At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Highly automated and effective data removal Extremely easy to use Transparent removal tracking and progress Strong privacy standards Cons Verification of data removals is limited Ultimate plans are expensive Our Verdict Incogni’s automated data removal service expertly leverages privacy laws to compel data brokers to delete your personal information across hundreds of sites. The service is easy to use, secure, and effective at large-scale data deletion, though users must extend some level of faith in its confirmation process and pay a premium for the full feature set. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today 1 month$15.98/month12 months$95 ($7.99.mo)See all plans & pricing at Incogni Incogni in brief: Data removal sites: 420+, plus an additional 2,000+ custom removals Data removed information: Yes, for every site Identity monitoring: No Free version available: No Cost: $15.98 per month, or $95 for one year Most people are unaware of just how much of their data is out on the web available for anyone to buy and sell. Most of this is done by data-aggregator and data-broker websites which hoover up as much info as possible about as many people as possible. They then match this data to each individual to create personal profiles that are then packaged and sold online. There are so many of these data-broker sites now that it’s nearly impossible to remove your data from each on your own. As a result, a number of personal data-removal services have cropped up to help customers with this process. Incogni, from the famous VPN Surfshark, is probably the most famous and popular data-removal service—at the time of this writing it has processed over 245 million removal requests It makes the entire process of removing your data from these sites easy and effective. All requests are automated and the service even continually sends new requests to make sure your data never reappears in the future. What are Incogni’s features and services? Incogni is a personal data-removal service that delivers in an easy and automated format. Using its database of more than 420 data-broker websites, it sends removal requests on your behalf and requests that your data be added to suppression lists so it doesn’t reappear, and follows up every 60 to 90 days for as long as you’re subscribed. The service takes advantage of privacy laws in both the U.S. and EU to force data brokers into compliance. It leverages these legal frameworks in a really clever way too—the removal of your personal data is not only a request, but actually a compulsory legal requirement. All of the removal requests and their progress can be found under the Dashboard in your Incogni account on its website. Each request is shown as “In progress” or “Completed” based on whether the data broker has processed and confirmed the removal. Incogni shows detailed information relating to each removal request including when it was processed and completed, plus what data was removed. Sam Singleton You can click on the drop-down next to each request to see more detailed information including the data removed and a summary of the data-broker site itself. Each request comes with a unique ID and shows the last time it was updated and the average resolution time for the request as well. Incogni will follow-up with additional removal requests periodically to ensure your data doesn’t reappear on that site in the future. If you opt for the Ultimate or Family Ultimate plans, you’ll also gain access to Incogni’s Custom Removals feature. With this tool you can manually add your own data broker or public search sites not covered by the service’s automatic removals. When I reached out to Incogni about this tool, a representative assured me that each individual Custom Removal request is personally handled by an Incogni agent. As far as I know, there is no other service on the market that gives its customers the same individualized attention. That alone should be applauded. Incogni’s Custom removals are easy to set up and each request receives individualized attention. Incogni Custom removals can also cover sites outside of data brokers and traditional public search sites. This includes business and company information sites, legal resources, limited court record sites, and more. Not everything can be removed, but Incogni will give it a try if it can. As you are allowing Incogni to handle a lot of highly personal data, you want to make sure your data is in safe hands. According to its privacy policy, Incogni only shares your personal data to process a removal request with each data broker.  It does not sell, nor ever has sold, the personal data of customers. It complies with all personal rights according to U.S. and EU data protection laws. Customer data is only retained for a maximum of 12 months after you cancel the service. Finally, Incogni underwent a third-party security audit by Deloitte in August 2025 and the firm gave it a successful third-party assurance rating. These all lead me to believe that Incogni is doing its part to maintain the integrity of the vast user data it’s privy to. How much does Incogni cost? Incogni offers four subscription tiers: Standard, Unlimited, Family, and Family Unlimited. Each tier is offered in either a monthly plan or annual plan.  The Standard and Family plans are nearly identical, as are the Unlimited and Family Unlimited. Opting for the “family” versions of each provides the same service for up to five members on a single plan. The Standard plan is offered for $15.98 per month or $95 annually (at $7.99 per month), which is a 50 percent discount. With the Standard plan you get access to automated removal requests for over 420 data broker sites, up to three different emails, phone numbers, and addresses per person, plus recurring removals as long as your subscription lasts. The Ultimate plan is $29.98 per month or $179 annually (at $14.99 per month). If you opt for the Ultimate plan, you’ll get everything from the Standard plan plus unlimited custom removal requests for over 2,000 additional sites, plus live phone support. While the monthly price does seem expensive, the annual plans are much more affordable. Additionally, while data brokers have between 30 and 45 days to respond to a removal request, Incogni will continue to finish up any outstanding removals even if your subscription runs out.  Incogni also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all plans, which is even more incentive to give it a try if you’re curious. Incogni: Getting started You can add up to three emails, addresses, and phone numbers to your Incogni profile. Incogni Getting started with Incogni is pretty straightforward. After sign-up you can create your account and begin entering your personal data. This includes emails, addresses, phone numbers, and names or aliases you may be associated with, plus your birth date.  