It’s big, it’s powerful and it might arguably be from another planet. That’s an easy way to think about the Alienware m18, a new big-screen gaming laptop from Dell’s Alienware brand. Announced during CES 2023 in January, it’s already on the CNET testing bench and blowing me away with its massive display and top-shelf components. 

That’s because Alienware sent one of the highest-end configurations possible, including an Intel Core i9-13980HX CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card. Along with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB solid-state drive (the only choice that felt kinda skimpy), that means this exact build will cost $3,549. Note that prices and configuration options can shift in build-to-order systems like this. Also, the Core i9-13980HX isn’t listed as an available option just yet. Dell says it’s coming later in April. 

If you’re more interested in the big screen than the big performance, the least expensive build of this system is currently $2,099, but includes only an Nvidia 4060 GPU, 16GB of RAM and a single 512GB SSD — a configuration that would cost much less in other gaming laptops. 

8.6

Alienware m18

$3,549 at Dell

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Like

• Massive screen for gaming
• Amazing performance from the Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU
• Tactile CherryMX keyboard
• Lots of ports and connections
• Less expensive than the other 18-inch gaming laptop we’ve reviewed

Don’t Like

• Blander color options than the previous generation
• Better components drive up the price
• Fans can get loud while gaming

This is not the only 18-inch gaming laptop of 2023. In fact, it’s not even the first one we’ve reviewed this year. That was the Razer Blade 18, which is very similar to this in overall look, feel, options and performance. While some may prefer the slightly less gamer-y design of the Razer, the version we reviewed cost $3,799 and only had an Nvidia 4080 GPU, not the 4090 found here. It’s $4,499 to jump up to a 4090 GPU in the Razer. 

Unlike the relatively flat mainstream keyboard on the Razer Blade 18, the Alienware m18 has a CherryMX RGB keyboard with a hefty 1.8mm of key travel… and a very audible clack to its keys. Some people prefer this for adding to the desktop gaming keyboard feel. I find it distracting, but can see how you might like it. 

Big-screen star

The screen is the big star here. There are two 18-inch options to choose from — a 2,560×1,600-pixel panel with a 165Hz refresh rate, and a 1,920×1,200-pixel one at a wild 480Hz. While pairing an Nvidia 4090 GPU with a 1200p screen seems like a waste, the super-fast refresh rate will appeal to competitive gamers who care more about insane frame rates than resolution. 

As it is, in the 1600p version I tested I was able to crank new games up to their full graphics settings at full resolution and get great results. For Hogwarts Legacy, I ran everything on ultra settings, including the ray-tracing effects (which have been criticized for killing performance on other PCs) and still got a steady frame rate of at least 120 frames per second. 

Our other benchmarks were equally impressive, and the 4090 in this Alienware outmatched the 4080 in the Razer Blade 18 in every test. (Test results are at the end of this review.) So yes, this is the most powerful gaming laptop we’ve ever tested, but that’s always true of the latest and greatest, until the next hardware gen comes along. 

Legendary look and feel

The latest revamp of the Alienware design language, called Legend 3.0, doesn’t reinvent much but makes some interesting tweaks. The rear panel is flatter, rather than slightly angled, and some small tweaks to the front lip make the system easier to open one-handed. There’s a new foot design underneath, basically a plastic riser that allows for decent airflow. 

The 15-inch Alienware x15 R2 I reviewed last year ended up being one of my all-time favorite gaming laptops, and that was partly because of the great design and color palette. I really liked the retro-futurism of the matte white outer chassis. This time, the only option currently available is a near-black that Alienware calls dark metallic moon. It’s fine, but feels much more like a gaming laptop cliche than the previous color scheme. But if you like dark, brooding gaming laptops, you’re all set. 

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Alienware m18 Is a Massive 18-Inch Gaming Laptop

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If you have an older Alienware machine, another interesting recent update is to the Alienware Command Center. That’s a proprietary software package that allows for fine-tuned controls of many system functions as well as performance monitoring. 

The two big things you’ll probably use it for are jumping between performance presets and adjusting the per-key RPG lighting effects, which also extend to the alien head logos, a color border around the rear panel and even matching accessories like the new AW620M wireless mouse, a $99 accessory with 26,000 dpi tracking. Yes, it’s expensive, but it also carries over that matte white look I liked so much from last year. 

The latest version of ACC is an improvement over older versions, which I always found unintuitive. Some functions, including for lighting control, are simpler and the entire app feels less cluttered. 

If you’re going to play around with the performance presets, get ready for some fan noise and hot air. Presets include Battery, Quiet, Performance and Max, and by default the system can be set to jump into performance mode when a specific game (or any game) is launched. 

A combination of quad internal fans, a vapor chamber and big heat pipes all help keep the system cool, and even running high-end games it doesn’t feel as fiery to the touch as the 15-inch Alienware x15 did. That said, hot air does blow out from vents on both sides and the rear, and I found my right hand getting hit with warm air when using a mouse relatively close to the system. 

Another advantage of a big system like this is that there’s room for a lot of ports and connections. While some slim laptops are down to a couple of USB-C ports, this has almost everything you’d want. I’ll just list the ports below. 

• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 port with PowerShare
• 4x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
• 2x Thunderbolt 4 Gen 2 Type-C 
• 1x RJ45 Ethernet port
• 1x audio jack
• 1x HDMI 2.1 port
• 1x Mini DisplayPort

A big screen with a big body for all those ports, fans and other goodies is never going to be easy to lug around. I clocked the laptop itself at 8.7 pounds, and a total of 12 pounds including the power brick. 

Yes, this is a wildly expensive laptop with components far beyond the needs of mainstream gamers (or anyone who doesn’t want to spend $3K-plus on a laptop). That said, it feels like a bargain compared to the similar Razer Blade 18, so there’s an argument to be made that it’s really a very financially reasonable option. I’m not saying your spouse, parent or partner would agree with that argument, but it’s worth a shot.

Fun fact: This isn’t the first 18-inch gaming laptop from Dell. Back in 2013, I reviewed the then-new Alienware 18, a $4,000 monster that supported dual GPUs. The 18-inch design didn’t catch on back then, but I think it has a much better shot now. 

How we test computers

The review process for laptops, desktops, tablets and other computer-like devices consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our expert reviewers. This includes evaluating a device’s aesthetics, ergonomics and features. A final review verdict is a combination of both objective and subjective judgments. 

The list of benchmarking software we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. The most important core tests we’re currently running on every compatible computer include: Primate Labs Geekbench 5, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10 and 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra. 

