Innehållsförteckning för November 2019 från PCWorld

Microsoft’s Surface Pro X adds a formerly missing piece to the Surface lineup: an always-on, always-connected device that enables productivity wherever you go. What it changes on the inside—especially the custom Snapdragon 8cx-based processor that Microsoft co-designed with Qualcomm—is reflected by dramatic changes on the outside: a pair of USB-C ports, a rechargeable pen tray…and the unfortunate removal of the headphone jack, USB-A, and the microSD slot. There’s also a SIM slot for connectivity, though it’s well hidden. The 14-inch Surface Pro X tablet is priced from $999 to $1,799 (from Microsoft.com) and will ship on November 5. That base price is a few hundred more than the cheapest $799 configuration of the Intel-based Surface Pro 7. As shown below, users will get to select from various memory and…

Microsoft’s Surface Headphones probably hitched themselves too closely to Cortana, turning what was an intriguing product into a tchotchke that was handed out at a Surface fan event before Microsoft’s Surface launch started. With Microsoft’s Surface Earbuds, Microsoft seems determined not to make the same mistake. That’s not a slight against Microsoft. The Headphones offered powerful, selective noise-canceling technologies, but Microsoft positioned them as a Cortana accessory. When Cortana was de-emphasized, down went the Headphones. With the Earbuds, Cortana appears just once on the Earbuds’ one-page product sheet. Instead, the secret sauce is its cloud transcription capabilities, plus what Microsoft is touting as a superior audio solution for apps like Spotify. At $249, the Surface Earbuds are $50 more than the Apple AirPods—which will inevitably be seen as a competitor…

More of a refinement than last year’s full-on revamp, the latest HP Spectre x360 shaves off nearly an inch of depth, crams a tiny IR camera into its super-slim display bezel, and boasts crazy battery life. Oh, and Ice Lake! Set for release in October, the new HP Spectre x360 13 features the same classy gem-cut design as its predecessor, although a ruler will tell you that it’s nearly an inch (or 23mm, to be precise) less deep. That’s a neat trick given what’s inside: Intel’s 10th-generation Ice Lake CPU, including your choice of either quad-core i5 ($1,100) and i7 ($1,300 and up) configurations, complete with Iris Plus integrated graphics on the Core i7 models. Sweetening the deal is up to 22 hours of battery life, depending on the panel…

MSI’s GE65 Raider is proof positive of how far gaming laptop performance has come. Just two years ago, a top-end gaming laptop would run on a quad-core 7th-gen CPU. The GE65 Raider doubles the core count with its 9th-gen Core i7-9880H chip. Real-time ray-tracing support? The GE65 Raider has that, too, with its full-power GeForce RTX 2070. All this, mind you, weighs just over five pounds. This much power at this weight comes with a compromise, though, which we’ll get to later. First up, the full specs: SPECS CPU: Intel 9th-gen Core i9-9880H 8-core CPU RAM: 16GB DDR4/2666 GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Display: 15.6-inch IGZO 240Hz 1080P screen with Optimus Storage: 1TB Samsung PM981 NVme SSD Battery: 51Whr Ports: Mic in, Speaker out analog ports, 1 USB-C 10Gbps, 1…

No company has managed to make smart glasses that the average person would want to buy. Amazon’s Echo Frames could change that by making its Alexa digital assistant accessible from anywhere your smartphone has internet access. I checked them out at Amazon’s recent Devices event in Seattle and came away impressed. The $180 Echo Frames are one of two devices that Amazon announced as “Day 1 Editions.” If you want to buy a pair (or the Echo Loop smart ring, which I didn’t get a chance to play with), you’ll need to request an invitation. Like the Echo Buds that were also announced yesterday, Frames depend on your smartphone to reach the internet. The factor that all three of these new mobile devices have in common is that they eliminate the need…

Now that Apple’s finally debuted Night Mode for the iPhone 11, it’s time to compare it to the Android competition. It was just about a year ago when Google launched its innovative Night Sight mode to critical acclaim. With the ability to turn unusable low-light scenes into spectacular, backlit, frame-worthy photos, Night Sight was the prime example of just how far ahead Google was when it came to photography. Since Night Sight’s launch, Samsung, OnePlus, Huawei, and LG have all developed low-light modes for their cameras. Keep reading as we take a close look at how Apple’s new low-light camera stacks up against the best Android has to offer. THE INTERFACE While the iPhone bakes night mode into the camera like the other phones, the implementation is a little different.…

