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| PC World - 1 Feb (PC World)Microsoft is indeed making access to OpenAI’s 01 AI reasoning model completely free — but there’s a limitation and one which Microsoft is refusing to tell you about.
Microsoft said Wednesday that it would provide access to OpenAI’s o1 model, for free, to Copilot users as part of a toggle option called “Think Deeper.” OpenAI uses the o1 model in its paid ChatGPT plans and charges $20/mo for “limited” access to the model, and unlimited access to it for a Pro plan costing $200/mo. However, Mustafa Suleyman, the chief of Microsoft’s AI, said that the model would be “free and available,” and “everywhere at no cost” — potentially an enormous discount.
At the time, Microsoft representatives didn’t immediately reply to follow-up questions. But they (Microsoft) said Friday that there are limits to their new Think Deeper feature, which they’re keeping mum about.
“Usage of Think Deeper is limited by a weekly number of messages, with Copilot Pro subscribers having more turns per week,” the Microsoft representative said via email. “The exact amount depends on how many other people are currently using Think Deeper. When you’ve reached your allotted number of turns, you may get an error message, or the feature will no longer be visible to you during this time.”
Put another way, Think Deeper might just stop working and for unknown reasons. We’ve asked Microsoft for further clarification and we’ll update this story as we hear back.
We don’t know how many queries Microsoft’s Think Deeper will allow and it’s very odd that the company won’t tell you. Part of Microsoft’s sneaky price bump on Microsoft 365 is an AI credit allotment. You get 60 uses of AI on Designer or Copilot Plus. (Here’s how to turn it off and save $30.)
We can use OpenAI itself as a clue to what your Think Deeper rate limit might be. However, when OpenAI announced the preview version of its o1 model, it limited queries to fifty per week.
Thousands of years ago, mankind prayed to various gods and goddesses, offering sacrifices in return for their blessings. But the gods were capricious and would fall silent to humanity’s entreaties for unknown reasons. In return, the person was left wondering why the god had withdrawn its divine favor.
Today, the promise of Artificial General Intelligence (or AGI) posits that machines will eventually become as smart as humans and even surpass them with god-like intelligence. But today’s new gods of silicon and fibre are being taught that they can scorn a humble supplicant asking whether Captain America could defeat Spider-Man in a cage match.
Will we ever know why Copilot won’t respond? Microsoft, their high priest, is teaching them that they don’t have to. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 1 Feb (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
Pros
Integrated solar panels keep camera batteries topped off
Very good video quality, with color night vision
Local storage eliminates the need for an optional subscription
App is easy to navigate and rock-solid stable
Cons
Storage hub must be hardwired via ethernet
32GB of local storage in hub cannot be expanded
No continuous recording option
Cannot be expanded beyond four cameras
Our Verdict
The integrated solar panels in these Aosu cameras work wonders at keeping their batteries topped up, and a range of additional features only sweeten the pot for a compelling security cam bundle. But don’t commit to this system unless you’re willing to accept its expansion limitations.
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Aosu is a camera-centric smart home security brand that seemingly came out of nowhere (actually: China) some time last year. We kicked off our coverage with a look at Aosu’s Video Doorbell Ultra. With this second round with the company’s product line, we train our eye on one of its more general-purpose outdoor camera kits, the SolarCam P1 S1 system.
The “system” designation stems from the fact that the kit consists of two wireless, battery-powered, 2K cameras (each with video resolution of 2304 x 1296 pixels) and a Homebase hub (with 32GB of onboard memory) that must be plugged into power and hardwired to your home network (a 4-camera kit is also available, but it comes with the same 32GB hub). The cameras and the hub operate over a 2.4GHz radio frequency, and you interact with the system with a smartphone app and your home Wi-Fi network.
The quality of the cameras’ 2304 x 1296-pixel video recordings are top notch, and their lenses’ 130-degree field of view exhibit minimal image distortion.
Specifications
As we’ve seen with some recent Eufy Security cameras, the entire top surface of each of the squat cameras consists of an embedded 1.5-watt solar panel to keep its 5,000mAh battery topped off. Aous says this requires just two hours of sunlight per day. Each camera measures 2 x 4 x 5 inches (HxWxL) and weighs 0.9 pounds.
Aosu’s Homebase hub comes equipped with 32GB of solid-state storage for motion-triggered video recordings, but it’s limited to supporting four cameras and its capacity cannot be upgraded. Christopher Null/Foundry
The two-camera system reviewed here was priced at $299.99 (MSRP) at press time, but we found it on Amazon with a $60 discount coupon that slashed its street price to $240. You can add up to two additional cameras at $120 each, or you can buy a four-camera system for $460.
Since four cameras is the maximum number supported by a single hub, you’ll save money buying a 4-camera system in the first place compared to paying for a pair of add-on cameras later. In fact, we spotted a deal on Amazon that bundled the 4-camera system with an Aosu video doorbell for $400–$60 less than the 4-camera system by itself.
Setup and installation
Each camera can (and should) be charged by plugging a USB-C cable into the ports secreted behind a rubber flap (a short cable is included). You’ll then plug the Homebase into an AC outlet or surge protector and connect it to your router (or an ethernet switched plugged into the same) with an ethernet cable. Adding the cameras to the system then involves a slightly convoluted series of button presses on all devices, all of which must be connected simultaneously.
This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best home security cameras.
Each camera is attached to a ball-and-socket joint, which is in turn attached to a mounting bracket with four screw holes drilled into it. Just remove the bracket, attach it to the wall or ceiling (or any surface for that matter, thanks to the versatile joint) and re-attach the camera. All the necessary hardware is included.
The cameras carry an IP65 weatherization rating, which—according to our IP code decoder—indicates they are impervious to dust ingress and capable of withstanding water jets sprayed from any direction (though it’s unlikely they’d stand up to a pressure washer at close quarters).
Each camera has a front-mounted, motion-sensing LED spotlight that enables color night vision for motion-triggered recording. The entire top surface of each camera is occuped by a solar panel that keeps its battery topped off. Christopher Null/Foundry
I found the the quality of the cameras’ video recordings—again, with resolution of 2304 x 1296-pixels—to be top notch, and their lenses’ 130-degree field of view exhibited minimal image distortion. The cameras are fully featured, including motion detection, two-way talk (with an integrated voice-changing feature), and a very loud siren that can be set to go off when motion is detected, optionally at only certain times of the day.
Two night-vision modes are available, including standard infrared and a full-color mode made possible by a surprisingly bright LED spotlight on the front of the camera body. (This only turns on if you have color night vision active and motion is detected.) Both modes look good—arguably better than I see on most security cameras—and have longer-than-average working ranges.
While you can view live video on demand, recording occurs only when motion is detected—there is no continuous recording option available—and can be restricted to record only on human motion if desired. A detection zone feature is also included. As well, the camera includes a “scheduled sleep” setting that lets you turn off recording altogether during certain times, which might be useful if you find you need to conserve battery life or if you don’t have strong access to the sun. Lastly, there’s support for both Alexa and Google Assistant smart displays.
