I’ve had Windows PCs hooked up to my living room TVs for decades. While Microsoft hasn’t taken home theater PCs seriously since it axed Windows Media Center, that doesn’t matter—Windows PCs are amazing in the living room. I’ll never give mine up. With all the news about Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine and Microsoft turning the next Xbox into a full Windows PC, I’m calling it now: the return of the home theater PC is upon us! But there’s no need to wait. You can have a great experience right now—yes, today!—with no special hardware or software needed. Here’s why you should put a PC in your living room, pronto. All you need is one cable Connecting a PC to a modern TV is extremely simple. Most of the time, all you have to do is bridge the two using an HDMI cable. Yup, that’s it! If your laptop doesn’t have an HDMI port, you can likely use a USB-C-to-HDMI cable to do the same thing. Then, you just use a wireless mouse and keyboard (or even a game controller) to navigate your PC from the couch. The Arteck wireless keyboard with built-in touchpad is perfect for this.Mark Knapp / Foundry The biggest challenge is figuring out an ergonomic setup that makes it comfortable to use a mouse from your couch. Fortunately, there are lots of good options for this, including keyboards with built-in touchpads. A full web browser on your TV When you connect a PC to your TV, you get a full web browser experience that lets you use absolutely any website or streaming service on your TV with zero compatibility concerns. That means access to any video or music streaming service, even ones unavailable on TVs. For example, want to watch Twitch channels on a Roku? You can’t because there’s no official app. Want to stream music from an artist’s Bandcamp page? Can’t do that either because Bandcamp doesn’t offer apps on streaming devices. (Plus, searching for apps gets annoying fast.) Jared Newman / Foundry Instead of juggling your phone and casting Twitch streams over Chromecast and Bandcamp songs via Bluetooth, you can just use a full web browser to watch or listen to anything you want. After dealing with so many fragmented TV platforms, it’s been a breath of fresh air. A PC on your TV lets you do so much more with less effort. And you aren’t limited to streaming platforms, either. Want to scroll Instagram reels with friends? Or show your favorite Reddit threads to family? Or play your couch co-op Steam games? Easy. Your TV is essentially a PC now and you can do anything you want. A cinematic PC gaming experience A Windows PC offers the best gaming experience you can get in the living room. Unlike with a console, you not only get complete access to your full library of PC games, but with better performance than the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or Nintendo Switch 2. Steam With Steam, you can enter Big Picture Mode and navigate your game library as if you were using a console to play PC games on the screen right from a couch. I played Cyberpunk 2077 in my living room with a mouse, keyboard, TV, and high-end sound system. It was excellent. This is also a great setup for local co-op experiences. With a few controllers, you can play PC games that offer local co-op on the screen in your living room without huddling around a desktop PC. Chris Hoffman / Foundry Note that while I’ve turned my Steam Deck into a DIY gaming console, I still prefer using a laptop or PC in the living room for gaming on my big-screen TV. The hardware is just more powerful. A physical keyboard for fast text input For any text input on a TV, I prefer a physical keyboard. I can’t stand hunting and pecking with a remote whenever I want to search YouTube or another app. And I don’t enjoy speaking into a remote and hoping it understands my voice commands correctly. We recommend: Arteck HW197 Wireless Keyboard with Trackpad Best Prices Today: $35.99 at Amazon Having a wireless keyboard (with that built-in touchpad I mentioned) in your lap is so much more convenient. If you’re like me and hate inputting text on your TV, consider opting for a proper keyboard. It’s worth noting that you can pair wireless Bluetooth keyboards with many modern streaming devices. You don’t actually need a Windows PC for this. But a keyboard is most powerful when paired with a PC—you get keyboard shortcuts on your living room TV, too! Thinking about streaming games and casting wirelessly? Think again Manufacturers have long tried to solve the living room experience with streaming. You can stream games from your PC to your TV, you can cloud stream games over the internet to your TV, you can wirelessly cast your Windows desktop to your TV, and more. They’re all flawed. Consider Valve’s Steam Link for streaming games from a gaming PC to your TV. In my experience, even when streaming from a powerful PC to a Steam Deck plugged into my living room TV, the experience just isn’t as reliable as running the game on a PC that’s directly connected to the TV. As far as video quality, reliability, and performance are concerned, a direct PC-to-TV connection is better in every way. Valve Meanwhile, wireless streaming has its own issues. Windows may let you wirelessly mirror your PC display to your TV, and it works okay as long as you’re doing “normal” stuff that doesn’t involve video or games. Once you need smooth frame rates, it’s a laggy mess that doesn’t deliver the crisp-and-clean quality you get with a directly-connected PC. And while you could set up a local network server to stream media from a local media server using something like Plex or Jellyfin, I still find it much more convenient to play video/music right from a PC that’s connected to the TV. If you’re downloading something to watch, you can download it right in your living room, too. You can go beyond the desktop My aim here is to convince you that the Windows desktop is amazing in the living room. Highly underrated, even. But there are plenty of applications that will deliver you a more traditional living room experience on a Windows PC, too. Ben Patterson/Foundry For gaming, Big Picture Mode in Steam offers a SteamOS-style experience. For media streaming, Plex HTPC, Jellyfin Media Player, and Kodi offer media players with living room-friendly interfaces you can navigate from your couch—even with a game controller. A PC and smart TV. It’s all you need Sure, you might prefer to swap over to your smart TV’s built-in software when you’re going to watch Netflix for a few hours. But for anything beyond basic streaming from a mainstream service, PCs win. I don’t need a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or Nintendo Switch 2. I’m that happy with my living room PC experience. I don’t bother using another swanky streaming box because my smart TV’s built-in software is fine. Beyond that, a PC is all I need in my living room. We recommend: Acemagic M1 Best Prices Today: $649 at Amazon If you don’t want a massive tower PC taking up space, opt for a mini