The service allows each user to enter up to three emails, phone numbers, and home addresses—each email needs to be verified though. I would recommend that everyone take advantage of this and fill up these extra data points, even if you haven’t used these old addresses or numbers in a long time. Old data has a funny way of following you around years or even decades later. After you enter in this information, Incogni will ask you to grant it the power to make requests on your behalf and away you go. Incogni will take over at this point and begin automatically sending out removal requests to known data-broker sites. You can see each request and its progress on the dashboard. The number of requests will balloon quickly. Just on my first day alone Incogni had sent out 585 requests, and each time I reloaded the page more and more were marked as completed. I received a few emails such as this directly from data brokers confirming my data was removed.Sam Singleton Once the requests begin, you may receive some emails from data brokers themselves verifying that they have removed your data from their sites. For me personally, I only received two or three over the course of a few weeks. The vast majority of these verification emails are sent directly to Incogni so you won’t be spammed. How are Incogni’s results over time? From day one Incogni was showing results. This honestly surprised me as data brokers have a month or more to respond to data removal requests. Additionally, Incogni itself shows the “Average resolution time” for each data broker under the Requests tab and most of them have averages in the two to three week range. Still, after just 24 hours I already had multiple pages of completed removals. Flash forward to a month later and I now have 743 requests sent, 662 removals completed, and 81 still in progress.  The Incogni Dashboard shows a graph displaying requests, time saved, and suppression list entries. Sam Singleton A neat little addition that Incogni includes on the dashboard is the amount of “Time saved” which is based on an estimate of how long it would take to submit each request manually. In just this short amount of time it claims to have saved me over 496 hours—which amounts to an insane amount of overtime I’d have had to put in just to do this myself. Another useful thing that Incogni does is request not only that your data be removed, but also a request to suppress your data. This means that a data broker has agreed to never re-collect any of your personal information in the future.  As of the time of writing, I have 102 suppression list entries, meaning that I’ll never have to worry about those sites collecting my data again. This is, at least, in theory. While I can dig into the requests page and see which brokers are suppressing my data, I would need to individually reach out to each to confirm this. Something that I, and most other people don’t have the time to do. It should be noted that while Incogni does not verify that your data has been removed on private data broker sites, it does verify removals on public search sites. In fact, this is the inherent problem with Incogni’s service: As most removal confirmations are sent to Incogni, you have to trust that the data it claims it removed has actually been removed. Of course, Incogni isn’t the only personal data-removal service that has this problem—it’s inherent to the entire industry.  To Incogni’s credit, they do this on purpose so that you aren’t spammed with hundreds, or even thousands, of removal confirmation emails. Out of curiosity, I visited a few public search sites at random from the list of those confirmed to be removed by Incogni just to check if my data was truly wiped.  All except one, Spokeo, had indeed removed any trace of me from their website. Spokeo still had a profile on me, but due to it being behind a paywall I wasn’t able to verify what data it had. This isn’t exactly an issue with Incogni’s service, rather these public search sites that don’t agree to suppression often re-add profiles over time.  Incogni tries to keep these recurrences to a minimum by periodically resubmitting new removal requests. And indeed, a new pending request by Incogni was already underway for Spokeo when I checked. Incogni occassionally asks you to verify records it found that may be associated with you in order to further enhance its services. Sam Singleton At the top of the Incogni Dashboard, I occasionally found a red banner indicating that Incogni found additional records that might belong to me. When I clicked on the banner, it took me to a “Verify your record” screen where I was asked to double-check some possible aliases that Incogni had identified as potential matches.  Most of these were only tangentially related to me—same first name, similar ages, etc. Some of them were obviously not me with completely different info that left me baffled as to why they would be potential matches.  When I questioned Incogni about this they said that the record verification tool is constantly learning and improving upon itself. As it’s still relatively new, it may produce results that seem puzzling. They assured me that over time—and with enough user input—the tool would become much more precise. So for now, users have an incentive to sort through the head-scratchers in order to improve the algorithm and receive more accurate results in the future. What data does Incogni remove? Incogni checks for personal data on both public search sites as well as private data brokers. As mentioned previously, this list currently totals over 420 sites.  The type of information that Incogni sends removal requests for include any current or former names, physical addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers associated with you. The more information you provide to Incogni, the more effective it is at removing all of your data. This is why it’s always a good idea to fill in all available physical address, email, and phone number slots allowed on your profile in Incogni.  For public search sites, Incogni checks for your information first, then sends a removal request. Once the removal has been confirmed, Incogni verifies the removal and provides you with all of the information removed. As for private data brokers, the process is a little trickier. These companies have the ability to stock up a lot more data on an individual user and generally keep their practices (and clients) hidden. Consequently, it’s next to impossible for Incogni to verify your data with these sites. Instead, it takes a shotgun approach by sending out mass removal requests to all the private data brokers it tracks, requesting that your data be removed. It doesn’t check that your data has been removed; it just marks the status as “Completed” when the broker confirms the removal. While this might seem unreliable, most of these data brokers are located in the U.S. or EU where there are massive fines for mishandling removal requests thanks to laws such as the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act). Therefore, it’s safe to assume that these removal confirmation responses that Incogni receives are true. Is Incogni worth it? Yes, Incogni is absolutely worth using for anyone who values their privacy. Keeping personal info off the internet is an important step in combating identity theft, scammers, harassment, and more. Incogni automates the entire process making it dead simple to use—it’s as easy as just setting and forgetting. It can be hard to justify another monthly (or yearly) subscription in today’s world, but the payoff in privacy with Incogni can be huge. I do wish that there was a way to see removal confirmations from each site rather than just trusting Incogni that it received them on your behalf. Still, that’s a minor gripe and if you put in the legwork you can probably verify this yourself. Overall, the service works quickly and efficiently to remove and suppress data brokers from collecting and selling your personal information. When it comes to data-removal services, Incogni is the one to beat. Editor’s note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to text or our final review verdict will be noted at the top of this article. Read...