Day-to-day use
When I tested the product in the winter of 2025, sunlight was at a premium. But Aosu’s claims of being able to keep the battery topped off panned out well over about a week of testing; and in fact, I never saw the battery level on either camera dip below 100 percent, even though most of my testing days were quite overcast. Unless you’re operating in winter above the Arctic circle or are recording a subject that’s constantly in motion, I suspect most users will never need to recharge the cameras via wall power.
You can view a live feed from each camera side by side (or in a 4-camera panel if you have the 4-camera system). Video recordings, on the other hand, must be viewed one at a time. Christopher Null/Foundry
Live images can be viewed one camera at a time or with both cameras side-by-side (or in a 4-way panel if you have a quartet of cameras). Recorded video, on the other hand, must be reviewed on a per-camera basis, and it seems like a real missed opportunity not to have a canonical view that puts all recording history across all your cameras on a single page.
The one exception to this is if multiple cameras pick up activity either at the same time or one after the other in direct sequence. When this happens, the recording is tagged with “Cross-camera tracking,” and tapping an icon in the app takes you to a secondary page that lets you flip through each camera’s recording, giving you a look at a recorded activity from multiple angles.
These clips are played in sequence, not stitched together into a single video, so the effect isn’t as impressive as it could be, but it’s nonetheless a great feature to have, painting a more comprehensive picture of activity around your property than most competitors will give you. If you have four cameras positioned properly, you could theoretically watch someone walk entirely around your house and never be out of view.
The Aosu app is well designed and easy to use.Christopher Null/Foundry
Aosu doesn’t state a maximum clip length, but all clips topped out at a minute or shorter during my testing. By default, each recording is stored on 32GB of solid-state storage built into the Homebase hub. This storage cannot be removed or expanded; it’s hardwired to the base. Storage rolls over when it’s full and the system deletes clips after 60 days even if it’s not. Some other camera/hub systems—including Eufy’s—let you expand the hub’s storage by adding a physical drive.
Aosu’s cloud storage option
Aosu offers a cloud subscription service that offers “unlimited storage space,” but only for 30 days, with prices ranging from $6.99/month to $26.99/month (with per-year discounts available), depending on the number of devices you have. For two cameras, the cost is $11.99/month or $119.99/year. A cheaper 14-day storage plan is also available but it only works with a single device.
The only real features you get with a subscription are video storage that doesn’t automatically delete files as storage fills up, and the fact that the video is stored and encrypted in the cloud, so it can’t easily be stolen the way a physical hub in your house can be. Given that and the rather steep pricing, it won’t make a lot of financial sense for most people to buy a subscription.
Should you buy an Aosu SolarCam P1 SE System?
All told, I really enjoyed working with this bundle, much as I did with Aosu’s doorbell camera. Aosu’s app is easy to navigate, motion detection is accurate, clips load quickly, and nothing ever crashed or hung during my time with it. There are certain things it can’t do—such as continuous recording—and the ethernet-connected hub is a bummer, but these probably won’t be dealbreakers for most users.
A $230 street price for a two-camera system with a central hub for storage makes this bundle a compelling value. For some, however, two limitations will detract from its appeal: First, you can’t expand the system beyond four cameras; second, you can’t expand the central hub’s 32GB of internal storage, which might be problematic if you add twice as many cameras.. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 1 Feb (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
Pros
Excellent hardware design, with labels and a manual
Terrific power delivery
Absolutely stable once it’s up and running
Aggressive price
Three displays!
Cons
Can be a bit glitchy after resuming from sleep
Surprisingly poor storage performance
Driver update actually hurt performance
Ethernet stopped working, once
Our Verdict
Wavlink’s Thunderbolt 4 Triple Display Docking Station (UTD-45) really is a mixed bag. This Thunderbolt 4 feels like it was designed with care and performs quite well in places. But it also has a few quirks, including surprisingly low storage performance after an optional driver was installed.
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Wavlink’s Thunderbolt 4 Triple Display Docking Station (UTD-45) delivers a mixture of highs and lows, averaging out to a decent experience overall. You can see the care that was put into its well-crafted design…with a few glitches. In general, though, I can’t help rooting for this Thunderbolt dock, even if I can’t totally recommend it.
My experiences with this dock were generally good. I had previously listed Wavlink’s UTD-45 among our recommendations for the best Thunderbolt laptop docking stations based on a review by our sister site, Macworld. Put simply, this dock provides access to three different displays via a well-thought-out (and well-labeled) mix of legacy ports.
After reviewing the UTD-45 personally, however, I’m less impressed.
To be fair, Wavlink’s UTD-45 laptop docking station is primarily sold through Amazon — and that listing may have been shared with other Wavlink docks that the manufacturer also sold via the same page. Customers there complain that the UTD-45 had problems playing back video and that the dock became quite hot to the touch under load. I didn’t experience either issue at all.
Wavlink’s Thunderbolt 4 Triple Display Docking Station (UTD-45) measures 8.5 inches long by 3.5 inches deep and about an inch high, with venting on either end. It weighs about 1.2 pounds. While the dock is made of ABS plus aluminum alloy, the dock is also well ventilated at either end, with a second small vent running around the periphery of the dock. While all of that ventilation keeps the dock nice and cool under load, it does prevent the UTD-45 from being oriented vertically to save space.
I can’t help rooting for this Thunderbolt dock, even if I can’t totally recommend it.
Virtually everything on the Wavlink’s Thunderbolt 4 Triple Display Docking Station (UTD-45) is well-labeled, even the USB-C port’s power rating.Mark Hachman / IDG
Wavlink describes each port’s throughput on the front of the dock with a prominent label, and sums them up inside a downloadable manual, two features that I like to see. Wavlink even lists the ports’ power capabilities, all of which warms my nerdy little heart. In addition to the audio jack and LED-lit power button, the UTD-45 includes an SD/microSD 4.0 (312MB/s) card slot, a 10Gbps USB-C port capable of 30W, a generic 10Gbps USB-A port, and a Thunderbolt 4 host port capable of 96W of power delivery. A 31-inch cable connects the dock to the laptop, which allows me to put the dock on either side of the laptop and still snake the cable around.
On the rear, Wavlink includes two HDMI 2.1 ports, an upstream Thunderbolt 4 port that supplies 15W of power, plus a 2.5Gbps Ethernet port. There are also three labeled USB-A ports, two enabling 5Gbps and one that can transfer 10Gbps worth of data.
The combination of the chassis material and the adequate venting keeps Wavlink’s dock quite cool.Mark Hachman / IDG
Note that the Thunderbolt protocol only allows for a laptop to connect to two 4K60 displays. This dock allows you to connect a third display via Thunderbolt, but only via a laptop with DisplayPort 1.4 and Display Stream Compression. That’s enabled with most discrete GPUs and integrated GPUs in laptops with 13th-gen Core chips and their AMD counterparts. DSC also allows this dock to output 8K at 60Hz over one of the HDMI ports, but I do not test this because 8K displays are nearly impossible to find.