A more detailed description of each benchmark and how we use it can be found in our How We Test Computers page. 

The post Alienware m18 Review: A Big and Bold Gaming Beast first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Over the years, I’ve often described Apple’s MacBook Air as the most universally useful laptop you can get (or in this case, give). The latest version, now with Apple’s new M2 chip inside, hits the fresh button in a lot of ways: new colors, new design, better camera, slightly bigger screen. That means it can be either a major upgrade if you’re replacing an older Air or a big step up if it’s someone’s first laptop or first “premium” laptop. 

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Why it’s a great gift: Anyone on your list would appreciate the Air. It’s a great college or high school laptop, especially because it’s tough enough to last all four years. But it’s just as at home with novelists in coffee shops and startup founders in airport lounges. Why has the MacBook Air remained so popular for so many years? I think it’s a just-right combination of design, power, durability, ease of use and price. 

What you’ll pay: This year’s model would be a gift of slightly more significance than usual, because Apple’s starting price for the M2 MacBook Air has jumped to $1,199 from the traditional $999. Fortunately, the M1 MacBook Air with an older design and M1 chip is still available for $999.

M2 MacBook Air

$1,199 at Apple

Read more: The 15 Best Laptops We Recommend for 2022

The post The M2 MacBook Air Is the Ultimate Laptop Gift first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

The current flagship Apple all-in-one desktop is the 24-inch M1 iMac. It’s a great update to the iMac line in terms of style, design and power, but it also leaves little flexibility for ports and connections. The iMac includes either two or four USB-C ports depending on the configuration. Even with the four-port version, only two are Thunderbolt (faster transfer) ports. 

Yes, it’s easy to hook up a USB-C dock with extra ports, but adding a simple dongle-connected box breaks the clean symmetry of the iMac’s design. There’s got to be a better way. And according to accessory maker Satechi, it’s the Satechi USB-C Slim Dock. 

8.0

Satechi USB-C Slim Dock For 24-Inch iMac

$149 at Best Buy

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Like

• Matches the look and feel of an iMac
• Includes M.2 and SD card support
• Excellent integration with the iMac’s foot

Don’t Like

• Expensive for a USB-C dock
• Only two color options
• Doesn’t support video output

Read more: Apple iMac 24-inch Review

This add-on dock includes USB-A and USB-C ports, plus slots for both micro and regular-size SD cards and an internal slot for an M.2 storage drive. Here’s the complete breakdown:

• 1 Type-C Upstream Port 
• 2 USB 2.0 Ports (480Mbps)
• 1 Micro SD Slot (UHS-I)
• 1 SD Card Slot (UHS-I)
• 1 USB-A (10Gbps, data only)
• 1 M.2 SSD Slot 
• 1 USB-C (10Gbps, data only)

That’s a reasonable collection of ports, but by itself it’s not what anyone would pay $149 for. What makes the Satechi dock potentially worth such a hefty investment is that it’s designed to fit seamlessly onto the iMac, blending in as if it were part of the original hardware. I’d call it a Mac-a-like design. 

The aluminum body is color-matched to the blue and silver iMacs, and it has a cutout on the bottom that slots perfectly over the 24-inch iMac’s metal foot. Just slide the dock over the foot and it looks like a built-in part of the system — if you have a blue or silver iMac. I’ve got an orange one, so there’s a not-unattractive contrast there. 

That said, I’d much rather have this product available in every iMac color, especially considering the high price. 

The 11-inch wide dock also has the exact footprint as the iMac’s color-matched keyboard, so that can sit on top of the dock/foot combo when not being used, which is a nice bit of decluttering. 

Depending on your work needs or equipment signal chain, the dock’s weaknesses might never come up, or might be deal-breakers. The ports don’t do video output, and Satechi says the USB-A ports don’t support charging, although they charged my iPhone just fine. You also have to eat up one of the USB-C ports on the back of the iMac to connect it.  

One of the biggest wins for me was the inclusion of an internal M.2 drive slot, which is accessed through a panel on the bottom of the dock. Satechi says it supports up to 10Gbps speeds and capacities up to 2TB. That’s valuable because the iMac starts at 256GB of storage, and upgrading to 2TB is an extra $800. Meanwhile, you can pick up a 2TB M.2 drive for around $200. 

My other favorite features are the SD and microSD card slots. These cards don’t get used a ton anymore by everyday web surfers, but photographers and other creative types still use them, and gamers use them for the Nintendo Switch and the Valve Steam Deck. I use them for transferring files to a 3D printer, as many 3D printers lack Wi-Fi and instead use either full-size SD or microSD cards. 

Read more: Best 3D Printer for 2022

The Satechi USB-C Slim Dock doesn’t do everything, only comes in a couple of colors and costs $149. And you can find perfectly serviceable USB-C hubs for $50 to $100. But if you love the idea of a dock merging perfectly with the iMac’s body, or especially need the SD card or M.2 drive features, I can see that justifying the cost. 

Best Laptops for 2022

A selection of the best laptops you can buy right now.

• Most universally useful: MacBook Air M2
• Best budget laptop: Acer Swift 3
• Best Chromebook: Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (CP513-2H)
• Best budget gaming laptop: HP Victus 16

See the full list of best laptops for 2022. 

The post Satechi USB first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

In the last few years, 3D printing has crossed a rubicon into the mainstream consciousness. Schools and libraries often have 3D printers, and the barrier to entry for hobbyists is lower than ever, with inexpensive machines offering excellent out-of-the-box results.

Because 3D printing technology has come a long way in recent years, I’ve doubled down on being creative and gotten into 3D scanning and laser cutting as well, which lets you sculpt real-world designs from leather and wood. Advanced printers are also using resin machines that create amazingly detailed prints. 

Current 3D printers, which range from affordable (under $300) to high-end (over $4,000), are great gifts for a creative person in your life. Even better, they’re great for you to craft your own personalized designs if you’re looking to open an Etsy shop or something similar. 

We’ve taken a deep dive into many of the best 3D printers available today. This list includes both small and large 3D printers, with attention paid to print speed, the size of the build plate, the cost of PLA filament, the kind of print head included and other important details. And once you’ve decided to take the plunge into additive manufacturing — that’s what 3D printing essentially is — there’s an FAQ below.

Our top picks

Dan Ackerman/CNET

Creality Ender-3 S1

Best step-up starter printer

I’d avoided Ender-3 printers for a long while, because they came in kit form and required many hours of assembly, setup and fine-tuning to use. For just a little more than the kit versions, the newer Ender-3 S1 comes nearly fully preassembled, and with high-end features like a direct drive extruder and self-leveling bed. 