When your internet is running slow it can be beyond frustrating. Grappling with downloading or uploading files when your internet is chugging along can be tedious. Figuring out why your connection has gone slow is a must-do if you’re to overcome the problem. But where to start? Here are five common reasons your internet could be running slow that you can use as a guide. 1. Network congestion Network congestion is like a traffic jam on your data highway. It occurs when there is more data trying to travel across a network than the available bandwidth can handle. The overload leads to annoying performance issues, such as increased latency. A common cause can be when too many devices are connected to your network at the one time. There’s not much you can do about it except maximize your internet plan with your service provider or find a service provider whose network doesn’t suffer as bad congestion. You might also decide to use your internet at times other than peak times. 2. Background applications consuming bandwidth If you’re running programs or downloading large files in the background while surfing the web, you might be consuming your available bandwidth as those programs or downloads clock up megabytes. You might not even be aware of the apps and programs running and the effects they’re having on your internet speed. To prevent that happening you should regularly check to see what background processes are running and close unused apps and programs to free up bandwidth for other important tasks. 3. IP throttling Some internet service providers deliberately slow down internet connections. This can be done for a variety of reasons. For example, for users that have reached certain data limits, to ease congestion or to prioritize other traffic. Throttling can affect your overall internet experience making activities like streaming, downloading, browsing, or gaming slower than usual. In some cases, a VPN can help prevent IP throttling by changing your IP address, or the home address that your internet service provider sees as belonging to your connection. PCWorld reviews VPNs, so be sure to check out our list of the best VPNs. Pexels: Jakob Zerdzicki 4. Malicious software or viruses Viruses and other malware can affect your internet speed in a number of ways. They can run in the background of your PC, consuming your computer’s CPU and memory resources. Alternatively, they can chew up bandwidth by downloading or uploading files without your knowledge. In some cases, viruses can even infect your router causing it to malfunction or slow down. Viruses can also conduct malicious activities like Distributed Denial of Service (DDos attacks) which can further degrade your internet performance. Make sure you are using a reliable antivirus program, such as one of those that PCWorld recommeneds. 5. Outdated or broken router When all is said and done, if your internet is slow and there is no apparent reason, you could have a router suffering from technical difficulties. Alternatively, your router might just be old and not support the latest technological standards, or the firmware could be out of date. If you can’t just update the firmware, you’re going to need a new router to facilitate faster speeds and get you back surfing the web in double time. Related content 7 warning signs your computer was hacked — and what to do Solve your Wi-Fi problems with these smart router settings How to speed up your laptop without spending a dime Read...

Email platforms in web browsers are very popular and easy to use. However, Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo each have their pitfalls. Many marketing messages, spam, or phishing attempts use tracking pixels, which are designed to spy on the user and send information back to the sender. With the Trocker browser extension for Google Chrome and compatible browsers (Edge, Brave, Opera, etc.), you can prevent spying and block any feedback. Once installed, the extension automatically scans your inbox and searches for emails containing tracking pixels. The Trocker browser extension offers protection against spying via tracking pixels. The T icons warn users and block access.Foundry When you open these emails, the tool marks the trackers with a T symbol on a grey background to the right of the sender’s address. If you move the mouse pointer over the icon, the extension displays the target address of the tracking pixel in a pop-up. Clicking on the icon deactivates the blocking of the link. Trocker also marks the position in the email with a purple T icon. Read...

