Android

Best Android Root Apps in 2024

By admin April 1, 2024

Best Android Root Apps in 2024, Rooting your Android device allows you to get complete control of your phone. It unlocks your device entirely so that you can perform more advanced and complicated tasks (for instance, bloatware removal), not meant for general users. Moreover, the best Android root apps help you make the most of your phone.

The best apps to root an Android phone help you do all the heavy lifting, save battery, get new applications, and improve your phone’s performance. However, the opposite may happen if you use a wrong and unreliable rooting app.

Therefore, you must be extremely careful when picking a root app. However, since you have arrived at this article, it will be a cakewalk for you to choose the proper application.

Through this article, we share a rooted apps list. The applications in this list are selected after thorough research and analysis of the available options in the market. Let us walk you through it without ado.

9 Best Android Root Apps for Your Phone in 2024

Following are some of the best root apps for Android.

1. AdAway

Let us first introduce you to AdAway. It is a perfect choice for users who want to block ads on their devices. With this free and open-source application, you can block all ad-serving hostnames using the hosts’ file. It keeps you updated with the ad-serving networks and redirects these networks to your phone, i.e, the local host. Hence, these requests do not lead to any ads.

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2. Magisk Manager

Next, we have Magisk Manager on our list of the best Android root apps. The most advantageous feature of this app is that, unlike the traditional methods, it does not require you to make system partition changes. Moreover, it helps you hide root permissions from applications like Android Pay, Pokemon Go, etc.

Furthermore, it allows you to get OTA updates to your operating system. However, sadly, this app is unavailable on Google Play and you need to download it as apk from the official website.

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3. Quick Reboot

Let us take a look at Quick Reboot. This application allows you to reboot your device with a single tap on the button to do so. Moreover, there are several reboot options like recovery mode, fastboot, and safe mode. It comes in handy when you want all your reboot settings in one location and do not wish to use ADB or hardware key combinations to reboot your device.

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4. OneClickRoot

The next name on our list of the best Android root applications is OneClick Root. It helps improve your device’s battery life and speed. Moreover, you can use this application to download apps that are unavailable in your country and perform byte by byte mobile data backup.

Furthermore, OneClickRoot supports free wireless tethering, installation of apps incompatible with your device, and access to crucial hidden files.

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5. Rescue Root

The discussion about the best Android root apps cannot be complete without Rescue Root. It is among the top applications to backup your device and protect it hassle-freely. With this app, you can perform customized roots for specific devices and restore your phone to an earlier rooted state.

Additionally, round-the-clock support, availability for all Android devices, and unlimited restoration of data make Rescue Root one of the best rooting apps.

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6. KingoRoot

Here comes the best application for all those wanting to customize their device without any hassle. It offers a one-click device root. Additionally, it boasts compatibility with a wide range of devices and a beginner-friendly interface.

Furthermore, speeding up the device performance, easy Android streamlining, and Android root using PC are its other noteworthy features.

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7. Root Essentials

Let us now talk about the Root Essentials. Available for phone, tablet, and Android wear. This app lets you manage all applications on your device without any cumbersome effort, check the battery status, and check the phone for rooting access.

Moreover, it allows you to edit LCD density, view device information, change the phone’s emoji, select from over 700 fonts, and change your phone’s system language.

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8. ROM Toolbox Pro

Are you looking for a multi-purpose booting app? Then, ROM Toolbox Pro is a perfect choice for you. With ROM Toolbox Pro, you can easily manage your files or folders along with changing your device settings completely.
The app lets you utilize the custom fonts from an external SD Card. Additionally, using this Android Root App you can effortlessly move, delete, and rename files. Along with the ownership of files, you can also modify the permissions of any desired file. Overall, ROM Toolbox Pro is the must-have app for every root user out there.

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9. LiveBoot

Let us introduce you to LiveBoot. It is among the best root apps for Android because of its device health checking to determine whether or not you should root it. Moreover, it boasts many interesting features like access to the System Message Registry, commands to debug Android applications, and an option to view apps running in the background during boot.

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Summing Up

This article acquainted you with the best Android root apps to help you use your device to the maximum potential. You can choose any app from the above list depending on your requirements.

If there is any application you would like to add to the above list, if you have any other suggestions/questions about this post, please drop them in the comment box. We will be delighted to address your queries.

Root Android: Everything you need to know!

One of the best things about Android is its customization and flexibility. Android lets you use it the way you want to, whether that means changing the launcher, or setting up a host of unique automatic functions with Tasker. But for some, that isn’t enough. You can gain near-total control of the OS if you root Android.

This isn’t as common as it once was, but there are still benefits to rooting Android, such as removing bloatware, full system backups, overclocking, specialized settings, and more. If you like the sounds of that, but find yourself feeling a little anxious about “hacking” your much-loved (and probably expensive) device, then read on to learn everything you need to know about rooting Android. It’s actually easier than you might think.

Editor’s note: Rooting Android devices requires a high level of tinkering and modifying your phone’s software. This can be risky, and there is a chance you’ll damage your handset. This is terrible news, considering rooting Android may void your warranty. Always do your research and be confident about the steps you’re taking, as no one but you will be responsible should anything happen to your device.

What is rooting?

While it might sound scary, rooting refers to obtaining access to commands, system files, and folder locations that are usually locked off. Rooting Android can be thought of as promoting yourself from a system user to an administrator, with the additional freedom and risks that come from more control over the deeper workings of your device. With great power comes great responsibility and all that!

More specifically, adding root to Android means becoming a superuser, which is a Linux function you may be familiar with. In many ways, you could view this more as restoring a function that should have been there, to begin with!

Users can install and run applications on rooted Android phones and tablets that require special privileges, bypass carrier-installed software, and even remove bloatware applications (as opposed to simply disabling them). Root access is even needed if you want to install trivial things like certain custom fonts, and rooting Android can also unlock new features in certain apps and launchers.

If you’re comfortable with coding, you can even go as far as creating your own custom ROMs.

Handy rooting terminology:

• Bootloader: Lowest level software on your phone that starts up recoveries and then the main operating system.

• Recovery: Low-level software that can create and restore full system backups. It is accessed before the main OS.

• ADB (Android Debug Bridge): A command-line tool that is part of the Android SDK, which supports communication between a computer and an Android device.

To root or not to root?

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

The next question is whether you should root Android or leave it as it is. That, of course, is a matter of personal preference, but there are some compelling arguments both for and against it.

On the plus side, it gives you more access to several cool apps and customization options. It also lets you upgrade older phones to newer Android versions long after your manufacturer and carrier have stopped supporting it. As mentioned, rooting Android will let you change things that you otherwise Wouldn’t be able to, and it will also allow you to use a host of cool apps.

