At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Repairable and upgradeable Great keyboard Display is easy on the eyes Cons High up-front cost Battery life lags way behind Not quite seamless design Our Verdict The Framework Laptop 13 falls behind similarly priced systems in many ways, making it a bit of a hard sell for buyers looking to get a new machine. But its reparability and more affordable upgrade pathway can make it a much more compelling value for certain types of users. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today The Framework Laptop 13 (2025) isn’t so much a new computer, per se, as it is a refresh of some of the parts of the prior Framework Laptop 13. Aside from a new CPU (and the mainboard it comes packaged on) and a revised keyboard, much of this new Framework Laptop 13 is identical to the model tested last year. While this sameness may not make it an exciting system to upgrade to from earlier models, especially when considering the $1,946 price tag for the configuration tested here, current Framework Laptop 13 owners get to enjoy the much more affordable upgrade pathway that sets Framework apart from its competing brands. The mainboard in our test unit is just $699 after all.   This upgradeability may make the Framework Laptop 13 a compelling option for certain types of users who pursue performance upgrades but want consistency otherwise. But for those who need a reliable system today and enjoy occasional changes, many of our favorite laptops are available at lower prices. Even if upgrades in the future are more expensive, you can try to defray those future costs with the sale of your old machine or simply enjoy the second life it can have in the hands of a friend or family member.  Editor’s note: The Framework Laptop 13 (2025) is now available for pre-order, with shipments expecting to begin in May 2025. Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Specs and features CPU: AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 Memory: 16GB DDR5-5600 Graphics/GPU: AMD Radeon 860M Display: 13.5-inch, 2880×1920 matte IPS with 120Hz refresh rate (rounded corners) Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD Webcam: 1080p Connectivity: 4x configurable and swappable ports, 1x combo audio jack Networking: WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Windows Hello fingerprint Battery capacity: 61 watt-hours Dimensions: 11.7 x 9 x 0.6 inches Weight: 2.99 pounds MSRP: $1,946 as-tested ($1,109 base w/o Windows license or power adapter) The new Framework Laptop 13 is built around AMD’s new Strix Point Ryzen AI 300 series CPUs with integrated graphics and discrete XDNA 2 NPUs. Framework offers both DIY (assemble-yourself) and pre-built versions with the Ryzen AI 5 340 (starting at $989), the Ryzen AI 7 350 (starting at $1,349) tested here, and the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (starting at $1,829). Each base configuration includes a 2256×1504 matte display, but Framework offers a $140 upgrade to a 2880×1920 matte display with a 120Hz refresh rate (albeit also with rounded corners). The plastic bezel around the display is also customizable with a variety of opaque and translucent colors — black and clear are free, but all others cost $10. The keyboard and deck are also included in the price, though Framework has a few special options for $10 more.  The base configurations listed come with no storage, memory, operating system, charger, or expansion cards to give the laptop I/O like USB-C ports or HDMI. You can select these items while configuring your laptop, and they’ll raise the price in turn. If you already have any of these, then you’re able to skip these items and avoid the extra cost at checkout. However, if you don’t have these and need to have a ready-to-use laptop, the actual base price will change a bit. For instance, the $989 base rises to $1,109 for a complete laptop, and that’s still before adding a $139 Windows license (you could use Linux for free instead) and a $59 charger. Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Design and build quality  IDG / Mark Knapp The 2025 Framework Laptop 13 doesn’t really change much from its predecessors, and that’s by design. Since Framework’s laptops are upgradeable, they feature a consistent chassis that new parts can slot into. So this new model continues to feature the same all-aluminum construction of its predecessors, and combines that silver with a black keyboard. It’s surprisingly thin for an upgradeable system, and it’s not overly flexible. The display hinge is a bit wiggly. After opening it or making adjustments, it will wiggle for a couple of seconds before coming to a rest. But otherwise, the system feels pretty sturdy.  In the effort to make it accessible, Framework appears to have struggled some with seamlessness, though. There’s a clear seam between the lower and upper panels of the base, and while they fit quite closely around the sides, they don’t at the front edge. The front edge is held together with just two screws in each corner, and this setup doesn’t create enough pressure in the middle, leaving an unsightly gap between the panels. IDG / Mark Knapp Each side features four slots for different I/O models, which have a fairly smart retaining mechanism. They slide on rails and have a small catch to lock them into place. They fit in securely, but they also show unsightly and uneven seams. Alas, that just appears to be the cost of customizability, and it may be a tradeoff worth making.  The customization does come with some fun options. Our test unit included a translucent purple display bezel that harkened back to old N64 controllers, for instance. Unfortunately, it had square corners that didn’t quite line up with the rounded corners of the display — not a glaring aesthetic issue, but a minor upset. The display didn’t get the most competitive bezels either, boasting thicker top and bottom bezels than you’d typically find on a similarly priced laptop in 2025.  Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Keyboard, trackpad IDG / Mark Knapp The Framework Laptop 13’s new Gen 2 keyboard is largely satisfying. After a little over an hour of use, I was able to get up to a typing speed of 115 words per minute with 97 percent accuracy in Monkeytype, and by the end of my testing, I bumped that to 121 words per minute and 98 percent accuracy. On an exceptional keyboard, I find I can go a bit faster with still more accuracy, but that’s not a bad result for the Framework Laptop 13. I find the keys have decent travel and stabilization, but a slight sponginess holds them back slightly. The keys feature white backlighting with several levels of brightness. These bleed out a little around the keycaps, but they also effectively illuminate the legends.  The trackpad included on the laptop is modestly sized, offering decent width and height for swiping and multi-finger gestures. It’s nowhere near as massive as I’ve seen on some Asus or Dell laptops, but it’s a respectable size and avoids running into my palm while I’m typing. My fingers glide smoothly across its glass surface, and it tracks my movements well. It depresses slightly when pressed, offering a mostly silent but tactile click.  Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Display, audio IDG / Mark Knapp The display on the Framework Laptop 13, as configured, is great. It’s not winning any awards for its quality, but its utility is top-notch. The screen gets incredibly bright, reaching almost 540 nits in my testing. That, combined with its excellent anti-glare finish, makes it exceptionally visible in most conditions. For its size, it’s sharp, and the 120Hz refresh rate makes everything smooth. Even its contrast is surprisingly strong for an IPS display, reaching 1710:1 in my testing. Color isn’t its strong suit, though. It offers a solid 100 percent coverage of the sRGB color space, but it comes up lacking in DCI-P3 color, where it only achieves 86 percent coverage.  The speakers are similarly utilitarian. They can push out a decent amount of volume focused in the mid-range, giving human voices plenty of sound, but they can drop off considerably at the low end and can sound boxed in depending on what’s playing. They offer a nice enough performance for music, but not an impressive one, especially with their lacking bass.  Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Webcam, microphone, biometrics The webcam on the Framework Laptop 13 is decent. It offers 1080p resolution and has a fairly wide angle, making it easy to frame yourself. While it ends up with a lot of noise in low-light scenes, it does a good job boosting the exposure to avoid crushed shadows while also steering clear of clipped highlights. The mic isn’t so impressive. Even in a quiet room, I sounded a bit distant, and there was some room echo. Both the camera and microphones have hardware switches at the top of the display bezel for disabling them. These are nice to see, though they feel a little flimsier than the rest of the laptop’s build. For signing into the system, the Framework Laptop 13 has a square fingerprint reader at the top right corner, above the keyboard. This has worked on occasion, but like many fingerprint readers on Windows laptops I’ve tested, it’s not terribly consistent. Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Connectivity IDG / Mark Knapp Connectivity on the Framework Laptop 13 is what you make of it. Beyond a built-in 3.5mm audio jack, the system includes four slots for customizable I/O, and Framework offers USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, 2.5Gb Ethernet, DisplayPort, microSD, and SD card slot modules. Most will sit flush with the side of the laptop, but size constraints meant that the Ethernet card had to stick out from the side of the laptop.  While you get all these options, there are some limitations depending on which modules you insert where. All four slots support charging with USB-C modules. But the front slot on either side has limited bandwidth, so a USB-C module on those slots will only offer USB 3.2 speeds, and DisplayPort modules will only offer DisplayPort 1.4 HBR3. The same modules in the rear slots would offer USB4 and DisplayPort 2.0 UBR20, respectively. Framework has also noted that using USB-A modules in the rear slots will come with higher power consumption.  Framework’s I/O options are good for a laptop this size, and the flexibility may be worthwhile for some. There are certainly laptops in this class that offer worse and more limited I/O. That said, you can find models that have more. Generally you won’t find full-size DisplayPort, but other than that, you can find models with multiple USB-A and USB-C ports, microSD or full-size SD, and an HDMI port.  Framework rounds out its wired connectivity with strong wireless connections. It includes an AMD RZ717 Wi-Fi card with support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Performance The key update to the 2025 Framework Laptop 13 is the under-the-hood upgrade to the latest mobile AMD Ryzen processors. Our test unit gets the mid-level Ryzen AI 7 350, though there are more and less powerful alternatives available. With this, it’s ready to challenge some of the latest and greatest ultrabooks on the market, like the $1,689 HP OmniBook Ultra 14, $1,754 Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, $1,899 Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 14 Gen 10, and $1,599 MSI Sumit 13 AI+ Evo. The new Framework Laptop 13 puts on a good show, but not the absolute best. It’s a step up over its earlier configuration, which ran on an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. In the holistic PCMark 10 test, the Framework Laptop 13 keeps up with its competition for the most part. But it doesn’t have enough horsepower to pull away from the back by any wide margins. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 and Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 14 (Gen 10) put it in a tough spot, as both cost less but run faster overall.  In raw CPU performance, the Framework Laptop 13 gets more of a leg up. The CPU is a potent one for encoding, which can hit CPUs hard. It thoroughly outperforms the MSI laptop here, highlighting the Framework’s effective cooling, which always helps to keep the encode times from stretching on. The potency of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 even lets the Framework outpace the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 14 (Gen 10), albeit by a narrow margin. But again, the value goes to the HP OmniBook Ultra 14, which benefits from AMD’s new architecture as well but brings an even more powerful chip at the same time.  Cinebench R24 only further confirms the standings. The Framework Laptop 13 is indeed potent among its competition, with much faster CPU performance than the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V-powered rivals in multi-core workloads and keeping a healthy lead over the Snapdragon-powered ThinkPad. It steps up considerably from the earlier Intel chip on offer from Framework. Single-core performance actually lags a little bit behind, though, but is still enough to keep the system feeling snappy. But again, the HP OmniBook keeps its lead thanks to the four extra cores it brings along.  While the Framework Laptop 13 has a powerful CPU, Intel still shows its might in the graphics department. Even the older Framework Laptop 13 baseboard had faster graphics performance in 3DMark. The newer Intel chips in the MSI and Lenovo Yoga laptops only further widen that gap. In day-to-day operation, the Framework Laptop 13 held up well enough, and it offers more than the Snapdragon X Elite in the ThinkPad, but it won’t do much beyond light gaming. And again, the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 touts more value thanks to the doubling of GPU cores it gets, allowing it to better keep pace with the Intel Arc graphics in these other machines, even if it’s still not matching the Yoga Slim 9i 14 (Gen 10) in this department.  Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Battery life The Framework Laptop 13’s 62.3Wh battery is one of the smallest in this group, but it’s not far off. Only the ThinkPad’s 58Wh battery is smaller. It stands to reason that the Framework might suffer a slightly shorter battery life as a result, but it fared considerably worse than expected. In our 4K video playback test, the Framework Laptop 13 ran for just over 11 hours. The next closest machine was the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 14, which beat it by more than 2 hours despite its demanding OLED display, and even that was a disappointing result in our testing. The rest all topped 16 hours, which is more in line with what we want from ultrabooks trying to contend with recent MacBooks. The MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo took it even farther with over 21 hours of runtime. And for all its shortcomings in performance, the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 remains a standout for its mind-blowing 23.5-hour battery life.  On the bright side, the Framework Laptop 13 is relatively long-lasting for everyday use. It doesn’t quite match its video playback performance, but I was able to stretch the battery for 8-hour workdays quite consistently, albeit with the brightness somewhat lower at 50 percent. Framework Laptop 13 (2025): Conclusion The Framework Laptop 13 is a good laptop all around, but without factoring in its key differentiating feature, it fails to ascend to greatness. At any given moment, when you have the choice between buying this Framework model and all its constituent components or going with something else from competing laptop makers, you can get a more competent machine for your money by going with the latter. It’s a challenge of up-front cost that will likely always hinder the Framework Laptop 13.  But what’s important here is that you’re still getting a good laptop if you make that up-front investment. Once you have, you could end up benefiting from upgrade pathways from Framework that would make it far more competitive against its rivals. For instance, if you want to upgrade from an old laptop to the HP OmniBook Ultra 14, you’ll pay $1,689. By contrast, if you already have a Framework Laptop 13 and want to upgrade to this one, you don’t need to pay the $1,946 this complete unit costs — you can just buy the $699 baseboard instead, or even the $999 Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 baseboard to come even closer to the OmniBook Ultra 14’s specs. By upgrading only the parts you need to upgrade, you save money on things like the display, keyboard, speakers, battery, and chassis that you don’t upgrade.  This ultimately may leave some elements of the Framework Laptop 13 lagging behind, but since it’s generally decent all around, you at least won’t get stuck with bad parts. There are still plenty of variables you’ll want to consider, like whether you tend to sell or give away your old laptops as hand-me-downs — options the Framework Laptop 13 precludes. But if you tend to upgrade your laptop every couple of years to keep its performance up-to-speed, the Framework Laptop 13 gives you a good piece of hardware and the potential of increasing value the longer you keep it in service with upgrades through the years. Read...

TL;DR: Upgrade your PC to Windows 11 Pro for just $14.97 (reg. $199) before Windows 10 support ends this year — These licenses are going fast! Microsoft has officially set the expiration date on Windows 10 support, and once it hits, you’ll stop receiving critical security updates. If you’re still running the old system, this is your sign to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro. Windows 11 Pro brings a polished interface, faster multitasking, built-in AI with Microsoft Copilot, and upgraded security with features like Smart App Control and TPM 2.0. Gamers can take advantage of DirectX12 Ultimate for smoother, more immersive performance. On top of that, the Pro version includes powerful tools for professionals and advanced users: Remote desktop access BitLocker encryption Windows Sandbox for safe app testing Hyper-V virtualization Azure Active Directory integration This is a lifetime license for one compatible PC — no subscriptions, no recurring costs. After checkout, your license key and installation instructions will be delivered instantly. Get your Windows 11 Pro lifetime license for just $14.97 before these codes sell out. Microsoft Windows 11 ProSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

Just having a password set on your PC in Windows 11 isn’t a sure way to stop hackers from physically gaining access to your PC — yes, it can be bypassed. But there is another security measure you can take. For an extra layer of protection, you can turn a humble USB drive into a secure key that will lock and unlock your PC, making it much harder for intruders to gain access. Here’s how… What to do… Windows 11 has a facility to set up a secure USB key. But I prefer to use the free third-party app USB Raptor, which gives me a little more control over how my key works. Get a USB flash drive without any files loaded on it. I’m using the SanDisk 16GB Ultra Fit, which cost me $9 on Amazon. Download and install USB Raptor and launch the app. It will launch in configuration mode with three steps to complete to set up your secure key. Step 1: Choose an encryption password and write it down somewhere so you don’t forget it. Step 2: Plug in your USB flash drive and choose the correct drive letter it was allocated. Now click Create k3y file. Step 3: Before you enable USB Raptor, you’ll want to create a backdoor login in case you lose your key. USB Raptor launches a three step configuration process.  Dominic Bayley / Foundry Create a backdoor login In the top-right corner of the app click in the box next to Advanced configuration. Click on Lock features in the top menu. Navigate down to Backdoor access. Now click Generate RUID file. This will create a file on your desktop that will allow you to bypass the lockscreen if you forget your password and the USB key is removed from your PC. Creating the RUID file for backdoor access in USB Raptor.  Dominic Bayley / Foundry Pro tip: If you’re not keen on using USB Raptor, there are numerous other security apps to choose from. Two others include Predator and Rohos Logon Key Free. While some of what you can do in these apps is free you will have to pay to unlock a full suite of features. More things to note: Be sure to label your USB flash drive security key so that you never mix it up with other drives you own. Use a USB drive with a fast read/write speed to make your login quicker. Before you create a key, back up your data to ensure you don’t lose it. If you’ve followed the steps above, you should now have a secure key that will make your PC more secure — as well as backdoor access in case anything goes wrong. If you don’t want to use your key, simply deactivate it in the app. Further reading: How to turn a USB flash drive into a portable gaming console Read...