Print quality even out-of-the-box was excellent, although a lot of that comes down to having good models to work from. I’d love it to have a touchscreen and Wi-Fi, but apart form those missing features, this is a great way to get polished results from a $400 3D printer. 

Read our Creality Ender-3 S1 review. 

$399 at Amazon

Dan Ackerman/CNET

Anycubic Vyper

Best for out-of-the-box printing

The Anycubic Vyper FDM printer attempts to be both an affordable 3D printer and easy to use. It’s a tricky needle to thread. Plenty of 3D printers offer automatic bed leveling and calibration to make sure prints come out even and firmly anchored to the print bed. This, however, is the first time I’ve seen a 3D printer run its bed leveling once, with zero manual input from me, and be totally good to go. I printed a 3D test file from the included SD card within minutes of powering on, and I’ve never seen a first print from a 3D printer come out so perfectly.Read our Anycubic Vyper review.

$319 at Anycubic$490 at Amazon

Anycubic

Anycubic Kobra Max

Best to make big projects easily

The Anycubic Kobra Max earned a 9 out of 10 in our recent review, in large part because it’s one of the most enjoyable printers I’ve used in years. The build area is large enough to print entire helmets for cosplay, and the auto-bed-leveling system makes setting the machine up a breeze. The Kobra Max is the best choice for a large build area printer, bar none. –James Bricknell

Read our Anycubic Kobra review. 

$549 at Anycubic

Entry-level 3D printers

Prusa Research

Prusa Mini Plus

Small but mighty

The Mini Plus is one of the best small-footprint printers you can buy. It has everything you would expect from a Prusa machine: Auto bed leveling, crash detection and great print quality, all for under $450. Building it with my son gave us a lot of good insights into how a 3D printer works, and potentially how to fix one.

$429 at Prusa Research

Sarah Tew/CNET

Anycubic Mono

Best inexpensive resin 3D printer

Resin printers are the next step up in rapid prototyping design technology when you want your printing to look as high quality as possible. Just be warned: The liquid resin is harder to work with, and it requires both good ventilation and a portable UV light to properly cure. This model is extremely popular with board game hobbyists who want to print pro-looking miniatures, and sometimes you’ll see it fall in price. Note that you can save $20 at Amazon by activating the instant coupon on the product page.

$189 at Anycubic$250 at Amazon

Dan Ackerman/CNET

Monoprice Mini Delta V2

Best for tiny desks

I had high hopes for this dirt-cheap 3D printer with a tiny footprint. It’s usually under $200 and requires no additional assembly. And I do like it, but it’s for a specific audience. This is not the great low-cost entry-level printer I was hoping for. It required some tweaking and troubleshooting to get up and running. The included microSD card was so cheap and corrupted it never worked, the built-in Wi-Fi was never able to connect to my network, and the machine’s arms got caught on some poorly installed plastic wire covers (I just ripped the paper-thin covers off). 

But once I had all the problems ironed out, it was a reliable little machine for quick jobs. It would make a great second 3D printer, or if you need to fit one into a small space. I especially liked the auto-leveling, which worked well, and the color touchscreen, which is a feature that often gets chopped from low-cost models. If you’re willing to put a little effort into getting it set up correctly, it’s a great printer for the price.

$175 at Amazon

Midrange 3D printers

Anycubic

Anycubic Photon Mono X

Best for mass-produced gaming minis

Standard resin printers are fine if you want to print small items or miniatures. For more oversized cosplay items, practical models or collections of gaming miniatures, you’re going to need a bigger build area.

Enter the Anycubic Mono X, a resin printer that solves that issue by having a build plate nearly three times bigger than the standard Anycubic models. For example, I managed to print the entire blade of a Dune Crysknife, something that would have needed to be split into three parts if it wasn’t for the extra build volume.

The Mono X also prints at insane speeds. Because resin prints the entire layer in one shot, they tend to be quicker than traditional FDM printers in the first place, but the Mono X takes this to the extreme with layers printing in as little as 1 second. It’s incredible to watch. —James Bricknell 

It’s still cheaper to shop at Anycubic directly, but you can save $110 at Amazon by activating the instant coupon on the product page. 

$349 at Anycubic$660 at Amazon

James Bricknell/CNET

Flashforge Adventurer 4

Best 3D printer for ease of use

The Flashforge Adventurer 3 has long been one of CNET’s favorite midprice 3D printers. The updated Adventurer 4 brings a handful of iterative improvements that make for a winning evolution. The Adventurer 4 is a fully enclosed unit, which helps control the temperature and block drafts. The build area is 220 by 200 by 250mm, and it has a system for easily swapping out nozzles — all good features to have in a mid-level to high-end printer. 

$849 at Amazon

High-end and professional 3D printers

Creality

Creality CR-30

Best for small biz or pro cosplayers

A word of warning; the CR-30 is not for the beginners out there. It is a complicated machine, and you will need some 3D-printing knowledge to really get the hang of it. It’s also a very different beast, and instead of printing on a static-sized build plate, it uses a conveyor belt to create an “endless Z-axis.” That lets you print very long things or lots of things over and over again.

If you are a cosplayer looking to make weapons or large armor pieces, the CR-30 gives you a lot of room to create. I’ve managed to print Squall’s Gunblade from Final Fantasy VIII as well as the Whisper of the Worm from Destiny 2 (both were printed in two halves and attached together). It’s great for small businesses looking to mass-produce small parts, and with just two CR-30s you could create a small empire on Etsy or Shopify. –James Bricknell

$1,100 at Crealty$1,100 at Amazon

Sarah Tew/CNET

Glowforge 3D Laser Cutter

Best for woodworkers

I can’t begin to tell you how much I love the Glowforge. Laser cutters can create projects from wood, leather, lucite and other materials, making it an interesting creation alternative to filament-based 3D printers. Even better, what would take a 3D printer hours to do takes just minutes in the Glowforge.

With it, I’ve created laser-etched LED lights, birch wood tool caddies, and even a three-tier box for my Nespresso sleeves. There’s a robust community of makers creating and sharing files, but pretty much any line drawing you can create in something like Adobe Illustrator can be turned into a project. 

The software is all cloud-based, which adds a layer of complication (you need internet service to use it), but the ability to create amazing gifts and more from simple 0.125-inch or 0.25-inch cheap plywood is pretty empowering. 

See some of my laser cutter projects (and download my SVG files) here. 

