At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Available with up to 16TB Far faster than HDDs Attractive design and logo Cons Very pricey per TB in the 16TB capacity. Our Verdict If you’re shopping HDDs because of their vast capacity per unit, first take a long look at the VectoTech V-MAX, a SATA SSD that’s available with up to 16TB of storage per unit. You’ll get much better performance than with a hard drive, albeit at far greater cost per TB. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: VectoTech V-MAX SATA III SSD Retailer Price $1,799 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket VectoTech’s V-MAX SATA SSD lets you add up to 16TB of storage capacity per unit to your system without suffering the poor reliability and dawdling performance associated with an HDD’s spinning platters. And, yes, that’s 16TB in a single drive. The upshot is that with most systems offering 4 to 8 SATA ports, stacking V-MAX drives can add up to 128TB of fast (compared to HDDs) storage for your system. Alas, it ain’t gonna be cheap. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best SSDs for comparison. Not NVMe? Ah, the elephant in the room. We love the NVMe interface and its superb performance, but it maxes out at 8TB per drive in the consumer space and sucks up PCIe resources in a hurry. Many systems can’t support more than one or two NVMe SSDs. But, those same systems will generally have 4 to 8 SATA ports, meaning you can add a lot more SATA SSDs than NVMe types without an add-in card such as the Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5. It was actually SATA SSDs that changed the storage game, not NMVe. Prior to SATA SSDs, slothful HDD access (seek) times and throughput negated much of the gains CPUs had realized over the years. Long story short, you likely won’t hate the performance of an SATA SSD, especially if you combine a couple in RAID 0 or similar for increased throughput. What are the V-MAX’s features? Back to the product at hand: The VectoTech V-MAX is a SATA III (6Gbps) SSD in the common 2.5-inch form factor. You can fit it in any 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch bay with only a slight amount of jockeying and four screws. I use 2.5-inch SATA SSDs in my 3.5-inch bay NAS boxes. The V-MAX is a nice-looking product styled in black with the charcoal gray logo and info labeled onto the front and back. It won’t sully the view with an innards-on-full-display gaming rig. And you can, of course, fit a heck of a lot of games on 16TB. And it is really the per-unit capacity that makes this product special. I’m only aware of one other greater-than-4TB SATA SSD on the market. But it’s “only” 8TB and is priced significantly higher than the 8TB V-MAX (see the bad news below). The V-Max uses a Phison PS3112-S12 controller and 112-layer Kioxia TLC NAND. DRAM is provided with 256MB per terabyte on the 1TB and 2TB models, and 1GB per terabyte on the 4TB, 8TB, and 16TB units. VectoTech warranties the V-MAX for three years, and provides 750TBW (terabytes that can be written) per terabyte of capacity for the 1TB and 2TB models, 3420TBW for the 4TB, 3125TBW for the 8TB, and 2,812.5TBW for the 16TB. Why the nonlinear TBW ratings, I can’t tell you, but all are beyond the industry norm. In the three larger capacities, way beyond the norm. Consumers are extremely unlikely to write more than those ratings within a three-year period, so the years in this case might be the more worrisome factor. Most internal SSDs are warrantied for five years. More worrisome, yes, but I haven’t seen an internal SSD go belly up in over a decade, so that’s more on the lesser end of worrisome things. How much is the V-MAX? The VectoTech V-MAX is available in 1TB/$69, 2TB/$179, 4TB/$299, 8TB/$799, and 16TB/$1,799 capacities. Yes, that’s NVMe-like pricing, but large-capacity SSDs don’t grow on trees. Most vendors don’t make large-capacity consumer SSDs. The only other one I’ve found that’s currently available, the 8TB Micron 5210 Ion, is $1,100 — way more than the 8TB V-MAX, and it’s QLC, not TLC like the V-MAX. By way of comparison, two 16TB HDDs are only around $500. Why two? Never trust data solely to an HDD without it being mirrored to another one, or backed up in some other way. I’ve had too many go belly up, albeit not in quite a while — quality has improved quite a bit over the years. If you don’t need SSD speed, you can save a whole lot of moolah going that route. If you want something faster and more robust than a hard drive in a single package, the 16TB V-MAC could be your dream product. How fast is the V-MAX? SATA III, being 6Gbps, maxes out at around 550MBps in sustained throughput — about twice that of a modern 3.5-inch HDD, but far slower than NVMe. However, seek times are another story, with SSDs being 0.04 to 0.1 milliseconds while HDD seek times are tens of milliseconds. NVMe runs between 0.01 and 0.02 ms. I retested two older SATA SSDs (Seagate’s IronWolf and Samsung’s 870 QVO) on our new testbed to compare them to the V-MAX. Given the SATA performance ceiling, there’s not a whole lot of difference but you’ll definitely want to avoid the Samsung 870 QVO (if you can even find it) for large writes. The V-MAX was the best of this small lot when it came to sustained throughput as measured by CrystalDiskMark 8. The V-MAX was the best of this small lot when it came to sustained throughput as measured by CrystalDiskMark 8. Longer bars are better. The same deal with CrystalDiskMark 8’s 4K tests — the V-MAX ruled. Albeit, by small margins. The same deal with CrystalDiskMark 8’s 4K tests — the V-MAX ruled. Albeit, by small margins. Longer bars are better. Our real-world 48GB transfers were a mixed bag for the V-MAX, with it fastest at some and not so much in others. Overall, there wasn’t a whole lot of difference to choose from. Our real-world 48GB transfers were a mixed bag for the V-MAX, with it fastest at some and not so much in others. Overall, there wasn’t a whole lot of difference to choose from. Shorter bars are better. This chart is wonky as the 870 QVO is an older QLC NAND drive that drops to below 100MBps when it runs out of secondary cache, which unfortunately, was well before 450GB was written. As you can see, the more modern components in the V-MAX made a difference in that regard. As you can see, the more modern components in the V-MAX made a difference in that regard. Shorter bars are better. So yes, it’s faster than a hard drive by far, and faster than the other (far older) SATA competition. Seek times, as discussed, are quite good in the broad scheme of things. In another universe from HDDs, and, subjectively, in the ballpark with NVMe. Should you buy the V-MAX SATA SSD? If capacity is your most pressing issue, and you want something faster and more robust than a hard drive in a single package, then yes — the 16TB V-MAC could be your dream product. It’s also pretty much the only game in town for maxing out the SSD storage of a consumer PC without multiple add-in cards. That said, the 16TB V-MX is not for financially faint of heart, I mean wallet. I’d have a hard time myself rationalizing it over HDDs. But I’m not working on massive video or other large data-set projects with performance concerns. In other words, you’re on your own by way of determining monetary suitability. How we test 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 siting in a PCIe 5.0 slot. 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. Read...

