice and video controls, start streaming games with one click, or join calls that you aren’t already in. It also has some new features, like being able to watch your friends’ streams directly within the overlay. All parts of the Game Overlay can be moved so they never obscure important UI elements of the game you’re playing. A new look for Discord’s desktop app The new look of the Discord app for PCs is also immediately noticeable. It offers more customization options and feels a lot more similar to the mobile app as far as usability and operation. Overall, the new look suits Discord very well. Some icons and colors have been revised to make it easier to see what’s happening in the app. There are some new themes, too, which means you now have four basic looks to choose from: Light, Ash, Dark, and Onyx. The user interface can also be toggled between Spacious, Standard, and Compact. During active calls, the redesigned Discord desktop app now also has more centralized controls for voice and video settings, with more buttons grouped into a single bar for easier access. It’s also clearer to see when the microphone or camera are switched on or off, which is signaled by a green or red light, respectively. If you aren’t on the latest version yet, you can start experiencing the update by downloading the new version now. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Great sound Lightweight Two audio sources simultaneously Two pairs of ear pads included Cons Ear pads have to be fiddled in with difficulty Only partially suitable for small heads Our Verdict The ROG Delta II is a great headset with excellent sound quality and it features the ability to play two sources simultaneously, though the ear pads are cumbersome to adjust in comparison to similar brands. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Asus presented the ROG Delta II under its ROG gaming brand at Computex 2024. The premium gaming headset follows on visually from its predecessors, the ROG Delta and ROG Delta S, but comes with significantly better sound and new functions. I was able to take a closer look at the device. Asus ROG Delta II: Design, workmanship, comfort Medium weight Fit more for large heads Strange attachment of the ear pads If you’ve seen a ROG headset before, you won’t be surprised by the Delta II. The headset comes in black with anthracite-colored connectors. The shells have a typical ROG triangular shape and are not round or oval like most other headsets. The headband is covered with black faux leather, which is relatively discreetly embossed with the “Republic of Gamers” lettering. Of course, the ROG Delta II has RGB lighting, which is also quite discreet, only the edge of the triangle on the ear cups and the ROG logo on it are illuminated. If you’re looking for Christmas lights for your head, you’ll have to look elsewhere. The 50 millimeter titanium drivers do a fantastic job with the sound. In fact, it’s as good as a higher-priced gaming headset. Eugen Wegmann The controls on the headset are nice and clear. On the left-hand side is the wheel for adjusting the volume of the wireless connection, which also serves as a button for muting the microphone. Below there’s a function button for wireless mode and below this is the on/off switch for wireless or 2.4 GHz mode, which you can use to switch the headset on and off when it’s not connected to another device via Bluetooth. This is followed by a USB-C port, which is only intended for charging and firmware updates, and the slot for the microphone, which is of course detachable. The rest of the controls are located on the right-hand side, where you’ll find a second wheel for the volume control of the Bluetooth connection (but without a button function), the corresponding function button for the Bluetooth connection, and a 3.5 millimeter jack socket for the wired connection. As soon as you unpack the ROG Delta II, you notice how light it feels in your hands, even though it weighs just 318 grams, which puts it solidly in the midrange category of wireless gaming headsets. The clamping pressure is also pleasant, but without being too loose that the headset would fall off the head. The fit is unusually large. I’m not blessed with a petite skull and therefore intuitively set the headband size a few steps higher, only to reduce it to a minimum afterwards, completely baffled. The ROG Delta II is definitely not for small heads, maybe just enough for voluminous hairstyles. The lip (right) has to be fiddled into the slot (left).Eugen Wegmann The headset is basically made of plastic, although a metal clip is used in the headband. Nevertheless, it feels quite high-quality overall, not cheap. My biggest criticism is the “mechanism” with which the ear pads are attached to the headset. You have to fumble the rubber lip on the cushion into the corresponding gap on the headset. Other manufacturers use magnets or a rotating mechanism for this. Asus ROG Delta II: Range of functions 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth and jack Wireless and Bluetooth simultaneously Lighting synchronized with other ROG hardware The range of functions leaves little to be desired. The ROG Delta II can connect to your devices in three different ways: latency-free via radio (2.4 GHz, ROG Speednova) thanks to the supplied dongle, via Bluetooth, or via a 3.5 millimeter jack cable. Although the headset has a USB-C port, it cannot be used as a USB device. As mentioned above, the connection is only used for charging and firmware updates. The special thing about the ROG Delta II is that it can play two audio sources simultaneously. This means you can connect it to your PC or PlayStation for gaming and to your mobile phone at the same time. If someone calls, for example, you can use it to make a phone call without interrupting the game sound. Eugen Wegmann The functions of the two wireless connections are separated in an exemplary manner. The controls for the wireless connection are located on the left earpiece while those for Bluetooth are on the right. Switching to pairing mode alone is somewhat unintuitive. Usually you have to press and hold the Bluetooth button, but with the ROG Delta II, you have to press the function button on both sides simultaneously. A long press on the Bluetooth button on the right-hand side only switches the Bluetooth function on or off. As befits a proper gaming headset, there is of course software in which you can configure many functions and update the firmware. In addition to an equalizer, you can of course configure the RGB lighting down to the last detail or, if you own other ROG hardware, synchronize it directly. The software is available in two versions, as a complete version of Armoury Crate, in which you can also configure all other ROG devices and as a stand-alone module (Armoury Crate Gear), which is recommended if you don’t have any other ROG devices or components besides ROG Delta II. I find this solution quite elegant, as you don’t have to drag the rest of the bead onto the PC if you only use the headset. You can also switch additional functions on and off in the app. Of these, virtual surround sound is completely negligible, as it sounds like you’re gaming in the bathroom and reverb is a matter of taste. More interesting are the controls for Bass Boost, Voice Clarity, and Compressor. These allow you to further customize the sound. Thanks to the wide range of connection options, the ROG Delta II is compatible with all kinds of devices as long as they support Bluetooth or the USB dongle or have a 3.5 millimeter jack connection. The PS5 is supported natively while the Xbox requires the 3.5 millimeter jack on the controller. The headset can also be connected to smartphones, but the headset cannot be configured in the Armoury Crate smartphone app. Eugen Wegmann Asus ROG Delta II: Sound quality Weak bass at low volume Ideal sound for speech 8-band equalizer and other customization options The 50 millimeter titanium drivers do a fantastic job with the sound. In fact, it’s as good as a higher-priced gaming headset. By default, the mix is designed more for speech, which is noticeable at low and medium volumes, where the highs and mids are very present, but the lows are almost non-existent. The other side of the coin is that music sounds very flat, almost tinny, at low volumes. If you turn the volume up to the upper third, the bass comes through better and music is much more enjoyable. If you don’t like the sound at the factory settings, you can adjust it in the Armoury Crate software with an equalizer and compensate for the lack of bass. However, this also makes it much more present at higher volumes. If the ROG Delta II were multimedia headphones, I would criticize this, but for a gaming headset, this compromise is completely acceptable for my taste. On the other hand, there’s absolutely nothing to criticize about the microphone. The speech is crystal clear, doesn’t scratch, and even has a pleasantly warm bass. Asus ROG Delta II: Battery life Asus promises up to 110 hours of battery life, but only when the backlight is switched off. The good news is that the ROG Delta II also achieves this at 50 percent volume. With RGB lighting, however, the battery life drops to a quarter. That’s right, not a quarter, but a quarter. On average, the ROG Delta II lasts between 25 and 30 hours on a single charge. So if you play for an hour or two in the evening after work, you’ll need to charge it every fortnight. If you’re a full-time gamer, you’ll need to charge it three to four times a week. To be honest, this is perfectly reasonable in everyday life, as the headset can simply be charged overnight. The bottom line is RGB lighting consumes an incredible amount of power and if you’re not streaming with a webcam, you can safely switch it off as you can’t see it yourself anyway. Eugen Wegmann Asus ROG Delta II: Price, availability The Asus ROG Delta II is available at various retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, and Newegg. Amazon currently lists the headset for $209.99, which is nine percent off of the original price. It includes the headset itself, the microphone, two pairs of ear pads–one covered with artificial leather, the other with fabric–the wireless receiver with USB-C connection, a suitable adapter to USB-A, a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging, and a generously dimensioned jack-to-jack cable (2 meters). That’s definitely something to be proud of. Read...