$3,995 at Glowforge (Glowforge Basic)$4,995 at Glowforge (Glowforge Plus)

3D Scanners

Revopoint

Revopoint Pop 2

Incredible details

While the software has a pretty steep learning curve, the end result is extremely detailed. I’ve really enjoyed using the handheld version to scan larger models while the included turntable makes scanning smaller objects a breeze. If you are looking for a professional-grade scanner and can spend some time on the software, the Pop 2 is a great choice.

$650 at Amazon

Sarah Tew/CNET

SOL Desktop Laser 3D Scanner

Best 3D scanner for easy replicas

Recreate pretty much anything by putting it on this 3D scanner, where a rotating base and built-in camera create a 360-degree copy, which is then editable in any 3D program and printable on your 3D printer. Simply scan the object, import the scan into your slicing software for cleanup, and print. The included software alerts you of next steps in the printing process with either sound or texts. Scan quality and print resolution are great, and setup is easy, although you might want to clean up your 3D model a bit in a 3D software app after. 

$614 at Amazon

3D printing FAQs

What material should I use to print with?

Most home 3D printers use PLA or ABS plastic. Professional printers can use all sorts of materials, from metal to organic filament. Some printers use a liquid resin, which is much more difficult to handle. As a beginner, use PLA. It’s nontoxic, made mostly of cornstarch and sugarcane, handles easily and is inexpensive. However, it’s more sensitive to heat, so don’t leave your 3D prints on the dashboard of a car on a hot day. 

Which brand of PLA is best?

Generally speaking, Hatchbox has never let me down and runs about $25 for a full 1kg spool on Amazon. Some of the printers I tested only accommodate narrower 0.5kg spools. In those cases, I sometimes used a larger Hatchbox roll with a separate spool-holder. Other times, I had good luck with AIO Robotics 0.5kg spools, which are a little more expensive, at $14 for 0.5kg. Amazon Basics and Monoprice can also be good, but for any brand, weird colors like metallic or glow-in-the-dark filament can be hit-or-miss. Note that a 1kg roll prints a lot of stuff. 

What settings should I use?

Most 3D printers include or link to recommended software, which can handle converting 3D STL or other files into formats supported by the printer. Stick with the suggested presets to start, with one exception. I’ve started adding a raft, or bottom layer of filament, to nearly everything I print. It has cut down dramatically on prints that don’t adhere to the bed properly, which is a common issue. If you continue to have problems, rub a standard glue stick on the print bed right before printing.

What are supports?

Your 3D models probably need some help to print properly, as these printers don’t do well with big overhangs — for example, an arm sticking out from a figure. Your 3D printer software can usually automatically calculate and add supports, meaning little stands that hold up all those sticking-out parts of the model. After the print is done, clip the supports off with micro cutters and file down any nubs or rough edges with hobby files. 

Where do I find things to print?

Thingiverse.com is a huge online repository of 3D files for anything and everything you can think of. Pokemon chess set? It’s there. Dyson vacuum wall mount? You bet.

When you’re ready to create your own designs, there are a ton of software packages to choose from, but it’s easiest to start with the browser-based free TinkerCad app from Autodesk. 

Crazy things I’ve made on a 3D printer

+15 more

See all photos

More creative recommendations 

• Best 3D Printer Filament
• Best Budget 3D Printer
• Best Laptops, Desktops and Tablets for Designers and Creatives in 2022
• Best Vlogging Camera for 2022
• The Best 3D Printer Resin

The post Best 3D Printer for 2022 first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

The Creality Ender-3 S1 had been sitting in a box by my desk for some time before I dared set it up. I had been reluctant, having heard stories about the the popular Ender-3 line requiring a huge investment in time and effort to assemble. 

For example, the mainstream Ender-3 V2 is considered a great 3D printer for under $300, but not necessarily a great one for beginners. It requires a lot of hand assembly from building the frame to attaching the individual motors and sensors. Even after that, most Ender enthusiasts strongly suggest swapping out some of the default hardware for aftermarket upgrades, which adds further complexity. 

At $399, the S1 version of the Ender-3 is about $100 more then older versions but includes so many upgrades and quality of life features that it qualifies as a great beginner-friendly, plug-and-play printer. Mostly. 

8.5

Creality Ender-3 S1

$399 at Amazon

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Like

• Very little assembly required
• Direct drive extruder and self-leveling bed
• Simple enough for beginners to get good results

Don’t Like

• Lacks a touchscreen and Wi-Fi
• Took some fiddling to get software settings right

Opening the box, I was pleasantly surprised to find the entire gantry preassembled (that’s the two side and one top support pieces). The base comes mostly preassembled and prewired; assembly took maybe 15 minutes, versus the couple of hours I’d heard previous models require. 

Read more: Best 3D Printer for 2022

The print size of 220 by 220 by 270 millimeters isn’t huge, but it should be big enough for many hobbyists. The nozzle temperature can go up to 260 degrees Celsius (500 degrees Fahrenheit), which isn’t the highest — but again, good enough for standard PLA/ABS/PETG/TPU printing. Those initials all refer to different types of 3D filament, which are described in more detail here in our 3D printing filament guide: If you’re starting out, basic PLA is what you’ll probably be using. It’s inexpensive, nontoxic and easy to work with. 

Fancier features

One key step-up feature is that the system runs off a direct drive extruder, rather than one with a Bowden tube. That means the filament you use goes directly into the extruder and right to the nozzle. In a Bowden system, the filament goes into an extruder, which then forces it through a thin plastic tube to the nozzle. Both are fine, but the direct version removes extra parts and potential complications from the signal chain and is considered more reliable. A good analogy is a direct drive turntable versus a belt drive one.

There’s also a little sensor box the filament runs through that tells the system when you run out of material, which is premium-feeling extra. 

Another feature you don’t always find in budget 3D printers (and in previous Ender-3 models) is auto-leveling. The system will drive itself through a routine to probe and adjust so the print bed is completely level. Likewise, previous models usually included a simple glass bed to print on, the S1 version has a flexible metal sheet that attaches magnetically to the base. That’s my preference, since it makes removing prints from the bed much easier. 

A few disappointments

The Ender-3 S1 includes many features I’d consider premium, but it’s also missing a few I’d like to have. The color display isn’t a touchscreen, but is instead operated by a single knob used to scroll through menus. It’s a pain that feels needlessly archaic. 

There’s also no Wi-Fi, which for a hot minute felt like it was on its way to becoming a standard feature in 3D printers (as it should be). Instead, you have to transfer files via SD card (one is included) or direct USB connection. There are ways to connect a separate simple Raspberry Pi mini-computer and use that to get online, but it’s far from simple. 

