PC Magazine

N O I T I 5 D 1 E 0 L 2 A E T I N G I U D J

CONTENTS JUNE 2015

COVER STORY

FEATURES HOW TO BUILD A PC: THE BUYING GUIDE

HOW TO BUILD A PC: THE BUILDING GUIDE

When you’re putting together your own PC, choosing the right components is the vital first step.

Transf ransforming orming a pile of parts into the computer of your dreams needs just an hour of your time and a Phillips screwdriver.

CONTENTS JUNE 2015

COVER STORY

FEATURES HOW TO BUILD A PC: THE BUYING GUIDE

HOW TO BUILD A PC: THE BUILDING GUIDE

When you’re putting together your own PC, choosing the right components is the vital first step.

Transf ransforming orming a pile of parts into the computer of your dreams needs just an hour of your time and a Phillips screwdriver.

REVIEWS

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

Beyerdynamic DT 990 (32 ohm) LG Watch Urbane Kobo Glo HD

HARDWARE

Maingear Vybe Dell Latitude 13 7000 Series 2-in-1 (7350) Acer H257HU Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Wi-Fi Range Extender (EX7000)

SOFTWARE & APPS

PREVIEW: Office 2016 for Windows Our Favorite Apps for June

Dell Latitude 13 7000 Series 2-in-1

Beyerdynamic DT 990

WHAT’S NEW NOW

RESEARCHERS CREATE CHIP WITH HUMANLIKE MEMORY

A new synaptic circuit brings computers one step closer to thinking the way humans do. INCREDIBLE CREATIONS AT THE INSIDE 3D PRINTING SHOW

The state of the art for 3D printing includes violins, jewelry, toys, and much more. LIFE BEHIND MICROSOFT’S HOLOLENS

This exciting headset could change everything about how you interact with your PC. TOP GEAR THE LIST

OPINIONS DAN COSTA First Word

READER INPUT SASCHA SEGAN Only Spotify for Movies Can Stop Popcorn-Like Piracy

WILLIAM FENTON Online Education and the Status Quo

TIM BAJARIN

It’s personal computing itself that’s dying. And this is by design. JOHN C. DVORAK

What Is the Holy Grail of Laptop Design?

Last Word

DIGITAL LIFE GET ORGANIZED Make Money While Cleaning Out Your Closet

HOW TO Break Bad Habits With Tech

PETS High-Tech Ways to Find a Lost Pet

TECH ETIQUETTE Ask Alex: What to Wearable

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FIRST WORD DAN COSTA

C

Personal Computing Is Getting More Personal

omputing doesn’t get more personal than building your own PC. Here in PC Labs, a lot of us have built our own custom rigs, for home, for work, and sometimes just for fun. In fact, Matthew Murray, the author of this month’s cover story, works at a desk surrounded by unsteady piles of PC components, as if he may need to swap out a spare part mid-workday. I imagine a lot of PC Magazine readers have similar work areas, loaded with components imbued with more potential than purpose. At the same time, I fully acknowledge that the concept of building your own PC will be alien to a lot of readers: Why build when you can buy? The answer to that question divides people into two camps: makers and consumers. This issue has some excellent stories for both types of reader. There was a time when building your own PC was a way to save money, but those days have pretty much passed. In most cases, you can log onto Dell.com or HP.com, confgure a system, and have it shipped to you for less than the price of building your own. At this point, building your own PC is about control—and it is just as much a hobby today as it was when the PC revolution started. Matt walks you through everything that’s necessary if it’s one you want to take up (or revisit) yourself, from shopping for parts to the actual construction, or if you’re interested in upgrading the computer you already have.

Another enabling technology at the core of the maker movement is the 3D printer. Although we’ve tested most of the major models on the market, it’s hard to get excited about 3D printing without seeing how people are using them. For that, we sent Tony Hoffman to the Inside 3D Printing Show, where a few thousand artists, industrial designers, and 3D printing companies showed off their latest creations. Sufce it to say, there are a lot more interesting things to print than our standard Yoda head test. Even our hands-on with the new Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality headset is primed for the maker market. Microsoft is going to build the hardware and software ties for the HoloLens into all of its Windows 10 products, including phones. But the games, environments, and use cases for it will need to be built by third parties. In a lot of ways, Microsoft is hoping to leverage the HoloLens the same way it did the Windows platform: by enabling thousands of developers to build on top of it. These stories are exciting and inspiring, but they aren’t the only narratives at work here. At the same time a handful of folks are building their PCs, Apple is making billions cranking out completely sealed laptops that are impossible to upgrade. Software has stopped being something you buy and is now something you subscribe to. Indeed, Windows 10 will be the last “major release” of the OS; from here on out new versions of Windows will come as an endless series of point releases. Much to the dismay of Spinal Tap fans around the world, we will never get to 11. If you skip to the Last Word, you will see that

John Dvorak thinks this is nothing short of the end of personal computing as we know it. I’m more sanguine. Convenience comes with a loss of control, but it democratizes the tools we use today. Mint.com offers some pro-level nancial reporting and budgeting tools for the price of an email login. I’m never going to build my own spam lter—or take control of my email— but I happily pay $7 per month for SaneBox to turn the noise level down on my inbox. I don’t even mind Adobe charging monthly for Creative Cloud—if its products stop being competitive, you can cancel at any time. There’s a time to build, and then there’s a time to just buy it and move on. Of course, there’s room for both makers and consumers in this world and in this issue. As always, it’s about walking the line between the two. Let us know how we’re doing by sending an email to [email protected].

There’s a time to build, and then there’s a time to just buy it and move on.

[email protected]


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READER INPUT YOUR EMAILS

OUR ANSWER:

Alien Invasion I’m not a gamer. I use my PCs for Ofce, Adobe Cloud, and similar business programs. All I want is speed. Would the Alienware Area-51 [mentioned in the March 2015 cover story, “The Changing Face of the Desktop”] be a good choice for me? —Rod Walsh

Thanks for writing, Rod. As a general rule, gaming desktops contain some of the most powerful components you can buy, so they’ll add a serious boost to any software you run. The most recent version of the new Area-51 we’ve looked at here in PC Labs cost upwards of $4,500 and used an Intel Core i7-5930K CPU—an unlocked 3.5GHz chip with six processing cores that, thanks to hyperthreading, can essentially marshal up to 12 simultaneous threads. That’s not even factoring in its three high-end Nvidia GTX 980 video cards, solid-state drive (SSD) for running programs, or 16GB of RAM. The real question becomes: Is a system like this overkill for you? This Alienware is tweaked every which way to maximize gaming performance, which may not always help business users. So you may be better off nancially going another route. First, determine how multithreaded (if at all) the software you use is, then nd a computer with a chip that maximizes that potential. The $350 Core i7-4790K, for example, has a faster clock speed than the Core i7-5930K (4GHz) and still has four cores and eight threads—if you don’t need the extra threads, why pay for them? An SSD will help speed up almost any program installed on it, and if you’re a heavy multitasker or regularly deal with huge les, more RAM (to the maximum your PC supports) is never a bad thing. But if you don’t game, you don’t need those video

cards—or the $1,500 to $2,000 they add to the computer’s price. Keep all this in mind and you won’t have any trouble nding a computer that suits your needs, and almost certainly costs thousands less than the Area-51. Or you could research the components and build one yourself so you get exactly what you need. Check out this month’s cover story for detailed information on how to do exactly that. —Matthew Murray, Managing Editor of Digital Editions

PROGRAMMING NOTE How does machine language (or binary code) differ from basic C++ when it comes to running smoother, and also can C++ be transformed into machine language with an application? And, if so, what application? —Isaac L. Sellers OUR ANSWER:

My programming skills are a bit rusty, so I posed your question to a friend of mine who does it for a living, Michael Martin. Here’s his response: “Running a program always involves running some other program rst. For a language like JavaScript, this program is the Web browser. Part of the browser—called the JavaScript interpreter—looks at

the text of the program and then makes sense of it and then runs it. For other languages, you don’t run the text directly, but transform it into another form rst. These transformer programs are called compilers. Java and C# compile the program into a smaller form that is independent of the machine they run on. Other languages (basically all of those invented before Java, including C++) compile the program into binary code, which the machine then runs directly. Machine code is a blob of incomprehensible numbers that humans as a rule don’t write (they write in assembly, which is a programming language that’s as close to machine code as a human can reasonably get), and often much faster than interpreted code. But many interpreters nowadays actually translate the program into binary code as they load, so that is not— after startup—where speedup or slowdown comes from. In short, any code written in C++ will be turned completely into binary code by the time it actually runs. It is possible to mix it with hand-written machine code, but that’s almost never used for speed anymore. You make C++ code faster by turning it into more efcient C++, not by replacing it with hand-written binary.” —MM

ROAD TO RECOVERY Your advice [in the May 2015 story “Recover Deleted Files”] about removing the hard drive is a valid point. I have had good luck with a program I have installed on an old laptop with an external drive. The program is called GetDataBack, and has both NTFS and FAT versions. I use a USB-to-SATA/IDE adapter to connect the hard drive I removed to the old laptop. This program is even good enough to recover data that you may have thought lost due to a drive problem. If you use the software, be sure to turn off Automatic Updates for Windows, especially if the program has to run overnight. —Michael Fay OUR ANSWER: Thanks for the suggestion, Michael. Data recovery is something everyone should think about, but not everyone does, so the easier, more versatile, and more powerful the solution is, the better. We haven’t tried GetDataBack yet, but we’ll be sure to give it a shot. Interested readers can download it for free at www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm. —MM

Ask us a question!

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Have a question about a story in PC Magazine, one of the products we cover, or how to better use a tech product you own? Email us at [email protected] and we’ll respond to your question here. Questions may be edited slightly for content and clarity.

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What’s New No RESEARCHERS CREATE CHIP WITH HUMANLIKE MEMORY INCREDIBLE CREATIONS AT THE INSIDE 3D PRINTING SHOW LIFE BEHIND MICROSOFT’S HOLOLENS TOP GEAR THE LIST: THE BEST CITIES FOR PURSUING A HIGH-TECH CAREER

WHAT’S NEW NOW NEWS

Researchers Create Chip With Humanlike Memory BY ANGELA MOSCARITOLO

LIGHT THE CORNERS OF ITS MIND This circuit of artificial synapses could be the first step toward creating a new method of computer processing that rival’s the brain’s.

T

he computer brain is starting to become more human-like. In what they call “a signicant step forward for articial intelligence,” researchers in UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering have announced that they have managed to create a circuit of about 100 articial synapses able to perform a simple human task: classifying an image. “It’s a small, but important step,” Dmitri Strukov, a professor of electrical and computer engineering said in a statement. The researchers say that with time and further advancements, the circuitry may eventually be scaled to rival a human’s brain, which has upwards of one quadrillion synaptic connections. The researchers explained that the brain can accomplish certain functions— such as classifying the shapes of letters, and their relative positions to each other to derive meaning as you read this—in a fraction of a second. It would take a computer far more time and energy to perform these same tasks. In the researcher’s demonstration, a circuit with an articial neural network was able to classify the letters Z, V, and N by their images. It correctly classied the images even when the letters were stylized in different ways and saturated with “noise,” similar to how humans can pick out friends from a crowd, or nd the correct key on a ring holding many that look similar. “While the circuit was very small compared to practical networks, it is big enough to prove the concept of practicality,” researcher Farnood Merrikh-Bayat said in a statement. “As more solutions to the technological challenges are proposed the technology will be able to make it to the market sooner.”

z e d n a n r e F a i n o S : t i d e r c o t o h P

NEURAL NETWORKING

This artificial synaptic circuit uses the technology developed at UC Santa Barbara. The tech is currently only capable of simple functions, such as classifying images.

UNLOCKING THE MEMRISTOR

UC Santa Barbara researchers (clockwise from top left) Farnood Merrikh-Bayat, Brian Hoskins, Dmitri Strukov, and Gina Adam participated in developing the new neural circuit.

z e d n a n r e F a i n o S : t i d e r c o t o h P

The key to this technology is a so-called memristor, or a combination of “memory” and “resistor.” This is an electronic component whose resistance changes depending on the direction of the ow of the electrical charge. Unlike traditional transistors, memristors work based on iconic movement, similar to the way human neural cells generate electronic signals. “Classical computers will always nd an ineluctable limit to efcient brainlike computation in their very architecture,” lead researcher Mirko Prezioso said in a statement. “This memristor-based technology relies on a completely different way inspired by biological brain to carry on computation.” The researchers say that this technology could potentially be used to improve medical imaging, navigation systems, and even Web searches based on images rather than text. But to even approach the complexity of the human brain, many more memristors would be required to build neural networks that could do the same kinds of things humans can do with little effort, such as identify different versions of the same thing. “The exciting thing is that, unlike more exotic solutions, it is not difcult to imagine this technology integrated into common processing units and giving a serious boost to future computers,” said Prezioso. “There are so many potential applications—it denitely gives us a whole new way of thinking.” PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION

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WHAT’S NEW NOW TECH TRENDS

Incredible Creations at the Inside 3D Printing Show BY TONY HOFFMAN

A

lthough 3D printing has a lot of uses, it’s become a particularly valuable tool for tech-savvy artists and designers. This year, MecklerMedia, organizer of the Inside 3D Printing conferences that take place in various cities, put this artistic side front and center. Alongside the Inside 3D Printing New York show that’s been held for the past several years in the Javits Center was the 3D Print Design Show, which lled an additional room and eectively doubled the size of the show. It featured 3D-printed works by sculptors, jewelers, toymakers, and even musical instrument makers. A 3D Print Fashion Show was also held Thursday night. There have always been some artists with their wares on display at Inside 3D Printing, but including a design show along with the display of 3D printing hardware added a new dimension to the event, and showed o some wonderful creations. Here are our favorites of what we saw.

Violin The future just called: Your 3D-printed piezoelectric violin has arrived, by way of Monad Studio.

Jewelry Some amazingly detailed 3D-printed metal jewelry available through Shapeways.

Futuristic Shapes The Ushak workshop showed off the shape of things to come.

Quadcopter A 3D-printed quadcopter, from 3D Systems.

3D SCANNED AND PRINTED FIGURINES

Figurines produced from scans made with the Artec Shapify Booth, a 3D bodyscanning booth that the company sells. It sees 3D-printed figurines as the photo portraits of the 21st century.

3D ARTIST RACHEL GOLDSMITH

Artist Rachel Goldsmith with a lamp of her design, one of many objects on display that she created with the 3Doodler 3D pen.

TOYS

These 3D-printed toys came courtesy of InsaniTOY.

CAR

3D print my ride, or at least the decorations on it. PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION


WHAT’S NEW NOW TECH TRENDS

Life Behind Microsoft’s HoloLens BY MICHAEL MUCHMORE

I

have seen the future, and it is the Microsoft HoloLens. When PC Magazine Editor-in-Chief Dan Costa got a rst look at the HoloLens earlier this year, the device was a cumbersome wired contraption. But at the recent Microsoft Build conference in San Francisco, I was lucky enough to get to try out a sleek, untethered model. The whole experience was incredibly controlled and a major production, with about 100 Microsoft employees on hand. A small group of my colleagues and I were shepherded down Howard Street to the plush Intercontinental Hotel, half of which seemed to have been taken over by Microsoft for the event. No photos and recording devices were permitted in the demos, so we had to stow our

smartphones and cameras in lockers before the demonstration. We were, however, able to photograph a HoloLens in a case. Before trying out the headset for ourselves, we were treated to a staged demo in a living room setting. Presenters Bill and Dan were having a Skype conversation that was projected on “video cards” that appeared in the air, which they walked around, grabbed, and placed in different positions. But that wasn’t all: They also shared a 3D printing model and a custom Minecraft scene. WEARING THE HOLOLENS

Before you can wear a HoloLens, you need a measure of your IPD—that’s the distance between your pupils. Microsoft staff used the same device to do this that any optometrist would. It makes you realize that, as with Google Glass, you won’t be able to just grab a HoloLens off the shelf; you’ll need a tting. Once my measurement was taken, the headset could be adjusted to my IPD. It has a headband that ts snugly, and a separate collar to adjust the angle of the HoloLens optics. I was frankly surprised at how light and comfortable the device was to wear. Wearers of eyeglasses need not fret: The device was able to accommodate my rather large specs without trouble, though it seemed as though getting your eyes closer to the front of the headset would allow for fuller vision-eld coverage.