Most docks are plug-and-play, and the Wavlink UTD-45 is no exception. However, Wavlink does supply a downloadable driver that the company says should be used if downloads over Ethernet seem slower than expected. In my tests, downloading and applying the driver actually dropped download speeds by about 58Mbps — though the results of speed testing are subject to various factors, such as local network or WWAN congestion. That may have affected its storage performance, too.
How does the Wavlink Thunderbolt 4 UTD-45 perform?
I had a few issues with the Wavlink UTD-45. First, there were sometimes delays connecting to various displays. I sometimes needed to disconnect and reconnect the Thunderbolt 4 cable and even reboot on occasion. It also seemed to be a bit finicky while rebooting or bringing the laptop back up from a sleep state, and I occasionally removed and reinserted the cable to help it along. Once connected, this dock was absolutely stable — and since I started testing it over the holidays, I spent more time with it than normal.
The rear of the Wavlink’s Thunderbolt 4 Triple Display Docking Station (UTD-45) includes three display ports, if you run a display cable from the Thunderbolt 4 port.Mark Hachman / IDG
There were never any thermal problems at all, and the dock remained much cooler than some others I’ve tested.
At one point, however, the Ethernet jack simply stopped working. That was a little odd, given that I’d already downloaded and installed the driver that was supposed to solve any Ethernet problems. The outage persisted until I powered the dock — not the laptop — off and on. That solved the problem.
The dock’s power delivery was generally excellent. The well-labeled ports delivered pretty much what they were supposed to: a hefty 28.2W of power from the front USB-C port was plenty to fast-charge a smartphone. The rear USB-A ports provided 5.7W, good enough for bus-powered devices. Only the Thunderbolt 4 cable to the laptop fell a bit short. I couldn’t push it past 82W, a bit less than the 98W that Wavlink promised. That’s still good enough for most productivity laptops, however.
I was able to stream a 4K stream via Ethernet and across the Thunderbolt 4 cable without any issue at all — the laptop and dock worked together to prevent any frames from being dropped. (And, just to check, I played back protected streamed video from Netflix across the HDMI ports. It worked fine.)
In terms of storage performance, however, the Wavlink UTD-45 dock was slower than I’d like. I connected a test SSD to the dock and ran PCMark’s storage benchmark against it, part of my additional tests to see how well the dock transfers data between SSDs
Kensington’s SD5800T costs about $100 more than the Wavlink UTD-45, and its storage performance is about average: 130.74MB/s, when connected to the test SSD. Even still, the UTD-45 produced just 107.8MB/s using the same benchmark, and a statistically similar number while streaming. That’s one of the slowest storage results I’ve seen.
The dock performed similarly when I copied a multi-gigabyte folder of files from the SSD to the desktop across the Thunderbolt 4 cable. The Kensington SD5800T performed the task in 1 minute, 8 seconds, which was somewhat slow. However, the UTD-45 notched the same result. It was when I streamed video over Ethernet and copied the files in the background, that things got bad: The transfer time jumped to a lethargic 1 minute, 34 seconds.
Should you buy Wavlink’s Thunderbolt 4 UTD-45?
Wavlink prices its dock fairly aggressively, and I’m a big believer in factoring affordability into my recommendations. Once up and running, the UTD-45 didn’t give me any problems at all. It did feel, more often than not, that I would either have to wait or fiddle with the dock when rebooting or when resuming from a sleep state.
I can’t in good faith give Wavlink’s UTD-45 an Editors’ Choice award, because of its issues. But I still rather like it, too. Waiting an extra few seconds for it to copy a file might not matter to you. (Skip the optional driver!) Using the dock is a bit like starting an old, dependable car: You might have to fiddle with it a bit, but it otherwise runs well. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 1 Feb (PC World)Remember when you first signed up for Netflix streaming? It was nice. A few bucks a month for tons of good movies, some pretty decent original shows, zero ads, and you could finally ditch the nightmare that was cable.
Fast forward to 2025, and streaming is the nightmare. It splits up everything you want to watch across a dozen different platforms, all of which now have ads just so they can make you pay to remove them. They remove content constantly, they’re full to bursting with things you don’t care about or need (Hades the video game, a dozen horrible Christmas movies every year, and NFL games on the same ticket, what?) and the price is always, always, always going up.
From the consumer perspective, streaming video services are objectively worse than they were a decade ago. Frankly, these services are absolutely milking and bilking their users. There’s no real alternative at this point, at least if you want to watch new shows or the occasional streaming-exclusive movie that isn’t terrible. But there are ways to maximize your enjoyment and minimize your money spent.
Step one: quit.
Quit early, quit often
This isn’t a new idea — I first heard about it from my colleague Eric Ravenscraft years ago, and we’ve advocated for it on TechHive more than once. But it bears repeating. The streaming services don’t have any loyalty to you, and you’ll gain nothing by being loyal to them. Quit your subscriptions constantly, month by month if you want, and move on to the next one. Heck, we’ve said that cancelling your subscription immediately is the one trick all cord cutters should know.
The watch-and-bail setup is pretty simple. You sign up for any singular streaming service for just one month, taking advantage of any deals or promotions they’re offering to entice new suckers customers. You go through whatever you want to watch on that service which is exclusive to that service alone. Then you bail, and move on to the next one. Rinse, repeat, try to never be subscribed to more than one at a time.
ibreakstock / Shutterstock.com
There are some obvious advantages here. Shows and movies financed or produced by one service tend to stay on that service and not move around. Netflix made House of Cards, so you can’t watch House of Cards on Disney+. Hulu made The Handmaid’s Tale, so you can’t watch it on Max. So watch only the exclusive stuff one one service while you have it.
These aren’t universally true — Paramount+, “the home of Star Trek,” unceremoniously dumped Prodigy, and Netflix picked it up for its second season. Disney clawed back Daredevil and other Marvel series when it started making its own for Disney+. But in any given month you can generally rely on the exclusive content that’s already on a service to stick around for at least a month.
Have a plan
The way to maximize this process is to go in with a plan. I keep a list of all the upcoming shows (including returning seasons) that I want to see on any particular service, so when one of them gets three or four piled up, I switch to it and binge as much as my schedule will allow. For example, right now I’ve got Castlevania: Nocturne season 2 and A Man on the Inside qued up on my Netflix list. I’ll wait for at least one more show or movie to catch my eye (like, say, the Knives Out threequel) before I plan my next Netflix month.
Streaminganbieter
rafapress/Shutterstock.com
Also, it doesn’t hurt to memorize the general landing places for movies, if you’re waiting on them to transition from theaters to streaming. Some are obvious: Disney movies (including Marvel, Star Wars, et cetera) will come to Disney+, Paramount movies will come to Paramount+, two to four months after they leave theaters. Warner Bros. movies will eventually land on Max, the service that it owns.
Some (but not all) Universal Pictures movies will come to Peacock, as that’s an NBC-Universal brand. Sony Pictures is the only major Hollywood studio without an accompanying streaming service at the moment. And of course, any movie released to theaters explicitly by Netflix, Apple, or Amazon will make their way to those respective services before long.