Make sure you have a spool of filament handy when getting started, the box only includes a small sample loop, not even on a plastic spindle. 

The S1 in action 

Once the printer was set up and leveled, I tried one of the test files included on the SD card. It came out great, but when I loaded new files onto the card and tried to print them, I ran into problems. It felt like the nozzle was not getting close enough to the plate for the filament to stick, no matter how much I adjusted the Z-axis in the system menu. 

I was using the stock version of Cura, the popular free 3D-slicing program (slicers are used to prep 3D models for printing), and the default settings were clearly not fine-tuned for the Ender-3 S1. Creality offers a custom version of that software, renamed Creality Slicer, and using it solved the problem immediately. I still intend to go back and get the regular Cura settings adjusted as well, though. 

I tried a few different 3D models, some sculptural and some more structural. Since I was burning through a spool of green PLA material, my choices tended to lean toward the Yoda/Hulk side of things. Print quality even out-of-the-box was excellent, although a lot of that comes down to having good models to work from. I’d call it as good as print quality from some $500-$600 printers I’ve tried. 

The Ender line has always been known for good value and excellent performance in a budget printer, but it’s also been criticized for not being beginner-friendly enough. That’s why I usually recommend printers like the Anycubic Vyper for first-timers, which is both inexpensive and easy to set up. 

With the Ender-3 S1, Creality has a high-quality, low price 3D printer that’s as easy to set up as any I’ve tried. There’s also an S1 Pro model (for another $100-$150) that upgrades the machine’s hot end assembly to an all-metal one that supports higher temperatures, adds an LED light strip to the top, upgrades the flexible surface bed and adds a touchscreen. You can find a full list of the differences here. 

In the $300-$500 range, I still like easy-to-use printers like the Anycubic Vyper or Prusa Mini Plus, but the Ender-3 S1 has just leapfrogged to the top of my recommendation list. 

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The post Creality Ender first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Preordering, or even ordering, popular new gadgets has never been easy. Websites crash under traffic loads, products disappear from shopping carts and sometimes you can get to the very last step of the checkout process, only to be mysteriously bounced back to the beginning. The good news is, if you want a new Apple iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro, it may end being a little easier this time around. 

That’s because Apple has updated its preorder process, now letting you go through every step of the purchase, right up to hitting the final button, before actual preorders start. Currently, you can go to Apple’s website, choose your iPhone model, color, capacity, accessories and Apple Care options, and also add your billing and shipping information, then come back on Sept. 9 to hit that final button. At least, that’s the plan. 

See at Apple

Read more: Here’s How to Preorder the iPhone 14

This new system stood out to me because it wasn’t that long ago I was on the warpath about preorders in general. In 2017, for the launch of the iPhone X, it seemed like everyone was stuck out in the cold. At the time I wrote: “Websites and apps stalled, crashed or hung; shopping carts mysteriously reset themselves; partner handshakes with carriers and financing companies failed. And that’s on top of the entire iPhone-buying east coast of the US getting up at 3 a.m. to fight the online hordes. (West coasters had it easier, they only had to wait up until midnight.)” 

Read more: Preordering is Broken, and Here’s How to Fix the System (2017)

And we had seen it all before, with everything from the Oculus Rift to the Nintendo Switch. Today’s mad scramble for PS5 consoles is part of the same problem. Online shopping works fine, until everyone tries to buy the same thing at the same time. To add insult to injury, you can get stuck for 15 minutes or more in a pre-website queue to even get into an online store. 

Back in 2017, I suggested a longer preorder window, letting everyone get their carts set up and info entered, followed by (if demand outstrips supply) a simple random lottery to fulfill some set number of those preorders. From my 2017 proposal: 

“The sudden start of preorders for a hard-to-get gadget becomes a set preorder window shared by all. Now there’s no reason for everyone to rush a website or app at the same time, which inevitably crashes it or causes slowdowns or errors. Just log in anytime over the course of 24 hours, 72 hours, a full week, whatever the agreed-upon term is…Once the preorder window closes, the seller (Apple, Nintendo, Amazon, whatever…) applies a random number generator to the applications and assigns inventory, or the best ship dates, to the first X names drawn from a virtual hat…You’re at least as likely to get as good spot on the preorder list this way as you would from resubmitting the same order every time the website crashes at 3 am.” 

With the current preorder system for the iPhone 14, Apple has come close to putting my theory into practice. Will it cut down on crashes and lost carts? We’ll have to check back on Sept. 9 to find out for sure, but I suspect it’ll beat the old way of doing things. 

The post Apple May Have Solved the Age first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

The Asus Zenbook Fold is a true transformer of a PC. It’s equal parts tablet, laptop and desktop, and unlike many other hybrid products, it’s pretty good at all three. The key is a big 17-inch foldable display, even if that technology is still in its early days. 

Folding-screen phones, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4, are well into third- or fourth-generation hardware and have steadily improved since their initial release. But folding screen laptops like the Asus Zenbook Fold are still mostly first-gen — gen 1.5 if we’re being generous. 

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I say generation 1.5 because it comes roughly two years after the first folding-screen laptop went on sale, the Lenovo X1 Fold. And while the Asus version makes some improvements and offers some upgrades over that early Lenovo iteration, it carries over many of the same shortcomings. 

7.7

Asus Zenbook Fold 17 OLED

$3,499 at Asus

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Like

• Huge 17-inch folding display
• OLED screen is excellent for media
• Works as a laptop, tablet or desktop
• Excellent battery life

Don’t Like

• Expensive
• Thick and heavy
• Slim physical keyboard/touchpad isn’t great

The biggest leap here is in the display. In the new Asus foldable, it’s a 17.3-inch screen, and even better, it’s a 2,560×1,920-pixel OLED display, which is great for both image quality and battery life. Yes, as a flexible screen, it’s basically OLED under plastic, which isn’t always visually ideal, but it looks great as a 17-inch OLED tablet. 

And it had better look great. This is a 17-inch laptop with a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 U-series CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, and which costs $3,500. At that price, this is what we used to call a CEO laptop — the kind of prototype-ish expensive machine that the CEO of a company would insist on having just to show off, but that the rest of us wouldn’t be able to justify. 

But despite with the early-adopter tax, it’s still a visually stunning product that’s tremendously fun to use, and it opens the door to an interesting possible future for portable computers. 

Even with the giant OLED display and current-gen CPU, the ZenBook Fold reminded me of the original Lenovo X1 Fold in many ways. Both have clamshells that don’t fully close, leaving a gap when folded shut. The included physical keyboard slips into that gap, but it’s awkward and makes the system very thick and clunky when fully folded. Similarly, the screen bezel is huge, and that makes it feel dated. Newer folding-screen laptops are coming, and some will reflect newer designs, while the Asus Fold feels like it was built from the same basic proof-of-concept as the original Lenovo X1. 