GESTURES AND CONTROL

You interact with the HoloLens HoloLens in three three ways: gaze gaze (you move your head to move the display around), gesture (the key one being the “air tap,” in which you point your index nger straight up and then move it down horizontally), and voice (just (just as with Xbox One, you can can tell the HoloLens HoloLens what actions you want it to perform). I didn’t get to try this out during my brief time with the HoloLens, but the Skype Skype demo showed showed its possibilitie possibilities. s. THE EXPERIENCE

To start using the HoloLens after it’s snugly attached to your head, you need to adjust it so that a rectangle with the Windows logo in the center is completely within your your vision eld. eld. I was struck struck by the fact fact that your your vision eld eld isn’t completely covered by the HoloLens, as Microsoft’s stage demos implied. I occasionally had to move my head around to see a whole 3D projection. But part of the HoloLens’ design is to let you see the real world as well as virtual 3D objects, so that may not be a bad thing. I did also notice some color shift similar to chromatic aberration along the edges of the box, but when viewing 3D objects that wasn’t a factor. To start my demo, my experience guide, James, showed me an architectural modeling application application on a PC with a regular 2D display. The app was built by Trimble, a large architectural and engineering software rm. Next to the PC screen was a physical architectural model that James said would cost about $12,000 to construct. The HoloLens let me visualize how adding new building elements would look within the model. I was able to place and resize 3D objects

in the physical model and get a perfect view of the redesign. It’s hard not to see the value proposition there. Next I was taken into a brick-walled room where an architectural rm wanted to add a door. The software had a model for the building’s internal structure, including electric and plumbing, so I could see that there was an important pipe behind the the wall, right where where we were considering considering placing placing the door. door. At this point, point, James showed me the notication feature; a message popped up in midair from a coworker to discuss the problem. An air tap let me answer, recording my own message. Then an avatar of the coworker appeared. It was a pretty crude wireform humanoid, but you could easily see where other software or game developers, developers, for example, would create more lifelike human representations than an architectural app with basic collaboration would. The HoloLens is as immersive as VR headsets like Oculus Rift, but that’s actually a real plus for applications like those I tried. Yet it’s denitely a richer, more immersive experience than that offered by Google Glass. I will say that I did encounter a bit of vertigo while using the headset, and it wasn’t something something I’d want to be wearing wearing all day, or even even for the duration duration of a movie. But for applications like those I tried, I can honestly say there’s nothing like it, and its uses will only multiply. Microsoft is keeping availability information about the HoloLens very close to its vest for now. It had nothing to share about a release date other than that it will be available available “within the the Windows 10 time frame.” No pricing guidance guidance is being announced, announced, either, and we we don’t yet know where you’ll you’ll be able to get one. But the progress that the company has made on the device since January is undeniably impressive. The HoloLens seems destined to change the technology landscape for a long time to come. PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION

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WHAT’S NEW NOW TOP GEAR

What We Love Most This Month BY STEPHANIE MLOT

SKYBELL 2.0 WI-FI VIDEO DOORBELL Make your house smarter by receiving a live video feed on your smartphone when someone rings the SkyBell. Not only can you avoid having to saunter up to the peephole without anyone noticing you’re home, but the doorbell allows two-way conversation. So you can double check that the pizza delivery guy didn’t forget your side of breadsticks. The SkyBell comes in oilrubbed bronze or brushed aluminum, and is compatible with iOS and Android devices. $199 skybell.com



MIGHTY PURSE Finally, a fashionable way to charge your dying smartphone battery. A tech-infused fashion accessory, the Mighty Purse can be used as an everyday clutch or wallet. But, like Superman emerging from a phone booth, it can also transform into a battery-saving portable charger. Choose from a variety of colors, patterns, and fabrics, from the simple to the extravagant. But remember: Pre-Lightning Apple products require a separate adapter. $ 114.99 mighty-purse.com



SWASH EXPRESS CLOTHING CARE SYSTEM Between shuttling the kids to and from school, soccer games, and violin practice, working 40-plus hours per week, and catching up with Scandal , who has time to visit the dry cleaner? Instead, dewrinkle, refresh, restore, and preserve your clothes in the Swash system’s 10-minute express clothing care system. And though it doesn’t remove stains, it will put an end to your ironing days. $499 swash.com



PETCUBE Caring for a pet is difficult, especially from miles away. So the next time you jet off on a business trip or a long weekend, turn on the Petcube and stay connected with your furry loved ones. The 4-inch aluminum box sports a 138° wide-angle camera with streaming HD 720p video, two-way audio, and a built-in laser—for keeping your pet active. And with Wi-Fi connectivity, anyone with an iOS or Android device can access the camera at any time, from anywhere. $199 petcube.com



1 VOICE SLEEP HEADPHONES EYE MASK Our society loves hybrids: vehicles, dogs, words. So why not put the concept to use in your own bed? The 1 Voice Sleep Headphones Eye Mask promises a comfortable night’s sleep, its memory foam mask helping to block light while over-the-ear headphones suppress ambient sounds from a snoring partner to city-street noise. The mask works with any phone or MP3 player, and requires no batteries. Plus, its velvet cover is machine-washable. $49 1voicenyc.com



WHAT’S NEW NOW THE LIST

The Best Cities for Pursuing a High-Tech Career Want a high-paying tech job with the biggest companies and the best perks? These U.S. cities are the best places to start looking. BY CHANDRA STEELE

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Seattle, WA

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Yes, it’s always sort of gray in Seattle, but the Emerald City is also pretty green. The average salary for those in tech is $99,423. Not that far away, Redmond is known for being home to Microsoft. But there are plenty of other tech companies in the area, including Amazon and Boeing. One thing that needs work in the region? Broadband service. Plans for gigabit Internet fell through last year, and Seattle’s mayor has lashed out at Comcast for lackluster service. A group called Upgrade Seattle recently announced that it’s working on municipal broadband, which is something new graduates might be interested in working on.



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Baltimore, MD and Washington, D.C. Our nation’s capital and the surrounding environs certainly are the epicenter of those working in politics and for the government. But these cities also contain a good share of techies, whether they’re hashing out tech policy strategy on Capitol Hill or working along the Dulles Tech Corridor. They earn an average of $98,323.



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Boston, MA

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With the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (and Mark Zuckerberg’s alma mater, Harvard) nearby in Cambridge turning out tech graduates, Boston is one of the top tech cities in America. The city encourages grads to stay and entices new talent with an Innovation District geared toward startups. Salaries average $97,288.



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Sacramento, CA

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Sacramento salaries are climbing fast, rising 14 percent from last year to $96,788. That’s good news for the girls in the city. Microsoft and Sacramento have signed a digital alliance to provide training and events to encourage girls to enter the tech sector. There’s also a citywide effort to top its current tech status, dubbed Sacramento 3.0.



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Los Angeles, CA

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Tech workers in Los Angeles might have to deal with the freeways, but if they can find a job close to home and a home not far from the beach, they’ll be happy enjoying the $95,345 average salary they bring in. Not to mention some of the Web-based services available in L.A.: TaskRabbit, Uber, Lyft, Google Shopping Express, Amazon Same-Day Delivery, and Seamless.



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Denver, CO

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There are a lot of Rocky Mountain highs in Denver and one of them is that those in tech can expect to earn an average of $94,940. The Denver Tech Center has been in business since the 1970s, encouraging tech companies to settle in the city. A short drive away, meanwhile, is Boulder, which was named the top metro area for high-tech startup density by a recent study. Denver is a bit more affordable than Boulder, but both offer tantalizing proximity to tech startups and plenty of outdoorsy adventures.



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San Diego, CA

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If you’re talking tech and start a sentence with “San,” you’d probably expect the next word to be “Francisco.” But San Diego residents get wonderful weather and high salaries. You can expect to bring in about $94,121. The city is home to the mobile behemoth Qualcomm but also lots of startups, more than 50 of which are part of the EvoNexus incubator.



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St. Louis, MO

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The hometown of Jack Dorsey has been keeping some of its most promising tech talent within the city. Tech job growth from last year hit 23.1 percent, far more than for any other city. Part of the reason is that salaries average $93,829 while there’s affordable housing compared to other places on this list. Recent graduates might want to pass on some of their tech knowledge with the city’s new LaunchCode Mentor Center for underprivileged students.



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Houston, TX

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NASA and the Johnson Space Center have a lot to do with why Houston is such a good place to find a tech job. The city has boosted that with the Houston Technology Center, an incubator and accelerator. Techies who land in Houston can expect an average salary of $89,838.


The Best Cities for Pursuing a High-Tech Career Want a high-paying tech job with wit h the biggest companies and the best perks? These U.S. cities are the best places to start looking. BY CHANDRA STEELE

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Austin, TX

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Austin is no stranger to the tech elite; the SXSW SX SW Interactive Interactive festival is where many a tech giant got its start, start , including Twitter witter.. It’s also the second city to get Google Fiber, a move that prompted rival AT&T to roll out its own gigabit Internet service in the region, which can come in handy when trying to tap into services like Uber and TaskRabbit. Tech workers can make an average of about $93,135 each year, and a two- or three-bedroom home will set you back about $400,000 $400,000..


Opinions SASCHA SEGAN

WILLIAM FENTON TIM BAJARIN

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n a Movies gOnly Spotify for Movies eCan Stop Popcorn-Like Piracy S aT h c s a S

OPINIONS

he movie piracy Whac-A-Mole popped up again in May in the form of “Popcorn In Your Browser,” a Web app that mashed up torrent and streaming sites to make it easy to watch pirated movies. It vanished almost as soon as it appeared, but while it was here it made an important point. The lm industry has been idly batting at movie pirates for years, but the issue has never been terribly urgent. You might think that it’s easy to pirate movies, but that isn’t true. It’s just difcult enough to pirate movies that most people will settle for the mediocre legal alternatives, even without the library or options options they they really want. I subscribe to Netix and Amazon Prime, and I feel like they have both been getting worse with time. As Netix and Amazon develop their own libraries of exclusive content, they get less interested in paying for other studios’ latest TV shows and movies, and other content creators see them more as competitors than sales channels. Moral and ethical issues aside, torrenting is just enough of a hassle that most people will turn to renting movies from Amazon or another videoon-demand service. Everybody knows someone who’s received received a warning letter letter from their their ISP. You need specialized specialized software software and probably a VPN. The sites sites are a little little arcane. Some are

Sascha SaschaSegan Seganisisthe the lead leadmobile mobileanalyst analyst for forPC His PCMagazine Magazine. .His commentary commentaryhas has also appeared appeared on Fox on Fox News, News,CNBC, CNBC,CNN, CNN,and various and on radio stations and andnewspapers in newspapers around aroundthe theworld. world.

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membership-only. The les are very large and often in weird formats. Most important, unlike the total collapse of the music industry under the peer-to-peer onslaught of the early 2000s, Hollywood seems to be doing just ne. WHY THE STUDIOS DON’T CARE

Spotify is terrible for everyone in the music industry. The Spotify revolution came because the alternative was the complete evaporation of legal music sales. Also, unlimited streaming had a precedent in radio. Musicians and labels both hate Spotify, but so far they haven’t been able to come up with equally compelling alternatives. If the question is “how to stop piracy,” the celestial jukebox that is Spotify was in fact the answer. As early as 2013, peer-to-peer music downloading was plummeting and most people were turning to streaming services or YouTube for their music. The music industry’s problem is that it has stabilized at a much less protable level than in the heyday of CD sales. The movie industry, on the other hand, isn’t doing all that bad. Relatively at year-on-year U.S. box ofce has been more than made up for by an increase in moviegoing; global box ofce rose from $31.6 billion in 2010 to $36.4 billion in 2014, according to the MPAA. And a fascinating PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis sees plenty of opportunities to improve box ofce revenues through lower ticket prices, subscription passes, and other ideas. According to PwC, 82 percent of consumers would be willing to pay $10-20 more than a standard movie ticket to watch a new movie in their homes. (The reason that hasn’t happened yet is because it would drive cinema owners nuts, but I’m mentioning it here to show

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that there are non-streaming opportunities for studios to make money.) Even home video isn’t in crisis. This is extremely important from the torrenting perspective, as most movie torrents are Blu-ray rips, and pretty much anything available on Bluray is available from torrent sites. Yes, physical discs are in decline. But digital movie sales are actually on the rise, and movie industry revenues from subscription streaming services like Netix and Amazon leaped by 26 percent in 2014, according to Deadline Hollywood. So where music piracy was an existential crisis that forced the industry to adapt in painful ways, movie piracy seems to be a nuisance that just requires occasional swatting at. The problem with this from a consumer perspective is that there’s no real force pushing toward more convenient movie-watching alternatives. What does that mean for you? The status quo. Torrenters gonna torrent. The movie industry will make piracy just difcult enough that it doesn’t become too popular, through roving site takedowns and threatening letters from ISPs to consumers, but it won’t bother itself too much. But neither will we see the kind of innovation in lm distribution that we saw in music, and now in TV. Only a Spotify for movies would be able to stop the next Popcorn—but it doesn’t look like anyone really needs to. [email protected]


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The movie industry will make piracy just difficult enough that it doesn’t become too popular.

o tOnline Education and n the Status Quo eD F m a i l l i W

OPINIONS

espite grandiloquent claims about changing education—or the world— today’s most popular online courses largely reinforce the status quo of higher education. Though many provide the tools with which adult learners, particularly tech-savvy selfstarters, can pursue continuing education at little or no cost, there’s a discomforting disconnect between platforms’ democratic mantras and their course catalogs.

EMPHASIS ON THE “MO” When I say “online courses,” I’m really speaking about “massive open online courses,” or MOOCs. These MOOCs invite unlimited participation over the Web. That sounds good—it means that all sorts of non-traditional students with different perspectives can participate—but it also means that instructors can take few competencies for granted. Students would ideally support one another through well-regulated discussion forums. In reality, they get discouraged and drop out. A recent study from the Community College Research Center found that “online courses may exacerbate already persistent achievement gaps between student subgroups,” a point underscored by eyebrow-raising attrition rates. Because of the scale of courses, there’s also little structural variation. Learners can expect discussion forums, machine-graded multiple-

PC Magazine Contributing Editor William Fenton is a Teaching Fellow and director of the Writing Center at Fordham University Lincoln Center.

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choice assessments, self- and peer-assessments, and video lectures. When exploring these myself, I alternatively found myself bored during lectures, disappointed with peer feedback, and downright lonely on discussion forums. Certainly, some courses make better use of core components. Thanks to an open framework and massive bank of automated and continuous assessments, Khan Academy actually required some note-taking, and a timed class on Coursera cultivated lively discussions by requiring both students and administrators to post regularly. TOP-TIER OR TOP-DOWN

Creating and maintaining a MOOC takes a village—and a well-heeled one. From my conversations with faculty who developed online courses for edX and Coursera, I came to understand that an educator couldn’t possibly build an online course without tenure and voluminous institutional support. For example, the aforementioned Coursera class lists under its course credits 21 contributors, including two pedagogical assistants, two producers, and a copyright consultant. The professor estimated that she spent hundreds of hours developing her rst course, and still more time revising it for later iterations. It’s no wonder that large, established institutions dominate the catalogs of edX and Coursera. Other platforms take a top-down approach. Sal Khan lectures on everything from the Electoral College to organic chemistry—a boon if you enjoy his conversational tone, but less so for critics of his pedagogy of math and other subjects. Udacity, meanwhile, has partnered with huge corporations such as AT&T and Google to create nanodegrees, programs through which employees accumulate

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skills and credentials to, in their words, “level-up” careers. But we don’t know what careers await nanodegree graduates, or whether these degrees are simply paths to competitive internships. Udemy is the only platform I’ve encountered that challenges this paradigm by allowing anyone to create courses. Its approach is at once logistically and philosophically limited, however. Course modules are Spartan—there isn’t even one for peer review—and the company appears more focused on selling courses than vetting content. During a two-day review period, Udemy commits to checking courses using 20 standards, only one of which vets content (“Instructor Delivery”). WHAT MAKES A WORLD-CLASS EDUCATION?

