Setting up a new PC usually means paying for Windows and then paying again for productivity apps like Microsoft Office. This Microsoft bundle gives you both Microsoft Office Pro Plus 2019 and Windows 11 Pro together for life, and it’s only $18.97 (reg. $428).
Office 2019 comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access. You pay once and install it on one Windows PC for home or work, and you never have to deal with any recurring fees like you would with Microsoft 365. This version of Office may be a few years old, but it still works great, and you don’t have to worry about clumsy AI integrations or other unasked for changes.
Windows 11 Pro adds tools that Windows 11 Home leaves out. BitLocker encrypts your whole drive, and Hyper-V lets you run virtual machines on the same PC. Windows Sandbox is useful for testing a sketchy app without risking your main system. Gamers also get DirectX 12 Ultimate, and Copilot opens right from the taskbar to answer questions and summarize pages.
Before buying, run Microsoft’s PC Health Check app to confirm your PC supports Windows 11, including TPM 2.0. A Windows 10 machine that can’t take the free upgrade through Windows Update won’t be able to run Windows 11 Pro.
Stop paying separately for your operating system and your office apps.
TL;DR:PDNob Pro edits, converts, and OCRs PDFs across Windows, Mac, and iPhone, with 6,000 lifetime AI credits included. Get it for $34.97 (reg. $349.95) and skip the monthly fee.
Still paying every month just to edit, sign, and convert PDFs? PDNob Pro handles it all for a single payment.
PDNob runs on Windows, Mac, and iPhone. Edit text, fonts, images, and layouts directly in a PDF, then add headers, watermarks, or page numbers.
OCR and AI that actually save time
OCR turns scanned contracts, invoices, and receipts into editable, searchable documents, and batch OCR handles several files at once. Conversion works in both directions, from PDF to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and image formats, while keeping the original layout intact.
The AI assistant summarizes long documents, answers questions about reports or manuals, and translates content. This plan includes 6,000 lifetime AI credits.
Merging, splitting, compression, form signing, and password protection are built in, and core editing works offline.
One purchase covers two users, simultaneous use on two devices, 20GB of cloud storage, lifetime updates, and tech support. Verified buyers rate PDNob 4.7 out of 5 stars.
If you handle paperwork every week, owning the editor outright is the smarter call.
Pick up PDNob Pro for $34.97 (reg. $349.95) while this deal lasts.
PDNob Pro PDF Editor: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal
Windows 11 Pro adds the tools Home leaves out: BitLocker drive encryption, Hyper-V for virtual machines, Windows Sandbox for safely testing unfamiliar apps, and Azure AD support for business networks. Snap layouts, biometric sign-in, and Copilot in the taskbar round it out.
Office Professional 2021 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, Access, and Teams, all installed on your PC instead of rented monthly.
Each license covers one PC and arrives by email right after purchase. Check compatibility with Microsoft’s PC Health Check app before buying.
The bundle has a 4.9/5 average from 131 verified reviews. For a new build or an aging PC, it handles the OS and Office in one move.
“You f*cking idiot, I asked for…” might seem harmless if you’re saying it to an AI chatbot, and a lot of people are doing it. But if you’re one of them and your LLM of choice is Anthropic’s Claude, you might want to start keeping your frustration-driven interactions in check.
Anthropic recently updated its fine print regarding how users are allowed to interact with Claude. The changes come into effect on November 12th, 2026, and they’re part of a wider update to Anthropic’s terms of service.
According to this 2026 Usage Policy Update post, the goal is to address “extreme cases where users repeatedly act cruelly toward our models, with no discernible purpose.” The rule doesn’t apply to “common versions of user frustration, pushback, dark creative themes, or model testing and research.” (It’s unclear where the line sits between “frustration” and “cruel behavior.”)
The full relevant text:
Addressing abusive behavior toward our models
We’ve added a prohibition on sustained and needless abusive or cruel behavior toward our models. The policy update is meant to apply only in extreme cases, where users repeatedly act cruelly toward our models, with no discernible purpose. It does not apply to common versions of user frustration, pushback, dark creative themes, or model testing and research.
This addition aligns with a step we’ve already taken, allowing Claude models to end rare conversations with persistently abusive users on Claude.ai and Claude Code. Such abuse is the main focus of this update; Claude’s ability to end these interactions will remain the primary enforcement mechanism.
What happens if Claude is offended by your behavior? The main consequence is a terminated chat. Anthropic has already given its models the ability to end chats with users who persist in abusive behaviors on Claude.ai and Claude Code—this change enshrines that as an explicit prohibition in the company’s terms of use.
The update also includes clarifications on: political content and election interference, surveillance and law enforcement, weapons technology, and high-risk use cases involving health, legal rights, and finances.
If you’re tired of juggling multiple charging bricks and adapters, you should consolidate. This Ugreen Nexode 100W 4-port charger is down to $39.98 at Amazon (was $54.99), about 27% off its list price. That’s one charger doing the work of four, and that’s a solid price for a gadget that declutters and comes in handy day in and day out.
With its 100W of power delivery, it’s fast enough to handle charging for standard laptops like MacBooks and ultrabooks. Either of the top two USB-C ports hits that 100W throughput when used alone, and you can even use both upper USB-C ports to charge two laptop at once, with the first delivering 65W and the second 30W—the latter is only enough for low-power machines, though, like MacBook Airs and Chromebooks.
When all four ports (triple USB-C and a single USB-A) are in use, it splits up the charge: 45W / 30W / 10.5W / 10.5W. That means you could theoretically charge two low-power laptops and two smaller devices, like a phone and wireless earbuds. Or one laptop and three accessories. Or, again, use the top two only to fast-charge your laptop and phone.
GaN technology keeps it small, measuring just 2.7 x 2.7 x 1.3 inches, so it’s portable and a great replacement for whatever chunky laptop charger you’ve been using. The plug folds flat for travel—nothing will accidentally catch on it, and it won’t scratch anything.
If you want to shrink all your chargers down into a single point, get the Ugreen Nexode for 27% off. Amazon’s prices move without warning, so don’t sit on this for too long if you’re interested.
Graphics cards don’t simply die of old age — they usually suffocate due to neglect. The biggest enemy is dust, which settles on the cooling fins like an insulating layer and sabotages the cooling performance. However, before you take any action, you should carry out a professional diagnosis. Use the free tool Hwinfo for this.
Launch the program in ‘Sensors only’ mode and look for the ‘GPU Hotspot Temperature’ reading under your graphics card. This reading represents the hottest spot directly on the silicon chip. Compare it with the normal ‘GPU Temperature,’ which is the average reading. A difference (delta) of more than 20 degrees Celsius under full load is a clear warning sign.
It suggests that contact between the chip and the cooler is poor — for example, because the thermal paste has dried out or is unevenly distributed. If the delta is as high as 30 degrees Celsius or more, the card will already be significantly throttling its clock speed to prevent damage (thermal throttling).
When carrying out PC maintenance, do pay special attention to your graphics card. After all, with the right GPU care, you can specifically prevent performance losses.
Dell
The first step in maintenance is cleaning: To do this, first shut down the PC, press the power button, and unplug the power cable. Open the case and blow out the cooling fins with compressed air. Important: Make sure you hold the fan blades in place with your finger or a piece of adhesive tape.
If fans spin up uncontrollably due to the compressed air, they can act like a dynamo and send electrical voltages back into the motherboard or destroy their own bearings. If simply cleaning isn’t enough, it’s time to replace the thermal paste.
Note: Repasting a GPU could void the warranty for certain models and manufacturers. Check your documentation for details.
Conventional thermal paste is an option, but some users prefer phase-change material (PCM), such as the PTM7950 thermal pad. The name derives from the material’s physical property of being solid at room temperature (in a pad form) but liquefying at temperatures of around 45 to 55 degrees Celsius.
Insider tip for GPU maintenance: Phase-change material such as the PTM7950 change their physical state depending on the temperature — which is ideal.
JOYJOM
This phase change ensures that the material perfectly fills microscopic irregularities when warm, while it solidifies again when cooled. This prevents the dreaded “pump-out” effect, whereby traditional thermal pastes are gradually squeezed out of the gap due to the thermal expansion of the chip.
Applying PTM7950 requires care: Place the pad in the fridge or freezer for around 10 to 60 minutes before use. When cold, it is firmer and much easier to cut to size and remove the protective films. At room temperature, however, it is very sticky. Clean the graphics chip thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol (over 90 percent) and a lint-free cloth.
Cut the pad exactly to the size of the GPU chip, peel off the first protective film, position it centrally, and then carefully remove the second film. For the surrounding memory modules (VRAM) and voltage regulators, you should use thermal putty (thermal conductive putty). Unlike rigid thermal pads, putty is highly compressible.
Thermal Putty is a thermal compound that can be highly compressed. This enables it to ensure optimal temperature performance.
Thermal Grizzly
This is crucial, as pads that are too thick can easily lift the cooler, thereby reducing the contact pressure on the main chip (GPU). This, in turn, leads to poorer temperature performance. Putty, on the other hand, adapts perfectly to any gap and guarantees maximum contact with the main processor.
By combining these proactive steps of cleaning and material optimization, you can transform your PC into a high-performance, long-lasting ecosystem that will serve you faithfully for many years to come.
Yesterday, Microsoft dropped the amount of OneDrive cloud storage included with Microsoft 365 Family, Premium, and Pro. The change only affects new customers right now, but existing customers will get hit with the reduction at their first subscription renewal on or after May 2nd, 2027.
Prior to this change, Microsoft 365 Family, Premium, and Pro provided 1TB of OneDrive storage per user, with all plans able to be shared with up to 5 other users (for a total of 6TB per account). After this change, both Family and Premium accounts are limited to a 2TB storage pool that’s shared by all users. Pro accounts get 5TB of cloud storage to share.
It’s a mixed bag. Solo users who were previously capped at 1TB now get twice the storage to play with, and anyone who was sharing with only one other person isn’t facing a huge difference. But if your account was split between three or more users, it’s a big downgrade.
What stings the most is that Microsoft isn’t adjusting the pricing on any of the plans. Microsoft 365 Family remains $12.99/month or $129.99/year, while Premium stays $19.99/month or $199.99/year. Meanwhile, Microsoft 365 Pro is a whopping $99.99/month with no annual option.
On this support page regarding the change, Microsoft makes it clear that it’s one shared storage amount: “The primary subscriber and up to five additional members draw from the same shared storage pool.” However, that doesn’t mean access is shared between all users: “While storage quotas are shared, files remain private.”
And you can expand the size of the storage pool with add-on purchases. It doesn’t sound like individual users can boost their own individual caps, but rather only contribute to the shared cap: “Storage add-ons purchased by subscription members are automatically added to the shared pool. Eligible family members’ free storage grants also contribute to the shared pool.”
The non-shareable plans remain unchanged: Microsoft 365 Basic gets 100GB of storage for $1.99/month or $19.99/year, while Microsoft 365 Personal gets 1TB of storage for $9.99/month or $99.99/year.
From treasured family photos to essential client footage, losing files can be devastating. Whether it’s down to a corrupted SD card, sudden power loss, or accidental deletion, recovering as much of that data as possible is critical. Wondershare Recoverit V15 is built to cover thousands of loss scenarios, across over a million different storage devices, giving you the best chance of salvaging that data.
With over 20 years of data recovery experience, Wondershare’s services combine robust and effective file recovery for photos, videos, and other data, with a streamlined process that helps you dig through even large file systems to recover and organize the most important files.
No SD Card Left Behind
For creators with hundreds or thousands of photos and videos on SD cards, an accidental deletion or sudden corruption event can feel catastrophic. That’s where Recoverit V15’s Profession SD Card Recovery can step in and help prevent disaster. It can identify the device and card information to use a bespoke scanning strategy to maximize file recovery and minimize data loss. You can track the recovery process the whole way, too, letting you preview photos and videos in real time, so you begin file recovery as soon as you confirm the footage is viable, without having to wait for the scan to finish. It has full support for the most popular video and image resolutions, too, including HDR and high-bitrate video.
After recovery it can organize the recovered files based on camera directory structures and the specific relationships between different files, making it easier to find the exact files you need to get back.
This works across other external storage solutions, too. If you’ve lost data on a corrupted flash drive, memory stick, or CF card, Recoverit V15’s Profession SD Card recovery tool is an excellent solution to the problem.
AI Advantage: Find Exactly What You Need
When recovering large quantities of lost media files, finding the most important photos and footage with traditional recovery tools isn’t easy; Recoverit V15’s smart search helps you narrow the results. It uses large language models to generate file tags and facilitate natural language search, helping you to find what you need.
Recoverit V15 groups scanned files for more focused recovery, linking related RAW and JPEG files, pairing videos with associated subtitles, and making it clear which files are ready to recover, and which ones may need further repair. In-built recovery quality evaluation ensures users have a clear picture of the state of the data. Quality checks show the condition of the scanned files, while automated repair tools attempt to fix any damage.
A Tool For Everyone
Recoverit V15 is compatible with Windows and macOS systems, allowing file and partition recovery on either operating system, with support for Apple Silicon, including the newer M5-based Macs and Mac Neo. Whether you’re running an older version of these operating systems or the latest Insider previews, Recoverit V15 is built to offer fast, effective file recovery with the same streamlined interface.
The Acer Googlebook 14 is a great premium laptop, but it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s only worth considering if you want a lightweight, high-end convertible laptop and you’re already deeply enmeshed in Google’s/Android’s ecosystem.
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The Acer Googlebook 14 impressed me, but not in the way I anticipated.
If you’re wondering what a Googlebook is, the short version is that it’s (in a way) the new Chromebook. Basically, it keeps much of the familiar Chromebook experience while adding deeper Android integration and new AI features. They’ve also got Intel and Qualcomm chips inside of them.
Going into this, I had a lot of questions, specifically about the new operating system (aka Googlebook OS) and its AI features. Is the new OS going to confuse me? What happens if I accidentally set off the Magic Pointer? Will it drive me bananas?
The answer, thankfully, was no — to a surprising degree.
Acer Googlebook 14: Under the hood
Model: Acer Googlebook 14 (GP714-91N-50A0)
OS: Googlebook OS
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 5 325, 8-core, up to 4.5GHz
Graphics: Intel Graphics, 4 Xe cores, up to 2.45GHz
Ports: 2× USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 1× USB4/Thunderbolt 4, 1× 3.5mm headphone jack
Wireless: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0+
Weight: 2.51 lbs
Price: $899.99
Acer Googlebook: Design-wise, it’s a step-up from Chromebook Plus models
The Googlebook arrived tucked inside what looked like a jewelry box–I got premium vibes from it right away. It also came with a laptop sleeve, which I appreciated.
The design is a big part of why the price tag is higher than what you typically pay for a Chromebook Plus. (The other part is the hardware, which I’ll get to later.) You can feel the difference in the aluminum-magnesium chassis (most Chromebook Plus models are made of plastic). It feels very durable. The 360-hinge also lets you rotate the screen and use the laptop in tablet mode if that’s your thing. And, at 2.51 pounds and just 0.55 inches thick, it’s also surprisingly light and thin.
Acer Googlebook 14: The keyboard is comfortable, but the touchpad attracts fingerprints
I generally prefer smaller laptops because I have smaller hands, so larger keyboards take me longer to get used to. Fortunately, I accustomed myself to this one pretty quickly since it’s still similar to the layout I use Once I adjusted, typing felt comfortable.
The keyboard also has backlighting, which is nice — and something I’d expect at this price point. The power button doubles as the fingerprint sensor for logging in.
The touchpad is centered and a good size, so I don’t have any complaints about how it feels to use. It’s also got a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass on it, so it feels smooth.
The problem is that it started collecting fingerprints almost immediately. I don’t think something like that would deter me from purchasing a laptop (any laptops, really). But if you’re someone who likes keeping your laptop looking pristine, you’ll probably notice it.
Acer Googlebook 14: The webcam was fine, with one little hiccup
I used the 5MP webcam during a brief call and thought the video quality was perfectly fine. I didn’t look totally washed out, which is always a win as far as I’m concerned.
The call itself did drop me twice, although I was quickly reconnected both times. I don’t know if it was an issue with Microsoft Teams or the Googlebook itself, so I’m hesitant to blame the laptop for it. It didn’t feel great, though.
Acer Googlebook 14: The Glowbar is cute
There’s a little Glowbar on the lid, and I think it’s a cute feature.
Is it necessary? No.
But it’s unobtrusive, and it actually has a useful purpose: it tells you how much battery you have left, as well as the charging status. That’s handy when you only have a second to glance at the top of the laptop and want to know if you’re going to need to charge it soon.
It’s one of those little additions I wouldn’t necessarily ask for, but don’t mind having. I like that it’s small and subtle.
Acer sent me a Google Pixel 10 Pro XL to use with the Googlebook. I’m an iPhone user, though, so jumping to an Android phone felt a bit like landing on another planet.
But this is where it got interesting for me. I could see why someone who already uses an Android phone would find this convenient. The Googlebook is designed to make your phone feel like an extension of it. The Continue On feature, for example, lets you continue whatever it is you’re doing on your phone on the Googlebook. I played around with it a little bit, but I’m not totally sold on the idea of connecting my phone to my laptop. I’d actually prefer to keep them separate–I don’t want all of my information in one place. But the deep Android integration is a clear selling point for Googlebooks.
Acer Googlebook 14: The interface feels surprisingly familiar
I expected the Googlebook to feel more different from a Chromebook, especially when navigating around the operating system.
It really doesn’t!
Chromebook vs. Googlebook
The biggest difference is what happens beyond the desktop. There is much more Android integration this time around.
Still, I didn’t find myself fighting with the interface or wondering where everything had gone.
Acer Googlebook 14: I kept forgetting about the Magic Pointer
The Magic Pointer is one of those features that I kept forgetting existed, despite being one of the darlings of the Googlebook’s marketing when it was first announced.
That’s partly because you’ve got to wiggle the cursor in order to activate it, and that’s not something I naturally do when I’m using a laptop. If I’m wiggling the cursor around, it’s usually due to a moment of frustration. That said, you’ve got to really wiggle the cursor with intention in order to summon the Magic Pointer. It’s not easily triggered… but that might actually be a good thing.
Because I kept forgetting about it, the Magic Pointer wasn’t nearly as intrusive as I expected it to be.
I tried it out on a picture of a cool charcuterie board I saw on Reddit. The Magic Pointer came up with a couple of questions I could ask Gemini, including what kind of wine would pair well with it and how to recreate the board. When I asked to recreate it, Gemini popped up in the corner with a shopping list of ingredients and assembly steps.
It worked.
But I just don’t know if it’s something I’d actually use (or remember to use).
My instinct is to look up the ingredients and figure out assembly myself. And honestly, it’s probably easier for me to do that than to remember to wiggle the cursor first.
That’s the thing I noticed about the Googlebook’s AI features. They’re there. They work. They’re not particularly annoying. I just don’t always think to use them.
Acer Googlebook 14: As a laptop, it works really well
If you completely shelf the AI stuff/Android phone integration for a moment, the Googlebook is just a nice laptop. That’s a big compliment.
The particular Acer model I tested has an Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, and that combination felt more than capable of handling my usual workload.
I had no problems throwing my usual workload at it: scrolling through Reddit, chatting with coworkers on Slack, writing articles in Google Docs, and generally bouncing between the things I normally do throughout the day.
I didn’t notice any slowdowns.