Keep an eye out for deals
Obviously this approach will save you some money by keeping your subscriptions down to one or two a month. I like to use that savings to upgrade to ads, which again, are only there to make you pay more so they’ll go away. Enshittification strikes again.
But even beyond maximizing your allotment of time and money, you can game this system to be better for you. Streaming services are constantly hungry for new users. They’ll try to entice them with a free week or month of trial service before they charge, or several months at a discount rate. Keep an eye out for those discounts — for example, at the time of writing Hulu will offer you a month of service for free, and Apple TV+ is doing a week. Watch the usual deal sites for these opportunities, especially if one of your singular service lists is getting long.
Hulu
Sometimes these are restricted to truly “new” users, i.e., if you’ve signed up and unsubscribed before you’re not eligible. You can sometimes get around this by making a new account: use a burner email (or a slightly tweaked one) and a method of payment you haven’t associated with that service before. If you can swing it, these freebies are a great way to watch just one show or movie that’s exclusive to a service you otherwise don’t care about.
Infrequently there are some pretty good deals on year-long plans. I’m currently part way through a Paramount+ year-long package — I got it for $30, plus another $30 upgrade to remove ads. That’s half off the price, only $5 a month total, and I watch enough Star Trek releases throughout the year that it makes sense. (At least for the moment — damn you, Paramount, for canceling Lower Decks.)
Bundles of media are less appealing to me, if only because they tend to offer diminishing returns. Hulu and ESPN are both owned by Disney, so there’s a package combined with Disney+, naturally. But each overlapping circle of that Venn diagram narrows the appeal to users. It might be different for you, of course, especially if you’re sharing services among a big family.
Manufactured headaches
The streaming services are aware of these bouncing customers, and trying to minimize that behavior as much as possible. That’s why the “drop all the episodes at once” binge model that Netflix pioneered is no longer the de facto standard. You’ll need a minimum of three months subscribed to get through a new ten-episode season on a weekly schedule.
The solution is to wait until all the episodes are posted…but that requires some temperance, and leaves you out of “the conversation” and at risk of spoilers. Again, patience is your friend if you’re trying to maximize your money.
A newer wrench in this system is live sports. Previously the exclusive domain of “live TV” bundles, a la Hulu+ Live TV or YouTube Live, streaming services are increasingly claiming major sports events for their own walled gardens. Netflix got an exclusive on NFL games on Christmas day last year, with no way to catch them over-the-air, and many Thursday night games are now exclusive to Amazon Prime Video.
…just don’t ask about Monday, or Thursday, or Saturday, or Christmas.
NFL
That’s going to be extremely frustrating if you’re subscribed to the ludicrously expensive Sunday Ticket on YouTube, plus ESPN for Monday Night games…you get the picture. Enshittification in action. There’s no real way to counter this from a penny-pinching perspective, though you can always go to a sports bar or a friend’s home (or invite them to log in at your place) to catch a singular game you don’t want to pay for.
God, this just sucks
If this all seems like a lot of complication and effort just to save some money, it is! That might be the point — the easiest thing to do is just spend more money and make fewer choices. A lot of people are so sick of it they’re just going back to old-fashioned physical media, and who could blame them?
The silver lining here is that you have more choices for entertainment than ever before, frustrating as they might be. There are smaller, niche services like Dropout.TV, Crunchyroll, or Brown Sugar which are also more affordable. There are practically endless hours of things to watch on YouTube, and a lot of options to keep from paying Google’s ever-increasing premium to block ads. And if you don’t mind ads, and you’re not picky, there are completely free options like Crackle and Tubi.
Droput is great and it’s cheap.Dropout
There’s a stunning variety of video games in every shape and shade, and even ways to get them cheaply like Xbox Game Pass. You could also just, you know, do something not on a screen. I suppose that’s theoretically an option. They still make books, right?
All joking aside, both your time and your money are limited, no matter how much you have of either. Remember that if a service isn’t earning your money, you should stop giving it to them. I recommend an “entertainment audit” once a year, during which you evaluate what you’re paying for in relation to what you’re using, and seeing if you really want to keep it up.
Things are better than they were when your only choices were regular TV and cable. But not by much. And with other factors putting the squeeze on consumers even in affluent countries, I think streaming services that keep offering less and less while they charge more and more are going to meet some of the same harsh realities that the rest of us are dealing with sooner rather than later.
Further reading: The best streaming devices of 2025 Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 1 Feb (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
Pros
Attractive and functional design
Wide range of connectivity including Thunderbolt 4
Bundled remote is handy
Excellent SDR image quality
Cons
No Ethernet connectivity
HDR is available but underwhelming
Only a 60Hz refresh rate
Our Verdict
The BenQ PD2730S will call to creative professionals with its 5K display, but some will find its connectivity and special features just as alluring as its razor-sharp image.
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5K monitors are having a bit of a moment. Although hardly new (Apple first introduced a 5K iMac all the way back in 2024), 5K resolution was available from just a few monitors outside Apple’s ecosystem. That is changing, however, thanks to monitors like the BenQ PD27230S. It’s a feature-packed display that pairs 5K resolution with Thunderbolt 4 connectivity and a bundled remote.
BenQ PD2730S specs and features
The BenQ PD2730S is a 5K monitor widescreen, which means it has a resolution of 5120×2880. It’s part of a new breed of more affordable 5K monitors just now hitting store shelves. Unlike earlier 5K displays, this monitor has new IPS technology which roughly doubles the contrast ratio compared to most prior IPS monitors.
Display size: 27-inch 16:9 widescreen
Native resolution: 5120×2880
Panel type: In-Plane Switching (with enhanced contrast), 10-bit panel
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Adaptive sync: None
HDR: Yes, HDR 10
Ports: 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x Thunderbolt 4 with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 90 watts of Power Delivery, 1x Thunderbolt 4-out with daisy-chain display support, 1x USB-C upstream, 1x USB-C downstream, 4x USB-A downstream
VESA mount: 100x100mm
Speakers: 2x 3-watt speakers
Remote control: Included
Price: $1199.99
Resolution aside, the BenQ PD2730S is also notable for its connectivity. It supports Thunderbolt 4 as well as USB-C and includes a total of four USB-A downstream ports. The Thunderbolt 4 output also supports daisy-chain connections, meaning it’s possible to connect two monitors to a single video output on your PC.
Further reading: See our roundup of the best monitors to learn about competing products.
BenQ PD2730S design
The BenQ PD2730S is part of the company’s designer sub-brand so, unsurprisingly, it boasts a professional and attractive design. It has slim black bezels around the sides and top and a modestly sized chin below. Around back, BenQ relies on “powdered white” matte plastics which look clean and feel robust. Overall, the design is simple but purposeful.
A robust silver-gray stand keeps the monitor upright and provides a wide range of ergonomic adjustment including tilt, swivel, pivot, and height adjustment. The swivel and height adjustments offer more room to adjust than with many other monitors, at 60 degrees of swivel and up to 150mm of height adjustment.
I also like the broad yet thin stand base, which keeps the monitor stable while allowing owners to use the desk space that it occupies. If you don’t want to use it, however, the display panel has a 100x100mm VESA mount for use with third-party monitor arms and stands.