TL;DR: Replace Adobe Acrobat with a lifetime license for SwifDoo PDF Pro on sale for $29.97 through April 27. If you deal with a lot of PDFs but don’t want to pay for Adobe Acrobat every month, SwifDoo PDF Pro is a great alternative. It’s a lightweight, affordable editor for Windows that still packs in a full range of features. Bonus: a SwifDoo lifetime license just went on sale for $29.97 (reg. $129), but it’s not going to stay that way. With SwifDoo, you can open, edit, annotate, merge, and compress PDFs without any fuss. Need to convert a document to Word or Excel? It can handle that too, without messing up the formatting. You can even batch convert multiple files at once. SwifDoo also includes OCR (optical character recognition), which means you can scan printed documents and turn them into searchable, editable files. Signing PDFs, adding or removing watermarks, and password-protecting documents are all built in as well. What makes it especially appealing is the one-time cost. You pay once, and that’s it: no subscriptions, no recurring fees. It’s easy to use, fast to install, and doesn’t slow down your system. April 27 at 11:59 p.m. PT is the cutoff to get a SwifDoo PDF Pro Lifetime License on sale for $29.97. No coupon needed. SwifDoo PDF Pro: Perpetual Lifetime License for WindowsSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

TechHive Editors Choice At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Good reception of local and some distant channels Comes with mounting hardware, including a short mast Compact design will stand out less in neighborhoods Cons Not well suited to locations distant from broadcast towers Our Verdict The Televes Dinova Boss Mix is a sensitive TV antenna with a built-in signal amplifier that will do a good job pulling in TV stations while looking a lot less Conspicuous on the side or roof of a house. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Televes Dinova Boss Mix Retailer Price $99.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket There’s a lot to like about outdoor TV antennas. They offer better and more stable TV reception and usually bring in more channels than indoor models, which is why we always recommend them, but they won’t win any neighborhood beauty contests. The Televes Dinova Boss Mix isn’t beautiful, but it does look very different from a typical antenna and is likely to stand out much less when mounted on the roof or the side of a house. It can also be installed in an attic (if you don’t have a metal roof) for even less visual distraction, albeit at the cost of some reception. The Dinova Boss Mix provided good reception of all local channels, an impressive feat for an antenna of its size. Specifications The Televes Dinova Mix Boss comes with everything you need to install it, including a short mast if you want to mount it on the side of your house. Martyn Williams/Foundry The antenna is enclosed in a white plastic shell with a built-in bracket on the rear for mounting on a pole. You’d typically mount it horizontally, but there could be a situation where a vertical mount would be better, and the bracket accommodates both scenarios. It comes complete with a short mast you can use to mount it to the side of your house; so, everything you need is in the box—apart from the coaxial cable needed to connect it to your TV tuner. Don’t overlook one of the Dinova Boss Mix’s best features when you unbox it: There are a couple of small, silver nubs on either side of the antenna: Give each of these a tug to extend a set of telescoping antennas and you’ll get better VHF TV stations that broadcast on channels 13 and below. These channels can sometimes be tough to catch with smaller antennas like this one, so that’s a great feature. Be surre to extend the telesdcoping antennas on each side of the Televes Dinova Mix Boss. Martyn Williams/Foundry The antenna’s built-in signal amplifier, powered by the 12-volt power supply you’ll also find in the box, will boost reception. In use After installing the Dinova Boss Mix, I found that it provided good reception of all local channels and strong signals from a neighboring market. That’s impressive for an antenna of this size. In terms of the number of channels, it was only a little behind my daily-use antenna, the Televes Dat Boss Mix. While that didn’t matter in the tests, I always prefer to get as strong a signal as possible, especially on more distant stations that can be affected by weather conditions. The Televes Dinova Mix Boss viewed from below.Martyn Williams/Foundry The Dinova Boss Mix even pulled in a low-power VHF station that presents a tricky signal for me most of the time. Reception of that station wasn’t perfect, but that it was coming in at all showed the antenna’s sensitivity. This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best TV antennas. Should you buy a Televes Dinova Boss Mix? The antenna should work well in areas with strong to average reception and will perform better on reception of UHF stations over VHF. PCWorld’s guide to choosing an antenna explains how to determine the signal levels of the broadcast towers where you live before you buy, so check that before making a final decision. Whether it’s mounted on your roof, the side of your house, or in an attic space, the Televes Dinova Boss Mix offers a more pleasing profile than more typical TV antennas, and it still delivers great reception. Read...