Security expert Troy Hunt, who operates Have I Been Pwned, recently received 2 billion unique email addresses that were found across multiple malicious lists and internet sources, including 1.3 billion unique passwords. Like the 183 million breached email addresses from before, this data comes from an aggregated collection by security firm Synthient, which collates and summarizes from various data leaks. After processing, the data set now only contains unique credentials (i.e., no duplicate combinations) that were intercepted by Infostealer software. These were either freely available on the internet or could be collected via Telegram groups. You should definitely check the HIBP website to see if your accounts are compromised. How the data was checked In a blog post, Troy Hunt describes how he checked the data records for correctness and accuracy. Firstly, he entered his own name and found an old email address from the 90s that he had actually used. He also found several linked passwords, but only one actually belonged to his account. He then contacted several people who followed his email list, who were also asked to check their data. Some stated that they had found old passwords that were no longer used, while others also discovered current access data for their accounts. Some of the data therefore dated back several decades, while other data was new. Hackers also use this procedure of trying out different combinations. With “credential stuffing” (as this method is called), it doesn’t matter how old the data is. Since many people rarely change their passwords, attackers can test out various known credentials until they eventually succeed. Even insecure passwords (such as “12345”), dates of birth, or names can be cracked quickly. Check if your password is compromised Hunt uploaded the passwords to his Pwned Passwords database, where you can also check whether a particular password has already been cracked. The passwords are saved without an associated email address, so it’s only about the security of the password itself. For security purposes, it doesn’t matter whether you have already used an insecure password or someone else has: “If you have a password of ‘Fido123!’ and you find it’s been previously exposed (which it has), it doesn’t matter if it was exposed against your email address or someone else’s. It’s still a bad password because it’s named after your dog followed by a very predictable pattern. If you have a genuinely strong password and it’s in Pwned Passwords, then you can walk away with some confidence that it really was yours. Either way, you shouldn’t ever use that password again anywhere.” Hunt recommends regularly checking your own passwords and email accounts (even if they’re just throwaway email addresses). After all, you never know who else could get hold of your data. Further reading: How to check if your email address is compromised Read...

The dirty secret with Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks is that they’re great for piracy, but maybe not for much longer. Amazon confirmed this week that it will block Fire TV apps that provide access to pirated content, including apps that users sideload onto their devices from outside Amazon’s Appstore. Amazon is working with Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), an anti-piracy coalition for the entertainment industry, to identify offending apps. The news was first reported by The Sun and confirmed by AFTVNews. If you’re not using a Fire TV device for anything illicit, you might not see the problem. But the move is also part of a broader push by Amazon to lock down what people can do with their devices, for legitimate purposes or not. Those who bought a Fire TV with the expectation of an open platform may soon wind up with a different kind of device entirely. What’s a piracy app, anyway? Neither Amazon nor ACE has disclosed which specific apps they plan to block or how they will define a piracy app. One concern is that apps with legitimate uses could become collateral damage. In 2015, for instance, Amazon removed the popular media player app Kodi from its Appstore, deeming that it could be “used to facilitate the piracy or illegal download of content.” Although the Kodi app itself does not distribute pirated content, its third-party add-on system allows users to connect with sources of piracy. Still, Kodi also has a wide range of legal uses, such as playing media files, tuning to internet radio stations, and recording over-the-air channels. In those regards, it is functionally similar to other media player and server apps that Amazon welcomes into its Appstore, including Plex, Emby, and VLC. For now, Kodi is still available on Fire TV devices via sideloading—that is, installing the app from outside Amazon’s official app store—but it’s unclear whether that will continue under Amazon’s new policy. Amazon and ACE did not respond to questions on whether they’ll target Kodi in particular or media player apps in general. So far, the only examples of blocked piracy apps on Fire TV are Flix Vision and LiveNet TV, which Amazon temporarily disabled in June due to malware-like behavior. Amazon unblocked both apps a month later, though they are likely the kinds of apps that the company will target for removal in the future. Clamping down Regardless of which apps Amazon decides to block, Fire TV is becoming less hospitable to sideloading overall. While most Fire TV devices still support sideloading for non-piracy uses, an Amazon spokesperson said the feature is meant for developers to test their apps. Those who sideload apps for other purposes are misusing the feature, the spokesperson added. Meanwhile, Amazon’s new Fire TV 4K Select streaming dongle has more explicit sideloading restrictions. The device, which runs on a new Linux-based operating system called Vega, only offers the feature to registered developers. Amazon’s new Fire TV 4K Select limits sideloading to registered developers.Ben Patterson / Foundry In the past, sideloading has allowed users to make Amazon’s devices more useful by addressing gaps in the company’s app catalog. During Amazon’s eight-month fight with NBCUniversal over distribution terms for Peacock in 2020, for instance, subscribers were able to sideload the Android TV version of the app. HBO Max required the same workaround for nearly two months after its own launch that same year. Users of Amazon’s Fire tablets have also sideloaded Google’s Play Store to access a significantly broader app selection, and retro game enthusiasts have sideloaded popular emulation apps such as RetroArch. It’s no surprise that Amazon wants to clamp down on this behavior. The company likely earns little from the actual sale of its Fire TV devices, and instead relies on ad-supported content, subscription sales, on-demand content purchases, and aggressive home screen advertising to make money. The company already blocks apps that modify its home screen or remap its remote control buttons, so cutting off apps that exist outside of its monetization purview would be the next logical step. What it means for you Amazon’s crackdown on piracy apps isn’t all bad news. Over the years I’ve heard from non-tech-savvy readers who’ve paid hundreds of dollars for “fully loaded” Fire TV devices, only for them to stop working with no recourse. I also get earnest questions from folks who see ads for inexplicably cheap streaming services, not realizing they’re too good to be true. Those services should be harder to access by folks who don’t know any better. But for those who want access to more open streaming platforms—for piracy or not—the options are becoming more limited. Devices that run on Google’s Android TV platform, such as Walmart’s inexpensive Onn boxes, don’t have the same sideloading restrictions, though Google’s plan to make developers verify their identities could change that calculation. Roku players and Apple TV devices don’t support sideloading at all. In the end, if you really want full control over your streaming experience and all the software that runs on it, you might just have to use an actual computer. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice. Read...

