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.
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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.
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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.
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