I block every single ad on YouTube. And I’m a hypocrite for doing it. But I’m not ashamed. Because through a series of blunders and malicious decisions, Google has systematically made YouTube a worse and worse viewing experience, abusing its monopoly position as the de facto home of video on the web.  I’m a hypocrite for blocking ads Let’s start off this rant with a little context. As a web writer, I should never block advertising on the internet. The majority of the money I’ve been paid over the last 13 years has come from web ads, like the ones you’re probably seeing above, below, and around these words. A modern writer for a free-to-read site blocking advertising is kind of like a vegan butcher: problematic at best.  Google Advertising is how the majority of content on the internet is sustainable. Google, Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn, TikTok, the social media service formerly known as Twitter — if you’re accessing information for free, it’s almost always being paid for by ads. Google isn’t a search company, it’s the biggest advertising company on the planet. And yes, that includes Google’s subsidiary services like Gmail, Google Docs, and YouTube. But the fact that advertising is literally vital to the web doesn’t take away its problems. Modern web ads are targeted towards people with a shocking degree of specificity. Your advertising profile, curated and updated via tracking cookies, probably includes far more data than you’d feel comfortable with if you saw it.   Ads clutter up pages and obscure the content they’re supposed to be supporting, bogging down performance with unnecessary videos and animations. And that’s when they’re not being actively malicious, spreading malware or targeted disinformation, or just plain selling scams. Google officially tries to police what gets advertised with its systems, as do other advertising giants, but this largely automated system has built-in holes that are constantly leaking the stuff of nightmares.  So yeah, I use an ad blocker in my browser, hypocritical as it is for me. And I don’t blame anyone else for doing it, either. It’s become an essential tool for any user of modern technology. I manually turn on my ad blocker only for the most annoying and obtrusive ads. So I’m only mostly a hypocrite. Michael Crider/Foundry To hold on to a shred of dignity, I don’t block all ads. I use a “reverse allowlist,” only manually blocking ads on websites that bog down my PC with a glut of performance-sapping videos and animations, and only when I don’t have an alternative. As someone who works online and keeps dozens of tabs and windows open concurrently, I really don’t have an option not to block a lot of ads, even on my beefy desktop with 32GB of memory. The reverse allowlist feature is one of the reasons I recommend AdGuard over more popular alternatives like AdBlock Plus. Based on that criteria, I shouldn’t block ads on YouTube. They don’t sap performance (much), and as annoying as they are, they pay for the content I watch for free. Open and shut case, right?  Google makes YouTube worse so you’ll pay to undo it Wrong. Over the last few years Google has abused YouTube, its viewers, and its creators at every opportunity, and I’m sick of it. And since YouTube is an effective monopoly on the web (and hardly the only one Google is abusing), I feel zero shame about skirting around its attempts to make me pay for it with either dollars or attention. Vive la resistance.  Years ago I watched ads on YouTube, patiently waiting for the “skip” button to appear, gritting my teeth as that took longer and longer. I first considered blocking them when I started getting unskippable 30-second advertisements in front of movie trailers posted by Hollywood studios — ads to watch ads, in a twisted mirror of bloated theater previews. But the final straw was when Google began showing two ads at once before pretty much every video.  Tired of seeing political ads on YouTube that literally instruct you to be afraid? Too freakin’ bad. Michael Crider/Foundry As it happens, I started seeing double the advertising at exactly the same time that YouTube Premium became an option in 2018. Of course that wasn’t a coincidence. Google decided to make the experience of YouTube materially worse at the same time that it introduced a paid option to make it better. Update: YouTube launches cheaper $8 Premium Lite plan without the best parts We’ve seen the same thing happen with most of the mainstream video platforms: a cheap, ad-supported tier appears, and suddenly the ad-free experience is “premium.” Amazon didn’t even try to hide it — they simply made everything on Prime Video ad-supported, and told everyone to pay up if they didn’t like it. Pay more, I should say, since Prime was already a paid service.  Arbitrarily making your service worse so you can pay to undo the malfeasance really gets my goat. I resolved to begin blocking every YouTube ad I could and never pay for it, simply out of spite. And I succeeded.  How I block every YouTube ad — even the ones YouTube doesn’t pay for On the desktop the easiest way to go about this is with a standard ad-blocker. Again, I prefer AdGuard, which has generally been reliable for this purpose. And it works in pretty much every browser, including my new bestie Vivaldi. Once you’ve made that jump, there are other ways to enhance your experience that Google probably wouldn’t appreciate. You can skip past repetitive channel intros and outros, even automatically jump past the paid sponsorships that channels are forced to use when YouTube doesn’t pay them enough (the ads upon ads upon ads). The promo page for SponsorBlock says the extension has auto-skipped over thousands of years of integrated ads for its users. Google But that’s just the desktop. What about mobile, where most of the world is actually watching YouTube? On Android this is fairly easy, if not straightforward. You can use a tool like ReVanced to patch the official app, baking those ad-blocking tools right into a customized version. In addition to blocking ads and skipping sponsored segments, it can even unlock the features that Google has placed behind the Premium adwall, like the ability to play audio in the background while you use other apps or have your phone off entirely.  The ReVanced tool, which can patch the official YouTube Android app, makes the service bearable again. Michael Crider/Foundry In the interest of total transparency: This is something Google would probably call stealing, and it’s definitely against YouTube’s terms of service. Which is why they fight so hard against these apps. Are you using an iPhone instead of Android, or aren’t keen on the slightly daunting task of messing with the official app? Then there are other options. You can view YouTube through a mobile browser like DuckDuckGo for easy access to ad-blocking and background audio. There are even a few apps like PopTube that are essentially third-party YouTube clients, doing their best to get around Google’s restrictions.  