Android root apps and options

Here are just a few things you can do with a rooted Android device:

• Overclock or underclock the CPU.

• Increase battery life.

• It greatly enhances the power of Tasker.

• Remove preinstalled bloatware apps.

• Make real backups.

• Install custom ROMs.

• Further customize your phone’s looks.

• Install apps that do more than basic ones.

• You can even do things like installing Ubuntu for desktop.

For some people, rooting Android is also something of a statement. You paid for this device, so why shouldn’t you use it exactly as you wish? Especially if it means removing cynical and unhelpful bloatware. There’s also a certain status that comes from it, and a great sense of accomplishment when you achieve root access for the first time.

If you’re a developer hoping to create your own root apps, you need to start somewhere!

Will you damage your device?

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

Pixel 8

That said, there are also some potential downsides to rooting.

Even once you know how to root Android, some risks are involved. If you get this wrong, there is a chance of bricking your device (it’s happened to me). It’s easier and safer on some devices than others, but if you’re not overly confident with your tech wizardry, you may prefer to leave your phone be.

Furthermore, rooting can cause some issues with official OTA handset updates — but it is usually fine to install new software manually once you’re rooted. Updating will often cause root permissions to be lost, in which case the procedure will need to be performed again. Occasionally, an update will block old root methods, and sometimes rooted devices will fail to install updates. If your device stops booting after an attempted root exploit, you can usually restore it to factory specifications relatively easily.

Warranties and legalities — is rooting legal?

This leads us nicely onto warranties, which is another grey area in the world of rooting. While carriers don’t like you tampering with their hardware and software, some manufacturers have become kinder to rooters and even those who install third-party software. However, few have a clear stance on what software tweaks will void your warranty, and you certainly can’t count on having your rooted handset fixed if something goes wrong. Devices with locked bootloaders, the very low-level software that starts up your phone, are explicitly designed to prevent rooting, so don’t expect sympathy from these companies.

In the US, rooting is perfectly legal.

Thanks to clues like Knox on Samsung, manufacturers and sellers can often identify rooted devices, even after you unroot them. Note that there are ways to hide evidence of having rooted your device, but these won’t always work. There’s a kind of arms race between hackers and manufacturers, and your chances of unrooting and covering your tracks will often come down to who is winning at the time! This is why many people only root older phones already out of warranty.

This might also make you wonder whether rooting your device is even legal. This is tough to answer as it depends on your country’s laws. Many countries allow for bypassing digital rights management and locks, providing that this is not used for other illegal purposes, such as circumventing copyrights. Rooting has been legal in the USA since 2013.

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

It’s also worth noting that some apps and features will stop working once you root. For example, banking apps will often stop working due to the perceived security risk. Even Snapchat and Pokemon Go take issue with root! There are also often countermeasures to these limitations — though your mileage may vary. You can probably tell by now that rooting typically means creating more work for yourself, but it can be enjoyable work!

Rooting your phone can open up your device to more dangerous pieces of malware.Adam Sinicki

The final major point to be aware of is security. With greater control comes a greater level of risk, and rooting your phone can open up your device to more dangerous pieces of malware. This is where governor applications come in, which monitor and control which processes get root permissions. You may be familiar with SuperSU or other similar apps. These are very straightforward to use and simply display a pop-up whenever an app or process wants root access, which you can either deny or allow and save your preference if you trust the app.

Of course, if you aren’t automatically receiving the usual updates, it also falls on you to ensure you get all the latest security patches. In theory, you could improve your privacy with the proper root apps. But it’s on you. It should also be noted that SuperSU developer Chainfire hung up his root apps, so most rooters have now switched over to Magisk.

So, should you root Android?

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

With all that in mind, should you root your Android device?

Ultimately, that comes down to what you intend to use your device for. Do you even need to root Android? If you have a specific use-case scenario in mind and understand the risks and limitations, then there’s nothing to stop you from learning how to root Android and giving yourself that extra freedom.

On the other hand, the argument for rooting isn’t as compelling as it once was. These days, one can do many things that were once limited to root users (customizing the UI, recording your screen, and so on). Not to mention that even budget phones are fast these days, so overclocking is no longer an important reason to root Android.

These days, one can do a lot of things that were once limited to root users.Adam Sinicki

Seeing as root might also mean you lose functionality, it’s no longer a straight win across the board. It has its benefits, but it’s not as helpful as it once was.

For me, the obvious answer is to only root older devices. Keep your daily driver clean while it’s still getting new updates and patches, but root secondary gadgets that you want to tinker with. That way, you get to have your cake and eat it, too.

How to root Android devices

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

If you decide to proceed, you’ll probably wonder how to root Android. Let’s lead you in the right direction!

The bad news is there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution when you root Android phones and tablets. Different brands and even software versions can make the rooting process vary. Even within handset variants, you may find that some techniques work and others don’t.

The good news is that rooting is much easier than it once was in many cases. In fact, the easiest method is usually to use a simple root app. These apps let you root Android with a single tap, with some popular examples being KingRoot, KingoRoot, and OneClickRoot. Download your app of choice or access the website for more instructions. The service will check compatibility first, then root your device for you.

This is a minimum-fuss method that will work in many cases. However, it’s worth noting that some come with annoying push notifications and ads. I’d advise checking reviews before settling on which one to use. Some would even say that if you can’t figure out how to root your device without one of these apps, perhaps you shouldn’t be doing it at all (because if you encounter problems during the process, you won’t know what to do).

The good news is that in many cases, rooting is much easier than it once was.

If a one-click solution doesn’t appeal to you, things get a little more complex, and you’ll need to look for specific instructions for your device. This might mean using PC software and connecting your phone via USB. It might also mean using a custom recovery, or downloading additional software like Odin for Samsung devices. The best part about these options is that you learn a lot along the way.

I recommend either Googling “how to root [YOUR DEVICE NAME HERE]” or heading over to XDA Developers, which is a great place to start. Many of the best root apps available today were developed by members of this community. Just be sure to use the search function first before asking noob questions! And don’t forget to thank and support the devs that make rooting possible.

Before rooting your device, it’s always good to back up your phone first. Then settle in, read a lot, triple-check the instructions, and dive in. Crossing your fingers and holding your breath would be a good idea because you just took the red pill! The world of Android rooting is exciting, empowering, frustrating, and engaging — you’ll learn tons about how Android works, what your phone can do, and how awesome Android can be when you get in the driver’s seat.

Once you’ve rooted your phone, it’s time to start enjoying the best root apps for Android.

FAQs

Rooting a device refers to obtaining superuser access to your Android system. It allows you to delve deeper into commands, system files, restricted folders, and more. This will enable you to customize things from a system level.