In mission statements, each platform describes its education with the usual degree of modesty: “highest quality,” “world-class,” “world’s best.” Perhaps I hold outsized expectations, but I don’t associate YouTube micro-lectures or multiplechoice tests with world-class education. It’s wonderful that these resources are available online, and generally at no cost to students. But we should hold these platforms to their own benchmarks. What does a work-class education look like? What should a world-class education look like? As a student, educator, and technologist, I want to embrace online education. I’m excited about the possibilities of “blended” or “hybrid” learning, which by many accounts, improve outcomes. Today’s most popular MOOCs have yet to disrupt the status quo, but they can by creating fexible, open platforms for experimentation, collaboration, and, perhaps most important, play.


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Perhaps I hold outsized expectations, but I don’t associate YouTube microlectures or multiple-choice tests with worldclass edcuation.

n i rWhat Is the Holy Grail of a j Laptop Design? aE B m i T

OPINIONS

ver since I started using the original IBM laptop in 1986, I have watched with interest as these machines have become thinner, lighter, and less boxy. By the late 1990s, there were signifcant breakthroughs in screens, batteries, and processor voltage regulation, but all laptops were still basically clamshells. Then Bill Gates outlined his tablet computer vision, in which a pen and slate were married to create a completely new form of personal computing. Historical purists would argue that pen computing and tablets actually were introduced in the early 1990s, and that would technically be true. But the pen computing era died about as fast as it came to market. And tablets did not gain any real industry acceptance until Gates gave his Comdex speech in which he declared a tablet the “future of portable computing.” I remember meeting with Gates in Redmond a few weeks after that speech, and he went on and on about how the tablet would redefne portable computing. In many ways he was right, but the technology was just not there yet to make tablets feasible. It took another ten years for tablets to catch on, but instead of Gates leading the charge it was Steve Jobs with the iPad. For the frst two years the iPad was on the market, many thought that tablets could replace laptops, and this resulted in a PC sales slump. By

Tim Bajarin is the president of Creative Strategies and a consultant, analyst, and futurist covering personal computers and consumer technology.

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last year, however, the market realized that tablets could not really replace laptops, especially for serious business productivity. Although some tablets were good for use in vertical markets, most business folks went back to laptops as their core personal computing devices and tablet sales have since declined. Make no mistake: Even given this change, tablets are here to stay and will most likely augment a business user’s personal computing experience and continue to be ne products for the family. In the world of business productivity, various vendors have started to rethink portable computing designs with two-in-ones. They have introduced products like Lenovo’s Yoga, a laptop with a screen that can ip back and turn into a tablet, and Microsoft’s Surface, which is a tablet with a detachable keyboard. There is an interesting debate inside laptop vendors about whether Apple’s new MacBook and similar laptops from Lenovo and Dell will redene laptops as we know them, or if two-inones will be the way forward. Now also being thrown around is the concept of the three-in-one, a new type of ultrathin clamshell that has a special hinge that can be ipped back like a Lenovo Yoga but is also detachable. I have been pondering this three-in-one idea for a couple of months and am beginning to think that this could be the Holy Grail of laptops. I have been testing the new ultrathin 12-inch MacBook and the 13-inch Dell XPS, and in both cases I would like the screens to fold back and also have the option to detach the screen. I like the rm design of a clamshell that has this versatility; on my Surface Pro, either keyboard option makes it too awkward. I am also not a fan of having the keyboard as the back of the tablet in a Yoga-style

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setting unless the keys can be recessed so the back of the screen is at. Admittedly, this is a personal preference and a lot of people like the Surface Pro’s design and even tolerate the keyboard back of a Yoga style machine. But given the light weight of the MacBook, the idea of it being Yoga-like with a detachable touch screen is really appealing to me as a serious road warrior. I see the PC vendors looking hard at trying to create a hinge that would allow for a three-in-one in future clamshell designs, but I am afraid I just don’t see Apple moving in this direction. It seems very rm in its commitment to the idea that a MacBook should not be touch-enabled and should operate as a true clamshell at all times. It seems to be a good strategy. Mac sales— especially MacBooks—are growing exponentially, while PC and laptop sales overall are still in a decline. Yet, I can’t help thinking that a more versatile MacBook could extend Apple’s reach in portable computing even further. Apple is rumored to be doing a 12.9-inch tablet (and possibly merging iOS and Mac OS), so perhaps we’ll see some creativity there. Although the jury is still out when it comes to how big the two-in-one or convertible market will eventually be, my vote is to make it even more versatile via the three-in-one concept. If the vendors can get the hinge right, then perhaps a lot of people will adopt this idea of a solid clamshell that can be used in just about every mobile computing setting.


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A more versatile MacBook could extend Apple’s reach in portable computing even further.

Reviews CONSUMER ELECTRONICS Beyerdynamic DT 990 (32 ohm) LG Watch Urbane Kobo Glo HD

HARDWARE Maingear Vybe Dell Latitude 13 7000 Series 2-in-1 (7350) Acer H257HU Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Wi-Fi Range Extender (EX7000)

SOFTWARE & APPS PREVIEW: Microsoft Office 2016 for Windows Our Favorite Apps for June

REVIEWS CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

Beyerdynamic DT 990 (32 ohm) $379 Price

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These Big Headphones Are Ideal for Home, Mobile Use As headphones become fashion accessories geared toward on-the-go use with mobile devices, pairs intended purely for home use are becoming a rarer sight. The $379 32-ohm Beyerdynamic DT 990 is that even rarer beast, with an impedance designed for use with mobile devices and home stereo gear (compared with its 250-ohm sibling, which simply won’t function with mobile devices without an amp). Listeners are rewarded with an enveloping experience; the DT 990’s large earcups create a listening environment all their

own, and like all good open headphone designs, the DT 990 provides an excellent sense of space. If you’re looking for an accurate headphone pair that doesn’t skimp on the lows, the DT 990 won’t disappoint.

DESIGN The metallic and black leather DT 990 look almost intimidating at rst—it’s a huge set of headphones, with circumaural (over-the-ear) earcups so substantial in size that your ears feel almost lost in them. The plush cushioning of the circular earpads surrounds the ears while barely touching them. An open headphone design means the grilles hiding the drivers sit well o the ear, and sound is pushed outward through vented slots on the outer panel of each earcup. Despite the bulky design, the DT 990 is lightweight for its size (10.2 ounces), and exceedingly comfortable even during longer listening sessions. Regrettably, the headphones don’t feature a detachable cable the way many competing models do. The cable, which lacks an inline remote, is quite long at 118 inches, and seemingly intended for home use. A quarter-inch adapter ships with the headphones, but the 32-ohm model we tested terminates in the more common 3.5mm (eighth-inch) connection. As the headphones project sound outward, they’re not well suited for recording studio purposes, though they’d be a ne choice for checking back mixes if you’re in a control room. The DT 990 also ships with a massive, lunchboxsized protective case. It’s a zip-up soft case with a molded compartment inside for the headphones, and a handle on the outside for easy carrying. PERFORMANCE AND CONCLUSIONS Your sound source will have a substantial impact on how the DT 990 sounds. For instance, we got a slightly richer, heftier bass response when listening through the

Beyerdynamic DT 990 (32 ohm) PROS Superb audio

performance with an accurate response across the board. Well-cushioned, comfortable over long listening periods despite its large frame. CONS Hardwired

cable. Bulky frame not for everyone.

headphone outputs of an Apogee Symphony than we did connected to an iPhone 5s—both of which, technically, the 32-ohm DT 990 32 is perfectly suited for. The dierence isn’t night and day however, and the details of the high-mids and highs are fully present in both scenarios. Through both sound sources, the DT 990 delivers the powerful deep sub-bass of The Knife’s “Silent Shout” eortlessly. No aspect of the low-end goes missing here, and the high-mids and highs are perfectly clear and present. This is a near-at response sound signature, but a at response that includes the subwoofer range. So you get plenty of intense, deep bass as long as it’s in the mix, but nothing is overtly boosted or exaggerated. This is one reason I think the DT 990 makes an excellent mix-checking headphone pair. It’s too bad the open design eliminates it as an option for studio tracking headphones. On Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” the DT 990 gives us accurate representations of Callahan’s baritone vocals. There’s plenty of natural, rich presence in the low-mids, and a crisp high-mid edge that puts the vocals, as well as the guitar strumming and some of the drum hits, at the forefront of the mix. The drumming also gets a nice low-frequency presence. It’s nothing huge, just a natural, powerful THE EARS HAVE IT sound that is a result of the driver’s The Beyerdynamic DT 990 may be huge, but range and the open design, and it’s comfortable to feels like we’re there in the room wear for long periods with the drummer. of time and delivers excellent sound. The attack of the kick drum loop gets a perfect level of high-mid presence on Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” so it remains sharp and tight, cutting through the layers of the mix with ease. The lowmids bring out plenty of the loop’s sustain, while the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat have plenty of depth (but not as much as bass lovers who’ve heard this tune through heavily bass-

The 32-ohm Beyerdynamic DT 990 is a strong option for music lovers looking to get an accurate sound without sacrificing depth.

boosted headphones might expect). There’s plenty of low-end might here, but it’s not over-the-top, or even favored over any other frequency range. Orchestral tracks deliver the full range of frequencies with wonderful balance. The lower register instrumentation in the opening scene in John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, is full but not overwhelming, while the higher-register strings, brass, and vocals have a brightness and clarity that brings out every nuance and detail of the recording. This is an ideal sound signature for classical music enthusiasts looking for a robust yet uncolored mix. There are plenty of high-delity headphone options worth considering when your budget is in the $300-and-up range. The Sony MDR-1A, the Master & Dynamic MH40, and the Shure SRH1540 are all worth checking out for their unique sound signatures and dedication to providing detail and balance. If you’re looking to spend less money, consider the Sennheiser HD 558, another open design that delivers a full, wonderful response. For $380, however, the 32-ohm Beyerdynamic DT 990 is a strong option for music lovers looking to get an accurate sound without sacricing depth. TIM GIDEON


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Good Looks Only Take This LG Smartwatch So Far The LG G Watch R already looked good, but the LG Watch Urbane looks even better. That’s important, because appearance is really the only thing that sets the two watches apart. The Urbane has a stainless steel nish and a leather strap for that expensive, business-chic look. But it’s a tough sell at $349, which is the same price as the base model of the Apple Watch, and a lot more than the Pebble ($89.99). And despite the new 5.1 software update, Android Wear still underwhelms. DESIGN AND DISPLAY

LG doesn’t exactly go back to the drawing board with the Urbane, but the design refresh is the lone distinguishing factor between it and the G Watch R. The Urbane’s face is still round, but it’s nestled in stainless steel with a silver nish, rather than the black plastic of the G Watch R. It’s a more classic look than its predecessor’s, and it’s denitely more highend than you’ll see on similar Android Wear smartwatches like the Motorola Moto 360. Screen aside, the Urbane looks more like a traditional timepiece than some sci- gadget strapped to your wrist. The attached black leather band with white stitching is an improvement over the cheap-

LG Watch Urbane $349

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looking, rubbery sport straps you get with most smartwatches, but it doesn’t feel like the best quality given the price. The leather already appeared wrinkled and stressed in certain areas after a few days of use, and it’s far too rigid for my taste. You can switch it out for any 22mm band of your choice, but chances are that part of the reason you’re buying this watch is for the leather band. The watch is rated IP67 for dust and water resistance up to one meter for 30 minutes, but you’ll still want to take care to keep that leather band out of the water. Then there’s the size of the Urbane: It’s big. It’s the same size as the G Watch R, which measures 1.8 by 2.1 by 0.4 inches (HWD). But the Urbane is slightly heavier, too, coming in at 2.3 ounces. I found it comfortable enough to wear, so the bulk didn’t bother me too much. Still, be warned that this is a big watch, and if you have slender wrists (as I do) the Urbane’s size is even more obvious. The plastic OLED (P-OLED) display looks sharp and vibrant. It’s the same 1.3-inch, 320 by-320 screen as on the G Watch R, so blacks are rich, whites are bright, and colors look clear and crisp, even in direct sunlight. Overall, the display is comparable with the Apple Watch’s in terms of brightness and quality. Pressing the crown on the side activates the display; otherwise, the Urbane is locked in a dimmed, always-on state when you’re not actively using it in order to save battery power. Tapping it also triggers the screen.

HARDWARE AND BATTERY LIFE Because the Urbane is a near-exact match of the G Watch R, it contains the same innards, including a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 512MB RAM, and 4GB of storage. It also

LG Watch Urbane PROS Classic design.

Sharp screen. CONS Expensive.

Bulky. Stiff leather strap. Android Wear still underwhelms despite 5.1 update.

contains an accelerometer, a barometer, a compass, a gyroscope, a pedometer, and a heart rate monitor. The last was a bit nicky during testing; it jumped from 56 beats per minute to the high 70s in back-to-back readings. Also like the G Watch R, the Urbane uses a 410mAh battery that lasts for maybe two days if you only use it to tell time, or for basic tasks like the stopwatch app or heart rate monitor. Otherwise you’ll have to recharge it nightly, which is still a major drawback for nearly all smartwatches on the market today, including the recent Apple Watch. Only the Pebble family lasts up to a week on a single charge. The Urbane uses a magnetic charging cradle. The connection is pretty good, so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting it to stay put as long as it’s on a at surface. It also vibrates slightly so you know when the watch is docked, and the display gives you a circular graphic that indicates how much battery power has been restored. Like other Android Wear watches, the Urbane connects to devices that run Android 4.3 and higher via Bluetooth 4.0. For this review I tested it with an HTC One M9. ANDROID WEAR UPDATES The Urbane is the rst smartwatch to ship with the latest version of Android Wear, 5.1, which includes built-in Wi-Fi support. That means you can use the watch without a phone or tablet nearby, provided the watch is connected to a Wi-Fi signal. That’s a plus, but you’re still mostly relegated to indoor environments or public spaces where Wi-Fi is provided. And in order to connect to password-protected networks—which is most of them—you still need to pull out your phone to type in the code. It seems that the smartwatch, no matter how hard it tries, just cannot get way from relying on the smartphone. LARGE AND IN CHARGE

The oversized LG Watch Urbane charges using a magnetic cradle.

STEP BY STEP

Plenty of handy features, including this pedometer, are built into the LG Watch Urbane, but it’s pricey for what you get and the improved Android Wear operating system still needs some work.

Android Wear 5.1 introduces wrist ick gestures for scrolling through the menu’s “card” interface. It failed to work just as many times as it responded correctly to my movements. It might be useful when your other hand is busy holding onto a subway pole, but I can’t think of many other real-world scenarios for it. Plus, it just looks and feels awkward. The Android Wear update also improves menu navigation. You can swipe left once from the home screen to access a vertical list of apps, twice to view your contacts, and three times to list the basic actions the watch can perform. Beyond that, there’s not much else to the update, which will also be available on other Android Wear devices. Yes, there are some new watch faces, but the Urbane is still primarily for delivering notications and voice commands.

CONCLUSIONS With the Apple Watch now available, our standards for smartwatches have increased. Google’s Android Wear OS is in the best position to oer an alternative to Apple’s iOS-centric juggernaut, but the LG Watch Urbane, even with its upgraded look, doesn’t change our lukewarm feelings on Android Wear in general. The Urbane is denitely one of the better-looking smartwatches out there, but that’s not enough to recommend it, especially given the high price. For that kind of money, you can get the better-overall Apple Watch (if you own an iPhone), or save some dough and opt for the Moto 360 or the G Watch R. Or, if you’re just looking to dip your toe in the smartwatch waters, the Pebble is a solid alternative, and costs just $99. TIM TORRES




A Less-Pricey Alternative to the Amazon Kindle You could say the Glo HD is Kobo’s answer to Amazon’s Kindle Voyage. After all, it’s the only other ebook reader to sport a high-resolution 300ppi display. But the devices dier signifcantly when it comes to price. For $129.99, the Kobo the Glo HD is far less expensive than the $199 Voyage. Sure, Amazon has a better ebook store, and the Voyage has a more striking design, but for those unwilling to spend the extra $70, the Glo HD is a worthy alternative. DESIGN AND DISPLAY

The Glo HD measures 6.2 by 4.5 by 0.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.4 ounces, making it roughly the same size as the Kindle Voyage, which measures 6.4 by 4.5 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.3 ounces. The front is covered in black plastic, and the back is coated in a tough, textured rubber. Tiny indentations allow for a better grip than you get with the Kindle Voyage’s smooth underside. It’s comfortable to hold with one hand for long periods of time, and it’s just small enough to ft in a jacket pocket.

