Two years ago, the “Steam machine” craze motivated several manufacturers to conceive an innovative new device: the lapboard. This accessory is intended to allow keyboard and mouse aficionados to game in their living room while maintaining maximum comfort. The Corsair Lapdog, Razer Turret, and Roccat Sova were among the first of this type of product to become available.
Are you looking for a suitable display for PC gaming? Then you’ve come to the right place. The monitor is a crucial, yet often neglected element of the PC experience. This indispensable device gets overlooked the most! [toc] The monitor is one of the most expensive pieces of a PC setup. Therefore, it is important …
In a little under a year, the Aero has become Gigabyte’s flagship gaming laptop product line. These highly refined computers offer an excellent compromise between compactness and performance in addition to a large, high-quality display. The newest member of this product line, the Aero 15 V8 (i7-8750H), does not bring any revolutionary new features to the table, but it is the first Aero computer to incorporate a 6-core Intel processor.
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With the V8, Gigabyte has concentrated on improving the Aero 15’s internal components rather than its exterior design. In terms of its outward appearance, the Aero 15 V8 is very similar to previous versions – which is a good thing considering how much effort this Taiwanese manufacturer has put into perfecting the Aero’s design. The Aero 15X V8’s sober look can be attributed in large part to its black aluminum chassis. The matte black coating used on top of and around its keyboard is in keeping with the Aero’s overall color scheme; it does, however, have a tendency to reveal fingerprint smudges.
AU Optronics is working really hard on a new backlighting system for its panels. This new system is supposed to replace the one being used in current displays, producing better results in terms of color. This technology is dubbed Mini LED, and it might come to gaming monitors this year.
AU Optronics has its Mini LED panels ready for our gaming monitors
This technology is really simple, consisting of small LEDs connected together. Given the definition of Mini LED, we could think it is similar to the Full Array Local Dimming (FALD) technology. However, the Mini LED technology is the next step, and it is based on many small LEDs behind a panel. We cannot confuse Mini LEDs with Micro LEDs, as the latter type of LEDs are even smaller and more difficult to work with. With the Mini LED technology, we can have hundreds and even thousands of small LEDs to light up specific areas behind a single panel. This method of local dimming would be good for more accurate HDR reproduction and higher contrasts. Several companies are using Mini LEDs because they are “cheaper” than Micro LEDs, but this is expected to be a transition phase only.
Capping our GPU’s maximum FPS might seem silly, but it provides some advantages in certain scenarios. For example, we can reduce our GPU’s noise and consumption when we play games that are not demanding. This is a way to get rid of the GPU’s noise, which is important when using laptops, and limit consumption.
Limiting FPS can also be really important when using a G-Sync monitor. Keeping FPS below the G-Sync monitor’s vertical frequency forces the system to work constantly, increasing G-Sync’s relative advantages such as reducing input lag and preventing tearing.
If we combine said advantages with the settings of any game, like reducing FPS to the minimum (which can be done in games like Overwatch), we can maximize results in terms of reducing input lag and improving image quality. All of this is what we would expect from G-Sync when it is working at its fullest.
In those case, we just have to go for a FPS value below those of our monitor’s vertical frequency, like a minimum of 30 FPS, but the best option would be 50-65 FPS. We can actually cap FPS as much as we want as long as our monitor has a higher vertical refresh rate than the amount we set.
Although many people think that laptops are a type of PC that do not require maintenance for its components, laptops are precisely devices prone to accumulate dirt in critical areas, which may affect the cooling system’s performance and therefore the laptop’s overall performance. It is not uncommon to use canned air to remove dirt accumulated on the laptop’s heat sinks and fans (some users even clean them by regularly opening up the laptop). However, an often overlooked yet essential element of cooling systems is the thermal paste that works as an interface between heat sinks and the CPU or GPU.
A lot of people do not know that the low-quality thermal paste found in a lot of devices dry out as time passes by and become inefficient, so replacing it for a good-quality paste somewhat regularly will translate into impressive improvements on our components’ temperatures. Today we will show you how to find and replace a laptop’s thermal paste.
