Anda di halaman 1dari 111

INSIDE: BUDGET SPEAKERS WORTH BUYING

APRIL 2018

GALAXY

S9
FAMILIAR, YET
ACTUALLY BETTER
IN ALL THE RIGHT
PLACES
IWitnessBullying.org
CONTENTS

APRIL 2018

» DEPARTMENTS » FEATURES

ƺ News

Ƶƺ Reviews & Ratings ƹƵ Best budget computer speakers

Ƽƴ Here’s How

ƴƴƳ Tech Spotlight ƺƷ Best gaming laptops

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 3


MASTHEAD

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Matt Egan


EDITOR IN CHIEF, CONSUMER BRANDS Jon Phillips
DESIGN DIRECTOR Robert Schultz

EDITORIAL
EXECUTIVE EDITORS Melissa Riofrio, Gordon Mah Ung
SENIOR EDITORS Michael Brown, Brad Chacos, Mark Hachman
COPY EDITOR Sue Voelkel

DESIGN
DESIGNER Rob Woodcock

ADVERTISING SALES
SALES MANAGER Duane Hampson (415/978-3133)

FOUNDERS
FOUNDER David Bunnell
FOUNDING EDITOR Andrew Fluegelman

INTERNATIONAL DATA GROUP, INC.


CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Walter Boyd
CEO, IDG COMMUNICATIONS Michael Friedenberg

4 PCWorld APRIL 2018


REPRINTS AND PERMISSIONS
You must have permission before reproducing any material from PCWorld. Send email requests to
permissions@pcworld.com; please include a phone number in your message.

BACK ISSUES
PCWorld back issues can be downloaded in digital format from www.zinio.com
at $6.99 per issue.

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES
Access your subscription account online—24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can use online
subscription services to view your account status, change your address, pay your bill, renew your
subscription, get the answers to frequently asked questions, and more.
WEB pcworld.com/customer
EMAIL pcworld@emailcustomerservice.com
(Send your full name and the address at which you subscribe; do not send attachments.)
PHONE In the U.S. and Canada: 800/234-3498

QUESTIONS AND COLUMNS


Send material electronically to the appropriate online address listed below,
or mail it to PCWorld. We reserve the right to edit letters.
ANSWER LINE answer@pcworld.com

MAILING LISTS
Occasionally we make our magazine subscribers’ names available to other firms whose
products may interest you. To have your name excluded from these mailings, send a request
and your email address to PCWorld Subscriber Services at maghelp@pcworld.com.

CONTACT
PHONE 415/243-0500; FAX 415/442-1891
MAIL Editorial: 501 Second Street #600, San Francisco, CA 94107
STAFF ADDRESS To contact any PCWorld staff member, simply format the address as follows:
firstinitiallastname@idgcsmb.com

PUBLICATION INFORMATION
Volume 36, number 4 PCWorld™ (ISSN 0737-8939) is published monthly at $24.95 for one year (12
issues) by IDG Consumer & SMB, Inc. Copyright 2018, IDG Consumer & SMB, Inc. All rights reserved.
PC World and Consumer Watch are registered trademarks of International Data Group, Inc., and used
under license by IDG Consumer & SMB, Inc. Published in the United States.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 5


DISASTERS DON’ T
PL AN AHEAD

YO U C AN
DON’T WAIT. COMMUNICATE.
Talk to your loved ones about how you are
going to be ready in an emergency.

VISIT READY.GOV/PLAN.
News TECH NEWS AND TRENDS THAT WILL
AFFECT YOU TODAY AND BEYOND.

Intel issues Meltdown/Spectre


fixes for Ivy Bridge, Sandy Bridge
as patch effort winds down
If you own an Intel processor that you bought less than eight years ago, chances are
that Intel has issued a Spectre/Meltdown patch for it. BY MARK HACHMAN

I
ntel’s revised patches for its Ivy Bridge With the release of the new code, just a
and Sandy Bridge processor families few older processor families remain in the
have begun rolling out to address patch queue.
Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities. According to Intel’s microcode update

IMAGE: INTEL APRIL 2018 PCWorld 7


NEWS INTEL ISSUES MELTDOWN/SPECTRE FIXES

document, patches for several processor


families have entered production, most
notably the second-generation Core (Sandy
Bridge) and third-generation Core (Ivy Bridge)
families. The patches also cover several, more
niche architectures, such as the Gladden
Xeon of the Sandy Bridge generation, and the
Broadwell Xeon chips.
On deck are the Westmere Xeons, based
upon 2010’s first-generation Core architecture,
as well as Westmere’s predecessors, the
Nehalem Xeon chips. Intel has issued beta
patches for these, as well as some of the patches for the affected processors, which
Arrandale and Clarkdale chips. The latter included the bulk of its products. Unfortunately,
families, which include both mobile and those patches were found to cause system
desktop chips, began shipping in 2010 as well. instability (go.pcworld.com/bggy), forcing Intel
The remainder of Intel’s microcode to halt and then reissue new code.
guidance document shows just a few chip Since then, Intel’s patching teams have
architectures waiting for patches, including the been steadily marching through Intel’s
remainder of the Arrandale and Clarkdale product lines, issuing updated code. The
families. The even older Bloomfield Core updates to Intel’s patch roadmap are current
processors are still waiting on patches to exit as of March 6, Intel said.
the pre-beta stage, as is the Clarksfield chip
family. The latter, which included a Core i7 What this means for you: Fortunately, no
Extreme mobile processor, shipped until 2012. known attacks exploiting either Spectre or
Chip architectures from other companies, Meltdown have occurred. If you’re worried
including AMD and Qualcomm, are suscep- about what to do (go.pcworld.com/prot),
tible to both the Spectre and Meltdown though, the answer is simple: patch, patch,
vulnerabilities. Intel’s use of speculative patch. By now, Microsoft and many antivirus
execution techniques within its microprocessors, vendors have issued the appropriate patches,
however, have made the company’s products but if you’re concerned that your PC or
particularly prone to risk from these threats. Soon motherboard vendor hasn’t delivered the
after the two vulnerabilities were publicly appropriate patch, you can also check
disclosed in early January, Intel began issuing Microsoft’s site.

8 PCWorld APRIL 2018


Microsoft expects the ‘majority
of customers’ to use Windows
ƴƳŞV6PRGH
Will Windows customers prefer to use Windows apps over their traditional games and
utilities? With Windows 10’s S mode, Microsoft is betting they will. BY MARK HACHMAN

M
icrosoft expects that the as a mode of Windows 10 (go.pcworld.com/
“majority of customers” will w10m) only very recently—was made by Joe
enjoy Windows 10 in its new Belfiore, who told me (go.pcworld.com/
S mode, Microsoft’s mhtw) via Twitter that he expected the
corporate vice president of Windows wrote in transition to take place in 2019. Belfiore’s blog
a recent blog post. post set an even more aggressive timetable,
The stunning endorsement of Windows claiming that customers would be able to buy
10’s S mode—which was formally confirmed a PC with Windows 10 S mode at or near the

IMAGE: MICROSOFT APRIL 2018 PCWorld 9


NEWS WINDOWS 10’S S MODE

time when the next feature update to months, so check back here for updates,”
Windows 10 drops. That update, known as Belfiore added.
Redstone 4, is expected to appear on PCs in In some recent comments on Twitter,
early April. Belfiore characterized Windows 10’s S mode
But for those who don’t want Windows as the “‘low-hassle’/ guaranteed performance
10’s S mode, there’s another important version” of Windows. Belfiore called out the
change: Whether customers opt for a PC with security, faster boot time, better battery life,
Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro, or a and consistent performance that Windows
commercial version, the upgrade from S 10’s S mode produces. Windows 10’s S mode
mode to the full versions of Windows 10 will blocks the operating system from using
be free. traditional Win32 apps, allowing only apps
“Starting with the next update to Windows from the Windows Store instead.
10, coming soon, customers can choose to Belfiore reiterated that positioning in his
buy a new Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 blog post, calling Windows 10’s S mode a
Pro PC with S mode enabled, and commercial Windows experience that was “streamlined
customers will be able to deploy Windows 10 for security and performance across all our
Enterprise with S mode enabled,” Belfiore editions.”
wrote (go.pcworld.com/jblf). It’s unclear whether PC makers will offer
Whether Windows 10’s S mode is the Windows 10’s S mode as a configurable
default mode (go.pcworld.com/10sm) for option, though that seems likely. What we
new Windows 10 PCs seems like a moot now know, though, is that Windows 10’s S
question at this point. Though just the Surface mode is far more important to Microsoft than
Laptop and a small number of educational it originally seemed.
devices use Windows 10 S, Belfiore made a
bold claim: “We expect the majority of Why this matters: Belfiore’s bold claims
customers to enjoy the benefits of Windows about the projected market share for
10 in S mode,” he wrote. Windows 10 S/Windows 10’s S mode could
Microsoft clearly expects new devices to potentially change the market dramatically. If
use Windows 10 S in the future. Though over 50 percent of the market uses Windows
Belfiore didn’t provide details, he did say 10’s S mode, traditional UWP apps and
there are more than twenty devices with upcoming Progressive Web Apps will
Windows 10 S enabled. “We expect to see become far more important within the
new Windows 10 devices ship with S mode, Microsoft ecosystem. Who knows what the
available from our partners in the coming future may hold?

10 PCWorld APRIL 2018


AMD’s Project ReSX makes
ultra-popular games smoother
and faster on Radeon graphics
Harder, better, faster, stronge. BY BRAD CHACOS

A
MD released Radeon Software Radeon has left its dark days of buggy, late
Adrenalin Edition 18.3.1 late on software far in the rearview mirror, but
March 19 with support for Final newfound optimizations for e-sports games
Fantasy XV Windows Edition are even more intriguing.
(go.pcworld.com/ffxv) and Warhammer: Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.3.1
Vermintide 2 (go.pcworld.com/whv2). marks the debut of Project ReSX (“Radeon
Providing day-one drivers for such hotly eSports Experience”). “The goal of this project
anticipated games proves yet again that was to optimize the performance of some of

IMAGE: AMD APRIL 2018 PCWorld 11


NEWS AMD’S PROJECT RESX

the most popular PC games in the world on performance in Battlegrounds.


Radeon graphics cards (go.pcworld.com/ These are welcome improvements indeed
rxgc),” AMD says. The company worked with for Radeon owners. Every millisecond counts
developers for in-game optimizations, and in fast-paced e-sports games. It’s also
tweaked its drivers to support the initiative. encouraging to see AMD building on top of
The result? Faster, smoother gameplay, the success of Radeon Software Adrenalin
AMD claims. Edition (go.pcworld.com/rsed) by bolstering
Compared to the original Radeon performance in games played by millions of
Software Adrenalin Edition release, average people around the world. Unfortunately, the
frame rates increased from three percent performance gains appear limited to
in Overwatch at 1440p resolution to 11 Battlegrounds (go.pcworld.com/btgr), Dota
percent in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds 2 (go.pcworld.com/dta2), and Overwatch
at 1080p—but raw speed is only part of the (go.pcworld.com/ovwt), though AMD says
improvements. “we will continue to push for similar
Looking at a game’s 99th percentile improvements across the newest and most
frames gives you a better idea of how popular PC games.”
smooth a game feels. This metric examines Today’s sky-high graphics card prices
how quickly the slowest 1 percent of frames make it difficult for gamers to get their hands
are rendered. The new Radeon drivers on new hardware, but Dota 2 and Overwatch
improve performance here too, with Dota should run fine even on a Radeon RX 550 (go.
2’s 99th percentile score improving up to 7 pcworld.com/r550), which you can find for
percent per AMD, and Battlegrounds $110 on Newegg (go.pcworld.com/110n). If
speeding up by 9 percent. Finally, Project you’re feeling pinched by ludicrous GPU
ReSX also reduced the click-to-response prices, check out our guide on how to keep
times in Dota 2 and Overwatch, minimizing gaming when graphics cards cost so much
the lag between the time you press a button (go.pcworld.com/gcex).
and the game responds.
You can download the new software on
AMD’s driver page (go.pcworld.com/ampg), The new Radeon drivers
or by using the update function in Radeon improve performance here too,
Software. Last week, rival Nvidia released new with Dota 2’s 99th percentile
GeForce drivers that also included day-one score improving up to 7 percent
support for FFXV and Warhammer: Vermintide per AMD, and Battlegrounds
II, as well as up to 7 percent increased speeding up by 9 percent.

12 PCWorld APRIL 2018


Huawei’s Matebook X Pro is a
svelte Surface Book with a
hidden webcam for the paranoid
An upward-facing webcam is easily the most controversial feature of the Huawei
Matebook X Pro. BY MARK HACHMAN

H
uawei’s Matebook X Pro is what 3,000x2,000-pixel display that takes after the
happens when designers boil Surface Book line, the 13.9-inch notebook will
down Microsoft’s Surface Book be sold in three configurations, with prices
line to its essentials, sprinkling a beginning at 1,499 Euros ($1,845 USD).
bit of paranoia on top for extra flavor. Huawei will ship it to North America this
Huawei’s flagship notebook improves spring, the company said.
upon the Huawei Matebook X that the Three features distinguish the Matebook X
company launched last year. Now with a Pro. First, the company is offering a discrete

IMAGE: HUAWEI APRIL 2018 PCWorld 13


NEWS HUAWEI MATEBOOK X PRO

graphics option within a


0.57-inch (14.6 mm) form
factor—not ultrabook-thin,
but not as chunky as the
0.9-inch thick Surface Book
2, either. Huawei also
achieved a 91-percent
screen-to-body ratio, which
helps pare down the bezel
to create something that
looks close to an edge-to-
edge display. But that
design feature also comes at
a cost: Huawei removed the
webcam and placed it The unusual 1-megapixel webcam pops out from the keyboard of the
underneath a function key Huawei Matebook X Pro.
on the keyboard.
Yes, you read that right: Underneath one By comparison, a Surface Book 2 with a
of the function keys is a secret compartment Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB
of sorts, hiding a minuscule 1-megapixel SSD costs $2,499.
webcam. When needed, you just pop it out
of its burrow. Most of us know, unfortunately, MATEBOOK X PRO SPECS
that an upward-facing webcam tends to catch AND FEATURES
an unflattering angle (go.pcworld.com/unfl), As you might guess with a laptop this thin,
so professionals will need to factor that in. you’re going to miss some connectivity. The
Huawei will ship the Matebook Pro X in Matebook X Pro offers roomy storage,
three configurations: though, which is some consolation.

• Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB NVMe Display: 13.9 inches LTPS (3,000x2,000);
SSD: 1,499 Euro/$1,842 450 nits, 100% sRGB color
• Core 15 CPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe CPU: Core i7-8550U/Core i5-8250U
SSD: 1,699 Euro/$2,088 8th-gen Core processors (Kaby Lake-R)
• Core i7 CPU 16GB, 512GB NVMe SSD: GPU: Nvidia GeForce MX150, 2 GB GDDR5
1,899 Euro/$2,334 Memory: 8GB/16GB LPDDR3

14 PCWorld APRIL 2018


Storage: 256GB/512GB NVMe SSD Share software facilitates file transfer between
Wi-Fi: 802.11ac, 2x2 MIMO, Bluetooth 4.1 Huawei phones and the Matebook X Pro,
Ports: USB-C (2), including 1 with the company said.
Thunderbolt Huawei chose to go with USB-C across
Battery: 57.4Wh the board, both of which support data
Dimensions: 11.97 in. x 8.54 in x 0.57 in., charging as well as I/O. If you’d like, an
2.93 pounds optional MateDock 2 docking station (price
not disclosed) fits into one of the USB-C ports
Besides the eighth-generation Core chip and provides a USB-A port, a USB-C port,
inside of the Matebook X Pro, the company is one HDMI port, and a VGA connection.
making discrete graphics standard across the Though battery life will obviously vary,
board. The MX150 is really an entry-level Huawei claims the Matebook X will deliver
Pascal-class chip that Nvidia launched in 12 hours of video playback or 15 hours of
mid-2017. While it won’t hold a candle to the web browsing.
discrete GTX 1050 and 1060 options found in Huawei’s never really cracked the North
the Surface Book 2, it’s still a step up over the American market in the way that Dell, HP, or
normal integrated graphics found in these Lenovo have. But the Matebook X Pro
notebooks. appears to combine aesthetics with moderate
Other features include a Dolby Atmos- horsepower—if you don’t mind showing off
powered set of four speakers, which the your double chin, that is.
company promises will
deliver an audio punch
for consumers as well
as professionals. The
keyboard is also
spillproof, which
usually means there’s
drainage below the
keyboard in case water
spills (but you could still
be in trouble if what
you spill is hot coffee or
a sugary beverage).
Integrated Huawei That’s a surprisingly large touchpad.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 15


NEWS

,QWHOH[SHFWV3&VZLWKIDVWƸ*
ZLUHOHVVWRVKLSLQODWHƵƳƴƼ
PC makers including Dell, Lenovo, and Microsoft are already laying plans to offer
high-speed wireless late next year. BY MARK HACHMAN

W
ith the first deployments of available during the second half of 2019.
5G high-speed wireless That’s about the same time that Intel plans to
technology within the U.S. begin shipping its XMM 8000 commercial
scheduled for later this modems, marking the company’s entrance
year, Intel and its PC partners are already into the 5G market.
thinking about the next step: rolling out Intel will show off a prototype of the new
5G-equipped PCs late in 2019. 5G-connected PC at the Mobile World
Intel, along with Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Congress show in Barcelona. In addition the
Microsoft said recently that the companies company will demonstrate data streaming
expect the first 5G Windows PCs to become over the 5G network. At its stand, Intel said

16 PCWorld APRIL 2018 IMAGE: INTEL


that it will also show off eSIM technology—the mobile PCs to market, with benefits for users
replacement for actual, physical SIM cards— like high quality video on-the-go, high-end
and a thin PC running 802.11ax Wi-Fi, the gaming, and seamless connections as users
next-gen Wi-Fi standard. traverse WiFi and Cellular networks,” the
Though 5G technology is the mobile company said in a statement.
industry’s El Dorado, it always seems to be That’s the reason Intel is also invested in
just over the next hill. Intel has promoted 5G bringing 802.11ax to market, the next
for several years, saying it will handle improvement in Wi-Fi technology. Like 5G,
everything from a communications backbone 802.11ax—which promises Wi-Fi speeds
for intelligent cars (go.pcworld.com/cbcr) to across multiple gigabits per second—has yet
swarms of autonomous drones (go.pcworld. to be finalized, let alone deployed.
com/5gdr) talking amongst themselves. That still hasn’t stopped so-called “pre-
Carriers, though, have started nailing standard” hardware, like D-Link’s new routers
down when and where customers will be (go.pcworld.com/dlax). Once the 802.11ax
able to access 5G technology. AT&T said standard is fully baked in 2018 or early 2019,
recently, for example, that a dozen cities compliant networking gear can begin to roll
including Dallas and Waco, Texas, and out and undergo interoperability testing.
Atlanta, Georgia, will receive their first 5G (Typically, pre-standard wireless technology
deployments by year’s end. Verizon has attempts to bring those products in line with
plans for three to five markets (go.pcworld. the final spec via a firmware update.) In the
com/325m), including Sacramento, meantime, though, Intel is shoveling coal into
California. T-Mobile and Sprint are taking it a the next-gen hype train.
bit slower, with T-Mobile planning its first 5G
deployments (go.pcworld.com/tm5g) in What this means for you: Keep an eye out for
2019. Sprint, too, is aiming for its first 5G smartphone vendors to begin talking up their
presence to debut next year. own 5G plans once Mobile World Congress
For Intel, 5G offers a rebirth of sorts for its show begins February 26. The higher-speed
wireless business. Having been forced to sit modems will begin showing up in hardware
out much of the 4G wave because of rolling out this year and next, with
advanced, integrated platforms from its smartphone makers being forced to choose
competitors, 5G is essentially an opportunity between tried-and-true 4G modems and
for Intel to start fresh. more advanced (and possibly more power-
“Intel is investing deeply across its wireless hungry) 5G radios on the horizon. PC vendors
portfolio and partners to bring 5G-connected will follow closely behind.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 17


NEWS

Reading the Android ‘P’ leaves:


ƸWKLQJVWKHEHWDFRXOGWHOOXV
DERXWWKH3L[HOƶ
A notch and a dual camera could be in the cards. BY MICHAEL SIMON

W
ith this year’s I/O still on starting with the Google Pixel 3. Here are five
the horizon, Google has things we learned from the first developer
given us our first sneak preview:
peak at Android P (go.
pcworld.com/andp), and there’s a lot to 1. IT WILL PROBABLY HAVE
digest. While it’s light on major front-facing A NOTCH
features, there are a lot of changes that will It was previously rumored (go.pcworld.com/
impact flagship phones in 2018 and beyond, ntch) that Android P would include support

18 PCWorld APRIL 2018 IMAGE: ADAM PATRICK MURRAY


for notched displays, but now
we have some confirmation.
And it’s more than a simple
resolution shift. Google is
baking support for “display
cutouts” deep in Android P,
with new platform and API
layouts that help developers
build immersive apps that work
around the notch and use it to
their advantage. That means The Pixel 3 might look more like the Essential Phone.
the next crop of notched
Android phones will get a much better apps to a much wider array of tricks. And
experience on Android P, and the Pixel 3 since we’ve already seen the magic Google
could very well be the phone that kicks off the can work with just one lens, we’d love to see
new class. what it can do with a second one.