PC. They’re tiny yet performant, and they easily blend into any home entertainment center. You’ll want a serious gaming PC if you plan to do serious gaming, otherwise a mini PC is fine just for media. Check out our roundup of the best mini PC deals to shop around. Don’t want to buy anything? No problem! That laptop you have lying around is good enough. As long as you have the right cable, go ahead and hook it up to your TV to get started right now. But I warn you: after you’ve tasted the freedom of a PC in your living room, nothing else will come close. Further reading: Key tweaks for gaming PCs in living rooms Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Bright, low-glare display Lightweight design Great webcam Good port selection Cons Underwhelming performance Lack of Arc graphics is a huge loss Battery could last longer Our Verdict The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 is a capable partner for work, but it’s no powerhouse nor does it blow us away with its battery life. For the money, there are more capable machines out there. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 Retailer Price $1,504.31 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 joins Lenovo’s ThinkPad lineup as a more affordable entryway into the family compared to its premium X1 line. Touting a $1,244 starting price, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 is certainly on the cheaper side for ThinkPads, and it has plenty going for it. It carries the signature looks of the family, decent components, and a quality build. But it lags behind the pack-leaders in quite a few ways, and price isn’t one of them. With great options like the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI out there and new Panther Lake-powered systems like the MSI Prestige Flip 14 AI+ landing, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 has its work cut out for it.  Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6: Specs and features CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 255U Memory: 16GB LPDDR5x-8400 Graphics/GPU: Intel Graphics Display: 13.3-inch 1920×1200 IPS touchscreen, anti-glare Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD – UMIS RPETJ1T24MMW1QDQ Webcam: 5MP + IR Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 with Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode 2.1, 1x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x HDMI 2.1 (max 4K/60), 1x 3.5mm combo audio Networking: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 Biometrics: Windows Hello fingerprint, facial recognition Battery capacity: 54.7 watt-hours Dimensions: 11.78 x 8.15 x 0.7 inches Weight: 2.3 pounds MSRP: $1,869 as-tested ($1,244 base) The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 has a $1,244 starting price, at least by Lenovo’s “Est Value” system, which leaves firm retail prices in the ether and attempts to make whatever price is listed look like a deal against that “Est Value.” At the time of writing, the base model was on sale for $1,094. This includes an Intel Core Ultra 5 225U with 16GB of LPDDR5x-8533 memory, 256GB of storage, Windows 11 Home, and a 41Wh battery. On lower cost configurations like this, fingerprint scanning and Windows Hello IR sensors are optional extras, as is touchscreen capability. Our test unit sits at the top of the stack with a $1,869 “Est Value” (going for $1,569 at the time of writing). It upgrades to an Intel Core Ultra 7 255U, 1TB of storage, a 54.7Wh battery, and includes a touchscreen, fingerprint scanner, Windows Hello-capable webcam, and Windows 11 Pro. For what it’s worth, these systems aren’t even being branded as Copilot+ PCs. Lenovo supports custom configurations as well, though options are limited, letting you select from just two options for the CPU, storage, display, webcam, and battery. The configurator does allow choosing between a magnesium and stamped aluminum keyboard cover, with the latter enabling a $180 5G model to come inside the system. Keyboard backlighting also becomes a $20 option in the configurator rather than coming standard. Interestingly, the custom configuration options top out at an Intel Core Ultra 7 265U and don’t include the Core Ultra 7 255U in our test configuration. That Core Ultra 7 265U upgrade also appears to be the only way to get 32GB of memory and Wi-Fi 7, which are both automatically added to the configuration when selecting that CPU. The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 is a good machine for modest office needs. Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6: Design and build quality Foundry / Mark Knapp One look at this new X13, and it’s unmistakably a ThinkPad. While some of the angles might be changed and the weight and dimensions of different elements change, the core design is the same as so many other models. It’s a stealth black affair with a matte finish on the hardware. In all cases, you’ll find a chassis with Lenovo’s carbon fiber-reinforced polymer display lid and either a magnesium or aluminum base depending on the configuration of the system.  Lenovo’s design doesn’t tend toward being the thinnest out there, and so the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 sits at about 0.7 inches at its thickest. It’s still compact at 11.78 inches wide and 8.15 inches deep. And it sits at a very modest 2.3 pounds. Lenovo ships a compact, USB-C charger with the laptop that keeps up the portability.  The system makes efficient use of space. Everything is packed in pretty light. On the base, there’s no more than a half-inch gap between anything — the keyboard and speakers, the keyboard and trackpad, the keyboard and display hinge, for example. The base features tall grilles at either side of the keyboard, though only a small portion of this grille is actually backed by speakers. On the bright side, they’re up-firing speakers.  The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 sits on two small rubber feet at its front and one wide foot at the rear. That rear foot helps avoid letting hot exhaust from the rear vent circulate back into the intake fan on the bottom. That intake fan is nicely protected with a solid grille and fine mesh, which should do a good job keeping out dust. Lenovo has made the insides of the laptop accessible with just four screws on the base. That’s nice to see, though it would mean more if there was more upgradeability. At least it progresses repairability.  The build feels fairly sturdy, particularly the base. The display has some flex, but not an excessive amount. The hinge lets the screen wiggle for a couple of seconds after adjustments, but then holds it firmly in place — no wiggle while typing.  Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6: Keyboard, trackpad Foundry / Mark Knapp Like most of its siblings, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 has an excellent keyboard. The keys are firm with solid stabilization, offering a consistent typing feel that let me comfortably hit a 110-word-per-minute typing speed with 98 percent accuracy in Monkeytype even before spending much time getting comfortable with the keyboard. The trackpoint at the middle of the keyboard could be a distraction for some typists. The keyboard features small, offset arrow keys that could be easier to navigate with, but they also have small Page Up and Page Down keys crammed in with them, and I find the small size of these keys makes all of them simply harder to use. Lenovo’s function row at the top of the keyboard is a nice touch, as it has grouped sets of four keys, making it easy to feel out the ones you want. It also provides dedicated Home, End, and Delete keys in the top right corner. The whole keyboard gets white backlighting that effectively illuminates the legends. The keyboard is also spill-resistant, so you don’t have to worry about a few drips of water getting in.  The trackpad is modestly wide and has a smooth mylar surface that’s a joy to swipe around on. It doesn’t get a lot of vertical space because the top section goes to dedicated left, middle, and right click controls. These can be useful alongside the trackpad but also work with the trackpoint. The trackpoint nib takes some finesse to use. It is quite sensitive to very small variances in touch, but it’s not too hard to get the hang of. Rather than acting as a click, double-tapping the nib instead opens up a special menu that curiously has nothing to do with pointing device settings. Instead it has audio and battery settings and a shortcut to voice typing. The voice typing is nothing special from Lenovo but rather just Microsoft’s built-in dictation tool, which proves fairly accurate albeit while omitting any punctuation.  Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6: Display, audio Foundry / Mark Knapp The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 has the right hardware to get work done and see what you need to, but it’s not an entertainment powerhouse. The 13.3-inch display is reasonably sharp with a 1920×1200 resolution. And its anti-glare coating helps keep visuals clear even in sub-par lighting conditions, though it doesn’t strike me as impressive as the Corning Gorilla Matte Pro I recently tested.  It’s nice to see the display hitting 99 percent coverage of the sRGB color space, especially as plenty of Lenovo laptops are content to hit much less. The screen is also plenty bright with a 430.3-nit peak brightness in testing. Even the contrast is strong at 1620:1 at full brightness, which is good for an IPS panel though no match for OLED. The screen misses out on full DCI-P3 gamut and the smooth visuals of higher refresh rates. It’s also not one of the especially low-power models I saw on the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, which rocked our battery testing results.  The sound is also so-so. The system has 2x2W speakers that are heavily mids-focused. This makes them good for speech, but leaves them sounding a little harsh for music. And they won’t do much for movies or TV. There are worse laptop speakers, but these are far from exceptional.  Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 includes a sharp 5MP webcam that looks solid in use. It captures pretty crisp detail for a laptop webcam. Even in unideal lighting conditions, it does an excellent job providing natural exposure. It can get grainy and soft in darker settings. The webcam also has a very sticky privacy shutter that slides over the sensor. It’s made harder to shift back and forth by the lack of a prominent lip to get a good grip on. If you have very short fingernails, it could prove very difficult to use.  The mic setup on the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 works great. It uses a pair of far field mics and Dolby processing to good effect, though it doesn’t pull off magic. Mostly, it just captures my voice well without noticeably lossy compression even while running background noise suppression. That said, the Dolby Voice tool is meant to have the option to capture voices all around the laptop or just from in front of the laptop, and in either setting, I found that the laptop still captured my voice clearly from either side though always sounded different when capturing from behind.  The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 misses out on Windows Hello facial recognition but includes a small fingerprint scanner beside the keyboard. This sensor is small and slightly recessed, which can make it hard to press consistently while training it on your fingerprint. And I found it worked inconsistently, sometimes quickly unlocking after recognizing my fingerprint and other times failing multiple times in a row and prompting me to use my password instead. Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6: Connectivity Foundry / Mark Knapp The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 brings decent connectivity, especially for a laptop of its size, but it’s not leading the way. You’ll find a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports on the left, either of which can handle the system’s charging, alongside a full-size HDMI 2.1 port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The right side includes a 5Gbps USB-A port and a Kengsington Nano lock slot. It feels like there’s still room for a second USB-A port on the right or a microSD card reader, or maybe even both, but Lenovo didn’t include either.  Wireless connectivity lags behind a little, too. Though some configurations of the system can get more advanced Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, our test configuration sticks with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. It’s no slouch, hitting high speeds on a fiber-fed Wi-Fi network, but Wi-Fi 7 provides some promising advancements that this system will miss. Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6: Performance With a lower-power Intel chip and just 16GB of memory, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 isn’t positioned to be a performance powerhouse even among thin-and-light laptops. But that’s not to say it’s weak. It has enough horsepower to keep up with everyday office demands, and that shows in PCMark 10, which tests a system’s holistic potential in office scenarios.  In PCMark 10, we see it readily keep up with competing laptops in the video conferencing, web browsing, spreadsheet, and writing subtests. However, with its weaker integrated graphics, it does fall behind in digital content creation, and that’s enough to see it fall behind the pack.  Between its low-power processor and compact design, it’s little surprise to see the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 perform rather poorly in our Handbrake test. This tasks the laptop with encoding a large video file. Slower processors take a long time, and as they heat up under the stress of the task, they can wind up slowing down even further. This is what happened to the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6, which took almost 34 minutes to complete the test. The Acer Swift Edge 14 AI was nearly as slow with its higher-tier processor, but that was likely because it defaults to operating in a balanced power mode while the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 opts for a performance power plan when plugged in.  