PCWorld CPU whisperer Gordon Mah Ung says it’s (mostly) safe to buy a used CPU. But is it safe to buy a used graphics card? Lots of people swear by it, but GPU expert Brad Chacos isn’t so bullish. Graphics cards have a lot more moving parts than static CPUs, and it’s easy to overclock the snot out of them. It all boils down to the risk-to-reward ratio. Brad explains why he typically isn’t interested in used graphics cards, what to look out for if you are shopping for a used graphics card, warranty concerns, and the price-to-performance differences between used and new GPUs. Check it out in the video below, and hit up our guide to the best graphics cards for PC gaming if you want to invest in something…

In the world of ultraportable 2-in-1 tablets that can work as hard as they play, there are but two options: the iPad Pro and the Surface Pro. And on October 2, Microsoft unveiled not just a refreshed Surface Pro 7, but the brand-new Surface Pro X (available from microsoft.com), an always-on, always-connected tablet that seems solely designed to take on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (available from apple.com). So let’s dive in and see how these two tablets stack up. DESIGN With either the Surface Pro X or the iPad Pro, you’re getting a modern tablet with a giant display surrounded by slim bezels, all packed in a thin, lightweight frame: Surface Pro X: 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.28 inches iPad Pro: 9.7 x 7 x. 0.23 inches While the Surface…

Look out Samsung Galaxy S11, iPhone 12, and Google Pixel 5: There’s a new kid in town—or at least there will be, by the time all of those phones launch in 2020. Microsoft recently gave us a sneak peek of the Surface Duo, its first phone since the ill-fated Windows Phone, and it’s unique. Something of a cross between a laptop and a Galaxy Fold, the Surface Duo is a device with more questions than answers. What we know for sure is that it runs Android and needs to be opened like a laptop to be used, but there are so many more things we need to know before it goes on sale late next year, like: 1. WHAT’S THE RESOLUTION OF THE SURFACE DUO DISPLAYS? The centerpiece of the…

Samsung’s Chromebook 4 and Chromebook 4+, both announced October 7, represent one big upgrade and a bunch of little ones to the company’s popular line of entry-level Google machines. The laptops started shipping the day they were announced, with starting prices of $230 and $300, respectively. The big upgrade is the Chromebook 4+ itself (pictured at top), which has a roomy 15.6-inch display with a nice Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080). While the most common Chromebook display size continues to be 11.6 inches (that would include the Chromebook 4), a larger display size offers greater productivity, as well as a better visual experience for videos and games. The Chromebook 4+ also appears to have fairly slim bezels, while the Chromebook 4’s bezels are pretty chunky (see below). The little…

4K gaming used to break the bank. For years, 3840 x 2160 monitors cost a small fortune, and the ferocious graphics cards needed to drive a 4K display cost even more. That’s not even counting the price of the high-energy power supplies required to juice all that hardware. It still is expensive—at least if you want the best possible 4K gaming experiences. But now we have options. An Ultra HD gaming setup won’t be cheap, but with basic 4K monitors available for around $200 and upper-midrange graphics cards able to drive them at a decent clip, you no longer have to remortgage your house to achieve satisfying 4K gaming. We’ll break down all your options here, because not everyone can afford the face-melting GeForce RTX 2080 Ti and its unbelievable…

The very name of Amazon’s “All-new Kindle Oasis” would seem to herald a radical overhaul. Thankfully, the changes to Amazon’s top-shelf e-reader are far less dramatic. Beyond the introduction of a new color-adjustable front light that can warm or cool the screen’s illumination, the All-new Kindle Oasis remains strikingly similar to its predecessor. And that’s good news. It’s still the best e-reading experience you can buy. The All-new Kindle Oasis is no impulse purchase, though. The base level device, which includes 8GB of storage and Wi-Fi connectivity, starts at $250 if you’re willing to tolerate “special offers”—i.e., advertisements—displayed on your lock screen. Prices rise steadily from there. That same unit is available without ads for $270. A 32GB model with Wi-Fi runs $280 with special offers and $300 without. Finally,…

Android 10, previously known as Android Q, has finally started rolling out after months of beta testing. The Android of today is much more feature-rich than it was in the past, and that means some genuinely useful features could escape your notice. No one wants that, so here are 10 tips to get the most out of the latest version of Android. 1. USE THE NEW GESTURE NAVIGATION LIKE A PRO Google has a new gesture navigation system in Android 10, and it can be much better than the 2-button gesture setup from Android Pie, as long as you know how to use it. As this is a full gesture setup similar to the iPhone, some of the intricacies are unclear. In addition to swiping up on the gesture area…