2. IT COULD FINALLY HAVE 3. NOTIFICATIONS WILL BE


A DUAL CAMERA WAY BETTER
Android P is finally bringing a Multi-camera We still have a love-hate relationship with
API, letting developers “access streams notifications on Android, but things will get a
simultaneously from two or more physical whole lot better on the Pixel 3. In Android P,
cameras on devices running Android P.” So Google will be “improving visibility and
now third-party apps will be able to do much function in notifications,” meaning that we
more with the secondary camera, whether it’s will be spending less time jumping in and
for portraits or wide-angle shots. The new API out of apps and more time enjoying
also lets developers automatically switch whatever we were doing when the alert
between the two lenses, opening up camera came in. For example, when a new message
arrives, the notification will highlight the
sender, show the rest of the conversation, let
We still have a love-hate you attach photos and stickers, and suggest
relationship with notifications smart replies, all without leaving the app
on Android, but things will get a you’re using. Google could use the new
whole lot better on the Pixel 3. system on the Pixel to reduce our reliance on

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 19


NEWS ANDROID P BETA AND PIXEL 3

walls and windows.


That means Google
Maps could deliver
indoor navigation and
location-based services
inside buildings.

5. IT WILL
BE EVEN
SMARTER AND
MORE AWARE
Google’s smartphones
are already loaded with
AI intelligence, but
Notifications (right) will get more aware in Android P, but the killer feature
Android P could
could be indoor mapping (left). seriously raise the Pixel
3 IQ. Google is
Gmail, Maps, Messages, and other Google expanding support for its TensorFlow-
apps and make the overall experience that powered neural network directly into Android
much more pleasant. P, which means its on-device machine
learning engine will become even more
4. INDOOR MAPPING powerful. But what we’re most interested in is
COULD BE THE KILLER what Google isn’t putting in Android P.
FEATURE Google launched Assistant with the original
With the Pixel 2, Google delivered a cool Pixel and Google Lens with the Pixel 2, so we
feature called Now Playing that automatically can’t wait to see what it has in store for the
displays the name of any song it hears, but the Pixel 3.
Pixel 3 could have an even cooler trick up its
sleeve: Automatic indoor mapping. Android
P is providing support for the IEEE 802.11mc Google’s smartphones are
Wi-Fi protocol, better known as Wi-Fi Round- already loaded with AI
Trip-Time, which will use nearby Wi-Fi access intelligence, but Android P
points to pinpoint your phone’s location could seriously raise the
within 1-2 meters even if GPS is blocked by Pixel 3 IQ.

20 PCWorld APRIL 2018


All five Myst games are being
UHUHOHDVHGIRU0\VWŞVƵƸWK
anniversary
Another age. BY HAYDEN DINGMAN

H
ot on the heels of the recent handwriting of Myst mainstay Atrus. The
Firmament (go.pcworld.com/ message, in its entirety: “Perhaps the
frmt) announcement, Cyan ending has not yet been written…” This
teased another project in the was then followed up by a shot of the Myst
works. This year marks the 25th anniversary Island linking book, a pen, and a sticky
of Myst, and it looks like Cyan’s preparing… note with 25 on it, underlined. Hmm?
something. Hard to say what, exactly, It didn’t take long for the theories to
but something. start flying.
It all started when Cyan’s Twitter But according to a fresh post on Myst.com
account showed a series of messages (go. (go.pcworld.com/myst), there’s news, of
pcworld.com/atrs) in the familiar sorts. It looks like Cyan has reacquired the

IMAGE: REALMYST: MASTERPIECE EDITION APRIL 2018 PCWorld 21


NEWS ALL FIVE MYST GAMES RERELEASED

rights (or at least come to some sort of With agreements in place, we’re happy to
licensing deal) for all of the Myst games— announce that we’ll be releasing updated
including Myst III: Exile and Myst IV: (for Windows 10) versions of all the Myst
Revelation, the two that were developed games later this year!”
in-house by Ubisoft and thus have been pretty
much impossible to obtain (legally) for the last Whether these will be remasters or just
decade or so. From the announcement: versions designed to run with minimal fuss
on Windows 10, no word yet. There’s also
“As an indie developer, resources are some sort of Collector’s Edition in the
limited for development, and acquiring works, too—specifically, “a physical
rights isn’t always an option. But we collection in a unique package with a cool
managed to finally talk to all the right artifact.” Look for more details on that at
people and departments and put some some point in the future.
funding together to try to make it happen. Exciting!

22 PCWorld APRIL 2018


(DUO\WHVWVVKRZWKH*DOD[\6Ƽ
beating iPhone X where it
counts: The screen and camera
Speed is another story. BY MICHAEL SIMON

I
f the first round of test results is an On the display side, Raymond Soneira of
indication, the iPhone X’s (go.pcworld. DisplayMate (go.pcworld.com/rsdm)
com/ixfq) reign as the best handset in concludes the Galaxy S9 has “the most
the world could be coming to an end. innovative and high performance smartphone
DisplayMate and DxOMark, two of the most display that we have ever lab tested.” Among
respected names in smartphone testing, the records it broke was absolute color
have put the Galaxy S9’s (go.pcworld.com/ accuracy, where it scored a mark “visually
sms9) display and camera through a litany indistinguishable from perfect,” and peak
of paces, and the results might surprise brightness with 1,130 nits. DisplayMate says the
some Apple fans. Galaxy S9 is the first phone to receive Very

IMAGE: MICHAEL SIMON APRIL 2018 PCWorld 23


NEWS GAL A X Y S9 BEATING iPHONE X

Good to Excellent ratings in every category. X’s A11 Bionic chip by a wide margin. In
On the camera side, DxOMark (go. single-core floating point performance as
pcworld.com/dxmk) gave the Galaxy S9+ a measured by GeekBench 4, the iPhone X
record score of 99, besting the iPhone X’s 97. posted a 3,958 while the Galaxy S9 barely
In its conclusion, it found the S9+ “is a topped 2,000.
smartphone without any real weaknesses in The Galaxy S9 is available to buy now at
the camera department. In both still and go.pcworld.com/bys9.
video modes, it performs well across the
board, delivering consistently good photo Why this matters: Apple and Samsung fans
and video image quality in all light and have been fighting forever over which
shooting situations, thus earning itself our smartphone is superior, and the results here
highest DxOMark Mobile score to date.” aren’t going to silence either side. The Galaxy
In particular, DxOMark found the Galaxy S9 might technically best the iPhone X in the
S9+ excelled in noise reduction, delivering display and camera tests here, but we’re
crisp, clean pictures even in very low-lit talking inches, not feet, and in most areas
situations, thanks to its wider f/1.5 aperture. the two phones are on a very even plane.
In comparison shots, the iPhone X captured Both phones are tops in their field but we
“noticeably grainier images,” with the Galaxy don’t think many Apple fans are going to
S9 able to “squeeze more visible detail out of be jumping over the walled garden to
the scene.” The only real downside to speak get one.
of came with slight variations of
exposure when comparing
multiple shots of the same scene,
an issue that affected the iPhone X
as well.
But one area where the iPhone
X trounced the Galaxy S9 was in
speed tests. AnandTech (go.
pcworld.com/atch) ran a series of
benchmark tests on the Samsung-
made Exynos 9810 version of the
Galaxy S9 (which should perform
better than the Snapdragon 845)
and found that it trailed the iPhone The iPhone X wins big in speed tests against the Galaxy S9.

24 PCWorld APRIL 2018


AMERICA,
LET’S DO LUNCH TM

Lola Silvestri, SINCE 1921. Conversation and good company are her domain.
Now, she and 1 in 6 seniors face the threat of hunger and millions more
live in isolation. So pop by, drop off a hot meal and say a warm hello.
Volunteer for Meals on Wheels at AmericaLetsDoLunch.org
AMERICA,
LET’S DO LUNCH TM

Asha Ida Bell, SINCE 1937. Her life’s work is about helping the hopeless find
hope. Now, she and 1 in 6 seniors face the threat of hunger and millions
more live in isolation. So pop by, drop off a hot meal and say a warm hello.
Volunteer for Meals on Wheels at AmericaLetsDoLunch.org
TESTED IN PCWORLD LABS
Reviews & Ratings WE PUT HARDWARE & SOFTWARE
THROUGH RIGOROUS TESTING

6DPVXQJ*DOD[\6Ƽ
Incrementally better in all
the right places
Don’t judge a book by its cover or its gimmicky features. BY MICHAEL SIMON

S
amsung’s Galaxy S9 is a strange replaces. In fact, it’s so much like its
breed of smartphone. With a predecessor, issues we might normally
Snapdragon 845 processor, overlook become all the more obvious
great camera, and 18:9 screen, this second time around.
it has all the trappings of a fantastic 2018 Samsung’s hook with the Galaxy S9 is a
handset. Yet, at the same time, it’s “reimagined” camera, but the camera’s new
remarkably similar to the Galaxy S8 that it features—namely Dual Aperture, Super

IMAGE: CHRISTOPHER HERBERT APRIL 2018 PCWorld 27


REVIEWS SAMSUNG GAL A X Y S9

Slow-mo, and AR Emoji—are equal parts WEIGHT


gimmick and catch-up to competing models. Galaxy S8: 155g
And because Samsung is limiting the dual Galaxy S9: 163g
camera and Live Portrait mode to the larger
Plus model, the S9 (the phone I’m reviewing The Galaxy S9 is a touch shorter than the
here) feels less like a new phone than a S8 due to an ever-so-slightly smaller bottom
mid-cycle refresh. As such, the S9 is a bezel that upsets the symmetry just enough to
perfectly fine entry for the first new premium annoy my eyes. It’s also thicker and heavier
phone of 2018, but there’s nothing here that than its predecessor for two reasons: The front
breaks exciting new ground for other phones glass is thicker (0.6T vs. 0.5T), and the
to follow. aluminum on the sides has been strengthened
Dual aperture? We actually found it’s not (AL 7003 vs AL 6013). While these changes are
that necessary. Super Slow-mo? It works imperceptible, they should bring more
beautifully, but it’s not a feature people will durability and drop protection—always a plus
use all that often. AR emoji? It’s fun and it for a phone that’s nearly all glass.
works as advertised, but it also feels like a
response to Apple, not a trailblazing feature.
In short: When we look back on 2018 and The Galaxy S9 is a touch shorter
pick a defining handset, the S9 probably than the S8 due to an ever-so-
won’t be it. But it’s still a great phone. slightly smaller bottom bezel
that upsets the symmetry just
A CLASSIC (YET UPGRADED) enough to annoy my eyes.
DESIGN
Lots of Galaxy S9s are going to be mistaken You’ll still find the selfie camera and other
for Galaxy S8s once they start appearing in sensors around the receiver along the top
the wild, given their extremely similar size and strip of bezel, but they’re not as distracting as
shape. However, there are physical they were on the S8. Among the other small
differences between the phones—subtle changes to the S9 are the look of the speaker
tweaks that change the new model just grille on the bottom edge, which is now a
enough so last year’s cases won’t fit: 1.5mm open slit rather than five small
openings. This change brings stereo sound,
DIMENSIONS but could conceivably attract more dust and
Galaxy S8: 148.9mm x 68.1mm x 8.0mm lint. Otherwise, the buttons and ports are
Galaxy S9: 147.7mm x 68.7mm x 8.5mm exactly the same, meaning Samsung has once

28 PCWorld APRIL 2018


improved with the S9.
For one, the display
is brighter. Its max of
more than 1,100 nits
pushes it into Note 8
territory and provides
better visibility in direct
sunlight. Colors are
more vivid without
being over-saturated or
inaccurate, and the
noticeable banding that
we saw in gradients on
The Galaxy S9 has both a headphone jack and stereo speakers. the S8 is all but gone.
All said, it’s the best
again resisted the trend to remove the 3.5mm screen (OLED or otherwise) I’ve seen on any
headphone jack. Android phone, and it can proudly stand
Flip it over and you’ll see the biggest shoulder-to-shoulder with the iPhone X.
design change between the S9 and S8: the
location of the fingerprint sensor. Instead of A FULLY BAKED AND BETTER
putting it to the right of the camera lens, a VERSION OF BIXBY
position that was nearly impossible to reach When you start up your Galaxy S9 for the first
without smudging the camera, Samsung has time, you’ll immediately be welcomed with a
moved the sensor to the space directly below greeting from Bixby, a sure sign that Samsung
the camera. The border around it provides a is all-in on its AI assistant. Bixby is certainly
slight tactile clue that you’re touching the more fleshed-out on the S9 than it was when
sensor, but at just 0.5 millimeters away from the S8 launched, but it’s still not worthy of its
the camera, it’s still too close in size and own dedicated button, especially not one
shape for my fingers. Overall, it’s a definite that’s in a position to be accidentally pressed
improvement in reachability, but still flawed. a dozen times a day.
The Galaxy S9 sports the same 5.8-inch, It’s not just the existence of the button that
18.5:9 Infinity Display introduced with the S8. bothers me, it’s what it does. I don’t have an
While the resolutions match up (2,960x1,440, issue with the long-press-to-summon-Bixby
529ppi), the overall viewing experience has functionality, but pressing it to open Bixby

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 29


REVIEWS SAMSUNG GAL A X Y S9

Home is completely
useless. It’s essentially a
lamer version of the
Google Pixel’s
personalized feed, and
there’s little reason to visit
it on a regular basis, let
alone have a shortcut
dedicated to it.
That Samsung months
ago added a toggle to
disable the Bixby button
on the S8 (and it’s here on
the S9 as well) is a An apple a day keeps the Google Assistant away.
testament to how little
people use it. I have to wonder why Samsung which taps into Azumio’s database to provide
didn’t offer an option on the S9 to launch basic nutritional info. However, that process
Bixby Vision with the button instead is hit-or-miss. It initially thought a banana was
(especially because the icon is visible only in a plantain (close enough, I guess), and
Auto mode in the Camera app, and not so mistook an avocado for a kabocha squash.
easy to find). But, overall, it’s a neat addition to Bixby’s
Once you do locate it, Bixby Vision on the toolbox.
S9 is vastly improved over
the S8’s version, with
real-time translation, and
image scanning that’s
both quicker and more
accurate. It’s a bit more
like the Assistant-powered
version of Google Lens,
scanning objects rather
than needing to snap a pic
first. The coolest new
feature is food scanning, Bixby is much better on the S9, but it still doesn’t need its own button.

30 PCWorld APRIL 2018


Bixby can also do translation without PCMARK WORK 2.0
needing to snap a picture or clumsily Galaxy S8: 6784
highlight specific words. When it recognized Galaxy S9: 7610
the words, it worked fast and accurately
(thanks to an assist from Google Translate), 3D MARK SLING SHOT EXTREME
but like Bixby of old, it struggled with long Galaxy S8: 3378
strings of text. Galaxy S9: 4551
Elsewhere, Bixby is essentially the same.
The voice recognition works pretty much as it While we see across-the-board improve-
does on the S8 (which is to say, surprisingly ments, the 845’s biggest gains are in graphics
well), and its best use is still as a “do things” and power consumption. But even there,
assistant rather than as a “know things” they’re not huge increases over the previous
assistant. Bixby is definitely improving and generation. Regardless, the S9 married to the
Samsung clearly has a vision for it, but we’ll Samsung Experience OS provides excellent
have to wait until version 2.0 of Bixby Voice to battery life, with benchmark results consis-
see where the roadmap leads. tently at or around 8 hours. That’s not as high
as the nine-plus I got with the S8, but real-
EXPECTED PERFORMANCE world use showed the S9 besting most
AND BATTERY GAINS recently released phones with bigger batter-
A Galaxy S phone is once
again the launching pad for
Qualcomm’s latest
processor—this time, the
Snapdragon 845—and it’s
mostly an incremental
improvement over the 835.
Here are some benchmark
scores (higher numbers
are better):

GEEKBENCH (SINGLE-
CORE/MULTI-CORE)
Galaxy S8: 1848/6193 The S9 has the same battery as its predecessor, but it squeezes more
Galaxy S9: 2392/8219 juice out of it.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 31


REVIEWS SAMSUNG GAL A X Y S9

ies—this despite using the


same relatively small
3,000mAh battery that’s in
the Galaxy S8. The S9 will
almost certainly last you
though a full day and
maybe even part of a
second, depending on
use, but if you’re looking
for a huge breakthrough in
battery life, you’ll have to
wait a little longer.
A fresh-out-of-the-box Samsung’s camera app lets you switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4
S9 will feel like the fastest aperture on the S9 and S9+.
phone you’ve ever used,
especially if you’re upgrading from an S7 or enables the Live Focus feature introduced in
S6. However, only time till tell whether the S9 the Note 8.
and the Snapdragon 845 will stay speedy and The smaller S9, meanwhile, has only the
optimized after six months or a year of use. dual-aperture camera. The results are still
That’s the biggest hurdle that Samsung has great in regular photos, but I miss having a
yet to overcome: keeping a phone feeling slider to adjust the amount of blur that’s
fresh on the inside after it shows signs of wear applied to a photo’s background when Live
on the outside. Focus is enabled.
Apple pulls the same shenanigans with the
A GREAT CAMERA EVEN iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, essentially punishing
WITHOUT A SECOND LENS people who want a smaller phone instead of
The Galaxy S9 doesn’t come with the same an oversized one. Thankfully, though, the new
camera technology as its S9+ big sibling, and dual-aperture “wide angle” camera is the main
that’s a bummer. Specifically, on the rear of attraction, and it’s available on both models.
the phone, the S9+ has the 12MP, dual- This camera comes with the same
aperture “wide angle” camera Samsung is 1.4-micron pixels and optical image
making a big deal about, along with a 12MP stabilization that Samsung introduced in the
“telephoto” lens with a f/2.4 fixed aperture. Galaxy S8, but the nifty Dual Aperture feature is
Used in tandem, this dual camera set-up all new, and lets you switch from f/2.4 to f/1.5

32 PCWorld APRIL 2018


single, fixed aperture—Dual
Aperture doesn’t actually offer
any low-light benefits (other
than what you get from an
f/1.5 aperture naturally). But
where the f/2.4 aperture
should help is in regular
lighting conditions: The
camera can let in less light to
(theoretically) accentuate
shadows or gain a bit of clarity.
In very specific
circumstances, you can
definitely see the benefits of
the higher aperture setting,
but it’s probably not a setting
you’re going to spend a lot of
time using. For example, in the
above images, switching to
the f/2.4 aperture accentuated
Here you can see the best-case scenario when using the S9’s f/2.4 the texture of the coral in the
aperture (bottom). The f/1.5 image at the top is obviously brighter,
but the f/2.4 aperture in the bottom image gave greater definition penguin exhibit, as well as the
to the ice-color rocks, the bubbles, and the penguin itself. edges of the jellyfish. But in
most photos I took, it was hard
at the tap of a button. A mechanical element to discern much of a difference. That being
widens the aperture to f/1.5, and when the said, watching the lens switch between the
camera is in auto mode, the switch happens two apertures is kind of mesmerizing.
automatically if environmental lighting drops Like Dual Aperture, the S9’s 960-fps Super
below 100 lux. That’s pretty amazing for a Slow-mo feature also left me wanting more.
smartphone, and f/1.5 sets a new record for Switch to the new recording mode, and you’ll
smartphone apertures, but in practice Dual be able to slow down your videos to a
Aperture isn’t as useful as you might think. ridiculous speed just by tapping the screen.
Because other smartphones always shoot The camera will even begin recording in
in their widest possible aperture—i.e., their slow-motion automatically, as soon as it

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 33


REVIEWS SAMSUNG GAL A X Y S9

First, Super Slow-mo


records only in 720p, so
videos can lack sharpness.
Second, due to onboard
memory limitations, you
can capture only two-tenths
of a second of real-time
content, which is then
spread out over six seconds
of Super Slow-mo
playback. The results are
incredibly cool, but like
In certain circumstances, switching from f/1.5 (left) to the narrower Dual Aperture, it’s probably
f/2.4 aperture (right) yields clearer images with finer detail. not a feature you’re going
to spend a lot of time using.
detects motion in your frame. But while it’s a During testing, I was most impressed with
genuinely amazing feature to have on a how the S9 captured objects in motion.
smartphone (with appropriate credit going to Photos shot with the S8 can be soft or even
the Sony Xperia XZ Premium for doing it first), blurry when locking in on movement, but I
there are some technical limitations. consistently captured crisp, clear pictures

In extreme low light, the Galaxy S9’s f/1.5 aperture (left) captured images that are brighter and clearer
than the S8+ (center) and Pixel 2 XL (right) achieved.