If you’re looking for a powerful gaming laptop that can get you playing all the best games with Nvidia’s latest DLSS 4 tech without breaking the bank, then this Lenovo Legion 5i with a stellar configuration is the one for you. It’s currently on sale at B&H for just $1,249.99, which is a massive $450 off its original $1,699.99 and one of the best prices we’ve seen for a laptop with specs like this. Supplies are limited so act fast! This Lenovo Legion 5i is a powerhouse in every way, clearly built to tackle whatever tasks you need to handle during the day and then effortlessly run all the games you could possibly want to play at night. The RTX 5060 GPU is the pièce de résistance here, but the rest of the machine ain’t a slouch either. You’re looking at a 20-core Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX processor, a whopping 32GB of lightning-fast DDR5 RAM, and a spacious 1TB SSD for top-tier performance across Windows 11, apps, and games. The RTX 5060 unlocks DLSS 4 features like multi-frame generation, allowing you to enjoy gorgeous visuals at smooth frame rates via the power of AI—and those games are going to pop on this laptop’s stunning 15.1-inch OLED screen that delivers a sharp 2560×1600 resolution and a buttery-smooth 165Hz refresh rate. It’s rounded out by a handful of ports (HDMI 2.1, USB4, USB-C, triple USB-A, LAN, 3.5mm audio) plus Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3. At 4.4 pounds, it’s even somewhat portable! Don’t sleep on this eye-popping deal! Grab this Lenovo Legion 5i for a whopping $450 off while you still can. Again, B&H has this marked as a “limited supply at this price” deal, so if you’re thinking of cashing in on it, maybe do it sooner than later. This stacked RTX 5060 laptop with OLED screen is currently $450 offBuy now from B&H Read...

Creating professional-grade videos no longer requires high costs, complex tools, and expert skills. BananaImg AI changes that by offering a unified online platform for AI-powered image and video generation. Designed to simplify creative production, it allows users to generate, edit, and refine visuals within minutes. This article provides an overview of BananaImg AI – its technology, key features, and usability – highlighting how it helps creators produce high-quality visuals quickly and efficiently. BananaImg AI Introducing All-in-One Platform BananaImg AI is an all-in-one AI image and video generator free and online that integrates creation, editing, and production into a single platform. Built to make content generation accessible to everyone, it combines simplicity with advanced AI performance. For AI image generation, BananaImg AI leverages industry-leading models such as Google Nano Banana and ByteDance Seedream 4.0, ensuring high-fidelity, consistent visuals. For AI video generation, it utilizes Google Veo 3, one of the most advanced AI video models available, delivering cinematic quality and smooth motion. By continuously refining its algorithms and updating its creative tools, BananaImg AI empowers users to produce professional-quality visuals – quickly, intuitively, and without technical barriers. Key Features that Make BananaImg AI Stand Out BananaImg AI, the all-in-one AI image and video generator free and online, brings advanced AI image and video generation capabilities into one interface, minimizing the need to switch between multiple tools. AI Image Generation The core highlight of BananaImg AI lies in its fast, high-quality image creation. Character Consistency BananaImg AI maintains stable appearance across edits – faces, hairstyles, and backgrounds remain coherent, ideal for storytelling, branding, and design continuity. BananaImg AI Lightning Speed Compared to many alternatives, BananaImg AI delivers results in seconds. The images are produced within seconds without compromising resolution or detail. Real-World Awareness BananaImg AI understands how things look in reality. With every edit, details such as lighting, textures, or reflections are refined automatically, making images more natural and trustworthy. AI Video Generation BananaImg AI video generation powered by Google Veo 3, producing cinematic videos with audio directly from text or image prompts. Video with Audio Users can automatically generate clips with background music, environmental sounds, or synchronized dialogue. example video Prompt Optimization Text prompts are intelligently refined to improve creative accuracy without requiring complex scripting. Just describe it in plain language, and BananaImg AI will optimize the text into a video-ready prompt. Lip-Sync and Multilingual Output Character speech aligns naturally with audio tracks, and Veo 3 supports multiple languages for global creators. For creators seeking greater flexibility and professional-grade controls, SuperMaker AI expands upon the same core technologies – Google Nano Banana and Google Veo 3 – while integrating additional state-of-the-art models such as OpenAI Sora 2 and others. This broader creative environment offers enhanced customization, advanced prompt tuning, and multi-model access, allowing users to explore complex visual storytelling and push the boundaries of AI-generated content. How to Generate Images or Videos Using BananaImg AI Getting started with BananaImg AI – all-in-one AI image and video generator free and online is easy and intuitive. Here’s how to begin: AI Image generation Step 1: Choose Mode Select text-to-image or image-to-image mode. Step 2: Enter Prompts Text-to-image: Type words to describe the desired scene. Image-to-image: Upload a reference image and add descriptive text for modifications. BananaImg AI Step 3: Generate and Preview Click ‘Generate image’, then review and adjust as needed. For enhanced prompt creation, users can use AI prompts feature, which is powered by Google Gemini then get accurate prompts tailored to your needs. AI Video Generation Step 1: Choose Mode Select from text-to-video or image-to-video. Step 2: Enter Prompts Text-to-video: Type words to describe the video you want. Image-to-video: Upload an image and define how it should animate. example video  Step 3: Generate and Preview Click ‘Generate video’ to produce a final cinematic sequence. Why BananaImg AI Is a Reliable Choice There are some reasons that make BananaImg AI, the all-in-one AI image and video generator free and online, a reliable choice. Consistent Quality and Updated Service The team keeps