Three (or more) devices in one

My favorite feature is the Fold’s ability to transform into several different devices. It can be a portrait-style 17-inch tablet or a landscape 17-inch all-in-one PC when you use the built-in kickstand and put the tiny included keyboard in front of it. It can be a 12.5-inch clamshell laptop with the physical keyboard laid over the lower half, or it can be a 12.5-inch laptop with an on-screen keyboard and plenty of flexibility on where to place windows across the top and bottom halves. 

Of these, the most impressive is the full 17-inch all-in-one PC mode. It’s a great size for seeing more or making docs and web pages larger. The kickstand has a tiny bit of adjustability, but you’re mostly looking at a screen tilted slightly back. 

I also found the ZenBook Fold to be a great portable screen for watching TV and movies in bed. Yes, it’s a bit hefty, and frankly overkill for a bedroom media player, but I loved having access to a big screen, and the OLED display looked fantastic. 

The biggest issue people have with folding screens is the actual middle fold, which you can almost always feel with your finger and can usually see. The Fold had the same issue, but at least in movie-watching mode, I can say that I never saw it and it didn’t interfere with my media consumption experience at all. 

As a smaller-screen laptop, this is a big, heavy, expensive way to have a 12.5-inch screen. But I found myself flipping back into that mode while writing this review, because I just wanted a traditional clamshell experience for a while. But if that’s all I wanted, a 4-pound, 34mm thick laptop wouldn’t be my first choice. 

We’ve discussed the possible integration of laptops and tablets for many years. And while we’re still far away from a grand unified theory of personal computing products, this is a big step toward the idea that you’ll eventually be able to carry around a single screen that essentially changes size and function at will. 

Working around Windows 11 

Windows 11 just isn’t built with folding screens in mind, and both Asus and Lenovo have had to shoehorn in custom functionality to make things work. Flipping between landscape and portrait orientations, you get a brief on-screen prompt to pick how your windows will be arranged, but it’s hard to trigger that prompt at will, and its options feel limited or don’t always behave the way you’d expect. 

The included keyboard snaps on magnetically to the bottom half of the screen, or can also be used unattached as a Bluetooth keyboard. The keyboard is merely OK for typing, and the touchpad isn’t as sensitive or precise as the best true laptop touchpads. It also frequently failed to connect automatically and often required me to flip the keyboard’s power off and on to force a connection. It’s a bit like the keyboard on a Black Friday doorbuster laptop.

When not using the physical keyboard, a custom on-screen keyboard is supposed to pop up when in clamshell mode. Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn’t. I had to go into the system settings to add an icon to the task bar to call it up at will. 

Asus does have a nice customization app that lets you choose the keyboard color and style, including a smaller swipe-typing version that feels easy to use. But the default on-screen keyboard does not include a touchpad, which makes it harder to use than the physical keyboard. Windows has a built-in virtual touch which you can access through the settings menu, and both can be used together, but it’s not ideal. 

The keyboard and system both charge via USB-C, and the Windows Bluetooth menu was the only place I could find to monitor the keyboard’s charge level. It would be cool if the keyboard could charge by induction while seated in place, but maybe that’s an idea for the next generation. 

If you’re logging into Zoom or other video meetings, keep in mind that the camera will be at the top of the screen in clamshell mode but on the left edge in full landscape mode. Camera quality was just OK, but my fellow meeting-goers reported that my audio from the built-in mic was excellent. There’s also an IR sensor for facial recognition login. 

Performance and battery life

Despite having a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU and Intel Iris Xe graphics, this is not a performance system. Especially considering the high price, it’s going to feel slower than other similarly configured laptops. 

Gaming is a nonstarter, except for the most basic casual games. However, with the big OLED screen and a game controller hooked up, it was a great cloud gaming rig, and I really enjoyed it as a portable screen for Xbox Cloud Gaming. 

One bright spot was battery life. Streaming online video, the system ran for 9 hours, 41 minutes, which impressed me. Yes, many laptops will run longer, but considering this is a big-screen device that’s essentially a concept or prototype, that’s really pretty good. 

Is the Asus ZenBook Fold a really interesting conversation piece? Yes. Does it fulfill most of its design promises? Again, yes. Should you buy one? Probably not, and by pricing this at $3,500, Asus thinks the same. This is an example of conspicuous consumption, probably best left to free-spending CEOs and social media influencers who like showing off new-but-impractical inventions. 

But more importantly, it’s a clear window into the future of personal computing, and I would not be surprised to come back in 10 years and find we’re all using folding screen devices like this. 

Best laptops for 2022

A selection of the best laptops you can buy right now.

• Most universally useful: MacBook Air M2
• Best budget laptop: Acer Swift 3
• Best Chromebook: Acer Chromebook Spin 713
• Best budget gaming laptop: HP Victus 16

See the full list of best laptops for 2022. 

The post Asus Zenbook Fold OLED Review: The Coolest Folding Screen Laptop You’ll Never Buy first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

If you want your gaming laptop to be thin, it’s going to run hot. That’s just the physics of packing a powerful CPU and GPU into a 15.7mm-thick body. And since we’ve managed to make gaming laptops reasonably small, semistylish and powerful enough to shame even the latest game consoles, heat is really the last frontier that no one has cracked. 

On the small and stylish front, I can safely say the Alienware x15 R2 is one of the more attractive gaming laptops I’ve ever tested, and shows just how far we’ve come from the giant cement blocks of yesteryear. My spouse, who has worked in games and games media for much of the past 20 years, said it was one of the only gaming laptops that wasn’t aesthetically offensive to her, so trust me, that’s high praise. 

8.2

Alienware x15 R2

$2,635 at Amazon

$2,700 at Best Buy

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Like

• Excellent performance in a slim package
• Mod design that looks good… for a gaming laptop
• Dedicated volume buttons

Don’t Like

• Can get very hot
• Custom software is clunky
• Small touchpad

Like almost all Alienware and Dell computers, the x15 R2 (the second major revision of the current 15-inch x15 line) offers a wide array of configuration options, starting at $1,999 and going up from there. This review sample was $2,559, and highlighted by a 2.3GHz Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics card and 2,560×1,440 display with a decent 240Hz refresh rate. It also includes 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. 