The web-based benchmarks I ran on the Googlebook backed up my experience:
Basemark Web 3.0: 1,670
Motion Mark: 4670.12 (@ 60 fps)
WebXPRT 5: 95
Let’s take a closer look at Basemark 3.0, which measures browser performance–now let’s compare the Googlebook’s score (1,670) with the Acer Chromebook Plus 516’s score (901). The Acer Googlebook 14 was 85 percent faster than the Chromebook Plus model. As far as browser performance goes, the Googlebook has a meaningful advantage here.
That comparison isn’t entirely apples-to-apples, though. Here’s why.
The Chromebook Plus 516 has the Core i3-1315U, which is a respectable budget CPU (2 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores). That said, the Googlebook’s Core Ultra 5 325 is much newer, with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, and is paired with 16GB of RAM rather than 8GB. No wonder it blew the Chromebook Plus out of the water!
In terms of hardware, the Acer Googlebook 14 is actually pretty close to the Dell XPS 14. They’ve both got an Intel Core Ultra 5 325 (“Panther Lake”) processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. But the Googlebook has a much nicer display, and it’s also lighter and more versatile due to the 360-degree hinge. The Dell is considerably more expensive, too, at $1,409.99 (as tested). We didn’t run those web-based tests on the XPS 14, so I can’t make a direct performance comparison.
The biggest hardware advantage, though, is the display. The Googlebook has a 14-inch OLED touchscreen, and it’s absolutely gorgeous.
It has a 2880×1800 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage. It gets up to 500 nits, too, so it’s both sharp and bright.
I ended up putting it through one of my favorite unofficial laptop display tests: A Björk concert.
I watched Biophilia Live on this Googlebook, and it looked great. This is actually the second laptop I’ve tested where I’ve watched a Björk concert, which has become a pretty useful way for me to judge how colorful and sharp a display looks. Her concerts are full of incredibly colorful costumes and visuals, so a good screen has plenty to work with here.
My husband and I also watched a few episodes of Star Wars: Clone Wars, and the Googlebook handled those well, too. I never found myself wishing the display were brighter or more colorful.
Acer Googlebook 14: Battery life is a nice surprise
Battery life was another strong point for the Googlebook 14. In my everyday use, I got around 14 hours on a single charge.
That was enough to get through a full workday and then some (without having to watch the battery percentage bar like a hawk). That’s an awesome result for a laptop with an especially bright OLED display.
I should note that it wasn’t a controlled battery test. Instead, I used the laptop unplugged until it ran out of juice and then calculated the time by using the data from the Battery Usage section in the Settings menu.
So, should you buy the Acer Googlebook 14?
I don’t think the answer is so simple here.
It depends.
The Acer Googlebook 14 costs $899.99 at the time of this writing. It’s pricier than a Chromebook Plus laptop, but you’re getting hardware that’s much closer to what I’d expect from a Windows laptop (like the Dell XPS 14). It’s not a powerhouse, but as a daily driver, it definitely delivers.
If you’re looking for a cheap Chromebook, this isn’t the laptop for you. But I don’t think that’s really who’s being targeted here.
A Googlebook makes sense if you want a premium, lightweight convertible laptop and you’re already well-acquainted with Google’s ecosystem. Doubly so if you’ve got an Android phone, as they’re deeply intertwined with one another.
Google made such a big deal about AI, but the most surprising thing was how… normal using a Googlebook feels. It wasn’t anywhere near as AI-forward as I thought it would be.
Why in the world would you ever give ChatGPT access to your email? It’s a reasonable question, given everything we’re hearing about rogue AI agents, not to mention the privacy implications of unleashing AI in your inbox.
Then again, one of the best ways to appreciate the power of a personal AI assistant is to let it triage your unruly inbox, culling the spam and the marketing blasts while highlighting the messages that truly matter.
An agent with access to your messages can also give you a heads-up about impending meetings, warn you that your building’s elevator is out of service (that happened to me earlier this week), keep you current on that Jira ticket you filed, and perform other powerful workflows (like the one in this week’s prompt of the week, below).
To get access to your email, AI services like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Meta’s Muse agent need tools, and among the most common AI tools for email are those for Gmail. These tools allow AI models and agents to perform certain Gmail tasks, like “read message,” “add label,” “draft message,” or even — gulp — “send message.”
Welcome to another edition of Prompt Mode, your weekly AI newsletter.
I’m your host, Ben Patterson. Each week on Prompt Mode, I’ll be serving up analysis of the AI trends that matter to everyday users like you and me. Stay tuned for practical AI tips, hands-on experiences with the latest AI tools, and–you guessed it–prompts to help you get the most out of your AI assistants.
They also come with sets of rules and permissions that (generally speaking) you can customize, allowing some actions to happen autonomously while others require a user’s approval, or are blocked altogether. Tweak these rules the right way, and you can minimize the chance of your agent, say, sending an email on its own when it shouldn’t.
The key word, of course, is “minimize.” AI agents like ChatGPT Dots, Claude Cowork, Gemini Spark, and Meta Muse can act in unpredictable ways, and while you can prevent the agents from scooping up your Gmail messages for AI training data, sensitive details from your Gmail conversations could wind up in your AI chat threads, where they could be stored as memories.
So if you’re uncomfortable taking those risks — and hey, I get it — my advice is to leave the Gmail tools alone.
If you do choose to move ahead, know that enabling an AI’s Gmail integrations is just the first step. (ChatGPT has a Gmail “plugin,” while Claude and Muse call them “connectors,” and Gemini folds its Gmail integration under its “Personal Intelligence” umbrella.) Dig deeper, and you’ll find more granular controls for those Gmail tools, where you’ll be able to do things like set guardrails for when an agent can or can’t send email on its own.
For Claude, click Settings > Connectors, then click on Gmail. From there, you’ll find a wide range of Gmail rules, from allowing Claude to peruse received and drafted messages to whether it can add labels to messages or even send them on its own. You can set entire groups of read-only and write/delete rules to “Always Allow,” “Needs Approval,” or “Blocked,” or you can set specific rules for each action.
ChatGPT’s Gmail plugin rules (check Settings > Plugins) aren’t nearly as granular as Claude’s, giving you just four total options: “Always ask,” “Allow read actions,” “Allow low-risk actions,” or “Allow all actions.” The second setting — “Allow low-risk actions” — is the default, but personally I’d stick with “Allow read actions,” just to be sure ChatGPT asks before sending email on its own.
Gemini is even more vague about the rules for its Gmail tool, essentially limiting you to turning its Gmail integration either on or off. According to a Google support page, Spark is “designed to ask for your review” before “sending communications,” which means it should stop and ask before sending a Gmail message on its own. But if Gemini’s lack of specific permission controls for Spark gives you pause (and that’s perfectly understandable), you might want to switch its Gmail connector off.
Finally, Meta Muse keeps its tool settings under Settings > Permissions > Connectors. Select the Gmail option, then start tweaking. As with Claude, Muse’s permission settings for Gmail allow you to fine-tune whether it can do things like access and search your email, draft messages, and send emails on its own, with your approval, or never.
Aside from general Gmail permissions, you’ll want to block the use of your Gmail for AI model training. The best way is to ensure you have the overall “help improve our models” setting for ChatGPT, Claude, and Meta Muse turned off (check under Settings > Data Controls or Privacy). Google, for its part, says it won’t train its models “directly” on your Gmail messages, but may train on “limited info,” such as “specific prompts in Gemini or AI Mode and the model’s responses.”
Now that you’ve hardened permissions and checked your AI model-training settings, what can you do with your new Gmail AI superpowers? Check the prompt below for one example, and I’ll have more in the weeks ahead.
More in AI this week
Google will now let anyone try its SynthID detector, a tool that lets you check images, videos, and audio files for AI watermarks. Just keep in mind that the detector can’t prove whether a suspicious-looking viral video is real. [PCWorld]
ChatGPT is about to get its own digital wallet, which could allow ChatGPT Dot agents to make web purchases on its own. [PCWorld]
Common Sense Media is sounding the alarm over ChatGPT for Teens, which “could give parents false confidence in guardrails and safety alerts that frequently don’t work.” [The Verge]
Anthropic’s just filled out its 5.5 family of Claude models with the fast and cheap Haiku 5.5, which joins the mid-range Sonnet 5.5 and the top-end Opus 5.5. I plan on giving the new Haiku a test drive in the next few days, so I’ll report back on what it can and can’t do. [VentureBeat]
AI is crushing it when it comes to solving math’s toughest riddles. But while their solutions check out, their reasoning is often indecipherable to human mathematicians, with some grimly predicting the “end of math as we know it.” [Quanta Magazine]
Prompt of the week: The “find my forgotten accounts” prompt
So, you took a deep breath and connected your Gmail to AI. Here’s an agentic “outcome”-oriented prompt to put that new ability to the test.
With this prompt, you’ll be directing an AI agent to scour your Gmail for messages about long-lost accounts you previously signed up for, with the AI doing a read-only search for “verify your email” and “confirm your account” messages.
When it’s done, you’ll get a spreadsheet detailing all the accounts the agent found, with the most dormant at the top, along with links (when available) for deleting the forgotten accounts you don’t want anymore.
That’s all for now!
Thanks for reading the latest issue of Prompt Mode.
I’ve never bought a PC or component second-hand, but that may change if this RAM shortage doesn’t let up soon.
I started thinking about the issue after listening to this week’s episode of The Full Nerd, which features some smart conversation about the consequences of purchasing used components as well as the best way to safely find and buy them.
Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. Missed the surprising topics on our YouTube show or the latest news from across the web? You’re in the right place.
The prospect of buying a gently-used laptop or desktop is also starting to seem a lot more rosy these days, as prices for new models skyrocket. I know I’m not alone on this front, either; a recent UK-based market analysis survey shows sales of used PCs and components is rising across Europe, with the rate of secondhand PC sales nearly doubling year-over-year in the UK.
Here in the States I know I certainly wouldn’t want to try and buy a new gaming PC unless I absolutely had to, and I’d be even more scared of trying to build one myself since the cost of RAM and storage is beyond belief. I suspect that’s why this week’s episode of The Full Nerd ended up devoting so much time to the risks and benefits of buying used PC parts: more people than ever are interested in doing just that, and you want to know what you’re walking into before you take a risk on a used CPU or graphics card.
I really appreciated the hosts’ advice on how to find great deals on used PC hardware, and Adam’s insights have me second-guessing my aversion to Facebook Marketplace. Will the next PC I build be a hodgepodge of used components? Could be! I’d just better be careful when it comes to used CPUs, because it sounds like those can carry the sins of their former owners (read: bans in games like Fortnite and Valorant) more easily than other hardware.
In this week’s episode of The Full Nerd
This week it was a two-man show as regular host Adam Patrick Murray was joined by our own Michael Crider to chat about the latest Steam hardware survey, the risk of being banned from some online games if you have a used CPU and more.
PCWorld
Later in the show our dynamic duo made time to answer questions from the chat as well as the Full Nerd Discord on everything from the value of pre-built PCs in this economy to tips for buying used hardware.
Nerd news of the week
Here are a few of my favorite pieces of nerd news this week, touching on everything from the cutting edge of keyboard switches to the remarkable lengths some retailers are going to in order to stop folks from shipping their overpriced Nvidia graphics cards to China.
Explaining Hall-effect, TMR, and other new types of “mechanical” switches: Love keyboards? This illuminative guide from Ars Technica helps explain the difference between optical switches, electrostatic capacitive switches and other intriguing types of keyboard switches, which can be a big help when you’re choosing which keyboard to buy.
Buying an RTX 5090? You need to promise you won’t export it first: Recent increases in the price of an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 have led Micro Center to start requiring buyers to show ID and fill out a form promising they won’t export the cards internationally, suggesting that these beefy graphics cards are more in demand than ever in foreign data centers.
Memory executives expect RAM shortage to continue through 2028: Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Micron executives are saying most of their RAM supply for 2027 is already sold through and the prices were higher than in 2026, suggesting the RAM shortage will likely continue through at least 2028.
I don’t know about you, but there’ve been countless times that I go to bed exhausted only for my brain to suddenly decide it’s the perfect time to replay an awkward conversation from five years ago. If that sounds familiar, then I recommend giving the site Fall Asleep a try. It’s a free website with a small collection of exercises aimed at helping you quiet your thoughts so you can drift off to sleep.
Shutting your brain off at night can be easier said than done, especially when your whole life is full of awkward moments. The most successful method I’ve found is called “cognitive shuffling” and Fall Asleep has a really neat tool for this. Cognitive shuffling serves up random, unrelated words and images that you then visualize and focus on in your mind. The idea is to break up the connected, problem-solving thoughts that tend to keep your brain switched on when you should be sleeping.
Cognitive Shuffling works best for me, but Fall Asleep offers a few other tools like a simple guided breathing exercise and a tool called “Brain Dump” that encourages you to jot down your busy thoughts before bed. According to the site, nothing is shared and all data is stored locally on your web browser.
Unlike sleep tracking smart watches that overload you with anxiety-inducing data metrics, Fall Asleep keeps it low-key and that’s for the best. So the next time you’re lying awake at 1 a.m. staring at the ceiling, go ahead and fire up Fall Asleep and see if it helps.
For more fun and helpful tips, tricks, website and app recommendations, be sure to subscribe to our PCWorld Try This newsletter.
The best way to protect yourself against online scammers and hackers is to remain vigilant. But even if you exercise best practices in password management and web browsing, there’s no stopping the masses of personal information data brokers can build up on you over time. From the adverts you see, to the websites you visit, to the devices you browse with, people search sites can generate detailed profiles on you and your family that only make the job of advertisers, scammers, and hackers easier.
It’s your data, so you can demand they remove it, but doing that manually with the hundreds of data brokers all over the world can be frustrating and extremely time consuming. RemoveMe is an affordable service that’s designed specifically to remove the data and the usual headaches of chasing it down.
What does RemoveMe do?
RemoveMe offers fast, effective removal of your personal data from over 400 different websites with no need for you to contact anyone. It automatically finds any mention of your personal information, and issues a takedown request on your behalf, jumping through all the hoops automatically so you don’t have to.
Every takedown is verified and confirmed and where possible, RemoveMe issues opt-out requests to those same services so they don’t scrape and aggregate your information again in the future. To make sure they stick to it, too, it maintains continuous monitoring. If the data reappears on broker sites, RemoveMe automatically has it removed again.
Rather stay on top of it? RemoveMe’s dashboard lets you track each removal in real time, and will deliver a notification any time new information is detected and removed.
Why Data Removal Matters
It’s easy to think that with everyone online being recorded as much as you, that removing your personal data from people search sites won’t do much. But that data can be used by just about anyone. Often, it’s not for good reasons.
Spam callers and scammers use data-broker dossiers to target individuals with highly specialized scams. The more personal information they have on you, the more convincing they can sound.
Doxxing is a major concern on the web and social media, with home addresses, workplaces, and school information all making it easier to harass you in person, or target you and your family with sophisticated social engineering attacks.
Identity theft and account breaches are far easier if a hacker has your personal details. Data brokers can serve up the kind of identifying information that attackers can use to steal accounts and impersonate you online and over the phone.
Using RemoveMe makes the job of every bad actor harder, delivering continuous automated protection for you and your family’s personal privacy.
Try it Out
Wondering just how much information on you is out there? RemoveMe offers a free 30-second scan to see just how much data brokers know about you. It’s probably more than you think.
If you’d like to take the next step and have RemoveMe act on your behalf to take down that data and shore up your personal privacy, you can have full peace of mind for just $9.99 a month.
TL;DR:PDF Agile edits, converts, and signs PDFs, and a lifetime subscription is on sale for $29.97 (reg. $119) through October 11.
Most PDF editors charge a monthly subscription, even if you only use them a few times a year. PDF Agile Premium is an all-in-one PDF editor, converter, and viewer for Windows and Mac that doesn’t require a monthly fee. Instead, you can get a lifetime subscription on sale for just $29.97 (reg. $119).
PDF Agile works a lot like Adobe Acrobat. You can edit text inside a PDF directly, scanned pages included, without hunting down the original file. Conversions go both ways between PDF and Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, and your fonts and formatting stay intact. For scanned receipts and screenshots, OCR pulls the text out so you can search, copy, or edit it.
Sharing sensitive files gets easier, too. You can lock a PDF behind a password, permanently redact text and images, and collect electronic signatures in three different ways. When a contract comes back with changes, a compare tool puts both versions side by side and highlights every difference. Compress, merge, split, and drag-and-drop page reordering are all included for everyday cleanup.
Your PDF Agile account works on two devices at once, so a Windows desktop and a MacBook can share one license. You’ll need Windows 7 or later, or macOS 10.15 Catalina or later. Updates are included, and both new and existing users can redeem within 30 days of purchase.
TL;DR: Get 1TB of private cloud storage with a Koofr lifetime subscription on sale for $129.99 through October 11 with code KOOFR.
Most cloud storage platforms charge you a monthly fee that seems cheap until you start adding it up year over year over year. If you want a cheaper alternative, Koofr has a 1TB encrypted cloud storage lifetime subscription on sale for $129.99 (reg. $810). This sale ends soon.
A full terabyte is enough room to account for years of photos, dozens of videos, a whole library of documents, and so much more. All your files are available from your browser, desktop, iOS, Android, or WebDAV. Koofr doesn’t cap how many devices you connect, either.
If your files are already scattered, Koofr can link your existing Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon, and OneDrive accounts. Instead of opening four separate apps, you can access everything from one place. A built-in Duplicate Finder clears out repeat copies that waste space, and advanced renaming tools help keep big folders organized.
Koofr doesn’t track what you do, and your files stay encrypted both in storage and during transfer.
To redeem, you’ll need a free Koofr account. Then just apply the code from your purchase here within 15 days of making your purchase.
Stop renting your cloud storage month after month.
Tired of feeling cramped on your cheapo 1080p monitor? It’s likely affecting your productivity, which means it’s time to upgrade—and if you hop on it now, you can save a lot of cash. Amazon is selling the Samsung ViewFinity S65TC for 50% off, bringing it down to just $399.99. Yup, Prime Day ended yesterday, but some deals still abound.
Going from your tiny 21- or 24-incher to this 34-inch beauty will redefine how much you can get done and how quickly you can do it. And it’s not just 34 inches with a 16:9 aspect ratio—the S65TC is an ultrawide. That means a glorious 21:9 that actually lets you stack app windows side by side and have room to spare. It also has an aggressive 1000R curve that wraps around your eyes, letting you see everything without even turning your head, minimizing eye strain and bumping up immersion when you watch shows and movies.
Three other standout features. First, the Thunderbolt 4 port with 90W of power delivery means you can connect it to a laptop and it’ll stay charged, freeing you from a separate power tether. Second, you can then plug your keyboard, mouse, and external storage drive into the monitor and access from your laptop—the monitor effectively becomes a dock. Third, it has a built-in KVM switch. If the monitor is hooked up to your laptop and desktop PC, you can use one set of keyboard/mouse for both.
The rest comes with caveats. HDR10 is nice for richer-looking movies and images, but the S65TC lacks the color accuracy needed for professional content creators. Its 100Hz refresh rate is smooth enough for productivity tasks, but combined with the VA panel, it’s not good enough for serious gaming. The aggressive screen curve will distort lines, so it’s bad if you’ll be doing artwork or CAD drafting. And if you aren’t going to take advantage of Thunderbolt 4, you’re paying the premium tax for no benefit.
If none of those caveats filter you out, you’ll come out ahead if you snag the Samsung ViewFinity S65TC for $399.99 while you can. But if it’s still too pricey for you, see PCWorld’s picks for the best ultrawide monitors.