We have used a Dell XPS 15 9530 for this guide, but the general steps are the same for most laptops. Before we begin, we want to clarify that this procedure implies opening up the laptop and possibly voiding its warranty if it still is covered by it. So, we recommend you not to replace the thermal paste if your laptop is covered by the warranty. We are not responsible for the damage you may cause to your laptop.
PS5 (PlayStation 5) is the name of what we know to be Sony’s next console. It is a next-gen system that will replace the current PS4 and PS4 Pro and that should stick to the now usual console name.
This means that we do not expect Sony to change the console’s name. Although this has not been officially confirmed, we can still be somewhat sure that the next console will be named PS5.
Given that the PS4 is selling like hot cakes despite being over 4 years old and that the PS4 Pro was launched quite recently, it is not unusual for Sony not to be in a rush to talk about the PS5. We know that the console is being developed, and we have a lot of predictions and leaks that gave us a glimpse of some its most important details.
We know that a lot of our readers have their eyes on the PS5, so we wanted to come up with this special article to tell you everything we know about Sony’s new console. Bear in mind that we will combine analyst predictions with leaks. We will also complement the information with our own intuition, so the outcome will be highly likely but not definitive.
Android is an open source system. This not only means that developers can get its source and make custom versions of it, but, also, that we (users) could customize our mobile devices’ software, thanks to an high level of flexibility.
To increase our freedom of action even more, we can apply an unlocking procedure called Root, which lets you bypass all the restrictions that usually deny the access to “deeper” areas of the system.
In simple terms, when you root Android, you become a 100% “master” of your device. You can edit operating system files, “overclock” your smartphone (that is: increase its performances) by editing hardware parameters (such as the cpu frequency). There are many interesting apps which require the device to have root in order to work. For example, like this ones that lets you make complete backups of the system, or control the device in remote. Besides, the new cellphones usually come with pre-installed apps that you just cannot uninstall (unless you have rooted your device) . Another advantage is that being root you will have the total control of your Android operating system, and you will even be able of changing the operating system manually or at advanced levels. Those are just some examples of what you can do or how root could help you.
Is it dangerous to root ?
It’s a completely legal operation, but it often voids the warranty of your smartphone (or tablet): it all depends by the producer’s policies.
Keeping an eye on our networks is key to see if they work and to guarantee our security. One essential task to perform is changing the Wi-Fi network’s name and password.
A router (or access point) plays a major role in our computer setup. However, we fail to pay close attention to it “as long as it works,” so we forget about it until we experience issues, drops, poor performance or, even worse, security breaches in our workplace or home’s virtual gateway .
One of these security tasks entails managing the Wi-Fi network’s username and password as soon as we set up a new device (either one that we bought or one provided by an operator) in our network. Although the situation has improved, there still are vendors that use less secure protocols and passwords that can be easily discovered. The passwords might even be found on a sticker on the router for third parties to see even if you do not want them to.
Moreover, it is recommended to change the above-mentioned data every once in a while as a regular maintenance task performed on our devices and networks. Also, as we were saying, it is important to verify if we are using the most secure encryption methods, as there are some (WEP) that can be hacked easily.
If your PC is slower than usual, the OS and apps experience random errors, you cannot access some of your files and folders or the web browser struggles to get rid of weird ads, then perhaps some kind of malware has taken your PC hostage, preventing you from using the computer as usual and putting your personal and professional data at risk.
Virus, worms, Trojans and other malicious software are on the prowl for PCs and networks of every platform. The risks for hackers are minimal in contrast to the benefits. The age of mobility, automation, smart cars and the internet of things has greatly increased the number of connected devices and improved the way of storing and accessing information either with or without a PC.
Hackers have seen a great opportunity, as creating malware software and investing in attack methods are on the rise. Techniques are being constantly improved, causing spam, data theft, invasion of privacy and overall damage to companies and users.
Although prevention is the first and main line of defense, it is not always possible to stay safe from infections. Any user might have had bad experiences with malware even without being alerted by a security software.
If you fail to install a security solution on your PC (or if a virus or Trojan is preventing you from installing one) or if your antivirus has not detected any malware, then cleaning your PC can be difficult and take a long time depending on the threat. In order to face threats, we will show you how to do it in this guide. We hope you find it useful. The aim of this guide is removing malware from a Windows PC, although the overall process is usually used the same way in other systems.