Another big reason the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 took so long to complete the Handbrake test is its raw CPU performance. We can see in Cinebench that it’s not a powerhouse. It leads the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI again thanks to its higher-performance power plan, but that’s a gap Acer could likely make up with a couple clicks in the settings menu. It also gets an edge on the Acer TravelMate X4 14 AI, which runs an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V and has four fewer cores. But next to the HP Omnibook X Flip 14 and Asus Vivobook S 14, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 comes across as pretty weak, and none of these systems push the high end of mobile CPU performance. Thankfully, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 remains fairly hushed while operating even when under a heavy load.  The biggest blow to the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6’s capabilities is its integrated graphics. While plenty of Intel Core Ultra processors have been bestowed with Intel Arc graphics that impress with their capabilities, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 gets simple Intel Graphics. It’s enough to stay toe-to-toe with the HP Omnibook X Flip 14’s Radeon 890M integrated graphics. But the rest of the systems here show just what a difference Intel Arc graphics can make in 3D performance.  Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6: Battery life All of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6’s performance shortcomings might have been offset somewhat if it mustered exceptional battery life, but it didn’t. Part of the issue is the laptop’s small 55Wh battery. Plenty of other thin-and-light systems are finding ways to squeeze larger batteries in. The Acer Swift Edge 14 AI squeezed in a 65Wh battery and even weighs less than the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6. Meanwhile, the Asus Vivobook S 14 added about a half-pound but squeezed in a 75Wh battery.  In our video playback test, the small battery and modest efficiency saw the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 only run for a little over 16 and a half hours. It’s a fair bit better than we’ve seen from recent AMD-powered systems, but pales in comparison to the 20+ hours that the Acer TravelMate X4 14 AI and Asus Vivobook S 14 managed. Considering that both of those laptops also tend to perform better and cost less, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 winds up in a tough spot. Never mind how far the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 falls behind the 24+ hours of the Snapdragon-powered ThinkPad T14s Gen 6. In practical use, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 doesn’t do too bad, though. Browsing the web, watching videos, and drafting documents with plenty of Chrome tabs open saw the system last for about nine hours, showing it has what it takes to make it through a modest workday. Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6: Conclusion The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 is a good machine for modest office needs. It doesn’t offer high-performance for a laptop in its class, nor does it provide staggering battery life. Instead, it focused on being a simple, utility machine. Its display is plenty bright and doesn’t struggle with glare. Its webcam looks great and its mics pick up well, so you’ll shine in video chats. It also feels like a well-built machine with a pleasing keyboard and trackpad. If video call quality isn’t a huge priority, I’d point most folks to the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI instead, which otherwise leads the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 6 in most areas and even costs less. Read...

The Wellington Mountain Bike festival kicks off this Friday with three days of racing, shuttle runs, food, beer and entertainment in three different trail spots around the city. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Attractive design and high build quality Gigantic 52-inch ultrawide display Lots of connectivity across Thunderbolt, USB-C, USB-A, and Ethernet Crisp 6144×2560 resolution Cons No HDR support Limited contrast ratio Very high MSRP Our Verdict The Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor is a uniquely gigantic display aimed at multitaskers who work across multiple computers. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Back in my day, a 21-inch CRT display was considered gigantic. These days, computer monitors can frequently reach TV-like dimensions—and the Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor is among the largest monitors yet. This 52-inch behemoth tips the scales at 40 pounds and ships in a box roughly as large as most 65-inch HDTVs. It also has an enormous $2,899.99 MSRP. So, is it worth the price? Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best monitors for comparison. Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor U5226KW specs and features The star of the show is certainly the Dell Ultrasharp 52’s display panel. It’s not only large at 51.5 inches diagonally but also pixel dense with a resolution of 6144×2560. It’s an IPS Black panel and offers refresh rates up to 120Hz. Display size: 51.5-inch, 21:9 aspect ratio Native resolution: 6144x,2560 Panel type: IPS Black LCD Refresh rate: 120Hz Adaptive sync: VRR compatible HDR: None Ports: 2x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4, 4x USB Type-A 10Gbps downstream ports, 3x USB-C 10Gbps upstream port, 1x Thunderbolt 4 40Gbps upstream ports with DisplayPort 1.4 and 140 watts of Power Delivery, 1x RJ45 2.5GbE Ethernet, 1x USB Type-A 10Gbps downstream, 2x USB-C 10Gbps downstream with 27 watts of Power Delivery Audio: 2x 9-watt speakers Extra Features: Light sensor, VESA mount Software support: Windows 11, MacOS later Price: $2,899.99 MSRP There’s a lot more to the story than the display panel, though. The Ultrasharp 52 has a focus on connectivity that spans a Thunderbolt 4 port, five USB-A ports, five USB-C ports, and Ethernet. It also provides 140 watts of Power Delivery over Thunderbolt 4, a serious upgrade over the more typical 65 to 90 watts. None of this comes cheaply, however. The monitor has an MSRP of $2,899.99 and is currently sold at that price. Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor design The Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor is big. Really big. The 52-inch ultrawide display provides roughly the same total display area as a 48-inch widescreen television though, due to its 21:9 aspect ratio, the Dell Ultrasharp 52 is a few inches shorter and about 5 inches narrower. It measures about 52 inches wide from side to side—that’s over 4 feet! It’s the widest monitor that I’ve ever reviewed, as it’s a few tenths of an inch wider than a 49-inch super-ultrawide like the Philips Evnia 8000 or Dell Ultrasharp U4924DW. Of course, that means you’ll need a large space to comfortably place the display. My desk has room at over 6-feet wide, but it’s not that deep at 26 inches, so I often felt I was too close to the monitor. You’ll probably want a desk with 30 inches of depth or more. The Ultrasharp 52 is also much heavier than usual. The panel alone weighs 28.5 pounds and the total weight with stand attached is over 40 pounds. By comparison, my 48-inch LG B4 television weighs less than 25 pounds. None of this is a downside, really, but it’s something you should know before you buy. Despite its size and ultrawide aspect ratio, the Ultrasharp 52 sticks to a subtle 4200R curvature. A lower number means a more dramatic curve, and many super-ultrawide monitors have a curve of 1800R or 1500R. The Ultrasharp 52 seems flat at a glance though the curve is easy to notice on closer inspection. While the subtle curve might not be preferable for gaming, I prefer it for productivity and creative work. A dramatic curve can slightly skew how content looks on a display. Matthew Smith / Foundry A beefy stand keeps the Ultrasharp 52’s bulk in check and provides some ergonomic adjustment for height, tilt, and swivel, as well as a couple degrees of slant (meaning the display can rotate a couple degrees in each direction). The amount of ergonomic adjustment is less than normal for a monitor at this price point, though that’s a consequence of the display’s size and aspect ratio. Rotating into a portrait orientation would be comical. Even swivel is restrained to just 40 degrees overall, as the display is so wide that it’s likely to start knocking things off your desk when you move it. Because of its size, the Ultrasharp 52 has not only a 100x100mm VESA mount but also a 200x100mm and 200x200mm mount option, which is extremely unusual for a computer monitor. You can even order the Ultrasharp 52 without a stand if you want to go straight for a heavy-duty monitor arm or a wall-mount, but this will only save $100. Build quality is outstanding. Large ultrawide monitors can sometimes feel a bit flimsy, but the Ultrasharp feels rigid and hefty. While I still wouldn’t want to drop it, the plastics didn’t noticeably creak or warp as I handled the display—something that can happen with monitors in this category. That’s good, because the monitor’s high MSRP would make build quality issues difficult to forgive. The Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor targeted at people who want to replace several smaller monitors with a single display… Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor connectivity The Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor is, well, a hub monitor. What does that mean? Put simply, it means it has a boat-load of connectivity. However, contrary to what you might think, it’s actually not all about Thunderbolt 4. Still, let’s talk about Thunderbolt first. The Ultrasharp 52 has a Thunderbolt 4 port with a 40Gbps data rate. This port also of course supports DisplayPort, so it can be used as a video input (and will work with USB-C sources that support DisplayPort). It also has up to 140 watts of Power Delivery, which is enough to power many Windows laptops and all current MacBook models. That makes for easy single-cable connections to a laptop. However, the real focus is not on the Thunderbolt input but, rather, what that Thunderbolt port connects to. This is where the hub comes in. Matthew Smith / Foundry The Ultrasharp 52 has a total of five USB-A downstream ports and two USB-C downstream ports. Most of these are on the rear of the display, but two USB-C ports and one USB-A port are in a pop-out module on the lower bezel. The USB-C ports on the front can deliver up to 27 watts of power, which is handy if you want to quickly charge a phone or tablet. The display can drive up to 150 watts of power overall. In addition to the Thunderbolt 4, these ports can also be driven by three USB-C upstream ports on the rear of the display. That means you can connect the monitor’s ports to up to four devices. A KVM switch is used to switch between them. A 2.5Gbps Ethernet port can also be found lurking around the rear. This is an unusual, if not entirely unique, feature for a monitor. The inclusion of an Ethernet port means you can bring high-speed wired Internet connectivity to a laptop or other device connected to the monitor. While the Thunderbolt 4 is really the star of the show in terms of video connectivity, as it also provides connections to the monitor’s many USB ports, you have a lot of other options. The monitor has two HDMI 2.1 ports and two DisplayPort 1.4 ports. Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor menus and features Although it’s meant for work, the Ultrasharp 52 is designed more for day traders than digital artists. Still, it does have a respectable range of image quality adjustments including gamma, color temperature, and color saturation calibration. Though it lacks a built-in or included colorimeter, the range of image quality adjustment available here will be enough to satisfy creatives who work with clients that don’t demand exacting color accuracy and tight conformance to particular color standards. The Ultrasharp 52 is compatible with Dell’s Display and Peripheral Manager software, which makes it possible to change monitor settings through a desktop software interface on Windows 11 and MacOS machines. The monitor is also compatible with remote management software that allows IT departments to remotely manage options across a fleet of displays. As mentioned, a KVM switch is included. That’s not at all unusual for a modern monitor, but the Ultrasharp 52 also has an Ethernet Switch Mode, which can be used to switch the Ethernet port’s connectivity along with the rest of the monitor’s connectivity. Matthew Smith / Foundry The monitor also supports automatic brightness and color temperature adjustment. However, I found that these features didn’t work well. The speed of adjustment between different levels of brightness, or different color temperature modes, was rapid and distracting. I also found the auto-brightness mode was often too bright, and while there is an auto-brightness range setting that seems intended to provide some adjustment, I was never happy with how auto-brightness worked and ultimately turned it off. Given its many features, you might need to read the Ultrasharp 52’s manual. Fortunately, Dell provides better documentation than most companies. This includes not only the user manual but also a service manual and teardown document with extensive detail, including photographs, that shows how to tear down and repair the display. Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor audio The Dell Ultrasharp 52 has two 9-watt speakers. They provide great volume and a robust sound with good clarity at most volume levels, though distortion can become an issue at the highest volumes. Audiophiles will definitely still want to use external speakers or headphones, but less discerning listeners are likely to be satisfied by the built-in speakers. That gives the Ultrasharp 52 an edge, as many monitors designed for productivity or business have weak speakers. Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor SDR image quality Like many recent Dell Ultrasharp monitors, the Ultrasharp 52 has an IPS Black display. This type of display panel, which is relatively new, boosts contrast when compared to other IPS panel types and retains the technology’s strengths in color performance and brightness. This is mostly good news for the Ultrasharp 52, though contrast remains a concern. Matthew Smith / Foundry The Ultrasharp 52 achieved a maximum sustained SDR brightness of 336 nits. As the graph shows, this is not all that bright for a display in this category, though it’s not dim either. Even so, 336 nits is more than enough for most situations. It will only seem dim if you’re in a room that lacks light control and has sunlit windows or a lot of artificial light. In addition, the Ultrasharp 52 has an effective anti-glare coat and matte finish. It does not readily show reflections, which are diffused across the display surface. Also, the display’s subtle curve doesn’t suffer the light-focusing effect that can increase glare on more dramatically curved displays. All in all, it looks bright and readable in most situations. Matthew Smith / Foundry Contrast is where the Ultrasharp 52 falls short in spite of the IPS Black panel’s improved contrast performance. A measured contrast ratio of 1960:1 is solid for an IPS monitor, and it looks immersive in brighter rooms. However, using the monitor in a dark room will still reveal the “IPS glow” which is caused by the monitor backlight. The effect is obvious and not uniform across the display, so it can be distracting. To be fair, the Ultrasharp 52’s overall uniformity is better than many ultrawide LCD monitors, but I still noticed a very slight increase in brightness in the lower right side of the display as compared to the left. My colorimeter confirmed this with a maximum brightness variance of 18.2 percent.You’ll need to ask yourself how you intend to use the monitor. If you want to use it for office and business productivity, or even for less color-critical creative work, the contrast offered here is fine. But if you want to game, or watch movies, you should consider a 45-inch OLED ultrawide like the LG Ultragear 45GX950A-B. Matthew Smith / Foundry While the Ultrasharp 52’s contrast is just okay, it does better in color gamut. I found the monitor can display 98 percent of the DCI-P3 and 90 percent of the AdobeRGB color gamut. These figures are slightly behind QD-OLED monitors, which tend to achieve similar results in DCI-P3 and 93 to 95 percent in AdobeRGB. However, the Ultrasharp 52’s color gamut is still extremely broad and provides a vivid, saturated image. Matthew Smith / Foundry The Ultrasharp 52’s color accuracy results are more middle-of-the-road. This level of color error is by no means a problem, but as the graph shows, it’s not at the top of the class. I noticed that a large amount of the monitor’s average color error came from the grayscale results, so I was not too surprised to find the monitor produced a gamma curve of 2.1, which is slightly off the target gamma 2.2. This indicates that the image seems a bit brighter and more luminescent than it should. It’s tough to notice though, so this isn’t a show stopper. The color temperature was also just a tad off target with a measured default color temperature of 6700K, off the target of 6500K. However, the monitor does have settings for both color temperature and gamma, so it’s possible to come closer to these targets—or whichever setting you prefer. Sharpness is an interesting conversation. The Ultrasharp 52 has a native resolution of 6144×2560. That’s more than 15 million pixels overall and almost twice as many pixels as a 4K display and results in a pixel density of 129 pixels per inch. While it’s definitely not as sharp as a 27-inch 4K display, the Ultrasharp 52’s pixel density beats the LG 45GX950A-B (123 ppi) and far exceeds most 49-inch super-ultrawide monitors (which typically pack in 109 ppi). Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor HDR image quality You might be surprised to hear that the Dell Ultrasharp 52 doesn’t support HDR. Most monitors in this price range do, of course, so the lack of HDR is a mark against the monitor. On the other hand, I respect that Dell didn’t try to stuff HDR into the monitor by ramping up the backlight and calling it a day—a tactic that is common among IPS monitors that claim HDR support. Still, if you want HDR, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor motion performance While the Dell Ultrasharp 52 lacks HDR, it does manage to provide a refresh rate of 120Hz. That’s a bit surprising given the monitor’s size and high resolution and it’s certainly good news for motion clarity and fluidity in games. Still, you shouldn’t get too excited. While it can handle a refresh rate of 120Hz, the monitor quotes gray-to-gray response times no lower than 5 milliseconds. By comparison, the quickest IPS gaming monitors have response times below one millisecond and OLED monitors have response times as low as 0.03 milliseconds. In practice, that means the Ultrasharp 52 will show more motion blur than a display with a lower pixel response time. The monitor also doesn’t have official support for VESA Adaptive Sync, AMD FreeSync, or G-Sync, though my AMD video card did detect it as an AMD FreeSync display. Should you buy the Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor? The Dell Ultrasharp 52 Thunderbolt Hub Monitor has a specific audience in mind. It’s targeted at people who want to replace several smaller monitors with a single display or want to expand their overall display real estate. That functionality is combined with lots of connectivity, which is handy if you want to work across multiple devices or need to connect a lot of peripherals. Those who want a monitor for entertainment will find the Ultrasharp 52 less appealing. It’s not bad in this role, as it at least provides a 120Hz refresh rate and a sharp, color-rich image. However, the monitor’s limited contrast and lack of HDR support are notable downsides. The monitor is also more expensive than OLED ultrawides which, though smaller, have even better image quality. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you’re looking for a gigantic display with well-rounded performance and top-tier connectivity, the Ultrasharp 52 is large and in charge. Read...