Rooting makes it possible to achieve much more complex customizations than you’re used to. You can control your CPU and RAM, customize your UI, remove apps you otherwise wouldn’t be able to uninstall, use apps that provide root features, and more.

Manufacturers don’t like when you tinker with their devices’ software. This can create issues, and these wouldn’t be their fault. Most manufacturers will likely avoid respecting a warranty claim if you’ve rooted a device, especially if this was the cause of whatever issue you started the claim for. That said, some argue it’s illegal to void the warranty due to rooting, in some jurisdictions. You might be able to argue this in court, but no one really wants to take a company to court for a warranty issue. At the very least, rooting your phone may cause a headache, even if you did nothing wrong.

Technically speaking, a rooted Android phone has access to system files. Regular phones lack this. This makes it possible for hackers and malware to attack you at deeper levels. Additionally, root users like grabbing apps to maximize their experience, which opens the doors to more dangers. While rooting your device can be perfectly secure, it’s also very easy to turn it into a vulnerable device. You’re no longer sticking with Google and your manufacturer’s protective arms. Not to mention, rooting can affect timely updates, which often come with security improvements.

Of course you can. The real question is whether you should. If you are to sell a rooted phone, make sure you tell the new owner about this. He can then decide if he wants to take the risk. Additionally, it’s possible to unroot a phone and take it back to its factory settings. This might be a better alternative, unless the buyer strictly wants a rooted phone.

Rooting is only worth it right now if you have a specific need for it, or if you really want to play around with your Android phone. That said, we advise most users to stick with stock software now. This is because most of the benefits we used to get from root access no longer apply. Phones used to be slow, and now even budget devices are pretty fast, so there is no dire need to overclock. Battery life is also improving, so there is no huge need to underclock. Launchers are better than ever, so custom ROMs are no longer as enticing as before. Bloatware apps can also be turned off, which at least keeps them out of view.

No. You will have to flash the stock software to remove root. In fact, this used to be seen as a feature. Some applications are able to stick around, even if you perform a factory reset. This is great for security apps.

Rooting, in and of itself, should not erase any of your data. That said, you might have to give your phone a clean install if anything goes wrong, or if the root process for your phone happens to require a factory reset.

There are multiple ways to check if a device is rooted, but if you can’t figure this out, chances are you don’t want to deal with complex methods. The easiest way to check if your phone is rooted is through an app. Root Checker is one of the most popular ones.

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Best FREE Burner Phone Number Apps in 2024

By admin April 1, 2024

Best FREE Burner Phone Number Apps in 2024, You can probably imagine how frustrating it would be to juggle two mobile phones while managing your professional and personal lives. But in this circumstance, having two mobile phone lines on one device can be useful. Don’t worry! Some best free burner phone number apps can make it very simple to separate your personal and professional lives effectively.

With these free burner phone number apps, you can join several services without risking your privacy. In addition, burner phone numbers are a “must-have” for international trips because they frequently enable you to reduce roaming expenses abroad.

Online burner phone numbers may have a negative reputation due to how they are portrayed in television and movies, yet they have numerous useful functions. So, here are some best free burner phone number apps to use in 2024 to protect your safety and shield you from future spam.

Best Burner Phone Number Apps in 2024 (Android & iOS)

To assist you with adding a second line to your phone, we’ve compiled a list of the 16 best free burner phone number apps in this article. Each of the best burner phone apps listed below is brimming with useful features that will surely make your experience enjoyable.

1. Burner

Burner provides a secondary line for texting and calling without paying your provider for another connection, making it the most well-known and best free burner phone number app. In addition, it gives you a throwaway VOIP number (with local area code) which you may use for online dating, shopping, Craigslist sales, and dodging salespeople.

You don’t need to carry a second mobile device because you can text, call, and manage your contact list from the app. Additionally, you can make several private burner phone numbers whenever you wish. Burner has a 7-day trial duration and is available for free download.

In order to safeguard your privacy and hide your primary phone number, the app intercepts incoming calls and routes them to your phone. In addition, you can archive text messages and voicemails through integrations with other apps and services like Evernote, Dropbox, SoundCloud, and Slack.

Calls made with this app show up as phone calls between Burner and your own numbers on your phone bill. You cannot see the end phone number you are dialing through Burner. Incoming calls appear to be from your free Burner phone number, and you can add more numbers with an in-app subscription.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

2. Hushed

Hushed is another well-known free burner phone app for backup phone numbers. It functions similarly to Burner but provides burner phone numbers for forty different nations. Additionally, local phone numbers from more than 300 UK, Canadian, and US area codes are available.

Your activity is kept separate from your personal number from your carrier, and this burner phone application allows you to place and attend calls and send and receive an SMS on your Hushed phone number. In addition, the program will enable you to manage numerous lines, add additional numbers, and receive a secondary phone number.

Hushed provides flexible prepaid, pay-as-you-go, and long or short-term subscriptions that start at $1.99 monthly. Using a WiFi or data connection, you can call your free burner number worldwide. On all free burner phone numbers, local phone calling is possible. In several nations, MMS and SMS are accessible.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

3. Cloud SIM

It is one best free burner phone number apps through which you can create and add many phone numbers on your phone. You can choose up to four free burner phone numbers from the US, Canada, France, the UK, Poland, and the UK. In addition, you can call overseas landlines, mobiles, and other devices using Cloud SIM.

This free burner app allows you to set up calls through the internet or a GSM network and lets you select your connection type. It makes sure that call dropouts and poor reception are never an issue. Cloud SIM includes several remarkable features, including the quality to tailor your profile as per your preferences and unique voicemails on each profile. In addition, you can choose when you are away or available with the help of the “Do-not-disturb” option.

Overall, it’s one best burner phone number apps, whether you’re meeting customers and joining up for an online selling or dating service. You can also set up an international phone number when traveling or communicating with friends abroad.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

4. 2ndLine

The fully-featured 2ndLine free burner app provides a free burner phone number in addition to your personal phone number. Additionally, it provides a free local calling and texting number supported by advertisements; however, the paid version also includes premium services and removes the commercials.

With 2ndLine, you can download the app, choose a phone number, and start using an additional line on your phone to make and receive unlimited calls and texts immediately. This burner phone app, accessible in the US and Canada, offers free local speaking and text and reasonable pricing for international connections.

The iOS version of 2ndLine is not yet known to be available, unlike the majority of the other best free burner phone number apps on this list. Rather than using your cellular network to provide an extra line, 2ndLine is a VoIP solution that uses your internet or WiFi connection. As a result, 2ndLine calls and texts are not recorded on your device’s regular phone bill. Your conversations voicemail can also be saved as an audio file through the service.