Kobo Glo HD $129.99

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There’s no visible branding, except for an easy-tomiss Kobo logo at the bottom of the front bezel that blends in with the rest of the smooth black nish. The only physical button sits on the top edge of the reader; it’s a very shallow Power button, and I was never sure if I actually pressed it until the screen turned on. A charging port and a tiny reset switch can be found on the bottom. The Glo HD sports a 6-inch Carta E Ink touch screen with 1,448-by-1,072-pixel resolution (300ppi). It’s extremely sharp, but it doesn’t get as bright as the Voyage, and at full brightness, text on the Glo HD doesn’t pop in quite the same way. The Glo HD also lacks the Voyage’s adaptive front light, which automatically adjusts brightness based on the light around you. But the Glo’s display more closely resembles paper, so if you’re looking for something more realistic and subdued, you might actually prefer it.

FEATURES The Glo HD has 4GB of internal memory, with 3.1GB free out of the box. That’s enough storage space for up to 3,000 ebooks, but the lack of a microSD card slot for expanding it is disappointing; most of Kobo’s other readers include one. On the plus side, Kobo supports more le types than Amazon, including the popular EPUB format. Pocket, an app that lets you save articles you nd online so you can read them oine, comes preinstalled, which is a nice touch. For charging, the Glo HD comes with a simple black micro USB cable, but no AC adapter, so you’ll need to keep a computer port handy. Kobo claims up to two

Kobo Glo HD PROS Sharp display.

Relatively affordable. Lightweight. Good, grippy rubber design. CONS No

expandable storage. Long waking time from sleep.

PAPER CUT

The backlit display on the Kobo Glo HD is very sharp, but the Kindle Voyage’s gets brighter.

months of reading time per charge. I spent a week of heavy testing with my review unit, and when I was done there was still plenty of juice left over. The reader connects to 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi networks. INTERFACE AND READING

There are 11 built-in fonts and 48 font sizes to choose from, and you can adjust line spacing and margins with sliders. You can also align the text to the center or the left, or readjust the page controls so you can choose where you prefer to tap the screen in order to move your story forward. There’s also a built-in dictionary, the ability to select passages and look them up in Google or Wikipedia, and the option to display progress based on either chapters or the entire book. The Glo HD’s home screen lets you sort books alphabetically, by title or author. It also displays large cover images when it’s asleep—the eyes of Haruki Murakami’s protagonist in 1Q84 stared outward whenever my test unit was napping. Speaking of naps, it takes quite a long while to wake the Glo HD from sleep mode—about 10 seconds. While reading, I never experienced any discomfort or inability to view the Glo HD’s screen. I took it outside in the sun, and I never had to squint or deal with any glare. It worked just as well on the bus, on the subway, and indoors. It’s a good-looking, very readable display. As with the Kobo Glo, you tap or swipe the sides of the screen to turn pages, and the center of the screen to bring up the Options menu. Also like the Kobo Glo, the Glo HD is slow to register lighter touches, particularly when adjusting

settings like brightness—in my tests, it took a second or two for such actions to register. On the other hand, page refreshes are quick and painless, though you’ll see dark full-page ashes after every six turns. Kobo includes a Reading Life app that gamies reading by awarding you achievements, and tracking your reading speed and favorite reading times. Although it’s not something I would normally use, I could see it being a useful tool for parents to keep track of their kids’ reading habits. KOBO STORE AND CONCLUSIONS

The Kobo store has more than four million titles, plus magazines and newspapers. Barnes & Noble claims the same number, whereas Amazon only claims “millions,” plus 185,000 exclusive Kindle titles. In a random spot comparison, every major title I searched for was available from both Amazon and Kobo. But prices are generally cheaper through Amazon. So even though you’re spending less upfront, the Glo HD could ultimately cost you more in the long run if you buy a lot of books directly from Kobo. It pays to check out the availability and pricing of some of the titles you’re interested in before investing in either ecosystem. For $129, the Kobo Glo HD is largely comparable with the $199 Amazon Kindle Voyage. The Voyage boasts a nifty adaptive light and a more-premium design. But that extra $70 is a lot to spend on new books if you go with the Glo HD. Your best bet, however, remains our Editors’ Choice, the Kindle Paperwhite. It costs even less than the Glo HD, and though its screen isn’t quite as sharp, it’s perfectly readable. If you like Amazon’s ebook ecosystem, it’s the best bang for your buck. ALEX COLON


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Powerful, Affordable Gaming in a Midsize Tower Gaming is a big part of the PC market these days, but it’s rare to nd a truly powerful machine at an aordable price. The latest iteration of the Maingear Vybe is just such a desktop, leveraging EDITORS’ CHOICE aordable components to produce impressive performance, and oering plenty of room for adding storage and swapping out parts. Plus, its midsize tower makes it a nice change of pace from the several smallform-factor systems we’ve seen in this price range.

Maingear Vybe $1,690 (as tested) L L L L m

DESIGN AND FEATURES Gaming desktop designs usually go one of two ways: completely over the top, with garish colors, custom paint jobs, and more lights than a Christmas tree; or utilitarian and subdued, ignoring looks to focus on the functional and powerful hardware inside. The Vybe takes something of a middle path, with a look that has some style but doesn’t scream “gamer” quite so loudly. The aluminum midsize tower has matte, space-gray panels on the top and sides, accented with a few LED-lit fans inside, and a Plexiglas window on the left-hand side to show o the interior. The rear panel and interior of the tower add a splash of color with glossy red paint. The front panel is relatively tame, with a black plastic vent grille. The front panel has Power and Reset buttons, headphone and microphone jacks, two USB 3.0 ports, and an LG Blu-ray burner. Most of the Vybe’s ports are on the rear panel: six USB (four USB 3.0, two USB 2.0), PS/2, Ethernet, and eight-channel audio. The main rear panel also has connections for HDMI, DVI, and VGA, but these are disabled— you’ll need to connect to the rear ports coming o of one or both of the system’s video cards, each of which has three DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, and one each of HDMI and DVI-D. Our review unit came with a single Samsung 850 EVO solid-state drive (SSD) with a 250GB capacity, which isn’t a lot of storage space. Thankfully, there’s not much on the drive to ll it up; in addition to Windows 8.1, the system comes with Nvidia’s GeForce Experience, which is both a dashboard for driver updates and managing card settings and Nvidia’s tool for baked-in features for recording and streaming video, or streaming your games to Nvidia Shield devices. Maingear also oers buyers a free 12-month subscription of McAfee AntiVirus Plus, but that’s an optional oer you’ll need to select during conguration. Maingear covers

Maingear Vybe PROS Excellent gaming performance. Unlocked processor simplifies overclocking. Easy access to internal components. Lots of room for upgrades. CONS Minimal storage.

the Vybe with a comprehensive one-year warranty, as well as lifetime service on upgrades and repairs.

COMPONENTS Open up the left side of the tower—a simple task, thanks to a single thumb screw—and you’ll be met with a cleanly laid-out interior that omits any unnecessary cabling for extra drives or other components (they’re included in a separate bag), with what cables are there routed behind the motherboard. The full ATX chassis measures 17.3 by 8.25 by 19.9 inches (HWD). The system is built around a Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI motherboard with an unlocked Intel Core i5-4690K CPU and 8GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 memory. The processor is kept cool with a Maingear Epic 120 water cooling system, which has a rear-mounted radiator and 120mm fan. There are also four other 120mm fans, two on the front for intake and two for exhaust on the top of the tower, which are lit with red LEDs, but there is no control to adjust or turn o the lighting. Two PNY graphics cards, based on Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 960 GPU, oer plenty of muscle for gaming and graphics. All of this hardware is powered by a 750-watt EVGA power supply. The Vybe also leaves things wide open for upgrades. Though our system came with only two 4GB RAM modules, each of the four slots can accommodate up to 8GB, for a total of 32GB. The two video cards are big enough that they block the third, unoccupied PCIe port. In addition to the optical drive, there are two free 5.25-inch drive bays. There are also three open 2.5-inch bays and four open 3.5inch bays. Finally, there’s space in the bottom of the tower for a fth 120mm fan.

GOOD VYBE RATIONS

Powerful hardware and an easy-toupgrade design make the Maingear Vybe a good choice for the serious PC gamer.

PERFORMANCE

As you might expect, the Vybe is a surprisingly potent performer—tested without overclocking engaged— especially considering that most gaming systems opt for higher-performing Core i7 processors. In PCMark 8 Work Conventional, the Vybe scored 3,880, putting it ahead of the Digital Storm Eclipse (3,809) and the Core i7– equipped Acer Predator AG3-605-UR39 (3,128), but behind the Lenovo Erazer X510 (5,005), which boasts an unlocked Core i7 processor. In Handbrake the Vybe completed transcoding our test video in 1 minute, 2 seconds—several seconds ahead of most competing systems, and only 1 second behind the CyberPower Zeus Mini. It also completed the Photoshop test in 2 minutes, 26 seconds, outpacing all of the comparison systems. Gaming was quite impressive as well, especially given the Vybe’s price. In 3DMark, it scored 23,449 in Cloud Gate (our moderate 3DMark test) and 5,768 in the more demanding FireStrike Extreme. The second number is the most applicable, and the Vybe has a pronounced advantage, thanks to its dual-card setup; similarly priced single-GPU systems struggled to come close, and only the Lenovo X510 (5,469) surpassed 5,000. In our 1,920-by1,080 Heaven 4.0 and Valley 1.0 DirectX 11 tests, the system managed scores of 85 frames per second (fps) and 84fps, respectively, rocketing past the competition. CONCLUSION

As components become more powerful, those improvements trickle down to midrange systems, making it easier to get an aordable, high-performance gaming experience. That combination of powerful gaming performance and ample room for upgrades puts this Maingear Vybe ahead of the pack, and makes it our new Editors’ Choice midrange gaming desktop. BRIAN WESTOVER


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(7350) $1,549 (as tested) L L L L m

For Business Users, a Feature-Rich Hybrid Tablet The Dell Latitude 13 7000 Series 2-in-1 (7350) is tailor-made for business use. This detachable-hybrid tablet makes it easier to carry just one device if you need both a laptop and a tablet in your life. Its almost-10-hour battery life, corporate-friendly features—like IT EDITORS’ CHOICE manageability—and versatility help make it a ne choice if you’re a business-minded user and spend a signicant time away from your desk.

DESIGN AND FEATURES The Latitude 7350 comes with a keyboard dock, which dierentiates it from slate tablets like the Microsoft Surface Pro 3. The system with the keyboard attached measures 0.79 by 12.6 by 9 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.59 pounds. It’s smaller, but exactly the same weight as the Dell Latitude 14 7000 Series

(E7450), our Editors’ Choice business ultrabook. Docked with its keyboard base, the system resembles a standard black corporate laptop. Slide the latch on the keyboard dock’s hinge and you can detach the 1.92-pound tablet. The dock has a Mini DisplayPort jack, a Noble security lock port, an SD card reader, and two USB 3.0 ports, so you won’t miss the E-series dock that the Latitude E7450 uses for semipermanently attached wired connections at your desk. The sliding-latch release is easy to use, though you will need two hands to remove the tablet. That’s oldschool and more reliable than more innovative latching mechanisms like the push-to-click catch on the Toshiba Satellite Click 2 Pro P35W-B3226. Magnetic latches like the one on the Acer Aspire Switch 11 (SW5171-325N) and the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi are the easiest by far and the most convenient, but your IT manager will probably want the tried-and-tested sturdiness of the physically locking latch. When the tablet is docked, the system is a little top-heavy, but it doesn’t tip over after leaning back too far the way the Acer Aspire Switch 11 does. Once undocked, the tablet has a dearth of I/O ports. There are only a headset jack, a port for a Noble security cable, and the AC power adapter port. The edge on the top-right corner of the tablet has a Power button, volume controls, and a Windows key. You’ll need to carry the keyboard dock on business trips so you can interface with wired displays and the ubiquitous USB ash memory keys you’ll be handed at conferences and meetings. That said, you’re still carrying around less weight than an ultrabook and a separate tablet combined.


(7350) PROS Lengthy

battery life. Keyboard dock has battery, good selection of ports. No bloatware. Backlit keyboard. Three-year warranty. CONS No I/O ports

on tablet.

The 13.3-inch, full HD (1,920-by-1,080) display is an In-Plane Switching (IPS) touch screen that is clear and pleasant to look at, and has good touch sensitivity. The backlighting on the keyboard is pretty standard for Dell Latitude laptops, but somewhat rare for most detachable tablets. This is good if you need to work in darkened rooms during keynote speeches or presentations. The multitouch touchpad built into the keyboard base is wide and responsive. There’s 8GB of memory, which is enough to keep open a bunch of programs at once, and a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD) for storage, so you can store all of your current les locally in case your mobile hotspot runs out of juice. Like most corporate systems, the Latitude 7350’s Windows 8.1 Pro build is free of bloatware. The three-year standard warranty includes in-home and on-site service after a remote diagnostic. PERFORMANCE

The Latitude 7350 comes with an Intel Core M-5Y71 processor with integrated Intel HD Graphics 5300. Its score of 2,426 on the PCMark 8 Work Conventional test is good for a Core M processor. It beat the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro (2,094) and the HP EliteBook Folio 1020 (1,464), and it was barely lower than Core i5– and i7–powered systems like the Latitude E7450 (2,681), the Surface Pro 3 (2,704), and the Click 2 Pro (2,939). Its times on Handbrake (3 minutes, 50 seconds) and Adobe Photoshop CS6 (5:52) were a bit slower than those of its rivals with standard Core i5 and i7 CPUs, but most graphics-oriented users will be better served by a traditional clamshell laptop in any case. The 7350’s 3D performance is predictably slow, but you’d expect that in a business laptop that’s not intended for heavy 3D use.

Battery life is a strength for the Latitude 7350. The tablet alone lasted 7 hours, 29 minutes, and with the dock attached the system lasted 9:51. That’s just shy of the Dell E7450 (10:12) and an hour behind the 13-inch Apple MacBook with Retina display (11:10), our Editors’ Choice ultraportable. That’s still many hours longer than Core M–equipped systems like the Transformer Book T300 Chi (5:54), the HP EliteBook 1020 (7:20), and the Yoga 3 Pro (8:19). Full Core i5– and i7–equipped laptops and tablets, such as the Click 2 Pro (6:48), didn’t last as long, but the presence of a higher-powered processor is no longer indicative of a short battery life. For instance, the latest Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch, which has a Core i5 CPU, lasted 8:57 in battery testing. Tablets are excellent for portability and touch-screen use. Laptops are better for doing a lot of work, particularly when you need to type more than a few words at a time. The Dell Latitude 13 7000 Series 2-in-1 (7350) is the best of both worlds, giving you the exibility of using a tablet or clamshell laptop and vice versa at a moment’s notice. It has a lot going for it, including battery life, exibility, and power for getting your job done. Sure, the scarcity of ports on the tablet portion is a drawback, but you’re likely to use this most often with the keyboard dock (and its ports) attached. It’s a fully capable detachable-hybrid tablet that will help you do your job on the go, with minimal compromises. As such, we have no qualms giving it our rst Editors’ Choice for business detachable-hybrid tablets. JOEL SANTO DOMINGO


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Acer H257HU $369.99

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This Monitor’s Images, Sound, Size Are Just Right If you need more pixel density than you get from a full HD (1,920-by1,080) monitor, but don’t have the money or desktop space for an Ultra-High-Denition (3,840-by-2,160) model, the Acer H257HU has you covered. This sharp-looking 25-inch display features a Wide Quad High-Denition (WQHD) panel with a 2,560-by-1,440 resolution and a 350-nit brightness level. It uses In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology to deliver rich, accurate colors, solid grays, and wide viewing angles, and its audio output quality is unusually high. Despite its lack of USB connectivity, it’s our top pick for midsize mainstream monitors. EDITORS’ CHOICE

DESIGN AND FEATURES The H257HU is easy on the eyes in more ways than one. It uses Acer’s Flickerless technology and a nonreective panel to reduce eyestrain, and it features a sleek, bezel-free design with a circular aluminum base and matching trim. The base allows for 20 degrees of tilt maneuverability, but you can’t adjust it for height, swivel, or pivot. The 2-watt speakers aren’t the most powerful you can nd, but they get some help from DTS Sound processing and Acer’s True Harmony audio technologies, both of which combine to enhance overall loudness and add a touch of bass. At the rear of the cabinet, facing outward, are video inputs for DisplayPort 1.2, DVI, and HDMI 2.0. As with Acer’s K272HUL, the H257HU doesn’t have any USB ports, nor does it have a Mobile High-Denition Link (MHL) port for connecting to smartphones and tablets. There are ve function buttons and a Power switch located under the aluminum trim at the bottom of the panel. Pressing any button launches on-screen labels for each control. As with most Acer monitors, the “e” button opens the Acer Empowering Technology menu, where you can choose one of ve picture presets (User, Standard, Graphics, Movie, and Eco), and the Menu button takes you to basic and advanced picture settings pages. In addition to Brightness, Contrast, Color Temperature, and Gamma settings, the H257HU oers a Low Blue Light setting (which also helps reduce eye strain), an sRGB color mode, 6-Axis Saturate settings, and 6-Axis Hue settings. The 6-Axis settings are ideal for calibrating the monitor to your exact specications and are usually found on more expensive models. Acer covers the H257HU with a three-year warranty on parts, labor, and backlight, and the monitor comes with DVI, DisplayPort, HDMI, and audio cables.