user experience and output quality at the top of their priority list. They regularly bring in new models, update special effects, and release templates to inspire creativity. In addition, BananaImg AI develop new image effects and tools for better user experience, such as Group Photo to put separate individuals into one. BananaImg AI User Privacy and Data Protection BananaImg AI prioritizes secure processing and user confidentiality. User data and personal information remain safe and will not be revealed in any ways. Free Trial and Daily Rewards New users can access a free trial and earn daily credits – up to 20 per week – by checking in, allowing ongoing experimentation at no cost. BananaImg AI Intuitive Interface BananaImg AI is designed for everyone – not just tech experts. The clean and minimal design supports users of all experience levels, enabling both beginners and professionals to create efficiently. With all of these advanced features, you can even use BananaImg AI to build and grow your YouTube channel – just like in the guild How to Get Your Business Started on YouTube. The Future of BananaImg AI BananaImg AI continues to evolve in response to user feedback, focusing on expanding its library of image tools, creative effects, and precision editing features. Each update enhances usability and visual quality, allowing creators to produce more natural and expressive results. Looking ahead, the platform will keep pace with the latest advances in AI modeling to maintain both speed and realism. Its ongoing improvements aim to provide users with more efficient workflows and greater creative freedom in image and video generation. Final Words BananaImg AI is a free, all-in-one online image and video generator free and online that blends simplicity with advanced performance. Powered by Google Nano Banana and Veo 3, it delivers stable, realistic results for both personal creativity and professional projects. For creators seeking even greater flexibility, the same team offers SuperMaker AI – a companion platform that builds upon BananaImg AI’s foundation with expanded features and deeper creative control. BananaImg AI provides an accessible entry point for creators seeking AI-powered image and video generation. Try the platform’s free trial to explore its capabilities. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Powerful performance Large and tall display Great I/O selection Cons Keys are a bit soft The display’s color could be richer It could be slightly lighter weight Our Verdict The HP Zbook Ultra G1a is a classy mobile workstation, featuring a large display, a robust design, and plenty of graphics power. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: HP Zbook Ultra G1a Retailer Price $2229 View Deal Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices HP’s Zbook Ultra G1a is an all-round performer. It benefits from a powerful Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 chip that made all my computing needs so easy. From mucking around in office apps to browsing the web, the G1a did it all. This laptop could even play a few triple-A games thanks to the integrated Radeon 8050S chip. On top of all that, it just oozes luxury. From the spacious keyboard to the large display, this is a mobile workstation that feels very smooth to use. The HP Zbook Ultra G1a is an ideal mobile workstation. With a generously sized display and keyboard, it provides the kind of luxurious computing that office workers seek. HP ZBook Ultra G1a: Specifications HP’s website shows the HP Zbook Ultra G1a in configurations up to AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 395 and AMD Radeon 8060S graphics with a top-of-the-line model costing $3,699. My laptop had the step-down build with an AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 processor with an integrated Radeon 8050S chip, which, at the time of writing, cost $2,229. The full specifications are as follows: Model number: B90JJUA#ABA CPU: AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 RAM: 64GB LPDDR5x 8533 MT/s Graphics: Integrated Radeon 8050S Display: 14-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) UWVA, anti-glare, 400nits, 100 percent sRGB color gamut. Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe Connectivity: 2 x Thunderbolt 4, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1, 3.5 mm combo jack, Kensington lock. Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Battery capacity: 74.5 Wh Li-ion polymer Dimensions:  12.29 x 8.45 x 0.71 inches Weight: 3.31 lbs (1.50kg) Cost: $2,229 (this configuration) Compared to competitors, Dell offers the Dell 14 Premium, which features a Core 7 255H CPU with Intel Arc 140T graphics, and an MSRP of $1,899.99. At 3.79 pounds, it’s the slightly heavier of the two options and its NPU features only 13 TOPS of neural processing power. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Design and build The HP Zbook Ultra G1a looks a lot like the laptops in HP’s EliteBook series. The design is very compact measuring just 12.29 x 8.45 inches, but the design is pretty luxurious. The laptop is comprised of an aluminum body that feels strong and very robust. There’s a scarcity of plastic here and more metal than you’ll find in a heap of cheaper laptops, However, the metal material means it’ll last a good while. At 0.71 inches thick, the Zbook Ultra G1a is also very slender. It’s relatively light too at 3.33 pounds. It’s even lighter than the HP Pavilion Laptop 16. it was easy to pick up with one hand and carry around the office. When I slipped it into my work bag, it nestled right up against my work laptop without any fuss. Dominic Bayley / Foundry HP did such a great job balancing the main components that the whole design feels effortless. 14-inch The 1920×1200 display is generous and frames up to a tall 16:10 aspect ratio. The keyboard is large and the keys spacious. The hinges are strong and hold the lid at any angle you want it to. I couldn’t get any flex out of the lid despite using a lot of weight on it. The 140W charger is also small and compact and suitable for carrying. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Keyboard and trackpad HP has provided a well-balanced keyboard with left and right Shift keys and right arrow keys, but it doesn’t have a numpad. Although only a 14-inch laptop keyboard, HP has managed to fit in the Page Up and Page Down keys above the arrow keys, the placement of which I really liked after a while. Dominic Bayley / Foundry For typing, the large low set keys are a little on the soft side, but the rebound isn’t completely mushy, so they don’t feel fatiguing. On the plus side, the keys are very stable. They don’t wobble or skew sideways on the down press, which makes for very accurate typing. The backlighting illuminates the top of each key well so that they are bright and easily visible at night. The touchpad is located in a very central position. Its moderate size means there’s plenty of room either side to rest your wrists. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Connectivity The laptop has three USB-C ports and one USB-A port, which accommodated my external mouse and keyboard and my external SSD with no fuss. Two of the USB-C ports are Thunderbolt 4 ports, which means they provide a maximum file transfer speed of up to 40Gbps and you can also output to two displays at 4K resolution at 60Hz. The Ultra G1a also has an HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and a Kensington lock. Wi-Fi 7 functionality provided me with a snappy enough connection to download the programs I needed to benchmark the laptop. My review model also had Bluetooth 5.4, which was handy for streaming music through my laptop speaker. The connectivity was quick enough to render images via the laptop’s 5MP IR camera in fine detail. The AI enhanced camera produced very natural-looking images and the dual array microphones did a decent job making my voice sound clear. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Display, audio My review model shipped with a 14-inch 1920x1200p LCD IPS-grade display. I had the base version, but some configurations come with an upgraded 2880×1800 resolution OLED touchscreen. Overall, the display itself is quite decent. The panel delivers 100 percent sRGB color and 400 nits of peak brightness, which together make for a sharp image. I’ve seen much richer color saturation and contrast in other OLED panels, though. Still, I was never unhappy with the visuals. There was no lag or delay playing media, and videos were fluid and flicker free. The anti-glare functionality also kept reflection down to a minimum. The laptop’s upward firing speakers also produced quite a detailed sound for a laptop so thin. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Performance My review model’s AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 chip is a powerful mobile processor launched in January 2025 and based on AMD’s Zen 5 architecture. It has 12 cores and supports 24 threads, and reaches a maximum boost clock speed of up to 5.0GHz. The Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 includes the Radeon 8050S integrated graphics chip and a 50 TOPs XDNA 2 neural engine. The first benchmark I tested it on was Maxon’s Cinebench Multi-Threaded benchmark. This test fired all the processor’s 12 cores to simulate how it could handle a similar all-hands on-deck computing task. Dominic Bayley / Foundry As you can see, the Ultra G1a topped the field in this test. That’s not surprising considering the power of the AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 chip compared to the power-conserving ultralight laptop chips in the field. The Ultra G1a proved it can keep thermals in check to finish heavy tasks quickly, which even gaming laptops with high-performance processors sometimes struggle with. I figured that from the fast time it took to finish our standard PCWorld encoding test in the Handbrake utility. This is a better result than most light and thin laptops will achieve. Dominic Bayley / Foundry The PCMark benchmark provided an indication of how the Ultra G1a might handle a range of different office tasks from spreadsheeting to web browsing. Dominic Bayley / Foundry To be sure, the Ultra G1a performed very well in this task, almost topping the field again. In fact, a score of 6,083 means it will comfortably run office apps and programs. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Graphics performance The Radeon 8050S features 32 compute units and is based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture. It’s similar in performance to the Nvidia RTX 4060 laptop GPU, so I was expecting better performance than many of the ultralight laptops in the lineup. In the 3DMark Time Spy 1.2 benchmark, the HP Zbook Ultra G1a performed well. It achieved an overall score of 4,343. This indicates it does have a slightly better graphics performance than a lot of productivity laptops. Dominic Bayley / Foundry You can even do some gaming on the HP Zbook Ultra G1a as was confirmed by the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark. In this test, the Ultra G1a averaged 59 FPS, which beat out some lower-tier gaming laptops in performance. Dominic Bayley / Foundry These results point to the laptop being a strong graphics performer for one with an integrated GPU. Performance is still far below many top-tier gaming laptops, but it’s strong enough for undertaking tasks like 3D editing that would make full use of the laptop’s Radeon 8050S. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Battery life To test the laptop’s battery life, I set a 30GB 4K video on repeat in the Windows Films and TV app. But first I charged it up full, changed the volume to 50 percent, activated airplane mode, and adjusted the brightness. I also switched the keyboard backlighting off and plugged in a cheap pair of headphones to keep the noise down. Just before pressing play, I unplugged the laptop from the power outlet and timed how long it took to run out of juice. Dominic Bayley / Foundry The HP Zbook Ultra G1a managed just over 14 hours before running out of juice. That result is better than expected. That said, our battery test is a lightweight one (it’s not too demanding). You can expect the laptop to last approximately half that time running more demanding applications. HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Conclusion The HP Zbook Ultra G1a is an ideal mobile workstation. With a generously sized display and keyboard, it provides the kind of luxurious computing that office workers seek. It also features powerful performance that beats out most ultrabooks. It even holds its own against some gaming laptops. While it may be more powerful than most ultrabooks, it’s just as portable, being a slim and relatively lightweight 14-inch laptop, perfect for the daily commute. Read...