34 PCWorld APRIL 2018


with the S9 whether my subject
was still or moving. My S9
photos rivaled those on the
Pixel 2 (in all kinds of light), and
were noticeably better than the
ones I took on the S8 as well.

APPLE’S ANIMOJI
HAS A COMPETITOR
IN AR EMOJI
Ever since Apple unveiled
Animoji on iPhone X, it was just My AR Emoji isn’t exactly a spitting image, but it’s definitely me.
a matter of time until Samsung
developed some kind of a response. Right on and other Disney characters will be arriving
cue, the S9 delivers a feature called AR Emoji, soon to Samsung’s platform. But Samsung’s
which is at the same time better and worse big innovation with AR Emoji is letting users
than Apple’s version. create their own animated emoji based on
While you can’t control actual Unicode- their image and likeness. The creation process
style emoji, Samsung does provide a handful is somewhat similar to setting up Face ID on
of cartoon characters to control (though not iPhone X, except you’ll need to snap a selfie
quite as many as Apple), and Mickey Mouse on the S9 before it can work its magic.
AR Emoji’s avatar engine
only mimics faces, so you’ll
need to fix your hair and add
glasses if you wear them (AR
Emoji suggests you remove
glasses before starting the
process). Otherwise,
Samsung’s engine does a
decent job of capturing
enough unique facial
features to create a fairly
faithful avatar.
Creating a new AR Emoji emoji is a bit like Face ID on the iPhone X. Once you create your AR

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 35


REVIEWS SAMSUNG GAL A X Y S9

Emoji, you can share


stickers and make videos,
and it’s here where the S9
stumbles a bit. Without a
3D camera like Apple’s
TrueDepth sensor, tracking
facial expressions isn’t
nearly as good as it is on
iPhone X, and both faces
and characters have a flatter
overall feel to them. Edges
have sharp lines and
movements are janky at
Oreo’s Picture-in-Picture works well with the S9’s Pop-Up View (center).
times, but it’s still just as fun And the S9 tweaks Android 8’s notification dots (right) to make them
as it is on iPhone X. even more useful.

OREO BRINGS SOME SWEET app, Samsung also utilizes Oreo’s automatic
NEW FEATURES method for things like active Maps windows
The Galaxy S9 brings Oreo to the Samsung and videos playing in Chrome. It’s a good
Experience, so you’ll be able to enjoy many of combination, making the S9 an even better
the key features Google introduced with multitasker than the Pixel 2. Also cool is the
Android 8, including notification categories, ability to use the home screen and app
app icon shortcuts, and better badge drawer in landscape mode.
handling. However, it’s not as up-to-date as it Oreo’s dots are here too, but there are a
could be. For example, because it’s not few differences. You can opt to show badges
based on the latest 8.1 version, you don’t get with or without numbers, which is a nice
the handy battery indicator for Bluetooth touch, but because dots and badges are tied
devices in Quick Settings. Hopefully that’ll to status bar notifications now, the indicators
come in a later update. might not be as accurate as they could be.
You will, however, get picture-in-picture Samsung is also supporting Project Treble
here, enhancing a feature that has been on now, which will bring speedier upgrades to
Samsung phones since the S7. While you can the S9. That means we shouldn’t have to wait
still swipe from the top left corner of the six months to get Android P on the S9.
screen to create Pop-Up windows for any Samsung has introduced a new unlocking

36 PCWorld APRIL 2018


method that combines iris and facial knowing Samsung isn’t doing any
recognition to create a super biometric called price-gouging.
Intelligent Scan. It’s much better than either The Galaxy S9 isn’t a gotta-see-it or
method on its own, but it’s no Face ID. It’s also gotta-have-it phone like the S8 or iPhone X,
less secure than iris on its own, and it still but it’s a fantastic update to what was already
struggles somewhat in dark rooms and bright one of the best handsets I ever used. The lack
sunlight. I often had to adjust my positioning of a dual camera on the S9 is a bummer for
before it would let me in (though not as sure, but the single camera is still an excellent
dramatically as with the iris scan on the S8). My performer (even if we don’t see amazing
biggest issue isn’t with the biometric itself, but benefits from Dual Aperture). The lower price
rather how Samsung implements it. Because and smaller size will be worthwhile trade-offs
you can’t raise-to-wake the display or double- for many buyers.
tap outside of the virtual home button, getting So don’t let the too-familiar design sway
to Intelligent Scan isn’t as smooth as getting to you away from the S9. Even if the S10 flips the
Face ID on iPhone X, making the whole thing script with a folding display, the S9 will be a
seem less smart than it ought to. great phone for years to come, and there’s
little reason to fear that it will feel outdated or
BOTTOM LINE obsolete in a year’s time. Simply put, there’s a
Anyone who’s in the market for a new phone lot to like with the S9 even if doesn’t look as
should seriously consider buying an S9. It “new” as it could.
might be an insignificant upgrade in terms of
physical design, but that’s a concern only if
Samsung Galaxy S9
you really, really want people to know you
have the latest and greatest phone. Plus, the
PROS
Galaxy S8 has an awesome design, so with • The Infinity Display is even better than the one on
the S8
the S9 you’re getting more of the same. • Camera takes fantastic pics in all kinds of light
While you’ll likely find a better deal on a CONS
Galaxy S8 (at least until the stock is depleted), • Camera features like Dual Aperture and Super
Slow-mo are a little gimmicky
you’ll be better served by spending an extra • AR Emoji is fun but not as advanced as Apple’s
Animoji
$100 or so on the new S9 model. The
BOTTOM LINE
processor, camera, and design are all best-in- The Galaxy S9 is an evolution rather than a revolu-
class, and because the S9 is actually $5 tion, but Samsung has upgraded it in all the right
places.
cheaper than the S8 was when it launched
$719
($720 vs $725), you can buy confidently,

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 37


REVIEWS

/**UDPƴƸ=ƼƻƳ,WŞVULFKDQG
WKLQDQGLWVEDWWHU\GRHVQŞWVWRS
It keeps going, and going, and going... BY BEN PATTERSON

P
acking a quad-core relatively casual pace. We also had some
8th-generation Intel processor quibbles with the Gram’s cramped keyboard.
and a robust battery into an
impressively thin and light shell, PRICE AND SPECIFICATIONS
the peppy but pricey LG Gram cranks all day We tested the top-of-the-line model of the LG
without weighing you down. While we love Gram, which costs a cool $2,000 and boasts
the Gram’s lithe design and exceptional a 15.6-inch touch display, a quad-core
battery life, laptop shoppers looking for sheer 8th-generation Intel Core i7-8550U
speed may be disappointed by the system’s processor, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and a pair of

38 PCWorld APRIL 2018 IMAGE: ADAM PATRICK MURRAY


512GB solid-state drives. If you’d rather not it’s a tad dim, with a maximum brightness of
spend two grand on a laptop, there are only 265 nits (or candelas). That figure lands a
three cheaper versions of the Gram to little above our minimum standard of 250 nits
consider, including (at the bottom end) a for comfortable indoor reading, but it’s well
much more affordable $1,250 model with below the 300-nit readings we’ve seen on
a Core i5 processor, a single 256GB SSD competing laptops. Generally speaking,
and 8GB of RAM. brighter is better, particularly if you’re trying to
The first thing you’ll notice about the get work done outdoors or near a bright
aptly-named LG Gram is its weight, or lack window. That said, the viewing angles on the
thereof. Weighing in at about 2.4 pounds, Gram’s IPS panel are quite impressive. Even
the Gram feels impossibly light, like one of when I scooted over far to the side, I could
those fake laptops you’ll find in furniture barely detect any screen fading. Those solid
showrooms. viewing angles held up from the top and
At 0.7 inches, the Gram’s metal alloy shell bottom, too.
(which, according to LG, boasts military- The LG Gram’s touchscreen did a good
grade resistance to shock, vibration and even job of registering my taps and swipes, but
spraying salt water) is a bit thicker than such keep your Active Pens stowed, as the screen
ultralight competitors as the Dell XPS 13 and lacks pen support.
the HP Spectre x360, but it’s still just as light
or a tad lighter than those two systems—and KEYBOARD, SPEAKERS,
remember, the LG Gram has a 15-inch display, WEBCAM & EXTRAS
versus the 13-inch screens on the Dell and HP. The LG Gram doesn’t skimp in the keyboard
Of course, there’s also the LG Gram’s department, offering up a full numeric keypad
12-ounce AC adapter to consider. Toss that along with a fingerprint reader embedded in
in, and the LG Gram’s total packing weight the power key, which sits in the top-right
swells to a little over three pounds. Then corner of the keyboard.
again, the Gram’s battery life is so good (as While a dedicated numeric keypad is
you’ll see), day-trippers can probably afford always a nice touch in a laptop, the numeric
to leave the power cord at home. keys themselves are a little narrower than
the main number and letter keys.
DISPLAY Annoyingly,  my fingertips kept missing the
The LG Gram’s 15.6-inch display is a bit of a smallish Backspace and Enter keys, hitting
mixed bag. While the FHD (1920x1080) the numeric keys instead. I’m sure one would
touchscreen looks sharp and relatively vivid, get used to the key layout over time, but my

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 39


REVIEWS LG GR AM 15Z980

initial touch typing


experience with the Gram
was a frustrating one.
Among the more
interesting hotkeys on the LG
Gram include ones that
toggle airplane mode and
the touchpad, along with an
easy-on-the-eyes “reader”
mode (basically LG’s version
of the Night Light feature in
Windows), and a keyboard
backlighting hotkey that
The LG Gram comes with a dedicated numeric keypad, but we’re
cycles between three modes bummed by the smallish Backspace and Enter keys.
(high, low, and off). Last but
not least, a settings hotkey launches LG’s laptop’s support for DTS Headphone:X, a
“Control Center” settings panel. surround-sound format that lets you pick
The LG’s mid-size touchpad gets the job from one of three sound profiles (wide,
done with a minimum of fuss—and indeed, I in-front and traditional) and media types
didn’t give the touchpad a second thought (entertainment, games, and sports). For me,
throughout my testing. That’s a good thing. the effect was subtle, adding a slight amount
The Gram’s built-in stereo speakers sound of depth and roominess to the virtual
unsurprisingly tinny and bass-less. That said, soundscape in my headphones. Nice, but I
you can slip on a pair of cans and enable the didn’t particularly miss the DTS mode when

Three cheers for Thunderbolt 3! We like the full HDMI and USB 3.0 ports, too.

40 PCWorld APRIL 2018


I toggled it off.
The LG Gram’s 720p PCMark 8 Work 2.0
webcam, embedded in the Conventional Native Resolution
top bezel of the display,
LG Gram 14
cranked out relatively (Core 17-7500U, HD 620)
3,594
smooth and sharp images. Microsoft Surface Laptop
(Core 15-7200U, HD 620)
3,438
Colors were a bit washed-
LG Gram 15Z980
out and the video looked a (Core 17-8550U, UHD 620)
3,409

little grainy, but for the Dell XPS 15 9560


(Core 17-7700HQ, GTX 1050)
3,194.5
most part, Skype chatters HP Spectre Laptop 13
(Core 15-7200U, HD 620)
2,901
should be pleased with
what they see. LO N G ER B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T ER P E R F O R M A N C E

PORTS
The LG Gram boasts a generous selection of have minded a second Thunderbolt 3 port,
ports, starting with full HDMI, USB 3.0 Type particularly given the Gram’s lofty price tag.
A, and a single Thunderbolt 3 port (a four-lane
implementation for transfer speeds up to GENERAL PERFORMANCE
40Gbps, plus USB Power Delivery 3.0) on the A quad-core CPU in a razor-thin 15-inch
left side. Also on the left side: a dedicated laptop? You bet, thanks to Intel’s
barrel-style charging port. On the right, you 8th-generation Kaby Lake Refresh processors.
get two more USB 3.0 ports, a Micro SD card The LG Gram is among the latest notebooks
reader and a headphone jack. to cram this powerful but heat-conscious chip
All in all, not bad, although we wouldn’t into a thin shell. While the Gram’s i7-8550U

Two more USB 3.0 ports sit on the LG Gram’s right side, along with a Micro SD card reader.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 41


REVIEWS LG GR AM 15Z980

processor hasn’t been cranked up to the max,


the system manages to turn in a relatively Unsurprisingly, the quad-core
peppy performance. LG Gram floated over the bar
with ease, but so did a pair of
PCMARK 8 WORK 2.0 dual-core competitors, such as
CONVENTIONAL the older 14-inch LG Gram and
First, we checked out the LG Gram’s the Microsoft Surface Laptop.
performance with everyday tasks using
PCMark 8 Work Conventional, a benchmark of how a given system handles a crushing
that simulates such daily PC duties as web CPU load, such as (in this case) encoding
browsing, video conferencing and tinkering large video files.
with spreadsheets. Generally speaking, any While the LG Gram doesn’t break any
score above 2,000 makes for smooth and HandBrake records, it runs right alongside its
supple Office performance. quad-core competitors, edging out the
Unsurprisingly, the quad-core LG Gram 8th-generation HP Spectre Laptop 13 but
floated over the bar with ease, but so did a coming in a distant second to the i7-7700HQ-
pair of dual-core competitors, such as the packing Dell XPS 15 9560, a similar-sized but
older 14-inch LG Gram and the Microsoft far heavier laptop with a high-performance
Surface Laptop. That brings us to our 7th-gen CPU.
standard disclaimer when it comes to One thing I noted during the HandBrake
paying top dollar for a quad-core test was that unlike other laptops I’ve seen,
notebook: Unless you’re
planning on encoding
video or performing
HandBrake Encode 0.99.0 H.264
(X264) (Android Tablet)
other CPU-intensive
tasks, a cheaper dual- Dell XPS 15 9560
(Core 17-7700HQ, GTX 1050) 2,743
core system will do the
LG Gram 15Z980
trick just as well. (Core 17-8550U, UHD 620) 4,772
HP Spectre Laptop 13
(Core 15-7200U, HD 620) 5,169
HANDBRAKE LG Gram 14
(Core 17-7500U, HD 620) 6,277
Moving on to a tougher
Microsoft Surface Laptop
challenge for quad-core (Core 15-7200U, HD 620) 6,353
laptops, the HandBrake S H O R T E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E

test gives us a better idea

42 PCWorld APRIL 2018


the LG Gram doesn’t rev
up its fans or spike its CPU Cinebench R15.038
clockspeed at the All Threads
beginning of the encoding
Dell XPS 15 9560
process. That could mean (Core 17-7700HQ, GTX 1050) 735
LG took a “slow-but-steady- LG Gram 15Z980
(Core 17-8550U, UHD 620) 517
wins-the-race” approach
HP Spectre Laptop 13
with the Gram, a (Core 15-7200U, HD 620) 502
LG Gram 14
reasonable trade-off given (Core 17-7500U, HD 620) 350
the Gram’s thin and Microsoft Surface Laptop
(Core 15-7200U, HD 620) 327
lightweight design.
LO N G ER B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T ER P E R F O R M A N C E

CINEBENCH R15
Another torture test for
laptop processors, our next
benchmark turns up the 3DMark Sky Diver 1.0 Overall
(Demo Mode Off)
heat on the CPU as it
renders a 3D image. Dell XPS 15 9560
(Core 17-7700HQ, GTX 1050) 15,448
As with its HandBrake
LG Gram 15Z980
results, the LG Gram turned (Core 17-8550U, UHD 620) 4,466

in a solid but not HP Spectre Laptop 13


4,141
(Core 15-7200U, HD 620)
astounding Cinebench Microsoft Surface Laptop
(Core 15-7200U, HD 620) 3,841
performance. It easily
LG Gram 14
dusted dual-core systems (Core 17-7500U, HD 620) 3,711.5
and kept pace with the LO N G ER B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T ER P E R F O R M A N C E

quad-core HP Spectre
Laptop 13, but fell well
behind Dell’s quad-core XPS 15 powerhouse. 3DMARK SKY DIVER 1.0
Again, the Gram’s CPU never broke a OVERALL
sweat during the Cinebench test, opting for a With its integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620
steady pace rather than a full-on sprint. While I graphics core, the LG Gram shouldn’t be
did notice the LG’s processor fans gently expected to deliver anything more than
purring during the test, the sound was far middling graphics performance.
short of the roar I’ve heard on other systems. Indeed, its 3DMark Sky Diver test results