Acer H257HU PROS Stylish design.

High-resolution panel. Wide viewing angles. Solid performance. Good audio output. CONS No USB ports.

Tilt-only stand.

PERFORMANCE Although the H257HU oers advanced 6-Axis color settings, you may not have to use them, as the IPS panel delivers very accurate colors out of the box. The panel’s inky blacks provide a solid background that give colors some added pop while providing good shadow detail. The H257HU had no trouble displaying every shade of gray on the DisplayMate 64-Step Gray-Scale test. Highlight detail was sharp and well dened on my test photographs and while playing the Blu-ray version of Marvel’s Iron Man 3. Skin tones appeared natural and evenly saturated with no trace of tinting. As with most IPS panels, colors and luminance remained intact from all angles. I saw solid gaming performance from the H257HU, thanks to its 4ms (grayto-gray) pixel response. I couldn’t spot any ghosting while playing Crysis 3 on my PC or Burnout Paradise on the Sony PlayStation 3. The panel’s 10.1ms input lag (the time it takes for the monitor to react to a controller command), as measured with a Leo Bodnar Lag Tester, means you can enter a eld of battle without fear of getting blown away while waiting for your shot to nally hit its intended target. Only the BenQ GL2760H has a better lag time (9.9ms).

OMISSION STANDARDS

The Acer H257HU has all the display inputs you’re likely to need, but there’s one kind of port you won’t find on it: USB.

The H257HU consumed 32 watts of power during testing while operating in Standard mode, which is a tad high compared with the AOC i2473PWM (22 watts) and the NEC MultiSync EA244WMi (26 watts), but pretty much in line with the BenQ XL2420G (30 watts) and the AOC G2460PG (32 watts). But if you utilize the H257HU’s Eco mode, you can bring power consumption down to 25 watts without having the picture appear too dim. CONCLUSION

If you’re looking to move up to a WQHD display, but have limited nances, the Acer H257HU is an excellent choice. It oers solid color accuracy and grayscale performance, pleasing aesthetics, and lots of picture settings, and its list price won’t kill your budget. A USB hub would be nice, as would a stand with height, pivot, and swivel adjustability, but adding these features would likely increase the overall price. That said, neither gripe prevents the H257H from becoming our latest Editors’ Choice midsize mainstream monitor. JOHN R. DELANEY


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The Best Way to Extend Wi-Fi to Your Whole House Range extenders oer a way to provide wireless networking to those dead spots in the far corners of your house, but they have a reputation of EDITORS’ CHOICE being tricky to set up. With the Nighthawk AC1900 Wi-Fi Range Extender EX7000, setup is as easy as it gets, but more important, this extender delivers outstanding throughput on both the 2.4 and 5GHz bands. Unlike most extenders, the EX7000 is big, and it’s expensive, but its top-shelf performance and robust feature set are just compensation.

DESIGN AND FEATURES Much bigger than a typical plug-in range extender, the EX7000 measures 1.2 by 9.9 by 6.9 inches (HWD). As it sports a shiny, black nish and three adjustable antennas, it could easily be mistaken for a full-blown router, which means it will probably stand out no matter where you put it in your house. The EX7000 supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi, uses a 1GHz Broadcom BCM 4708 dual-core processor, and is capable of speeds of up to 1,900Mbps (600Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 1,300Mbps on the 5GHz band). It’s equipped with ve Gigabit Ethernet ports, a Wireless Protected Setup (WPS) button, a Reset button, and a Power switch, all of which are located on the back of the chassis. A USB

Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Wi-Fi Range Extender (EX7000) $169.99

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3.0 port is positioned on the front, and the top of the extender has nine LED status indicators (one for each band, one for each LAN port, a device to extender LED, and a USB activity LED). The extender can be positioned horizontally or vertically using the included vertical mount stand. Managing the EX7000 is easy thanks to the Netgear genie, a user-friendly Web-based management interface. The genie opens to a status page that displays signal strength for both bands (green is best, amber is good, red is poor), the rmware version, and connection information for each band, including SSID, channel, region, and Wi-Fi speed. Pressing the Smart Setup button takes you to a screen where you can congure the EX7000 as an extender or an access point. On the left side of the page are tabs for Settings, Firmware Update, Do More, and Logout. The Settings section is where you go to change Wi-Fi properties, such as SSID (network name), channel, speed, and password. You can also assign a static IP or use DHCP. The Connected Devices page displays information about wired and wireless devices connected to the extender, including the IP address and MAC address. On the Other Settings page, you can back up your Wi-Fi settings, restore previous settings, reset the device to its factory defaults, and restart the extender. The Do More section contains an Access Schedule page that lets you determine what time of day users can connect to the extender and a Wi-Fi Coverage page that lets you to choose one of four wireless output power settings (25, 50, 75, and 100 percent) depending on your coverage area. With Netgear’s FastLane technology you can congure the extender to connect to the router with one band while saving the other band for wireless network trac. Lastly, the USB Port page is where you go to enable Media Server and TiVo support. Here you can also enable printer sharing and le sharing for connected USB devices.

Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Wi-Fi Range Extender (EX7000) PROS Excellent

throughput on both bands. Easy to install, configure. Five Gigabit LAN ports. Generous settings options. CONS Expensive.

Large footprint.

INSTALLATION AND PERFORMANCE

Installing the EX7000 is quick and easy. After you power up the extender, select the NETGEAR_EXT SSID in your wireless device’s Wi-Fi control panel. This launches a New Extender Setup page where you must create an account that requires an email address, password, and two security questions. Next, select a mode (Extender or Access Point) and a Wi-Fi network to connect to, and enter your router’s Wi-Fi password. You have an option to enter SSID names and assign unique passwords to each band if you prefer, or you can use the default Netgear names and passwords. That’s all there is to it. At this point, you’re ready to connect to one of the extender’s bands using your Wi-Fi control panel. The EX7000 delivered fast throughput and good range in testing, particularly on the 5GHz band. In the close proximity (same room) test, it measured an average throughput of 179Mbps. That’s light years faster than our previous leader, the Amped Wireless High Power 700mW Dual Band AC Wi-Fi Range Extender REA20, which turned in an average throughput of 50Mbps, and signicantly faster than the Netgear AC1200 WiFi Range Extender (EX6200), which managed 31Mbps. At a distance of 50 feet the EX7000 averaged 105Mbps, blowing away its nearest competitors, the Amped REA20 (44Mbps) and the D-Link DAP-1520 (34Mbps). Although throughput dropped to 31.1Mbps at 75 feet, the EX7000 still outperformed all comers.

On our close proximity test on the 2.4GHz band, the EX7000 took a share of rst place with the Amped REA20—both clocked in at 50Mbps. At 50 feet, the EX7000 (28.6Mbps) beat out the Netgear EX6200 (25Mbps) and the Amped REA20 (18Mbps). Its speed of 26.9 Mbps at 75 feet also led the pack. CONCLUSION

The Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Wi-Fi Range Extender (EX7000) gives you the throughput and range performance necessary to provide robust wireless coverage to every corner of your home. It’s a breeze to install and oers enough wired LAN ports to connect to gaming consoles, HDTVs, and other networked devices. It also oers access control scheduling and FastLane technology that let you optimize your bandwidth by directing wireless trac to a specic band. Though it’s expensive, the EX7000 costs around $10 less than the Amped Wireless High Power 700mW Dual Band AC Wi-Fi Range Extender REA20, and outperforms it across the board. If you want to save $40, its sibling, the Netgear EX6200, oers lots of features and a friendly user interface, but like the Amped REA20, it can’t touch the EX7000’s performance. All that makes the EX7000 a shoo-in as our Editors’ Choice wireless range extender. JOHN R. DELANEY


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REVIEWS SOFTWARE

PREVIEW: Microsoft Office 2016 for Windows Free for Office 365 users; upgrade price not announced NOT YET RATED

New Office Delivers Good Changes, Few Surprises

M

icrosoft recently released a free public preview of Oce 2016 for Windows, and, for most Windows users, the biggest news about it is that there’s no big news about it. Microsoft has made the new Oce apps “universal,” meaning that they’re designed for use on phones and tablets just as well as on desktops and laptops. For the rest of us, Oce 2016 is mostly business as usual, and that’s a good thing. For desktop and laptop users, most of the improvements in Oce 2016 are invisible, including enhancements to security settings for SharePoint-based workgroups. Almost nothing signicant has changed in the interface. If you’re familiar with Oce 2013, then you’ll have no trouble using Oce 2016. When

the new version is released, subscribers to Microsoft’s Oce 365 service will get the upgrade at no extra cost. Buyers of the “perpetual” version—the traditional buyit-once-and-keep-it variety—will be able to buy an upgrade at a price not yet specied. If you install the preview, you won’t be able to use Oce 2013 again until you uninstall the preview, so be sure you’re willing to take the inevitable minor risks that come with any preview software. In two days of testing, the Word preview seemed rock-solid, but Excel sometimes took an alarmingly long time to close a le, making me think it had locked up, though it eventually sorted itself out every time. Oce 365 subscribers can install the preview from their account page at oce.microsoft.com. Click on “Language and Install

Options,” then “Additional Install Options,” then choose “Oce Preview (32-bit)” from the Versions drop-down list. If you want to try the “perpetual” version, follow the links on Microsoft’s Oce 2016 preview page, accessible from products.oce.com. The biggest technical advance in Oce 2016 is realtime collaboration, available now only in Word, but due

TELL ME? MORE

Office 2016’s new “Tell Me” feature provides quick descriptions of features you’re searching for, so it’s easier to find the one you want.

to arrive in other apps later. You can edit a document in Word on your home machine while a coworker edits it at the same time using the online version of Word in a browser. When other users are working on a shared document, a “refresh” icon appears in the margin next to the paragraph they’ve edited, and, when you save the document on your machine, the other users’ changes appear over a green background. Simultaneous collaborative editing is one of the biggest attractions of Google Docs, but Oce 2016 nally steals at least a little of Google’s thunder. The biggest change in the interface is a “Tell me what you want to do...” box in the top-line menu of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Thanks to this feature, you don’t have keep clicking tabs on the Ribbon until you nd a feature like “Update table of contents” or “Insert a page break.” Instead you simply type in a word or two that identies the feature, and select the exact feature you want from a drop-down menu. The dialog box you want pops up immediately, and you don’t need to use the Ribbon at all. There’s no built-in keyboard shortcut to the “Tell Me” box in the preview version, and I wasn’t able to assign a shortcut for it in the Keyboard Customization dialog, but that’s presumably a preview glitch. Otherwise, the only interface changes I noticed are subtle ones, such as the return of upper- and lowercase tabs on the Ribbon instead of the shouting capitals in Oce 2013, and some relocated buttons in the le-management “Backstage” view. According to Microsoft’s blog posts about Oce 2016, Excel gets plenty of new features, including improved pivot tables, the ability to publish to the Microsoft BI (Business Info) service, and new charts and graphs including builtin sunburst (concentric pie charts) and waterfall charts. I couldn’t nd these on the Charts menu, but presumably they’re on their way. Outlook, when used with

a Microsoft Exchange server, gets a new automatic decluttering feature that moves some messages to a new Clutter folder, but I wasn’t able to try this either. Except for the “Tell Me” feature, PowerPoint 2016 looks almost identical to the 2013 version. This is Microsoft’s rst public preview of Oce 2016 for Windows, following a couple of months behind the public preview of Oce 2016 for the Mac. The Mac preview has already had an update that added new features, and you can expect similar updates to the Windows version. If you make heavy use of Excel, which seems to be the most unnished of the preview apps, I’d suggest you try out the preview only on a system you don’t use for real work. But if you use mostly Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook, I would consider switching to the preview version now. The Tell Me feature will save you a lot of time-wasting browsing in the Ribbon, and real-time collaboration in Word can be a major plus for teamwork. Even if you don’t switch to the preview, you can take comfort in the knowledge that Oce 2016 is an incremental upgrade that makes worthwhile improvements without disrupting anything. EDWARD MENDELSON



POSITIVE OUTLOOK

Outlook 2016 resembles the 2013 version visually, but it’s now much easier to navigate its massive feature set.

REVIEWS APPSCOUT

Our Favorite Apps

Confide

Android, iOS

L L L L m If you’re concerned about how private your mobile communications are, you may want to check out Confide. It aims to be your go-to app for sending secure messages (even with attachments) that can’t be preserved via screenshots or even easily read over your shoulder, and uses 128-bit AES encryption to ensure security on both ends. Interface and attachment improvements in the latest version make Confide sleeker and smarter than ever.

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Our Ou r Fav Favor orite ite Apps Apps

Luminos—Astronomy Companion EDITORS’ CHOICE

iOS

L L L l m

Whether you’re an experienced amateur astronomer or merely a novice, Luminos— Astronomy Companion is a magnificent tool. It depicts more stars, comets, and asteroids than any similarly priced app we’ve seen; it charts solar and lunar eclipses; it offers advanced features like guiding a computer-controlled telescope and creating lists of objects to observe; and it can help beginners navigate the night sky. Luminos’ incredible versatility makes it an app every stargazer will love.

REVIEWS APPSCOUT

Ourr Fav Ou Favor orite ite Apps Apps

Layout From Instagram

Android, iOS

L L L L m A squadron of mobile apps has emerged recently to help you stitch together your photos, but few do the job as well as Layout From Instagram. It has an extremely clear and powerful interface that simplifies selecting photos, and customizing the layouts you use to display them. You get a good selection of layout options, facial recognition, and sharing capabilities, though you can’t edit your pictures from within the app. Even so, this app is elegant and easy to use.

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The Sailor’s Dream

iOS

L L L l m The Sailor’s Dream, the latest game from innovative developer Simogo (Year Walk, Device 6), takes you on a journey across a sea of memories as you try to piece together a sad tale of longing and regret set on a group of whimsical islands. Beautiful visuals and music (from Jonathan Eng) contribute to the enriching experience. In order to discover everything, you’ll need to play across many days, but chances are you’ll find the investment as rewarding as you would reading a great novel.



