I have been a Windows user for as long as I can remember. It all started with a cheap PC, but in recent years, I’ve been using AMD Ryzen-powered PCs from Lenovo and HP. I’ve had no complaints whatsoever with any of my Windows PCs. However, earlier this year, I broke the Windows laptop I used daily and started looking for a new one. I was almost certain I’d get another Windows device, but the geek in me wanted to try something new. That’s how I ended up with an M3 MacBook Air. It’s a great device — very light and powerful — but after using it for over four months, I’ve concluded that it’s just not for me.

The power supply unit (PSU) is vital for all desktop PCs. This component handles the conversion of power from alternate current (AC) to direct current (DC). Your PC parts can't work with AC and require a stable, reliable DC supply that a power supply provides. Everything connects to the power supply, albeit some parts indirectly through the motherboard. Should your PSU encounter issues, buy a PSU from an unreputable brand, or overload it with more powerful parts, you risk causing irreparable damage. Thankfully, power supplies are designed so they shouldn't go out with a bang. Here are some signs the PSU could be on its way out.

Opening your first project in Blender can be extremely daunting if you've never worked on a 3D modeling program before. But as overwhelming as it can be for a beginner, the best way to learn the ins and outs of the software is to start with projects that are fun and tailored to your preferences.

The age-old question of "how much RAM should be in my gaming system" has had the same answer for years now. 16GB was the de facto amount of memory that was considered more than enough for gaming. But times have changed. 16GB is no longer enough, and the proof is in the pudding. The memory usage of most games has gone up significantly, and if you're running 16GB, you might actually run into issues with newer titles. As a result, 32GB is now the sweet spot for gaming machines, and here's why.

Image: Yelp Yelp is introducing some new AI features that aim to help users discover new establishments and narrow down customer reviews. The AI-powered “Review Insights,” announced today as part of Yelp’s end-of-year product release, quickly summarize how customers feel about certain aspects of a business, such as food quality, service, ambiance, and wait times.Review insights are aggregated sentiment scores that provide a quick overview of topics using facial icons — positive, neutral, and critical — displayed above a business’s reviews. Yelp users can click specific topics to read related reviews that focus on those aspects of the business, such as what customers are saying about the food or service.Yelp says the feature is available on iOS for restaurant, food, and nightlife businesses, and will be expanded to services categories “next year.” Review insights builds on the AI-powered review summaries feature that Yelp introduced in January.“When searching for a local restaurant, you might have a specific aspect in mind that matters most to you — be it the vibe of the space, how long it takes to get a table, or the quality of the food,” said Yelp’s Chief Product Officer Craig Saldanha in the announcement blog. “Even when a review doesn’t explicitly mention one of the topics, the LLM understands the context in the review to identify and surface the relevant topic and sentiment.” Image: Yelp Heads up — Yelp will autoplay and unmute the full-screen user videos on the iOS app homepage. The home feed search bar on iOS now features a trending drop-down that highlights the most popular terms other local users are looking for, which will be coming to Android “early next year.” The iOS app home page has also been expanded to include new reviews, photos, and full-screen video spotlights uploaded by other users that surface recent experiences. Yelp says it’s rolling out an AI-powered update that “better tailors the home feed to your preferences” in the coming weeks.

Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS) is a feature introduced in Windows 10 in May 2020 and has continued into Windows 11. It's often touted as a feature that you should turn on or turn off depending on who you're speaking with, and you may find that some games have problems when it's enabled. However, it's a net-positive feature for most people, even if there are some teething issues at present.

Built to fulfill your experimentation fantasies, home labs are the perfect testing environments to bring your cool projects to life. Whether you’re a newcomer who’s trying to navigate the treacherous waters of distro hopping or a hardened veteran looking to tinker with advanced network settings, home labs provide the added advantage of letting you start over from scratch in case things go wrong.

Since the Raspberry Pi 5 was released, people have tried turning it into a gaming machine. We've seen portable consoles, emulators, and even arcade cabinets that use the mighty SBC as its beating heart. Now, the PS3 emulator RPCS3 is ready to roll on the Raspberry Pi, albeit you'll need to put up with a lot to enjoy your time with it.

Benchmarking is a crucial part of the PC building process, as it allows you to quantify the performance of your newly built PC. Benchmarking the components will tell you how well they perform heavy loads, and whether they overheat or show any abnormalities when pushed to their limits.

If you're a sysadmin, homelabber, or just a general tinkerer with all things computers, bootable USB sticks will be familiar to you. They're used for everything from recovery CDs to installers and diagnostic tools, and have been a mainstay of how we get software initially loaded onto computers for years. But you might not know that you no longer need one USB stick per image, and it's long been possible to setup a great, multi-ISO USB stick with plenty of your most used tools and images ready to go at a moments notice. We think its a great investment of time for anyone using these tools, with a relatively low upfront cost, and here (in no particular order) are our seven top reasons why.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The Steam Deck OLED, the best version of Valve’s gaming handheld with additional battery life, a slight increase to performance, and an eye-popping screen, can now be purchased refurbished for $110 less than it costs brand-new. Valve has just begun selling certified refurbished Steam Deck OLED models starting at $439 in the US, UK, Canada, and EU. That buys you the 512GB model with a glossy screen, while the 1TB anti-glare model can be had for $519 — less than the $549 you’d pay to get even the 512GB model brand-new. (The 1TB model normally costs $649.) Like my colleague Jay Peters just told me in Verge Slack, “$439 is a steal for the OLED.” Valve doesn’t currently have stock of refurbished LCD models, though they can be as cheap as $279.Happy Tuesday! We've officially added Steam Deck OLED to our Valve Certified Refurbished program today, and refurbished Steam Deck OLED units are now available for sale in the US, Canada, UK, and EU. Learn more here: store.steampowered.com/sale/steamde...— Steam Deck (@steamdeck.com) 2024-12-10T23:01:42.824ZLike Valve’s refurbished versions of the original LCD model, which has a slightly smaller and slower screen, Valve says it gives each unit “an extensive examination involving over 100 tests at one of Valve’s facilities,” including a battery health check, and Valve says they’ll “meet or even exceed the performance standards” of brand-new units. They each come with a carrying case, refurbished power supply, and one-year warranty — but they may have “minor cosmetic blemishes.”Valve introduced the Steam Deck OLED in November 2023, and a year later, it’s still one of the very best ways to play PC games on the go. No other handheld has surpassed its ease of use, though the Asus ROG Ally X did finally meet or beat it in battery life while offering better performance. While lots of other Windows handhelds are on the way, and maybe even some other intriguing hardware from Valve, the company’s been pretty clear it won’t release a new Steam Deck soon — not till newer chips let it offer a big leap in performance without sacrificing battery life.

If you're planning to get a new laptop or PC or have already purchased one, it's a good idea to sell or give away your current one if you no longer need it. However, selling a computer isn't as straightforward as it seems. Before you pass on your old device to someone else, there are several important steps to take. These steps will not only help you get the best value for your laptop, but also protect your privacy.