Brian Fagioli

You need a laptop, but don't know which to buy. Should you buy a Mac? Meh, those are good computers, but rather pricey -- the new notched screens are very ugly too. Chromebooks can be a great choice -- as long as your needs are fairly meager. Ultimately, many consumers are still wise to go with good ol' Windows. You know what? Windows 11 is shockingly good, so you should have no qualms about getting a computer with Microsoft's latest operating system.

Today, Dynabook (formerly Toshiba) launches not one, but two "Satellite Pro" laptops running Microsoft's excellent Windows 11 Pro. Called "C40-J" and "C50-J," the former has a 14-inch FHD screen, while the latter has a 15.6-inch FHD display. Both are designed with affordability in mind, but despite reasonable pricing, these thin and light laptops do not look like budget machines.

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Solid state drives continue to get faster, with PCIe 4.0 variants leading the pack nowadays. Of course, most PCs don't have PCIe 4.0 support, so these ultra-fast drives are reserved for enthusiasts and those with brand new computers. If you have such a cutting-edge PC, you will probably want to get a PCIe 4.0 SSD to maximize your performance. True, it is largely for bragging rights and benchmarks, but you might as well go for the best if the difference in price isn't totally obscene.

Today, KIOXIA unveils its latest solid state drive. Called "BG5," it uses PCIe 4.0 x4 to achieve up to 3,500 MB/s read and 2,900 MB/s write. Yeah, this DRAM-less SSD is actually a bit slow compared to other PCIe 4.0 drives, but it does have a very cool feature -- it is being offered in the M.2 2230 form factor. This means it will fit inside Microsoft's all-new Surface Pro 8.

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Tripp Lite is a company that I am very familiar with -- for high-quality power strips and surge protectors. When someone asks me what brand of surge protector they should buy to protect their picey desktop computer or other electronics, I usually recommend Tripp Lite. Are its power products a bit expensive? When compared to some other brands, I suppose so. With that said, that company's gear is typically well worth the premium.

Apparently, Tripp Lite also akes other types of computer accessories these days, including an all-new Thunderbolt 4 hub. Called "MTB4-HUB3-01," it will turn one Thunderbolt 3/4 port into three Thunderbolt ports and one USB-A port. This hub can even charge your laptop with up to 60W of power. While not the first such hub on the market, its slim body does look quite elegant.

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Windows 11 is a great operating system, and if your computer is compatible, you should upgrade from Windows 10 immediately. It is an absolute joy to use, and I find it to be the prettiest version of Windows yet.

If you want to make it even prettier, today, Microsoft shares a beautiful new Windows 11 wallpaper from artist Kervin Brisseaux. The company says the background image "merges the updated design of Windows 11 with the magical, vibrant nature of the holidays." Oddly, Microsoft fails to disclose which holidays those actually are.

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A USB to HDMI dongle is pretty common nowadays and certainly nothing to get excited about. Amazon is littered with those adapters. Heck, even dongles that turn a single USB port into two video outputs can be found quite easily these days. But a USB adapter that offers four HDMI outputs? That's something worth noticing as it should be quite the useful tool.

And that, folks, is exactly what both the USB32HD4 and USBC2HD4 are -- USB adapters from StarTech.com that feature an impressive four HDMI ports. They are essentially the same, except the former uses USB-A, while the latter has USB-C. Both of these dongles can simultaneously output 1080p60 to a quartet of monitors. StarTech.com promises support for both Windows 10 and the all-new Windows 11; however, the company notes that neither dongle is compatible with macOS or Linux-based operating systems.

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Do you hear that horrible sound? That's the combined screams and howls of countless Linux gaming nerds learning the devastating news -- the release of the Steam Deck video game console has been pushed to next year. In other words, anyone hoping to get the console under the Christmas tree this year will be left disappointed.

If you aren't familiar, the Steam Deck is a portable PC/gaming console hybrid that runs the Arch Linux-based "SteamOS" operating system which uses KDE Plasma. Similar to a Nintendo Switch Lite in design (but much bigger, heavier, and more powerful) it lets you play PC games in the palm of your hand. You can check out the specifications here.

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Do businesses use Apple products? Well, iPhone smartphones and iPad tablets without a doubt. Are Mac computers used in the business world though? Not so much. Typically, the only Mac you see in an office belongs to the resident artsy employee that works on designing things. For the most part, Microsoft Windows still reigns supreme in the Enterprise.

With that said, some companies are all-in on Apple hardware, forgoing Windows for computers running macOS instead. True, it is rare, but some businesses do it. And now, if a small business has 500 or fewer employees, Apple is making it easier than ever to manage iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers. Launching today in Beta, Apple Business Essentials is a seemingly elegant solution for setting up and managing Apple devices, but also, the service offers assistance with things like backing up data, security, repairs, and more.

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See that graphics card? Actually, it is not a GPU at all! While it does have a x16 PCIe connector, it is a solid state drive -- sort of. Actually, it technically is not a drive itself, but instead, a card that you plug SSDs into. Called "Accelsior 8M2," it can be had with up to 64TB of storage pre-installed with an insane performance of up to 26,000MB/s.