If all else fails, you can use a VPN to pretend you’re in a country where Google doesn’t think it’s worth it to run ads. And because I still need to earn a paycheck, here are some VPNs you might consider. As it happens, the VPN service I pay for every month is cheaper every month than a YouTube Premium subscription. Playing cat and mouse with Google Google is doing its best to get around these methods as they become more popular. The keeper of the keys has been experimenting with a lot of ways to make sure you’re either paying or watching ads — the original “Vanced” app had to shut down for fear of legal repercussions. Google has slowed down the performance of YouTube for users who are blocking ads, trying to make it as frustrating as possible. And every time, the ad blockers have won out. Because YouTube might be powered by money, but ad-blocking developers are powered by spite.  Google’s next attempt to out-fox ad-blockers is baking advertising right into the base of the video stream, encoding the ads into the same file as the video itself. This is a huge technical overhead, something that will put some serious strain on YouTube’s data centers. And I don’t think it’ll work, even if they get it functional. The ability to bypass sponsored ads hard-coded into the videos already exists, and shows up within a few hours of a new video being posted on a popular channel.  If all this seems like a lot just to skip out on $15 a month, well, I suppose it is. Especially since I watch far more YouTube than I do any streaming service I actually pay for. But I’m not the only one who’s fed up with the platform, and sadly has no real alternative. YouTube’s own creators are sick of it too.  Even YouTube creators are sick of YouTube You can’t watch any professional YouTube channel for long without hearing about videos getting taken down for overzealous and questionably legal copyright claims, as the automated systems leave the actual enforcement of fair use to humans. There are also elaborate methods of flagging videos with copyright notices and, instead of removing the video, simply leaving it in place and taking (or stealing) the revenue it creates. This is a system designed to end YouTube’s freewheeling pre-Google days as an open haven for piracy, but now it’s been weaponized as a way for gigantic corporations to fleece genuine creators out of the fruits of their labor.  And that’s assuming that advertisers are willing to pay for it in the first place. YouTube’s demonetization system, by which Google simply refuses to pay a creator because advertisers don’t want to be associated with controversial topics, is just as big a menace for anyone actually trying to make a living on the platform. You’ll see creators censor their own speech to avoid swearing too early, or using ridiculous euphemisms like “unalive” for kill or “self-delete” for suicide, topics that appear next to highly paid advertising on television every single day.  The following (demonetized) video has lots and lots of swearing. Fair warning. See how easy that was? Try to make a video about true crime without saying “murder,” and you’ll see why YouTube creators are always begging you to subscribe to them on Patreon. Because it’s becoming harder and harder to actually make money on YouTube…and there’s no one to blame for that, except YouTube.  And for what? When I use YouTube in another browser or with extensions disabled, I still see some of the same trash ads I used to. Blatant “training methods” for get-rich-quick scams, the same kind of garbage that was stealing people’s money on late night TV thirty years ago. Mobile game ripoffs straight-up lying about what their actual gameplay looks like. “Dating ads” with Photoshopped models that seem like they’re either fake or victims of human trafficking. And just recently, endless, endless political ads with zero standards for either production or truth. I even get advertising for ad blockers. So Google is accepting money to advertise products on YouTube…that it absolutely forbids you to use on YouTube, according to its Terms of Service. YouTube seems to have much lower standards for the people buying ads it than for the people who make the content that enables those ads to function. Dropout.tv To try and alleviate my conscience, I do pay for some of the content I watch. Indeed, I use Patreon to support some of my favorite channels like Drawfee and Second Wind. The YouTube monopoly is the only way they can actually get their content seen and I don’t want them to disappear. I’ve bought D&D merchandise from creators like Pointy Hat when they advertise their own stuff, just as a means of showing my appreciation. And I’m subscribed to the comedy channel Dropout, which evolved out of College Humor, and has become possibly the only self-sustaining streaming service that’s actually worth what it charges.  But pay for YouTube directly? Not a chance. I’ve given Google too much money for phones and tablets in the past, I paid for Google Play Music for years before they once again scrapped it for a worse and more expensive service. Until Google starts respecting both the users that it serves and the creators that it depends upon, it doesn’t get any more of my cash. Editor’s note: This editorial originally published in November 2024, but was updated after YouTube rolled out the $8 Premium Lite subscription to include reference in the relevant section. 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If your phone’s battery has ever hit red while you’re out and about, then you know how stressful it can be, praying that your phone doesn’t die until you’re able to charge it somewhere, somehow. That’s why it’s always nice to have a power bank on hand. Just in case. Especially when you’re traveling, commuting, or otherwise out for a long time. Fortunately, one of our favorite solutions for that is now on sale. Anker has a compact power bank with a 10,000mAh capacity and a convenient built-in USB-C cable that really comes in handy, and this power bank is now just $16 on Amazon with Prime (was $26). If you don’t have Prime, you can still score this price by signing up for a free Prime trial. The Anker Zolo packs enough juice to keep your phone going all day, able to fully recharge an iPhone 15 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S24 two times over. But it’s that built-in USB-C cable that’s the real hero, allowing you to take it anywhere without also worrying about the charging cable. When not in use, the built-in cable loops back and locks into place, serving as a handle strap for carrying the power bank around. On top of that, the Anker Zolo also features a separate USB-C port as well as a USB-A port, so you can charge up to three devices at once. With 30W of power output, it offers fast charging to get your phone ready in minutes, not hours. (Just be aware that the total charging speed gets split up if you’re using multiple ports at the same time.) Want more capacity? The 20,000mAh Anker Zolo is on sale for $29. They’re both about the size of a credit card, but the bigger capacity makes it a little heavier. If portability is your main concern, get the smaller Anker Zolo for $16 while you can! This deal won’t last forever. Save 38% on this power bank with built-in USB-C cableBuy now at Amazon Read...