Download for Android

5. Line2

In contrast to the other best free burner phone number apps, Line2 is a service geared toward businesses and provides extra functionality for business users. Additional benefits include toll-free numbers for international clients, conference calls, and auto-attendants. Additionally, this free burner phone app offers free, infinite VoIP phone calls and SMS within North America.

Additionally, users of Line2 can call and message for free. Using an auto-attendant function, users can direct them to the appropriate call queues, such as sales as well as support. It is a cross-platform free burner app that works across desktop and mobile platforms. It also offers on-hold music and pre-recorded call greetings (Windows, Mac).

Users can add numerous business lines to their current phones and acquire necessary business functionality without purchasing new hardware. You can also edit, add, or remove a business phone line by communicating with the support staff. Additionally, users have call-by-call options for screening and banning.

Line2 is among the best free burner phone number apps that allow you to divide your personal and professional conversations. Additionally, it does away with the requirement to buy and carry a secondary phone.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

6. CoverMe

CoverMe is one of the best free burner phone number apps that offers disappearing messages, encrypted messaging, anonymous SMS, etc., which sets itself apart from rivals. You can conceal text messages, secret call records, and personal contacts using the shake-to-lock feature. You shake the phone to lock your private messages and keep them hidden from curious eyes. According to CoverMe, everything is end-to-end encrypted.

With the help of CoverMe Private Messenger, you may conceal your primary phone number for anonymous voice calls and texts by using the US or Canadian number. Additionally, this free burner phone number app provides additional phone numbers with different area codes, which are ideal for business, online dating services, and other situations requiring increased secrecy.

Finally, it enables you to use a temporary second phone line to make secure, private phone conversations via the internet to the US, Canada, and China (VoIP). The fact that your call logs won’t appear on your phone bill is the finest part. This is one of the best burner phone number apps on this list since you may change the temporary phone number anytime.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

7. Flyp

It is another best burner phone apps for iOS and Android that generates burner phone numbers. On your current phone, it offers five alternative free burner phone numbers. Each free burner number can have any area code, and local numbers are always available. The burner phone number offers unlimited talk, text, and picture messaging.

Flyp allows you to text and calls people in over 15 major countries. By setting a “Do Not Disturb mode” for each phone number, you may also choose who can contact you. In addition, Flyp gives each burner phone number personalized voicemail greetings and unlimited calls and messages. For seven days, the initial Flyp phone number is free; each phone number costs $79.99 yearly or $7.99 monthly.

Additionally, Flyp allows you to view all your texts, voicemails, and calls in one location, saving you from going between several apps to view your communication with contacts. Additionally, it boosts reliability by only providing connections through your carrier’s cellular network. However, it appears on your monthly account and deducts from your voice allotment under your cell phone plan.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

8. Google Voice

It is the first free burner phone number app since it has existed for ten years. Voicemail, SMS, and voice messages are available through Google Voice, a virtual phone service. It syncs with your devices and functions on both PCs and cell phones.

You can make and receive calls using Google Voice numbers from anywhere because they operate with mobile devices and the internet. This burner phone app also provides many benefits, including call forwarding, voicemail transcription, AI-powered spam prevention, and more.

You can view advanced voicemail transcriptions in the app or request that they be delivered to your email using Google Voice. Additionally, you can use the service to call abroad at affordable rates without paying a premium. But you can also make calls over a Google Voice access number, which uses your carrier’s cellular network, using Google Voice for Android. Therefore, it also deducts from your voice credit.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

9. Grasshopper

Another best free burner phone number app that gives your personal phone a business phone line and the virtual system is called Grasshopper. Grasshopper, among the biggest corporate virtual phone market players, targets mainly small enterprises. This free burner phone number app provides common features like personalized automatic greetings, Caller ID, and various extensions that make businesses more professional and profitable without spending much money.

Users can get a complete virtual system from Grasshopper for a fair fee. The app offers many US cities toll-free numbers, vanity numbers, and regular local phone numbers. You can also port an active virtual or business number to Grasshopper for free. Access to your voicemail transcription, call history, call forwarding, on-hold music, and other capabilities are significant. In order to test it before purchasing, the app also provides a 7-day trial.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

10. MightyCall

Another best free burner phone number app that generates second phone numbers is MightyCall which mostly targets companies. It claims to be the finest substitute for Grasshopper, and a glance at its features explains why. MightyCall burner phone number app offers toll-free, vanity, and regular local numbers, similar to the earlier app.

Additionally, you receive other features you anticipate in this industry, such as premium (EV) SSL certificates with 256-bit encryption, personalized automated greetings, and support for various extensions for each burner phone number.

MightyCall is a VoIP + CRM solution geared toward small enterprises, with slightly more reasonable costs than Grasshopper. The prices begin at $29.99 per month, including taxes, with 5 virtual phone numbers (toll-free or local) and unlimited users available for $49.99 flat.

So naturally, MightyCall also offers a 7-day free trial to use the service before buying. Other capabilities that this free burner phone number app includes social media tracking call waiting, conference calling, voicemail transcriptions, webphones, softphones, desk phone assistance, international phone calls, and more.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

11. TalkU

TalkU is another best free burner phone number apps that you can use to send unlimited free texts and calls domestically and internationally. In addition, using the free burner phone number you receive from this software, you can freely share your videos, audio files, and images.

Of course, some requirements must be met to make the app free. You can obtain credit scores that you can use for cost-free calls and texts by, for example, watching video advertisements, logging into the app daily, finishing sponsored offers, etc.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

12. Dingtone

Dingtone is one of the best burner phone number apps that lets you utilize a second phone number to make free calls and SMSs. However, it continues to be free since it uses a Gamified credit system. This has a mixed effect on Dingtone’s favor. Users must play games for credit scores, which they may use to make free calls and text messages.

On the plus side, the app’s intriguing idea keeps users interested. The drawback is that a lot of consumers can find it confusing. For example, if you don’t keep up the necessary credit score, you can also lose the Dingtone number you were given.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

13. Sideline

Finally, we have Sideline to wind up the list of the best free burner number apps. With this application, you can perform a lot of actions, such as unlimited calling and text messaging, VOIP calling, and a lot more.

Moreover, Sideline allows you to port numbers from and to other services and choose your carrier or WiFi for calling. Furthermore, there are many business-centric features, such as appointment reminders, broadcast messages, auto-replies, message templates, shared numbers, international calls, and much more.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

14. TextFree

Yet another best burner phone app free available both for iOs and Android is TextFree. The application works over WiFi and has a bunch of extraordinary options. One notable thing is you must use the number in a continuous manner. If left unused for 30 days you can end up losing it.

However, to resolve this you can switch to the Paid version. This upgrade allows you to keep the number intact even when not using it for days. The Free version has ads but the subscription plan fixes this too.