Matthew Smith / Foundry
BenQ PD2730S connectivity
The BenQ PD2730S is a 5K monitor, but that’s not the only thing notable about it. It’s also a Thunderbolt 4 monitor that provides a ton of connectivity.
Video connectivity includes HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4, and Thunderbolt 4 with DisplayPort Alternate Mode, for a total of three video inputs. This is one area where connectivity is a tad weak, as I’d prefer to see a second DisplayPort. Still, the available video connectivity is fine for most people.
The monitor’s Thunderbolt 4 port also supports USB-C, of course, and up to 90 watts of Power Delivery for charging a connected tablet or laptop. There’s also a Thunderbolt 4/USB-C downstream port with up to 15 watts of Power Delivery and support for daisy-chain video connections (meaning the monitor’s Thunderbolt 4 output can be passed to a second monitor’s input, which allows for cleaner, simpler monitor connections).
In addition to that, the monitor has a data-only USB-C upstream port that handles data rates up to 10Gbps, as well as a USB-C downstream port with 10Gbps of data and 7.5 watts of power.
USB-A connectivity is robust, too. The monitor has a total of four USB-A downstream ports. One offers 10Gbps of data, while the rest handle up to 5Gbps of data.
A KVM switch function is included and arranged so that the Thunderbolt 4 port provides one source, while a USB-C port provides the other. A 3.5mm audio-jack rounds out that monitor’s connectivity.
That’s a lot, and it should be well-suited for the monitor’s intended use. This is a monitor built for professional use, after all, and many professional users want to connect many external devices. The only important port missing is Ethernet. That’s something a few competitors like the Dell U3224KB provide (though, in that case, at a higher price).
BenQ PD2730S features
The BenQ PD2730S is not short on features, especially when it comes to color management and calibration. The company provides several software utilities including ColorTalk (a color matching utility for people lacking a colorimeter for calibration) and Palette Master Ultimate (for those who do have a colorimeter). It’s also compatible with Display Pilot 2, a utility that provides access to most monitor options and settings in Windows.
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Alternatively, the monitor’s options can be changed with a joystick on the lower right bezel or BenQ’s unique puck-style rotary remote. The puck is wireless and provides a quicker, more intuitive way to change settings. Not everyone will need it, but owners who make frequent adjustments to their monitor will appreciate it.
The monitor also features a pair of 3-watt speakers. As with most bundled speakers, they suffer from a lack of bass (as there’s no subwoofer), which causes audio to sound tinny and muddy at higher volumes. Still, the speakers are acceptable for listening to a podcast or playing ambient music at lower volumes.
BenQ PD2730S SDR image quality
The BenQ PD2730S is meant for creative professionals, so image quality is a high priority, and the monitor doesn’t disappoint. Though it’s not perfect, the PD2730S delivers an accurate, sharp quality that’s great for both creative work and general productivity.
Matthew Smith / Foundry
First up is SDR brightness, and here the BenQ PD2730S provides a strong score of 485 nits. While the Asus ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV scored better, the BenQ PD2730S otherwise runs ahead of the competition, including the Philips Creator Series 27E2F7901, another solid monitor for creative work.
Many people will use the PD2730S at some small fraction of its maximum potential brightness. However, its ability to reach a high brightness could be helpful if you work in a sunlit room or brightly lit open office.
Matthew Smith / Foundry
Contrast is a strong point for the BenQ PD2730S, though it does depend on your needs. I measured a maximum contrast ratio of 2070:1 which, as the graph shows, is a good result in line with other monitors that have an IPS Black display panel. The contrast improvement is noticeable when compared to monitors with a conventional IPS panel, such as the Asus ProArt PA278CFRV.
However, shoppers should know that OLED monitors can achieve an effectively infinite contrast ratio that provides a deeper and more immersive image with better detail in shadowy scenes. On the other hand, most OLED monitors are inferior in brightness in sharpness.
Matthew Smith / Foundry
The BenQ PD2730S has a wide color gamut that meet or exceeds 100 percent of sRGB and DCI-P3. It also reaches up to 89 percent of AdobeRGB. As the graph shows, these are excellent results that put the PD2730S in the upper echelon of monitors sold today. A wide color gamut is important for creative work, as it allows owners to see subtle gradations of color that might not appear on less capable displays. But it also provides a vibrant, saturated look in general day-to-day use.
Matthew Smith / Foundry
BenQ scores a big win in color accuracy with an extremely low average color error that beats similar competitors. In addition to that, I noticed the PD2730S achieved this result with consistently low color error across all colors (instead of a high error in one or two colors and very low error elsewhere, which can happen). The result is not only a realistic image, but one that should please creatives who need to know that the colors displayed by a monitor are accurate to how they will appear on other calibrated displays.
The BenQ PD2730S scored a tad off our gamma and color temperature targets, however. It hit a gamma curve of 2.1 (instead of 2.2) and color temperature of 6700K (instead of 6500K). These are minor deviations, and I doubt most would notice, but keen-eyed users could see a variance. I recommend taking advantage of the monitor’s calibration features, which includes the calibration software mentioned earlier and a wide range of gamma, color temperature, and color hue/saturation adjustments.
Sharpness, of course, is a strength. A resolution of 5120×2880 across a 27-inch panel translates to a pixel density of 218 pixels per inch, which is excellent for any PC monitor. You’ll only see a sharper image from the rare few 6K and 8K monitors, such as the Dell Ultrasharp U3224KB. The extra sharpness is valuable for anyone who works with high-resolution images and videos. It also looks great everywhere else, from Microsoft Excel to Civilization VI.
The BenQ PD2730S also has the company’s Nano Matte Panel, a specific display coat marketed by BenQ. It’s meant to reduce reflections and provide a more paper-like experience. The PD2730S isn’t BenQ’s best monitor for printed work, as BenQ offers a Photographer Monitor line-up which includes displays like the BenQ SW272Q. Still, I generally prefer a matte finish on my monitors, and I think BenQ’s Nano Matte Panel finish is excellent.
Overall, the BenQ PD2730S is an excellent general-purpose monitor for creative professionals. It will also appeal to shoppers who want a high-quality, color-accurate display with even better sharpness than a 4K alternative. If I have any complaint, it’s that the BenQ PD2730S doesn’t look much better than Asus’ less expensive ProArt 5K Display PA27JCV. But BenQ tosses in connectivity and features the Asus lacks, so it makes sense that BenQ asks more for its monitor.
BenQ’s Nano Matte Panel finish is excellent — it reduces reflections and provides a more paper-like finish.
BenQ PD2730S HDR image quality
The BenQ PD2730S supports HDR signals and is VESA DisplayHDR400 Certified. That, however, is a modest level of certification, and the information BenQ provided on the PD2730S made it clear HDR isn’t the monitor’s priority. The monitor is “suitable for users previewing HDR content,” but SDR is the focus.
If you do view HDR, the monitor’s limited brightness and contrast are limitations. The monitor lacks the brightness to reveal luminous details in HDR content, and it lacks the contrast to properly preserve shadow depth and detail when displaying small, bright HDR details in an otherwise dark scene.