Yeah, the actively cooled OWC Accelsior 8M2 is an absolute beast. In fact, the company claims it is the "world’s fastest and highest capacity PCIe SSD." With that said, you will need a pretty modern computer to truly take advantage of the high-end performance. You see, a desktop with a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot will be necessary to achieve the promised top speeds. It will be compatible with previous generation PCIe x16 slots, just not at full speed.

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For some people, Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. For others, the holiday is more about Santa Claus, family, and exchanging gifts. Over on the Hallmark Channel, however, Christmas is largely about romance!

If you aren't familiar, Hallmark Channel is known for its cheesy, family-friendly, romantic Christmas movies. If you are a single man, you may not be familiar with this TV channel, but trust me fellow guys -- women love it. And now, just in time for the holidays, Hallmark Channel finally comes to YouTube TV.

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AMD has been killing it these past few years. The company's Ryzen processors have been universally praised by both reviewers and consumers alike. In both desktops and laptops, these Ryzen chips have largely put Intel to shame. AMD is undeniably the king of multi-core performance.

Today, Linux-computer-maker TUXEDO announces an all-new AMD Ryzen-powered computer, but no, it is not a huge tower. Actually, it is a NUC-like mini PC powered by 4000 series Ryzen processors, with the top model being equipped with the Ryzen 7 4800U. Called "Nano Pro - Gen11," it isn't just small and powerful, but quite upgradeable too -- you can change out the RAM, storage, and Wi-Fi card. And while the mini PC ships with Ubuntu by default, you can choose to also have Windows pre-installed for dual-boot.

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Solid state drives make wonderful internal boot drives for computers, but they are also great options for external storage too. Not only are they smaller than mechanical hard disk drives, but they use less power and are much quicker as well. Quite frankly, if you are someone that needs to transport data on a portable drive, you'd be crazy to still use a HDD with moving parts.

Today, TEAMGROUP launches its latest portable solid state drive under its T-FORCE gaming brand. Called "M200," it has a USB-C port and ships with both a USB-C to USB-C cable and a USB-C to USB-A cable. In other words, it can be used with any modern computer -- whether it has a USB Type-C port or not. What makes this external SSD notable, however, is its rugged shell. Oddly, the design of the drive is apparently inspired by sniper rifles...

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When it comes to broadband internet, many parts of the USA are forced to use just one ISP as that is the only option. Sadly, whoever controls the wires that run into the homes has all the power. Even worse, in some rural areas, there are no wires going to homes, making broadband an impossibility. A local ISP may even ask you to shell out many thousands of dollars to cover the cost of running the cables from the street to your home.

Thankfully, 5G wireless can change all of this. Monopolistic companies that run wired ISPs have a current stranglehold, but that is coming to an end. Soon, 5G connectivity will be so ubiquitous, that it can serve not just as your smartphone's mobile internet, but your home's main internet too! Today, NETGEAR unveils a new networking solution to transform a 5G (or 4G LTE) wireless signal into whole-home Wi-Fi. The Orbi 5G WiFi 6 Mesh System (model number NBK752) even utilizes tri-band Wi-Fi!

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Today is the day many of us have been waiting for -- Fedora 35 is officially here! Yes, folks, you can download the operating system immediately. For many Linux users, Fedora is considered the best distribution based on the open source kernel. Why? Because Fedora focuses on truly free and open source software -- a pure Linux experience. It is also fairly bleeding edge, while at the same time, remaining stable enough for daily use.

What makes Fedora 35 exciting? This version operating system uses the brand-new GNOME 41 as its default desktop environment. GNOME 41 is notable for having significant performance improvements when using Wayland. Speaking of Wayland, Fedora 35 Beta will run faster when using it with an NVIDIA GPU. Plus, version 35 Beta gets NVIDIA with XWayland, for an improved experience when using apps that aren't designed for Wayland.

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Do you need a PCIe 4.0 NVMe solid state drive? No, nobody really needs the insane speed these drives offer. However, the drool-worthy performance is certainly nice to have. Look, if you can afford such an SSD and your computer supports it at full speed, you might as well get one. I mean, why not?

Today, Kingston announces its latest such PCIe 4.0 SSD under its FURY gaming brand. Called "Renegade," it features blazing fast speeds and capacities up to 4TB. Of course, even non-gamers will want to check out the extremely high-end performance FURY Renegade offers.

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Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu -- that is pretty common knowledge. But did you know there is a different version of the operating system that is instead based on Debian? It's true! Called "Linux Mint Debian Edition," or "LMDE" for short, it is far less popular than the "regular" Mint. Then why does it exist? Believe it or not, it exists (partly) to serve as a contingency plan in case Ubuntu ever stops being developed.

Today is November 1, and the Linux Mint developers have shared some monthly development news that is largely boring. One small tidbit of information is interesting, however; Linux Mint Debian Edition 4 (code-named "Debbie") will ditch the Mozilla Firefox ESR web browser. LMDE 4 will instead move users to the normal "rapid release" variant.

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