This free burner phone number online application requires no SIM card as it can work on WiFi. But some users also complained about its complicated User Interface. Also, subscription plans are comparatively costlier.

Download for iOS

Download for Android

15. TextNow

You are able to generate and add a large number of phone numbers to your phone by using this software, which is among the greatest free burner phone number applications. Free burner phone numbers from the United States of America, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, and the United Kingdom are available for selection. In addition, you may use TextNow to make calls to mobile phones, landlines, and other devices located in foreign countries.

Whether you’re meeting consumers, signing up for an online selling business, or using a dating site, it’s one of the finest burner phone number applications overall. If you are going to be traveling or talking with friends who live in other countries, you may also set up an international phone number.

By using this free burner program, you are able to set up calls using either the internet or a GSM network, and you are also able to choose the sort of connection you want to use. As a result, it eliminates the possibility of call dropouts and poor reception ever occurring. One of the many wonderful features that TextNow offers is the ability to personalize your profile according to your tastes, as well as the ability to create individual voicemails for each profile. Additionally, with the assistance of the “Do-not-disturb” option, you are able to choose when times of day you are accessible or when you are away.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

16. Free Tone

Let us introduce you to Free Tone. It is among the best free second phone number apps for iOS because of its free voicemails, location sharing, group texting, and more. Additionally, it boasts many features, such as the availability of a plethora of stickers to make chats interesting, easy media file sharing, 500 minutes of free incoming calls, and a lot more.

Download for iOS

Conclusion

The benefits of having the best free burner phone number apps are numerous. The burner phone apps mentioned above will familiarise you with a real number that will serve as your burner phone number, regardless of the motivation. You’ll be able to forward calls, block calls you don’t want to receive, and identify the caller of an incoming call using that free burner phone number.

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Computer

10 best desktop computers of 2024

By admin March 29, 2024

10 best desktop computers of 2024, There are hundreds of desktop PCs you can buy from brands like HP, Dell, Apple, and Lenovo, but only a select few make it to the list of the best desktops. We’ve reviewed dozens of desktop PCs across both Windows and macOS, and these 10 stand above the pack.

The Dell XPS Desktop 8960 remains the best desktop PC you can buy in 2024. However, we have several other options depending on your budget and needs, including desktops for gaming, remote work, and more. We’ll provide a quick overview here, but make sure to read our write-up on how we review desktops for a deeper look at our evaluation process.

Quick overview

• Dell XPS Desktop 8960: A highly flexible desktop that can accommodate almost any budget and purpose, from home office work to high-end gaming.

• Lenovo Legion Tower 7i: A well-built and customizable desktop that shoots ahead in gaming performance.

• Apple iMac 24-inch: Apple’s iMac 24-inch is only better now with the M3 chip at the helm.

• Apple Mac Mini M2: A supercharged version of Apple’s storied Mac Mini that’s as portable as it is powerful.

• Lenovo Yoga AIO 9i: One of the most powerful all-in-one PCs you can buy still, and with a stunning set of features.

• Falcon Northwest Tiki: A boutique desktop PC that’s small and very powerful for gaming.

• Apple Mac Studio: A tiny PC that packs some of the most powerful hardware on the market.

• HP Envy Move: The perfect desktop for a hybrid working style.

• Lenovo ThinkStation P620: A powerful workstation that can handle the most demanding tasks.

• Ayaneo AM01: A quant mini PC that packs a surprising amount of power for a low price.

Why you should trust us

We’ve reviewed hundreds of desktop PCs for years, looking for machines that stand out for gaming, home office use, photo and video editing, and so much more. From miniature PCs that can fit on a bookshelf to behemoth desktops with custom liquid cooling, we’ve seen literally everything, and we know what stands out and what doesn’t.

Key considerations when selecting the best desktop

There are a few key areas we focus on when looking a desktop computer.

Performance

Performance is king when it comes to a desktop computer, but it’s not an equal bar for every PC. Some machines, like the Mac Mini, are offering power in a portable package, while a desktop like the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i goes all-out for gaming prowess. We meet desktops where they’re at, evaluating what they’re trying to accomplish, and at what price.

Build quality

A desktop may look nice, but it’s built of cheap plastics and throwaway components, it won’t last for long. Our review process includes a teardown of every desktop to understand what the internal components look like. In addition, we look at fan placement, ventilation, and cooling to ensure the desktops will stay quiet during operation without overheating.

Support

Things go wrong with PCs, so it’s important to have a robust support system in place. A one-year warranty is standard on most electronics, so we look for companies that go above and beyond what’s required with multi-year warranties and around-the-clock support.

Upgradability

One of the main benefits of a desktop PC is that you can upgrade it in the future, but some brands have missed that memo. We keep an eye out for proprietary components and try to focus on desktops that provide some upgrade paths for users. This isn’t possible for all machines, though, such as Apple’s iMac, where upgrades are tricky for end users due to the form factor.

Dell XPS 8960

The best desktop computer

The best overall desktop PC is the one that will work for the most people, and that’s the Dell XPS 8960. It’s understated in all the right ways, reasonably priced considering the power you can pack inside, and comes in a variety of configurations to suit work, gaming, or both. Choosing the highest-rated PC isn’t easy, but the Dell XPS 8960 gets rid of that issue.

Regardless of what configuration you choose, you’ll find something that matches your needs. That’s because Dell builds them custom ordered, which is the best feature of the XPS 8960. The options are nearly endless, with prices ranging from $750 to over $3,000 depending on the parts you choose. Some of the desktops come without a discrete graphics card, meaning they’re more suited for work than games. However, you can get one of the more expensive ones that include a discrete graphics card.

Dell is offering this new XPS desktop with Intel Raptor Lake and DDR5 RAM for those who are in search of the best gaming PC. You can add up to an RTX 4090 graphics card as well, which is a serious amount of power considering the size of the machine. Powerful hardware means more heat, but the XPS 8950 gets rid of it well with optional liquid cooling and a case with plenty of room for airflow.

Lenovo Legion Tower 7i

The best desktop PC for gaming

The Lenovo Legion Tower 7i gets almost everything right. It comes with the latest flagship hardware, packing in an Nvidia RTX 4080 and a 13th-gen Intel Core i9 processor, and it comes in a sleek, attractive design that doesn’t get too loud or hot. Perhaps most importantly, it uses standard-sized components so you can upgrade it in the future.

That’s easily the best thing about the Legion Tower 7i. It comes with the more affordable price of a mainstream gaming PC without any of the hurdles that come from brands like Alienware and Asus. The convenience doesn’t come at the cost of performance, either. Based on our testing, the Legion Tower 7i is just as fast as a custom-built PC with the same hardware.