So, as BenQ said: You might want to flip on HDR to preview HDR content, but it’s not ideal if you view, or work with, HDR more often than SDR.
BenQ PD2730S motion performance
Motion performance, like HDR, isn’t a priority for the BenQ PD2730S. It has a standard 60Hz refresh rate and doesn’t provide support for Adaptive Sync. Because of that, the monitor isn’t a good choice for fast-paced PC games, as it lacks the motion clarity and smooth frame-pacing competitive gamers require.
To be fair, this is currently typical for a 5K monitor. Acer revealed a 5K monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate at CES 2025 but it’s not yet available.
Should you buy the BenQ PD2730S?
The BenQ PD2730S is an excellent monitor, though one targeted at a specific audience. Its accurate SDR image, wide range of connectivity, and functional design with many image quality options make it a great choice for professionals, including digital artists and photographers, who want to work with high-resolution images.
Compared to Asus’ more affordable and similar ProArt Display 5K PA27JCV, the BenQ has more features for dialing in the image quality and better connectivity. I’d recommend the ProArt to most people interested in a 5K display as it’s often nearly as good as the BenQ and more affordable, but creative professionals shouldn’t be shy about paying more for the BenQ PD2730S, as its extra features add value. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | ITBrief - 31 Jan (ITBrief) SUSE has appointed Ben Henshall as General Manager for Australia and New Zealand, aiming to enhance its strategic growth amid rising IT challenges. Read...Newslink ©2025 to ITBrief |  |
|  | | RadioNZ - 31 Jan (RadioNZ) The country`s health boss says the US politician`s appointment as health secretary would be a disaster for public health in the world. Read...Newslink ©2025 to RadioNZ |  |
|  | | PC World - 31 Jan (PC World)Microsoft has launched business versions of its Surface Laptop (7th Edition) as well as the Surface Pro (11th Edition) with Intel’s Core Ultra 200 (Lunar Lake) processors inside, offering business customers a choice between x86 and Windows on Arm.
Microsoft also said it will release a version of the Intel-powered Surface Laptop with 5G capabilities later this year. Finally, Microsoft announced a new Surface USB4 Hub, which was designed around the Surface aesthetic but can be used with any laptop with a USB4 port.
Essentially, the new Laptop and Pro are third versions of the latest Surface Pro and Laptop, with similar specs and dimensions. In May 2024, Microsoft originally announced the Surface Laptop (7th Edition) as well as the Surface Pro (11th Edition), both in a consumer as well as a “for Business” version. Both of those offerings included Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chips.
Now, Microsoft is adding a second version of the Surface Laptop (7th Edition) for Business as well as the Surface Pro (11th Edition) for Business, but with a Snapdragon rival: the Intel Core Ultra 200 / “Lunar Lake” chip. Both Surfaces will be available on the same day, February 18, for the same starting price: $1,499. As before, the Pro will be offered as a 13-inch tablet, while the Surface Laptop ships in both 13.8-inch and 15-inch versions.
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop (7th Edition) for Business as well as the Surface Pro (11th Edition) for Business.Microsoft
(Microsoft’s naming scheme isn’t totally coherent, as its documentation refers to the latest Surface Pro as both the Surface Pro for Business with Intel Core Ultra processors (Series 2) as well as the Surface Pro 11th Edition for Business. Microsoft refers to its Snapdragon version as the Surface Pro for Business, 11th Edition.)
Copilot+ PCs, but from Intel
The important thing to know about these two new devices is that they’ve both received the Copilot+ designation. Both the new Pro and Laptop use the Core Ultra 5 236V and Core Ultra 5 238V processors, with an NPU capable of 40 TOPS; and the Core Ultra 7 266V and 268V, which offer 48 TOPS. Microsoft defines 40 TOPS as the minimum requirement for a Copilot+ designation, which allows users to use Microsoft’s AI-specific Windows functions.
Nancie Gaskill, the general manager of the Surface business at Microsoft, said the new Pro and Laptop would be “variations” on the existing Surface for Business devices. “For business, we want to make sure that we’re bringing customers choice, and that’s why you see us bringing both the Arm architecture and the x86 platform to those customers,” she told reporters in a conference call.
Microsoft first rolled out its Copilot+ program for Snapdragon PCs, then later supported AMD and Intel.
Though laptops using Copilot+-qualified chips like Intel’s Core Ultra 200 and AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 have already shipped, the three platforms aren’t equal; PCs with Snapdragon chips inside can use or at least test all of Microsoft’s announced AI features, including the controversial Recall feature as well as generative AI-enhanced composition and editing features for Windows apps like Paint and Photos. Recall was made available to Snapdragon PCs on November 22. Copilot+ PCs with AMD and Intel chips inside have been forced to wait for an update, and gained Recall and Click-To-Do capabilities in early December. The other features are still not available.
Instead, Microsoft is leaning more on Microsoft 365, rather than Windows itself, to take advantage of the local NPU. For example, with Microsoft 365 Copilot, users can dictate and/or ink on the Surface Pro, and Copilot will analyze and transcribe the notes, executives said.
Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop for Business is essentially the same as the older Surface Laptop, which has a Qualcomm Snapdragon X chip inside. Microsoft
The differing timetables between the two processor platforms is something that Microsoft’s Gaskill said would be addressed. “The first-party experiences we showcase today are coming to all silicon platforms,” she said. “That said there will initially be some differences in the timing availability of these features as we work to optimize the experience for each silicon. We’re working closely with our silicon partners to accelerate this development with the goal of bringing parity of these features to devices going forward.”
What’s in the new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro for Business?
The new Surface Laptop delivers 26 percent faster performance for multitasking, twice the graphics performance, and up to 22 hours of battery life, Gaskill said, compared to the Surface Laptop 5, a 2022 device. That laptop was based upon the 12th-gen Core series of processors.
According to Microsoft’s specifications, the new Surface Pro (11th Edition) for Business includes the same specifications as the existing Surface Pro. You can buy two models, either one with an LCD display and the other with an OLED display. The OLED option ships with an additional HDR display mode that is not available in the LCD model.
The Surface Pro ships with a 2880×1920 13-inch display that outputs 600 nits (900 peak nits in HDR mode) with Gorilla Glass 6 protecting it. Memory options include 16GB or 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and 256GB/512GB/1TB of removable PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. The 1.92-pound tablet measures 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 inches and includes an undisclosed battery that supplies up to 14 hours of video playback. The tablet has a 1440p front-facing camera, a 10Mpixel rear camera, and a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports that complement its Bluetooth 5.4/Wi-Fi 7 connectivity. Remember Microsoft killed the headphone jack in the Surface Pro 9.
Microsoft is also promoting its integrated Pluton security coprocessor, which complements the Trusted Platform Module. Pluton isn’t new; the security logic has secured the most recent Xbox Series X and S. What’s new, however, is that it’s Pluton rather than Intel’s own vPro technology which is being used.