When I went to Google’s presentation on its new Googlebooks, it was an act of convenience. I happen to be near New York City, so I’m used to schlepping my way onto a bus for media events. As the Performance desk lead, I really don’t have any personal interest in Google’s successor to its Chromebook venture, especially since it’s packed with “AI.” So I was there mostly to support our AI expert, Ben Patterson.
But one bit of news caught my attention: You get access to the bootloader.
A brave new (old) world
This requires a bit of context. See, I’m an Android guy. I started my tech journalism career on Android-focused sites, back when smartphones were still the hottest, newest tech on the planet, and tons of people were obsessing over every new model. One of the most exciting parts of Android was the ability to modify the software fairly easily. You could “root” them to get access to all the various bits and bobs, or even load up your own custom-cooked, open-source operating system, colloquially called a ROM.
I have tried all of these flavors of custom Android ROMs.
Various
Rooting and ROMs are still a thing in the Android world, but they’ve fallen off by an order of magnitude since the glory days of 2010-2015. Somewhat because phones are far more locked down, aside from some where open access is a feature, like Google’s Pixel line or the Fairphone. But mostly it’s because phones are powerful and flexible enough to do pretty much everything you want now, no risky or skilled modifications required.
I installed an AOSP-based ROM on my Barnes & Noble Nook Color e-reader to turn it into one of the first full-power Android tablets. But I can’t remember the last time I looked at an Android phone’s bootloader, despite trying dozens (maybe hundreds!) of different ROMs back in the day.
Googlebooks are, at least in the purest technical sense, Android-powered laptops. They’re running Intel and Qualcomm chips — some of the same ones that power Windows laptops, in fact. But Android software is based on open-source code, loath as Google is to admit that these days. That means it should be possible, if not easy or straightforward, to modify it. At the NYC event I asked various representatives from Google and its hardware partners if they would allow users to wipe the laptops clean and install Windows, and they didn’t have an answer ready for me.
Foundry
Fast forward to this week, and we have confirmation via Google support that Googlebooks will arrive with an unlockable bootloader. For those of you who’ve never dug deep into an XDA forum to find a Gapps ZIP that will work with your tweaked CyanogenMod build, that means you should be able to load up custom ROMs.
That’s got the nerdiest part of my soul extremely excited. Custom ROM developers advanced Android’s early years in ways that might be invisible to those outside of that particular niche. Google, Samsung, and others apparently took direct inspiration from the ways that developers modified their software in order to improve it, particularly in terms of the user interface and performance.
You know how you can swipe up from the bottom of your phone to go home and swipe on the side to go back? How there’s an easy shortcut to turn on the rear camera flash and make a quick flashlight? Yeah, both of those showed up in custom Android ROMs and other modifications years before they were stock in either Android or iOS. The prospect of seeing users customize the operating system in Googlebooks is absolutely tantalizing.
Google
…but it’s not very likely to happen
But there’s a fly in this particular ointment. The early Android ROM scene was so vibrant specifically because millions and millions of people were excited about smartphones. It was the Wild West, and everybody wanted the fastest horse. For the same thing to happen with Googlebooks, Google’s AI-laden “reinvention” of the laptop, people will need to be excited about Googlebooks. And I don’t see that happening, not even to the degree that people were interested in Chromebooks when they debuted back in 2011.
There’s an extremely narrow slice of the consumer market for whom I think a Googlebook purchase makes sense. You need to be A) really, really happy with your Android phone, B) really want a new laptop, C) not reliant upon any tools or software that only works on Windows or Mac, and C) not particularly bothered by a lack of native game support. Oh, and you need to have a budget of about a thousand dollars or more, because even limiting the RAM to 8GB isn’t making Googlebooks cheap.
Michael Crider/Foundry
There’s a faint possibility of an exciting new world in custom laptop software. But it’s very faint indeed without a large, dedicated group of people making it happen. And as much as I want to see it, I doubt that I will.
You need antivirus software. Because of AI, online threats keep getting more sophisticated—more and more AI-fueled attacks pop up with each passing week. Even the tech-savvy and cautious can get tricked into exposing themselves to malware, spyware, ransomware, or a phishing attack. This guide compares the best Windows antivirus suites, including when Windows Security is enough and when extra privacy, parental, or identity tools make a paid suite worth it.
Make sure you understand how all our picks differ before settling on any one choice. For instance, Norton is great for all around value, but Avast is great for ease of use, AVG for budget buyers, Avira Prime for beginners, McAfee for the privacy-conscious, and Panda for a surfeit of features. Not to mention what Windows Security brings to the table at no cost at all.
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Why you should trust PCWorld for antivirus reviews: PCWorld has been deep in the trenches of testing computer hardware, software, and services since 1983—including security suites. As users of PC hardware and software, we run all products through rigorous testing, with plenty of hands-on evaluation and benchmarks (when the later is applicable). We don’t recommend gear or apps we wouldn’t use ourselves.
Best antivirus of 2026 reviewed and ranked
Norton 360 Deluxe – Best antivirus for PC overall
Pros
Strong antivirus protection
Wide protection against major online threats
Simple, straightforward features
Cons
Performance impact on some PCs
User interface would benefit from consolidation
Upselling of additional services
Price When Reviewed:
5 devices I $49.99 first year I renews at $124.99/yr
Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide
Who should buy Norton 360 Deluxe?
Norton 360 Deluxe works for everyone—it consolidates all the biggest protections you need online into one affordable package, including parental controls. If you have trouble keeping up with security experts’ recommendations (or haven’t yet gotten around to following all of them), this suite centralizes and simplifies it all. That’s how it won out as our pick for the best antivirus software of 2026.
This plan has just about everything most PC users need, without extra bloat. For antivirus performance, Norton offers strong online protection, while having minimal impact on system resources if you don’t often download or copy large amounts of files. Additionally, you get malicious link and attachment screening, dark web and privacy monitoring, and webcam safeguards. Norton also tosses in 50GB of storage for cloud backups, access to Norton’s password manager and VPN, parental controls, and PC utilities that include the ability to monitor for outdated software. And those major extras—the password manager, VPN, and parental controls—have easy, simple interfaces, without feeling stripped to the bone.
Norton 360 Deluxe: Further Considerations
As part of its efforts to consolidate online security protections into a single software interface, Norton sports a refreshed user interface. It also began promising better scam protection at the beginning of the year, in addition to its other features. And despite all this value, its pricing remains very reasonable. For the first year, you’ll pay $50 for five devices, and then $120 per year thereafter.
Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide
Who should buy Avast One?
For those seeking utter ease of use, Avast One not only offers solid protection, but a simple, friendly interface. Combine that together with useful extra features and multi-device coverage, and you have a winning combo.
In addition to top-ranked antivirus protection, it offers safeguards against remote webcam takeovers, malicious websites, and trackers. The Avast One plan also includes dark web monitoring, a VPN with unlimited bandwidth, and protections for saved passwords to a browser. You get utilities to help you keep your PC’s drivers up to date, clean up your PC, and optimize your apps, too.
These features may sound standard, and to be fair, many of them can be found in rival software. But Avast makes staying on top of security dead simple, whether you’re a novice or a security veteran. Its default settings require little input to keep your PC protected, and if you want to dig in further or tinker, you still have that option, too.
Avast One: Further Considerations
Unlike Norton 360 Deluxe (our top pick), Avast One does not come with a password manager, nor parental controls. As a result, it doesn’t cost as much. You have the option of the 1+1 device plan (PC and mobile) for $38.99/yr ($77.99 thereafter); or you can cover 10 devices for $49.99/yr ($99.99 thereafter).
Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide
Who should buy AVG Internet Security?
AVG is best known for its excellent free antivirus software, but there’s good reason to upgrade. AVG Internet Security not only offers more comprehensive protection, but also easy management of those tools. That user-friendly interface is valuable if you find keeping up with online threats too overwhelming or time consuming.
The Internet Security plan builds upon the free version’s top-ranked protection against malware and web, email, and network threats. It also guards the passwords saved to your browsers; webcam takeovers; unknown access to files with sensitive data; malicious redirects for websites you’re trying to visit (aka DNS hijacking); and Windows Remote Desktop attacks. Dark web monitoring is included as well. And the app has minimal impact on system resources when monitoring your system in the background, though full scans can hit budget or older systems harder.
AVG Internet Security: Further Considerations
AVG Internet Security costs just $60 during the first year for 10 devices, with the fee rising to $100 thereafter. The price is fair, especially given the deeper control and more expansive protection compared to the free version. But without elements like parental controls, VPN, and a password manager, it doesn’t provide the same value as Norton 360 Deluxe.
Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide
Who should buy Avira Prime?
Avira Prime is one of the best choices for those seeking more help with managing their PC, thanks to its simple, clear interface and feature lineup. In addition to to solid antivirus protection, it offers a password manager, unlimited VPN, and a boatload of PC utilities that (among other things) can keep apps up to date, securely delete files, and back up data.
Thise security suite will best suit users seeking a simple antivirus suite, broad online protections, and robust PC utilities—and also want to use those latter tools for more confident management of their computer. Not every utility is a winner, but the overall set can help you identify and understand the more technical aspects of Windows and system upkeep.
Avira Prime: Further Considerations
The one major feature missing from Avira Prime is a set of parental controls. You can’t use it to filter web content or monitor device usage. The app also can hit older and budget PCs hard when full scans are running, if you’ve added or changed large amounts of files. But typically, it only minimally affects system performance when left to run in the background, so most people won’t notice Avira running.
For the first year, you’ll pay $60 for the first year, and then $105 for every year after. That first-year cost is slightly higher than our overall top pick, but if you prefer more newbie-friendly software, it’s worth the extra ten bucks.
Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide
Who should buy McAfee Total Protection?
Your personal information can be used against you online—and with data breaches so painfully common these days, it can be a relief to have help in tracking who has your info. For anyone who doesn’t have as much time to handle that work themselves, or even keep track of a separate service, McAfee Total Protection can serve as a central spot for managing all your online security concerns.
Total Protection hunts down current threats to PCs, with solid results. These days, dangers extend beyond just malware to identity and privacy issues, and this app addresses these just as much as it does ransomware and phishing sites.
That ID protection makes it stand out against competitors, especially if you pay to scale up the service. The plan we tested included dark web scanning for multiple pieces of personal information (email address, phone number, social security number, passport, driver’s license, date of birth, tax ID, credit card, usernames, and more). The app also offers to help change your password for online accounts, when applicable. VPN access is included as well.
McAfee Total Protection: Further Considerations
Mid-tier and budget machines can see impact on system resources when running McAfee scans. When we ran a full scan during a variety of common tasks (web browsing, document editing, etc), we noticed some dips in performance. You can mitigate this effect by timing scans for off hours, however.
Currently, McAfee Total Protection is available through third-party sellers (McAfee has turned its attention to its slightly newer McAfee+ plans on its website). We like this version still because of how extremely affordable it is—for example, a license on PCWorld’s own software site is just $19 per year, which covers up to 10 devices for one year.
Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide
Who should buy Panda Dome Complete?
All deluxe antivirus suites offer extra tools as part of their package, but Panda Dome Complete particularly stands out. It also has one of the most striking interfaces we’ve seen, while still putting everything right at your fingertips. Similar to Microsoft’s Bing homepage, Panda Dome features a beautiful background photo, with the interface elements placed on top of it.
A whole raft of utilities come with this suite, including a virtual keyboard, advanced virus removal, an update manager for your Windows apps, a disk defragmenter, hard drive cleaner, and startup apps manager. You also get Wi-Fi protection (which lets you see what devices are connected to your network), a password manager, parental controls, and a VPN that offers 150 megabytes of bandwidth per day.
In addition to offering reliable antivirus protection, Panda had the most minimal impact on system performance during our benchmarks. So minor, in fact, that in the real-world it worked out to no difference.
Panda Dome Complete: Further Considerations
As one of the most feature-rich offerings, Panda Dome Complete is among the more expensive options. You can purchase a subscription for $54 during the first year ($90 per year afterward), but that’s covers just one device. Fortunately, it only costs a little more to upgrade to a three device plan ($55 for the first year, $100 per year afterward) or five device plan ($54 for the first year, $110 per year afterward).
Windows Security (Microsoft Defender) – Best free antivirus for Windows
Pros
Built into Windows 10 and 11
Settings are easy to review and customize
Integrates with other security aspects of Windows
Cons
Tends toward false positives, especially with SmartScreen
Lacks the advanced features found in third-party products
Price When Reviewed:
Included with Windows 10 and 11
Who should choose Windows Security?
Windows’ built-in security suite is an excellent free antivirus option—as we discovered in our roundup of the best free antivirus—even if its protection isn’t quite as strong as third-party rivals when your PC is offline. It bundles together Defender, which monitors for viruses and malware; Firewall, which blocks malicious incoming traffic and suspicious outgoing traffic; ransomware protections (including controlled access to folders, as well as data recovery via OneDrive integration); app restrictions; and even basic parental controls.
The most important of these protections are automatically enabled in Windows—you don’t have to lift a finger to get real-time antivirus scanning or network protection. You will have to manually switch on some features, though, including ransomware folder controls and file recovery.
You can find more features in other antivirus suites, like online privacy tools, a VPN, and encrypted cloud backups. But this free protection comes preinstalled on Windows machines and does a good job of keeping you protected from most threats.
Windows Security: Further Considerations
To coax the most out of Windows Security, you will have to configure it. (See this Windows Security primer to learn more.) You’ll also need to separately choose and manage additional security services for optimum online protection—e.g., privacy tools, VPN, password manager, and encrypted cloud backup.
Surfshark One: This VPN software includes adequate antivirus protection with a clean, simple interface, but you’ll get more bang for your buck (and a lighter hit to your PC’s system resources) by choosing rival security software with a stronger focus on antivirus protection.
McAfee+ Ultimate: This comprehensive all-in-one package offers strong antivirus protection and a vast array of online protections, but its apps, services, and tools could use more polish. Its scans also can tangibly decrease performance on mid-range and budget PCs.
Avast Premium Security: You can choose a couple of different paths when upgrading from Avast’s already excellent free antivirus software—and this branch of the company’s software leans hard into safeguarding your PC. However, a couple of buggy features keep this suite from standing out among its rivals.
Bitdefender Total Security: Superb antivirus defenses are packed into an easy-to-use app that includes a unique safe payment environment. However, it lacks some features you get with similarly priced suites, like a password manager.
Malwarebytes Premium Security: Technology newbies will like this antivirus software’s simplicity, but you can get more bang for your buck elsewhere.
Norton Antivirus Plus: Its one-device limitation is tight, but this simplified antivirus suite is affordable and offers more features than similar rivals. If you can work comfortably with its quirks and potentially heavy performance effect, it can be ideal software for digital minimalists.
Trend Micro Maximum Security: Even when you can count on Trend Micro Maximum Security to work, this beginner-friendly antivirus suite feels underbaked. You can find much stronger malware protection, along with a more robust set of features, in rival software—and often at a lower price.
How we test antivirus software
Our approach to testing antivirus software is multi-pronged—we look not just at how well the suite catches malware and other threats (though that’s certainly a top factor), but other elements as well.
First, we spend some time in the interface, to determine if it’s simple or complex to use. Ideally, it should take just a click or two to find vital tools like PC scanning, and also the password manager and VPN (if included). Elements that are clickable should be clear, too. And alerts should make sense — you should both understand what they are telling you and they should be relevant to what you’re doing.
We also look at the available features. Reputable antivirus suites should include basics like real-time protection and deeper scans. Better subscription plans will also add on a password manager or a firewall. Overall, we try to figure out if the extras are helpful, or just another marketing bullet point.
To evaluate how hard an antivirus app will hit your PC’s system resources, we run several benchmarks. The first is PCMark 10’s Extended test, which simulates various workloads, including editing documents, web browsing, video chatting, and light gaming. Second is UL Procyon, focusing on document editing in Microsoft Office apps—e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Then, as the most punishing test, we run Handbrake to transcode a large video into a smaller one. This encoding task often utilizes 100 percent of the CPU on many home PCs.
When performing benchmarks, we first run all three tests on our Windows 11 PC before installing the antivirus suite under review. Then we install the app and run the benchmarks again, as an approximation of how the app behaves while running in the background. Finally, we open the software and fire up full scans continuously while running each benchmark again. Afterward, we compare the scores to look for any decline, and note the amount.
Currently, the laptop we use for testing is an Acer Aspire 3 15 with an AMD Ryzen 5 7520U, 8GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD. We use a clean install of Windows 11 when testing each security suite.
For calculating an antivirus suite’s detection abilities, we rely on the testing of dedicated security researchers. Most often, we look at reports from organizations like AV Comparatives and AV Test.
We also evaluate pricing for each subscription, as well as the features you get for the price.
Generally, we do the bulk of our testing using free trials to understand what customers will actually see. Any review codes provided by companies are used to take clean screenshots for the review (i.e. free of reminders to upgrade or buy).
Alaina Yee is PCWorld’s security editor, with over 15 years of consumer tech journalism experience spanning PC hardware, software, and online security coverage.
How to choose the best antivirus software
When shopping for antivirus software, you want to be mindful of the must-haves versus the nice-to-haves. The former consists of core protection and usability features: If an antivirus program doesn’t offer the following three things, it’s doing it wrong:
High detection rate for malware and other threats, both online and offline
Low use of system resources
A simple, clear interface
Beyond that, it’s up to you what other additional features are necessary from your antivirus. Security suites now come packed with extras like a backup service for essential files, mobile apps for Android and iOS, advanced firewall features, content restriction and GPS location for family members, and the ability to install the app on multiple computers. Access to a VPN and a password manager have become more common, too. Your budget and personal situation will dictate if you need these additional features.
If you’re looking to go beyond the basics, our baseline recommendation is to find a suite that comes with a firewall, supports enough devices to cover what you own, and (if you don’t already have separate services set up) access to a password manager and VPN. Not sure if you need all that? Our guides on security suite features, password managers, and VPNs can help you decide.
FAQ
1.
What is the best antivirus software?
Norton 360 Deluxe is our top pick for antivirus. It’s a very comprehensive security suite with a simple app that offers strong antivirus protection and protection against online threats, as well as a whole boatload of features—parental controls, storage for cloud backups, a password manager, VPN, and PC utilities. We like it for how extensive yet affordable the service is—you’ll be hard-pressed to find a comparable rival.
2.
What is the best free antivirus software?
If you’re reading this on a Windows machine, you already have it installed. Windows Security is a superb free antivirus option that covers all the basics, including ransomware protection and light parental controls—and it’s automatically enabled if no other antivirus software is installed on your PC. Its only downside? You’ll must tweak its settings to get the most of it, and also still sign up for other security services like a password manager for well-rounded online protection.
3.
Is antivirus necessary in 2026?
Unfortunately, yes. Viruses, malware, and other online threats have only increased and become more sophisticated over time. Spending time on the internet or attaching any external drives to your computer without antivirus software is like going into battle without a stitch of armor.
4.
Is Windows 10/11’s built-in Microsoft Defender antivirus enough, or should you pay for more?
While Windows Security (which includes Microsoft Defender) performs well, the best third-party antivirus software have even higher rates of detecting threats. The top antivirus apps also offer more control over settings, detailed logs of your PC’s activity, a more user-friendly interface, and additional features to strengthen your online security beyond just viruses and malware. So strictly speaking, a Windows PC doesn’t need third-party antivirus software, but you can benefit from more comprehensive online protection. (Macs also need antivirus software.)