The only downside is how the machine is configured. It comes with fast DDR5 memory, so this computer is great for playing ricky casino online without lag, but it’s set up to run at a slower speed out of the box. That didn’t make a big difference in overall performance based on our testing, but certain applications will run slightly slower in the Tower 7i’s default configuration. Thankfully, boosting the memory speed just takes a couple of clicks.

Apple iMac 24-inch

The best desktop for photo editing

Apple’s iMac 24-inch hasn’t seen a lot of love, but that all changed with the introduction of the M3 chip. Sporting the same stunning design and beautiful screen we fell in love with a few years ago, the iMac Apple is selling today truly is the same, but better.

That all comes down to the M3 chip. Compared to its M1 predecessor, the new model is at least 20% faster, and often much more. The graphics processor, in particular, is impressive. It even manages to beat some of Apple’s older Pro series chips, going as far as to have playable performance in games like Lies of P.

Apple didn’t change much else about the iMac, but it didn’t need to. The 4.5K Retina display is still stunning with a high pixel density, and the speakers are second to none. The upgraded webcam is exceptional, too, offering up a 1080p resolution for crisp video calls. If you’re looking for an all-in-one that just works in 2024, the iMac M3 is for you.

Apple Mac mini M2

The best desktop computer for home

We rarely give products a perfect score, but that’s exactly what Apple’s Mac mini M2 earned in our full review. The updated mini PC features the same compact footprint that Apple has used for over a decade, but now with a major update under the hood.

The base M2 model is a big upgrade over 2020’s Mac mini M1, but the updated desktop really shines with the M2 Pro chip. That takes the Mac mini from being a MacBook without a screen to a full-fledged creator machine capable of tackling the most demanding tasks you can throw at a computer today.

The only problem is the base configuration, which comes with a much slower SSD. We wholeheartedly recommend the Mac mini M2, but make sure to read our Mac mini M2 buying guide to pick the right configuration.

Lenovo Yoga AIO 9i

The best desktop computer for work

It’s really hard recommending an all-in-one over Apple’s iMac, but the Lenovo Yoga AIO 9i is certainly a contender. It’s a 4K desktop that impresses with great performance, a solid price, and one of the best integrated displays we’ve seen, as well as some unique features.

The machine is powered by Intel’s Core i9-13900H, which is one of the most powerful mobile CPUs you can buy. It’s more than enough to handle work applications, and it can even step up for some photo or video editing. More impressive, you can configure the machine with a mobile RTX 4050 graphics card, giving you a little gaming grunt if you need it.

The Yoga AIO 9i makes this list due to its screen and features, however. The 32-inch 4K display is stunning with its glossy finish, and it comes with great color accuracy out of the box. It has some tricks in the base, as well, including a wireless charging pad for your phone.

Falcon Northwest Tiki

The best mini gaming PC

Falcon Northwest is one of the few true boutique PC builders left, and the Tiki explains why. It’s one of the smallest gaming PCs you can buy, and it still manages to pack in flagship hardware. More importantly, the Tiki does both without sacrificing heat or thermals, which is the biggest pitfall for small form factor machines.

It’s expensive, but Falcon Northwest’s attention to detail still manages to stand out. From premium component selection to a detailed dossier of every aspect of your build, the Tiki goes beyond being just a shell for high-end components.

Falcon Northwest offers the machine with AMD or Intel configurations, paired with up to an RTX 3090 GPU. Unfortunately, the Tiki is too small to fit Nvidia’s monstrous RTX 4090. Although the Tiki is clearly a gaming PC first, Falcon Northwest also offers it with Nvidia’s professional GPUs.

Apple Mac Studio

The best desktop for video editing

It feels like the Mac Studio has finally found its footing. It straddled a strange line previous, not quite reaching the level of the Mac Pro while falling short of the value-focused Mac mini. With the M2 Ultra or M2 Max, the Mac Studio finally feels like premium, Pro-level Mac Apple fans have waited for.

It’s crazy fast, getting close and sometimes even beating top-level PC components like the Core i9-13900K and RTX 4090. That’s all the more impressive considering the size of the Mac Studio, which barely takes up a fraction of your desk space. Even considering the high price, the performance and size of the Mac Studio make it feel like a downright deal.

It has all of the professional trimmings you’d expect, too, including support for massive storage arrays and great external monitor support. The Mac mini is still better for most people, but if you can take advantage of the power of the Mac Studio, it’s tough to beat.

HP Envy Move

The best desktop computer for home office

The HP Envy Move is one of the most unique desktops we’ve ever seen. It’s a desktop, but it’s also portable, and it’s the perfect fit for the hybrid work style so many of us have fallen into.

It’s a basic all-in-one at its core, but the Envy Move’s trick is that the legs automatically fold in, allowing you to pick it up and carry it with you. There’s a carrying handle on the back, and activating it will automatically tuck in the legs. And with an included battery, you really can pick up your PC and take it anywhere. There’s even a sleeve in the back so you can tuck in the included keyboard/trackpad combo.

HP doesn’t charge a massive premium for this design, either. The Envy Move starts at just $750 for a mobile Intel 13th-gen CPU, which offers acceptable performance for basic home office tasks.

Lenovo ThinkStation P620

The best desktop workstation computer

The Lenovo ThinkStation P620 is a workstation in every sense of the word. This is a desktop designed to perform the most resource-heavy tasks out there. Created specifically for engineering, data science, machine learning, 3D modeling, video editing, and more, the ThinkStation is the kind of PC that will find uses across many fields, aiding professionals in their daily tasks.

More importantly, it’s the only workstation available now with AMD’s Threadripper 5000 Pro processors. You can pack in up to a Threadripper Pro 5995WX processor, which packs in 64 cores and 128 threads, along with an astounding 256MB of L3 cache. Similarly, you can add up to two Nvidia Quadro GV100 GPUs, which is powerful enough for even the most demanding tasks.

The other specs are just as impressive – eight RAM slots for up to 512GB of memory, as well as six drive slots for up to 24TB of storage. Windows 11 comes default on the machine, but you can also have it pre-configured for Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Ubuntu as well.

The Lenovo P620 isn’t for everyone. It’s an insanely expensive workstation that can cost upwards of $40,000 fully tricked out, but for professionals who demand peak performance, nothing can touch the ThinkStation P620.

Ayaneo Retro Mini PC AM01

The coolest desktop PC

Sometimes just looking cool is enough. The Ayaneo Retro Mini PC AM01 is in that position. It’s styled after an old-school Mac, fit with a plastic, off-white shell and a badge indicative of an early 1990s Apple logo, but the nostalgic mini PC packs a lot of power under the hood.

It features up to an AMD Ryzen 7 5700U CPU, along with up to 64GB of memory,and up to 2TB of SSD storage. Pricing starts at just $200, with a maxed-out configuration costing $421. This PC isn’t going to floor you in performance, but it’s surprisingly component given its size and low price.