It’s been a few years since USB-C first hit the scene. And while we still love how reversible it is and how powerful it’s become, we’re also more aware of the potential pitfalls around this high-powered cable. There have been plenty of stories of poor-quality cables frying components, shorting chargers, or even catching fire, so we’ve gone to great lengths to test many options, including some of the best USB-C cables you can get and some of the most hazardous to avoid. Here are some key gotchas you need to be aware of before buying a USB-C cable these days. Learn how to spot the bad ones and what you can do to end up with one that’s fast, durable, and priced well. Further reading: Laptop makers, I’m begging you for this one simple feature Don’t buy from no-name brands This tip is true for most electronics, but it’s especially important for USB-C cables. You might think a USB-C cable is just a bit of wiring in a sheath, but actually there are several safety features — at least, there should be — that ensure safe power delivery. Of course, just because safety regulations exists doesn’t mean that all manufacturers follow them, especially manufacturers who don’t have a reputation to uphold. That tends to be the case for manufacturers on the other side of the world who sell to the international market through sites like Temu, AliExpress, and Amazon. Although sticking to recognizable brands isn’t an entirely foolproof method of securing a high-quality USB-C cable, it does eliminate a lot of the risk as far as safety transgressions are concerned. There’s also more likelihood of recompense if something does go wrong. USB-C cable brands we recommend include: Anker Apple Belkin Cable Matters Dockcase JSAUX Microsoft SooPii Ugreen Avoid USB-C-to-USB-A cables Gordon Mah Ung / IDG If transfer speed is important to you and if your devices and chargers support it, always prefer to use a USB-C-to-USB-C cable rather than a USB-C-to-USB-A cable or converting it from one to the other with an adapter. USB-A is limited in data transfer speed to 10Gbps and limited in charging speed to just 15W. Although there are some USB-C-to-USB-A cables that claim to handle up to 100W, these are typically based on proprietary charging technologies and only reach those rates when paired with appropriately compatible devices and chargers. In comparison, modern USB-C-to-USB-C cables can handle up to 40Gbps of data transfer and up to 240W for fast charging. (That said, 100W and less is still the most common.) You don’t need to buy a cable with the highest specifications, but higher-spec cables are usually higher quality, and that can help ensure that you’re getting a good USB-C cable. So unless you’re powering legacy devices that only support USB-A, you’re better off moving to end-to-end USB-C for both data transfers and charging if performance is a priority. Buy Thunderbolt or USB4 if you can Mark Hachman / Foundry Thunderbolt (3, 4, or 5) and USB4 cables offer the highest charging and data transfer speeds possible for USB-C as of this writing. But most people don’t exactly need those tip-top specs, right? Even so, there’s another good reason to buy one of these cable types: they must adhere to stricter specifications to earn their Thunderbolt or USB4 labels, especially Thunderbolt. A USB-C 3.2 cable isn’t just slower and less capable than a USB4 cable, it’s actually built to a weaker standard and probably isn’t as high-quality. Thunderbolt 3, 4, and the newest Thunderbolt 5 standard have far higher minimum requirements and taller ceilings on potential quality. All of this means that you’re way less likely to purchase a dangerous or underperforming USB-C cable if you stick to Thunderbolt or USB4. Just make sure you get whatever’s supported by your devices. (I mean, if none of your devices support Thunderbolt 4, you might as well save a bit of cash and opt for Thunderbolt 3 instead.) Check the cable’s weight Marcus Urbenz / Unsplash Weighing cables before you buy them might seem like some old-timey superstition, but it’s as legitimate as anything else on this list. Higher-quality USB-C cables are built with a thicker wire gauge, and that thicker copper wiring delivers a cleaner signal. Although some of a thicker cable’s heft and weight comes from its sheath, some of it comes from the wire itself — and more of that means a better cable. We have the receipts to back this up, too. We previously tested whether all USB-C cables are the same and compared a $9 USB-C cable to a $19 alternative. Both measured six feet in length, but the cheaper one was much thinner and lighter. (The $9 one weighed 38 grams while the $19 one weighed 86 grams. A significant difference.) Now, I know it’s not always easy or possible to weigh a cable before you buy it on the internet, but you can usually find weight in the cable’s technical specs. A little variation is okay, but if one cable is substantially lighter than others, consider axing it as a potential buy. Avoid third-party magnetic adapters Michael Crider / IDG You may have seen magnetic tip adapters that attach a USB-C cable and turns one end into a magnetic quick release, much like what we saw in Apple’s defunct MagSafe cables. But you should steer clear of these because they pose a significant risk of hardware damage. Many third-party magnetic USB-C cable adapters don’t offer protection against environmental damage to exposed pins. Others aren’t protected against debris shorting out the pins. There’s even the possibility of electrical arc damage when unplugging the connector. That last point is particularly dangerous, and it happens because the USB-C standard was designed with the idea that a USB-C cable would be plugged into a USB-C port, providing ample time to cut power when the cable is removed. However, magnetic connections are much faster to detach, so there’s a chance that power delivery is still going on even after detaching, leading to electrical arcs and potential damage. Stop using old USB-C cables James Barber / Foundry After all this advice, you might be thinking that it’s not worth the trouble and you might as well just use whatever old USB-C cables are lying around your home. But be wary of doing that! USB-C standards have continued to improve dramatically over the years, and many of those older USB-C cables from years ago weren’t just slow — they were dangerous. We performed an extensive test on older USB-C cables and found that most actually had the potential to provide too much power, which can damage ports and even fry devices. Do you really want to risk shorting your expensive laptop because you didn’t want to toss that old USB-C cable that’s been sitting in your drawer? Spending a few bucks on a new USB-C cable can protect you from all sorts of headaches and make life more convenient with faster data transfer and charging speeds. Further reading: The best USB-C cables worth buying Read...