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After months of build-up, YouTube TV’s new Sports and genre plans feel underwhelming. YouTube started hyping up these plans in December, promising cheaper bundles with fewer channels you don’t care about. Sports fans, for instance, can get a package without news or entertainment channels, while sports haters can finally stop subsidizing expensive channels like ESPN. But while the new plans could save you some money, they’re not much different from other skinny bundles that DirecTV and Fubo offer already. In some cases, they might even be worse. False start First, a disclaimer: You probably can’t sign up for YouTube TV’s new plans yet. While they technically launched last week, YouTube says it’s “rolling these plans out slowly to ensure the best possible experience.” They may not be broadly available for several weeks. In the meantime, YouTube TV is still withholding some basic information. While it’s promising more than 10 genre plans in total, so far it’s only announced five of them: Sports Plan ($65/mo.): Local broadcast channels and national sports channels such as ESPN, FS1/FS2, TBS/TNT, NBC (including regional NBC Sports in select markets), Golf, NFL Network, and NBA TV, with ESPN Unlimited to be added in the fall. Sports + News Plan ($72/mo.): The above plan, plus CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, CSPAN, and business news channels. Entertainment Plan ($55/mo.): Local broadcast channels and general entertainment channels such as Hallmark, Comedy Central, HGTV, and Bravo. News + Entertainment + Family Plan ($70/mo.): Basically everything except sports, including kids channels such as Disney and Nickelodeon. Sports + News + Entertainment ($78 per month): Nearly the full YouTube TV package, but without kids channels. YouTube TV’s base plan, with more channels than any of the above options, remains available for $83 per month. Note that YouTube hasn’t released full channel lists for most of these packages (though Deadline got a channel list for the Sports package). It’s also unclear whether we’ll see any additional genre packages, or if the remaining five-plus options will just be different combinations of the Sports, News, Entertainment, and Family plans that YouTube has announced already. How YouTube TV’s Sports package compares Even with incomplete information, we can start to compare YouTube TV’s genre plans with the competition. The Sports plan, for instance, will be the cheapest way to combine local broadcasts and national sports channels if that’s all you want from a live TV service. At $65 per month, it’s $5 per month cheaper than DirecTV’s MySports plan, which launched last year, and $18 per month cheaper than YouTube TV’s standard plan. YouTube’s case gets stronger in the handful of markets that carry regional NBC Sports Networks. They’re included with YouTube TV’s Sports plan, but not DirecTV’s MySports package. (YouTube’s plans don’t include any other regional sports networks, while DirecTV offers a $20 per month MyHome Team add-on in select markets.) But if you want cable news, DirecTV’s MySports plan has an edge at $70 per month, versus $72 per month for YouTube TV’s Sports + News option. It also includes MLB Network and NHL TV, which YouTube’s bundle lacks. Jared Newman / Foundry (Click to enlarge or view on Google Sheets) YouTube TV’s Sports + News + Entertainment plan is interesting, in that it cuts out kids channels such as Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network. It’s only $5 per month cheaper than YouTube TV’s standard package, but that’s better than nothing for channels you might never watch. Those who want more price flexibility could look to Fubo Sports instead. At $56 per month, it’s cheaper than YouTube TV’s Sports plan, but it does not include NBC, TNT, TBS, or any regional sports channels. These bundles aren’t the only way to slice and dice sports coverage. You could also opt for some combination of ESPN Unlimited, Fox One, Peacock for NBC, Paramount+ for CBS, and HBO Max for TNT/TBS. But if you’re going to pay for all of those at the same time, you’re better off picking a bundle that includes all of their corresponding TV channels. YouTube TV’s non-sports plans YouTube TV’s other genre plans are a bit different from what DirecTV offers, at least from what we’ve seen so far. The $55 per month Entertainment plan, for instance, caters to folks who have no interest in sports but don’t want to give up local broadcast stations or general entertainment channels. Same goes for the $70 per month News + Entertainment + Family Plan. No other streaming TV packages like these exist on the market today. But as more kids tune into Netflix and YouTube, and as cable’s entertainment channels become bereft of original programming, the appeal may be limited. With its new genre plans, YouTube TV missed an opportunity to start bundling streaming services alongside traditional cable channels. That’s what DirecTV is doing with its $35 per month MyEntertainment package, which offers many of the same channels as YouTube’s Entertainment plan along with Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max. And while DirecTV’s MyEntertainment doesn’t carry local channels, you can combine it with DirecTV MyNews for $75 per month total. That gets you local channels, cable news, entertainment, and a trio of streaming services. It’s a more compelling package than any of YouTube’s non-sports offerings. Slice and dice Given YouTube TV’s status as the largest live TV streaming service—one that might become bigger than major companies soon—I thought its bargaining power would result in packages that are clearly better than the competition. The reality is more nuanced. The new YouTube TV genre plans can save you money, but you’ll still have to carefully consider the alternatives and choose wisely. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice. Read...

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If you’re looking for some fun websites you’ve come to the right place. We’ve got you covered to keep boredom at bay. TV Garden If you go to the TV Garden site you can choose a country from the world map by clicking on it and then get free TV channels from that location. There are tens of countries to try and dozens of channels available to watch. I found a really great news channel from the US that does round-the-clock news, but there’s also entertainment content available too. Dominic Bayley / Foundry Make my drive fun If you’ve ever planned a long road trip but not sure what sights you can see along the way, then you’re going to love this website. Make my drive fun, lets you plan a road trip and shows you fun stops along the way. No matter whether you want to stop at a museum or just gawk at oversized novelty landmarks this website has you covered on your next long road trip. Dominic Bayley / Foundry That’s all we have for this Try This. For more website recommendations be sure to subscribe to our PCWorld Try This newsletter. Read...