Perhaps the best use case, however, is as an emulator. The AM01 makes a perfect retro gaming companion, all while having a full installation of Windows 11 to back up its usefulness.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the best brand of desktop computer?

Dell, HP, Lenovo – how do you know what brand of desktop PC is best for you? Brand loyalty isn’t the best way to approach desktop PCs, but brands have certain specialties. Apple is focused on rock-solid performance and a clean user experience for a slightly higher price, for example, while Dell creates several PCs that have the bandwidth for a home office and a gaming setup.

The best thing to do is look at individual desktop reviews rather than relying on what someone says is the “best brand.” Some brands come out with excellent PCs one generation and poor desktops the next, so it’s important to check in on reviews when you need to upgrade.

What is the best processor for a desktop computer?

The best CPU will depend on how you’re using your desktop. Gamers who want the utmost performance will want an overclockable Intel Core i9-14900K found on most high-end systems, while creatives looking at juggling large media files will want something with more cores. That means AMD, which offers 12- and 16-core chips in the form of the AMD Ryzen 7900X and 7950X.

If you’re working primarily on Office files and use your desktop to browse the web, scaling down to an Intel Core i5 or Core i7, or an AMD Ryzen 7 or Ryzen 5 processor, would help make substantial savings without impacting performance much.

Should my desktop have USB-C or Thunderbolt 3?

USB-C is beginning to show up in more desktop builds, but it’s still more common on laptops. It’s not strictly necessary, as there are plenty of USB-A to USB-C cables out there, but if it’s a must for you, keep an eye on the case that your new system comes in. That will or won’t have USB-C as standard.

Thunderbolt 3 uses the USB-C form factor but it offers the most bandwidth of any USB-based wired connection available at this time, giving speeds that scorch standard USB ports. However, it is even less common on desktops than plain old USB-C. If you want it, you’ll need to go with an Intel or Apple system, though if you opt for the former and Thunderbolt 3 is not standard on the chassis or motherboard, you could always get a PCI-Express add-in card that has it.

When is the best time to buy a desktop?

The best time to buy a desktop is when your current computer isn’t able to handle the applications you want to use. Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day usually bring the steepest discounts on desktop computers, but the reality is that you can score a deal on a PC almost any time during the year. Make sure to keep our roundup of the best desktop deals handy for when you want to upgrade.

How do you know if you need a laptop or desktop?

Choosing between a desktop and a laptop comes down to portability and comfort. You can take a laptop nearly anywhere, but they’re not as comfortable to use as desktops with a larger screen. On the other hand, a desktop is more flexible and allows you to use a keyboard/mouse combo you like, but it’s restricted to one area.

Consider what you’ll use your machine for. If you’re gaming, for example, a desktop makes more sense. If you’re answering email and browsing the internet, a laptop is probably better a option.

How to choose a desktop computer

If your existing PC is so slow it can barely run Windows Solitaire, let alone video editing software, don’t fret. There’s some good news for computer users facing the inevitable upgrade: There’s never been a better time to buy a new PC.

Prices are at an all-time low, while at the same time, computers are becoming incredibly powerful and full of convenient features. But choosing the right computer to match your needs and budget can be an overwhelming task — especially for tech-shy folks intimidated by geeky terminology and pushy salespeople.

Here’s how to choose a computer that’s just right for you.

Laptop or desktop

If you require portability, then a laptop (also referred to as a “notebook”) PC is for you. But if you want the flexibility of adding a larger display or upgrading other components (such as adding a bigger hard drive or better video card), then perhaps a desktop PC is the way to go.

If you buy a desktop computer, you will also need a display to plug into it to see anything, unless you buy an all-in-one computer, such as Dell All-in-One or an Apple iMac, which have the display built directly into the unit. If you’ve decided on a laptop, you’ll need to consider portability like weight and size. A larger screen is nice, but do you want to deal with the added size and weight? The bigger the screen (e.g. 17 inches as opposed to 12 inches), the bigger and heavier the laptop will be.

While laptops are becoming more powerful, a desktop is still better suited for graphic-intensive applications such as computer gaming, video editing, or animation rendering. But if portability is a priority, then laptops are the only way to go.

Other things to keep in mind when deciding between a laptop and a desktop computer include upfront costs, noise and cooling, and peripherals. You should expect a laptop to cost a bit more than a desktop of similar specifications, as you’re buying the display and input mechanisms at the same time, as well as paying for a battery — though there are great budget laptops out there.

Laptops are also often very compact, which means they are more likely to be noisier when the fans ramp up to keep the computer cool. While desktops can also get noisy when under heavy loads like gaming or video editing, they tend to still be quieter than laptops under the same load due to the improved airflow in the case — and you can always modify the cooling to improve it. That’s not so easy with laptops.

As for peripherals, desktops tend to have more ports than laptops, meaning if you need to connect a bunch of peripherals (e.g. printers, external storage, speakers, microphone, etc.) then a desktop may be a better choice. The latest port standards include USB-C and Thunderbolt 3, which are excellent connections to look for.

Mac or Windows

Personal preference and experience dictate the operating system of choice more than anything, making it hard to recommend one over the other. The best way to tell which one is ideal for you is to try both out to see which one feels more intuitive for you to work on, and which one will work with your favorite programs. Mac computers are generally more expensive than Windows-based PCs, though they tend to be a little more secure. With fewer macOS PCs out there, hackers are less interested in making viruses for them. The closed-ecosystem approach Apple employs for its products also makes it harder to distribute malware — though not impossible.

Windows PCs have a much more robust gaming ecosystem to enjoy and are definitely better for gamers.

Outside of that niche, the app ecosystem for both macOS and Windows is very good — there are so many apps for both platforms so no matter what you need to do, you’ll likely be able to find an app to accomplish the task. Ultimately, you need to make the call for yourself, but definitely keep in mind that today’s Mac computers can also run the Windows operating system through programs such as Boot Camp, Parallels, or VMWare Fusion.

Power and performance

Performance is arguably the most important metric of any PC, and the CPU is the heart of that. You want at the very least a dual-core CPU with simultaneous multithreading/hyperthreading, but a quad-core will make a big difference to your everyday PC performance. Intel’s Core i3 and AMD’s Ryzen 3 CPUs are fantastic in this respect, though especially the latter.

If you need a bit more power for any kind of photo or video editing or are planning to play the latest games, then ideally you will want to look for a computer that sports a six-core (or better) processor such as an Intel i5 or i7 or an AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7.

For more in-depth CPU buying information, check out our guide on how to choose a CPU.

When it comes to system memory, or RAM, you want to make sure you have enough, and not too much more. A capacity of 8GB to 16GB is the sweet spot for most users, including heavy gamers; 32GB and beyond is only really recommended if you’re doing a lot of heavy video editing, and will very much depend on the particular software you want to use.