People who rely on Alexa to use basic home features like lights and other appliances experienced issues during the widespread internet outage on Monday night. Read...

If you’re in the market for a Thunderbolt docking station and you’re biding your time until Black Friday, know this: smart shoppers can save by buying a slightly older Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 dock instead. Buying tech always comes with a choice, as prices of new technology climb higher. You can either buy the latest and greatest and insulate yourself from change for a few years or buy used and save a few bucks. For 2025 and 2026 docking stations, the latter choice appears to be the right one. Docking stations have been in a transitional period for the last few years. Thunderbolt 3 / USB3 and Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 are almost identical in terms of their bandwidth, which is still one of the defining features of a docking station. In the real world, the 40Gbps bandwidth both standards offer are enough to connect 4K displays running 60Hz. Thunderbolt 5 was the next big thing, with 80Gbps (and in certain scenarios, 120Gbps) available for those 4K displays to run at 144Hz, which is good enough for gaming. Here’s the key point that you need to know: Intel’s current laptop platform, the Core Ultra Series 2 (Lunar Lake) as well as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips, only support USB4 and Thunderbolt 4. (Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 are also functionally identical; in this case, Intel won’t certify a non-Intel chip as a “Thunderbolt” product, so USB4 is the generic equivalent.) And, somewhat shockingly, the next-generation of 2026 laptop platforms, the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 (Panther Lake) and the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite, don’t include integrated Thunderbolt 5 support, either. No integrated Thunderbolt 5 chip support means very little Thunderbolt 5 laptop support, which means very little reason to buy a Thunderbolt 5 docking station. Sound familiar? It should. I was expecting Thunderbolt 5 to make a decent showing at CES 2025. Nope. Intel Intel does sell a discrete Thunderbolt 5 chip that costs extra, and because of this you’ll see Thunderbolt 5 ports appear on expensive gaming laptops like the Razer Blade 18. But they’re not really necessary. The Blade 18 includes a stellar 4K+ display that actually exceeds Thunderbolt 5’s capabilities (3840×2400, 240Hz). Why would you want to use an external display when the laptop’s built-in display is even better? Not all gaming laptops include the same quality of display, but the argument generally holds true: gaming laptops with Thunderbolt 5 ports generally offer superior hardware right now. A Thunderbolt 5 dock isn’t cheap, either. Thunderbolt 5 docking station manufacturers tend to charge roughly $100 more for one. Plugable’s TBT-UDT3 Thunderbolt 5 dock is reasonably priced at $300 — it is! — but our top pick for the best Thunderbolt docking station, the Kensington Thunderbolt 4 Dual 4K Dock (SD5780T, is $185 at press time. Yes, there are some things to consider. One, AMD hasn’t announced its next-gen laptop platform for 2026, and the 120Gbps version of USB (USB4 V2) could certainly make an appearance. Two, docks like the Sonnetech Echo 13, a Thunderbolt 5 dock with an integrated SSD, provide almost-but-not-quite internal-SSD speeds for external storage. An issue with any gaming PC is simply the available storage, and being able to connect an external SSD with gaming-capable speeds is an enormous plus. Thunderbolt 5 docks like Sonnet’s deliver. Three, Thunderbolt 5 supports external GPUs, and we might see a forthcoming notebook designed with a Thunderbolt 5 port to connect to an external GPU dock like the Razer Core X V2. Business during the day, gaming after hours: that’s part of the promise of Thunderbolt 5. But times are not easy, and the ongoing economy and tariff wars mean people are going to want to save money during Black Friday and other holiday sales. If you agree, don’t plan on spending big on a Thunderbolt 5 dock. PCWorld plans to monitor e-tailers for any ongoing sales of Thunderbolt and USB4 docks for laptops, and we’ll be prioritizing Thunderbolt 4 and its cost-effective competition, DisplayLink. You should, too. Read...