Although many PC manufacturers market their systems as great for gaming, work, entertainment, and everything else, most of them are only really good at one thing—possibly two. Indeed, unless a PC is built specifically for gaming or specifically for a certain professional workload, it’s unlikely to be ideal. A gaming PC can probably perform some of your work tasks, but not all of them. A standard office PC is almost certainly going to suck for gaming. If you want a PC that can truly do everything, you need to build one that’s designed for it—you need a hybrid PC. Keep reading for several tips on how to build a hybrid PC that’ll be everything you need it to be. Why can’t you use a work PC for gaming? Let’s get one thing straight: you absolutely can use a work PC for gaming, but you’ll be severely limited in the games you can play and the settings you can play them at. Most work PCs don’t have dedicated graphics cards (which keeps their costs down), so playing games means leaning on the CPU’s integrated GPU. Ryan Whitwam/IDG The latest versions of these integrated GPUs are capable of entry-level gaming, and they’re getting better than ever. (Intel’s newest Panther Lake integrated Arc graphics show stunning results.) But most work PCs aren’t using the best and most recent processors—and even if you are, you’ll still be limited to 1080p at medium settings in the latest 3D games. If you’re just looking to play lightweight indie games like Stardew Valley or older esports titles like League of Legends, you can likely play them on a work PC without much difficulty at adequate frame rates. But if you want to play anything more demanding, more modern, or more detailed, you’ll need to build a hybrid PC with that in mind. Why can’t you use a gaming PC for work? Since gaming PCs tend to be more powerful than basic work PCs, you can usually handle most workloads on gaming PCs without difficulty. If you’re just answering emails when you’re out of the office, any gaming PC will be more than sufficient. Pexels: Ron Lach But if you’re performing more demanding work tasks—like processing large data sets, transcoding video, any kind of 3D CAD work, or working with artificial intelligence models—you’ll need extra hardware that’s more capable than your average gaming PC. If you want to enjoy a singular PC for both work and play, you need to take the demands of both use cases into account. Tip 1: More CPU cores Most gamers are still playing on PCs that have just four or six CPU cores. While those PCs are perfectly fine for gaming and lightweight office tasks, if you need to get some serious work done, you’ll want more. Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry For a hybrid work-and-gaming PC that’ll be doing lots of multitasking day to day and perhaps a good chunk of demanding photo or video editing, you should pick a CPU with at least eight cores. Not only will it improve gaming performance, but it’ll give you more headroom for tasks that demand more multithread performance. That said, if you’re working with large data sets, doing 3D design work, or developing and testing AI, then you might consider even better CPUs if you have the budget. The latest ones with 16 or even 24 cores can make a real difference in such professional applications. Tip 2: 32GB RAM or more With the ongoing memory shortage, the last thing anyone wants to be buying in 2026 is more memory. Hardware prices are going up everywhere and we don’t know when the pain will stop. But if you want a high-performance PC for work and gaming, then you can’t skimp on RAM. The latest triple-A games demand 32GB of RAM as a recommended minimum, suggesting that more is even better—especially if you’re running other applications in the background, or streaming your games online while you play them. Nor Gal / Shutterstock.com For professional workloads, all that extra memory will help. Video editing, working with large databases, and 3D design work can all benefit from 64GB of memory. For particularly large data sets or running large AI models, you may even want 128GB of memory. Again, RAM is extremely expensive right now… but there are ways around it. Don’t underestimate the power of buying (or building) an older DDR4-based system with a Ryzen 5000 or Intel 12th/13th/14th-generation CPU. They aren’t cutting edge, but you can still get strong performance in gaming and work-related tasks while saving a good amount of money by buying older hardware designed for DDR4 RAM. Tip 3: A decent graphics card Although you can get by with an integrated GPU for lightweight indie games and older esports games, if you want to play anything modern at anything above 1080p and low graphics settings, you’ll want a dedicated graphics card. Ideally, a mid-range one. The Nvidia RTX 5060 and AMD RX 9060 XT are strong starting points, but if you want to play at 1440p resolution or even 4K, you’ll want something more powerful—like the AMD RX 9070 XT or even a Nvidia RTX 5080 if your budget can stretch that far. Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry GPUs like this typically aren’t needed for office work, but it’ll save your bacon if you’re going to be handling any 3D effects work or running a large language AI model. After all, powerful GPUs with lots of VRAM still outperform NPUs when it comes to local AI tasks. One last bit of advice for GPUs: don’t overspend on a top-end card if you don’t really need it. But don’t skimp, either. If you want to handle high-end gaming and/or professional tasks, you’re going to need it. Tip 4: A high-end monitor A good looking display makes a world of difference. You don’t necessarily need an OLED monitor for dealing with spreadsheets and PDF documents, but a larger 32-inch screen can make reading walls of text a lot easier. If you’re working with photos or videos, good color accuracy is essential. Displays with anti-reflective surfaces can make working in stark office lighting more comfortable on the eyes. Matt Smith / Foundry For gaming, you’ll want to consider higher refresh rates like 144Hz or 240Hz, plus higher resolutions like 1440p or 4K, depending on the graphics setting you’re targeting (based on what your GPU can handle and the games you’re playing). OLED is the reigning king for responsiveness and color vibrancy, but the latest Mini-LED VA and IPS monitors are almost as good (and more affordable). Tip 5: At least 2TB of storage Most PCs sold for work come with just 512GB of storage, which is easily maxed out with just a handful of installed games. For gaming, get at least a 1TB SSD, but ideally 2TB if you plan to install multiple triple-A games. (The latest ones can easily take up over 100GB each.) Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry Most professional workloads don’t need as much storage space—unless you work with photos or video, in which case all that space can fill up in the blink of an eye. Don’t buy more storage than you need, of course. (An 8TB SSD is likely overkill.) But having some extra space for games and apps you might want to install down the line is always useful. Tip 6: Aim for quiet cooling A lot of gamers want maximum performance and so tune their cooling to be maximally efficient, often at the expense of noise levels. That may not be a huge issue if you’re gaming in headphones, but you’ll probably want a more serene experience while working. Abdullah Abid / Unsplash Hybrid work-and-gaming PCs need plentiful cooling for both CPU and GPU, but consider tuning the fan speed curve so you get decent performance without the excessive noise of high-speed fans. You might have to sacrifice a little top-end performance, but the overall experience should mean you aren’t frustrated while trying to focus. Don’t forget your environment The hybrid PC itself is the main thing you need to get right for your work-and-play needs, but don’t overlook your environment. If you’re converting an office space into one designed for gaming, you might want to equip it with lower-key lighting for a more relaxed vibe. Furthermore, think about what your den might look like on a work Zoom call. Your ring light might be fine for conferencing, but the purple LED backlighting might not be the right mood for professionalism. What I’m trying to say is: using the same machine and space for both work and play can make it harder to do one or the other at times, so put in the time and energy to set it up right. It’s well worth the effort. Read...

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