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 43


REVIEWS LG GR AM 15Z980

energy-efficient dual-core
Video rundown test systems as the Microsoft
(Battery Life) Surface Laptop and the LG
Gram 14, while thoroughly
LG Gram 15Z980
(Core 17-8550U, UHD 620)
710 outlasting the turbo-
Microsoft Surface Laptop charged but power-hungry
(Core 15-7200U, HD 620)
689
Dell XPS 15, which barely
LG Gram 14
(Core 17-7500U, HD 620)
673 lasted 5.5 hours in our
HP Spectre Laptop 13 battery life test.
(Core 15-7200U, HD 620)
378
Dell XPS 15 9560
331
(Core 17-7700HQ, GTX 1050
BOTTOM LINE
LO N G ER B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T ER P E R F O R M A N C E The 15-inch LG Gram isn’t
the fastest 8th-generation
quad-core laptop we’ve
show the quad-core notebook loitering with tested, but it’s certainly one of the lightest,
its fellow integrated-GPU systems. and its stellar battery life makes up for its
Unsurprisingly, the Dell XPS 15 9560 with its modest performance shortfalls. The Gram’s
discrete GeForce GTX 1050 graphics chip cramped keyboard takes getting used to,
leaves everyone else in the dust. however, and budget-conscious laptop
shoppers may balk at the $2,000 price tag.
BATTERY LIFE
While it’s been content to hang in the LG Gram 15Z980
middle of the pack in our other benchmarks,
the LG Gram surges ahead in our battery PROS
• All-day battery life
drain test.
• Slim and super-light
We test battery life in notebooks by • Solid array of ports, including Thunderbolt 3
looping a 4K video with screen brightness at CONS
• Middling performance among quad-core 8th-gen
about 250 nits (which means, for the Gram, notebooks
cranking up the brightness all the way) and • Numeric keypad cramps neighboring keys

the volume set at the halfway mark, with BOTTOM LINE


The 15-inch LG Gram isn’t the fastest 8th-generation
earbuds attached. quad-core laptop we’ve tested, but it’s certainly one
of the lightest, and its stellar battery life makes up for
With its score of 710 minutes, or just short its modest performance shortfalls.
of 12 hours, the LG Gram and its roomy $1,199
72Whr battery noses ahead of such

44 PCWorld APRIL 2018


6DPVXQJ1RWHERRNƺ6SLQ
$VROLGƻWKJHQƵLQƴZLWK
SOHQW\RIEDWWHU\OLIH
If you can’t beat ‘em, outlast ‘em. BY BEN PATTERSON

S
amsung’s Galaxy S9 is a strange replaces. In fact, it’s so much like its
breed of smartphone. With a predecessor, issues we might normally
Snapdragon 845 processor, overlook become all the more obvious
great camera, and 18:9 screen, this second time around.
it has all the trappings of a fantastic 2018 Samsung’s Notebook 7 Spin is not the
handset. Yet, at the same time, it’s fastest quad-core convertible to harness Intel’s
remarkably similar to the Galaxy S8 that it game-changing 8th-generation CPU, but the

IMAGE: MELISSA RIOFRIO APRIL 2018 PCWorld 45


REVIEWS SAMSUNG NOTEBOOK 7 SPIN

midrange laptop proves that speed isn’t numbers out of the way, how does the
everything. Boasting a gorgeous 13-inch Notebook 7 Spin feel in hand? A tad heavy, if
touch display, solid quad-core performance you ask me, but that’ll be the case for just about
and—best of all—impressive battery life, the any 13-inch laptop that weighs more than three
Spin should please budget-conscious laptop pounds. If you want something lighter, expect
shoppers who value stamina over speed. to pay a few hundred dollars more.
The Spin’s metal “stealth silver” shell looks
PRICE AND SPECIFICATIONS solid and professional, if not exactly head-
The latest version of the Notebook 7 Spin is—at turning. That said, the Spin may get some
launch, anyway—a one-size-fits-all affair. For a admiring looks when you tent it on a tabletop
list price of $900, you get a 13.3-inch, 2-in-1 or swivel its display all the way around in
convertible with an 8th-generation quad-core tablet mode.
Intel Core i5-8250U processor, a 256GB
solid-state drive, and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. DISPLAY
(Samsung says a version of the Spin with 16GB While the Notebook 7 Spin’s shell is a bit dull,
of memory might eventually be in the offing.) If the same can’t be said of its vibrant 13.3-inch
you want to upgrade the Spin yourself, get your FHD touch display. Indeed, the Spin’s PLS
pry tools ready, because there are no screws or (Samsung’s in-house version of IPS) display is
user- accessible panels in
the shell.
Tipping the scales at 3.2
pounds and measuring a
reasonable 12.4 x 8.5 x 0.7
inches, the new Notebook 7
Spin is a tad lighter than its
earlier incarnation, and it’s
also slightly trimmer and
lighter than the Dell Inspiron
13 5000 (go.pcworld.com/
di13), a competing (and
cheaper) 2-in-1 convertible
with the same 8th-generation
CPU and similar specs. You can tent the Samsung Notebook 7 Spin on a tabletop or swivel its
Now that we’ve got the screen all the way around into tablet mode.

46 PCWorld APRIL 2018


bright (think 300 nits, or
candelas), sharp, and
gorgeous. Enable the
Notebook 7’s HDR mode (an
HDR toggle shares space with
the F10 key), and images
becomes even more eye-
popping, with inky blacks and
bright, vivid colors.
The Spin’s display
performs well even at wide
viewing angles, and the
touch-sensitive screen The Notebook 7 Spin’s keyboard boasts an HDR toggle that gives
responded perfectly to my the display more pop.
swipes and taps. While the
Spin does boast Active Pen support (a feature speakers are decent. Cranking “Live and Let
that’s notably lacking in the Dell Inspiron 13 Die” by Paul McCartney & Wings and then
5000), you’ll have to supply your own pen. taking a sharp left turn into Mozart’s
Symphony No. 27, the built-in speakers
KEYBOARD, SPEAKERS, (which, per usual, sit on the underside of
WEBCAM & MICROPHONE the laptop’s shell) sounded reasonably
The Notebook 7 Spin’s snappy, backlit crisp and roomy. I could even detect
keyboard boasts slightly concave keys, along the tiniest hint of bass.
with hotkeys that juggle your external I was also impressed with the Notebook
monitors and toggle the trackpad, speakers 7 Spin’s “far-field” microphone, which
and Wi-Fi on and off. You also get the managed to pick up my voice even when I
aforementioned HDR key, along with a hotkey was standing several yards away. Indeed, I
that flips the screen image into a 180-degree was able to summon Cortana while standing
“consulting” mode. Disappointingly (if not a good 20 feet back from the Spin,
surprisingly), the Settings hotkey opens the speaking in a normal voice. Standing in the
Samsung settings page, rather than the main same position and again speaking in an
Windows settings screen you might expect. even voice, I captured a clear if quiet
Laptop speakers are generally nothing to recording of myself using Samsung’s
get excited about, but the Spin’s twin Voice Notes app.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 47


REVIEWS SAMSUNG NOTEBOOK 7 SPIN

Raining on the Spin’s


parade is its disappointing PCMark 8 Work 2.0
VGA webcam, with Conventional
blotchy, grainy and blurry
Lenovo Yoga 920
images that are barely (Core i7-8550U)
3,472
passable for video chat. Samsung Notebook 9 Pro
(Core i7-7500U)
3,362
Asus VivoBook 5
PORTS (Core i7-7500U)
3,239

The selection of ports on Samsung Notebook 7 Spin


(Core i5-8250U)
3,220
the Notebook 7 Spin is Dell Inspiron 13 5000
(Core i5-8250U)
3,218
good, not great. On the
Lenovo Yoga 720 15”
left edge, you get a full (Core i7-7700HQ)
3,163

HDMI port, USB 3.0 Type LO N G ER B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T ER P E R F O R M A N C E

A, USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type (up


to 5Gbps, passing 4K
video with an adapter), and
a headphone jack. On the
HandBrake Encode 0.990
H.264
right edge, you get a single
USB 2.0 port, along with a Lenovo Yoga 720 15”
(Core i7-7700HQ)
3,391
power button that doubles
Lenovo Yoga 920
as an awkwardly placed (Core i7-8550U)
3,902

fingerprint reader. Dell Inspiron 13 5000


4,117
(Core i5-8250U)
While the lack of Samsung Notebook 9 Pro
(Core i7-7500U)
4,326
Thunderbolt ports on a
Samsung Notebook 7 Spin
sub-$1,000 machine like (Core i5-8250U)
4,475
the Spin is understandable, Asus VivoBook 5
5,940
(Core i7-7500U)
we’re disappointed that
S H O R T E R B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T E R P E R F O R M A N C E
Samsung decided to skip
on an SD card reader.
near-impossible feat just a year ago. As
GENERAL PERFORMANCE expected, we found the Spin to be peppy
Thanks to its 8th-generation Intel Kaby Lake and light on its feet, but with a tendency to
Refresh processor, the Spin manages to cram fade a bit in the final stretch compared to its
quad-core power into its slim shell, a 8th-generation competitors. That said,

48 PCWorld APRIL 2018


leaving a little power in reserve pays off for the seconds, to encode a 30GB MKV file into a
Spin in other ways, as you’ll soon see. smaller MP4 file) is a tad slower than what
we’ve seen from other recent 8th-generation
PCMARK 8 WORK 2.0 quad-core laptops, like the Inspiron 13, and it
CONVENTIONAL even lags a bit behind the score of its dual-core
A quad-core laptop like the Notebook 7 Spin cousin, the Notebook 9 Pro.
shouldn’t have any trouble with PCMark 8 Given that the Spin is smaller than both
Work 2.0 Conventional, a benchmark that the Dell and the Notebook 9, it’s likely
simulates day-to-day PC tasks like editing Samsung choose to sacrifice speed to keep
word documents and browsing the web. the Notebook 7 Spin’s cramped innards as
With its score of 3,220, the Spin doesn’t cool as possible. That said, keep in mind that
disappoint, but it also proves (yet again) that a while the Spin’s HandBrake result is a few
quad-core CPU won’t
necessarily double the
everyday desktop
Cinebench R15.038
Single/All Threads
performance of a dual-core
system (like, say, the Asus
Dell Inspiron 13 5000 145
VivoBook 5). If you’re a (Core i5-8250U)
631
laptop shopper who’s only
interested in running Office Lenovo Yoga 720 15” 122
(Core i7-7700HQ)
and browsing on Edge of 614

Chrome, a pricey quad-core


Lenovo Yoga 920 165
system is probably overkill. (Core i7-8550U)
569

HANDBRAKE Samsung Notebook 7 Spin 137


(Core i5-8250U)
Things get more interesting 504

when it comes to our


Asus VivoBook 5 145
HandBrake benchmark, (Core i7-7500U)
348
which tests how a laptop
handles the punishing task Samsung Notebook 9 Pro 150
(Core i7-7500U)
of encoding video. 339

The Notebook 7 Spin’s


SINGLE THREAD ALL THRE ADS
HandBrake score of 4,475
LO N G ER B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T ER P E R F O R M A N C E
(the average time it took, in

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 49


REVIEWS SAMSUNG NOTEBOOK 7 SPIN

steps behind those of its


8th-gen competitors, it’s 3DMark Sky Diver 1.0 Overall
still in the mix. (Demo Mode Off)

CINEBENCH R15 Lenovo Yoga 720 15”


(Core i7-7700HQ)
15,325
We see pretty much the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro
(Core i7-7500U)
8,863
same picture when it
Lenovo Yoga 920
comes to Cinebench, a (Core i7-8550U)
4,361

benchmark that pushes a Samsung Notebook 7 Spin


(Core i5-8250U)
4,346
laptop’s CPU to the limit as Dell Inspiron 13 5000
(Core i5-8250U)
4,086
it renders a 3D image.
Asus VivoBook 5
While it handily beats the (Core i7-7500U)
3,769

dual-core Notebook 9 Pro LO N G ER B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T ER P E R F O R M A N C E

and ASUS VivoBook 5 in


our multi-thread
Cinebench test (the longer
set of bars below), the Spin
Video rundown test
Battery life (minutues)
struggles versus its 8th-gen
quad-core competitors, Lenovo Yoga 920
625
(Core i7-8550U)
including the cheaper (if Samsung Notebook 9 Pro
(Core i7-7500U)
590
slightly larger) quad-core
Samsung Notebook 7 Spin
Dell Inspiron 13. (Core i5-8250U)
468
Few applications Lenovo Yoga 720 15”
426
(Core i7-7700HQ)
demand multi-thread
Dell Inspiron 13 5000
330
performance, however. (Core i5-8250U)

Asus VivoBook 5
In Cinebench’s single- (Core i7-7500U)
293
thread test, the Spin and LO N G ER B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T ER P E R F O R M A N C E

its quad-core Intel
classmates run neck-and-
neck with cheaper dual-core systems, yet 3D MARK SKY DIVER 1.0
another example of how pricey quad-core OVERALL
processors won’t necessarily double your With its integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620
performance when it comes to day-to-day PC core, the Notebook 7 Spin shouldn’t be
duties. Bargain hunters, take note. expected to crank out the kind of graphics

50 PCWorld APRIL 2018


outstrips the peppier Inspiron 13 5000’s time
by more than two hours. Sound like we’ve
got a case of the tortoise and the hare
(although calling the Notebook 7 Spin a
tortoise isn’t exactly fair).
Incidentally, the two laptops in our
comparison that beat the Spin’s battery life
score benefit from their roomier shells and
Samsung skimped on an SD card reader for the
Spin, but at least there’s a fingerprint reader battery capacity.
embedded in the power button.
BOTTOM LINE
performance you’d see in a system with Like we said before, speed isn’t everything,
a discrete graphics chip—and indeed, it and indeed, a wicked-fast ultrabook with a
doesn’t. dead battery won’t do you any good at all. So
The Spin’s test results tell the tale, while the Samsung Notebook 7 Spin isn’t the
essentially running even with other quad-core fastest 2-in-1 convertible on the block, it
systems with integrated graphics, and only boasts an enticing combination of solid
moderately outpacing the dual-core quad-core performance and impressive
VivoBook 5. Blowing all those systems out of battery life, all in a reasonably small and
the water are the (considerably bigger and affordable package.
pricier) Lenovo Yoga 720 and Samsung
Notebook 9 Pro, which boast discrete Samsung Notebook 7 Spin
GeForce and Radeon cores, respectively.
PROS

BATTERY LIFE • Gorgeous touch display with HDR support


• Sensitive ‘far-field’ microphone
The Notebook 7 Spin’s benchmark results • Solid quad-core performance
may not be quite as fast as its 8th-gen CONS
• Performance slightly lags that of similar laptops
quad-core competitors, but it can certainly
• Muddy VGA webcam
outlast them. BOTTOM LINE
We test laptop batteries by looping a 4K While the Samsung Notebook 7 Spin isn’t the fastest
2-in-1 convertible on the block, it boasts an enticing
video with the display brightness set to about combination of solid quad-core performance and
impressive battery life, all in a reasonably small and
250 nits and the volume on halfway. The affordable package.
Spin’s 43WHr battery lasted (on average) 468 $900
minutes, or about 7.8 hours, a figure that

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 51


REVIEWS

,QWHOƻƳƳ32SWDQH66'
%OHHGLQJHGJHSDLQZLWKRXW
WKHEOHHGLQJHGJHJDLQ
We love the potential of Optane, but current products aren’t competitive price- or
capacity-wise with NAND-based offerings. BY JON L. JACOBI

I
ntel’s Optane SSD 800P, like previous average around 50 cents per gigabyte, the
Optane products, boasts best-in-class 800P is over-priced and under-powered.
longevity and very fast random access. After the lightning-fast Intel 900P (go.
But the rest of its performance numbers pcworld.com/o900) we recently reviewed
are mundane at best, it’s only available in two very (currently $600 on Newegg [go.pcworld.
small capacities, and the price is, ahem, up there. com/600n]), it’s a real disappointment.
Even die-hard early adopters will
experience some sticker shock paying $129 DESIGN AND SPECS
for 58GB or $199 for 118GB, or $2.22 and We tested the 58GB version of the M.2,
$1.68 per gigabyte, respectively. Compared PCIe/NVMe 800P. Both capacities ship in the
to the other NVMe drives in our SSD buying common 2280 (22 millimeters across, 80 mm
guide (go.pcworld.com/sdbg), which long) form factor. There’s not a lot we can tell

52 PCWorld APRIL 2018 IMAGE: INTEL


you about the 3D XPoint memory or Optane the Samsung 960 Pro bested the 800P (blue
controller, other than that the memory is 3D bars) in AS SSD’s queued and unqueued tests.
and uses some kind of matrix addressing. Intel rightly points out that low or no
Unfortunately, Intel is just not very queue-depth small reads comprise a great
forthcoming about this promising technology part of the average workload, and Optane’s
(go.pcworld.com/3dxp). prowess in this area does help with moment-
We already mentioned that the 800P is to-moment performance. Subjectively, the
expensive and not very capacious, but it bears 800P will provide the snappy performance
repeating: $129/$2.22 per GB for the 58GB that’s the hallmark of NVMe drives.
version, and $199/$1.68 per gigabyte for the Sustained read performance with the
118GB version and there are no larger capacities. 800P is good, but sustained writes are
By way of comparison, the 250GB Samsung 960 relatively weak. The Optane SSD 900P was an
EVO is available for $120/48 cents per gigabyte exception among the Optane drives we’ve
and available in sizes up to 2TB. Ahem. seen, with stellar performance all around, but
Where you’ll recoup some of your money that was a closed box that may have been
is via the 800P’s stellar endurance. Both internally configured in RAID, as the NAND-
capacities are warrantied for five years and based Intel 750 (go.pcworld.com/i750) is.
rated for 365TBW (TeraBytes
Written). Most SSDs vary in TBW
based on their capacity, so why
AS SSD 1.9 4KB Tests
(MBps)
these two have same TBW rating
we simply do not know. 479
1,347
4K Write (64 Threads)
1,183
PERFORMANCE
1,342
Intel boasts that Optane products 4K Read (64 Threads) 2,287
really shine in small reads without 1,666
the benefit of queues, that is, single
159
writes performed sequentially. But 4K Write 172
NVMe is designed with multiple 155

queues, so writes can be performed


198
in parallel. Despite Intel’s boast, the 4K Read 186
30
800P’s small write number shone
only in comparison with the rest of INTEL 80 0 P INTEL 9 0 0 P SAMSUNG 960 PRO

its performance. Both the 900P and

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 53


REVIEWS INTEL 800P OPTANE SSD

Speaking of which, Intel claims


that 800P performance scales very AS SSD 1.9 throughput
well when you combine them in (10GB /MBps)
striped RAID arrays. We didn’t 159
have the drives or setup to test this 172
4K Write
155
with NVMe, but it has been a
unique strength of Intel SSDs for 198
quite a while. At least when used 4K Read 186
30
with their own rapid storage
technology. 589
Sequential Write 1,702
Note: Normally, I would’ve
1,771
compared the 800P with a budget
NVMe drive, which is more in line 1,287
Sequential Read 2,260
with the 800P’s performance. 2,698
However, as the 800P is three to four
times as expensive as say, the INTEL 80 0 P INTEL 9 0 0 P SAMSUNG 960 PRO

Samsung 960 EVO, I chose the


high-end Samsung 960 Pro instead.
AS SSD 1.9, which issues the FUA
command (Force Unit Access) to
CrystalDiskMark 5
(MBps)
disable caching, had nice things to
say about the 800P’s read speeds, 268
Random Write 4KB 268
especially the small 4K read (blue bars 235
below; longer bars are better). Not as
198
nice as what it said about the 900P of Random Read 4KB 198
course, or even Samsung’s, but 52
nothing untoward. On the other
1,980
hand, the sustained write speed is Sequential Write 1,980
quite pedestrian, barely faster than a 2,181

good SATA SSD’s.