5.
Will antivirus software slow down my computer?
The short answer is maybe, but probably not. Antivirus software scans files and programs to ensure there is no malware or other harmful threat present. The longer the time frame between each scan, the more files the program will need to check. These intensive scans may have some noticeable effect on your computer speed. It’s therefore recommended that you schedule your scans to run more frequently and/or at night so as to not impact your computer usage.
While antivirus software can affect the speed of your computer, it is most likely not the only factor—or even the most prominent. Other factors such as unnecessary startup and background programs, insufficient RAM, or even undiagnosed malware can have more drastic effects on your computer speed than a simple antivirus scan.
6.
Should you pay for antivirus?
It depends on what antivirus features are most important to you. Do you just need a program that will scan, detect, and remove malware? Then go with a free version. But if you are looking for more advanced features such as the ability to block webcam hacking, run suspicious apps in a sandbox environment, and permanently delete sensitive files, then you should seriously consider upgrading to a paid premium antivirus service.
Overall, premium antivirus software is better suited to more complete coverage against threats—especially for inexperienced users. Children and seniors are particularly vulnerable to modern threats and therefore paid antivirus apps, which allow for multiple-device protection, may be a better option for families.
7.
How many antivirus programs are recommended for one computer?
These days, most antivirus software are full suites. They take over completely for Windows’ built-in protection, and that single suite is all you need. More than that, and the different apps can start to conflict with one another. So no need to double up!
8.
What should I do if my antivirus detects a threat?
In a perfect world, your antivirus software will halt and clean the infected files for you. However, this largely depends on which antivirus program you are using.
In general, the antivirus will send a warning to you and try to quarantine the infected file in order to keep it from spreading. Once isolated, the software will give you the option to try to remove the infection or delete the file altogether.
9.
What is the difference between a full scan and a quick scan?
A full scan performs a comprehensive and thorough check of your whole system. It usually checks your system memory, startup programs, system backup, email databases, hard drives, and any removable storage drives.
A quick scan only checks a few areas including startup programs, system memory, and boot sectors. It may not detect all malware, but it can usually give you an idea if your computer has a virus.
As to when you should do either, we recommend a full scan once per week, during computer usage downtime (such as late at night). A quick scan can be done anytime you like, but it’s usually only necessary if you notice suspicious activity on your PC.
10.
Do I need to update my antivirus software?
Absolutely! Keeping your antivirus software up-to-date is crucial in helping you to avoid the most recent threats.
That being said, most antivirus software today—whether free or paid—will default to automatic updates. This way you don’t need to worry about manually updating your software. It may still be worth checking to confirm that your antivirus is running the most up-to-date version from time to time.
11.
What features should my antivirus software have?
Great question—especially since antivirus software continues to add more and more components to help keep you safe online. At absolute bare minimum, your app should have a scanner to protect against malware and online threats like phishing sites and a firewall. But other services like remote access protection, individual file encryption, and a password manager can be helpful too. Our breakdown of antivirus software features lays out the details you need to know, so that you can decide what you need.
There’s a brand new platform for Windows-powered laptops arriving soon, with a familiar name and some shockingly high prices. If you’ve been following the high-end hardware news in 2026… then I’m sorry. But possibly the most exciting thing to land in some time is Nvidia’s Spark RTX, an Arm-based chip that’s now going into consumer laptops, headlined by the Surface Laptop Ultra.
“Consumer” gets a bit of an asterisk there. While these Arm-based laptops are at least somewhat similar to Qualcomm-powered Snapdragon models we’ve seen for the last few years, there’s nothing spare or affordable about them. With chips custom-tuned for “AI” at every level, tons of speedy, expensive integrated RAM, and an integrated GPU that matches an RTX 5070 (at least on paper), Nvidia and its partners want these laptops to hit at the high end.
They certainly land at high-end prices. RTX Spark laptops start at $2,600 USD, and only get more expensive. Microsoft’s flagship Surface Laptop Ultra is a cool three grand at the recommended configuration. Pre-orders are available now, and shipments should be arriving next week. Here’s an at-a-glance look at all the RTX Spark laptops announced so far:
Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra — $2,600 to $5,900
Mark Hachman / Foundry
CPU: 20-core or 18-core
GPU: Blackwell 6244-core or 5120-core
Screen: 15-inch 3270×2180 touchscreen
RAM: 24GB, 32GB, 48GB, 64GB, or 128GB
Storage: 512GB gen5, 1TB Gen5, or 2TB gen5
Ports: 3 USB-C (USB 4 spec), one USB-A, SD card reader, HDMI, hedaphone jack
Battery: “Up to 15 hours of local playback”, 92 watt-hour
Weight: 4.41 pounds (2 kilograms)
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra is the flagship of this push, ranging from an at least believable $2,600 all the way to an insane $5,900, if you load it up with the maximum RAM and storage. The magnetic USB-C charger is neat.
Asus ProArt P14 — $2,600 to $6,500
Asus
CPU: 20-core or 18-core
GPU: Blackwell 6244-core or 5120-core
Screen: 14-inch 2880×1800 OLED touchscreen
RAM: 24GB, 32GB, 48GB or 128GB
Storage: 512GB Gen4 or 1TB Gen4
Ports: 3 USB-C (USB 4 spec), one USB-A, HDMI, SD card, headphone jack
Battery: 90 watt-hour
Weight: 3.26 pounds (1.48 kilograms)
Asus offers a slightly smaller take with the ProArt P14, sharing the same moniker as its well-regarded “creator” series.
Asus ProArt P16 — $2,800 to $7,000
Asus
CPU: 20-core or 18-core
GPU: Blackwell 6244-core or 5120-core
Screen: 16-inch 3840×2400 OLED touchscreen
RAM: 24GB, 32GB, 64GB or 128GB
Storage: 512GB Gen4, 1TB Gen4, or 2TB Gen4
Ports: 3 USB-C (USB 4 spec), one USB-A, HDMI, SD card, headphone jack
Battery: 99.9 watt-hour
Weight: 3.9 pounds (1.77 kilograms)
This bigger variant from Asus packs a 4K screen and an even bigger battery, impressively still sliding under the four-pound mark. But c’mon, Asus, for seven thousand dollars you couldn’t toss in a Gen5 SSD?
Dell doesn’t seem ready to launch its highest-end XPS laptop, with a lot of specs still missing and/or inconsistent with retail listings. The cheapest configuration features 32GB of RAM, but there will be a 128GB version, presumably at a much higher price than is listed in pre-orders. It’s also considerably thicker and heavier than the Intel-based XPS 16.
HP OminBook Ultra 16 — $3,200 to (at least) $5,000
HP’s top-of-the-line OmniBook looks like an affordable and practical choice, at least in this crazy lineup. It defaults to the more beefed-up 20-core Spark chip with the faster GPU, and springs for Gen 5 SSDs. You also get two USB-A ports for older gadgets.
A smaller HP RTX Spark laptop, the OmniBook X 14, has been announced. It doesn’t appear to be ready for the October launch.
Lenovo offers one of the only choices for a convertible laptop in the initial RTX Spark lineup, which makes sense, as its top-of-the-line Yoga series sells itself on flexibility. It also comes with a stylus in the box. But where are the ThinkPads and Legion laptops with this hardware?
All of these models are available for pre-order now, though they’re scattered across manufacturers and retailers. (MSI has also announced a Prestige N16 with a convertible screen, but I haven’t been able to find a pre-order page for it.) In the U.S., Best Buy seems to have the best selection of pre-orders. Pre-orders should arrive on October 16th, or slightly later, depending on the usual factors.
For the past couple of years, Microsoft has made a concerted effort to move users from the classic Outlook app for Windows 11 to “new” Outlook, a web-based app.
If you’re using new Outlook, you should take advantage of the ability to back up your account settings. These settings are stored in the ‘UserSettings.json’ file, which you can find in the ‘C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Olk’ folder. If you have set up multiple accounts in Outlook, you will find separate configuration files in each of the individual user folders.
To create a backup, copy this file or these files to another secure location, or include them in the backups created by your backup software. To restore the configuration, simply copy the JSON file back to its original location.
If the Olk folder is missing — for example, after reinstalling Outlook — create it manually. The configuration will be applied automatically when you start Outlook.
For years — decades, really — the entry point inside Windows has been the Start menu. But from what Microsoft showed as part of its AI vision for Windows 11 this week, Start might be on its way out. Instead, Windows Search may be the app you connect with first when you want to get things done.
Yes, Windows Search, the humble search box buried in your taskbar and at the top of the Start menu. Microsoft plans to embed even more functions inside it, including Actions, essentially mini-widgets for controlling features like Windows’ dark mode. Think of it like a chat box already built into your PC, and you can start to see where this is going.
Eventually, Windows Search will start calling on other applications, including Copilot, to provide answers and complete tasks. Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft’s executive vice president of Windows, says “thousands” of these actions are headed your way by year’s end.
You’re not just searching. You’re doing. Weird. Or is it?
Let’s back up a bit. In July, Microsoft said it was moving to a quieter, purpose-built iteration of Windows Search, following an earlier mega-memo about simplifying and focusing Windows. That included cutting out unnecessary uses of Copilot — bye, Notepad Copilot — and moving to a new framework called WinUI 3, which Microsoft thinks is more efficient and will speed up Windows as a whole.
Old and new: to the right is where Windows Search is now. Read on for its next evolution.
That’s happening, Microsoft said this week, as part of an update provided to Microsoft’s Experimental Insider Channel. Windows is getting faster! That’s good.
But from a design standpoint, things are getting a little odd. Originally, the Search app featured recommended content, highlighting offbeat holidays like World Otter Day and suggesting games to play. That was too unfocused, so the July update pared back the recommended content. The update also polished features such as detailed document previews, making it easier to make sure you had the right file.
Previews will return to Windows Search this fall, but in a new format.
However, Microsoft’s upcoming Search update concluded that not enough people were clicking on the previews — were they supposed to? — so those rather nice-looking previews are disappearing, too.
For now, anyway. Later this year, Windows Search will add those document and web page previews back as small cards in the list of Search results, along with “widgets” like weather and stock price, plus visual results for queries like “How tall is the Eiffel Tower?” Too rich? Not rich enough? Microsoft can’t seem to make up its mind.
Windows chief Pavan Davuluri explains Microsoft’s new AI vision within Windows.
Mark Hachman / Foundry
What “hybrid intelligence” means to you
This isn’t about two design teams squaring off in the cafeteria over variable fonts, though. There’s a reason. Windows Search is responsible for turning up the right document and information both on the user’s PC and online, and that dichotomy is the tricky balance Microsoft is carefully navigating.
Wednesday’s official launch of the Surface Book Ultra and competing third-party devices ushered in what Microsoft calls “hybrid intelligence,” a way of balancing intelligence based in the cloud (Bing, Copilot) with information stored and searched for on the PC (File Explorer). Nvidia’s RTX Spark superchip (tied to a Mediatek Arm CPU) is being asked to run AI locally on the PC. Well, some AI, anyway — Microsoft wants to balance how cloud and local AI interact.
It just so happens that Windows Search is one of the first places where this battle is being fought.
In addition to the cards or widgets that Windows Search plans to add, there will be Actions, which Microsoft began talking about last year: turn on dark mode, adjust your mic volume, or turn on “do not disturb.” You can take a screenshot or adjust your windows positions, too. All of these capabilities have seeped into Windows over time, from the short-lived effort to have Copilot control your PC to adjustments made in the search bar within Windows 11’s Settings. Heck, Windows 10’s Cortana even allowed some of these changes.
Cortana allowed you to send texts! Now Windows 11 will, too.
Mark Hachman / Foundry
“You can make these changes as fast as you can type,” Davuluri said.
Copilot: less of an app, more of an ingredient
That seems like a signal. Windows Search feels more like an iteration of Copilot than it ever has, where users type in what they want and Windows responds. That’s not far-fetched! Microsoft wants Copilot to “know” what’s on your PC, just as it wants it to know what you’re working on. It’s not that far from Microsoft understanding that the “Contoso spreadsheet” refers to a specific file to wondering if you want to book that same hotel in Maui you visited last year.
(And it’s still a little scary.)
Jacob Andreou, the executive tasked to lead the Copilot experience at Microsoft, showed Copilot with a big toggle switch next to “Hybrid Intelligence,” implying you’ll be able to flip it off if you want. Of course, the idea is that you won’t.
Do you trust Microsoft to leave in the toggle switch?
“Copilot now has access to three new things,” Andreou said. “First, local context. Local context means that Copilot can now [access] all of the local files on your PC… Second, local actions. Local actions means that Copilot can now take action directly on my machine. It can move files, it can change a setting, it has the same level of the ability to control and change things that I do as a user, but always with permission.”
Copilot will also use the cloud when needed for complex tasks, but where “cost and privacy matter more, it can delegate down to local models that run directly on your computer,” Andreou added.
Last month, Microsoft detailed a major update to Copilot, which would let you vibe-code Windows apps (Code) and design and set loose agents (Autopilot) on your PC. Andreou showed off how Autopilot could respond to a task from an accountant, assembling a bunch of tax documents.
In the demo, Autopilot searched the user’s inbox, assembled the documents from OneDrive, the Documents folder, and other locations, collected them into a folder, renamed the files (?!) and then even bundled them into a zipped archive. Copilot then authored a email response and waited for approval.
Renaming files, zipping files…Copilot will have control.
“Copilot now truly understands your PC,” Andreou said, adding that this is Copilot “natively designed for Windows.” These new features will arrive in the next couple of months, he said.
Is the future of PC work just giving orders?
At one time, you typed in an address into a web browser. You visited Google to search. Today, every browser in existence allows you to search right from the URL bar and a similar transition feels like it’s occurring on the PC. Did I mention that you’ll be able to access Copilot from Windows Search, too?
Microsoft has promised features like putting your PC into dark mode for years. And yet, time and again, it hasn’t quite delivered. It feels like Microsoft wants PC computing to be less about moving windows around with a mouse and more about telling your PC what to do. I mean, you’ll even be able to install LLMs when you set up a new PC.
I’m sure that there will be more than one way to perform all these tasks, such as launching the Copilot app directly. But Microsoft wants to take its new AI-powered Windows and build a front door. And, well, who would have thought? That door is apparently Windows Search.
When you’ve reviewed as many tech products as I have, you wind up with dozens of abandoned online accounts, most of them created and forgotten the moment I was done with my testing.
Over the years, I’d started to wonder: How many of those accounts are still floating around, idle but still active? Good question, and I’m sure I’m not the only one curious about the online accounts they’ve left behind.
A good method for tracking down forgotten online accounts is to scour your inbox for signup confirmations, and Consumer Reports has a detailed explainer on how to do just that. But I was curious to take it a step further, enlisting Claude’s help for a prompt that would automate the process, sifting through my email for me to catalog the accounts I’d collected over the years.
This prompt takes two of Consumer Reports’s best ideas — searching through your email, as well as checking sites like haveibeenowned.com for possible account breaches — and hands the busywork to Claude Cowork or another AI agent, like Google’s Gemini Spark, Meta’s Muse, or a ChatGPT Dot.
Now, this prompt does involve giving your agent access to your email, typically via a Gmail integration or connector (and all the four AI agents I just mentioned have one). If that prospect makes you uncomfortable — and that’s a perfectly reasonable reaction — by all means, skip this prompt.
Still here? OK, here’s the prompt we’re going to use:
Search my email from the last 5 years for signs that I created an account somewhere — welcome emails, “verify your email” or “confirm your account” messages, and password-reset emails. Build a new spreadsheet (a Google Sheet if you can) with one row per service: service name, website, date of the earliest signup email, date of the most recent email from them, and whether the service appears on haveibeenpwned.com’s public list of breached websites (with the breach year). For each service, find its official account-deletion page and add the link; if you can’t find one, write “not found” — don’t guess. Put services I haven’t heard from in 2+ years at the top. Don’t sign in anywhere, request password resets, type my email address into any website, delete anything, or contact anyone.
This is a lengthy prompt, by design; rather than trying to prompt to alter an AI’s behavior, we’re telling the agent what we want it to do — and what not to do.
Namely, this is a passive, hands-off search, meaning the agent won’t try to log onto any outside websites or ping anyone about your accounts. That also goes for the haveibeenowned.com search, with the agent only checking whether a given service has recently been compromised rather than plugging in your particular email address.
When you’re done, you’ll get a spreadsheet that details all the online accounts the agent found, with the ones that appear the most dormant at the top.
I tried this prompt with all four of the biggest consumer-level AI agents, and they all spat out their spreadsheets within anywhere from five minutes to half an hour. Each agent tagged at least 50 accounts, with my ChatGPT Dot leading the pack with 73 accounts detected.
Looking over the spreadsheets, many of the discovered accounts are ones I recognized and use frequently: Facebook, Netflix, Hulu, Instagram, Microsoft, and Disney+ are all there, along with SeatGeek, Roborock, and OpenTable.
But there were also some surprises and “oh, right”-type finds. I’d forgotten all about the Bowers & Wilkins account I’d signed up for way back in 2022 (I must have been reviewing a pair of B&W headphones), as well as a Hawaii Pacific Health MyChart account from 2023 (created, as I now recall, after I’d broken my toe during a Honolulu vacation).
I also spotted a Dunkin’ Rewards account I have no memory of signing up for, along with Dick’s Sporting Goods (huh?), Golf Galaxy (no clue), and strangest of all, LocalFlirt (which, as it turns out, was one of those random “confirm your account” emails that slipped past my Gmail spam filter).
The spreadsheets also include links for deleting the various accounts, although roughly half of them came back with “not found” or simply point to privacy FAQs. You’ll also see which of the various services have suffered recent breaches, although again, those notes don’t pertain to your specific email address.
In any event, this “find my old accounts” prompt is a good example of the kind of busywork AI agents are good at, and I’ll be teeing up more for you in the weeks ahead.
Last week, Amazon launched a new Fire TV Stick 4K with a bold claim: It’s nearly 20 to 40 percent faster, the company says, than “a similarly priced 4K streaming stick from another leading brand.”
Amazon won’t name the competitor, but in my own tests, the advantage over comparably priced streamers isn’t so clear-cut.
What I tested
Amazon’s own comparison video is impossible to test because it doesn’t show real-world results. Instead, it’s just a mock-up “for illustrative purposes,” based on Amazon’s measurements of “time from content selection to playback” in “the three most popular apps.” In addition to not naming the rival streamer, Amazon won’t say which apps it tested.
So I decided to conduct my own measurements instead, looking at how long a few similarly priced streamers take to boot up, wake from standby, and start streaming. I also measured their ability to quickly switch between different apps.
For these tests, I pitted the new Fire TV Stick 4K against Walmart’s Onn 4K Plus and Roku’s Streaming Stick Plus. Both Amazon’s and Roku’s sticks cost $60 and are often on sale for less. Walmart’s device is a small box rather than a streaming dongle, but it has a cheaper regular price of $50. (Walmart also sells a less-powerful dongle for $40, but that’s not a fair comparison unless Amazon lowers the Fire TV Stick 4K’s retail price.)
Boot times
Here’s how long it takes to fully load each streaming device’s home screen after unplugging it and plugging it back in again.
Fire TV Stick 4K: 23 seconds
Onn 4K Plus: 33 seconds
Roku Streaming Stick Plus: 22 seconds
Roku has a slight edge here, though in most cases it won’t matter. If your device is plugged into an outlet, or your TV’s USB port supplies power when it’s off, rebooting will be a rare occurrence.