While Windows 11 provides a good enough out of the box experience—atrocious new taskbar aside—it handles so much better after tweaking just a handful of settings to make it feel more like the Windows of yesteryear. Get windows 11 pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro No, I’m not talking about making Windows 11 look like Windows 10 through an extensive overhaul (though if you’re a Windows veteran that’s worth doing). I’m talking about fast, easy changes that improve the feel of the operating system, turn off annoying ads, reduce the data you send to Microsoft, and more. Better yet, you can do them all in under five minutes—something I did mere weeks ago when I needed to pick up a Windows 11 laptop for some travel. Here are five Windows 11 settings worth changing immediately, with an added bonus at the end. 1. Move the Start button to the left corner What can I say, I’m a traditionalist. I understand Microsoft’s desire to revamp Windows 10’s interface to more closely mirror the style of Macs and Chromebooks—legions of kids get schooled on those, after all—but Windows 11’s shifting taskbar icons drive me batty. (They do help out a lot on ultrawide monitors, though.) I want mousing over to the Start menu to be muscle memory in a set location, not yet another task I have to look at and mentally process. Brad Chacos/IDG Fortunately, Microsoft makes it easy to move the Start menu back to the left-hand corner. Simply open the Start menu and head to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors. You’ll see a field labeled Taskbar alignment with a drop-down menu. Change the drop-dox menu from Center to Left. Boom! Onto the next. 2. Turn off annoying notifications Next, it’s time to turn off those annoying pop-up notifications. Windows 11 itself spawns some, but the worst offenders are third-party apps, especially if your laptop or desktop came preloaded with bloatware. Making the distractions stop is simple. Brad Chacos/IDG Head to Start > System > Notifications. You can turn notifications off universally if you desire. I prefer to work through the list manually, leaving notifications on for critical tools like Slack, Discord, and my antivirus software. (If my AV scanner wants to shout about something, I want to hear it!) Either way, this menu cures many headaches. 3. Turn off Microsoft ads That segues neatly into the next tip. Keep scrolling down beyond the bottom of the list of apps that can send you notifications. There, you’ll see a couple of additional boxes that relate to Windows 11 itself providing “tips and suggestions” on how to use your PC. If you know your way around well enough, deselect the Offer suggestions on how I can set up my device and Get tips and suggestions when I use Windows boxes. I personally prefer to leave the Show me the Windows welcome experience… option checked so I’m notified of new features when a big update drops. Brad Chacos/IDG We’re not done yet, though. If you don’t like seeing Microsoft promotions (like Office and Xbox ads) pop up in your Settings app, head to Start > Settings > Privacy & security > General. Disabling “Show me suggested content in the Settings app” does the trick, though you may want to turn off all these options. Brad Chacos/IDG Finally, head to Settings > Personalization > Device Usage. The options here tell Microsoft how you use your computer so Windows 11 can provide tailored recommendations for apps, websites, Office 365 trials, and more. Turn them all off if you’re not interested in your $100+ copy of Windows 11 upselling you on more Microsoft services. There are other places Microsoft promotions lurk such as the beautiful “Windows Spotlight” lock screens provided by Bing Images, but tweaking this handful of settings eradicates the most irritating ones. If you want to go even deeper, check out 9 tweaks that turn off your Windows PC’s most annoying ads. 4. Change your default browser Microsoft Edge is pretty darned good, actually, but if you’re a diehard Chrome, Firefox, Opera, or Brave user, switching your default browser is easy. Brad Chacos/IDG After downloading and installing the browser of your choice, it should ask if you want to make it the default. Do so, duh. But if you missed your chance during setup, navigate to Settings > Apps > Default apps, find the name of your browser in the list, and click on it. A “Make your default browser” banner with a Set default button at the top of the page does the trick. 5. Declutter the taskbar Sure, Windows 11’s nerfed taskbar is getting better over time, but it still sucks and Microsoft stuffs it to the brim with icons and features you probably have no interest in. Make it easier on the eyes and reclaim some space by heading to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar and deselecting any of the taskbar items you’ll never use. Adios, Widgets, Copilot, and the Microsoft Store. Brad Chacos/IDG While we’re on the topic, spending $5 on Stardock’s Start11 or StartIsBack is well worth it. The programs offer granular options that expand the look and functionality of the taskbar and Start menu alike, making it a lot easier to make Windows 11 look like Windows 10. They’re beyond the scope of this article but deserve a shout-out. Bonus: Dark mode, baby! Finally, an optional personal preference. Some folks like staring at black text on white screens all day. Others, like me, prefer not to sear their retinas. So, the very first thing I always do with a new Windows install is activate dark mode, a preference that carries over into several apps once you’ve set it. Brad Chacos/IDG Simply head to Settings > Personalization > Colors and look for a field called Choose your mode. Change the drop-down menu from Light to Dark. Your eyes will thank you — and so will your laptop battery, if you’re using an OLED display. That’s about it for this rundown of quick Windows 11 settings to change immediately. This rabbit hole goes as deep as you want it, though. Check out our guides to 5 helpful tips and tricks that make Windows easier to use, 10 obscure Windows features that will blow your mind, and 7 frustrating Windows 11 annoyances (and how to fix them) to make your PC your own! Get windows 11 pro for dirt cheap Windows 11 Pro Read...

Two years ago, Microsoft replaced the built-in PDF reader in the Edge browser, but the fact is that many users have continued sticking with the old legacy PDF reader to this day. Back in 2023, the PDF engine in Edge was switched over to Adobe’s PDF engine, but the rollout only made it the default engine on consumer devices. Business devices had to opt into the new engine, while consumer devices could switch back by tweaking a browser flag setting. Now Microsoft has confirmed its intent to force ALL users onto Adobe’s PDF engine, Windows Latest reports. Starting September 2025, admins will have to apply an opt-out policy if they want to delay the PDF engine rollout on their PCs. That delay will only last until early 2026, when Microsoft plans to officially retire the legacy PDF engine in Edge. The main complaint against Adobe’s PDF engine is that users are asked to pay to access several advanced and not-so-advanced features, such as editing text and images, converting between formats, merging documents, and more. It’s yet another reminder of how Microsoft seems to nickel and dime its users at every opportunity. Read...