The internet should make life easier but, between scams, hackers, and data trackers, it feels like there is an endless list of dangers – and it’s only getting worse. It’s natural to be concerned about how much of your digital life is being tracked or exposed without your knowledge. Avast Ultimate adds peace of mind to your digital life. With trusted protection, powerful privacy tools, and device optimization all in one bundle, you can browse, stream, shop, bank, and even work online with total confidence. And, right now, you can get 60% off your first year. Avast is a highly trusted brand in the realm of online security, offering tools for PC, Mac, and mobile devices. Avast Ultimate is its all-in-one solution for safety, privacy, and performance, and a single subscription unlocks four tools that together provide complete digital security. Managed via a single interface, you can easily claim back control over your online security. Save 60% on smarter digital protection – privacy, speed, and security in one bundleGet Avast Ultimate Avast Premium Security keeps you safe from viruses, phishing attacks, malicious sites, and online scams. It also acts as an advanced firewall to automatically block intruders and protect your personal data, payments, and sensitive documents. Avast SecureLine VPN encrypts your connection so you can browse the web in total privacy, keeping your data away from snoopers and hackers. It will give you peace of mind even when using insecure public Wi-Fi networks, so you won’t have to rely on mobile data to get online away from home. Avast AntiTrack helps you reclaim control of your digital identity. With a single click it disguises your identity online, thus preventing trackers and advertisers keeping tabs on your online activity and following you around the web. Lastly, Avast Cleanup Premium helps you breathe new life into your devices by helping you sort and get rid of all the junk files and clutter that’s slowing them down, and through optimizing settings and updating apps. With single-click maintenance and easy access to information on device health, you can expect faster performance from your computer, tablet, or phone. Join over 400 million users worldwide who trust Avast’s decades of experience in online security: with a single subscription you can unlock security, privacy, and device optimization, all managed from a single dashboard. It will keep you safe, save you money, and make your life easier. Exclusive offer Without discounts, Avast Ultimate costs $109.99/year for one device, or $139.99/year for up to 10. With our limited-time exclusive 60% off discount offer you’ll pay just $43.99 for a single device, or $55.99 for up to 10, for the first year of your subscription. Save 60% on Avast Ultimate! View Offer Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Light design feels premium Great display Cool and quiet Cons Unimpressive battery life Low graphics performance for its class A little expensive at MSRP Our Verdict The HP OmniBook 7 Aero is a light, cool, and quiet ultraportable. This machine feels great on the go, but the battery life is a problem — it’s behind Intel and Qualcomm-powered competitors. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: HP OmniBook 7 Aero Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket The HP OmniBook 7 Aero is a 13.3-inch laptop that weighs just 2.2 pounds or less, depending on the configuration you choose. With a beautiful white design and an all-metal magnesium-aluminum alloy chassis, it feels premium. Plus, it runs cool and quiet. This machine feels made for portability. Unfortunately, HP paired an unusually small battery with an AMD chip that isn’t as power-efficient as the most efficient CPUs Intel and Qualcomm have to offer. The result is an ultraportable that feels like you never want to take it too far from an outlet. With an Intel Lunar Lake CPU or a bigger battery, this laptop would’ve really wowed. HP OmniBook 7 Aero: Specs Foundry / Chris Hoffman The HP OmniBook 7 Aero packs an eight-core AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 chip with Radeon 860M graphics. AMD’s Ryzen AI hardware delivers a good combination of performance and battery life, complete with an NPU that’s fast enough to run Windows 11’s Copilot+ PC features. Our review model had 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD — that’s more than enough RAM and storage for a lightweight ultraportable like this one. The RAM in particular seems a little overspec’d given the rest of the hardware here. Most people would be better off with 16 GB of RAM and a faster CPU. While this is a beautiful machine, the $1,299 retail price point feels a tad high considering the mid-range AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 CPU, despite the generous amount of RAM. However, while I was wrapping up this review, HP had it on sale for $869. That price feels excellent for this machine. Model number: HP OmniBook 7 Aero 13-bg1077nr CPU: AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 Memory: 32 GB LPDDR5x-7500 RAM Graphics/GPU: AMD Radeon 860M NPU: AMD NPU (up to 50 TOPS) Display: 13.3-inch 2560×1600 IPS display with 60Hz refresh rate Storage: 1 TB PCIe Gen4 SSD Webcam: 1440p webcam Connectivity: 2x USB Type-C (10 Gbps), 2x USB Type-A (1x 10 Gbps, 1x 5 Gbps), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x combo audio jack Networking: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: IR camera for Windows Hello Battery capacity: 43 Watt-hours Dimensions: 11.70 x 8.31 x 0.69 inches Weight: 2.2 pounds MSRP: $1,299 as tested The HP OmniBook 7 Aero is a little marvel of a laptop. At 2.2 pounds with a beautiful white all-metal design, I loved using it, and I loved picking it up and moving it around. HP OmniBook 7 Aero: Design and build quality Foundry / Chris Hoffman The HP OmniBook 7 Aero is immediately impressive. Our review unit was the Ceramic White variant, and it’s an incredibly clean look in a world of silver laptops. (HP also offers a “Glacier Silver” variant.) Even the keyboard deck is white, although the bezel around the display is black. This 13.3-inch machine is one of the lightest laptops I’ve ever reviewed. HP says it weighs a maximum of 2.2 pounds depending on your chosen hardware configuration. It’s about as light as a laptop can be, and the metal chassis (a magnesium-aluminum alloy) has a slightly rubbery-feeling surface that’s pleasant to hold. The build quality feels premium, and the hinge feels solid without obnoxious wobbles, but the machine is so light that I need to use two hands to open it. The laptop comes with more bloatware than I’d like to see — the Start menu has shortcuts for Adobe Offers, Booking.com, and “Dropbox promotion.” But this is easy to remove if you don’t want it. HP OmniBook 7 Aero: Keyboard and trackpad Foundry / Chris Hoffman The HP OmniBook 7 Aero has a chiclet keyboard that feels good to type on. It’s got a nice white backlight, too. The typing action feels reasonably snappy and responsive. But there’s something a little off about it: the key travel is a little shallow. That’s not a huge surprise for a 2.2-pound laptop that is 0.67 inches at its thickest point. HP has compensated well for the thinness, but it does feel a little shallow. This machine’s trackpad also feels good. It’s a standard mechanical trackpad that’s a reasonable size and feels responsive to move your finger over, with a nice “clunk” action when you click down. HP OmniBook 7 Aero: Display and speakers Foundry / Chris Hoffman The HP OmniBook 7 Aero has a 13.3-inch IPS display with a 2560×1600 resolution and a nice anti-glare surface. HP rates it as 400 nits, but it seemed even brighter. It’s a beautiful display, although it only goes up to a 60Hz–a faster refresh rate would’ve been nice. However, the combination of a high-resolution, decent amount of brightness, and anti-glare surface is a real winner. It performs better than glossy displays in challenging lighting conditions like direct sunlight. The display is one of this machine’s best assets, but it’s not a touch screen. I test every laptop’s speakers by playing Steely Dan’s Aja and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky. The HP OmniBook 7 Aero delivers a good amount of top-end volume. Audio quality was okay — the highs could be a little grating in Get Lucky, especially at maximum volume, and the bass was less than usual. I’d plan to use headphones for the best experience with music, movies, and TV shows. HP OmniBook 7 Aero: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The HP OmniBook 7 Aero has a 5MP webcam with a 1440p resolution. Despite that impressive resolution number, the image quality was a little grainy, especially in darker lighting conditions. I’ve used laptops with 1080p webcams that do a better job. This laptop does include a physical webcam shutter switch, which is always nice to see. The “dual array digital microphones” did a good job of picking up my voice with clear audio quality. I’d be happy to use this microphone setup for online meetings, although I wish the webcam was a bit nicer. The HP OmniBook 7 Aero includes an IR camera for Windows Hello, so you can sign in with your face, but there’s no fingerprint reader here. HP OmniBook 7 Aero: Connectivity Foundry / Chris Hoffman The HP OmniBook Aero has a decent number of ports for a 13-inch laptop that only weighs 2.2 pounds. On the left side, there’s a combo audio jack and a USB Type-A port that supports up to 5 Gbps speeds. On the right side, there’s a second USB Type-A port (this one is up to 10 Gbps) as well as an HDMI 2.1 port and two USB Type-C ports (both 10 Gbps speeds.) This machine charges via USB Type-C, so you’ll be plugging the charging cable into one of the ports on the right side. It’s a reasonable selection of ports, although there’s no Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 here. There’s no microSD card reader or Ethernet jack, either. You’ll need a dongle if those are