You can drop the GPU to an Nvidia 3060 (although in a $2,000 laptop, why you would do that is beyond me), or boost it to a 3080 Ti. Likewise, the display can drop to FHD (1,920×1,080) at 165Hz or jump to a fast 360Hz panel, although still locked in at FHD resolution. All things considered, this is probably close to the ideal configuration. 

Design and features

The matte-white outer chassis stands out as retro-futurism — I thought of the clean lines of 2001: A Space Odyssey — and the inset hinge both looked good and made the laptop feel very stable when propped up on a table. There’s a big “15” stenciled on the back, because maybe you’d forget how big your laptop screen was? As well as the iconic backlit alien head logo, which I once found to be a tacky example of dorm-room-chic, but frankly, at this point it’s got some nostalgic charm. 

But my absolute favorite feature had nothing to do with the lid design or even performance — it’s purely UX. Along the right side of the keyboard area is a row of media control keys, including dedicated buttons for raising and lowering the volume and muting both the speakers and mic. 

I can not emphasize enough just how important this kind of convenience is to my enjoyment of a gaming laptop. Pressing FN+F2 (or sometimes F5, etc.) to lower the volume in a game seems like an insane way to deal with sound. A few other laptops also have dedicated audio keys or sometimes volume wheels, but it’s still rare. You don’t get a separate number pad, which can show up in some 15-inch laptops. It’s no great loss for my workflow, but it’s something to keep in mind. 

The actual keyboard is fine for a shallow gaming laptop keyboard, with 1.5mm travel and decent island-style spacing between the keys. The touchpad is small and frill-free. Gamers will be using a mouse or game controller more often, but when you want to use this as a non-gaming laptop, which is probably most of the time, the touchpad is a letdown. 

Performance and battery life 

Performance was right in the middle of the pack when compared to similar high-end laptops with Nvidia 3070 and 3080-class GPUs. The performance boost from something like the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE, which we reviewed with an Intel Core i9 CPU and the Nvidia 3080 Ti GPU, shows what an extra $500 to $600 will get you, and you can configure the x15 R2 similarly. Based on the performance we saw, I still say the Core i7/3070 Ti combo is the overall best bang for the buck.

Battery life was decent for a gaming laptop, running for 5:12 in our video-streaming test, which admittedly isn’t particularly challenging. Other 15-inch premium gaming laptops scored in the same 4- to 5-hour ballpark. Ironically, Dell’s latest slim 13-inch laptop, the XPS 13 Plus, had much shorter battery life. 

My biggest overall issue with the system was how hot it got. Running games for a while, then pulling out the old temperature gun, the area just above the keyboard hit 130 degrees F. With the big rear vents (with its associated rear ports) and fans, you could probably keep your coffee cup next to the system to keep it warm. It’s not a specific-to-Dell problem, but by squeezing a gaming laptop down to this thin a profile, it’s inevitably going to be a more noticeable issue. 

My other gripe is the somewhat impenetrable Alienware Command Center software for controlling system functions, including the various lighting zones, fan speed and other system details. It’s clunky, opaque and makes arranging custom lighting much more difficult than it needs to be. It feels like the Dell UX team never got near this one. I’m not the only person that feels this way. 

Despite these issues, and a general sense that gaming laptop innovation has hit a bit of a plateau in the past few years, the slim Alienware x15 R2 has earned a place on my short list of premium gaming laptops to strongly consider if you’re thinking about making a multiyear investment. 

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The post Alienware x15 R2 Review: A Lean and Hot Gaming Laptop first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Having reviewed practically every MacBook since the beginning of the Intel Mac era to the current M2 chip versions, I’ve seen a lot of features added, taken away, and sometimes added back again. That goes for HDMI ports, SD card slots and even the MagSafe connector. But one occasionally requested feature that has never been part of an Apple-made computer is a touchscreen. 

I haven’t given the idea much thought lately, being more concerned with questions like: Why does the M2 13-inch MacBook Pro exist? But my colleague Abrar Al-Heeti recently asked me to weigh in on the subject for a Q&A video. 

That forced me to sit down and actually articulate why touchscreens are so common on Windows laptops and even Chromebooks, but not on Macs. 

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Why MacBooks Don’t Have Touchscreens

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Apple wants you to feel like you should buy a MacBook and an iPad to get the full Apple experience. Recent OS changes make iPadOS a little more Mac-like and MacOS a little more iPad-like, but there’s still a lot of daylight between them. If anything, the pendulum is swinging more toward adding Mac features to iPads than the other way around. 

Windows laptops just need it more. Because most Windows laptops have an OS made by Microsoft, chips made by Intel or AMD and hardware made by a wide range of other manufacturers, those PCs lack the overall cohesion you get from Apple’s in-house hardware/software/chip combo. Frankly, most of the time when I use touch on a Windows laptop, it’s because I’m running into a situation where the default touchpad navigation isn’t as good as it should be. 

Apple has already tried it, with the Touch Bar. As always, there is an asterisk to the no-touch MacBook rule. The now-nearly-dead Touch Bar, originally found on several MacBook Pro laptops, but now only on that last lonely 13-inch MacBook Pro, is technically a touchscreen, even if it’s only 60 pixels high. But as an experiment, it’s safe to write that off as a failure, and it might even be an extra incentive for Apple to stay further away from touchscreens. 

And don’t think people haven’t tried to shoehorn touch into Macs. Back in 2008, I reviewed a MacBook that was taken apart and reassembled into a touchscreen tablet. Called the Axiotron ModBook, it didn’t last long. There was also a device called the AirBar that could connect via USB and add a type of touch sensitivity to Mac screens. It didn’t work very well either. 

But there is some light on the horizon for the touchscreen Mac idea. Now that both (some) iPads and Macs run the same M-series Apple silicon chips, the daylight between these products is slimmer than ever. Does this mean both products will eventually merge into a single device? Not anytime soon, but maybe we’re closer than we were a year ago. 

Best laptops for 2022

A selection of the best laptops you can buy right now.

• Most universally useful: MacBook Air M2
• Best budget laptop: Acer Swift 3
• Best Chromebook: Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (CP513-2H)
• Best budget gaming laptop: HP Victus 16

See the full list of best laptops for 2022. 

The post Why Don’t MacBooks Have Touchscreens? first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

A big change is coming to Apple’s Mac computer line, thanks to the new version of MacOS, called Ventura. It’s going to change the way you use video-conferencing apps like Zoom, how you juggle multiple apps at once, and even how you dig around the settings menus to make everything work the way you want. 