Features HOW TO BUILD A PC: THE BUYING GUIDE HOW TO BUILD A PC: THE BUILDING GUIDE

FEATURES

The Buying Guide

HOW TO BUILD A PC

The best computer for you is still the one you build yourself. BY MATTHEW MURRAY

C

mputing has changed a lot in the last decade. Smartphones have become most people’s go-to method of playing games, staying in touch with friends, and browsing the Web for cat pictures and answers to spur-of-the-moment trivia questions. When they need something more powerful, or with a bigger screen, they might reach for a tablet. If actual, real work calls, the laptop they use is probably svelte, light, and stylish. Traditional bulky desktops are increasingly rare, and when you see them they’re usually allin-ones or decked out in some wacky style that’s designed to be noticed rather than to actually do anything. And, let’s face it, no one really builds their own desktop PC anymore, right? Wrong, actually. DIY may not be everything it used to be, but it’s still a thriving sector of the industry, and one that any serious computer user—we mean the type of person who cares more about what a computer can do than how small an envelope it can slide into—should be aware of. Because, if you want the strongest, most adaptable, most upgradeable, and most personal computer you can possibly get, there’s no way around it: You have to build it yourself. By researching each individual component’s capabilities and limitations, you can tailor your purchases to your exact needs now and in the future. Then you spend an hour (or probably less) installing them all, and become intimately familiar with them and invested in their operation. If you further tweak performance or mod your case, you’re molding your machine even further to your exact specifications. And if your requirements or your mood change tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year, you can easily pull out and replace as few as one of the pieces, and your computer is perfect for you yet again. Nothing else gives you this much control or satisfaction. Yes, you’ll have to sacrifice some— maybe a lot—of portability, but the result will be something you can totally and deeply call your own as you never will be able to with an unchangeable system designed and manufactured entirely by someone else. Building your own PC is not necessarily an inexpensive or quick proposition. But if you’re willing to devote the time and resources to the project, you will end up with the best possible computer on Earth for you—and that will make everything else worthwhile. o

SHOPPING FOR PARTS

The dirty little secret of PC building is that the most difficult and time-consuming part of the process happens long before you start looking for a screwdriver. You can’t even start thinking about assembling the individual components until you buy them—and that means doing a lot of investigating into the options (of which there are thousands) and, believe it or not, some serious soul-searching. The first, and most important, thing to consider is: What do you want your PC to do? Are you looking for a really inexpensive system to put in the kids’ room? Do you want a squat, console-like desktop that will fit right next to the TV that you can use for streaming media, or maybe as a Steam Machine? Is a dedicated work PC for your home office the goal? Or do you want the biggest, baddest build that can play the hottest new games without breaking a sweat? Sorry, we can’t decide this for you. But once you’ve decided it for yourself, you’ll have a better idea of what components you need to buy and how much money you’ll have to spend on them. And then you can get on to the actual shopping. For purposes of this story, we did our research and shopping using Newegg.com. We highly recommend it for its dizzyingly wide selection of components in every conceivable category and one of the Internet’s most powerful search engines for narrowing down your precise needs. But feel free to use whatever tool (or brick-and-mortar store) is your favorite. The nuances of what components do, and how to best get them to serve your needs, is beyond the scope of this story. But the following descriptions of their functions and what you need to look for when shopping should give you a solid of idea of where to start in collecting all the parts you’ll need for your PC.

P�ocessor (CPU) If you’re building a gaming PC on a budget, you’ll probably want to start off by choosing a video card. Everyone else can start with the central processing unit (CPU), or processor, the “brain” of the computer that, well, processes all the instructions it receives from the software you run and the other components you have installed. Because of the considerable difference it will make in how well you run every program on your PC, paying particular attention to its capabilities is crucial.

P�ocessor WHAT TO LOOK FOR Number of cores. Back when every CPU only contained one processing unit, or core, clock speed (see below) was the easiest way to measure performance. But practically every processor today is a multicore CPU, and the more cores a chip has, the more it can accomplish at once (if it’s supported by the software). Most common are two- (dual-) and four(quad-)core CPUs, though six- and eightcore CPUs are becoming more visible on the market.

external system RAM. This onboard memory is stored in one or more caches, which are identified L2 or L3. More powerful processors will be equipped with larger caches.

Socket type. CPUs come in different sizes and are identified by the kind of socket they plug into. (For example, Intel’s most powerful current chips use the third revision of the LGA 2011 socket.) You’ll need this information to determine what motherboard to buy.

Number of threads. Most processors today, particularly from market leader Intel, can simultaneously operate two processing threads per core (Intel calls this technology hyperthreading), effectively doubling your core count. Because not every processor supports this, check that yours does if you expect to be running a lot of multithreaded applications.

Clock speed (operating frequency). This is the frequency at which each core in a CPU runs, or the number of cycles it is able to execute per second. The higher the number, the faster CPU will generally be per core. These days, clock speed is measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billions of cycles per second.

Cache (L2 or L3). A processor uses memory installed in the chip itself to store and speed up operations before utilizing

Manufacturing technology. Every year or two, processors get thinner and more power-efficient. Knowing a chip’s manufacturing technology (measured in nanometers, or nm) will give you some insight into its capabilities, but is not strictly necessary.

Cooler. Most processors come with a fan rated for their specific speed and estimated heat output; unless you’re planning to overclock your computer or otherwise put it through particularly traumatic paces, you probably don’t need to buy another fan or liquid cooling system. (And for that reason, we’re not going to dwell on the question here.) But if you do decide to go with an aftermarket solution, or if you choose a high-end CPU that doesn’t come with its own fan, make sure that the cooler you get is designed for the family of processor you have.

Motherboard If the CPU is a computer’s brain, the motherboard is its nervous system. Most of your other components will plug into the motherboard, so the one that you use in your build needs to be exactly what you need now, and what you expect to need from it in the future.

Motherboard WHAT TO LOOK FOR Socket type. A motherboard’s socket type must match that of the CPU you plan to use in it. Always cross-compare.

though some that look identical may run at x8 or x4; in addition, there are visibly smaller x1 slots. On a Mini ITX motherboard, expect only one x16 slot.

Form factor. Motherboards come in a range of form factors, which determine how many other components you can install and what kind of case you need. For most full-size desktop builds you’ll probably want either Micro ATX or ATX; for smaller builds, Mini ITX will work.

Memory. You need to know the memory type and standard your motherboard uses, which are usually listed together; just buy what it supports and you’ll be fine. (Ignore “O.C.” numbers if you don’t plan to overclock your memory.) The number of memory slots tells you how many individual modules, or DIMMs, you can use; you’ll also see the maximum memory supported. A motherboard labeled dual-, triple-, or quad-channel supports a CPU technology that delivers increased performance if you fill enough of the RAM slots.

Expansion slots. The ATX and Micro ATX motherboard form factors have between four and seven PCI Express (PCIe) slots, for adding expansion cards. These may use either the current top-end standard, PCIe 3.0, or the older 2.0, with designations based on the size of the slots and the number of PCIe lanes they use. The longest and fastest slots are x16,

Storage. SATA remains the most common interface for connecting internal storage devices. The newest version of the standard, SATA 3, supports data transfer rates of up to 6Gbps. You may also find some other interfaces; M.2, in which a flash-based storage module plugs directly into a thin slot on your motherboard, is becoming increasingly popular. Regardless, you’ll want to have enough of the right kind of ports for whatever storage you want to buy.

Onboard technologies. All boards have USB ports, sound output, and Ethernet; most include integrated Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth; and many have ports for taking advantage of lower-end processors’ integrated video capabilities. It’s worth checking the specs so that you don’t forego something you really want.

Video card support. Think you may want to concoct an ultra-powerful gaming machine with more than one graphics card? Even if you have enough slots to hold multiple cards, your motherboard must be designed for use with either Nvidia’s SLI technology or AMD’s CrossFireX, so verify that first.

Memory Your computer’s randomaccess memory, or RAM, is where data is stored while the processor is waiting to crunch the numbers. More is pretty much always better, within the boundaries of your budget and your system (if yours is 32-bit, it’s limited to about 4GB— vastly less than 64-bit PCs can use), though if you use simple applications and aren’t an avid multitasker, you can get away with less. The nice thing about building your own PC: If it turns out you need more later on, memory is one of the easiest things to add.

Memory WHAT TO LOOK FOR Type. Memory will only be useful to you if the motherboard supports it; read that section for more information. Each new standard offers some additional speed and features, but not in all situations, so don’t feel as if DDR4 RAM, rather than DDR3, is an automatic must for you if you’re building from scratch. Just remember that RAM is not backwardcompatible, so DDR4 will not work in a DDR3 slot. The higher the number in a memory’s standard, such as DDR4 2666, the faster it generally is. Faster memory designed for the same slot type will work in a slower slot, but save yourself some money and don’t leave any performance on the table you don’t have to.

Capacity. DIMMs for each memory type come in a variety of capacities, so you can buy what you need and can afford. It’s best to buy at least one chip for each memory channel (three for triple-channel, four for quad-channel), and memory often comes in “kits” to make that easier; and we don’t recommend mixing and matching capacities within any one build. If you see a capacity listed as something like “8GB (2 x 4GB),” this means the total amount

of RAM is divided up between a number of chips (in this case, two DIMMs of 4GB each, for a total of 8GB)..

Memory timings. Most memory specs include a series of four numbers, separated by hyphens, that provide an at-a-glance way to tell how speedy the memory is. The first number, CAS latency (the amount of time between when the memory controller requests data and when it’s available) is the most significant, and may be listed by itself. The lower the numbers, the faster you can expect the memory to be.

Other specs. Error Checking and Correction (ECC) memory is intended for high-performance systems such as workstations and servers; you will need a motherboard that specifically supports this type of memory if you want to use it (and most ordinary users won’t need to bother). Voltage numbers give you specific information about how the memory uses power, with higher voltages typically meaning speedier RAM—but this is really of use only to performancecraving overclockers.

Video Card Though integrated graphics systems are more commonplace today than ever, even the best versions in the latest processors can’t deliver what you can get from even a lower-end discrete video card. If you’re into gaming of any sort, a video card is a must, but any programs that are designed to do so, from Windows to Photoshop and beyond, can benefit from offloading video processing to a dedicated subsystem. Unless you’re blasting out a tightbudget build, there’s no good reason to forego a video card.

Video Card WHAT TO LOOK FOR Processing cores. Like your CPU, your graphics processing unit (or GPU) contains multiple processing cores exclusively for churning out graphics. The more of them your video card has, the better a performer it’s likely to be (and the more it’s likely to cost). AMD calls its versions “stream processors” and Nvidia has named its own “CUDA cores”—note that while you can’t directly compare the two types, the numbers of cores are good indicators of relative power within each company’s chipset families.

Clock rates. As with your CPU, this is the speed at which the GPU runs. It’s not unusual to see cards with fewer processing cores and faster clock speeds, or vice versa, so finding the best blend for the amount of money you have to spend is a good way to go.

Memory. Video memory (VRAM) serves a function for video cards that’s similar to what ordinary RAM does for the rest of your computer: It stores the data until it’s needed for processing. This matters less if you’re playing at lower resolutions, where there aren’t as many pixels and other visual effects to be wrangled, but, as a rule of thumb—as with

RAM—more tends to be better. (You’ll see 4GB or more on the highest-end, most expensive video cards.) Also watch for the memory clock speed, which can also factor into performance.

Ports. A video card isn’t worth much if it’s not hooked up to at least one monitor. Look at the list of its ports to determine what sort of outputs your card has for DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort; if you’ll be using your computer with a monitor you already own, you’ll want to know ahead of time whether you’ll need to buy an adapter. Another good idea is verifying how many monitors the card can drive at once: It may not be the same as the card’s number of output ports.

Power requirements. Video cards are among the most power-hungry PC components you can buy, so know what you need to get from your power supply. Usually there will be a minimum value you should respect, and you’ll also be told the specific number of connectors (six- or eight-pin) you’ll need in order to get the card to work as well as the number of amps needed from the power supply (see that section for more information).

Storage Even if you love smartphones and tablets, you have to admit that storage is one of their biggest weaknesses: You’re pretty much stuck with whatever you buy. When you’re building your own PC, that’s not a problem—it’s easy to add more pretty much whenever you want. But even if you don’t have to worry too much about capacity, you need to make a few other crucial decisions when shopping.

Storage WHAT TO LOOK FOR Hard drive or SSD? The price of

Form factor. This refers to the size of

solid-state drives (SSDs), which store data on flash memory, has dropped a lot in recent years, making them a better choice than ever to add to your computer if speed in booting up and accessing files is what you crave. But by and large, they’re still punishingly expensive on a cost-per-gigabyte basis compared with traditional, slower mechanical hard drives: It’s not hard to track down a 3TB hard drive that costs $100 or less, whereas consumer-oriented SSDs top out at about 1TB—and those will run you $350 at an absolute minimum. Because of this, the classic advice is still the best: Pair a lower-capacity SSD, for installing Windows and your most important programs, with one or more spinning hard drives for housing data.

the drive, with hard drives coming in 3.5or 2.5-inch varieties, and SSDs coming in 2.5- or 1.8-inch models. For desktop computers, form factor seldom matters much, though you’ll need to have the right kind of space in your case for whatever drive you choose.

Interface. Serial ATA (SATA)

Optional optical. Now that most

connections are still common, especially for hard drives, and your motherboard will undoubtedly have plenty. But you can also buy newer SSDs that install into your motherboard’s expansion slots and use the faster PCIe bus. Other interfaces are less common, but you may want to take a page from space-saving smaller systems and consider M.2 (which plugs directly into a motherboard port) for use as a boot drive. Just be certain your motherboard supports whatever standard you intend to use.

software is purchased and delivered digitally, an optical drive may not be a necessity for you, particularly if you don’t plan to install a lot of older programs. If you don’t want an optical drive, you’ll need another strategy for installing the operating system; use another computer to create an installation USB key, for example. If you do want a drive, it may be worth it to splurge a bit on a Blu-ray burner (they cost around $100, or about five times what you’d pay for a DVD burner), so you can watch high-definition movies you may have hanging around.

Hard drive specs. Extra details may appear on hard drive listings that you won’t see with SSDs. Most consumer hard drives spin at either 7,200 or 10,000rpm, with speedier drives costing more and using more energy. You can also select the amount of cache memory your hard drive uses (up to 128MB) to boost performance. This information is helpful for detail-oriented purists, but of limited use if you don’t boot from your hard drive.

Power Supply You can buy the best components to be found on the Web, and they’ll be useless if you can’t actually turn your computer on once you’ve finished building it. A power supply unit (or PSU) may be the most unappreciated of components, but without it, nothing else will work, so don’t forget to give it the thought it deserves.

Power Supply WHAT TO LOOK FOR Maximum power. This is the

Form factor. Like other components

highest amount of power the supply is capable of directing to your components. The less complicated or intense the build, the lower a number you can get away with—for most people, 500 to 750 watts will be fine. But if you’re using high-end parts, particularly energy-sucking video cards (or more than one), your power needs could increase to 1,000 watts or more. Checking your components’ power usage or thermal design power (TDP) is vital—get a PSU that’s too weak, and your computer may not even turn on.

we’ve covered here, power supplies come in a variety of form factors that determine the kinds of hardware you can use with them, and under what circumstances. The most common for mainstream motherboards right now is the ATX12V, but you may also see others (such as EPS12V), and you may need to buy a smaller power supply if you’re building a system too miniature to fit a full-size ATX power supply, say.

Voltage rails. Simply put, voltage rails are like individual power circuits within your PSU, with each of the major varieties (+3.3V, +5V, and +12V) powering different kinds of components. In most cases, the most important one to pay attention to is the +12V rail, as that’s what will be driving your video cards; one of these capable of supplying 34 to 40 amps should be enough for the most power-hungry cards you can currently buy, and is likely to be more reliable than using multiple +12V rails for the same job.

Connectors. Power supplies come in two varieties: one in which all the cables are preattached, and another (called modular) that lets you hook up only the cables you need. In either case, your PSU still has to have the right connectors, whether six- and eight-pin PCIe for video cards, SATA for newer hard drives and SSDs, or Molex for older drives and other devices. The good news is that if you don’t have all the connectors you need, adapters aren’t too tough to find. Still, it’s easiest to verify that you have what you need ahead of time; the video card (or PCIe) connectors are most likely to trip you up, so find out what your card needs so your PSU can supply power in the proper way.

Case Yes, you’ll need a case to house all the other components you buy, and that’s what we’ll focus on here. But remember that it’s also the outward expression of your computer’s personality— and your own. How big should it be? What shape? What color? Do you want a window? Make these decisions, too, so that your final computer will look every bit as good as it runs.