TechHive Editors Choice At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Extremely maneuverable Great features Cool modular concept Stable and easy to use app Cons The price tag Our Verdict The Yarbo Core is not a cheap appliance, but it is a very capable and powerful garden robot you can use for several outdoor tasks. Its snow blower attachment works great, and both Yarbo’s hardware and its software are very impressive. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Yarbo core med snöslunga Retailer Price $4,999 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Yarbo’s modular yard robot was a hit at the CES show in Las Vegas in January 2025, but I must say I was skeptical of the concept. Once I had the opportunity to test the new machine with its snow blower attachment, one of the many accessories you can attach to this track-propelled robot, I changed my tune. The Yarbo kit arrived in three large boxes and installing the machine is a project. It is absolutely not difficult thanks to the clear instruction manual. You get all the tools you need and each them, including the Allen wrenches, are labeled. Great! It’s a bit of work before you’re ready to start using the Yarbo.Mikael Lindkvist Specifications Manufacturer: Yarbo Equipment: Yarbo Core, snow blower module, battery, docking station, accessories) Weight: 134 pounds (61kg) (Yarbo Core, less snow blower) Battery: 36V, 38.4 mAh Working temperature range: -11.2 degrees Fahrenheit to 113 F (-24 to 45 C) Weatherization: IPX4 (i.e., not tested for dust ingress, protected from water sprayed from any direction) Towing capacity: Control it with a smartphone or Yarbo’s handheld remote After a couple of hours, the RTK antenna is in place on the facade of the house, the base station is nailed down and the machine is ready to start testing. On my first trip to Västerbotten, a province in northeastern Sweden, I didn’t have time to do much more than assemble the kit and manually drive the snow blower around. You can choose to control it with your mobile phone or with an included handheld remote that looks like it belongs to a game console. The idea is, of course, that you schedule the snow removal to save time, in addition to saving your back. Mikael Lindkvist Controlling it via your mobile phone is really easy, as Yarbo’s app is exemplary. But there is a lot to keep track of besides navigating the machine. You can set the power level of the snow blower motor itself in several steps as well as how deep it should dig and the angle at which it should eject the removed snow. That’s not so good if you’re throwing ice and maybe some gravel at your car or the front of your house. The snow blower is powerful, right up there with the better battery-powered snow blowers I’ve tried, so it has no problem tossing snow (and ice chunks) 7- to 8 meters (7.6- to 8.7 yards). Mikael Lindkvist I had more time to really test what the Yarbo was capable of on my second trip. Now, the best thing would of course have been to set up the machine at the beginning of the winter, not when half a meter (1.6 feet) of snow had thawed and then froze again. In terms of the snow on the ground, conditions were simply not optimal. Studded tracks are a must in winter The first thing I did, which I didn’t manage to do in the first part of the test, was to switch to studded tracks. Without them, the Yarbo Core just slides over icy surfaces. This is a fairly simple project, however, and the robot got around much better with them on. It was incredible to see how it maneuvered icy high edges. Mikael Lindkvist The Yarbo Core charges either while standing on its charging pad, or via an included AC charger. The included 36V battery charges fully in about 3 hours, but when its cold outside, it needs to warm up for 20- to 30 minutes before you can start charging its battery. A full charge lasts up to 4 hours according to the specifications. The robot cleared large areas in that amount of time, so the operating time with the snow blower should not be a problem unless you have huge areas to handle. On paper, Yarbo should be able to handle up to 125,000 square meters (149,499 square yards); but of course, it depends on the job. The area I worked was only 700- to 800 square meters (837- to 957 square yards) in the form of a large driveway and a stretch of road. During the two test periods, the robot had no problems with navigation, needing a little help to get onto its charging pad only once . The app is user-friendly and clear.Mikael Lindkvist It’s very easy to plan your automated snow removal using the Yarbo app. If you’ve ever set up a boundary wire-free robot lawn mower, you’ll be familiar with the concept. You drive the machine around the edges of the area you’re mapping, during which you can mark no-go zones. It’s also important that you indicate indicate which direction the snow should be pushed. This is easiest to do after you’ve created your initial map. You can then schedule when you want the snow blower to run. You can also customize it to clear snow only after snow events. Mikael Lindkvist There are also some other smart features, including Smart Vision, which lets you look out through the robot’s onboard cameras while the robot is working. Another important feature is that the machine will recognize obstacles, including people. As soon as I walked near the snow blower, it would say “human detected” and pause until I was at a safe distance–around 4- to 5 meters (13- to 16 feet)–from the robot. This robot can pull a trailer, too It is of course difficult to judge the reliability of a machine like this in a few days of testing, but my first impression is that this is a really high-quality machine with stable software. You probably wouldn’t buy a Yarbo Core just for its winter utility (Yarbo offers a scraper bar ($59) and a snow plow blade ($159) as optional add-ons). Once you have the Core, you can choose between two sizes of lawn mower modules and a string-trimmer module for cutting grass in the spring and summer, and there’s a leaf blower module for clearing leaves in the fall. The contents of the test package.DataNova I imagine this robot will do a great job of mowing lawns, at least it won’t have any problems getting around. You can also tow up to 500 pounds with its trailer hitch installed, and opting for Yarbo’s $149 Back Brace Mount boosts that capacity to 3,500 pounds (with a 200-pound tongue weight). Finally, if you live on a large parcel of land, you can program it to patrol as a robotic security guard. The Yarbo Core and its snow blower attachment are crazy expensive, but this is definitely one of the coolest products I’ve tried. This article originally appeared on our sister publication M3 and was translated and localized from Swedish. Don’t miss TechHive’s top picks in robot lawn mowers. Read...

Well, well, well… if it isn’t the best gaming laptop deal we’ve seen in a while. The Asus TUF Gaming F16 is a powerhouse 16-inch machine that’s normally $1,539.99, but Best Buy currently has it for just $1,249.99. That’s a smooth $290 discount that puts it on par (price-wise) with far lesser laptops, except you’ll love the specs in this one. First off, the Asus TUF Gaming F16 has a gorgeous 16-inch IPS display with accurate colors that look great whether you’re gaming or streaming Netflix. The 1920×1200 resolution is crisp and roomy while the speedy 165Hz refresh rate is smooth for high-frame-rate games. It isn’t the brightest with 300 nits, but that’s more than enough indoors. The crowning glory of this machine is the Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU, which is worth every penny as a budget-friendly access point for Nvidia’s DLSS 4 features including multi-frame generation. Combined with the powerful Intel Core i7-14650HX processor and the chunky 32GB of fast DDR5 RAM, you’ll be gaming like a king and handling everything else (e.g., Windows 11, Chrome, YouTube, Office) without choking. Cap it off with a PCIe Gen 4 SSD with 1TB of capacity plus a surprising number of ports (1x HDMI 2.1, 2x USB-C, 3x USB-A 3.2, Ethernet, and 3.5mm audio) and you have a versatile device that’s able to do anything and everything you need of it. It’ll last you years, for sure. Snatch this Asus TUF Gaming F16 laptop for $1,249.99 at Best Buy before this deal runs out—it’s absolutely worth jumping on. Get this stellar Asus RTX 5060 gaming laptop for $290 offBuy now from Best Buy Read...