Microsoft
Both the 13.8-inch and 15-inch version of the Surface Laptop (7th Edition) do include the 3.5mm jack, however, as well as two Thunderbolt 4 ports plus a 10Gbps USB-A port. There’s a more generic 1080p webcam. Wireless connectivity is supplied by Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.
The larger 15-inch Surface Laptop weighs 3.66 pounds and measures 12.96 x 9.41 x 0.72 inches; the smaller 13.8-inch version weighs 2.97 pounds and measures 11.85 x 8.67 x 0.69 inches. Physically, there are a few differences between the two: The 13.8-inch screen’s resolution is 2304×1536, while the larger 15-inch display is 2496×1664. Otherwise, the displays share the same characteristics: 1300:1 contrast ratio, Gorilla Glass 5, and Dolby Vision IQ support.
There’s one other small difference between them: The larger Surface Laptop contains a microSDXC Express card reader and an optional integrated smart-card reader.
Microsoft didn’t address a question regarding the future of its Surface Connector, the small magnetic connector that can pass power alongside data. Microsoft has chosen to use the connector for power only, transferring data across the Thunderbolt 4 port.
Thunderbolt 4 is simply the Intel-certified name for the otherwise identical USB4 port, which is why Microsoft named its new USB4 Dock just that. The dock connects to any laptop with a USB4-compliant port (which excludes the Surface Laptop Studio and Surface Studio 2+, Microsoft says) supplying 65W of power. It supports two 4K60 displays, with either one of two USB4/Thunderbolt 4 ports built in, as well as an HDMI 2.1 port. The 4.7×2.4 inch dock also includes a gigabit Ethernet port and a 10Gbps USB-A port.
Microsoft’s USB4 Dock will be priced at $199.99 and ship on February 18. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 31 Jan (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
Pros
Great GeForce RTX 4060 performance
High-end CPU
Solid build quality
Nice cooling and vent positioning
Cons
An RTX 4060 isn’t the fastest GPU
Display is a little dim
No fingerprint scanner or facial recognition hardware
Battery life is on the low side
Our Verdict
The Lenovo Legion 5i is a great value — a 16-inch gaming laptop with a screaming-fast CPU that also squeezes a surprising amount of performance from its GPU.
Price When Reviewed
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Best Pricing Today
The Lenovo Legion 5i is a 16-inch gaming laptop for the masses. While a GeForce RTX 4060 isn’t the highest-end GPU, Lenovo pairs it with a high-end Intel Core i9 CPU along with a great cooling system in an unabashedly chunky chassis. The result is a gaming laptop that delivers surprisingly high performance for the hardware — and at a very reasonable $1,399 retail price.
Further reading: Best gaming laptops 2025: What to look for and highest-rated models
Lenovo Legion 5i: Specs
The Lenovo Legion 5i (Gen 9) is a 16-inch gaming laptop with a variety of configurations — but all of them have an Intel CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics. We reviewed the Lenovo Legion 5i available through Costco for $1,399, although Lenovo offers other configurations elsewhere.
The Costco model includes a 14th-generation Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU with 24 cores, GeForce RTX 4060 graphics, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1 TB SSD. It pairs that with a 2560×1600 display with 165Hz refresh rate and 300 nits of brightness. On paper, it sounds like a solid gaming package for the price — not the highest-end GPU or display, but at a very reasonable price.
The GeForce RTX 4060 graphics hardware here can run at up to 140W of TGP (total graphics power.) That’s one reason why it outshines other gaming laptops with RTX 4060 graphics, which may be running that hardware with a lower power draw.
Model number: 16IRX9
CPU: Intel Core i9-14900HX
Memory: 32GB DDR5
Graphics/GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060
Display: 16-inch 2560×1600 IPS display with 165Hz refresh rate
Storage: 1 TB M.2 PCIe SSD
Webcam: 1080p webcam with electronic shutter switch
Connectivity: 3x USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1), 2x USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2), 1x combo audio jack, 1x microSD card reader, 1x RJ45 (Ethernet port), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DC power in
Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, Ethernet port
Biometrics: None
Battery capacity: 80 Watt-hours
Dimensions: 14.16 x 10.33 x 0.99 inches
Weight: 5.2 pounds
MSRP: $1,399 as tested
The Lenovo Legion 5i is an all-around high-quality gaming laptop and a great value.
Lenovo Legion 5i: Design and build quality
IDG / Chris Hoffman
This laptop has an understated design. It’s not the sleekest 16-inch gaming laptop. At an inch thick and 5.2 pounds in weight, it’s on the heavy side. The chassis is all grays and blacks. The lid and top of the laptop are made of metal, while the bottom is plastic.
Aside from the laptop being on the chunky side and the word “LEGION” on the lid, there’s not anything here that marks this as a “gaming laptop.” However, the keyboard does have four different zones of LED lighting — that’s where the colorful gamer aesthetic comes in, if you like!
The build quality feels solid. There’s no weird flexing when you hold the laptop, and it’s easy to open the lid with one hand thanks to all that weight. The hinge stays nicely in place. The hinge also tilts further back than the average laptop, going flat if you like.
The laptop’s blocky and chunky design helps with cooling: The cooling system works well, blowing hot air out of the back of your laptop and not out of the left or right side onto your mouse hand. The WASD area of the keyboard stays rather cool to the touch while gaming.
It’s a well-built gaming laptop for this price range, but it’s not a premium all-metal gaming laptop or the thinnest and lightest gaming laptop you’re going to find.
There’s a typical amount of bloatware preinstalled — offers for McAfee and Dropbox will pop up, for example. I’d prefer to see none of these nags, but they’re not a big deal as you can uninstall them from the Control Panel.
Lenovo Legion 5i: Keyboard and trackpad
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Lenovo Legion 5i includes a full-size keyboard complete with a number pad. It has four zones of LED lighting, so you can configure the lighting however you like — one color, four different colors, animated transitions, or no backlight at all.
The keys are a good size and feel decent to type on. This isn’t the snappiest keyboard I’ve ever used — it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of key travel. But the keys don’t feel mushy. It’s not the most premium keyboard, but it’s totally fine for gaming, typing, and anything else you might use a laptop keyboard for.
The trackpad is a good size and is in a good position — a little to the left, below the space bar. It feels nice and responsive when moving the cursor around, and the click feels fine and not mushy or clunky. (I do prefer haptic trackpads, but those are still tough to find.)
Lenovo Legion 5i: Display and speakers
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Lenovo Legion 5i includes a 16-inch IPS display with a 2560×1600 resolution and a 165 Hz refresh rate. On paper, that sounds pretty good — and it does look good when gaming. It’s a good screen. I was perfectly happy with it when playing everything from Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to the new season in Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred.
The display is on the dim side, though. It has 300 nits of brightness, I’d really like to see at least 400 nits. More premium displays often deliver much brighter screens as well as higher refresh rates. They may also use OLED panels — the IPS panel here doesn’t have the vivid colors you’ll find on a gaming laptop with a nice OLED display. These aren’t deal-breakers given the price of this machine, but you should be aware of what you can find in other machines.