2,325
CrystalDiskMark, on the other Sequential Read 2,325
hand, differed in opinion from AS 2,789

SSD (see blue bars below). It shows INTEL 80 0 P INTEL 9 0 0 P SAMSUNG 960 PRO

the same fast sustained readers and

54 PCWorld APRIL 2018


BOTTOM LINE
20GB copies In spite of its high price, the
(Seconds) previously reviewed 900P, with
70
its stellar performance and
55 virtual lifetime guarantee, is a
20GB Folder Write
58
tempting buy for enthusiasts.
61 The 800P, on the other hand, is
20GB Folder Read 55 most decidedly not. In pricey
59
RAID combinations, its longevity
36 might make good sense in the
20GB Write 13
corporate world, but that’s not
11
our realm of expertise.
20 The average user will be much
20GB Read 13
11
better served by NAND-based
NVMe drives, which are far
INTEL 80 0 P INTEL 9 0 0 P SAMSUNG 960 PRO cheaper, will deliver significantly
better all-around performance, and
offer enough capacity for a world
4K reads, but pegs the 800P as a fast sustained where digital stuff is ever-expanding in size.
writer, disagreeing with both AS SSD and our
20GB copy tests, which appear next.
While sustained transfer isn’t the 800P’s Intel 800P Optane SSD
strong suit, we were just a tad surprised that it
PROS
didn’t do a better in our real-world 20GB • Fast with non-queued small file reads
copy tests (see blue bars below/shorter bars • Outstanding longevity

are better). The slow write time puts this test CONS
• Slow sustained writes for an NVMe drive
in agreement with AS SSD and in conflict with • Four times the cost of the NAND-based
CrystalDiskMark. competition
BOTTOM LINE
It’s not unusual for CrystalDiskMark to show Intel’s Optane technology shows promise and scales
fast sustained writes where other tests do not. well, but it’s four times the price and doesn’t offer
the capacity of NAND-based solutions. While we
For some reason, it never works outside of the rated the 800P at 3 stars, that’s with the average user
in mind. It would rate higher as a corporate solution,
cache, even when a 32GB data set is where its marvelous longevity would come into play.
employed. We’ve found it accurate in all other $129
regards but this. Trust the copy tests.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 55


REVIEWS

Final Fantasy XV looks and


runs great on PC once you’ve
downloaded it all
Some interface quirks remind you it was built for controllers first, though.
BY HAYDEN DINGMAN

I
t took quite a while for Final Fantasy XV game on Origin? Pretty sure that makes Final
to finally make its way to PC—almost a Fantasy XV the Dr. Pepper of video games.
year and a half after the console Anyway, I’ve barely dipped my toe in. The
launch, to be exact. But in the end it game’s reputedly around 100 hours long and
made it over, and as of yesterday you can find I’m on hour four, so there’s quite a bit of road
the game on an oddball selection of trip ahead of me. It’s at least enough time to
storefronts, including Steam (go.pcworld. formulate some opinions on the state of the
com/ffst) (sure), the Windows 10 Store (go. PC port though.
pcworld.com/ffwe) (okay fine), and Origin In short: It’s great, for the most part.
(go.pcworld.com/ffor) (...what?). A non-EA Performance is solid at least, which is likely to be

56 PCWorld APRIL 2018 IMAGE: HAYDEN DINGMAN


the aspect people care
about most. I’m “only”
running on a GeForce
GTX 980 Ti (go.pcworld.
com/980t), so there’s no
4K Ultra in my future, but
I’ve still maxed out the
game at 1080p and the
framerate’s stayed a
steady 50 to 60 frames
per second, with only a
few drops when I swing
the camera around wildly. beauty of a PC port.
Frame rates increase if you disable the Other than that, Square’s presets seem
optional Nvidia GameWorks features, pretty well-balanced. Highest looks
though. They look great, but that’s where I phenomenal but sucks up a ton of both VRAM
take the biggest frame rate hit. There are four: and RAM, with High, Average, and Low all
HairWorks, VXAO, TurfEffects, and disabling options in smart ways, though
ShadowLibs. HairWorks is probably the you’re of course free to dig into the nitty gritty
most fun, in combination with Final Fantasy’s and customize if you want. It can be a bit
usual exaggerated hair and a convertible with annoying though, as certain options can’t be
the top down. See those billowing locks adjusted on the fly—it’ll actually kick you back
flutter. There’s also plenty of very furry to the main menu. That’s a pain in the ass if
monsters with interesting HairWorks effects. you’re trying to stabilize your frame rate,
The rest add to the experience in their own especially since the initial load time is
small ways, with VXAO giving more realistic loooooooooong. (Very few load screens
ambient occlusion, TurfEffects enhancing grass, appear after you’re in though, at least that I’ve
and ShadowLibs (true to its name) making encountered.)
shadows prettier. Turning them all off gives a big And even with the high-res texture pack
bump though. Disabling ShadowLibs alone installed, some elements are inconsistent.
added 10 frames per second, with barely any Rocks, for instance, often have an ugly
noticeable visual difference. Disabling VXAO stretched-texture effect even at max settings. I
added another 10 to 15 frames per second. Play guess Square didn’t expect you to examine
around, find what works for you. That’s the the scenery for any length of time.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 57


REVIEWS FINAL FANTASY X V

There are a few


other nagging
annoyances. For
instance, Final Fantasy
XV can’t handle alt-
tabbing, and the game
will force itself into
windowed mode, then
neglect to switch back
when you return. You
have to force it to
fullscreen again by
opening the options menu and turning makes sense. But replicating that on a
fullscreen off and then back on again. Luckily keyboard? Come on. I have over 100 keys
there’s a workaround (go.pcworld.com/enfb) here. Use them.
if you’re willing to dig through an ini file. Speaking of which, the game also
It’s also all-too-clear the menus weren’t wouldn’t let me map anything to Mouse 4 or
built for mouse and keyboard, with nested Mouse 5, another small annoyance. And
menu after nested menu and a constant use of sprinting is done by holding down Left Click?
“Z” and “X” to switch between different It’s just baffling.
categories. Controls are spotty in general So yeah, performance is great but the
actually. Although you play as one character, port is still rough around the edges in myriad
you can trigger special
moves involving your
party members. The
catch: These moves are
mapped to a hotkey
combo, Ctrl plus either
W, A, or D. On a
controller, the same
moves are done by
holding down the
trigger and hitting a
button—an action that

58 PCWorld APRIL 2018


small quality-of-life ways. Will it bother you? done so far are pretty rote “Go here and grab
Probably not, especially once you’re this” variants. Hopefully it gets better after a
accustomed to the controls and configure the slow start—wouldn’t be unexpected in a Final
borderless fullscreen workaround. The game Fantasy game, that’s for sure.
looks great and runs great, and that’s what Anyway, provided I make it through all
matters—plus you can fix a lot of problems by 100 hours of this trip I’ll be back eventually
just using a gamepad as was clearly intended. with a full review. For those who’ve been
There are definitely some quirks though. waiting for Final Fantasy XV ($50 on Amazon
As for the story, or at least my initial (go.pcworld.com/ff50)) to hit PC though, it
thoughts on that front? I don’t know. I’ve doesn’t seem like there’s much to fear
heard Final Fantasy XV isn’t great at conveying provided you have some decent hardware
its plot, and more than one person has with plenty of VRAM and a ton of space on
recommended I watch some five-episode your hard drive. Actually, the latter’s probably
anime Square produced if I want to get the the biggest roadblock: It’s an 80GB
most out of the game. But uh...I don’t want to download for even the basic version of the
do that, so I guess I’ll be powering through it game, and if you want the high-resolution
the best I can. The characters are charming as textures it’s going to run you another 65GB.
hell, and I’m enjoying driving around in our Good luck, especially to those of you with
cool sports car, but most of the quests I’ve data caps.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 59


REVIEWS

;LDRPLƴƳƳƳƳP$K0L3RZHU
%DQN3UR$EDWWHU\SDFNWKDW
OLYHVXSWRLWVQDPH
Sleek, sturdy, and full of juice. BY JASON CIPRIANI

X
iaomi has yet to launch any of its milliamp-hour battery pack is sleek and
phones in the United States, but well-designed. Its sturdy housing feels like it
that hasn’t stopped the Chinese can withstand a drop or six.
company from slowly introducing There are two ports on the front of the
consumers to its brand and products. pack: one USB-A port for charging your
The latest arrival on American shores is the phone or tablet, and a USB-C port for
Mi Power Bank Pro. This 10,000 charging the pack itself. Next to the ports is a

60 PCWorld APRIL 2018 IMAGE: XIAOMI


power button that’s easy to press, along with
four white led buttons. Each one represents
about 25 percent of the battery’s capacity.
In our testing, the 10,000mAh
(38.5Wh) battery pack had an
impressive 90.99-percent
efficiency. That’s good
enough for the Mi Power
Bank Pro to place
third among the
packs we’ve
previously tested,
and well above the
group’s average efficiency of BOTTOM LINE
83.53 percent. At this price point and with
The USB-C port can accept power from this performance, you simply can’t
up to an 18W power source, putting recharge go wrong with the Mi Power Bank
time at under 4 hours. However, for our Pro. Not only is it small enough to tote
testing, we used a standard 5V/2A power around anywhere, it’s capable of charging
adapter—the total time to top up the pack was all the things.
just under 5 hours.
Fast charging support varies.
Xiaomi 10,000mAh Mi
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a Pixel 2 Power Bank Pro
XL to register the Mi Power Bank Pro as
providing enough juice for a fast charge. PROS
• Solid build quality
But a subsequent test with the Samsung
• Packs a punch
Galaxy S8 did register as a fast charging • Universal cable is nifty
power bank. CONS
• It’s only 10,000mAh
Included in the box is the battery pack
BOTTOM LINE
and a USB-A–to–microUSB cable, with a At this price point and with this performance, you
microUSB–to–USB-C adapter attached to the simply can’t go wrong with the Mi Power Bank Pro.
Not only is it small enough to tote around anywhere,
cable. The ease of changing between the it’s capable of charging all the things.

connectors is appreciated, as is knowing that $24

the adapter won’t easily get misplaced.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 61


FEATURE

BEST
BUDGET
COMPUTER
SPEAKERS
Audio upgrades that
won’t break your budget.
BY MICHAEL ANSALDO

62 PCWorld APRIL 2018


Y
our laptop’s built-in speakers
aren’t doing any favors for the
gigs and gigs of music and
movies on your hard drive.
Even the best ones can leave your audio
sounding thin and lifeless. External
speakers—along with a good set of
headphones—are a must for getting the
best fidelity from your media files.
A trip online or to your favorite electronics
store will reveal a head-spinning variety of
options in this category, with some systems
costing as much or more than you paid for
your laptop. You don’t need to take out a
personal loan to upgrade your audio, though.
Quality speakers can be found even with a
budget of around $50. And while there is a
certain degree of “you get what you pay for”
at this price level, you’ll be rewarded with
satisfying sound if you’re willing to make a few
compromises.
We’ve given you a head start by testing
some of the most commonly available budget
models. All cost around $50, sometimes
significantly less. We set up each in a typical
environment—on a desk in a home office—
and played a variety of audio tracks to push
their sound capabilities. So check out our
buying advice here to help you choose the
right model for your needs.

IMAGE: ISTOCK APRIL 2018 PCWorld 63


FEATURE BEST BUDGET COMPUTER SPEAKERS

WHAT TO LOOK FOR Good speakers will produce full, detailed audio
2.0 speakers vs. 2.1 speakers that sounds as the creator intended it.
Sure, a 5.1 (five speakers, one subwoofer) Be aware, though, that finding strong
multichannel speaker system sounds pretty bass response in this price range can be
sexy. But even if you were to unearth one for challenging. Without a subwoofer, 2.0
$50 or $60, the quality would almost certainly systems have trouble reproducing low
be just as cheap. That money can buy a much frequencies. The manufacturers often use
better quality two-speaker system. These technological tweaks to beef up the bass
basic 2.0 stereo setups, which are comprised notes, but these can sound boomy, and
of just a left and right speaker with a single muddy the overall mix. If a deep, controlled
driver (the actual loudspeaker) in each, bottom end is a priority, a 2.1 system might
abound in this price range. Occasionally you be a better investment.
can also find a decent 2.1 system—a pair of
speakers to handle the higher frequencies AC power vs. USB: The trade-offs
and separate subwoofer for the bass. These Both these options are prevalent in the
take up more space but often produce more sub-$60 price range. USB-powered speakers
balanced sound. More on that next. reduce cord clutter, as they don’t need a
separate power cable. However, they can’t
Sound quality: Ask your ears, not the supply as much juice as the AC variety, so they
spec sheet tend to produce lower volume and less bass.
Try not to be seduced by
manufacturer’s specs on
sound quality. Even if you
can parse frequency
response numbers, they are
frequently exaggerated. Let
your ears be your guide
instead. Listen for a good
balance between the high
(treble), mid, and low (bass)
frequencies. Often, speakers
will exaggerate one—usually
the treble or the bass—at the
expense of the others. Creative Pebble.

64 PCWorld APRIL 2018


AMAZONBASICS AC
POWERED COMPUTER
SPEAKERS
Price: $29 from go.pcworld.com/abac

AmazonBasics AC Powered Computer


Speakers (currently $20 on Amazon) are a rare
example of truth in advertising. This is a
rudimentary set of electrically powered stereo
speakers that will amplify your PC’s audio,
though not necessarily bring the best out of it.
It’s surprising how sturdily constructed
these are for only two sawbucks. Each
2.6-by-3.4-by-5-inch speaker enclosure is
made with durable black plastic and weighs
about 2 pounds. The respective drivers are
covered with a metal grille on the front panel— halfway point to be the sweet spot for me,
not mesh, as you’d expect at this price. though I could crank it to full volume without
You control power and volume with a any detectable distortion.
knob on one channel. An LED power The sound quality was more disappointing.
indicator sits above it, and a headphone jack The speakers tended to flatten whatever
for private listening is beneath. dynamics a recording had no matter what I
The speakers are hardwired together by a listened to. The absence of a woofer also
single cable. Setup is as simple as plugging meant that although a song’s bass was clear it
the power cord into an outlet and the 3.5 had virtually no oomph. I found the sound
input into the headphone jack of your PC or quality could be modestly improved using
mobile device. Both of these wires are equalization software, but generally speaking
attached to one of the speakers. every track I played through these sounded
The speakers have a combined output of just as lackluster as it did coming out of my PC
5 watts (2.5 per speaker). Sitting on a speakers, only louder.
desktop, they’re angled slightly upward
toward your head when you’re seated at your Bottom line
computer to target your ears. They have AmazonBasics AC Powered Computer
plenty of volume—I found just past the Speakers have gotten plenty of high marks

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 65


FEATURE BEST BUDGET COMPUTER SPEAKERS

from Amazon reviewers, though most of them


seem to prize the low cost and simplicity of
the system over the sound quality. If those
are your priorities, then these speakers
probably won’t let you down, particularly if
you’re looking to increase the volume output
of your mobile device. However, you can
get all that plus rich, immersive audio with
some of the other budget computer speakers
we’ve tested.

CREATIVE INSPIRE T12


Price: $49 from go.pcworld.com/ct12

Creative Labs has been synonymous with


great-sounding PC speakers for years, so I the back of the right speaker is the power
generally expect excellent audio even from port, and an audio input jack you connect to
the company’s lower-end products. The your PC’s headphone port using a supplied
Inspire T12 speaker system did not 3.5mm cord. On the front is a volume knob
disappoint, delivering warm stereo sound at a that doubles as the power switch, a
great price compared to other budget PC headphone jack for private listening, and an
speakers we’ve tested. auxiliary-in jack for lining in your smartphone
Done in matte-black plastic with a glossy or other MP3 player.
black front panel, the speakers are The T12 have impressive sound for
aesthetically kissin’ cousins to Creative’s desktop speakers at this price. The high end
higher-end T20 series. Each 7.09-by-2.80-by- was crisp without ever getting tinny, and the
3.86-inch speaker features a tweeter on the BassFlex tech gives the bottom end a
front and a woofer that takes up the entire pleasing punch. The speakers also pack a
backside. In lieu of a subwoofer, the T12 uses volume wallop that belies their small size.
Creative’s BassFlex technology to extend the Cranked all the way, they easily fill a modest-
low frequency. sized room with sound, though the audio
Setting the T12 up is a cinch. The left tends to muddy at that level, too. I found the
speaker has an attached cable that plugs into halfway point on the volume knob to be the
the right speaker to tie them together. Also on sweet spot for desk-bound listening,

66 PCWorld APRIL 2018


delivering satisfying sound whether I was of culture shock. This 2.1 speaker system
listening to classical, rock, jazz, or hip-hop. promises to turn any music listening session
The T12 are also a great audio enhancer into an instant party with a boost to the
for music and movies on your phone or bottom end and colored lights that pulse to
tablet, but having to physically tether your the beat (choose among the blue we tested,
mobile device to speakers seems fairly archaic or green or red, on Amazon). This set is at the
in 2018. For its part, Creative offers a wireless high end of our price range compared to
version of the Inspire T12 (go.pcworld.com/ other budget PC speakers in our roundup,
t12w) that’s virtually identical, save for a but it offers a rare bit of flair.
Bluetooth pairing button where the aux input The BassPULSE system consists of an
is on the wired version. 11-by-9.25-by-4.5-inch, 10-watt side firing
subwoofer and two 8.25-by-3.5-by-3-inch
Bottom line satellite speakers, each with 5 watts of power.
If you want to upgrade the audio quality of The sub is sturdily built and weighs about 7
streamed music and videos on your PC and pounds, while the satellites are slim sheets of
are working with a modest budget, the sculpted acrylic, each with a Neodymium
Inspire T12 fit the bill. They won’t dazzle you Full-Range driver embedded at the top and
with design like the GoGroove BassPULSE, angled to target your earholes when you’re
and they don’t integrate the wireless sitting at a desk. All three pieces have built-in
capability like most newer systems do. But if LEDs that glow blue, red, or green
those aren’t deal-breakers, they will provide depending on which model you buy.
balanced sound with plenty of bass that
brings out the best from most styles of music.