(That said, it’s too bad Amazon’s and Roku’s streamers no longer ship with wall chargers or lengthy USB cables. If you want to plug them into an outlet — for instance, because your TV’s eco mode disables USB power when it’s off — you’ll have to bring your own charger.)
Launching Netflix
For this test, I waited until each streaming device’s home screen was fully rendered, then timed how long it took to load Netflix and start playing a video:
Fire TV Stick 4K: 32 seconds
Onn 4K Plus: 43 seconds
Roku Streaming Stick Plus: 39 seconds
I also ran a second test, waiting an extra 30 seconds before jumping into Netflix. This gave each device more time to fully boot:
Fire TV Stick 4K: 15 seconds
Onn 4K Plus: 23 seconds
Roku Streaming Stick Plus: 19 seconds
The Fire TV Stick 4K was the clear winner on both cases, validating Amazon’s claim of being 20 to 40 percent faster than the competition at least when Netflix is involved.
Launching Apple TV
While testing, I noticed that Netflix was launching faster from boot-up than other apps. To rule out any potential special treatment, I decided to run the same tests as above with the Apple TV app:
Fire TV Stick 4K: 30 seconds
Onn 4K Plus: 33 seconds
Roku Streaming Stick Plus: 29 seconds
And here are the results with a 30-second wait after booting:
Fire TV Stick 4K: 25 seconds
Onn 4K Plus: 24 seconds
Roku Streaming Stick Plus: 27 seconds
Interestingly enough, the Fire TV Stick 4K loses its advantage here, though the results are pretty similar across all three devices.
Fast app switching
The only thing better than an app that loads quickly is one that loads instantly. To that end, I tested how many apps you can switch between before any of them required a full reload:
Fire TV Stick 4K: 3 apps
Onn 4K Plus: 5 apps
Roku Streaming Stick Plus: 4 apps
The Onn 4K Plus has 2GB of RAM, versus 1GB on the other streamers, so it’s no surprise that Walmart’s box can keep more apps in memory. While its boot times are slower, it can feel faster as a result.
Waking from standby
Both the Fire TV Stick 4K and Onn 4K Plus enter sleep mode after 15 to 20 minutes of inactivity, while Roku streamers just show a screensaver indefinitely. Here’s how long each of them took to get back to their home screens:
Fire TV Stick 4K: 5 seconds
Onn 4K Plus: 2 seconds
Roku Streaming Stick Plus: 2 seconds
While Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K is a few seconds slower, you’ll probably end up waiting longer for your TV to power on anyway.
Looking beyond load times
Jared Newman / Foundry
While it’s fun to measure these things and deflate Amazon’s marketing, ultimately a few seconds’ difference in load times won’t make or break the experience. What really matters is how easy it is to find what you’re looking for in the first place.
On that front, the new Fire TV Stick 4K is similar to Amazon’s other streamers, with the same major home screen redesign that started rolling out earlier this year. It looks and behaves similarly to the Google TV software on Walmart’s Onn devices, but of course with more emphasis on Amazon Prime content.
It’s also running Amazon’s new Vega operating system, which has more limited app support and does not allow sideloaded apps. The new system is more for Amazon than for you, but it’s also inevitable as Amazon says it won’t make any new streaming devices based on its old Android-based platform.
All of which means that if you’re okay with the Fire TV experience, the new Fire TV Stick 4K could be a nice upgrade. Just don’t expect it to help you get where you’re going much faster.
You’ve heard all of the stories about skyrocketing laptop and PC component costs. You’re trying to limit your tech expenses. Is there any way you can improve your workstation in 2026 that’s not completely going to bust your budget?
There is. The one upgrade that you can and should make without hesitation right now your monitor — or monitors. A 27-inch 4K monitor can now cost less than many individual PC upgrades.
You’ve probably heard this argument before: invest in something you’ll use for hours at a time. At night, you should sleep for (hopefully!) eight hours on a comfortable, supportive mattress. During the workday, you constantly touch a keyboard, but you’re always viewing the fruits of your labors on a display or two in front of you. Though some people might still work from just a laptop, I’m betting that the 2020 pandemic prompted you to set up a home office with at least a single external display. Let’s dig into why it’s time to upgrade your monitor.
Welcome to PCWorld’s newsletter, Smart Mode! The focus of this newsletter is productivity: from software to hardware to peripherals, all with the idea to get what you need to get done, efficiently.
I’m your host, Mark Hachman, covering the productivity tips, tools, and trends that you need to know about, both from within PCWorld and beyond. If you want the latest issue in your inbox each week, just sign up right here.
Big is better
You may have heard that more displays equal more productivity; larger displays do, too. A study (funded by NEC) found that 20-inch monitors returned an 18 percent improvement in performing tasks than an 18-inch monitor.
If you own a Thunderbolt dock, you’re often best served by adding more displays. Is this overkill?
Satechi
And that makes sense, given that a 27-inch 16:9 display has about 3.5 times the display area of a 14-inch 16:10 laptop screen. You can simply see more.
Likewise, an 18-study meta-review in 2021 also found that users uniformly preferred using at least two displays, and there was moderate evidence that they reduced desktop interactions, improving efficiency. So there’s evidence that buying more, larger displays works. A display with a 60Hz refresh rate is standard, but a higher refresh rate is easier on your eyes — if you can afford one, I think they’re worth it.
My workspace includes a pair of Acer 4K 160Hz (XV275K P3) 27-inch displays (provided by Acer) that I use for testing the 4K capabilities of Thunderbolt 5 docks. They’re excellent for testing the high-end capabilities of I/O hardware, but they’re absolutely overkill for the average home office. Even two 27-inch displays can take up a great deal of desk space, which is why I rotate one into a vertical or portrait mode.
New features for the same price?!
So there’s an argument to be made for buying an upgraded display just on the numbers alone…but there’s more to it than just that.
In 2024, IDC found that the average price of a display actually decreased. That was the result of “normal” market forces. Then 2025 arrived, and…display prices were hit again? Absolutely. Because the price of memory and storage skyrocketed, display prices benefited — laptop makers were desperate to find some place to save a buck, and displays were the answer. Panel makers pushed prices down. Obviously rising memory costs overshadowed that, at least for notebooks. However, the cost of IPS panels (and IPS displays) remained relatively flat, according to reports.
Meanwhile, OLED displays entered the picture. In 2023, laptop makers like Samsung started building in self-emissive OLED displays into laptops like the Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360, amazing everyone (me included) with their high-contrast displays, making video content pop. Quickly, however, they began adding the features IPS display buyers had become used to: higher and higher refresh rates, plus a greater number and diversity of I/O options, such as USB-C/Thunderbolt I/O.
Don’t worry about going too big. A monitor arm or even the ability to rotate the display into portrait mode can save desk space while still preserving the benefits of a large monitor.
Pexels
Ideally, given what I’ve just recommended (about 27 inches, 4K, 60Hz refresh rate or better) we would simply add OLED to the mix to create what’s approaching (at least for me!) the perfect productivity monitor. We’re not quite there yet, unfortunately. While 4K, high-refresh-rate OLED displays exist, they’re typically considered to be gaming monitors like this Samsung 32-inch Odyssey OLED G7 ($749.99 at Amazon, 32% off at press time). Great display! I’d love to have it! But it’s still a little rich for my blood.
Instead, if you’re willing to drop down a notch, consider this 27-inch Samsung Odyssey OLED or this Acer Predator 26.5-inch 240Hz OLED for $314.99. Both are 1440p displays, rather than true 4K, so there’s an unfortunate compromise. Still, doesn’t that seem a lot more affordable than a new PC?
In my opinion, monitor prices have not only held steady throughout the past year or two, but they’ve shown continual improvement by adding new features and technologies. Something tech-related that’s improved while holding prices constant? Is that actually possible in 2026?
So what should you buy?
Remember, monitors typically fall into one or two categories: gaming and office productivity. I would recommend that you review our recent recommendations for productivity displays to see if in any deals are in effect. We list the current prices, so you’ll be able to check for deals.
If you’re seeing this the day I published it, my colleague Michael Crider recently saw a 27-inch, 240Hz OLED gaming monitor on sale for $300 at Best Buy, at 1440p resolution. Snag it if it’s still there!
AI is such a controversial subject these days, and I generally avoid it in favor of my own knowledge and expertise. But AI tools are certainly tempting, especially for cutting out some of the busy work. Cal Newport reminds me of this report from The Wall Street Journal earlier this year, where using AI tools required constant supervision — and supervision meant a loss of focus. That’s something for both you and me to think about, I think. Feel free to drop me a line on Bluesky or Twitter/X if you have any ideas.
Thanks for reading!
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The Chuwi UniBook is a well-built, portable laptop with good battery life and connectivity. That said, its 8GB of RAM and mediocre display hold it back.
Price at time of review
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With the UniBook, Chuwi is introducing Intel’s affordable Wildcat Lake platform. At $449, the 14-inch laptop focuses on practicality rather than raw performance. Its key strengths are its lightweight form factor and wide selection of ports. The 8GB of RAM, however, raises questions about how it handles multitasking and more demanding tasks.
Christoph Hoffmann
Chuwi UniBook: Design and build quality
The dark grey UniBook has an understated look and feels significantly more substantial than its price would suggest. The lid, keyboard bezel, and underside are made from an anodized aluminum alloy. The matte surfaces show fingerprints only some fingerprints. Our test unit is neatly assembled. We found no sharp edges, uneven gaps, or creaking joints. The lid bends slightly in the middle, but remains stable during normal use. Even the keyboard yields only a little under firm pressure.
Measuring 12.38 × 8.70 × 0.65 inches, the UniBook takes up barely more space than a sheet of A4 paper. Chuwi states its weight as 2.65 pounds. This makes it significantly more portable than the MSI Modern 15, which, at 14.13 × 9.49 × 0.79 inches and 3.86 pounds, takes up more space in your bag. The compact 65-watt USB-C power adaptor also fits in well with the portable design.
Christoph Hoffmann
The hinge holds the screen securely in place and allows for an opening angle of 180 degrees. However, the base is too light to open with one hand.
Christoph Hoffmann
The backlit chiclet keyboard makes good use of the width of the chassis. The keys offer a clear actuation point and sufficient travel for longer texts. Two brightness levels make typing in dark environments easier. The backlighting shines through noticeably at the edges of the keys in places. Our test unit also features a US QWERTY layout without dedicated keys for umlauts and the ß. Prospective buyers should therefore check which keyboard layout the laptop comes with before purchasing. Due to the 14-inch format, there is no numeric keypad. The arrow keys are on the small side, but the rest of the layout remains clear and uncluttered.
Christoph Hoffmann
The touchpad measures approximately 12 × 7 centimeters. Its smooth surface responds precisely to movements. Clicks work across almost the entire surface, though they feel firmer at the top edge.
The matt 14-inch screen has a resolution of 1920×1200 pixels in the practical 16:10 aspect ratio. This provides more vertical space for documents than a standard Full HD panel. Text appears sharp, whilst IPS technology ensures consistent viewing angles. The refresh rate is 60 hertz. This is sufficient for Office and video streaming. However, photos look noticeably washed-out and color-accurate editing is out of the question. Outdoors, there is a lack of brightness reserve.
Christoph Hoffmann
The matt finish is a welcome feature, as it reduces distracting reflections. The display does not flicker. However, with dark images, the backlight shines through slightly at the edges.
Overall, Chuwi delivers impressive build quality. However, the UniBook does not match the torsional rigidity and build quality of more expensive premium devices.
Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26200 is pre-installed. Chuwi has omitted unnecessary additional programs, so the system appears tidy once set up.
Christoph Hoffmann
On our test unit, not all Intel components were correctly configured after the Windows setup. We had to install the available chipset, graphics and NPU drivers separately. Some of these are found by the Intel Driver and Support Assistant.
Christoph Hoffmann
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2024 is already pre-installed. The package includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. An additional Microsoft 365 subscription is not required to use it.
Christoph Hoffmann
Chuwi UniBook: Webcam, microphone, biometrics
The 722p webcam produces soft images with little detail. It’s adequate for occasional video conferences, but not for high-quality recordings. A mechanical slider covers the camera when required. An integrated microphone is also available for voice calls. T
he stereo speakers are loud enough, but the sound is thin and lacking in bass. Headphones are recommended for films and music.
Christoph Hoffmann
Biometric login is not possible. The UniBook has neither a fingerprint sensor nor an infrared camera for Windows Hello. To unlock the device, you must use a PIN, password, or an external security key.
Chuwi UniBook: Connectivity
In terms of ports, the UniBook outperforms many of its competitors. On the left-hand side are two USB-C ports with USB 3.2 Gen 1, DisplayPort output, and Power Delivery. There’s also an HDMI 1.4b port and a USB-A port with 5 Gbit/s.
Christoph Hoffmann
On the right-hand side, we find two further USB-A ports (one of which supports USB 2.0 only), a micro-SD card reader, Gigabit LAN, and a 3.5-millimetre jack. Both USB-C ports can charge the laptop and power a 4K display at 60 Hertz via HDMI. A maximum of 4K at 30 Hertz is possible.
Christoph Hoffmann
The Realtek RTL8852BE module supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. High data transfer rates are possible on compatible Wi-Fi networks, though Wi-Fi 6E is not supported. The wired Realtek interface delivers 1 Gbit/s. The fold-out network port is a nice feature, especially if you work from home.
Chuwi UniBook: Performance
The UniBook is powered by Intel’s Core 3 304 from the Wildcat Lake series. The 15-watt chip combines a fast performance core with four energy-efficient cores, as well as five threads. The maximum clock speed is 4.3 GHz, and the L3 cache is 6 MB. The processor is manufactured using the Intel 18A process. The architecture is modern, but the limited expansion options place tight constraints on performance.
Christoph Hoffmann
In PCMark 10, the laptop scored 4,917 points. The sub-scores of 7,765 points for basic functions and 8,099 points for productivity show that web browsers, Word, and spreadsheets run smoothly.
For digital content creation, the score drops to 5,130 points. Programs launch quickly, but running several large applications pushes the 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM to its limits. Unfortunately, the RAM is soldered in place and cannot be upgraded. Anyone using lots of browser tabs, Microsoft Teams, and image-editing software simultaneously should expect short delays.
Christoph Hoffmann
The 3DMark CPU Profile confirms the unbalanced core configuration. A single thread scores 1,027 points, while two threads reach 1,615 points. With four threads, the score is 2,691 points and the maximum score is 3,331 points.
The single P-core responds quickly, but during prolonged rendering or video conversion, additional powerful cores are needed. The UniBook is best suited for Office tasks, research, and media playback. Software development, large RAW projects, and video rendering require more patience.
Christoph Hoffmann
The integrated Intel graphics uses just one Xe3 core running at up to 2.3 GHz. Its performance is sufficient for navigating Windows’ interface and video playback.
In 3DMark Time Spy, the UniBook scores 893 points, although 3DMark flags the result with a warning. The graphics score is 783 points, while the CPU score is 4,383 points. Despite the lack of validation, the result suggests that the graphics performance is likely sufficient only for older or less demanding games.
Christoph Hoffmann
Demanding games run too slowly, even at 1080p. Newer 3DMark tests wouldn’t run because the graphics unit lacks hardware ray tracing and other DirectX 12 Ultimate features. According to the manufacturer, the NPU achieves 15 TOPS. This is sufficient for individual local AI functions, but does not meet the requirements of a Copilot Plus PC.
The 256 GB HOGE H750 NVMe SSD uses PCIe 3.0. CrystalDiskMark records sequential read speeds of 2,383 MB/s and write speeds of 2,101 MB/s. That’s respectable for a budget laptop. Around 237 GB is available after formatting, though Windows reduces the available space further. The M.2-2280 SSD can be swapped for a larger PCIe 3.0 or PCIe 4.0 model. A second SSD cannot be installed.
Christoph Hoffmann
The MSI Modern 15’s Ryzen 5 7530U processor offers six cores and twelve threads. It performs noticeably faster on parallelized tasks and features more powerful Radeon graphics. Its RAM is also not upgradeable.
The UniBook, on the other hand, is more compact, lighter, and has longer battery life. If you prioritize value above all else, you’re better off with an affordable Ryzen 5 model. For commuters, the Chuwi offers a good balance between size, battery life, and connectivity options.
Chuwi UniBook: Battery life
The built-in lithium-polymer battery has a capacity of 53.38 Wh. In our battery test, with the display brightness set to 150 cd/m², the UniBook lasted around 13 hours and 40 minutes. At maximum brightness, the battery life drops to just under twelve hours. This is more than enough for a working day involving word processing, web browsing, and short video conferences.
In idle mode, we measured power consumption of around 2.5 to 4.8 watts, depending on the display brightness. Under typical load, consumption rises to around 18 watts. For short periods, it can reach just over 50 watts.
The included 65-watt power adaptor has plenty of headroom and can charge via either of the two USB-C ports. A charge level of around 60 percent can be reached after about an hour. The manufacturer’s claim of up to 20 hours, however, depends heavily on light use and low display brightness. In everyday use, 12 to 14 hours is more realistic.
Chuwi UniBook: Cooling, noise level
The UniBook actively cools the Core 3 304 with a single fan. When idle or during light office work, the fan often stops running. As a result, the notebook operates silently.
Short periods of heavy processing usually result in only a faint hum. Under full load, the noise level briefly rises to over 40 dB(A), but drops to around 30 dB(A) after the initial power surge. Compared to the MSI Modern 15, the cooling system seems more restrained, as the MSI fan is clearly audible under load.
The processor briefly draws up to 35 watts at the start of a task, allowing programs to launch quickly. After a few seconds, the firmware reduces power consumption to 15 watts to keep the laptop cool and quiet. As a result, computing performance drops during longer tasks such as rendering.
Christoph Hoffmann
Even under load, the chassis only warms up moderately. Using the Thermal Master 3 thermal imaging camera, we measured a maximum of 101.5 degrees on the top surface. The warmest area is above the keyboard near the hinge. The keys and the palm rest remain significantly cooler. On the underside, the UniBook reaches a maximum of 90.9 degrees. This means it’s pretty comfortable to use on your lap. Just make sure the ventilation slots aren’t blocked.
Chuwi has sensibly tailored the cooling system to its target audience. The UniBook causes no disturbance, especially in a quiet working environment. The trade-off is not thermal throttling in the problematic sense, but rather a fixed performance budget. This configuration is well-suited to office software. Users with constant CPU loads will benefit more from a laptop with multiple performance cores and a larger cooler.
Chuwi UniBook: Conclusion
The Chuwi UniBook impresses in situations where an affordable device needs to be practical. The metal casing is lightweight and well-finished. The keyboard is suitable for longer typing sessions, and the battery lasts a full working day. Five USB ports, HDMI, a card reader, and Gigabit LAN mean many users won’t need an adapter. For $449, this combination is rare.
The cost-cutting measures remain evident. The display is matte and sharp, but covers only around 59 percent of the sRGB color space. Colors appear correspondingly pale. The webcam and speakers deliver basic quality. A more significant drawback is the 8 GB of soldered-on RAM. Even with demanding multitasking, there’s little room to maneuver. The Core 3 304 offers good responsiveness per core, but it doesn’t match the Ryzen 5’s performance under sustained load. Its modest Xe3 graphics are hardly suitable for gaming.