Case WHAT TO LOOK FOR Form factor. Though a case can basically be as big or as small as you want, what matters more is which form factor of motherboard it’s designed for. One intended for ATX motherboards will have room for the board and the proper number of expansion slots; a Micro ATX motherboard is smaller and will have fewer slots, though the case itself won’t necessarily be smaller; and smaller form factors still, such as Mini ITX, may require other adjustments to your component choices (less storage, for example, or maybe a smaller power supply). Many larger ATX cases can also be used with motherboards of other form factors; as long as yours is supported, you should be just fine.

connect any front-panel ports to the motherboard, so cross-comparing those specs ahead of time is a good idea.

Drive bays. You’ll need someplace to store your hard drives and SSDs, and any other devices you may be using. Generally speaking, cases may have one or more 5.25-inch external bays for optical drives and other enthusiast gadgets, and multiple bays for 3.5- or 2.5-inch hard drives and SSDs. (Some cases also have externally accessible 3.5-inch bays for quickly swapping hard drives in and out.) The smallest cases, though, can have very few of these, so pay attention, or risk not being able to perform desired upgrades later.

Front-panel ports and controls.

Fans and filters. Cooling is one of a

You’ll definitely want to access all of your computer’s features, and its front-panel ports are the most convenient way to do that. Every case will have Power and Reset buttons and an activity light, and most will also have headphone and microphone jacks and USB ports; some may even have fan or lighting controls. Just remember that you’ll need to

case’s most important functions. Your case will probably come with one or more intake or exhaust fans preinstalled, and have room for adding more (in several sizes, from 80mm on up) if you want them. Removable filters, which capture dust to keep your PC’s interior tidy and are easy to clean, are also common on higher-end cases.



FEATURES

The Building Guide

HOW TO BUILD A PC

Once you’ve decided on and purchased your parts, it’s time to do the really exciting/ fun/scary part and assemble them all. Believe it or not, this is less difficult than it may sound, especially now that tool-free cases are de rigueur and you won’t need your Phillips screwdriver for installing much more than the motherboard. But doing things in the proper order will help out a lot. What follows is the basic procedure for building a higher-end larger or midsize system that we’re planning on using to test hardware in PC Labs. It illustrates most of the points you’ll encounter in your building, though the details will differ a bit depending on the components you buy. The basic techniques, however, seldom vary much from build to build.

1

Get P�epared Just as a professional chef wouldn’t dare fire up the stove without the mise en place ready to go, neither should you. Unpack all of your components, remove the packing material from them, and arrange them cleanly on a large, flat surface. The floor will absolutely work if that’s all you have, but try to avoid doing it on a carpet—static electricity remains a major danger when working with electronics, and frying your system before you even get to use it is one shock you don’t want. Also, open up the main side panel of your case, because that’s where you’ll be starting with your build.

2

Install the Power Supply You won’t need the power supply until much later in the build process, but you’re better off installing it first because once the other components are in place, it becomes a lot more difficult to pop the supply into position. Position the PSU in the bay with the fan pointing downward (many cases will have a vent there) and the screw holes lining up with the holes on the back of the case. Secure the power supply with the provided screws, then drape the cables over the side of the case to keep them out of the way while you work on everything else.

3

Install the P�ocessor Most of the time, it’s going to be easiest to install some components on the motherboard before you put the motherboard in the case—you’ll have a lot more room to work that way. The processor definitely qualifies for this treatment. Begin by opening the socket. If you’re using an AMD CPU, just lift the lever to release the locking mechanism; you’ll also need to do this for Intel chips, but notice that a metal cover will also secure the chip in place, and that needs to be lifted as well. (On higher-end Intel chips, such as the one pictured here, two levers may hold down the socket cover, and you’ll need to lift those in the proper order.) Once the socket is opened, use the arrows printed on the socket and chip to align the CPU correctly, then lower it gently into the socket. (With AMD processors, the pins are on the CPU, so they’ll need to all go down into the proper holes and the chip sits flat before proceeding.) After you’ve correctly placed the chip, secure the socket again by reversing the procedure you used to open it earlier.


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4

Install the CPU Cooler If your fan or cooler doesn’t come with thermal compound already applied, you’ll need to do so yourself. Once the processor is in place, squeeze a small dab onto the center of the top of the processor; you can spread it around evenly with something like a business card if you want, but this isn’t strictly necessary. With most stock coolers, you just align the support posts for the cooler around the socket and secure them in place; each cooler is slightly different in this regard, so refer to its instructions for exact directions on doing this with the model you have. If you’re using a liquid cooler (shown below) or another aftermarket cooler, you may need to install mounting hardware on the underside of the motherboard or configure a universal support mechanism for use with your specific motherboard and processor—either is another good reason to install the cooler with the motherboard outside the case.

5 Install the RAM

The RAM bays are opened with the little clips at either end (some motherboards use only one set of clips, but most have two)—just push them down to open. Align the notch in the memory connector to the raised “key” in the RAM bay (you could damage the DIMM if it’s not oriented correctly), then push the DIMM firmly into place. When it’s correct, the clips should rotate back up and lock the memory in. Repeat with your other chips. Note: If you’re using multiple-channel memory, the DIMMs should be installed in the proper channels if you want the according speed boost. It’s pretty easy if, say, you have a quad-channel board and only four memory bays, but it might be more confusing in other situations, though the bays are often color-coded to clear things up. Consult your motherboard’s manual if you’re not sure.

6

Place the I/O Plate Each motherboard comes with a specially designed I/O plate that labels each of its ports and helps close off the back of the computer from dust and other intrusions; you don’t absolutely need it, but it’s a really good thing to have. Align it right-side up (you may want to compare it to the back of the motherboard, just to be safe), place it inside the wide space at the rear of the case, and push on it—hard—until it locks into place on all four edges.

7

Mount the Motherboard Find the collection of risers that came with your motherboard, and screw them by hand into holes in the main floor of the case. You’ll need these to line up with the holes in the motherboard itself, so you may want to place the motherboard in the case to verify the positioning first. (Alternately, some motherboards have the holes needed for the various motherboard form factors marked so you won’t have to either do this or guess.) Tighten each of the risers as much as you can. Guide the motherboard gently into the case, guiding its rear-panel ports through the correct openings in the I/O plate, and then laying the motherboard on top of the risers so you can see them through the screw holes. Insert and screw in half way all the screws; once they’re in and you’ve verified that the motherboard’s position is correct, go back and screw them all in the rest of the way. Be careful to not overtighten the screws.

8

Install the Video Card The video card plugs into the longest (x16) PCIe slot on the motherboard, the first in the series of slots if the board has more than one. Open that slot on the case, either by unscrewing the cover blocking it or utilizing your case’s tool-free mechanism. Line up the card’s backplate with the slot and the gold connectors (avoid touching them) with the slot itself. Then push the card down until it clicks. Secure the card in its position using whatever method your case employs. Note: If you’re using an extra-wide video card or multiple video cards, you’ll need to open more than one slot.

9 Install Your D�ives

Because every case is different, it’s tough to provide a blanket explanation for how to install the specific drives for your build. Most 5.25-inch drives, if you’re using them, will either screw in place or use a simple tool-free system on one or both sides of the drive cage. It’s not uncommon for 3.5-inch drives to install using caddies or trays, though they may also screw into a smaller cage below the 5.25-inch one (almost always at the top of the drive well). And many of those same trays will also have space for 2.5-inch drives, though some of these drives come with adapters that let them work easily in 3.5-inch bays, or other slots (such as on the floor of the case or beneath the motherboard tray) may be provided for installing them. Other drive form factors, such as mSATA or M.2, install into special slots on the motherboard itself; and still other drives can be placed in PCIe slots. The manuals for your motherboard and any unusual drives will have the information you need about this.

Connect Your Cables 10

With all your hardware installed, it’s time to start linking everything together. Run data cables from your drives that need them to the appropriate ports on the motherboard. (SATA ports are often located along the inner edge.) Ensure that everything that needs power gets it: Connect the appropriate cables from the power supply to the motherboard (you’ll probably need two: one terminating in a 24-pin plug, another in a four- or eight-pin plug), to your video card (one or more of the six- or eight-pin cables, probably labeled “PCIe”), and to your drives (the connectors are thin and black). For bonus points and to improve airflow, route your interior cables through the holes in the inside of the case and around the back of the motherboard if you can; most nonbudget cases today are designed to facilitate this.

11

Connect Your Wres Connect the power wires from your fans and your CPU cooler to the proper pins on the motherboard; sets are clearly marked for “CPU Fan,” Chassis Fan,” or “Aux Fan.” Then connect the wires from the front panel to the appropriate headers: USB will be common here (note that the 2.0 and 3.0 standards’ headers look different), as will the headphone and microphone jacks (which will connect via the same audio header). Finally, link the tiny front-panel wires for your activity lights and Power and Reset buttons to the pins on the motherboard. A legend is typically printed on the board itself, but it can be difficult to know how to properly orient each of the two-pin connectors. Again, consult your motherboard manual if you have questions—your activity lights, or even the whole, PC might not turn on if you make a mistake here.

2

Start Ysing Your PC That’s it! You’ll still need to install Windows and software on your new computer, and tweak the BIOS or UEFI settings to your liking, so there’s a fair amount of work yet to be performed. But remember that this isn’t the end of the process. If you want more speed, swap out the processor for a faster one. Tackle more demanding projects by upping the RAM. Make your games more exciting by replacing your video card with the latest and greatest model. The choice is yours, and you can change your mind at any time. In any event, rest easy knowing that you’re doing it all on a PC you built especially for you, and that will always reflect your needs and desires in a way no tablet or laptop easily can. Who knows? You may just find that the satisfaction you can gain from ultimate configuration freedom is worth the mobility you lose.


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PETS High-Tech Ways to Find a Lost Pet

TECH ETIQUETTE Ask Alex: What to Wearable

Digital

DIGITAL LIFE GET ORGANIZED

Make Money While Cleaning Out Your Closet Get rid of old clothes, get paid, and maybe get a whole new wardrobe in the process. BY JILL DUFFY

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y wardrobe needs an overhaul. It’s not that I’m out of style. It’s that I’m about to move to southern India, where the climate is tropical year-round, and cashmere sweaters have no place. There’s a semiunspoken dress code for women, too: no bare shoulders, and bottoms must cover past the knee. So long, tank tops and shorts! So long, winter clothes! Although my situation is unusual, there are plenty of reasons—maternity, weight loss or gain, change in taste, a compulsive shopping habit—you might have valuable clothes in good condition that you just don’t need anymore. One of the best solutions is to sell those pre-owned items through an app that specializes in secondhand clothing.

Quite a few such marketplaces have been building momentum in the last few years. The companies that run them oer superb convenience for people trying to clean out their closets, as anyone who’s ever dragged garbage bags of old clothes to a local consignment shop or donation drop-o site surely knows. Now you can ship items to a central location, where they’ll be photographed, listed, and sold; or you can snap your own pics with a mobile app and do the selling yourself. Selling methods and payouts vary, as do the quality standards. Here are some of the best clothing consignment apps I’ve tried, and explanations of how they work and what makes them dierent. POSHMARK Poshmark oers a wide range of women’s clothes and accessories, including unused swimsuits, makeup, and fragrances. Poshmark’s range is so wide, you can nd traditional Chinese cheongsams, Indian saris, salwar kameez sets— the works. But it’s also a very busy site, where you can (and by default do) follow other sellers, join rooms with real-time sales, and message with buyers and sellers. Quality varies. Selling: Sellers do the bulk of the work. Sellers use Poshmark’s mobile app to upload photos of their items, describe them, set prices, and seal the deal. When a buyer snags your item, you receive a shipping label to mail it. Buyers and sellers can message one another directly to haggle, or to ask the seller to bundle multiple items into one purchase and shipment. Sellers get 80 percent of the value for items that sell for $15 or more, and for cheaper sales, Poshmark takes a commission fee of $2.95 per item.

POSHMARK APP

SHOPWELLSUITED ShopWellSuited is an online men’s clothing and accessories consignment shop, with physical retail stores in Phoenix and San Diego. It’s part of a family of consignment shops, aliated with the agship My Sister’s Closet. Shopping on ShopWellSuited is a drag, however. Although the site has a nice display and interface, you have to call the store to make the purchase and pay $15 in shipping for items that cost less than $500. Selling: ShopWellSuited advises sellers to focus on “the three Cs”: cute, clean, and current. Sellers can ship clothes to the agship store in Arizona either on their own or by requesting a shipping kit. Sellers in the Phoenix and San Diego areas can also drop o their items in person. Sellers take 45 percent of sales in cash or 55 percent in credit. Just bear in mind that if you take store credit, you have to make a few phone calls to buy the items you see listed on the site. THREADFLIP Threadip, which you can access via the Web or a mobile app, specializes in select brands of high-quality secondhand women’s clothing. Selling: Threadip will send you a shipping kit, or you can print out a prepaid label if you have your own box to mail in the items you want to sell. The company’s employees inspect items and will return to you (for a $10 fee) or donate to Goodwill any items they reject. Items ready for sale are professionally photographed, listed, and sold on your behalf, so convenience is high. You can earn cash or store credit, but the commission fees vary tremendously. You can earn anywhere from 30 to 80 percent of the sale price.

THREDUP Specializing in women’s clothing and accessories, and children’s clothing, thredUP leans more toward designer items, and it doesn’t accept or sell socks, swimsuits, or undergarments. Quality control is high; thredUP veries designer items and doesn’t accept items that are missing labels. Selling: With thredUP, you can forget all the hassle of selling. You can request the company send you a Clean Out bag, which arrives with a prepaid shipping label. Fill the bag with clothes that meet thredUP’s standards, drop it in the mail, and wait for your payout. The price is set by thredUP, but you have the option to override it if you think the list price is too low. Sellers earn a cut, which varies from 10 to 80 percent, based on the sale price and whether you take an up-front payment or an actual cut of the sale. You can earn store credit or cash, or donate the proceeds to a charity. If thredUP can’t sell one of your items and you decide you want it back, you pay a $12.99 return shipping fee. THEREALREAL TheRealReal buys and sells both women’s and men’s luxury fashions, ne jewelry and watches, and ne art. Selling: When selling on TheRealReal, you have a few options. You can request a shipping kit and mail in your items. You can create a list of items you’re going to sell on the site, and TheRealReal will rangeestimate the value of each item; then you can print a free shipping label yourself and mail your items. Or in some cities, you can schedule free in-person pickup. As with most sites, you can take cash or store credit, and you’ll receive around 60 to 70 percent of the sale, depending on the amount sold.

THREDUP APP

TRADESY Tradesy deals in women’s clothing (mostly high-end) accessories, and wedding items, including menswear and accessories for grooms and groomsmen. Selling: Tradesy takes an intermediary approach to helping sellers. The company doesn’t do all the work for you, but it assists you more than Poshmark does. Tradesy makes you photograph your items for sale, but it enhances the photos. It also suggests a selling price, and when an item sells, Tradesy provides a shipping kit or label. If the buyer changes her mind, Tradesy handles the return. Tradesy takes a low rate of 9 percent commission when you take your earnings as store credit, and keeps an additional 2.9 percent if you cash out. TWICE Twice is a marketplace for secondhand, quality-controlled women’s clothes, men’s clothes, and accessories. It only accepts certain brands and clothing and accessories in excellent condition. Selling: As with thredUP, Twice handles all the pains of photographing, describing, pricing, listing, and selling your items for you. It has high quality standards and only accepts select brands. There is no set commission rate, so you’ll need to use Twice’s payout calculator to estimate the payout value of each item you’re selling. When Twice sells your used clothing, you get a cut of the money, of course, and can take cash (via PayPal, Venmo, check, or Target gift card) or store credit, for which you’ll earn an additional 25 percent. If you change your mind and want an unsold item back, return shipping is $4.95 per item. The company donates all items it rejects.

VINTED Vinted runs the gamut in terms of brands, quality, style, and types of clothing and accessories it sells. It caters to women, and the app facilitates direct communication between sellers and buyers. Selling: With Vinted, you have two options for how to sell. You can sell items yourself by taking photos of items with the Vinted app, adding a description, and mailing out the item once it sells (using a shipping label that Vinted provides but you ultimately pay for). You set the price, or you can tell shoppers that you’re interested in swapping for clothes rather than taking their money. The other option, which is currently in beta, is to nd a seller already on Vinted who will handle the photography, description, and selling for you. All you have to do is mail that person your stu and wait until it sells. Either way, Vinted takes 19 percent. Commission and fee details for using a seller aren’t yet public.