Your IP address is a lot like your home address on the internet. A lot of information can be gleaned from it. Information like your location, your ISP, and even what you like to do online. It’s no wonder you might like to keep that address secret at times, just as you protect your home address and don’t advertise it to everyone you know. The internet is more regulated now You might think you have total freedom on the internet, but that’s not the case. Even in the USA, there are restrictions that come into play. The classic example is how some states have started to restrict access to adult websites. Arizona, for example, is just the latest state to implement age verification laws on sites such as Pornhub. Then there are some countries where censorship by the governments is the norm, where personal freedoms aren’t as readily available. While travelling you could unwittingly break those laws by logging into websites that are banned, and all with your identifying IP address being recorded. It’s a worrying thought. How changing your IP address can help When you change your IP address, you’re telling websites that you’re visiting from another place. If the websites you’re visiting are censored in the location you’re logging on from, a different IP address can fool those sites into thinking you’re in a different location and therefore can bypass the geographical censorship. The second benefit is that changing your IP address helps conceal your identity. It masks your identity from advertisers, tracking companies, and anyone else trying to create a profile on you. That can stop you from being data mined. Third, changing your IP address protects you from targeted attacks. Without your real IP address, hackers cannot target their attacks specifically at your connection. You’re a lot safer than if you were using your real IP address. Pexels: Stefan Coders VPNs are the answer The easiest way to change your IP address is with a VPN, or virtual private network. A VPN not only changes your IP address, but it does so safely while encrypting your internet traffic. Once you’ve subscribed to a VPN your internet traffic is sent to the websites you visit via a secure server in a location of your choice. You take the IP address of that server instead of your own. VPNs also protect you when you’re connected to public Wi-Fi, stop your ISP from throttling your internet speed, and enable you to stream content outside of your region or country of origin — all via the same mechanism, by giving you a new IP address. So, there’s a real practical benefit. The thing is, though, not all VPNs are made equal. VPNs have different features, operate at different speeds, and have different policies regarding the data they keep track of. On that last note, the thing to look out for is a no-logs policy. This outlines a VPN’s agreement not to keep a record of your online activities, your browsing history, or your connection logs. To find a good VPN that has a no-logs policy it’s best to read reviews online. PCWorld’s own recommendations of the best VPNs are based on comprehensive reviews, so be sure to check them out and compare features if you’re in the market for a VPN. Related content Why you need to pack a VPN for your next vacation Best VPN services: 8 top picks for every VPN need 14 VPN terms and features everyone should know 6 common VPN myths everyone falls for—and why they’re wrong Read...

Microsoft has introduced a new device category with Copilot+. Only laptops with a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU), at least 16 GB of RAM and a fast NVMe SSD fulfil the minimum requirements. Intel is addressing these requirements with the Core Ultra series, which combines classic CPU cores with GPU acceleration and a hardwired NPU. This unit alone achieves 40 to 47 trillion computing operations per second – a device is only officially certified as a Copilot+ PC once it reaches this performance level. Put simply, if you want to use AI functions locally, you need a very fast computer with a chip specially optimized for AI. Core Ultra processors with local AI acceleration For modern AI applications, it is no longer just the clock rate that is decisive, but the internal distribution of tasks between the computing units. The Intel Core Ultra 7 268V has eight CPU cores and an integrated Intel Arc GPU. The set-up is complemented by the NPU, which is specially designed for inference-based AI tasks. This allows text analyses, translations, video filters, image generation or language modelling to be carried out directly on the chip – without any detours via the cloud. The Intel NPU cannot be configured separately; its activity is controlled via Windows components. Functions such as Recall, Cocreator or Windows Studio Effects access it automatically; there is no provision for manual assignment. Intel Copilot functions between benefit and control The central innovation in Copilot is not the graphical user interface, but the shifting of AI processing to the device. The Recall feature continuously creates screenshots of all activities. These can be searched through later using a text search. The feature works locally, stores content in encrypted form and can be deactivated for specific applications. However, users have no insight into the data model used. Chris Hoffman / Foundry The Live Captions function covers a special use case. It transcribes any audio signals in real time, regardless of whether they originate from a video, a video call or a locally played file. The Intel NPU takes over the continuous speech-to-text mapping at system level. The output takes place as an overlay directly above the respective window or as a separate bar at the bottom of the screen. Unlike conventional subtitles, Live Captions is speech-agnostic, automatically recognizing speech input and converting it into readable text on-the-fly. No internet connection is required. Translations can also be activated so that English-language content, for example, is automatically subtitled in German. If the NPU performance is sufficient, the delay remains minimal. The function can be used system-wide, which creates real added value, especially for people with impaired hearing or in noisy environments. Program-specific activation is not necessary. As soon as Live Captions are activated, the system analyses all sound sources. However, use is limited to the visible transcript. There is no storage or analysis beyond the current session. Chris Hoffman / IDG Local image synthesis with Paint Cocreator The Cocreator function integrated in Paint makes it possible to create images from simple text input within a few seconds. This requires a Copilot-certified device with an active NPU. The underlying diffusion model runs locally and utilizes both the main memory and the dedicated NPU for image generation. In contrast to cloud services, the entire process remains on the device. A short text-based prompt is sufficient to receive several image suggestions in low to medium resolution, which can then be edited directly in Paint. Users can