GOGROOVE
BASSPULSE
Price: $49 from
go.pcworld.com/gobp

If the phrase “PC


speakers” still conjures
images of a pair of beige
boxes, GOGroove’s
BassPULSE may be a bit

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 67


FEATURE BEST BUDGET COMPUTER SPEAKERS

The two speakers share a single cord a dance floor strobe, but even with the bass
that plugs into the output jack in the back of cranked they produced nothing more than a
the subwoofer. An included 3.5mm cord blink-and-you’ll-miss-it flicker like you might
plugs into the adjacent input jack. The other experience in a brownout. Frankly, they work
end plugs into the auxiliary output or better as a light by which to navigate the
headphone jack on your PC or mobile speaker controls in a darkened dorm room
device, or you may connect the system via than an ambiance-enhancer.
Bluetooth if you prefer to be untethered. The
power cord is attached to the back of the Bottom line
subwoofer, so you don’t need to worry The BassPULSE may over-promise on its
about misplacing it. lightshow capabilities, but it’s a good speaker
Once the sub is plugged into an AC system for the price. Most users will notice a
outlet, all you have to do is flip on the power definite sonic improvement over their PC’s
switch. Everything is controlled from a panel built-in speakers, with enough power to fill a
on the front of the sub. A pair of knobs control small room whether you’re listening to music,
the volume and bass level, respectively. gaming, or watching a movie.
Beneath these is a “pulse” button that
activates the LEDs. These glow steadily until LOGITECH Z150 STEREO
you crank the bass past 80 percent of SPEAKERS
maximum, then they’ll pulse with the music. Price: $22 from go.pcworld.com/z150
Given the big subwoofer–and the
name of the system itself—it wasn’t surprising Logitech’s Z150 stereo speakers cater to
that the bass stole the show in my testing. those with simple needs. No flamboyant
However, it tended to bleed into other designs or crazy amounts of connectivity
frequencies. Dialing down the bass knob options for these users. It’s enough to find a
added a little more clarity, but the bass had pair that brings a little extra volume and
more or less the same boom quality whether clarity to our computer audio and fits on our
I was playing rock, jazz, or EDM. The midst desk. Even within our budget PC speaker
and highs were more distinct, and the roundup, this pair is notably inexpensive
sound never distorted even with all knobs and unassuming.
cranked to the limit. As you’d expect with entry-level
The pulsing lights, however, were a major speakers, the Z150 set is small, lightweight,
disappointment. Maybe I was expecting too and slim on features. The enclosures
much, thinking they would operate more like measure 6 by 3.3 by 3 inches (HWD), and

68 PCWorld APRIL 2018


each are constructed with matte-black amplification for them. If you plug in for some
plastic, weighing just over a pound. The private listening, you’ll quickly notice that the
2-inch speaker drivers are uncovered on the speaker’s volume knob has no effect. Instead
front panel, and the control unit has a you have to adjust the volume in your system
power/volume knob, a headphone jack, and settings. This is a common complaint about
input for other devices like your phone or the speakers in online user reviews.
tablet. A cutaway at the bottom of each
speaker seems to be for aesthetic purposes Bottom line
rather than any sound enhancement. The Z150 will bring clear sound and nice
The speakers require minimal setup. volume boost to music and movies played
They’re hardwired together, so you just need on your PC or mobile device. If your
to plug the detachable power cord into an expectations—and your budget—are
outlet and the 3.5mm cable attached to the modest, and the lack of bass response isn’t
back of the control unit into your PC. a deal-breaker, they are a decent upgrade for
With 6 watts of peak power, these the cost. But If you can squeeze another $5
speakers can get plenty loud. I kept the or $10 out of your bank account, slightly
volume knob at the halfway point (my PC more expensive models in our budget PC
volume was set to max) during deskbound speaker roundup will give you much more
listening. bass for the buck.
The sound quality is better than you’d
expect at this price point: The stereo
separation is excellent and the mids
and highs are clear and full. However,
with no subwoofer or other bottom-
end support, the bass is clear but has
no depth and could easily get
overpowered by the rest of the track.
At higher volumes, the highs started
to suffer a little, too, with cymbals
getting harsh and some sibilance
creeping into the vocals.
One quirk of the Z150 is that
though it includes a jack for
headphones, it doesn’t offer any

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 69


FEATURE BEST BUDGET COMPUTER SPEAKERS

RUNNER-UP: EDIFIER R19U controlled by a large black power/volume


MULTIMEDIA SPEAKER knob on the left channel, which also has a
Price: $29 from go.pcworld.com/r19u 3.5mm headphone port. On the back is a
3.5mm AUX socket, where you can connect
Typically, the lower you go under the $50 your mobile device or other audio player with
threshold for budget PC speakers, the more the supplied cord.
the returns diminish. Edifier’s RU19 2.0 system To set up the R19U, you first plug the RCA
is a rare exception. These speakers sound connector extending from the left speaker
great, look great, and at just $30 they leave into the jack on the right one. Then plug the
your bank balance largely unscathed. It’s one USB cable into your computer. As the
of the better buys in our budget PC speaker speakers draw the audio as well as the power
roundup (the set is currently $30 on Amazon), from this USB connection, you’ll next need to
which is saying a lot when they’re all so access your operating system’s audio settings
affordable. and change the output to the R19U.
The R19U will bring a little style to your The speakers deliver excellent, balanced
desktop. Each 6.89-by-3.35-by-4.13-inch sound, with rich mids and crisp highs. Even
speaker has a matte-silver base with a black without a subwoofer, they have a good
faux-wood enclosure that gives it a warm controlled bass response. It won’t rattle your
vintage vibe. Its 2.75-inch driver and porthole windows, but it has a satisfying punch.
is covered with black mesh grillework. They’re As is common with USB speakers, the

70 PCWorld APRIL 2018


volume output is a little low. Even with the
source volume maxed, I had to push the
speakers’ volume knob past the
halfway point to get to a listenable
level when I was sitting in front of
them. When I wanted to listen to
music while moving about the room,
I’d have to turn them up all the way. The
good news is, they didn’t distort even at the
highest volume.

Bottom line measly $25. Turns out, quite a bit, even


Put the Edifier RU19 on the shortlist of sub- compared to pricier budget PC speakers
$50 speakers worth buying. I found they we’ve tested.
generally brought the best out of any given Available in black or white (the price for
audio, whether it was an album, a film, or a white may differ slightly on Amazon [go.
YouTube video. And the subtle design nod to pcworld.com/cpwh]), each speaker
the wood floor-standing speakers of home measures 4.5 by 4.4 by 4.6 inches (HWD)—
audio’s golden age was kind of endearing. If about the size of an average grapefruit. The
you can live with the bass and volume space-saving size makes it easy to find room
limitations inherent in USB-powered for them on even the smallest or most
speakers, you won’t be disappointed. cluttered desk. The rubber ring on the
flattened bottom of each enclosure keeps it
BEST OVERALL from slipping on your desktop.
BUDGET SPEAKERS: Pebble’s two-inch far-field drivers—which
CREATIVE PEBBLE combine for an RMS of 4.4 watts— are angled
Price: $25 from go.pcworld.com/crpb at 45 degrees. This design is optimal for
directing the audio at your ears when you’re
Creative says its Pebble speaker set was sitting in front of your computer. Built-in
inspired by a Zen Japanese rock garden. passive radiators extend the low-frequency
This USB-powered 2.0 system has a simple, response for beefier bass. A power/volume
sparse design with a subtle aesthetic knob on the front panel of the right speaker
appeal. Still, I wondered how much audio works in conjunction with your PC’s audio
enhancement they could bring to a PC for a controls to manage the Pebble’s volume.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 71


FEATURE BEST BUDGET COMPUTER SPEAKERS

With Bluetooth speakers becoming more matter what type of music I ran through the
the norm, contending with cables can feel like speakers. The tipping point for speakers this
a hassle. Fortunately, the Pebble keeps the size is usually at higher volumes, where
wires few and tidy. The two speakers are distortion becomes an issue. But even when
hardwired together, so all you need to do is playing bottom-heavy genres like dub or
plug the USB cord into one of your PC ports, dance music, the Pebble retained crystal
and the 3.5mm input into your headphone clarity at high volume.
jack. Each of these cables is attached to the
back of the right speaker, so you don’t need Bottom line
to worry about losing them. Decent sound in sub-$30 stereo speakers is
Pebble delivers surprisingly rich, as rare as gold. The Pebble sets a new bar
immersive audio. USB-powered 2.0 speakers with its well-above-average audio. It’s not
tend to suffer in sound quality compared to audiophile quality—nothing at this price point
their AC-powered counterparts, but that is—but it’s fuller and more balanced than you
wasn’t the case here. Highs were crisp and find in PC speakers that cost twice as much.
clear, and the bass had plenty of presence. The Pebble offers an inexpensive audio
The audio overall had depth and detail no upgrade that’s tough to resist.

72 PCWorld APRIL 2018


U D O N ’T HAVE TO BE PERFEC
YO T
TO BE A PERFECT PARENT.

There are thousands of kids in foster care who will take you just the way you are.

888. 200. 4005 AdoptUSKids.org


FEATURE

KNOW WHAT
MODELS TO
LOOK FOR
AND WHICH
MODELS RATE
HIGHEST
We’ll help you pick out the perfect gaming laptop. BY GORDON MAH UNG

74 PCWorld APRIL 2018 IMAGE: ISTOCK


P
icking a gaming laptop today isn’t whether you’re willing to take the weight
as easy as it was five years ago penalty in exchange for the screen real estate.
when a “real” gaming laptop If the laptop is going to be your only
meant 12 pounds of back- gaming machine, having a 17-inch screen
breaking hardware to haul around. might be ideal. This is very much a matter
With major advances in laptop video of personal preference.
cards and CPUs, you can now get great
gaming performance from laptops ranging Screen resolution
from light to super heavy and from super The buzzword today is 4K and it delivers
expensive to budget. sharper photo viewing but that doesn’t mean
The problem these days: too many it’s for everyone. In fact, for a lot of people, it’s
choices. A luxury problem, to be sure. not a must-have. While photos might be
Still, you need to know how to navigate sharper, anything not using the panel’s native
this bounty. In this handy-dandy buyer’s resolution of 3840x2180 will look softer. That
guide, we’ll not only name the best gaming means games running at lower than 4K
laptops currently available, we’ll also resolution won’t look quite as sharp unless
highlight what to look for when buying a you exponentially increase the graphics
gaming laptop. power of the laptop.
If you’re running at 1920x1080 resolution
THE ‘BEST’ SCREEN FOR A because your GPU can’t hit 60 fps at 4K, that
LAPTOP feature is moot. For many gamers, 1920x1080
When you buy a gaming laptop, one of the or 2560x1440 is far more optimal.
most important decisions you’ll need to
make regards the screen. After all, what you IPS vs. TN vs. OLED
get on day one is what you’re stuck with The panel technology is also a key feature. IPS
until you junk the device. You can, of (in-plane switching) generally produces much
course, run an external monitor but then, greater color accuracy and superior off-axis
what’s the point of a laptop? viewing, but tends to lag in response times,
which can lead to blurring. TN (twisted
Screen size nematic) panels, on the other hand, can offer
The size of the screen dictates the size of the far higher refresh rates and usually better
laptop itself, and thus weight. You can’t, for response times than IPS, but can look washed
example, get a 17-inch gaming laptop that’s out or just blah. A middle-ground technology
four pounds, so think long and hard about that’s appearing more often is VA (vertical

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 75


FEATURE BEST GAMING L APTOPS

alignment). VA is sometimes
alternately referred to as “wide
viewing angle” technology.
(Many assume this spec to be
IPS, but it’s not). In our
experience, we’ve found VA
panels to run the gamut from
being worthy competitors to
IPS to being worse than the
better TN panels. The
Gigabyte Aero 15 that we
recommend above has a good
VA panel. Razer was the first manufacturer that we know of to use an offset
Generally, if color accuracy trackpad as an ad hoc gaming “mouse.”
is important, go IPS (a
trademark of Sharp), and if you want the and vibrant colors. OLEDs also boast
fastest response times go for a gaming- fantastic response times too. The negatives
oriented TN panel. With the variability of VA, include smaller screen sizes (we haven’t seen
we recommend you check feedback from anything larger than 13 inches yet), higher
reviewers and users of a particular model. cost, and lack of support for variable
The wildcard in all this are OLED-based refresh rate.
panels. OLED panels have been used in
phones for years but have recently migrated G-Sync and FreeSync
to larger screens in laptops. IPS, TN, and VA Okay, we called this section G-Sync and
all use LEDs behind the screen or along the FreeSync, but the reality is, when it comes to
edges. “Black” is produced by a shutter-like beefy gaming laptops, it’s a GeForce GPU
mechanism that blocks light from coming world. And that means it’s a G-Sync world. In
through. As you can imagine, there’s usually a nutshell, Nvidia and AMD’s respective
some light leakage, which means the black variable-refresh-rate technologies help
tends to be gray. OLED panels, however, synchronize the monitor and the GPU to
don’t rely on edge- or backlighting and greatly reduce screen tearing. Variable refresh
instead each pixel generates its own light. To rates can make gaming at 40 fps far smoother
produce black, it just switches the light off. to your eyes than a screen without it.
This amounts to truly stunning contrast ratios The first variable-refresh-rate panels for

76 PCWorld APRIL 2018


laptops maxed out at 75Hz, which was only independently wired. That probably sounds
marginally better than the standard 60Hz. excessive but keyboards that lack this feature
More recently, we’ve begun to see laptop can suffer missed keystrokes, which not only
panels that can push 120Hz. This means ruins gameplay but also hurts in everyday
smoother and sharper gaming. It even helps tasks. Anyone who has used an Adobe
smooth out everyday tasks such as scrolling a product that might require a left-Alt, left-
browser page or Word document. Shift, left-Ctrl plus two more keys to do
The downside of high-refresh rate panels something may have run into the limitations
is the technology it’s available on: TN. As we of non-N-key keyboards.
said earlier, TN generally looks less vibrant Other keyboard considerations include
and less accurate than IPS. Off axis is generally LED backlighting (which adds ambiance but
inferior too. Which is right for you? If it’s does nothing for gameplay) and mechanical
primarily a gaming laptop—go for a high keys vs. membrane. Mechanical keys are
refresh rate and G-Sync (or FreeSync if you excellent—but are available on only handful of
can find a laptop that supports it with a laptops that usually weigh a ton.
Radeon GPU). If you tend to also push pixels
in Photoshop or do any color-critical work, HOW TO PICK STORAGE
skip variable refresh for an IPS panel. FOR A GAMING LAPTOP
Having your games load from an SSD instead
KEYBOARD AND TRACKPAD
A new trend in gaming laptops is the offset
trackpad, which is more conducive to
gaming than a dead-center trackpad. The
concept is sound but anyone who actually
cares about PC gaming will just plug in
a mouse. The worst thing about that
offset trackpad is when you try to use
it for non-gaming purposes.
As far as keyboards go, the most
important gaming feature is n-key
rollover. This means the keyboard
physically scans each key separately.
If you wanted to, you could press 20 With the massive size of today’s games, make sure the SSD
keys and they’d all register as each is in your laptop is large enough.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 77


FEATURE BEST GAMING L APTOPS

of a hard drive significantly cuts


down on load times. But
beyond that, we haven’t found
it to matter much whether it’s a
super-fast NVMe PCIe drive or a
slower SATA SSD.
What does matter more
today is the size of the SSD
rather than the interface it uses.
With games now topping The sweet spot for a gaming laptop today is 16GB, with 8GB being
50GBps and some touching a little too little and 32GB being too much.
100GBps, a once-spacious
256GB SSD will feel too small with just four typically top out at 16GB of RAM and
games installed. sometimes can run fine with just 8GB of RAM.
So when spec’ing out that gaming laptop, Anything more than 16GB (our standard
be mindful of just how much total storage you recommendation) is usually a waste of money.
have. If you go for a laptop with a small SSD You might want to blame laptop and PC
and large hard drive combo, expect to install makers for cynically using an erroneous spec
your games to the hard drive. If the laptop will to manipulate the public, but the blame
have an SSD only, choose a minimum of actually lies with the average buyer. PC
512GB with 1TB preferred. makers have told us for years they only
over-spec RAM because the public thinks
HOW MUCH RAM DO YOU more is better.
NEED IN A GAMING Besides the amount of memory, a couple
LAPTOP? other important, but not critical, questions to
When laptop makers spec out gaming ask is what clock speed and what mode.
laptops, one of the levers they use to try to Modern CPUs let you run RAM in sets to
convince you to buy their product is upping increase the memory bandwidth. If one
the amount of RAM. It’s not hard to find shotgun barrel is good, two is better right?
gaming laptops with “upgraded” Not necessarily.
configurations that go from 16GB of DDR4 If your laptop runs integrated graphics,
to 32GB. then yes, having dual-channel memory helps
While having an adequate amount of RAM a lot. But true gaming laptops today run beefy
is important for gaming, today’s games discrete graphics cards with their own pool of

78 PCWorld APRIL 2018


dedicated, and much faster, GDDR5 RAM. world is still very much 99.9 percent Intel.
We’ve seen instances of gaming laptops That’s not necessarily a bad thing as Intel’s
using a single memory module, which laptop CPUs are excellent. Still, there are a
hobbles system bandwidth but actually has few things you need to consider about the
very little impact on actual gaming CPU for your gaming laptop.
performance. First, the issue of cores is far simpler here
The same can be said of RAM clock than on desktops. There’s no option for
speed. DDR4/2133, which runs at 16-core CPUs, and outside of the odd-duck
2,133MHz, is the typical speed today, with laptops that use 8-core desktop CPUs,
PC vendors offering upgrades of DDR/2400. your options are limited to quad-cores. With
We recommend bypassing the upgrade and Intel’s current 7th-gen chips, you get four
instead putting that money into more storage cores with Hyper-Threading for a total of
or a fatter GPU. eight threads in the Core i7 chips. Step
down to a 7th-gen Core i5, and Intel turns
HOW TO PICK A CPU FOR A off the Hyper-Threading so it’s four
GAMING LAPTOP physical cores only.
There may be real competition between AMD Although it’s still up for debate, we
and Intel when it comes to gaming CPUs in generally believe that the vast majority of
the desktop, but in gaming laptops, the games people play today just don’t need
more than four cores. Yes, there are times
when having more than four
cores can yield better
performance, but most gamers
will be perfectly fine with a
quad-core Core i5 chip.
Unfortunately for the
budget-conscious, PC makers
typically don’t let you buy a
high-end graphics card with a
low-end CPU. Most PC makers
will configure the midrange
CPU with midrange graphics.
Of the current 7th-generation
Intel’s chips such as this Kaby Lake dominate laptops today. Kaby Lake CPUs, your choices for a

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 79


FEATURE BEST GAMING L APTOPS

gaming laptop are the Core i7-7700HQ, the HOW TO PICK A GPU FOR
Core i7-7820HK, and the Core i7-7920HQ. A GAMING LAPTOP
Again, all three are fine, with each step up The single most important piece of hardware
getting you only marginally more in a gaming laptop is undoubtedly the GPU.
performance. The sweet spot for budget For AMD fans, the situation is as sad as it is in
buyers is the Core i7-7700HQ or the Core CPUs: It’s an Nvidia GeForce world. As with
i7-7820HK. CPUs though, the good news is that the
As for Intel’s 8th-generation CPU, it hasn’t dominating products are top-notch.
been confirmed but many anticipate the The hardest part will be deciding just
company will introduce 6-core CPUs that how much GPU you need. Our general
consume 45 watts by 2018. guidance is to buy as fast a GPU as you can
Still, the takeaway for you is to not get too afford and are willing to heft. Generally, the
hung up on the CPU for a gaming laptop. Any faster the GPU (or GPUs), the larger and
decent quad-core is more than enough for heavier the laptop.
gaming purposes and your money is better For any serious gaming, it’s easy to ramp
spent on what matters more: the GPU. up from the entry-level GeForce GTX 1050

GeForce GTX 10-Series Laptops


GeForce GTX 1050
GeForce GTX 1080 GeForce GTX 1070 GeForce GTX 1060 (1050 Ti/1050)

GPU ENGINE SPECIFICATIONS

Cuda Cores 2560 2048 1280 768/640

Base Clock (MHz) 1556 1442 1404 1493/1354

Boost Clock (MHz) 1733 1645 1670 1620/1493

Total Graphics Power (W) 150 115 80 64/53

MEMORY SPECIFICATIONS

Memory Speed (GBps) 10 8 8 7

Standard Memory 8GB 8GB Up to 6GB Up to 4GB


Configuration GDDR5X GDDR5 GDDR5 GDDR5

Memory Interface Width 256-bit 256-bit 192-bit 128-bit

Memory Bandwidth 320 256 192 112


(GB/sec)

80 PCWorld APRIL 2018


to the midrange GeForce GTX 1060, and good 1080p GPU if you’re willing to play on
then to the high-end GeForce GTX 1070 and medium settings. To hit high in some games,
GTX 1080. you’ll need to lower the resolution to 720p.
The following chart might help you The GTX 1050 Ti generally nets you 1080p
understand what kind of performance to with some games on high. Step up to a GTX
expect. These results for GeForce cards 1060, and you’re in solid ground for 1080p
reflect the graphics section of Furturemark’s gaming at very high to ultra with frame rates
Fire Strike test. Although the CPUs vary, this around 60 fps.
test focuses almost entirely on the GPU. If you need to feed your high-refresh
We generally think the GTX 1050 is a panel, then the GeForce GTX 1070 is the