Anyone looking for a quiet, long-lasting laptop for office work will find this a well-rounded package. Buyers should assess their storage requirements and not expect any spare capacity for resource-intensive creative software. The MSI Modern 15 is larger and heavier, but offers more processing and graphics performance with the Ryzen 5 7530U. The UniBook wins when it comes to portability, but not when it comes to performance.
Chuwi UniBook: Specs
Processor: Intel Core 3 304, Wildcat Lake, 1 P-core plus 4 LP-E cores, 5 threads, up to 4.3 GHz, 6 MB L3 cache, 15 watts
Graphics: Intel Graphics, 1 Xe3 core, up to 2.3 GHz, 9 TOPS
Learning Spanish is useful. Learning Spanish, French, Italian, German, and maybe a little Norwegian because you like a challenge? That’s where Babbel can help.
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We all know companies profile us. But understanding that abstractly is one thing. Reading the words “has flat buttocks” in your Amazon account is very much another.
If you’re not on Threads, this discovery is one of the latest viral posts. A woman stumbled upon this assumption while in her Amazon settings, buried among other, less inflammatory ones within the Your Shopping preferences section.
Of course, having read that post myself while doomscrolling before bed, I resolved to look at my own profile in the morning. (I have a vested interested in privacy as a topic, after all.) Turns out, Amazon has little incendiary commentary about me. You might even say I’m boring.
Here’s how you look it up. On a desktop PC, head to Account. Under Ordering and shopping preferences, click on Your shopping preferences. Then look for Manage your information at the bottom of the page. You should then see a page titled About You, listing details that Amazon says it uses to “personalize your experience for you and everyone you shop for.”
Amazon / PCWorld
For me, Amazon believes I like technology and photography. And I prefer Command strips for mounting hardware. That’s about it.
As you might guess, these assumptions are based on your shopping habits—and surprisingly upfront. (Finding the equivalent information on Facebook feels like a labyrinth of clicks, and the details aren’t as blunt as “has flat buttocks.”)
As disappointed as I am Amazon’s spiciest commentary on me was “prefers white networking cables,” I got a good lesson from looking up my profile. One, it confirms that where and how you shop affects the data that businesses collect. Two, it’s a good reminder that I should keep looking up these details on different websites and services. And three, this will only get more complicated as agentic AI services pull in and collate data about us through friends, family, and associates.
Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Ultra is powered by a Mediatek CPU and Nvidia’s powerful RTX Spark SoC, which is mainly designed to run local AI models on the user’s lap. Five competing laptops—from Dell, HP, MSI and more—will offer additional options.
Here’s the thinking. Microsoft is banking on near-future AI developers and enthusiasts running local AI models and tools directly from their PC. If needed, they’ll tap Microsoft’s Copilot AI for more horsepower. Microsoft calls this “hybrid intelligence” and it’s basically an acknowledgement that users won’t necessarily care which device does what. It’s a compromise, as is most anything that’s AI-related in productivity: some love it, others despise it.
There are further tradeoffs. Users will be able to run models locally, but the Surface Laptop Ultra ships with a 140W power adapter. That’s a signal that it will consume much more power than typical laptops, though not gaming laptops. (That’s another question: is this a gaming laptop? Microsoft showed just a single Gears of War game running on the Ultra, with no indication of frame rate.)
Nevertheless, I left the Windows and Surface Event with a question that no one at Microsoft could answer: What will be the battery life of these laptops? In one demonstration, Microsoft employee Kayla Cinnamon proudly put the Surface Laptop Ultra into “airplane mode,” showing how the laptop could run entirely disconnected from a network.
(Microsoft’s official stance: “Battery life details for Surface Laptop Ultra will be shared closer to availability,” reads the Ultra’s spec page. “It varies based on usage, settings, configuration, and other factors.”)
But these laptops may not even work on airplanes. For one, 140W is more than some airplane power outlets can supply—110W to 150W is apparently typical. (Edit: Jason Rabinowitz, cohost of the AVTalk podcast and an avid airline enthusiast, says that 60 to 100 watts is actually more common.) Will you be able to run AI agents continuously throughout a 13-hour flight from San Francisco to Taiwan? I very much doubt it. We don’t even have a reliable way to test the battery life while churning tokens.
All of these unknowns left the analysts I spoke to shaking their heads. Who’s going to buy these devices? The $2,599 price is the base, which means as users scale up to more and more memory—to run larger and more powerful AI models—the price will balloon with it. We’re still in 2026, a time when the $699 Apple MacBook Neo blew up headlines.
“I think it’s very obvious that no one wants to spend all this crazy money [on cloud AI],” said analyst Bob O’Donnell, principal at Technalysis. But how users want to divvy up their work between slower local AI and faster, more expensive cloud models remains to be seen.
It seems we have a new breed of laptops that might not really be laptops at all—they may not have the battery to last with how much power they chug, and they can’t plug in while on the go. They’re “portable” AI workstations for a niche of users who are willing to pay more than what it costs for a normal productivity laptop, for “productivity” loathed by some of its users. Whew.
Being a PC gamer in 2026 makes me want to self-medicate. Upgrading your PC hardware or looking for a new laptop is an exercise in self-punishment, as RAM and storage push prices beyond the breaking point. That being the case, if you’re trying to upgrade on Amazon Prime Day, it’s time to look to everything else on your desk.
I’ve made a pick for every major component connected to your desktop PC, and a few more besides. Hopefully you can find a few things you’re interested in, at a budget that works for your wallet. And for more deals, be sure to check out the rest of PCWorld’s Prime Day coverage.
Good lord keyboards have gotten expensive, probably because a lot of brands have realized that people are willing to shell out for them. This Epomaker model has all the features I look for — multi-device wireless, hot-swap switches, PBT keycaps — plus a little extra blink and a choice of switches. It’s a great way to get something new (or get into the hobby) for cheap.
This is the mouse I use every day, a far, far cheaper copy of Razer’s swappable Naga Pro design. It gives you a choice of side panels: Three buttons for shooters and other simple games, or nine buttons for MMOs and MOBAs, plus four more programmable buttons on top. The thing is crazy flexible for the price, just $37 during the sale.
Another one that I’m using right this minute. This super-wide, real felt mat adds a touch of class to my desktop, while still protecting it and giving me a solid surface. If you want something a little more conventional and gamer-y, I can also personally recommend Corsair’s big ol’ mouse mat, just $16 at the time of writing.
These are the favorite of Reddit’s Battlestation sub, and yes, I use them too. I’ve loved these speakers for years, but I have to admit they’re less of a deal than they used to be after the price jumped up without any new upgrades. Thanks, 2026. Even so, at $40 off the current list price they’re a good discount. Want Bluetooth too? Then go for the $140 version.
For me, a headset pulls double duty: focus for games and flexibility for listening when I’m away from my desk. And nobody beats HyperX when it comes to wireless battery life. This headset claims 100 hours of life in 2.4GHz mode — weeks or months for most users — and 150 in Bluetooth. All for nearly $50 off the retail price, not bad at all.
This budget option won’t get you ready to launch a podcast or music career. But for a nice upgrade to spare the ears of your teammates or coworkers, it’ll do fine. And just fifty bucks is more than reasonable.
Your parents were right: Gaming in a dark room will ruin your eyesight. This monitor bar will illuminate the space both on your desk and on your wall, without washing out what’s on your screen. All for under thirty bucks with a remote control, that’s a steal.
I’ve been hoping for SSD prices to drop at least a little during holiday sales—and thankfully, Amazon delivered by slashing the price of the Samsung T9, one of our favorite portable SSDs, down to just $335 for the 2TB model. That’s an all-time low since February, when the prices of SSDs began skyrocketing. Normally, this fast, rugged portable SSD has gone for around $450 on the street, with discounts both small and rare.
We’re big fans of the Samsung T9, having given it an almost-perfect 4.5-star rating in our review. It offers top-notch performance, with transfer speeds that zip along at up to 2,000 MB/s, a 5-year warranty, and even a textured surface for better grip while out and about. If you need to copy big files across devices while on the go, this is the drive for you.
As crazy as it sounds, Amazon’s 25 percent discount on this 2TB T9 is one of the best we’ve seen in months… even though the prices aren’t quite the same as last year. (You can place full blame for that on AI data centers.) If you’ve been holding out for a good deal on a speedy, reliable portable SSD, this is your chance. Don’t wait on it!
Aw, have you seen that viral video of the little puppy nuzzling with a baby? It’s absolutely adorable — so adorable that it’s probably AI, although not even Reddit seems to know for sure.
I plopped the ultra-cute video into the tool, waited a few seconds, and got the result: no AI watermarks detected. So, the video must be real, right?
Well, not exactly.
Developed by Google as a method of tagging AI-generated content, SynthID allows AI models to embed invisible watermarks in the images, videos, audio files, and other content that they create. There’s even a version of SynthID for watermarking text, but this particular SynthID detection tool (which was previously available to researchers, journalists, and other media professionals) is limited to image, video, and audio formats.
Of course, not every AI model supports SynthID watermarking, and for now, Google’s SynthID tool can only detect AI-generated media created by models from Nvidia, Google, OpenAI, and South Korea-based Kakao.
Put all that together, and it means Google’s SynthID detection tool can tell you one of two things: that it detected a SynthID watermark in a given piece of content, or that it didn’t detect one. That’s all.
To put the tool to the test, I asked Gemini and ChatGPT to create some AI slop for me — namely, images and videos of “a robot visiting Disneyland.”
I plugged those images and clips into the Google tool, and got a result within seconds: “SynthID was detected,” with the site correctly telling me that one image was created by OpenAI (ChatGPT) while the other was from Google AI (Gemini).
But the baby video I mentioned earlier? The SynthID tool chewed on it for a moment before returning its verdict — not that the video was real, mind you, but merely that it hadn’t detected an embedded SynthID watermark.
Google’s SynthID detector didn’t spot an AI watermark in this video, but that doesn’t prove it’s real.
Another look at the SynthID’s report spells it out: “It is unlikely that this media was made with AI from a SynthID partner,” the tool says, while adding that “this may have been generated by a non-partner organization, or at a time prior to a partner adopting SynthID.”
In other words, Google’s SynthID tool can’t prove that an image, video, or other content was definitely created by a human; instead, all that it can tell you is whether it found a SynthID watermark or not. That doesn’t mean Google’s SynthID detector is broken; instead, it’s simply a tool with a narrowly defined job.
So when will we get a foolproof AI detector, including one that works with watermarking tools from a wide range of companies? As Google notes in its SynthID detector FAQ, developing such a tool “takes time,” and would require a “layered ecosystem where watermarking, metadata standards, and verification tools work together across the industry.”
In the meantime, is that video of the puppy nuzzling the baby real or AI? Your guess is as good as mine.
If you’re still on Windows 11 24H2, time is running out. Microsoft is ending support for that version of Windows this month, so you’ll need to upgrade to either 25H2 or (ideally) 26H2 as soon as possible. If you don’t, you’ll put your system at increasing risk over time.
Support for Windows 11 24H2 ends on October 13th, 2026—less than a week from today. Once that deadline hits, you’ll no longer receive security, feature, or quality-of-life updates on your PC.
How do you know if you’re still on 24H2? You can check by opening Windows Settings (use the Windows key + I keyboard shortcut), clicking “System” in the left panel, scrolling all the way down to “About” in the right panel, scrolling down to the “Windows specifications” section, and spotting what it says for “Version.” If you’re on 24H2, it’ll say “24H2.” (Also make note of “Edition,” which will likely be “Windows 11 Home” or “Windows 11 Pro.”)
Windows 11, version 24H2 Home and Pro editions will reach end of updates on October 13, 2026. Devices running these editions will no longer receive fixes for known issues, time zone updates, technical support, or monthly security and preview updates containing protections from the latest security threats. Enterprise and Education editions remain supported until October 12, 2027.
In other words, the end of support will only affect PCs running Windows 11 Home or Pro editions. Windows 11 Enterprise and Education editions will get another year of support, ending on October 12th, 2027. This extra year is in line with Microsoft’s standard practice and isn’t specific to 24H2.
Windows 11 26H2 is already available, so you should upgrade to that if you can. To do so, open Windows Settings again and navigate to “Windows Update” in the left panel, then enable the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” option in the right panel. Then, wait until the Windows Update page shows “Windows 11, version 26H2 is available.”
That’s one of the areas in which Microsoft is indeed improving Windows 11. We graded Microsoft’s delivery on its promises from earlier this year—see our Windows 11 26H2 report card for a deeper dive.
It’s the last day of October Prime Day, which means it’s your last chance to take advantage of this discount on my favorite power bank. Anker’s Zolo power bank is on sale for $32.99 right now, which is just a few bucks higher than the lowest price it hit all year long.
What I love about the Anker Zolo is the built-in USB-C cable. I love that I can just pack this portable battery in my bag and not worry about also grabbing a separate cable. When not in use, that built-in cable doubles as a carrying strap, which is handy when I don’t have a bag. I’ve taken it to concerts, for example, and that loop kept it secure on me while freeing up my hands.
The next best thing about this power bank is its large 20,000mAh capacity. That’s enough to get 3 or 4 full smartphone charges—more than enough for a day trip or a night camping. And it charges pretty fast, delivering up to 30W of charging speed. Have other devices that need power? The Zolo has extra USB-C and USB-A ports, allowing you to juice up to three devices at once. Just note the 30W gets split when multiple ports are in use.
Keep it on you during your commutes and you’ll never worry about your phone dying before you get back home, and take it with you while traveling for use in airports. (It’s small enough to comply with FAA and TSA regulations.) It measures 4.72 x 2.89 x 1.23 inches and weighs 12.45 ounces, so it’s no problem to carry around.
October Prime Day ends today, which means this is your last opportunity to grab Amazon’s marked-down products, including Blink, Ring, Echo, Fire TV, and Eero devices. Not sure which ones are worth pulling the trigger on? I’ll guide you to the best discounts going on right now.
I didn’t just go through Amazon’s search results and pluck out what look like good deals. Every product on this list fits two criteria: it’s at a significant discount compared to its “street price,” and I would actually buy this product at this price over same-class items from other brands. If I wouldn’t seriously consider it for my own cart, it doesn’t qualify for this list.
Prime caveat: While some of these deals can be had without an active Prime subscription, others can’t. But don’t fret if you don’t have Prime. See our article on how to get Amazon Prime for free to score the following discounts—and others—without paying for a sub.
Blink Outdoor 4 Cam and Battery Doorbell 2K+ (Bundle)
Blink
Now $65.99 (lowest price ever — 75% off, was $259.98)
You could get the Blink Outdoor 4 for $65.99, which is already a solid discount off its usual $99.99… or you could get this Blink Outdoor 4 + Blink Battery Doorbell 2K+ bundle for the exact same price. Do I need to spell it out for you? This bundle effectively gives you a free Battery Doorbell 2K+, allowing you to watch your doorstep and your backyard with these two outdoor cameras. Check in on your feeds via the Blink app on your phone and you’ll always have peace of mind—even while on vacation.
Now $24.99 (lowest price ever — 50% off, was $49.99)
The Ring Indoor Cam gives you vantage over any room in your house. Mount it on top of a table, or screw it higher up into a wall—its swivel design lets you point it at wherever you want it looking over. It’s pretty basic with 1080p resolution, but it has color night vision and a live feed that you can tune into via the Ring app on your phone. If all you need is straightforward interior surveillance at home, this one’s a solid pick at $24.99.
Now $279.99 (lowest price ever — 39% off, was $459.99)
Yup, Amazon makes its own line of big smart TVs. This Ember 4-Series has a 55-inch diagonal, perfect for living rooms and spacious bedrooms, and it comes with an Alexa Remote for convenient control. 4K resolution, HDR10+ support, and Dolby Audio for just $279.99 make it a strong budget-friendly pick if you’re mainly streaming shows and films in 4K. It also has something called Ambient Experience, which displays artwork or a smart interactive hub when in standby mode (and only when it detects people nearby).
Now $39.99 (lowest price ever — 43% off, was $69.99)
Though it was designed for use with Amazon’s Luna cloud gaming platform, the Luna controller works with anything. Connect it via Bluetooth to your PC, gaming console, or even your phone. It also supports USB wired, but only with Windows and macOS devices. Neither budget nor premium, it’s a good middle-of-the-road option with a comfortable, standard layout (offset thumbsticks), bumpers, triggers, and a directional pad. At $39.99, it’s a step up from most other wireless controllers in this range.
Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Plus is great for two reasons. It plugs into any device that supports HDMI input (e.g., TVs, monitors, projectors) and lets you stream from dozens of services like Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video. But your accounts are logged on the stick itself, so if you take it with you to a hotel, Airbnb, or friend’s house, you just plug in and resume your shows and movies from wherever you left off.
The 4K Plus is the balanced option in Amazon’s Fire TV Stick lineup. While the 4K Select is cheaper, it runs on a different OS that’s slower and doesn’t allow for sideloading apps. Meanwhile, the more expensive 4K Max is faster and has twice the storage. If you’re only going to be streaming shows and movies—meaning you won’t be downloading many apps, games, or files—then the 4K Plus is the way to go.
Now $89.99 (lowest price ever — 55% off, was $199.99)
Whereas the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus is more than fine for basic streaming, the Fire TV Cube is what you want if you have a decked-out home media setup. The Cube is much faster with its upgraded octa-core processor and extra RAM, so apps launch more quickly, navigation is more responsive, and gaming performance feels better. It has Super Resolution, which upscales HD content so it looks better on 4K displays. If you’re going to cloud-stream Xbox games or if on-screen lag really bothers you, get the Cube.
Now $79.99 (lowest price ever — 33% off, was $119.99)
No matter how much you spend on a TV, the built-in speakers are almost guaranteed to suck—and there’s no easier upgrade than to add in a soundbar. You don’t have to spend a lot either. At $79.99, Amazon’s Fire TV Soundbar is as good as it gets in this price range, punching up bass for a fuller experience while improving voice clarity so you can actually understand what characters are saying on screen.
Amazon also has a stepped-up model called the Fire TV Soundbar Plus. Whereas the regular Soundbar is 24 inches, the Soundbar Plus is 37 inches—a better acoustic and aesthetic fit for larger TVs (55-inch and bigger). It can also pair with a wireless subwoofer and satellite speakers for true surround sound. If that’s important to you, you’ll want the Soundbar Plus instead.
Now $72.99 (lowest price ever — 53% off, was $154.99)
Amazon sells several tablet models, with the most popular ones being the Fire HD 10 and Fire HD 8. I have the Fire HD 8 and I regret it, mainly because it’s too sluggish for anything but extremely basic uses. The Fire HD 10 is what I now recommend for a budget tablet. It has a faster octa-core processor and extra RAM, resulting in better responsiveness that doesn’t slow you down. The larger 10.1-inch display is the cherry on top.
Now $149.99 (lowest price ever — 40% off, was $249.99)
If you’re going to get an Echo in 2026, ask yourself: How deep into the Alexa ecosystem are you willing to go? If you think you’ll ever add more Alexa-compatible gadgets to your home—like any of the other stuff on this list—then you’ll want the Echo Show 11.
At first glance, it just looks like a tablet-plus-speaker; it’s actually a smart home hub that makes it easy to control various smart home devices. Sure, you can play music and browse the web on it, but it shines as a central command for controlling your smart thermostat, viewing your camera feeds, changing your smart lights, locking your door, playing media on your TV, and more. Today’s the day to grab one now that it’s at its lowest price.