influence the style, color scheme and complexity of the motif – but only within the specified limits. The model itself remains a black box; external models cannot be integrated. Without an NPU, Cocreator is hidden or refuses to start due to insufficient system resources. Mark Hachman / IDG In addition to pure computing power, Intel Core Ultra notebooks have specialized technologies to optimize the use of AI in mobile operation. The so-called Dynamic Tuning Technology analyses temperature, usage behavior and energy profile in real time and automatically adjusts the distribution of loads to the CPU, GPU and NPU. This is complemented by the Intelligent Display, which controls screen brightness, contrast and refresh rate in a context-sensitive manner, an aspect that can bring tangible benefits in terms of battery life in battery mode. This technology also proves useful for longer video conferences or remote working scenarios, as it relieves the thermal management and optimizes visibility at the same time. The NPU also benefits from the fact that the reduced GPU load creates more thermal headroom for inference tasks. Inference-based processes refer to tasks in which an AI makes decisions or delivers results based on an already trained model. In other words, the actual learning, i.e. the training, has already been completed. During inference, this knowledge is used to process new input. One example would be the automatic subtitling of videos using live captions. The AI has previously been trained with huge language data sets. During inference, it recognizes what someone is saying in real time, converts speech into text and displays it directly on the screen. To do this, it does not reuse the entire training material, but instead uses compact, optimized models. Crucially, inference processes can be executed locally on the device, provided a dedicated accelerator such as an NPU is available. This means that data remains on the notebook and AI reactions are almost instantaneous. Energy efficiency and system behavior under load One advantage of the Intel architecture is the thermal separation of the computing units. CPU, GPU and NPU do not compete directly for power reserves. The NPU only handles inference-based processes. This significantly reduces power consumption when AI features are active. Tests with the Core Ultra 9 285K show up to 25 per cent better efficiency compared to the Core i9 14900K. The battery life benefits noticeably from this shift. Systems such as the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition achieve up to 22 hours of video playback without any loss of performance in AI processes. The decisive factor here is the continuous support by BIOS and Windows. Without the latest UEFI update, the NPU is often underpowered. In addition to the Lenovo Yoga Slim, other manufacturers already offer devices that are explicitly suitable for local AI applications under Windows 11. The Acer Swift Go 14 relies on the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, combined with an NPU that delivers over 40 trillion operations per second. Thomas Joos It is worth taking a look at the specific device basis, as not every laptop advertised as a “Copilot” fulfils the same requirements. Notebooks with Intel Evo certification and Core Ultra 200V processors undergo a validation program that is tailored to real-life usage scenarios. Not only high performance and long battery life are required, but also fast reactivation, smooth multi-monitor connection via Thunderbolt 4 and consistent behavior when using several applications at the same time. For Copilot, this means that functions such as Recall, Live Captions and Cocreator run without any loss of performance, even when switching between mains and battery operation. Evo-certified devices such as the Acer Swift Go or the Surface models from the business segment are thus exemplary for this new class of hybrid AI PCs, which combine everyday usability and technical sophistication. YouTube / Microsoft Intel divides the Core Ultra Series 2 into several model lines that have a direct impact on the field of application of mobile systems. The V models serve as a reference for slim premium devices and impress with their high efficiency and strong NPU performance. H models are aimed at classic high-end notebooks for productive applications with medium mobility requirements. U models are optimized for lightweight, ultra-mobile systems with reduced energy requirements and AI functions. HX models represent the upper performance spectrum with up to 24 physical cores and are primarily intended for workstations, gaming laptops and professional creative environments. V and H models are particularly suitable for everyday use in AI-supported Windows applications, as they offer a good balance between battery life, thermal budget and inference performance of the NPU. What Intel NPUs can do and what is not visible The practical use of the NPU is tied to the respective features in Windows. Independent programming or execution of user-defined models is not possible with on-board resources. Intel does provide developers with APIs, but in everyday life these paths are not accessible to users without programming knowledge. The visibility of NPU utilization is limited to indicators in the task manager or via third-party tools. For power users, it remains unclear which processes are running on which unit and when. Control remains in the hands of the operating system. A separation of CPU and NPU responsibilities can at best be indirectly tracked via utilization profiles. Thomas Joos Intel offers additional functions for corporate use with the vPro platform based on the Core Ultra series. In addition to the integration of security-relevant features such as hardware-based identity verification, the NPU can also be used directly by security software to analyze threats locally and detect behavioral anomalies at an early stage. In addition, vPro Device Discovery supports detailed queries on installed components, energy profiles and configuration states. In combination with Copilot functions, this creates devices that offer a high degree of transparency and control for both IT administrators and users in regulated industries – without direct access to the underlying models. Bottom line With an Intel Core Ultra 200V series device, you gain access to a clearly defined group of AI functions. These run locally, do not require an internet connection and benefit directly from the NPU. However, control over computing execution remains limited: Windows automatically determines which unit becomes active, while the setting options only allow rudimentary intervention. For productive use, this primarily means a gain in efficiency – but not deeper system control. The new device class is therefore more of a platform than a toolbox. Those looking for precise AI customizations will quickly reach their limits. On the other hand, those who rely on stable, locally executed features will find a convincing hardware basis in the Intel-based Copilot devices. Read...