This laptop’s speakers are okay. They’re loud enough to outcompete the laptop’s fans while gaming, and they have decent clarity. As usual with laptop speakers, though, there’s just not enough bass. I’m almost never a huge fan of built-in laptop speakers compared to a good pair of headphones or external speakers, so I’m picky. The speakers here are very average.
Lenovo Legion 5i: Webcam, microphone, biometrics
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Lenovo Legion 5i has a 1080p webcam. Webcam quality often isn’t a priority on a gaming laptop, but thee camera here captures an unusually good picture compared to the 720p webcams you’ll see on some gaming laptops. In fact, the picture seems clearer than some of the 1080p webcams I’ve seen on other gaming laptops. For a gaming laptop in this price range, this is a nice webcam.
Lenovo also includes an e-shutter switch at the right side of the laptop. When flipped, this physically disconnects the webcam hardware from the laptop. It’s always nice to see this kind of physical privacy switch.
The integrated microphone setup isn’t as impressive. It did a great job of canceling out background noise, but voice quality wasn’t as good as the best microphones I’ve used on other laptops. I’d classify it as an average microphone for a gaming laptop like this one. That’s fine as many gamers opt for external microphones or headsets.
Unfortunately, this laptop does not have any biometrics — no fingerprint reader and no IR camera for facial recognition. You can’t use Windows Hello to sign in without adding some extra hardware. That’s disappointing, as the circular power button above the keyboard looks like a great place for a fingerprint reader.
Lenovo Legion 5i: Connectivity
IDG / Chris Hoffman
The Lenovo Legion 5i has a good number of ports. In total, you get three USB Type-A ports and two USB Type-C ports.
On the left, you’ll find one USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1) port, two USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2) ports, and a combo headphone jack.
On the back bar, there’s a DC power-in port as well as an HDMI 2.1 out port.
On the right, the machine has an Ethernet (RJ45) port, a microSD card reader, and two USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1) ports.
I would prefer to see more of the ports on the back of the laptop instead of the sides, but I’m pleased to see the power port on the back — it’s always nice to have that power cable out of the way. Most gamers will find everything they need here with no need for a dock or dongle.
This laptop includes Wi-Fi 6E hardware as well as Bluetooth 5.2. The Wi-Fi worked well in our testing setup. It would be nice to see Wi-Fi 7 support. We’re right on the cusp of Wi-Fi 7 becoming widespread, and we should see it become standard in future gaming laptops with newer CPUs.
Lenovo Legion 5i: Performance
The Lenovo Legion 5i performed well in PC gaming and general desktop usage tasks. That’s no surprise — we’re talking about a machine with a beastly Intel Core i9 CPU, 32GB of RAM, and discrete Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics.
It is worth noting that, despite the high-end CPU and generous amount of RAM and storage, the RTX 4060 graphics Lenovo includes here are far from the highest-end part. You may end up with better gaming performance with a gaming laptop that pairs and RTX 4070 with a lower-end CPU and less RAM.
But benchmarks will tell the story. As usual, we ran the Lenovo Legion 5i through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. While it’s designed to be a holistic benchmark, the machine’s CPU is a huge factor in this benchmark. The Lenovo Legion 5i delivered a score of 8,751, which is a great score — largely thanks to its incredibly powerful CPU.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run Cinebench R20. This is a heavily multithreaded benchmark that focuses on overall CPU performance. It’s a quick benchmark, so cooling under extended workloads isn’t a factor. But, since it’s heavily multithreaded, CPUs with more cores have a huge advantage.
The 24-core Intel Core i9 CPU in the machine delivered excellent performance here, too — a nice high score of 10,888 in the multithreaded benchmark.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
We also run an encode with Handbrake. This is another heavily multithreaded benchmark, but it runs over an extended period. This demands the laptop’s cooling kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load.
The Lenovo Legion 9i finished the encode process in 725 seconds, which is just over 12 minutes. That’s another great showing that demonstrates the high performance of the CPU and how well the Legion laptop’s cooling works.
The laptop stays surprisingly cool and quiet throughout CPU benchmarks like this one. The keyboard warms up a bit, but it doesn’t get uncomfortable. The fans blow hot air out the back of the machine, but they aren’t particularly loud most of the time.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This is a gaming laptop, so GPU performance is critically important. We run 3Dmark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance.
With a score of 10,415, the Lenovo Legion 5i appears to squeeze a lot of performance out of its Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics hardware. It comes out well on top of some other machines with Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics we compared it to. But it still can’t keep up with a system with higher-tier Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Moving on to gaming benchmarks, we run a standard benchmark suite in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. While this is an older game, it’s a great way to compare performance across different laptops.
The Lenovo Legion 5i ran the benchmark at 138 frames per second. It’s getting great performance out of its GPU and CPU — impressively, it comes very close to the RTX 4070-powered Alienware m16 R2 in this benchmark.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
Finally, we run a benchmark in Metro Exodus. This is a very demanding game and we run the benchmark with high graphical settings. With an average FPS of 41, the Lenovo Legion 5i once again outcompeted the other RTX 4060-powered laptops we compared it to. But it came short of the RTX 4070-powered laptop, naturally.
Overall, this machine delivers great performance. But don’t get too distracted by its high-end CPU when comparing machines — for most gaming tasks, the GPU is what matters most.
Lenovo Legion 5i: Battery life
The Lenovo Legion 5i has an 80 Watt-hour battery, which is a good size. But it’s also a 5.2-pound gaming laptop and those don’t tend to deliver the best battery life.
IDG / Chris Hoffman
To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat in the Movies & TV app on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled until the laptop suspends itself. (We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness and turn off the keyboard backlight for our battery benchmarks.) This is a best-case scenario for any laptop since local video playback is so efficient and real battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this.
In our standard battery life rundown test, the Lenovo Legion 5i lasted for an average of 303 minutes before suspending itself — that’s just over five hours. It’s a little on the low side for a gaming laptop thanks to that power-hungry CPU, but I’ve seen much worse from gaming laptops. Still, if battery life is a priority, this may not be the machine for you.
Lenovo Legion 5i: Conclusion
The Lenovo Legion 5i is an all-around high-quality gaming laptop and a great value. It’s not the most premium machine, but it’s a very good price for a gaming laptop with discrete Nvidia graphics, a screaming fast Intel Core i9 CPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB solid-state drive.
While the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics here is far from the fastest part, this machine is set up to squeeze lots of gaming performance out of its hardware.
Laptops with higher-end graphics — a GeForce RTX 4070 and up — will perform better in games, even if their other specs appear lower. But they’re also more expensive: That RTX 4070-powered Alienware m16 R2 we compared it to costs $1,849. That’s $449 more than the Lenovo Legion 5i.
Of course, Nvidia’a GeForce RTX 50-series parts are on the way. Laptops like this one might end up on a good sale price soon. But, in the current market, this machine is a good buy even at its retail price. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | RadioNZ - 30 Jan (RadioNZ) The country is short of 1000 doctors, the General Practitioners Aotearoa sector group says. Read...Newslink ©2025 to RadioNZ |  |
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