important to you. This machine supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4, so it’s a bit dated on the Wi-Fi — there was no Wi-Fi 7 or even Wi-Fi 6E on the model we reviewed. However, you probably haven’t switched to Wi-Fi 7 yet, so that’s not a huge problem. HP OmniBook 7 Aero: Performance The HP OmniBook 7 Aero with its AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 CPU delivered reasonable desktop performance in everyday desktop apps: web browsers, communication tools, and productivity apps. It ran cool and quiet, too. Considering this is a 2.2-pound ultraportable laptop, that’s what people will likely use it for! As always, we put this machine through our standard benchmarks to see how it performs. Foundry / Chris Hoffman First, we run PCMark 10 to get an idea of overall system performance. With a PCMark 10 score of 5,969, this machine came behind Intel Lunar Lake-powered PCs like the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360 and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX-powered machines like the HP OmniBook Ultra 14. This AMD hardware was neck and neck with Intel’s slower Intel Core 5 210H chip in the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3, and the AMD hardware here is a better choice — it’s a more modern chip that has an NPU capable of running Copilot+ PC features, and it runs cooler. Foundry / 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. With a multithreaded score of 5364, AMD’s “AI PC” hardware showed how much better it is at multithreaded performance than Intel’s “AI PC” hardware. AMD pulled ahead of Intel here. Foundry / 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 to kick in, and many laptops will throttle and slow down under load. The HP OmniBook 7 Aero completed the encode process in an average of 1,199 seconds, just about 20 minutes. Once again, it outclassed Intel’s Lunar Lake hardware on performance, but Lunar Lake will win when it comes to battery life, as we’ll see below. Foundry / Chris Hoffman Next, we run a graphical benchmark. This isn’t a gaming laptop, but it’s still good to check how the GPU performs. We run 3DMark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU performance. Despite AMD’s reputation for strong graphics hardware, the Radeon 860M graphics here performs like onboard graphics. With an overall 3DMark Time Spy score of 2,726, this machine delivered half the performance of Intel’s Lunar Lake GPUs. Overall, the HP OmniBook 7 Aero delivers solid performance for this class, especially in multithreaded tasks. And it does it while staying cool and quiet. But 3D graphics performance is a particular weakness. HP OmniBook 7 Aero: Battery life The HP OmniBook has a 43 Watt-hour battery, and that’s small. Thankfully, the AMD Ryzen AI hardware in this machine is reasonable power-efficient. This machine’s battery life is decent, but it’s below modern standards for a lightweight PC in 2025. That said, a larger battery would make this machine heavier. The smaller battery contributes to the light weight. Foundry / Chris Hoffman To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Steel on repeat on Windows 11 with airplane mode enabled until the laptop suspends itself. We set the screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks. Real-world battery life in day-to-day use is always going to be less than this. The HP OmniBook 7 Aero lasted for an average of 632 minutes before suspending itself — that’s ten and a half hours. It’s a great number for a PC with such a small battery, but it’s well behind laptops with larger batteries. With an Intel Lunar Lake system and a larger battery, you could get more than double this machine’s battery life. Lunar Lake machines may be able to get away with a battery this small, but HP is pushing it by pairing AMD hardware with this battery. Video playback is a best-case scenario and real-world desktop app usage will drain the laptop’s battery faster, so I’m not sure you’ll get a full day of battery life from this machine. You might be able to get close to a full workday’s usage out of this battery if your workload isn’t too demanding and you keep the screen brightness low — maybe. HP OmniBook 7 Aero: Conclusion The HP OmniBook 7 Aero is a little marvel of a laptop. At 2.2 pounds with a beautiful white all-metal design, I loved using it, and I loved picking it up and moving it around. It stayed cool and quiet, too. Unfortunately, HP’s decision to include a small battery—possibly to keep the weight down —feels like a compromise that impairs the usability of this machine. I loved this laptop the first time I touched it, but I winced when I saw the battery spec: 43 Watt-hours is just too low for this AMD chip. This number used to be fine but, in a post-Lunar Lake and post-Qualcomm Snapdragon X world, this is low. If you’ll never be far from an outlet and you want more multithreaded CPU performance than Intel’s Lunar Lake can deliver, this might be the ideal laptop for you. Read...

