So you spent a few hundred dollars on an Apple Watch, but spending another $50 on a new band just seems excessive. There are third-party versions designed to look and feel nearly the same as the real thing, but are a quarter of the cost. Unfortunately, “nearly the same” isn’t really all that accurate.
Don’t Be Fooled: Cheap Third-Party Apple Watch Bands Are Terrible
So you spent a few hundred dollars on an Apple Watch, but spending another $50 on a new band just seems excessive. There are third-party versions designed to look and feel nearly the same as the real thing, but are a quarter of the cost. Unfortunately, “nearly the same” isn’t really all that accurate.
Most PC users understand that a power surge, blackout, or other sudden loss of electricity has the capacity to seriously hurt your computer. But exactly what one should do to protect against it gets a little fuzzier. The two most common means of protection are a standard surge protector, sometimes (wrongly) called a power strip, or an uninterruptible power supply, usually shortened to UPS. (No connection with the delivery guys in the brown shorts.)
It wasn’t so long ago that Philips introduced its Hue smart lighting system, and since then, the company has expanded its lineup to include quite an arrangement of light bulbs and light fixtures to choose from.
If you want to control your lights from your phone or with your voice, you have two options to consider: buy smart bulbs or buy smart light switches. Here’s how to decide between those two options.
Camera sensors come in different sizes. The one in your smartphone is a lot smaller than the one in my Canon 5D MKIII, a professional DSLR. For high quality mirrorless and DSLR cameras, there are two main sensor sizes: 35mm (generally referred to as “full frame”) and APS-C (normally called a “crop sensor” or “crop camera”). Let’s look at the difference between the two.
We’re currently experiencing a renaissance of laptops, with both incredible specifications and some really amazing design work adorning the latest models. As part of these next-generation designs, we’re also seeing a lot of new materials going into laptops as well. Aluminum, magnesium, carbon fiber, even the super-tough tempered Gorilla Glass—it seems that if you want to make a new high-end laptop or tablet, old-fashioned plastic just isn’t an option anymore.
When it comes to home improvement projects, a power drill is one of the most common tools you’ll need. But an impact driver is perhaps an upgraded version that you should consider adding to your arsenal.
It doesn’t seem so long ago that we had only one reliable way to connect a computer to an external monitor. Now the good old VGA port, may it rest in peace, is only found on designated “business” machines and adapters. In its place, we have a variety of alternatives, all of which seem to be fighting each other for the limited space on your laptop or graphics card. Let’s break down the options for your next PC purchase.
There so many different types of fasteners available that most hardware stores usually have an entire aisle dedicated to them. However, we’re going to go over the basics between screws, bolts, and nails, and when you should use one over the other in different scenarios.
Three of the biggest names in the smarthome hub world are SmartThings, Wink, and Insteon, all of which offer a consumer-friendly hub that allows users to connect all sorts of smarthome devices together and manage them in one place. But which one should you buy? Here are some things to know about the two hubs and which one might be best for you.
Just like music, surround sound platforms are available in multiple standards. The two big ones supported by most high-end home audio systems are Dolby Digital and DTS (short for the owner of the standard, Dedicated To Sound). But what’s the difference between the two?
All of a sudden, it seems all the mobile carriers are offering unlimited plans. So, how do they stack up?
There are so many options to choose from when it comes to home security cameras. Most, however, fall into one of two categories: easy-to-set-up Wi-Fi cameras (like the Nest Cam) and wired surveillance systems that come with a DVR-like box and a handful of cameras.
If you’ve been trained on Microsoft Word since you started using a computer, maybe you’ve never looked at those other writing options in Windows. Notepad and WordPad are both developed by Microsoft itself, and included in every copy of Windows. Don’t dismiss them out of hand—while neither are as powerful as paid software in the same niches, they might just do for you.
Whether you’re formatting an internal drive, external drive, USB flash drive, or SD card, Windows gives you the choice of using three different file systems: NTFS, FAT32, and exFAT. The Format dialog in Windows doesn’t explain the difference, so we will.
When it comes to PC gaming, NVIDIA arguably rules the roost. And in recent years, the company has gone to great lengths to take its gaming presence to the next level with services like GameStream and GeForce Now. The thing is, these services can be kind of confusing for new users, especially when you’re trying to figure out which one best fits your needs.
Most Linux distributions include the bash shell by default, but you could also switch to another shell environment. Zsh is a particularly popular alternative, and there are other shells, like ash, dash, fish, and tcsh. But what’s the difference, and why are there so many?
There are two ways you can buy Microsoft Office. You can buy the traditional Microsoft Office 2016 product, or get it as part of an Office 365 software subscription. Here’s the difference.
Moviegoers already know the bliss of a good surround sound setup, but PC gamers have an even better reason to invest in a little audio immersion: beating the snot out of their online opponents. A good surround sound system can make a surprising amount of difference in fast-paced competitive games, helping you hear where other players are on the map.
Earlier this year, Amazon expanded their stable of Echo products to include the Echo Dot, the tiny sibling of the bigger Echo speaker. And now, before the year is even over, the company has shipped a newer, cheaper version of the Echo Dot. Let’s take a look at the similarities, differences, and when and where you would want to use each product.
So you’ve unpacked a shiny new iPad (or laptop, or camera, or other gadget) and it’s time to get rid of the old one. Why not make a few bucks in the process?
Amazon’s Kindle lineup has expanded: there are now four different models, with different features at different price points. That means deciding which one you want is more difficult than ever. Let’s look at what separates the four Kindles and how to work out which one is right for you.
There are dozens of password managers out there, but no two are created alike. We’ve rounded up the most popular options and broken down their features so you can pick the right one for you.
The 2nd generation of Philips Hue smart light bulbs have been out for quite a while now, and 3rd-generation bulbs have just recently come out, but you can still buy 1st-generation Hue products at some stores. Here’s what you need to know about the 1st- and 2nd-generation Philips Hue hubs, as well as the newer 3rd-generation bulbs.
If you want to get a Wi-Fi video doorbell for your front door but aren’t sure which one to get, we’ve tested out the top two models to see which one might fit your needs better.