If you live in a large home—I’m talking 2,000+ square feet—then you’ve probably run into spotty Wi-Fi. Maybe your connection drops while walking around, or certain rooms get terrible signal. If so, you’d benefit from a mesh Wi-Fi system. Unlike a traditional router, mesh Wi-Fi uses multiple “nodes” around the home to expand and strengthen coverage.
The Eero 6+ Mesh Wi-Fi System is what most households need. It supports up to 1Gbps internet plans, and it supports Wi-Fi 6 with wider 160MHz channels (faster and more reliable than standard 80MHz channels). You should only consider the newer Eero 7 system if you’re paying for a multi-gigabit internet plan, as it goes up to 2.5Gbps, or if you have 100+ smart devices congesting your network. If neither apply, you’re better off saving money with the Eero 6+ instead.
There’s a sweet spot I look for when I want to have some fun, a little bigger than standard without being unmanageable. Just enough to enhance the experience, not so big that you can’t fit it into the space available. I am, of course, talking about PC gaming monitors. And absolutely nothing else. For Prime Day, Alienware’s 34-inch OLED gaming monitor is just $630. Nice.
The AW3426DW is an upgrade to Alienware’s already popular 34-inch designs, keeping the semi-standard 3440×1440 resolution (also a “sweet spot” for PC gaming) while boosting the speed up to 280Hz. That should satisfy almost everyone who plays multiplayer games, and/or put your PC through its paces when you’re in a single player and drinking in the visuals. The Penta Tandem panel upgrade also makes text more legible.
This newer model officially supports AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync, but like previous Alienware OLEDs, skips extras like USB video. You do get a couple of USB ports (one of them is C with 15 watts of charging) to help with accessories. Otherwise it’s a little barebones, making this display a good companion to a desktop PC but less so for a monitor, unless you have a good dock.
At $629.99, this monitor is a fantastic deal. It’s $170 off the regular list price, and $70 cheaper than you can typically find a 34-inch OLED even on sale, while being slightly faster. If you’re looking for something smaller or more affordable, be sure to check out our Prime Day monitor roundup.
Looking for a lightweight Windows laptop that doesn’t cut too many corners? Then take a look at this Samsung Galaxy Book6 deal on Amazon. It’s a 14-inch laptop that weighs just 2.98 pounds. It’s also packing a current generation Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor. And right now, it’s $999.99 for Prime Day, down from $1,249.99.
The thing that really caught my eye, though, was the amount of memory and storage. 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage are exactly what I’d want to see in a laptop at this price point. That’s enough memory for multitasking, Zoom, streaming… the whole chalupa! And the 512GB SSD gives you more breathing room than the 256GB drives you’ll typically see in entry-level laptops.
The 14-inch display is quite good, too. It has a 1920×1200 resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. The aspect ratio is worth nothing because you’re getting more vertical space than you would with a standard 16:9 screen.
The Galaxy Book6 is meant to be an easy grab-and-go laptop, which is a big part of the appeal here. Plus, if you already use a Samsung Galaxy phone, the ecosystem integration is another nice perk.
At $999.99, I’d put this squarely in the “solid Prime Day deal” category. The 16GB/512GB configuration makes it a much more attractive long-term purchase than the 8GB/256GB version.
Nowadays, most modern laptops don’t have an Ethernet port. It’s a fairly large port, and with laptops getting thinner and thinner, there simply isn’t enough room for one. However, if you still wish to enjoy the benefits of a fast and stable LAN connection, you can always use an adapter or a docking station.
Even if you can set up a LAN connection with an adapter, you should check whether you’re actually achieving the optimal data rate. For a gigabit adapter with 1000 Mbit/s, this should be around 950 Mbit/s. If this isn’t the case, there are several steps you can take to resolve the issue.
Update the Ethernet driver
If you’re experiencing speed issues, installing a fresh driver for the external adapter may help. The next step should be visiting the manufacturer’s support page.
You can find out which adapter you have using Windows Device Manager. First, connect the adapter and open Device Manager. There, you’ll find the LAN hardware in the Network Adapters section. On a laptop, it’s usually listed alongside the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi entries.
In most budget adapters and docking stations, the LAN hardware is supplied by Realtek. The entry might read, for example, Realtek USB GbE Family Controller. Next, download the latest driver from Realtek.
There, click the Check for Updates button. The operating system may offer a suitable adapter for the adapter based on the hardware listed in Device Manager. The installation will then be quicker than searching for and downloading the driver from the manufacturer’s website.
Once you’ve installed the new driver, you should unplug and reconnect the adapter so that Windows can recognize it again and load the updated driver software. During our tests, we found on several occasions that the LAN speed did not change immediately after installing the new driver. This was resolved straight away by unplugging and re-plugging the adapter.
Adjust the driver settings
If the speed issues persist, open the driver settings for the LAN hardware. To do this, right-click the network chip entry in Device Manager and select Properties → Advanced. Depending on the driver’s capabilities, you’ll see a number of options on the left-hand side of the program window.
The key setting is called Speed & Duplex. Normally, Auto Negotiation appears on the right-hand side under Value.
This means that the two devices connected via LAN determine the optimal speed by exchanging short control signals before transmission. Change this setting in the drop-down menu to 1.0 Gbps Full Duplex and confirm by clicking OK. You should now be getting the correct data rate.
Anyone who wants or needs a new desktop computer has long had a choice to make: Buy a ready-built computer or build one yourself from individual components.
The choice isn’t always that simple, and there are several factors that can make either option appealing. The price of a pre-built computer always includes, in one way or another, the cost of assembling it. If you build it yourself, you can spend all your money on getting the best possible components and pay for the assembly with your own time and by taking on the risk yourself.
But building your own computer also offers incredible freedom and a sense of pride in what you can achieve yourself. It’s something that’s difficult to quantify in terms of money, but for many people, that’s the biggest draw.
What does it mean to build a computer yourself?
If you’ve never attempted to build a computer before, it can feel like a big and daunting task. But just like putting together an Ikea kitchen, it’s something the vast majority of people can manage if they just take the time and do their research. And unlike a kitchen, you don’t need to worry about any potential water leaks — at least, not unless you decide to build a system with water cooling!
Building a computer basically involves three separate tasks: planning and buying components; fitting the components into the case; and configuring the BIOS, installing the operating system, and testing that everything works as it should.
The first is the most complex, as there are so many components to choose from. Fortunately, you don’t need to learn and keep track of everything yourself, as there are plenty of websites with computer-building tools that help you put together components that are compatible with one another.
Assembling the components isn’t actually that complicated, but you should definitely read a guide or two and watch a few YouTube videos that walk you through the whole process step by step. With video guides, for example, you can see how cable routing works in practice and pick up lots of little tips that make the build easier and safer.
The same goes for learning about the BIOS and how to install Windows — familiarize yourself with these process before you begin.
Advantages of building your own PC
Total flexibility – you choose all the components.
It can be very satisfying to use a computer you’ve built yourself.
It’s usually cheaper.
Plenty of scope for upgrading later.
Disadvantages of building your own computer
Choosing components is complicated and can take a lot of time.
You take the risk that something might go wrong during the build.
Advantages of buying a ready-built computer
You get a ready-built computer without any risk or effort.
You can find computers on sale, which can lower the overall price.
Disadvantages of a pre-built computer
It’s unlikely you’ll find a computer with exactly the combination of components you’d prefer.
Many pre-built computers have an older processor, slightly slower memory, or some other compromise.
What should I do if something goes wrong or breaks?
It’s a good idea to order components so that they all arrive at the same time and you can assemble the computer within the standard return window. If any component were to malfunction, you could easily return and replace it without the hassle of making a warranty complaint.
Should any component break later on, you can either contact the manufacturer or the seller for recourse under the product’s warranty.
Cable management is an important but not particularly glamorous part of building a computer.Andrey Matveev
Still, it is, of course, your own responsibility to assemble the computer safely. This means, among other things, that you must avoid discharging static electricity, but also ensure that components are fitted correctly. Some graphics cards are so heavy that they may need to be braced to avoid damaging the PCI Express slot, so read and follow all instructions carefully, both for the components and the case you have chosen.
Computer builders
A middle ground between buying a ready-built computer in a shop and building one yourself is to have a PC custom built by a vendor. For instance, boutique PC vendors such as iBuypower and Cyberpower will build a PC to your specification, taking care of the assembly and testing. But you’ll need to buy all the components from them, which of course doesn’t always give you the best price or choice.
How to find your way through the component jungle
If you enjoy getting deep into the details, you can, of course, take it upon yourself to keep track of all the components and ensure that the ones you choose are compatible with one another. However, most people choose to use a computer-building tool. The site PC Part Picker is the best known of these.
With these tools, you can, for example, start with a specific case, a specific motherboard, or a specific graphics card. Once you have selected a component, the lists of other components are filtered to show only those that are compatible with your first choice, and the process continues in this way. If you try to select something that is not compatible with one of the other components you have chosen, you will receive a warning.
Compatibility has two aspects: technical and physical. The technical aspect concerns, for example, whether a memory module fits a particular motherboard, or whether that motherboard supports a particular processor.
A compact computer is more complicated to build and to select the right components for.Đào Hiếu
In terms of size, it is simply a question of whether the components will fit inside the chosen chassis alongside the other selected components. Does the processor cooler protrude high enough above the memory modules to avoid interference when you choose high-performance memory with large built-in coolers? Will the long graphics card fit into the space inside the chassis?
With a generously sized chassis and an ATX or E-ATX motherboard, you can usually fit almost anything in, but it’s still worth double-checking. And if you want to build a more compact computer in a small chassis with a Mini-ITX motherboard, the dimensions suddenly become very important.
Which components are most important, and where can I cut corners?
This depends on what you’ll be using the computer for, how you view future expansion options, and your sense of aesthetics.
The graphics card is a key component, especially for gamers.Rafael Pol
Graphics card If you’re looking to play high-end games with high graphics settings, the graphics card is undoubtedly the most important component, and you can cut corners on almost everything else to make room in your budget for it. If you can afford it, you’ll benefit greatly from choosing an AMD processor with so-called 3D V-Cache (indicated by ‘x3D’ at the end of the model name), such as the previous-generation Ryzen 5 7500X3D. The expanded cache means that gaming performance is less dependent on the speed of the main memory, so you can cut back there — something that can save you a fair bit of money given today’s memory prices.
For anyone interested in running local AI, the graphics card is also important, but in this case it is primarily the amount of graphics memory that matters. And for AI, you can easily combine two cheaper graphics cards instead of one more expensive one, which isn’t possible for gaming.
Be careful when inserting the processor into its socket.IT Services EU
Processor For everyone else, the processor and graphics card are roughly equally important. My suggestion is that you choose one of the latest models, as they tend to be more efficient, feature the latest technologies, and will be fully supported by Windows for longer.
Something to consider is whether you want to buy a processor and graphics card at roughly the same level, or opt for a slightly more powerful one and a slightly simpler one, with the aim of upgrading the latter at a later date. By opting for a cheaper graphics card, you can get a new, more powerful one in a couple of years’ time, while still benefiting from the slightly better processor you chose from the start.
Memory and storage Most people won’t notice any practical difference between a blazing-fast SSD with PCIe 5.0 and a cheaper one with PCIe 4.0. When it comes to storage, a reliable manufacturer and a model that has received good reviews are more important than maximum speed, and you can save a fair bit by skipping the cutting-edge technology.
When it comes to memory, capacity is the most important factor. Really fast memory is only important for a few specific use cases and is never worth it for the average user. If you’re using Windows, 16GB is the minimum you’ll need.
Given today’s prices, it’s understandable if you want to save as much as possible on memory. Unless you know you’ll be running a great many programs simultaneously, or individual memory-intensive programs such as virtualized operating systems or Adobe Photoshop, 16GB should be enough. As long as your motherboard has four memory slots, you can always buy more later.
Other components
The case is something many people choose to skimp on, but this often means the computer looks less stylish and, perhaps more importantly, is more fiddly to build. Furthermore, it may have poorer airflow and, consequently, poorer heat dissipation, resulting in higher temperatures and lower performance. I would therefore recommend that you at least look at review ratings and choose a chassis that suits your needs, even if it costs a bit more.
Another important component is the power supply unit; here, you need to ensure that its capacity is high enough for the components you’ve chosen, as well as any future upgrades you think you might need. Efficiency and noise levels are other factors worth bearing in mind.
The power supply is important. Don’t skimp, but don’t go overboard either.Andrey Matveev
For other components, you can often get by with cheaper models, but I recommend sticking to trusted brands and reading reviews. For example, there are some really good, inexpensive CPU coolers, but also a few real duds.
These recommendations obviously apply even if you choose to buy a pre-built computer — don’t just focus on the processor, graphics card, and memory; check the case, power supply, and other components as well. What initially seems like a bargain can soon turn into an expensive lesson if you have to upgrade several components.
Don’t forget future expandability
When comparing a pre-built computer — whether it’s a traditional tower model with standard components, a mini-PC or something more exotic — with one you build yourself, you shouldn’t overlook the possibilities for expanding and upgrading the computer in the future. If you build it yourself, for example, you can choose two larger memory modules instead of four smaller ones. It’ll be more expensive now, but you can buy more later.
In most pre-built systems, all the memory slots are filled, unless you buy a very small amount of memory. A mini-PC rarely has more than two slots, and many have soldered-on memory that can neither be expanded nor replaced with larger modules.
Upgrade your computer with more memory, storage, or a new processor.Andrey Matveev
Storage can almost always be replaced, but in tower models and home-built machines there are usually empty M.2 slots that you can fill without having to replace the existing storage.
With a traditional tower computer, there may be spare PCI Express slots that you can use for additional storage, new network cards or other components you may later realise you need. This applies whether you buy a ready-built system or build it yourself, but the number of slots available varies greatly from one motherboard to another.
Ten years ago, it was common to have several spare slots, but nowadays many manufacturers choose to focus on more M.2 slots for SSDs, and sometimes there’s only one extra slot apart from the one intended for the graphics card. Or not even that.
If you’re mainly looking to get as much computer as possible for your money, I suggest you look at both pre-built computers and the various components you’ve selected. Don’t forget to add a Windows licence if you need one, and any peripherals such as a monitor, mouse, and keyboard.
Then compare the total price. Only then can you decide whether the lower cost, the better components or the greater upgrade potential are worth the effort.
If you’re looking for a more affordable alternative to USB SSDs, the One Touch Portable provides lots of capacity for a lot less money in a still relatively portable profile. It’s also the fastest of its ilk that I’ve tested.
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Seagate has expanded its One Touch line to include 2.5-inch hard drive models such as the One Touch Portable reviewed here. In short, there’s nothing revolutionary about the One Touch Portable, but it’s the fastest such beastie I’ve tested. It’s simply a very capable, attractive, and portable USB hard drive that will set you back a lot less per TB than a similar capacity USB SSD. A lot less.
What are the One Touch Portable’s features?
The One Touch Portable carries forth the sculpted, wavy styling of its 3.5-inch sibling and offers the same Type-C connectivity. It’s available in gray, ivory, and dark blue, at 2TB or 4TB capacities.
The drive measures approximately 4.65-inches long, by 3.15-inches wide, and 0.5-inches thick. Weight is a mere 4.6 ounces. Yup, portable. A Type-C to Type-C cable is included with the drive.
The Type-C port on the end of the One Touch Portable, flanked by the power/activity light.
Seagate was specific about the flavor of USB involved, but it really doesn’t make any difference whether it’s 5Gbps or 10Gbps as both offer far more bandwidth than any hard drive can use.
The company’s Toolkit software is included and provides diagnostic and backup capabilities.
The company’s Toolkit software is included which provides diagnostic and backup capabilities.
Seagate warranties the drive for two years with data recovery (where available?) for the same period. Why not three or five years? It is a hard drive with spinning platters and a mechanical read/write head moving about, after all. It’s also portable and likely to encounter at least moderately rougher handling than a desktop hard drive.
How much is the One Touch Portable?
The One Touch Portable is $158 in its 2TB capacity, and $208 for 4TB. That’s about half the current SSD price per terabyte, though quite a bit more than 2.5-inch drives were going for just a couple of years ago. The price per terabyte is also greater than 3.5-inch hard drives such as Seagate’s Expansion Desktop, One Touch USB, and X Vault, but not ridiculously so.
Note that after a slight dip in August 2026, SSD prices again soared in September. This surprised me just a tad, but if you need capacity, hard drives are by far the more affordable option at the moment and likely to remain so for the immediate future.
How fast is the One Touch Portable?
For a 2.5-inch USB hard drive, the One Touch Portable is actually quite fast — a couple MBps faster than the other 2.5-inch drives I’ve tested. It’s not for moving vast amounts of data in a hurry, but it’s more than adequate for unattended backup, streaming media, and other tasks.
Note that streaming even high-resolution movies doesn’t require nearly as much bandwidth as some people might think. Less than 50MBps generally speaking.
As for the 2.5-inch competition, the One Touch Portable easily motored past the older WD My Passport drives in all our tests, including CrystalDiskMark 8 (shown below). The 4K tests are not included because the performance in those is generally only a MB or two per second and the chart looks a bit ridiculous.
If you need capacity, hard drives are by far the more affordable option at the moment and likely to remain so for the immediate future.
The One Touch Portable easily motored past the older WD My Passport drives in all our tests, including CrystalDiskMark 8. Longer bars are better.
The One Touch Portable also banged on the competition in our 48GB transfers.
The One Touch Portable also banged on the competition in our 48GB transfers. Shorter bars are better.
Shaving nearly 13 minutes off the 2.5-inch competition is no mean feat for the One Touch Portable. Here again, however, you can see the speed advantage of a 3.5-inch hard drive, which lopped off another 23 minutes.
Shaving nearly 13 minutes off the 2.5-inch competition is no mean feat for the One Touch Portable. Here again, however, you can see the speed advantage of a 3.5-inch hard drive which lopped off another 23 minutes. Shorter bars are better.
For a 2.5-inch USB hard drive, the One Touch Portable hauls the mail. That said, it’s still about the slowest type of external storage you can buy these days. Buy 2.5-inch for capacity and portability.
Should you buy the One Touch Portable?
If you need both capacity and portability, this buy makes sense. It’s the best 2.5-inch hard drive I’ve tested. You can get more capacity and speed with a 3.5-inch hard drive, but those are significantly less convenient in the haul-around department. Given the SSD’s rising price per TB, we’re currently favoring hard drives for a lot of storage missions.
Further, the 4TB unit is our choice between the two capacities thanks to a $52 versus $79 price per terabyte. Thank me later.
Drive tests currently utilize Windows 11 24H2, 64-bit running off of a PCIe 4.0 Samsung 990 Pro in an Asus Z890-Creator WiFi (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard. The CPU is a Core Ultra i5 225 feeding/fed by two Crucial 64GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (128GB of memory total).
Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 5 are integrated into the motherboard and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used.Internal PCIe 5.0 SSDs involved in testing are mounted in a Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 adapter card.
We run the CrystalDiskMark 8.04 (and 9), AS SSD 2, and ATTO 4 synthetic benchmarks (to keep article length down, we only report one) to find the storage device’s potential performance, then a series of 48GB and 450GB transfers tests using Windows Explorer drag and drop to show what users will see during routine copy operations, as well as the far faster FastCopy run as administrator to show what’s possible.
A 20GBps two-SSD RAID 0 array on the aforementioned Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 is used as the second drive in our transfer tests. Formerly the 48GB tests were done with a RAM disk serving that purpose.