Network professionals know this information about their router by heart or have stored it in their browser or password manager. However, if you only rarely use a device or have received it as a gift without manuals or similar documentation, you will initially be faced with a locked menu—if you can access it in the browser at all. On a reasonably up-to-date router, the access information should be on a sticker on the housing—you can usually find it on the underside. Depending on the model, the DNS name is also listed there, which you can use to access the router menu in the browser (ex. tplinklogin.net). If the sticker contains neither a DNS name nor an IP address, first you’ll need to connect a Windows PC to the router. This works via WLAN if the sticker also contains the network SSID and the WLAN password. If this information is missing, you must connect via LAN. Then open the “Network and Internet – Ethernet” menu in the Windows settings. Under “IPv4 standard gateway” you’ll find the local IP address of the router, entering this in the browser will take you to the menu. You can also obtain this information using the “ipconfig” command in the Windows command prompt. A sticker on the router often tells you how to access its menu and which password it requires.Foundry If a sticker is missing, a function for forgotten passwords may help, but only for a router that you’ve already set up once. This is because the router sends the password reset message to the email address stored in the router or linked to this device in the manufacturer’s cloud service. Otherwise, you’ll need to reset the router to the factory settings: You can find out how this works for a specific model by researching online. Depending on the router, a new password can be set up the first time it is accessed. Or you can search online for known default passwords for this model—often “admin” and “password”. However, if the router was provided with an individualized password, as is usual with a Fritzbox and many other current routers, the router menu will remain locked unless you take the aforementioned steps. Read...

It feels like overnight AI has ended up just about everywhere. From deepfakes and ChatGPT homework, to em-dashes and political misinformation, keeping on top of the latest AI trends is almost impossible. Unfortunately, that also means it’s hard to stay protected from the latest AI scams and phishing attacks. They’re constantly evolving and that can make them more dangerous than ever. If you’re keen to find a way to protect yourself from fake calls from ‘relatives’, or the latest AI-enhanced phishing text messages, Norton 360 might be the tool for you. Alongside classic defensive measures like real-time antivirus and a smart firewall, it now comes equipped with Scam Protection. This anti-scam tool uses AI to fight AI, and can detect scams before you’ve even had a chance to read through one. Protect your family from sophisticated AI scamsVisit Norton How can you tell if a text message is a scam? Got a suspicious SMS message? Norton’s AI engine can detect a scam and warn you before you even open it. Encountered an image you think might be a deepfake, or an offer in an email that seems to good to be true? The AI Assistant is just a click away with useful advice and the ability to scan for scams, so you’re never caught out by nefarious actors ever again. Now standard in all Norton packages from its base AntiVirus Plus, right up to the Deluxe and Select Plus options, Scam Protection is there to help protect against the ever evolving threat landscape, including the latest in AI scams. That helps prevent you becoming the victim of some of the more personal attacks that malware makers are using these days, leveraging the power of AI to quickly change and personalize their scams to make them more effective than ever. Norton 360 with Scam Protection With at least 50% off on all standard Norton 360 packages at the time of writing, you can pick up the base Norton AntiVirus Plus package for the equivalent of just $2.50 per month for the first year. That gives you antivirus protection, a robust password manager for saving all your most important login data, and Scam Protection. It does only cover one device, though, so if you want to make sure you’re protected against AI scams across your phone as well as your laptop, tablet, and any other devices (not to mention those of your wider family), then there are other options available. You can add additional features with more advanced packages, too, such as secure cloud backups, a VPN for anonymous web browsing, dark web monitoring, enhanced parental controls, and real-time monitoring of your credit rating and finances. They come at a steeper cost, but even the top Select Plus package which covers 10 devices at a time is less than $10 a month equivalent for the first year. Regardless of which package works for you, though, each comes complete with anti-scam protection to make sure you and your loved ones don’t have to fear the rising issue of AI attacks. Protect your family from sophisticated AI scamsVisit Norton >> Read our Norton Security Buyer’s Guide Read...

TL;DR: Get a 5TB Internxt Cloud Storage lifetime subscription for only $219.99. Cloud storage services usually come with monthly or annual fees. It’s frustrating, but it’s also avoidable. Right now, Internxt Cloud Storage is offering a 5TB lifetime subscription with no hidden costs for $219.99 (reg. $1,900). Internxt focuses on privacy and transparency. It uses end-to-end encryption and a zero-knowledge system, which means only you can access your files. The platform is open-source and GDPR-compliant, and its code is publicly available for review. You can upload and share files securely across desktop and mobile apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, or use a browser if you prefer web access. Performance is fast and consistent, and the simple interface makes syncing and organizing files straightforward. Your documents, photos, and backups stay private, even from Internxt itself. Since it’s a lifetime plan, you avoid the cost creep that comes with other cloud storage providers. This 5TB plan is available to new users only, and codes must be redeemed within 30 days. It covers cloud storage and sharing tools, with optional extras like Internxt Mail and Antivirus sold separately. For a limited time, it’s only $220 to get a 5TB Internxt Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription. Internxt Cloud Storage: Lifetime Subscription (5TB Plan)See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...