Some of these new changes are so big, they break my general OS rule — that operating system updates should be like good cinematography in a movie: an important backbone, but not one that stands out too obviously. Why do I usually say that? Because if you change a device’s user interface or features too radically, you lose the muscle memory and personal workflow developed over time. But at the same time, change too little and no one will feel the need to update. 

The new version of MacOS is a bigger deal than most, adding many significant new features and improvements. The official release should be coming later in 2022, but the public beta is available now. 

Everyone always says not to install beta operating systems on your primary devices, and I’ve offered similar counsel in the past. But honestly, once it hits the public beta phase (as opposed to a locked-down developer beta), things are usually in pretty good shape. 

So with that mindset I downloaded and installed MacOS Ventura on a MacBook and iOS 16 on my phone. Didn’t even back anything up, just went for it. Yolo, I suppose. 

The next bit of unspoken OS update truth is that most people will never see, use or even be aware of most of the updates, especially as so many are small tweaks that operate behind the scenes, or add functionality you’re probably not even looking for. 

But Ventura does a little more than most OS updates, and when combined with iOS 16 or iPadOS 16, you get access to some really useful features. So, while most of Ventura probably won’t make a big difference in your day-to-day life, here are four new features in the beta that stand out the most. 

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Stage Manager: A better, faster way to get around the Mac

The single biggest visual change in Ventura is this fresh new way to sort and organize various Mac apps and switch between them. Rather than Apple’s traditional Cmd-Tab or swiping up with four fingers, Stage Manager puts your active apps in a thumbnail column on the far left side of the screen. 

Click on the app you want and it jumps to the middle of the screen, making it easy to swap between apps on the fly. Sure, it wasn’t hard to jump between apps before, but this is a new, very visual way of doing that. If you have multiple windows open in an app (like multiple browser windows), clicking on the thumbnail on that left rail will jump between those windows. 

Now that I’m using Stage Manager, I can’t imagine going back to not using it. However, it does leave us with what I’d call the Double Dock problem. You’ve now got a horizontal dock at the bottom of the screen and a second quasi-dock running vertically down the left side of the screen. If you want a really clean desktop view and need to hide Stage Manager, pop open the Command Center (the two pills icon) and toggle it off. 

Continuity Camera: Use your iPhone camera, at last

This is something I’ve been waiting on Apple to implement for many years. The elevator pitch is that you can now use your iPhone as a wireless webcam for your Mac. Sounds simple enough, but before now you had to use a third-party app like EpocCam, which just isn’t simple and bug-free enough to rely on for everyday use. 

Now, with Ventura on your Mac and iOS 16 on your phone (both currently via public beta), it’s suddenly easy to do and it works in Zoom, FaceTime and many other apps. Just select your phone as a camera from the app’s camera selection menu. You do need to be logged in to the same Apple ID on both devices, and on the same Wi-Fi network with Bluetooth enabled. 

Why would you want this? Unless you have the new M2 MacBook Air or the 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro, your MacBook has a pretty unimpressive 720p-resolution camera. Those newer Macs have much better 1080p cameras, but your iPhone rear camera is still going to be much, much better than that. Looking at the 1080p camera in the M2 MacBook next to the video from an iPhone 13 Pro via Camera Continuity, the iPhone was clearly superior. 

There are some extra tricks available in the Command Center under Video Effects, including Center Stage, which follows your face around the frame; Portrait mode, which blurs the background slightly; and Studio Light, which dims the background and brightens your face.

Potentially more interesting is Desk View, which uses the iPhone’s wide-angle lens to capture what’s happening just below the laptop’s wrist rest and touchpad, even though the phone is pointed directly at your face. It’s a stand-alone video app, so you’d screenshare it in Zoom, for example. It’s pretty limited right now in what it shows and how it’s implemented, but I’m interested in experimenting with it more. 

But wait, there’s more. 

How do I position my phone to use it as a webcam, you ask? I’m sure there will be a lot of mini tripods and phone mounts available to clip your phone to the top of a MacBook. 

But I’ve gone ahead and designed a simple one via TinkerCad, and printed it on a 3D printer. This specific mount is designed for an iPhone 13 Pro Max, with a case, and the new M2 MacBook Air. You can try downloading and printing it if you think it’ll fit your phone and laptop; also I’m making the CAD file available as well, so you can adjust the measurements to your liking. 

If you don’t have a 3D printer, our list of the best ones is a good place to start. 

The public TinkerCad file is here, and the 3D STL file is here on Thingiverse. 

System Settings/Preferences: Slightly less confusing 

Am I the only one who finds the Mac’s traditional System Preference menu confusing? It’s a bunch of icons, which seem to shift around with every OS version, and the tools you want are inevitably buried in submenus. I find some of the organizational choices confusing, and question some of the internal logic. 

The new look and feel of the menu, now called System Settings, is delightfully basic. It’s just a list. The actual functionality isn’t really different, but I find it much easier to navigate because you can still see the other list entries while inside a specific menu. The somewhat opaque icons and category names are still there and things like click-and-drag for the trackpad are still buried in a submenu of the accessibility menu, but it’s nice to move the UX needle toward utility over design. 

Live captions for videos: Make FaceTime calls easier to follow

As a bonus fourth favorite feature, I like the real-time captioning that works across different apps and audio sources. 

YouTube videos already offer closed captions that are pretty good, but livestreams, for example, can be a problem. Other video or video-related services offer a wide range of captioning and subtitle options, some good, some less so. 

Live captions adds just that, live captions, in a pop-up box and works with real-time spoken-word content from many video sources, including FaceTime calls. That’s great for expanding accessibility, but also handy for situations where the person on the other end of your video call isn’t clearly audible, has a bad mic, etc. 

I’ve tried it a few times, and you really do get a nearly instantaneous onscreen transcription of what the other person is saying. It’s not a feature I would use all the time, but it’s both impressive and useful. 

Venturing into Ventura 

There are many more features in MacOS Ventura, including improvements to Mail, Safari, Spotlight and how passwords are handled. I frankly found those less interesting than the parts I’ve highlighted above, considering what would make an actual difference in my everyday workflow. Some of these work well now, while others need more time to fully bake, which is understandable considering this is a beta. 

The official version of Ventura should be available this fall, based on when Apple has issued OS updates previously. 

More Mac tips

• How To Take a Screenshot on a Mac
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Best laptops for 2022

A selection of the best laptops you can buy right now.

• Most universally useful: MacBook Air M2
• Best budget laptop: Acer Swift 3
• Best Chromebook: Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (CP513-2H)
• Best budget gaming laptop: HP Victus 16

See the full list of best laptops for 2022. 

The post These New MacOS Ventura Tricks Make Your Mac Much Better first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.