In the world of PC hardware, it's easy to get caught up in FOMO and waste money on needlessly expensive hardware you never needed. Every high-end, expensive component has a market, but many people don't buy it simply because they're swayed by the marketing and hype surrounding the product. And this isn't limited to high-end GPUs and CPUs; gaming monitors, motherboards, and SSDs are all part of this trend. Let's look at the most overrated components that don't deserve the attention they get.

One of the biggest surprises of the Nintendo Switch 2's reveal was its proposed accessibility. For years, Nintendo has been known for accidentally stumbling on accessibility solutions while stubbornly refusing to engage with the broader subject. Yet, in the Switch 2, there appeared a more holistic approach to accessibility for which disabled players have been crying out. This was supported by a webpage dedicated to the Switch 2's hardware accessibility. However, specifics were thin and no further information emerged ahead of the Switch 2's debut. Now, having spent the last week with the Switch 2, I've found that this limited information hid, aside from a few missteps, an impressive suite of system-level accessibility considerations and advances that somewhat offset the otherwise gradual update the Switch 2 represents. But as we finally answer lingering accessibility questions over the Switch 2, there's a nagging sense that this information should have been readily available ahead of launch.How intuitive is the setup? Very, but blind players may need assistanceI tend to find setup procedures dense and unapproachable thanks to cognitive disability. Yet I was pleasantly surpris …Read the full story at The Verge.

If you are unsure about using Windows as your gaming rig, many users have reported issues and offered advice. However, most are myths, and you no longer need to believe them. Windows 11, in particular, has been updated to optimize system hardware, including the CPU, GPU, and RAM, to enhance visuals and responsiveness while playing games. It has also improved overall system performance, reducing load times.

I love launchers on my desktop. I never thought I'd become a keyboard snob, but nowadays, I'd rather keep my hands on my keyboard as much as I can, and launching apps and other tools this way is incredibly convenient. Windows 11 has a lot of these launchers available, with options like Listary, Ueli, or the two solutions built into PowerToys, whether that's PowerToys Run or Command Palette.

I used to use the DNS servers provided by my ISP until I realized that they were using those nameservers to serve ads, block me from content they deemed inappropriate, and generally track my browsing habits. I went through a stage of trying different DNS providers to find those that were both safe and fast enough to use from my location. Mostly that was Cloudflare at 1.1.1.1, Google at 8.8.8.8, or Quad9 at 9.9.9.9.

Google's AI-powered research assistant, NotebookLM, is the only AI tool that convinced me that AI can truly be a game-changer for productivity. It's been a while since I've been using the tool, and I'm always on the lookout for new ways to use it to streamline my workflow and get even more out of it.

Notion is a powerful note-taking tool, whether you're using it for personal reasons or working with a team on a larger project. It has extensive capabilities that make collaboration a breeze and boasts an extensive plugin library with different options to integrate Notion into your workflow.

Switching to wireless peripherals felt liberating at first, as you'd expect. It meant that I no longer had to deal with dangling cables or restricted movement, especially while gaming, and my desk looked pretty clean. It all started when I purchased a wireless gaming headset in 2016; soon after, I started buying wireless gaming mice and controllers. The keyboard is the only thing that's currently on my desk that isn't wireless, but that's only because there's no wireless hall-effect keyboard on the market.

If you've lived under a rock or only used central processing units (CPUs), you may be unaware of AMD's Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) division. The company has been making APUs for years now and has almost perfected the process of combining the CPU and GPU on a single package. I'm not talking about the standard iGPU you'd find on many AMD and Intel CPUs to allow video output. These APUs have some serious GPUs with plenty of cores, processing power, and dedicated resources. An AMD Ryzen APU such as the Ryzen 7 8700G is ideal for small form factor (SFF) PC builds or those on a stricter budget.

Less than a month after making their debut, the WH-1000XM6 are on sale at Amazon in black, blue, and platinum with a $30 gift card for $448. It’s not a straight cash discount, sure, but if you were already debating picking up Sony’s latest pair of noise-canceling headphones, it makes the $50 price hike over the last-gen XM5 easier to stomach.If you were to ignore the steep price hike, the new XM6 are a welcome improvement over the XM5 in every way. They’re outfitted with Sony’s latest noise-cancellation chip, which allows them to do a better job at drowning out the ambient noise you might encounter on the street, at your local coffee shop, or on your next cross-country flight. Their transparency mode is as natural-sounding as ever, too, and thanks to a new set of drivers, they deliver clearer vocals and the same dynamic, rich sound for which the XM series is known.Design-wise, they also represent an excellent return to form, albeit with a few minor tweaks for added comfort and convenience. They sport a wider headband that’s designed to alleviate pressure during longer listening sessions, along with a redesigned power button that’s easier to distinguish from the onboard ANC button. More importantly, however, they once again collapse with the aid of a joint in each arm, allowing them to take up less room in the included carrying case. As someone who frequently travels with the XM5 — the only pair in the XM series that can’t fold down — I can say the change is greatly appreciated.Read our hands-on impressions of the XM6.More ways to save this weekend8BitDo’s Ultimate 2C Wireless Controller has fallen to its lowest price to date at Amazon, where you can grab it in green or purple for an all-time low of $25.49 (about $5 off). The 2C is a great little gamepad for Windows and Android, one you can connect via USB-C, Bluetooth, or a 2.4GHz dongle boasting a 1,000Hz polling rate. It’s also got an extra set of remappable shoulder buttons and Hall effect sticks / triggers, so you needn’t worry about the notorious “Joy-Con drift” that has plagued consoles like the Switch.When it comes to portable batteries, Anker and EcoFlow are the two biggest names that come to mind. Jackery is a close second, though, and now through June 18th, you can save up to $3,300 on various power solutions thanks to the company’s Father’s Day sale. There’s a lot on offer, but the highlight for me is the port-heavy Explorer 1000 power station, which is available for a limited time from Jackery and Amazon for just shy of $500 ($300 off).If you’re big on Android Auto but hate having to plug your phone into your car’s infotainment system, Motorola’s MA1 wireless car adapter is on sale at Best Buy for a new low of $34.99 (50 percent off). The Chromecast-looking USB dongle pairs with smartphones running Android 11 or higher via Bluetooth, allowing you to then transmit data over 5Ghz Wi-Fi. Just ensure your car or aftermarket head unit actually supports Android Auto in the first place.

After months of rumors and speculation, Microsoft finally pulled back the curtain on its Xbox handheld: the ROG Xbox Ally X. Really rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? It's supposedly the culmination of years of work from Microsoft, between enabling handhelds like the ROG Ally X, updating the Xbox app within Windows, building the Game Pass ecosystem, and expanding its coverage for cloud gaming. And yet, it feels like one of the most misguided hardware launches I've seen in years.

Obsidian is already a powerful tool for organizing thoughts. It's my knowledge-base to collect important thoughts, topics and more from around the internet. However, research is messy, and my Obsidian vault is messier still. That's till I discovered the Breadcrumbs plugin. It's safe to say that the Breadcrumbs plugin is what really changed the way I take notes. Before using it, my vault was a chaotic mix of folders, tags and links. I’d jot down a thought about cognitive load in one note, tuck a quote from Cal Newport’s Deep Work in another and drop an article summary about attention span somewhere else entirely. A week later, I’d come back and have no idea how it all connected.