DIGITAL LIFE HOW TO

Break Bad Habits With Tech No matter your bad habit, there is an app or service waiting to help you make a lifestyle change. BY ERIC GRIFFITH

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hether you tend to procrastinate, inconsiderately clip your nails, or smoke, drink, or eat to excess, there are plenty of ways to get help. Therapy, meetings, family, friends—these are all methods you should seriously consider. Plus, there are websites and apps. With some help from software—and by applying some of your own willpower, an aspect that can’t be overlooked or ignored—it’s possible to better yourself. Even if all you do is correct one practice or pattern that is bugging, governing, or ruining you and those around you on a regular basis, it may be worth it.

ALL HABITS BROKEN

Start at habitforge.com, a site that promises to “inspire and encourage you every day” by creating a community to help you. That’s right, it’s habit breaking via social networking (though going it alone is also an option). Perhaps more important, Habitforge sends you a daily email asking how you’re doing. Answer yes or no, it tracks your progress, and once you reach milestones like 21, 30, or 60 days, you’ll get some kudos. Just enter your email address to get started. Similarly, Coach.me (formerly Lift; free for iOS and Android) is all about training you to be the best you. You pick a goal and the targets to reach that goal, but you can pay a little extra for some personal in-app coaching if the community aspect isn’t enough. Try HabitSeed (free, iPhone only) if you’re the nurturing type. It simply tracks your progress over 21 days of trying to break or create a new habit. If you’re successful, the seed you planted at the start matures into a full (albeit virtual) tree. HabitRPG (free, Web-based) is a bit more involved. It “gamifes” your habits, turning bad things into monsters to vanquish. The more work you do to break the oending practice, the more points and prizes you can score. Again, it makes a quantum leap ahead when you go with the collaborative “gaming,” similar to how Halo is better with a group than in solo play. SNOOZE ALARM ABUSE

If you’re the type to hit the snooze button multiple times—enough that you end up late for work anyway—there are some technological options to help you get up. Mathe Alarm Clock is a free iOS app (with some Android variations) that won’t shut o the alarm until you’re awake enough to do

some math problems. Enter the answer and you’ll get some quiet, but by then, it’s probably too late to fall back to sleep. Once you’ve mastered getting out of bed, perfect what you’ll do to start your day with the HabitClock app (free on iOS, Android is in the works). It helps create worthwhile morning routines, and provides reports on how well you’re managing the changes. THE MOBILE TECH SWEAR JAR

Have a problem with salty language? If you’re on Twitter, and you use that platform to mouth o with bad words and regret it, link your account to SwearJar.cc. It will donate cash (£1, or about $1.49) to famine relief when you do. There are also several app options, including the free Vice Jar for iOS. Or, build your own jar by enlisting IFTTT. The excellent “if this, then that” service that merges Web based services can help you at least track the bad words. Download IFTTT’s Do Button apps for iOS and Android—they provide one-click instant results. With that one click, you can build, for example, a shared spreadsheet in Google Sheets to track your mouth, send a notifying email to your spouse, or even make a Facebook status update outing you. As long as you’re honest. WRITE IT DOWN AND WATCH IT

If there’s anything that dieters know, it’s that losing weight is a lot easier when you know what you’re eating. So keeping a written record is a must. Apps like MyFitnessPal and Lose It! make this a breeze. Relaxation coach Andrew Johnson has a whole suite of apps for iOS and Android that help with weight loss, stopping smoking and drinking, and even dealing with social phobias and tech addiction. There’s really no end to the apps that can help.

Don’t forget, you live in an age with cameras attached to everything. Use that video to create a visual journal, for anything from an early morning pep-talk (“Hey, today’s the day: No more cupcakes!”) or a late-night post mortem (“Well, at least I ate fewer cupcakes...”) There’s also that option of making some embarrassing video that you or someone you trust will toss out to social media when you backslide. Perhaps the threat of that super-cut of your private pole dancing practice going public will curtail your cravings. GET ACTIVE WITH APPS

Sometimes the best way to break a bad habit is to develop a new, better habit. You need to download an app that will push you to new limits while you’re not doing something you really want. Consider a tness app. There are plenty of Couch to 5K apps out there, but geeks will appreciate Zombies, Run! ($3.99, iOS and Android) the most. It turns exercise into a game, as you hear the hordes of undead on your heels, and you have to stay ahead of them. You’ll also nd no shortage of 7-minute workout challenge apps—the kind that make it clear that anyone can do 7 minutes of work per day. But it’s also 7 minutes you’d probably like to avoid. With the Superhero Workout ($2.99, iOS and Android), your device camera tracks your movements so you can’t cheat and you get missions to accomplish. Plus, it’s just nicer to know your eorts lead, eventually, to wearing a cape. If you already belong to a gym and your bad habit is that you just don’t go, download Pact (free, iOS and Android). Every time you miss a session or eat too much, the app makes a donation on your behalf—sometimes to other users of the app who did what they were supposed to.

MANAGE YOUR TIME

Feel as if your worst habit is being scattered? How do you better focus your ability to get things done? Consider the Pomodoro technique, created in the 1980s. It’s simple: Work for 25 minutes on a single task, take a 5-minute break. After three or four sessions, take a full 15-minute break. Do it all day long, and you’ll get a lot done, and a lot of breaks. The basic tool of Pomodoro is, naturally, a timer (it’s named for the timers that looked like tomatoes). But there are many options beyond a kitchen timer (though that’s a perfect option). Load up Tomato.es in the browser and you have a Web-based timer. There’s even a Chrome extension. For iOS try Pomodoro Timer ($1.99) or Focus Time ($4.99); Android users have Simple Pomodoro and ClearFocus (both free). RECOVER WHAT’S LOST

If you can never remember where you put anything, modern wireless tech is here to help. Small Bluetooth based wireless tags are everywhere these days, and you can buy a few to put on your keys, in your purse, even on the back of your electronics, so you never have to go without them again. Most of them then use your phone or tablet to help you locate the lost items. They’ll even alert you if you get too far away from the tagged item. Among the products you can try: Chipolo ($30 per chip; up to $199.95 for nine), Kensington Proximo ($24.99 per tag), PebbleBee ($24.99 up to $124.95 for six), Protag Duet ($29.99) and Protag Elite ($79.99) wallet cards, and there are many more. This is just the start of the many apps and services out there designed to help you make changes. Do searches in the various app stores to nd just the right digital tools to help you. You’ll probably nd exactly what you, and your habit, are looking for.


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DIGITAL LIFE PETS

High-Tech Ways to Find a Lost Pet BY CHANDRA STEELE

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here are few things as heartbreaking as missing-pet yers. I recently spent an afternoon papering nearby neighborhoods with them after a friend lost her cat, and felt her pain. But if you can’t exactly give Fido a cell phone to track him down when he goes on an adventure, there are a number of gadgets that help you keep tabs on your precious pets. Microchipping animals is now a common practice and is a good idea as shelters and vets routinely scan stray pets. But the RFID chips are good only for identifying pets that have been found, not locating those that are still lost. For that, you can now attach a device to your pet’s collar that keeps tabs on him and even alert you if he wanders out of his normal zone. And while you might not think facial recognition would be much good with fuzzy mugs, there’s technology advanced enough to note what’s unique about your pet and crossreference it with databases from shelters and rescues. We’ve found several tech solutions to reuniting you with your pet. Some of them are preventative measures and others can be undertaken should you unfortunately need to use them.

Tagging Along In those first panicky minutes when your pet has disappeared from sight, you’re going to be grateful that you can find them using Tagg GPS Plus ($79.95 plus service plan). The pet tracker attaches to a collar and monitors the pet’s location using GPS and cellular signals, and sends that information to an app that can also provide directions. The app can be set to let you know when your pet has wandered outside of a set radius so that you’ll know when it happens even if you’re not home.

That Face That fuzzy face is like no other to you—or to facial recognition technology. Take a photo of your pet, upload it to the PiP app (petrecognition.com), and alert PiP if your pet gets lost (or if you’ve found someone else’s lost pet). PiP will then reach out to vets, rescues, and shelters, and notify them that your pet has been lost. It will also scan its database to look for a match. Finding Rover (findingrover.com) is a similar service. You take a photo of your dog and upload it so that it’s on file. If your dog gets lost or you find one, report it using the app and it searches the database, which includes dogs that have come in to shelters and rescues.

High Alert When your furry friend is lost, put out a Pet Amber Alert at petamberalert.com. The service will take down information about your pet and fax fliers to vets’ offices, shelters, and pet stores; send out search info across social media; and call your neighbors.

Safe Harbor You’re out searching the neighborhood for your lost pet, but you should also search online. Go to PetHarbor.com to look for the pet’s photo in a database that includes animals brought into shelters and rescues in your area.

Chipping Away Your vet can implant a small RFID microchip under your pet’s skin so that if the pet is found and brought to a shelter or another vet’s office, a quick scan will turn up the contact information you provided. Even if you have your contact info on your pet’s collar (and you definitely should), a collar can be easily slipped out of while your pet is on the lam. Ask which microchip service your vet uses and see if they have a pet recovery process. Some, such as HomeAgain (public.homeagain.com), will alert a network of vets, shelters, and rescue organizations.

A Flyer on the Wall Flyers are old-school but they can work. When you’ve lost your pet though you have little patience or time to think about what makes an effective one. Pet FBI (petfbi.org), a volunteer organization with a pet lost-and-found database, has a template that is fast to fill out and easy to print out directly from your browser.

Social Sharing The ASPCA app (available for iOS and Google devices) has plenty of useful information for pet owners, including an action plan if your pet gets lost. It also has a template to create a digital missing-pet flyer that can be shared on social media.


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DIGITAL LIFE TECH ETIQUETTE

Ask Alex Q

What to wearable. BY ALEX COLON

I just got an Apple Watch. What’s the best way to use it in public without looking like a jerk? —Time Sensitive

Alex Says: Wearable technology is awesome, but in the wrong hands, it can also be incredibly annoying. Whereas there’s some voluntary action in pulling your phone out of your pocket and looking at the screen, glancing down at your forearm every time you receive a notification requires far less thought. So it’s important to become self-aware that you’re basically wearing a tiny computer on your wrist. And congratulations, reader, as it sounds like you’ve already mastered this first step. Other than that, you should treat the Apple Watch exactly the same way you’d treat a smartphone. Don’t glance at notifications when you’re talking to someone in person, don’t send your heartbeat after you’ve sat down to dinner, and don’t browse through emails while you’re in a work meeting. But feel free to check the news headlines during your morning commute on the train, or hail an Uber as you’re exiting the building. Just be prepared for people to stare. And to be clear: The above advice pertains to all smartwatches, not just the Apple Watch. I’m looking at you, Pebble wearers.


Ask Alex Q


When is it actually okay to wear a wearable camera? —Little Brother

Alex Says: Wearable cameras come in many flavors, and the type of camera you wear largely determines when and where it’s okay to wear it. Take an action camera like the GoPro, for instance. It’s totally cool to wear when you’re scaling an inactive volcano or skiing down the face of a mountain. But take it outside of a sporty context, and it becomes creepy or weird (or, if you use one to record yourself walking down the aisle at your own wedding, tacky). Other wearables, such as Google Glass, are slightly more tolerable in a general public setting, since they aren’t necessarily dedicated cameras. That doesn’t make it acceptable to wear them to a formal event, but it does mean you can wear one on the subway. You’ll still look like a tool, though. And this should go without saying, but here it is, just in case: Never wear a camera of any type to the bathroom. I get stage fright at urinals as it is. If some dude rolls up next to me wearing a GoPro, I’m zipping up and heading out.


Ask Alex Q


I’m joining a gym, and I’m not exactly looking forward to it. What type of tech can I bring to help ease the pain? —Tech Crunches

Alex Says: The first thing you need to do is find out what the rules are at your gym. I recently saw someone get kicked out of a spin class for sending a text message, and it wasn’t pretty. Assuming you attend a gym where any tech goes, you actually have plenty of gadgets at your disposal. The first is your phone, and a good pair of sweat-resistant headphones. I also see plenty of people bring tablets and use them to read or watch movies while they’re on a bike or an elliptical. I don’t necessarily get it, but if it works for you, then I think it’s fine. And of course, pretty much all activity trackers are fair game. Just be mindful of how you use your devices—if you’re spending more time reading than you are biking, then you should do everyone a favor and leave the tablet at home. I’d draw the line at gadgets like action cameras. The occasional sweatbanded selfie is fine, but your entire workout doesn’t need to be captured on first-person video, so please don’t attach a GoPro to your weights while lifting.

Have a question for Alex? Send it to [email protected]


LAST WORD JOHN C. DVORAK

O

Personal Computing Is Getting Less Personal

ver the last few years, people have discussed the end of the PC or the death of the PC, all while billions of PCs are still being sold. I’ve always thought this was nonsense, but I’ve reconsidered the PC and where it’s headed. It’s not the PC that is dying; it will always be around. It’s personal computing itself that’s dying. And this is by design. To understand why, we need to look at how we got here. The personal computer revolution, which began in earnest in the mid-to-late 1970s, was about wresting control from the priests of computing—those people and companies who ran big iron and made you wait in line to run code. But when the small microcomputer, as it was then called, appeared at the rst West Coast Computer Faire in 1977, you could nally have your own computer at your own desk to do with as you pleased without interference from some overlord. The machines were ridiculed by the big computer companies, most of which are now out of business, as toys of little value. Of course, once the spreadsheet was invented, these “toys” began to take over the ofce as well as the home. By the time the Internet made its move in the early 1990s, the little machines had taken over and the revolution was complete. It became apparent by 1995, however, that the counterrevolution would reverse the tide and slowly make the users once again slaves to the overlord structure. The irony here is that two companies that were both involved with the original revolt, Microsoft and Adobe, both played

turncoat in the process. First, Adobe swapped out the shrink-wrapped Creative Suite for a never-ending monthly or yearly license. This is actually a good deal if you use enough of the Adobe packages, but it removes all control from the user. Microsoft subsequently released the similarly structured Ofce 365, then looked at its success and decided that a licensing scheme or subscription model should work just as well for the operating system. Now it’s stated that Windows 10 will be the last full version of the OS. How Microsoft will get people to pay for perpetual Windows remains to be seen, but it’s coming. Microsoft’s OneDrive and the Adobe Creative Cloud make all this more ominous. Offering OneDrive with Ofce 365 is something of a scam, as users are supposed to get a full 1TB, but are limited to 20,000 les. This is laughable: My “terabyte” maxed out at about 80GB within a month. Only a few people have complained about this. In the meantime, Microsoft says that the terabyte will expand to “unlimited.” Really? How? Again, this is all about reducing the users’ power and soaking them for as much money as possible, largely because there is no other game in town. There is no real competition for Windows, Ofce, and Photoshop. And now by having the user pay a perpetual fee, these software subsystems are looking more like a public utility than anything you once “owned”—even though the end-user license agreement (EULA) has made that notion dubious for decades. Apparently the EULA wasn’t onerous enough. Now you are renting everything, including your storage. If any of these companies decides to take a dislike to you, then conscates your storage and stops the software from working, then what?

Within the next few years, everything that began in 1975, insofar as you getting control of these powerful machines, will be fully reversed.

Yes, there are always work-arounds, but that is not the point. Within the next few years, everything that began in 1975, insofar as you getting control of these powerful machines, will be fully reversed. We will have the CPU, but the real control will be in the hands of the new overlords. Sure, you can always use Linux and the secondrate application software in that universe, and go your own way. But if you haven’t noticed, the big boys are lined up like big bullies to beat back any chance for that to be a trend. Then there’s the Mac. It’s just a matter of time before Apple falls in line with Microsoft and makes users of its machines just as subject to the whims of the overlords running the perpetual treadmill of never-ending rental. What I nd fascinating is that nobody is really complaining much about this. Either that, or, as I suspect, the complaining is so fragmented that it is not being heard. That means that we will never get the control back and the “personal” computer is indeed dead. Sorry, but you let it happen.

[email protected]


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