The process of installing a smart switch is no different than replacing any other type of electrical switch in your home. You’ll want to take the proper precautions (we’ll help you with that, too), but you don’t need to hire an electrician, and you won’t need any special tools. You can do the job with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers or wire cutters. A non-contact voltage tester is handy if you want to be extra safe, and you can buy one of those for less than $15 on Amazon. There are many types of smart switches, and while this story isn’t intended to help you decide which smart switch is best for your needs, it will guide you through the process of installing any one of them. That’s…

Even before you can start talking about the new 15-inch Surface Laptop 3, or AMD’s custom Ryzen inside of it, you simply have to admit: Microsoft’s new all-metal Surface Laptop 3’s are gorgeous. Full disclosure: I’m typing this on a Microsoft Surface Book 2, so there’s some justification for my love of shiny metal. And that’s where the Surface Laptop 3 starts: with metal options in Sandstone, plus Matte Black, Cobalt Blue and the traditional Platinum. Yes, the Alcantara fabric is still an option, but if you want a Surface Book–like option without the price, Microsoft has you covered. The Surface Laptop 3 ships in two options: the traditional 13-inch form factor, and the new 15-inch option. But while the original Surface Laptop may have been priced affordably for students,…

Nearly a decade after the fabled Microsoft Courier was strangled in its crib, PC makers desperately want dual-screen hardware to become a thing. Lenovo’s Yoga Book dropped all the way back in 2016, while Asus, HP, and even Intel itself have all teased dual-display devices of their own in recent months. Now all that hardware is getting some much-needed software backup: At its recent Surface event, Microsoft revealed Windows 10X (ten ten?), a version of the popular operating system designed specifically for Windows devices with multiple displays, and championed by a dual-screen Surface Neo. It’s “made to adapt to you in both form and function,” Microsoft hardware chief Panos Panay crowed during the Neo’s introduction. “Windows has always been about productivity, and now we take that to a new level on dual screens,”…

Lenovo’s ThinkBook 13s is a deliberately intriguing combination of a business notebook with consumer flourishes, aimed at the vaguely-defined space between a home business and a more traditional consumer PC. It largely succeeds. The ThinkBook 13s (also known as the ThinkBook 13s-IWL) sacrifices just a bit on the performance front for including an 8th-gen Whiskey Lake processor, but places it inside a sturdy chassis with a very good keyboard on top. It includes a combination of legacy USB-A and forward-looking USB-C ports, an excellent audio system, with decent battery life. And at a price hovering between $700 to $800, you’re left with a pretty solid midrange laptop for general use. BASIC SPECS Lenovo claims that the suggested retail price of the Lenovo ThinkBook 13s we tested is over $1,100, but…

Keyboards and mice have a pretty buttoned-down reputation, but ironically some of their most demanding users are right-brain types. That’s whom Logitech is targeting with its MX Master 3 mouse and MX Keys companion keyboard. Both these peripherals have been designed with an emphasis on comfort and customizability to appeal to software developers, designers, and other “creatives.” The MX Keys, reviewed here, is a well-constructed low-profile keyboard that can pair with up to three devices and, when used with the MX Master 3, control multiple computers in a single workflow. It does so much more than just type, which is why it’s earned an Editors’ Choice. DESIGN The MX Keys is built on a single metal plate, giving it a durability that would seem to make it an ideal mobile accessory.…

You don’t need to pay for antivirus software anymore. Microsoft’s Windows Defender, a free service that’s built right into Windows 10, is now as good as the paid antivirus/antimalware solutions that have been collecting your money for years. There, we said it. Many PC users became accustomed to paying for antivirus software for two reasons: Good, free alternatives were scarce, and Microsoft offered minimal protection via Windows, ceding the category to Norton, Kaspersky, and a host of other third-party vendors. Windows’ first antimalware efforts were so abysmal that testing agencies like AV-comparatives.org and AV-test.org used Defender as the baseline (i.e., junk) level of performance. In December 2013, for example, AV-test.org tested how well 23 antivirus vendors blocked real-world malware samples using Windows 8.1. Microsoft finished dead last. That was…

One of the hallmarks of collaborating in G Suite is the ability to edit Docs, Sheets, and Slide files simultaneously with other collaborators and see the changes in real time. Now you can do the same with Microsoft Office files without having to convert them to the corresponding G Suite format. Here’s how to get started. SHARING OFFICE FILES The first step to collaborating in G Suite is sharing a file with your collaborators. That starts with adding the file to Google Drive. Go to drive.google.com and log in if necessary. On the top left, click New > File Upload. Select the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file you want to add and click Open to upload it. Next, right-click the file and select Share. In the field that opens, enter…