Each test is performed on a NTFS-formatted and newly TRIM’d drive so the results are optimal. Note that in normal use, as a drive fills up, performance may decrease due to less NAND for secondary caching, as well as other factors. This issue has abated somewhat with the current crop of SSDs utilizing more mature controllers and far faster, late-generation NAND.
Note that our testing MO evolves and these results may not match those from previous articles. Only comparisons inside the article are 100% valid as those results are gathered using the current hardware and MO.
If the sight of a boxy, dull-beige desktop and a floppy disk drive gives you a weird little rush of nostalgia, then Desktop98 is about to blow your mind.
It’s a free Windows 98 simulator that runs in your browser. Not only does it give you the desktop nostalgia, it goes well past that, making you feel like you actually sat down at a computer in 1998. I can just hear the gentle buzzing of the CRT monitor in the background and smell the molten hot Pizza Rolls.
With Desktop98, you can fire up AOL and listen to a 56K modem screech its way onto the internet. You can open Winamp—remember that? You can browse the web in Internet Explorer or, better yet, Netscape Navigator. All of the browsers link to real archived pages from the era through the Wayback Machine. That means that Geocities, Yahoo, AltaVista, and my personal favorite, Ask Jeeves, are all available to browse.
Beyond just the retro-nostalgia of the early internet you can also use old programs like MS Paint, Minesweeper, and Solitaire. There’s even DOOM and Duke Nukem 3D emulators. They run through DOS emulation, so you can play the original games in a browser tab.
Probably the most ambitious throwback is the AOL recreation, which includes chat rooms, instant messages, Buddy Lists, and yes, “You’ve Got Mail.” The chat rooms mix real Desktop98 users with AI characters playing people from 1998. They stay in character and outright refuse to acknowledge that any year after 1998 exists. It’s kitschy, but also kind of delightful.
If you lived through this era, then Desktop98 is about as close as you’ll get to a time machine back to the golden days—minus your mom yelling at you to get off the internet because she needs the phone.
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Keeping a modern PC safe, secure, and optimized can feel like a complex juggling act of different apps and services. Learning how they work, keeping them updated, and actually remembering to run them often takes far too much time and effort. Bringing those tools together in one application can make the job far simpler. System Mechanic Ultimate Defense is built as an all-in-one solution for managing your PC’s security, privacy, and performance.
iolo
Boost performance, lock down security
When it comes to protecting against viruses and malware, the best defense is proactive. System Mechanic Ultimate Defense includes real-time monitoring and a system shield that actively protects against trojans, ransomware, and spyware. That helps stop any nasty applications from gaining a foothold in your system by blocking them before they even get started.
It’s not just malware you need to watch out for online, though. Websites and advertisers scrape all kinds of information when you use their services. Something as innocuous as your PC’s hardware and font list are often enough to identify you to advertisers. System Mechanic Ultimate Defense locks that information down to better protect your personal privacy and make it much harder to track you online.
iolo
Whatever web services you use, you should have a strong and unique password for each of them. Re-using passwords is never a good idea, but with this tool’s built-in password generator you can quickly make a new password for every site and service, and store it conveniently offline. Local data encryption further protects your login credentials against outside attacks.
No matter how safe you are, though, a slow and unresponsive PC is a chore to use. That’s why System Mechanic Ultimate Defense also includes automated repair algorithms that clear up unnecessary files to boost performance and free up extra storage capacity and memory space. Better yet, these tools run in the background while the PC is idle, so you don’t need to start those tasks manually. Automated optimization, with as little hassle as possible.
Easy to use, easier to manage
A convenient all-in-one tool doesn’t just consolidate features; it unifies the user experience. System Mechanic Ultimate Defense is a single app with an intuitive and familiar layout that means everything you need is just a couple of clicks off the main menu. That means less time figuring out different tools next time you want to clear up some files, or come up with a new password.
You get a free month of 24/7 technical support too, and you can extend that to cover your entire subscription period if you like.
System Mechanic Ultimate Defense brings together security, optimization, and privacy to make managing your PC simpler, easier, and less time-consuming.
TL;DR:Visual Studio Professional 2026 is Microsoft’s full IDE, and a lifetime license is on sale for $30 through October 11.
Professional IDEs usually have a recurring license fee, and you keep paying it as long as you write code. Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2026 is the full 64-bit version of the IDE for Windows, but you don’t need to pay a recurring fee to use it. During this limited-time sale, you can get a lifetime license for just $29.97.
Because Visual Studio Pro 2026 is a 64-bit IDE, it can handle large solutions and heavy workloads without slowing down. You can build mobile and desktop apps with .NET MAUI, write web interfaces in C# with Blazor, and build and debug .NET and C++ apps for Windows, Linux, and containers. Hot reload updates a running app right away, so you don’t have to restart after every change.
IntelliCode suggests code based on your variable names, libraries, and coding patterns, and it can finish whole lines or blocks. AI-assisted refactoring reduces boilerplate code and bugs. CodeLens shows recent changes, authors, test status, and commit history in the editor. With Live Share, teammates can edit and debug your code with you at the same time, without cloning the repo first.
This single-user license works on one PC running Windows 10, Windows 11, or Windows Server 2019 or 2022. You need a Microsoft account to activate it online, and you have 30 days to redeem the code. Minor updates and security fixes for the 2026 release channel are included.
The CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme with an RTX 5060 is 15 percent off for Prime subscribers this Prime Day, dropping it to its best price in well over a year. (If you aren’t already a Prime subscriber, here’s how to get Amazon Prime for free.)
Gaming PC prices are rough right now, which makes practically any prebuilt in the neighborhood of $1,000 worth a second look. Amazon has the CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme for $1,100 for Prime Day (down from $1,300). That’s a $200 discount and the lowest price we’ve seen on this configuration since June 2025—those are pre-AI data center price surges and tariff numbers right there.
And for the money, you’re getting some pretty capable hardware. This Gamer Xtreme packs an Intel Core i5-14400F and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 with 8GB of VRAM, a combo that’s right at home with 1080p gaming. Modern AAA games should run at smooth frame rates and since it’s an Nvidia card DLSS can give it a lift on supported titles.
You also get 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.The 1TB SSD is particularly nice here as it’s double the amount some comparably priced systems provide and it gives you enough room for a decent-sized game library too.
If you’ve been holding your breath for gaming PC prices to come back down to earth, you might need to keep holding it, but in the meantime this is as good as it gets in this economy.
Prime Day ends at midnight on October 7, so grab this CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme for $200 off while the discount is still live. And be sure you also check out PCWorld’s big Amazon Prime Day tech deals roundup for even more great sales.
Look, a good electronic screwdriver set is useful in any household. But if your household is the kind that likes to roll up its collective sleeves and dive deep into the bones of DIY desktop computers, a good electronic screwdriver set is downright necessary. Good news! You can grab a beefy 25-piece electric screwdriver set for just $28.50 at Amazon during Prime Big Deal Days — damned near half off its usual $50 price tag.
I’ll take it! No, seriously — I just bought one before bothering to write this to expand beyond my much tinier set.
HOTO’s kit contains 25 different S2 steel bits of varying shapes and sizes, including an extended standard bit for those times when you need to reach far into the guts of your PC. Not enough? The kit also comes with an extender — and all the bits are magnetic so you won’t have to worry about dropping screws into your case’s guts while you’re meddling.
The screwdriver itself offers three different torque settings, a long-lasting 1500mAh battery charged via USB-C, and a circular LED light to improve visibility. Again: Great for DIY desktop deep-dives.
If you don’t own an electric screwdriver set currently, this HOTO set would be a game changer — and you can get it for an incredibly delicious price right now. Don’t wait, though: Amazon Prime Day ends at midnight on Wednesday. Be sure to check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best Prime Day tech deals if you’re looking to maximize your dollars!
I use my AirPods every single day. They come with me when I’m cooking dinner, writing, and walking the dog. Honestly, next to my Kindle, they’re probably the gadget I use most.
And that makes the Apple AirPods Pro 3 an incredibly tempting buy during Prime Day. They’re currently $179 at Amazon, a massive $70 discount off the usual $250 price. They have active noise cancellation, with Apple saying they remove up to twice as much unwanted noise as the previous model. They feature better three-dimensional audio, Live Translation, built-in heart rate sensing, and up to eight hours of listening time on a single charge.
They also come with silicone ear tips. AirPods aren’t the most comfortable things to stick in your ears, especially if you’ve got smaller canals like me. The tips come in five different sizes, ranging from XXS to L.
And right now, Amazon has them marked as a limited-time deal, so you better swoop in sooner rather than later, especially if your current pair are getting a little long in the tooth. Prime Day ends at midnight on October 7.
It’s been a brutally bad year for anyone who needs more storage or RAM, but Amazon’s Prime Day is ready to rescue you from misery. Today and tomorrow, you can grab the fantastic 1TB Samsung 9100 Pro SSD for $207 – assuming you’re a Prime subscriber of course. (Here’s how to get Amazon Prime for free if needed.)
I won’t try and oversell that by saying it’s “only” $207 when storage prices have skyrocketed over the past year (thanks, AI). But in this current hellscape, you could do a lot worse. That $207 price is a whopping 39 percent off the drive’s stated $340 MSRP, as well as a solid $40 discount below the $250 price the drive has sat at (or above) since April.
And the Samsung 9100 Pro is flat-out great. Our review hailed it as “the return of the king” upon launch a year ago, praising its chart-topping performance and abundant features. “In the right system with the right software, the 9100 Pro will run rings around the competition,” our veteran SSD tester reported.
If you’re going to spend an arm and a leg for an SSD, might as well spend that money on one you’ll have zero regrets about – especially when you can get it on a rare, substantial discount. Be sure to snag the 1TB Samsung 9100 Pro for $207 before Prime Day turns into a pumpkin at midnight Pacific time, and also make sure you check out PCWorld’s big Amazon Prime Day tech deals roundup for even more juicy sales.
Amazon’s October Prime Day (hopefully) kicks off the holiday sales season, and it’s an ideal opportunity for you to update your home office. From new displays to an update to the humble mouse, these are some of the deals that we’re keeping an eye as the deal days progress.
Keep in mind that Amazon’s October Prime Day deals last just today and tomorrow, October 6 through October 7. However, rival Walmart is running its own sales all week, so that may keep deals in place longer than Amazon planned. If so, expect to see this article updated as warranted.
Remember, some or all of these deals might require an Amazon Prime membership to sign up for. Don’t despair — there are ways to get Amazon Prime for free.
Believe it or not, there are two centerpieces for your desk, your display and the laptop docking station. We have deals on both.
Plugable Thunderbolt 4 Dock: $149.96 ($50 off at Amazon)
Amazon
Who is this for? Plugable’s dock is slim, compact, and to the point: It gives you what you want, and not much more. I really like the two dedicated HDMI display ports and the additional Thunderbolt4 upstream port, which can be used for connecting a monitor or for additional expansion.
Why is this deal good? I’ve seen mainstream Thunderbolt 4 docks at $225 to $250, and it’s wonderful to see a focused Thunderbolt 4 dock arrive at a price well under that.
Get the Plugable Thunderbolt 4 Dock for $149.96 at Amazon
I really want to buy a new OLED display for my desk, but the problem is that OLED displays with stunning blacks and high contrast aren’t quite there in the format I’d like: large, 4K, and high refresh rate. So you have a choice: drop down to a slightly lower-res 1440p display, or choose a more traditional IPS panel…which to be honest, works just fine.
High-refresh rate OLEDs are generally considered “gaming” monitors, even if you use them for normal work.
Acer Predator 26.5-inch 1440p OLED (X27U): $314.99 at Amazon
Who is this for? Acer’s Predator 1440p OLED is designed for gamers, but there’s little difference between someone who is using this for productivity or for playing games after hours. Since it offers 99 percent DCI-P3 coverage, you can certainly use it for photo editing as well as shooting aliens.
Why is this deal good? There’s no discount on this display, but it’s at the lowest price in a year, so it’s worth it.
Get the Acer Predator 26.5-inch 1440p OLED (X27U) for $314.99 at Amazon
if you’re looking for something a little more productivity focused, however, there’s an opportunity to buy a lovely large 32-inch 4K IPS display, too.
Asus 32-inch 4K Display (VP327Q), $179.00 ($70 off at Amazon)
Amazon /Asus
Who is this for? The selling point here is size: A 32-inch display allows you to see more of what you’re working on, especially for a single display. Is it too large? I don’t think so, especially with the number of pixels it’s pushing. DisplayPort and HDMI connections can accommodate most display outputs. There are built-in blue-light filters, too.
Why is this deal good? Another display that’s at its lowest price in a year. A month ago, this would have cost about $239 or so.
Get the Asus 32-inch 4K Display (VP327Q) for $179.00 ($70 off) at Amazon
Don’t forget that laptop! We think that the Asus Vivobook Go is one of the best deals we’ve seen.
Asus Vivobook Go 15, $479.99 ($120 off at Amazon)
Asus
Who is this for? My colleague Ashley Biancuzzo says that the Vivobook Go is for anyone who just needs a barebones machine. Just something reliable for browsing or streaming. Whatever it is you do when you’re busy killing time. Check out her roundup of the best Prime Day laptop deals for more.
Why is this a good deal? The Vivobook Go sits in that increasingly important “just enough laptop” category. It’s not trying to be crazy powerful. It’s trying to be consistent.
Get the Asus Vivobook Go 15 for $479.99 ($120 off at Amazon)
What would a home office be without a webcam? I reviewed the Obsbot Meet 2 4K webcam earlier this year, and I loved it. Amazon has it on a substantial sale for October Prime Day.
Obsbot Meet 2 4K webcam: $99.00 ($30 off at Amazon)
Mark Hachman / Foundry
Who is this for? The fact is that 4K webcams are more common than ever, so testing them really helps determine which webcams work best in low light, which are more color-accurate, et cetera. My review of the Obsbot Meet 2 really helped convince me that this is a webcam that you want to buy. (Sample pictures included, of course.)
Why is this deal good? You will find lower prices on other webcams at Amazon. However, nearly a quarter off on a solid 4K webcam is worth it, I think.
Get the Obsbot Meet 2 4K webcam for $99.00 ($30 off at Amazon)
Unfortunately, Amazon is not selling the excellent Logitech MX Master 4 mouse as part of its Amazon October Prime Day sales. However, the older MX Master 3S mouse is being offered at a decent discount, which is an ideal opportunity to upgrade if you haven’t done it already.
Logitech MX Master 3S (Bluetooth) Wireless Mouse: $79.99 ($20 off at Amazon)
Who is this for? The Logitech MX Master 3S boasts an incredibly accurate 8,000 dpi sensor and the series’ noted thumbwheel and thumb rest. If you set the MX Master 4 aside, it’s probably the ultimate productivity mouse. The MX Master 4, unfortunately, is not on sale.
OK, storage prices stink these days, but hang on…what’s this?
Lexar 2TB ES5 External SSD: $284.49 ($95 off at Amazon)
Who is this for? This drive works as an external SSD for PCs and phones with a USB-C port, and also includes MagSafe compatibility for iPhones, which is something you rarely see. It’s a nice, quick way to transfer files quickly from your phone to your PC, and the USB-C cord works as a strap, too.
Why is this deal good? We all know that storage prices have skyrocketed, but the price of this external SSD isn’t bad: It’s the lowest price since February, when the prices started spiking. Amazon says that this drive was about at $180 or so a year ago, but that’s just the way it goes.
Get the Lexar 2TB ES5 External SSD for $284.49 ($95 off) at Amazon
It’s time to upgrade your USB-C cables, especially if you got them over five years ago and they came bundled with a device. Amazon is currently selling a 2-pack of 60W Anker cables for $7.99, which amounts to just $4 a piece. That’s the lowest price we’ve seen on these cables, and a great deal for one of the better value cables on the market.
These deliver up to 60W of charging, enough to fast-charge most phones, and work fine with older, weaker chargers as well as newer GaN chargers. It won’t push power-hungry laptops to their fastest charging speeds, but for phones, tablets, and everyday charging, it’s plenty.
At 3.3 feet, these are shorter than Anker’s 6-foot version, so they’re better suited for charging at a desk or nightstand than stretching across a room. They’re covered in braided nylon and rated for up to 5,000 bends, so they’ll hold up to daily use and pack up without concern for damage.
The first caveat is, these cables aren’t built for fast data transfers. They support up to 480 Mbps, so you can use them in a pinch, but don’t rely on them frequently for large files like 4K videos. If ultra-fast data transfers are a priority, get this Anker USB4 cable instead. It tops out at 5,000 MB/s and it can still be used to charge at up to 240W.
I’ve been using bone conduction headphones for about a decade. They’re wonderful for bike riding or kayaking, or any other activity where you don’t want your ears plugged (up to and including grocery shopping). The Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 are, without qualification, the best pair I’ve ever used. And today Amazon has them for $55 off, down to $125.
The OpenRun Pro 2 are, appropriately, designed to be worn while in motion. They’re phenomenally lightweight and comfortable, they resist sweat and rain (if not full swimming), and they last for twelve hours on a charge. Oh, and that charge doesn’t need to be from a proprietary cable — reliable USB-C is all you need. While open-ear headphones can never match the audio fidelity of standard designs, particularly in bass, this set has excellent volume, mid, and high tones.
This set is normally $180, and not unreasonable for that. But it’s a lot more palatable at $125. Amazon is selling four color variants at this price, including the hard-to-find orange, plus the “mini” variants with a slightly shorter headband. Best Buy and Walmart seem to have similar sales going at the same time.
If you’re not sure about bone conduction and you’d rather start with something a little cheaper, the Shokz OpenMove is going for just $55. This older design has less sophisticated drivers and a shorter battery life, but it’s also water-resistant and recharges with USB-C.
Would you look at that! We finally have a proper deal on PC storage. Right now, Amazon is selling the 1TB SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD for just $209.99. That isn’t just a big $90 drop from its original $299.99—that’s a brand-new all-time low price for this drive. Given the state of the PC hardware market and skyrocketing SSD prices, this October Prime Day deal is one of the biggest surprises… so get it while you still can.
This is SanDisk’s newest SSD model, released earlier this year, and you’re paying for three big benefits. First, its 1TB capacity. That’s a lot of storage space, large enough to hold dozens of 4K movies. Having that much space on hand is great for convenience and peace of mind, especially if you have data-hoarding tendencies—and that’s all the more true if you have a small laptop with a tiny drive filled up by your operating system.
But second, what you’re really paying for is the performance. This SanDisk Extreme is rated for up to 2,000 MB/s, which is blazing fast for a portable SSD. Compare that to SanDisk’s cheaper 1TB SSD at $129.99 for 600 MB/s or Samsung’s T7 1TB SSD at $229.90 for 1,050 MB/s. For similar speeds, you’re looking at Amazon Basics 1TB SSD for $239.90 or Samsung T9 1TB SSD for $254.66—clearly, this SanDisk Extreme is the best value.
Just note that your laptop (or whatever device) will need to support USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 to reach these speeds. Otherwise, it’ll cap out at the top speeds supported by the port you plug into.
Third, you’re paying for its ruggedness. It carries an IP65 rating, meaning it’s sealed against dust, splashes, and spills; it also survive bumps and drops from up to 3 meters high; and it even has 256-bit AES encryption with password protection to keep all your files fully secure.
The SanDisk Extreme 1TB is the best portable SSD deal for October Prime Day, so take advantage if you need a high-performance drive. The one catch is that this is a Prime-exclusive deal—if you don’t have Prime, learn how you can get Amazon Prime for free. And if you still have more shopping left in you, check out the best tech deals for October Prime Day.
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