3DMark Fire Strike Extreme 1.1 Graphics


Acer Predator 21X
(Core i7-7820HK) 17,777
MSI GT73VR
(Core i7-6820HK) 10,476
Razer Blade Pro
(Core i7-6700HQ) 8,791
Asus ROG GX501
(Core i7-7700HQ) 8,524
Alienware 15 R4
(Core i7-7700HQ) 8,487
HP Omen 17
(Core i7-7700HQ) 7,752
Gigabyte Aero 15X
(Core i7-67700HQ) 6,931
Acer Predator 17X
(Core i7-6820HK) 5,857
MSI GS63VR
(Core i7-6700HQ) 5,501
Gigabyte Aero 15
(Core i7-700HQ) 5,269
Acer Predator 17
(Core i7-76700HQ) 4,492
Dell Inspiron 15 7000
(Core i5-7300HQ) 3,742
Razer Blade 2016
(Core i7-6700HQ) 3,491
Dell XPS 15
(Core i7-700HQ) 2,546
Microsoft Surface Book i7
(Core i7-6600U) 2,263
Acer Aspire V
(Core i7-4720HQ) 2,023
LO N G ER B A R S I N D I C AT E B E T T ER P E R F O R M A N C E

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 81


FEATURE BEST GAMING L APTOPS

answer as it can push 120 fps in


many games at 1080p. Or if you
want to just play on a screen
that’s got a higher resolution, say,
2560x1440, the GTX 1070 works
for that too.
The GTX 1080 is the current
top dog and should be
considered for 1440p gaming on
ultra at greater than 60 fps, or to
push a wide-aspect-ratio monitor
at higher refresh rates. And SLI? Asus’ ROG Zephyrus GX501 and its GTX 1080 Max-Q GPU is a
Yeah, that yields crazy breakthrough in performance while being exceptionally thin.
performance, but the huge
caveat is that many games no longer support the HP Omen 17 keeps the clocks more
SLI so it’s mostly a bragging point. conservative and the fans quieter.
Our chart also includes some older GPUs
in the mix to indicate just how much they’ve DECODING NVIDIA’S
aged. A GTX 980 is still quite serviceable but MAX-Q
the 980M version has clearly lost its luster. The only other wrinkle to consider in picking
One last thing we want to point out from out a GPU is Nvidia’s new “Max-Q”
our chart: You’ll note the large performance technology. Cynics will say Max-Q is Nvidia’s
gaps between some of the same GPUs, such way to market what should have been a
as the two GTX 1080 cards or the two GTX GeForce GTX 1075 as a “GeForce GTX 1080
1070 cards. The disparity is the result of the with Max-Q,” while more forgiving people
vendors’ respective cooling strategies as well will see it as an initiative to push thinner,
as varying chassis size. In the case of the Razer lighter gaming laptops.
Blade Pro, it’s a fairly thin laptop for a GTX In a nutshell, Nvidia has taken its GeForce
1080 card. The MSI GT73VR it bumps against GTX 1080, GTX 1070, and GTX 1060 and
is thick and heavy and allows MSI to clock the tuned down the clock speeds so they
GPU up quite a bit. consume less power and generate less heat.
We see the same with the Alienware 15 Other than that, they are the same GPUs with
R4, which cranks up the GTX 1070 to very the same amount of RAM, same memory
high speeds (and you can hear it too) whereas bandwidth, and same CUDA core count.

82 PCWorld APRIL 2018


We found in testing that a GeForce GTX the burgeoning support for external graphics
1080 with Max-Q would perform between a in gaming laptops. Alienware customers have
GeForce GTX 1080 and a GeForce GTX 1070. long enjoyed this with its relatively inexpensive
Occasionally it would match a GTX 1080, but (and proprietary) Graphics Amplifier
most of the time, it was, well, more like a technology (go.pcworld.com/aamp), but
GeForce GTX “1075.” many new laptops support external graphics
We haven’t yet formally reviewed a cabinets using Thunderbolt 3.
GeForce GTX 1060 or GTX 1070 with Max-Q These cabinets let you plug your laptop
but in testing a new Gigabyte Aero 15X with a into a more powerful discrete GPU to give
GTX 1070 with Max-Q we found it right where your laptop more graphics grunt. The Akitio
we expected—something akin to a GeForce Node (go.pcworld.com/aknd; you can find it
GTX “1065.” on Amazon for $300 [go.pcworld.com/
If you want all-out performance and akam]) is one such Thunderbolt 3 cabinet
don’t care about the weight and size, go that’s helped usher in lower prices. Although
with a standard GeForce card in a thicker external graphics are primarily desired by
laptop. If you’re looking for something users who run on integrated graphics, a
thinner, lighter, and quieter, then take a gaming laptop with Thunderbolt 3 support
hard look at Max-Q laptops. could come in handy when the GPU inside
gets too old to play the latest games.
EXTERNAL GRAPHICS
SUPPORT BATTERY LIFE
The last category you should think about is The last topic we’ll cover is battery life. The
best way to understand battery life on a
gaming laptop is to accept that it’ll
be horrible for all things gaming.
The minute you crank up a GPU
on a gaming laptop to play a game,
you’re basically limiting yourself to an
hour or an hour and a half of battery
runtime. Period. And in some cases,
far less than that.
The only reason to consider battery
life on a gaming laptop is if you want
Akitio Node. to use your laptop unplugged for

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 83


FEATURE BEST GAMING L APTOPS

non-gaming purposes. In that respect, you’ll natural course of things, and you no longer
find a lot of variance, with some—such as have to pay through the nose for it, either.
Gigabyte’s Aero 15—offering decent battery Our current pick for best gaming laptop is
life, albeit with a trade-off in gaming the Alienware 17 (go.pcworld.com/17r4)—
performance. with a GTX 1080 mobile GPU and a 17.3-inch
2560x1440, 120Hz G-Sync panel, it starts at
BEST 17-INCH $2,500. For that chunk of cash, you’ll get
GAMING LAPTOP smooth, high-frame-rate gaming at a
ALIENWARE 17 previously unprecedented level. Our review
Price: $2,500 at go.pcworld.com/dlal unit posted frame rates over 150 fps with
everything maxed out in Middle-earth:
The arrival of Nvidia’s Pascal-based mobile Shadow of Mordor, and over 100 fps in Rise of
GPUs (go.pcworld.com/nvpb) transformed the Tomb Raider.
high-end gaming laptops. These days, getting No, it’s not as portable as other gaming
desktop-equivalent performance is just the laptops sporting Nvidia’s new Max-Q mobile

Alienware 17

84 PCWorld APRIL 2018


GPUs (go.pcworld.com/
nmxq), but Alienware gives
you full 1080 performance at
all times, with a better and
more consistent frame rate
than those lighter notebooks.
The Alienware 17 has a
couple of other drawbacks
besides size: Its fans are loud,
and its battery life is average.
But these things shouldn’t
dissuade people in the market
Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501
for a true desktop
replacement.
15-inch G-Sync panel and you have top-notch
BEST 15-INCH performance in a laptop you might actually bring
GAMING LAPTOP with you on a trip.
ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS GX501 Not surprisingly, the GX501’s main
Price: $2,588 at go.pcworld.com/zf51 compromise is battery life. Such is the trade-
off when you stuff desktop-caliber hardware
Some gamers might take issue with the Asus into a laptop. At least with the GX501, your
ROG Zephyrus GX501. They will consider the gaming rig is a lot more portable.
laptop’s GeForce GTX 1080 with Max-Q to be
compromised—offering performance that’s BEST BUDGET
“just” halfway between a GeForce GTX GAMING LAPTOP
1080 and a GTX 1070. (Read our full DELL INSPIRON 15 7000 GAMING
review at go.pcworld.com/aszf.) Price: From $849 at go.pcworld.com/dl15
But what we see is revolutionary performance
for a relatively lightweight machine. This class of Not long ago, playing a game at higher
performance, frankly, used to require at least 8 to resolutions and higher graphics settings on a
10 pounds of laptop with the thickness of a laptop meant shelling out big bucks.
phone book. The GX501, on the other hand, is That’s changed in the last year. For less than
not much thicker than a MacBook Pro 15 and $1,000, you can get a gaming laptop that will
weighs a scant five pounds. Throw in the 120Hz play at 1080p—like Dell’s gaming version of the

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 85


FEATURE BEST GAMING L APTOPS

Inspiron 15 7000,
Dell Inspiron 15
which offers a quad- 7000 Gaming
core i5-7300HQ, 8GB
RAM, and an Nvidia
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
in its $850 base
configuration.
It’s a lot of muscle
for the price. This
system can handle
today’s games on High
at 1080p (in Rise of the
Tomb Raider, this
Inspiron ran at over 50
fps), and it can
definitely play popular titles like League of traditional beefy gaming laptops on a par with
Legends, Dota 2, Rocket League, CSGO, desktop machines. They’ve also made it so
Team Fortress 2, and Overwatch. the term “portable gaming laptop” is no
There’s one catch, however. The launch longer an oxymoron. Put a GeForce GTX
version of the Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming had 1060 into a laptop and you have a capable
a terrible TN panel with extremely bad viewing machine that can survive away from a wall
angles and washed-out colors—our review (go. socket—and won’t break your back while
pcworld.com/d700) is based on this version. carrying it, either.
Some of these still are available for purchase Now, at five pounds, the Alienware 13 is a
(through Dell’s outlet site, for instance), but the little heavy for its size—but it’s worth toting
version we recommend is the current model around those extra ounces. The model we
that features an IPS display. reviewed (go.pcworld.com/d136) packs a
gorgeous OLED 2560x1440 display, a
BEST PORTABLE quad-core i7 processor, and a VR-capable
GAMING LAPTOP Nvidia GTX 1060 for flawless 1080p gaming.
ALIENWARE 13 (Yes, you can play at 2560x1440, too, if you
Price: From $1,149 at go.pcworld.com/d136 crank down some of the settings…or buy an
Alienware Amplifier (go.pcworld.com/almp)
Nvidia’s Pascal GPUs haven’t just put the and pop in a beefier video card.)

86 PCWorld APRIL 2018


Its extra weight comes from its incredibly RUNNER-UP
sturdy and solid chassis, built to withstand hot GIGABYTE AERO 15
climates and gamers who react physically to Price: $2,970 at go.pcworld.com/g15w
the highs and lows of gameplay. For some,
that’ll be a drawback. But it’s hard to hold the Not all gaming laptops are about insane frame
Alienware 13’s design against it, especially rates and high-end features. There are folks
after experiencing the pure luxury of its OLED who want a really great gaming experience
screen: Gaming on it makes the best LCD on the go.
panels seem pixelated and washed out. For that, we turn to Gigabyte’s Aero 15,
While performance is a hair under rival which is not much larger than a Dell XPS 15,
machines like the MSI GS63VR (go.pcworld. and only a bit heavier than MSI’s GS63VR. But
com/gs63), the difference is almost the Gigabyte Aero 15 offers better battery life
negligible—just one or two frames less per by several hours, and DIY upgrades are easier
second in our Tomb Raider and Middle-earth: to perform. Its keyboard also features per-key
Shadow of Mordor benchmarks. If you can RGB lighting that gets quite bright. (Read our
splurge on this version of the Alienware 13, we full review at go.pcworld.com/ar15.)
say do it. From its slick design to its What keeps it out of the top position are a
performance, battery life, and OLED display, it’s handful of small quibbles: Its maximum screen
exceptional in every metric we usually examine. brightness falls on the lower end of average,
and during our
review, its keyboard
had trouble
recognizing certain
key combinations.
(Firmware updates
did help some, but
users continue to
report problems.) Its
off-center trackpad
position also takes
time to get used to.
Overall, however,
the Gigabyte Aero 15
Alienware 13
can play the newest

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 87


FEATURE BEST GAMING L APTOPS

two GeForce GTX 1080 GPUs in SLI, a


mechanical keyboard, and an overclockable
Core i7 chip, it’s nigh-impossible to make a
bigger impact than this limited-edition gaming
laptop. Is it prudent? Hell no. But if you’re the
sort who shops at the House of Bijan (where a
tie can cost $1,000), then dropping nine large
on a laptop ain’t nothing.
We know, not everyone can score a
limited edition Predator 21X (only 200 were
Gigabyte Aero 15 even built), so if you’re looking for something
wickedly fast yet still in our atmosphere, the
games at 1920x1080 with settings at or near fastest we’ve seen is Origin PC’s EON17-X
Ultra on a 15.6-inch screen. And it won’t (reviewed at go.pcworld.com/o17x). It’s
break your back while you’re out and about. basically a 17.3-inch G-sync–equipped
gaming laptop with a desktop Core i7-8700K
BEST PRICE-IS-NO-OBJECT and GeForce GTX 1080 inside. Yes, you read
GAMING LAPTOP that right: Desktop CPU.
ACER PREDATOR 21X
Price: $9,000 at go.pcworld.
com/a21x

We’d never recommend that a


normal person buy Acer’s
over-the-top, insanely cool
Predator 21X (go.pcworld.com/
p21x), but if you’re among the
filthy rich and looking to surprise
your 8-year-old niece on her
birthday with a kick-ass
Minecraft rig…well, roll in hard
right after the face painting and
drop this bad boy on her. With a
curved 120Hz G-sync panel, Acer Predator 21X

88 PCWorld APRIL 2018


a hairbrush.
Recycle me.
Here’s How HOW TO BUILD, MAINTAIN,
AND FIX YOUR TECH GEAR

How to set up a VPN in Windows


When and how to use the VPN client built into Windows. BY MARK SHEA and IAN PAUL

V
PN (virtual private network) connect to a corporate network remotely.
technology lets a computer For the most part, VPN connections are
using a public internet handled by custom software such as the many
connection join a private consumer VPN services we’ve reviewed (go.
network by way of a secure “tunnel” between pcworld.com/rvpn), or by third-party generic
that machine and the network. This protects software such as the OpenVPN client or Cisco
the data from being seen or tampered with by AnyConnect.
bad actors. The two most common use cases Another option that’s generally supported
are consumer VPN services that allow by most virtual private networks is to use
individuals to surf privately from home or a Microsoft’s built-in VPN client. This is useful
public setting, and business-oriented when some VPNs don’t provide their own
solutions that allow employees to securely client or if you want to use a VPN protocol not

IMAGE: THINKSTOCK APRIL 2018 PCWorld 91


HERE’S HOW SET UP A VPN IN WINDOWS

supported by your VPN’s client such as IKEv2. taskbar and type vpn.
The downside to using the built-in client is that
you have to select a specific server to use as Step 2: The top choice should be Change
opposed to jumping between different locations Virtual Private Networks (VPN). Alternatively,
the way you can with a commercial VPN service. open the Settings app and go to Network &
On the other hand, most employer-supplied Internet > VPN.
VPNs will offer a limited number of servers you can
connect to, which makes using this client ideal. Step 3: At the top of the VPN screen in the
Settings app, click Add A VPN Connection.
STEP BY STEP: HOW TO SET
UP A VPN IN WINDOWS 10 Step 4: In the screen that appears, enter the
Step 1: Click on the Cortana search bar or details for your VPN connection. Under VPN
button (go.pcworld.com/sbob) on the Provider, click on the drop-down menu, and

3.
Windows 10’s built-in VPN client settings.

92 PCWorld APRIL 2018


created VPN connection, which
should be right at the top of the
list. It should automatically start
to connect, and if all goes well
the connection process should
happen relatively quickly.

This process works for the easier


VPN connection types such as
PPTP and L2TP, but if you want to
4. use IKEv2 that requires installing
a root certificate (go.pcworld.
Windows 10’s built-in VPN client configuration window.
com/rtct) from your VPN pro-
select Windows (Built-in). This will also vider. Keep in mind that not every service
change VPN Type to Automatic, and Type Of supports IKEv2 so using this method depends
Sign-in Info to User Name And Password. greatly on your VPN service provider or
employer. Regardless, here’s how it works on
Step 5: Next fill out the Connection Name Windows 10.
and Server Name Or Address. These vary
based on your VPN provider—whether a
third-party service or an employer. For this
example, we’re using Acevpn (go.pcworld.
com/acev), a clientless VPN service that
supports various connection types such as
IKEv2, L2TP, and PPTP.

Step 6: Scroll down this screen and you’ll see


a spot to enter your username and password
for the VPN—again provided by your VPN
service. Once the information is entered, click
An IKEv2
Save, and close the Settings app. VPN
connection
ready to go
Step 7: Click the Wi-Fi icon in the system tray in Windows
on your taskbar, and select your newly 7. 10.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 93


HERE’S HOW SET UP A VPN IN WINDOWS

back at the Certificate Import


Wizard window. From here
click Next.
The hard part is over. On
the next screen click Finish and
then OK in the smaller window.
Now that the certificate is
installed we can set up the
IKEv2 VPN using the same
step-by-step instructions we
used earlier. Just make sure that
you select IKEv2 under VPN
Type, and then use the server
name, address, and username
and password provided by
your service provider.
Once you’ve connected to
Windows 10’s Certificate Import Wizard. the VPN, check to see that your
VPN is working by visiting
First, download your VPN provider’s IKEv2 IPleak.net (go.pcworld.com/iplk). You should
certificate to your desktop or somewhere else see an IP address, and DNS servers that are
that’s convenient. Next, double-click on the different from your non-VPN state. If you don’t,
certificate file and a security warning pops up. there are a number of potential causes that we
Click on Open. On the next window that can’t go into here. Your best bet is to check
opens, click Install Certificate. with your company’s IP department or the
Now we’ve arrived at the Certificate support service of your VPN.
Import Wizard. Select the Local Machine However, one easy and common fix for
radio button and click Next. IKEv2 problems is to right-click on your Wi-Fi
On the next screen make sure to select the or ethernet icon in the system tray, and select
radio button labeled Place All Certificates In Open Network And Sharing Center from the
The Following Store, and click Browse. context menu. When the Control Panel
A smaller window opens with a folder opens, click Change Adapter Settings on the
tree. Select Trusted Root Certification left side, then right-click the name of your
Authorities and then click OK. Now we’re VPN connection and go to Properties >

94 PCWorld APRIL 2018


Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) > Step 7: If you can’t connect, the problem
Properties > Advanced > IP Settings. Select could be due to the server configuration.
the Use Default Gateway On Remote Network (There are different types of VPNs.) Check
option and click OK. Close up all windows with your network administrator to see what
and try IPleak.net again. kind is in use—such as PPTP—then, on the
Connect VPN Connection screen,
STEP-BY-STEP: HOW TO SET select Properties.
UP A VPN IN WINDOWS 7
Step 1: Click the Start button. In the search Step 8: Navigate to the Security tab and
bar, type vpn and then select Set Up A Virtual select the specific Type Of VPN from the
Private Network (VPN) connection. drop-down list. You may also have to
unselect Include Windows Logon Domain
Step 2: Enter the IP address or domain name under the Options tab. Then click OK and
of the server to which you want to connect. If Connect.
you’re connecting to a work network, your IT
administrator can provide the best address. It takes a little work, but setting up a VPN using
the Windows built-in client is relatively quick,
Step 3: If you want to set up the connection, and as a user it’s a helpful skill to have.
but not connect, select Don’t Connect Now;
otherwise, leave it blank and click Next.

Step 4: On this next screen, you can either


put in your username and password, or leave
it blank. You’ll be prompted for it again on
the actual connection. Click Connect.

Step 5: To connect, click on the Windows


network logo on the lower-right part of
your screen; then select Connect under
VPN Connection.

Step 6: In the Connect VPN Connection box,


enter the appropriate domain and your login
credentials; then click Connect. 6.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 95


HERE’S HOW

How to create an insane multiple


monitor setup with three, four,
or more displays
Why stop at just two screens? BY SARAH JACOBSSON PUREWAL

B
y now, a dual-monitor setup (go. something you totally need in your life.
pcworld.com/dmst) has Right now, my main PC has a triple-
become commonplace. monitor setup: my main 27-inch central
Multitasking on a single screen monitor, with a 24-inch monitor on either
is just way too confining. But why stop at two side. I use my extra monitors for a number of
displays? I can speak from experience: Having things, such as comparing spreadsheets
multiple monitors (and I’m talking three, four, side-by-side, writing articles while also doing
five, or even six) is just…awesome, and research, keeping tabs on my social media

96 PCWorld APRIL 2018 IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES


feeds, and, of course, watching Netflix. motherboard and your discrete graphics
Using one of your monitors in vertical card, you’ll see a performance drop and
orientation can make a big difference for some lag when you move windows between
scrolling long documents. If you’re a gamer, monitors. If you want to do this, you will also
well, surely you can see how great three-plus need to enter your PC’s BIOS (go.pcworld.
monitors can be for games that support com/pcbs) and go to Configuration > Video
multi-monitor setups. > Integrated Graphics Device and set it to
But before you jump in, you want to give Always Enable.
your multi-monitor plan some forethought.
This guide will walk you through all the factors Just because you see three or more ports on
you need to take into account before setting your discrete graphics card, however, doesn’t
up three or more monitors. necessarily mean you can use all of them at
the same time. For example, many older
CHECK YOUR GRAPHICS Nvidia cards are unable to run more than two
CARD(S) monitors on a single card, even if they have
Before you run out and buy a bunch of extra more than two ports. The best way to find out
monitors, check to see whether your whether your graphics card supports multiple
computer is physically capable of handling all monitors is to find the name of your card
that graphics prowess. First, look at the back (Control Panel > Device Manager > Display
of your PC: How many graphics ports (DVI, Adapters) and Google it with the monitor
HDMI, DisplayPort, and VGA) do you see? setup you’re looking to run (e.g., “Nvidia GTX
If you don’t have a discrete graphics card, 770 four monitors”).
you may only see two video ports—most If your graphics card supports—and has
motherboards come with integrated graphics enough ports for—the number of monitors you
that can only run dual-monitor setups. If you want to set up, excellent. If not, you may need
do have a discrete graphics
card, you’ll probably see at
least three ports, not
including the ports on your
motherboard.

Tip: While it is possible to set


up multiple monitors using The Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti, which can drive four displays, packs
ports on both your dual DVI ports as well as solitary DisplayPort and HDMI connections

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 97


HERE’S HOW CREATE A MULTIPLE MONITOR SETUP

to purchase an additional graphics card to get to one another. The various displays don’t even
the multi-monitor support you’re looking for. need to be the same size or resolution.
Before you buy an extra graphics card, ViewSonic’s VP2468 is one such example. At
you’ll need to make sure you have enough $250 on Amazon (go.pcworld.com/vs24), this
space in your tower (and open PCIe slots), as 24-inch monitor is on the pricier side, but in
well as a power supply unit that can handle addition to DisplayPort-out, it also offers a
the extra strain. premium IPS screen, and a super-thin bezel,
If you buy a graphics card solely for the which is ideal for multi-monitor setups.
purpose of having multiple monitors, it’s best
to get one that’s the same (or, at least in the MONITORS, PORTS,
same product family) as your current graphics AND CABLES
card, so you can connect them using SLI Once you figure out your graphics card
(Nvidia) or CrossFire (AMD). SLI and CrossFire situation, it’s time for the fun part: obtaining
setups will help your graphics cards run extra monitors. In general, monitors can be
smoothly, and they’ll also boost your PC’s had for fairly cheap these days. Assuming you
overall graphics performance (go.pcworld. can’t finagle a hand-me-down, a 24-inch
com/pcgp) so you can do fun things like play monitor with an IPS screen will run you around
games in multi-monitor mode without frame $170, such as the Acer R240HY (go.pcworld.
rates plummeting. You’ll get much better com/r240). You can get a 24-inch TN screen,
performance with multiple connected which will likely trade strong off-axis viewing
graphics cards than you will with multiple for a lower response time—something gamers
non-connected graphics cards. And, while might prefer—for even less money, such as
you technically can run Nvidia and AMD cards the Asus VS248H-P ($140 on Amazon [go.
side-by-side…it’s more trouble
than it’s worth and I don’t
recommend it.
Alternatively, newer monitors
with DisplayPort multi-streaming
support (go.pcworld.com/dpms)
can be daisy-chained together
from a single DisplayPort 1.2
connection on your graphics card,
using additional DisplayPort cables
to connect the additional monitors A DisplayPort connector (left) and an HDMI cable (right).

98 PCWorld APRIL 2018


pcworld.com/hp24]). Or step down to 21.5 difference will make for a not-so-seamless
inches and you could find something for less experience.
than $100, such as the HP Pavilion (go. Before you buy your monitors, you’ll also
pcworld.com/hp21) IPS display. want to make sure they have input ports that
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for even correspond with your PC’s output ports.
more screen real estate, you can find a While you could use conversion cables, such
decent 27-inch IPS screen for about as DVI-to-HDMI or DisplayPort-to-DVI, they
$250, such as the ViewSonic VA2759-SMH can be a hassle. If you have a VGA port on
(go.pcworld.com/va27), and a TN display your PC or your monitor, I suggest staying
for quite a bit less, like the $150 BenQ away from it: VGA is an analog connector,
2760H (go.pcworld.com/gl27). which means your picture will be noticeably
Of course, the perfect monitor for you less sharp and colors will be less vivid.
depends on multiple factors, including the
monitors you already have, the size of your SET UP YOUR PC
desk, and what you’re planning on using your Set up your monitors, plug them in, and turn
extra monitor for. on your PC. Voilà! A perfectly-formed multi-
In my case, I already had two 24-inch monitor setup! Well, not so fast. Setup is easy,
monitors, and I wanted a larger monitor as the but there are still a couple more steps.
centerpiece of my setup, so I
picked up a 27-inch monitor
and placed it between my
two 24-inch displays. I’m not
using my multi-monitor setup
to play multi-monitor games,
so the difference in sizes (and
the difference in heights—my
27-inch monitor’s stand holds
my 27-incher about one inch
higher than my 24-inchers)
isn’t an issue for me.
However, if you’re planning
on doing a lot of gaming or
watching videos that span
multiple monitors, this height On this screen, you can configure options for multiple monitors.

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 99


HERE’S HOW CREATE A MULTIPLE MONITOR SETUP

Another way
to set up your
multi-monitor
configuration
is through
your GPU’s
control panel.

The first thing you’ll want to do is extend your desktop across all the screens. In
configure Windows to play nicely with your most multi-monitor setups, you’ll want to
multiple monitors. If you’re running Windows extend your desktop across all three (or four,
7 or Windows 8, right-click on the desktop or whatever) of your displays.
and click Screen Resolution; in Windows 10, Alternately, you can set up your multi-
click Display Settings. This will take you to a monitor configuration in your GPU’s control
screen where you can configure the options panel. Right-click your desktop and choose
you have for multiple monitors in Windows. either the Nvidia or AMD control panel
Here, you can confirm that all your (depending on your graphics card), and find
monitors are detected. Click Identify, which the Display section, which will offer similar
will cause a large number to appear on each options as Windows.
of your displays, so you can determine which
screen is which. Select the monitor you’d like GAMING
to serve as your main display (which will also It’s one thing to use multiple monitors to do
determine where your taskbar and Start work and watch Netflix. It’s another thing
button appears). A drop-down menu lets you entirely to use multiple monitors to play video
choose whether to duplicate your desktop or games. If you want to use your snazzy new

100 PCWorld APRIL 2018


multi-monitor setup to do some three- or your graphics card and your game. Nvidia
four-panel gaming, there are a few extra users will need to set up Nvidia Surround,
things you’ll have to take into consideration. while AMD users will need to create an
Gaming on several displays at once Eyefinity group for their monitors.
requires far more graphical firepower than You’ll also need to go into your game (not
gaming on a single screen alone, because the all games are multi-monitor–compatible) and
GPU has so many more pixels to push—so if configure the video or display settings to the
you’re not running a sufficiently robust correct resolution so that the game spans
graphics card or cards, you’ll almost certainly across all your monitors instead of staying
see lag and artifacting in your multi-monitor squished on just one. You’ll also want to play
games. Check out PCWorld’s guide for around with other settings as the game
choosing the best graphics card for gaming allows, including field of view (too low, and
(go.pcworld.com/gcgm). there will be too much going on around you;
Before you can start playing your games too high and everything on your left and right
across multiple panels, you’ll need to set up screens will be hugely distorted).
For gaming, it’s easier if you have multiple
identical displays, because otherwise you’ll
It’s one thing to use multiple run into issues with resolution, distortion (if
monitors to do work and watch your displays aren’t at the same height), and
Netflix. It’s another thing color calibration, all of which can be difficult
entirely to use multiple monitors to work with if you’re trying to play in a
to play video games. “seamless” environment.

Glorious is this multi-monitor


display setup for gaming!

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 101


HERE’S HOW

How one mouse can control


multiple PCs with Microsoft’s
Mouse Without Borders app
Slide seamlessly from one PC to the next, cut and paste between PCs and more.
And it’s free! BY MARK HACHMAN

M
icrosoft’s Mouse without cheaper—because it’s free to use with any
Borders app is an unsung Windows device.
productivity tool whose Mouse without Borders originally
ability to let a mouse and launched in 2011, long before Logitech
keyboard hop from one Windows device to debuted Flow. The app resurfaced
the next is worth checking out. It unlocks a recently as part of Microsoft’s inaugural
versatility similar to that of Logitech’s Flow Microsoft Garage Wall of Fame (go.
(go.pcworld.com/lgfl), but for far, far pcworld.com/mswf), a celebration

102 PCWorld APRIL 2018 IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES


of smaller apps developed
within Microsoft. You
should try it out.
Like Flow, Microsoft’s
Mouse without Borders
allows you to use the same
mouse and keyboard (yes,
keyboards too) across
multiple PCs. Once you
move the mouse cursor to
the edge of one screen, it
hops over to the next
connected computer—
exactly as if it were a passive
monitor, allowing you to
bring in additional PCs into
your workspace.
Both Flow and Mouse
You’ll see this screen more than once, as you need to download Mouse
without Borders also allow without Borders on multiple PCs. But how you answer this question
you to cut and paste files will differ.
across PCs, and type on
multiple PCs using the same single keyboard. SETUP: STILL ROUGH
But while Flow is locked to a small coterie of AROUND THE EDGES
Logitech-equipped peripherals, Mouse Even several years after its debut, the 1.3MB
without Borders promises to work with just Mouse without Borders app feels like a
about anything. throwback to Win32 utilities of old, rather
To be honest, Logitech’s Flow also than the more polished UWP apps Microsoft
factored into our endorsement of Logitech’s is promoting within Windows 10. You’ll need
Craft keyboard (go.pcworld.com/crft) and to enter encryption keys manually, tweak
MX Master 2S mouse (go.pcworld.com/ options, and so on. But it’s a live app, whose
mx2s). While we still stand behind those most recent update was released in January.
reviews, Mouse without Borders serves to First, you’ll need the Windows without
highlight that Flow isn’t as exclusive as you Borders app (go.pcworld.com/wwba) itself,
might think. which runs on everything from Windows 7 and

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 103


HERE’S HOW MICROSOFT’S MOUSE WITHOUT BORDERS APP

above. Up to four PCs on the same network the name of the PC you’re working on, as well
can share the same mouse and keyboard. The as an encryption code. (Though it’s not
author, Truong Do, recommends that all PCs essential, you may want to change the PC
that will share peripherals via Mouse without name within Settings > System > About to
Borders be connected via ethernet, though rename it something intuitive, rather than just
wireless worked acceptably in some cases. a collection of letters.)
Obviously, you’ll need to download and install On the second PC, you’ll need to respond
the app on more than one PC. This is where it Yes to the question of whether the app
gets a bit confusing. appears on any other PC. It’s here that you’ll
When Mouse without Borders first loads, enter the name of the first PC, as well as the
the app will ask you if you’ve downloaded it complex encryption code/password that the
on any other machine. Even though you’ve first installation of the app generated. Clicking
probably downloaded the utility to two PCs at on Link will then connect the second PC to
about the same time, you’ll need to pick one the master PC.
of these PCs and select No. Doing so reveals Like Flow or the Smart Switch technology
Microsoft tied to its Surface
Precision Mouse, the PC
layouts can be organized either
vertically or next to one
another, as on a desk.
Your firewall may
negatively affect how well
Mouse without Borders works.
I found that turning off
Windows Defender, enabling
Mouse without Borders, then
re-enabling Defender worked
well. (ZoneAlarm, another
popular firewall, allowed
Mouse with Borders to work,
though the mouse moved very
slowly.) To be fair, I had the
Mouse without Borders will generate an encryption code to enter
manually on the other connected PCs. (You can also ask it to same wireless troubles with
generate a new code later, if you’d like). Logitech’s Flow, too.

104 PCWorld APRIL 2018


We used this image to illustrate Logitech’s Flow software, but it applies here as well: Mouse without
Borders allows you to bring in multiple PCs into one shared workspace.

HOW IT WORKS: QUICK Certain situations, like Remote Desktop


AND SLICK windows or other virtual machines, may
Once connected, I found that my mouse confuse the app, the developer notes. And,
cursor zipped from one PC to the other, unfortunately, you can’t copy and paste
with surprisingly little lag. It was easy to cut multiple files, unless they’re compressed into
and paste text from one PC to the other, a single file that’s less than 100MB.
and copy files up to 100MB in size—right When set up properly, though, Mouse
now, 100MB is a hard limit, unfortunately. without Borders is fast—faster than Flow. I
You can even do tricks like lock all of the used it on the same machines by disabling
PCs at once, simultaneously, or virtualize a Mouse without Borders and turning on
keyboard-video-mouse setup, so that your Flow. Granted, Flow was using a wireless
mouse and keyboard input are duplicated Logitech MX Master 2S mouse, rather
exactly across multiple PCs. Again, to be than a wired connection. But Flow can
clear—Mouse without Borders works with also copy multiple files without apparent
mice and keyboards. issue. Any file above 100MB is copied with

APRIL 2018 PCWorld 105


HERE’S HOW MICROSOFT’S MOUSE WITHOUT BORDERS APP

restricted to Windows,
while Flow migrates
across Macs and PCs—a
fair point.)
Will Mouse without
Borders eventually migrate
into Windows? Certain
features that allow cross-PC
collaboration, such as
upcoming Timeline and
Near Share features within
Windows 10’s Redstone 4
feature update, signal that
Microsoft is thinking about
The main screen of Mouse without Borders: Here, you can generate tying Windows devices
a new passkey, align your PCs, and more. Note that you can also re-
initiate the setup experience. Connecting and disconnecting PCs with closer together. For now,
Mouse without Borders installed is as easy as clicking the checkbox. though, there’s Mouse
without Borders—and it
a progress bar visually indicating how looks like a handy app to add to your PC’s
quickly it will transfer. bag of tricks.
The one key advantage that
Mouse without Borders offers is the
freedom from dedicated hardware.
There’s no guarantee that it will
work with everything, but I used a
wired Razer mouse and keyboard
to test it, and it seemed to work
flawlessly. If it works just as well for
the generic corded USB mice and
keyboards that populate our desks,
Microsoft’s Mouse without Borders
sounds like a utility worth owning.
(A Logitech spokeswoman points Mouse without Borders offers tons of options. For more details,
out that Mouse without Borders is you can hover your mouse over each one.

106 PCWorld APRIL 2018


Where and How
to Buy Cheap Ink
Third-party inks are cheaper, but do your homework before you buy.
BY MELISSA RIOFRIO AND IAN PAUL

B
uying cheap ink is a choice you voided warranties and subpar print quality, it
should make with your eyes can be difficult to tell whether the third-party
wide open. Third-party ink you buy is any good. We can’t give you
cartridges cost less than the any promises, but we can tell you how to
manufacturer brands, which is why people shop smarter for cheap ink.
buy them. A list of third-party retailers
currently selling remanufactured ink GO WITH A BIG NAME
cartridges is below. One time-tested method is to shop at an
But even if you ignore the dire warnings established retailer (online or brick-and-
from the original printer vendors about mortar) that guarantees the quality of its

IMAGE: TOOKAPIC APRIL 2018 PCWorld 107


HERE’S HOW WHERE AND HOW TO BUY CHEAP INK

products. Obvious examples include office Judge said.


supply chains that carry their own branded
third-party ink cartridges, such as Staples and CHECK THE WARRANTIES
Office Depot. Staples.com has an Ink & Toner FOR CHEAP INKS
Finder (go.pcworld.com/stpl) that can tell Finally, understand your options if your ink
you whether your model is covered, as does cartridge arrives defective or produces
Office Depot. If you find compatible ink, you mediocre prints. A survey of some of the
can buy it online or check for inventory at your vendors shown below indicates that
local outlet. vendors are ready to stand behind
unopened cartridges for 30 days to a year,
DO YOUR HOMEWORK though they may charge restocking and
If you’re eyeing products from a vendor you shipping fees for returns.
haven’t used before, ask questions. A Once you open the ink, however, it’s
reputable online ink retailer should be open yours. Of the third-party vendors surveyed,
about how they source their inks. Carrot Ink, Databazaar was willing to refund an opened
for example, claims (go.pcworld.com/ciau), cartridge if it still had 70% of its ink supply
“every Carrot Ink brand product that hits your (go.pcworld.com/dbrf). In other words, you
doorstep has been manufactured under can’t be sleazy and use the entire cartridge
stringent ISO 9001/2000 standards.” If a before deciding it’s no good.
particular site offers reviews, check to see
whether previous shoppers are complaining LIST OF THIRD-PARTY INK
about common problems like clogged print SELLERS
heads or low-quality print jobs. • 4Inkjets (go.pcworld.com/4ink)
Check the vendor’s website or ask the • Amazon (go.pcworld.com/amzn)
support staff how thoroughly the company • Carrot Ink (go.pcworld.com/crrt)
inspects used cartridges. “Do they look for • Clickinks (go.pcworld.com/clck)
cracks? Do they test the electrical • Databazaar (go.pcworld.com/dtbz)
characteristics of the cartridge? A cartridge • Inkfarm (go.pcworld.com/inkf)
can look fine but have a broken electrical • LDProducts (go.pcworld.com/lpdt)
component, and then it won’t work,” Tricia • Office Depot & Office Max
Judge of the International Imaging (go.pcworld.com/odom)
Technology Council told us in 2008, when • Overstock.com (go.pcworld.com/ovst)
we first published this article. The vendor • Source4Ink (go.pcworld.com/s4ik)
should also test the cartridge after the refill, • Staples (go.pcworld.com/stpl)

108 PCWorld APRIL 2018


Be the breakthrough.
Breakthroughs are the patients
participating in clinical trials, the
scientists and doctors working
together to advance the fight
against cancer, and the brave
survivors like Tonya who never
give up. Let’s be the breakthrough.
To learn about appropriate
screenings and clinical trials
or to help someone with cancer,
go to su2c.org/breakthrough.
#cancerbreakthrough

TheCWordMovie.com
Tech Spotlight A video showcase
of the latest trends

Watch the
video at
go.pcworld.
com/metr

Apption ≥ Meater has


Labs Meater changed the way I

review think of grilling. It’s


delivered perfectly
cooked pieces of meat each time I’ve tried it,
and it quickly turned my initial skepticism into
enthusiasm.

110 PCWorld APRIL


MONTH 2018
2017

Anda mungkin juga menyukai