A graphics card can be the most expensive part of a PC and is only necessary if you’re looking to play games. If you are, buy a GPU that fits your needs and budget. There’s no point in buying a $1,000 graphics card if all you want to play is Minecraft, but you’ll be disappointed if you try to play the latest AAA games on a budget GPU. Check out the specifications of the games you want to play to help decide which graphics card is right for you or check out our list of the best GPUs you can buy.

Want to game on the go? Check out our list of the best gaming laptops available.

Storage

The size of a hard drive or solid-state drive determines how many programs and files you can fit on it before running out of space. Unless you’re buying something like a Chromebook where cloud storage is a big feature, a computer with at least 500GB of space is a good starting point. If you have a lot of games or movies that you want to store, then you’ll want to consider a secondary drive with a terabyte or two of additional space.

Today, most computers have at least one SSD, or solid-state drive, for storage. SSDs are much faster than older HDDs (hard disk drives with moving, magnetic parts), which means you can open and find files faster. SSDs are your best bet for a boot drive, with traditional hard drives best suited as additional storage space and secondary drives.

If you’re concerned about running out of space on your drive, don’t be. There are so many options to expand your storage for either a laptop or desktop with an inexpensive external hard drive or even cloud storage. External drives (you can find both external hard drives and external SSDs) are great, and these days, depending on which one you buy, can be just as fast as your internal drive thanks to new technologies such as Thunderbolt 4.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

If you’re shopping for a laptop, chances are it’ll have integrated wireless networking features. This means you can log on to the internet at broadband speeds when in range of a Wi-Fi network, be it at home, work, school, or one of many thousand “hotspots” around the world, including cafés, hotels, airport lounges, and so on. The latest laptops have 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) technology — which offers a 30% to 60% speed boost over the older 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) technology and is a safer bet if you want to prepare for future devices.

Bluetooth is another common wireless feature that most laptops (and some desktops) have, which can make phone syncing easier (read: cable-free) and even add support for headsets and headphones, allowing you to roam freely while on a voice call or listening to music. Any desktop you choose should also offer Wi-Fi 5 or 6 wireless networking capability (offered via a built-in or optional attachment), or come with an integrated Ethernet port, which enables connection to the internet via an Ethernet cable.

Going Chromebook

While Windows and Mac are the common choices for operating systems, there is an alternative for new users — a Chromebook. Chromebooks run on Chrome OS, a lightweight operating system designed for ultra-portable laptops.

Chromebooks are a give-and-take proposition: They tend to be very affordable, very easy to use, and ideal choices for more casual users, students, and those who want to save money while still getting a laptop. They also have growing compatibility with Android apps. On the other hand, they typically have limited power, very little storage (depending on cloud storage for many activities), and limited capability to run more demanding software or applications without Chrome OS compatibility.

If you’re interested in a laptop with a light footprint, we suggest you check out our guide to Chromebooks, and our current list of best Chromebooks on the market.

Build your own computer

If you’re feeling a little adventurous and are looking to do something a bit different, there’s always the option to build your own computer. It’s quite a lot of fun too, plus these days it’s easier than ever to find and buy all the parts you will need, and all the advice above still applies.

If you’re interested in building your own computer, the best place to start compiling a parts list is PCPartPicker. At PCPartPicker you can compile a list of parts from various retail websites including Newegg and Amazon. What’s even nicer is if you pick parts that aren’t compatible, PCPartPicker will let you know.

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Featured

The best iPhone keyboard apps in 2024

By admin March 29, 2024

The best iPhone keyboard apps in 2024, The iPhone’s default keyboard may not meet everyone’s needs. Its limited features may leave some users wanting more variety and flexibility, especially on larger devices like the iPhone 15 Pro Max or smaller models like the iPhone SE (2022).

We have conducted research and compiled a comprehensive list of the best third-party keyboards for iPhone, that can significantly enhance your texting experience. These keyboards offer a wide range of features and customization options, such as adjustable key size, swipe typing, themes, and easier access to emojis. Most of these keyboards are available for free, while some offer premium subscription options. Either way, you’ll easily be able to find a keyboard that suits your needs and preferences.

Microsoft SwiftKey AI Keyboard

Microsoft’s SwiftKey AI keyboard is a highly rated third-party keyboard that is favored by many people. The keyboard is powered by the company’s Copilot AI and is designed to learn your writing style. This allows it to recognize informal language, nicknames, and even your favorite emojis, which sets it apart from its competitors. The keyboard also offers various personalization options, including different themes, which enhance its appearance and appeal to the user.

DOWNLOAD SWIFTKEY

The best iPhone keyboard apps in 2024

Typewise Custom Keyboard

Typewise has a unique take on key shapes. The app keeps the QWERTY design but switches the traditional rectangle-shaped keys for hexagonal ones — which Typewise says creates more surface area so you can type more accurately. While there is a slight learning curve, Typewise includes a built-in game to practice typing. With swipe gestures, dark mode support, and autocorrect modification, this is a great alternative for those tired of the conventional iOS keyboard. Newer versions include automatic language detection, which switches the app between selected languages, an undo button, and text replacement for often-used phrases.

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Grammarly

The Grammarly iOS keyboard app offers sophisticated grammar review that goes beyond the usual spell check to provide advice on punctuation, spelling context, and misused words. It also helps you build your vocabulary and offers synonyms, which makes it an ideal app for students or business people. Grammarly also has emoji, a smart autocorrect feature, and allows you to build your own dictionary. You also get features that include swipe typing, home screen widgets, and focus filters that mute vibrations and sound effects.

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Facemoji AI Emoji Keyboard

The Facemoji Emoji Keyboard is a free tool that allows you to add a touch of personality to text messages and social media posts. With a wide range of emojis, fonts, and stickers available, you can easily create unique and engaging content for platforms like WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, Messenger, Facebook, Snapchat, and SMS. Whether you want to express your emotions through colorful emojis or add some flair to your text with stylish fonts, the Facemoji Emoji Keyboard has something for everyone.

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Phraseboard Keyboard

Phraseboard aims to take the pain out of the tedious job of typing the same responses and phrases repeatedly by allowing you to save them so you can select one of your prewritten answers to reply rapidly. You can create your own customized phrases and sort them by category. You can even quickly access the Phraseboard widget to create new phrases no matter what you’re doing with your iPhone. All your phrases sync with iCloud. The basic app costs $2, and subscriptions are available for some premium language and functionality features.

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Gboard – the Google Keyboard

Gboard is a keyboard from Google and includes everything you’d ever want within a single app. Whether you’re sending GIFs or emojis, searching Google for information, sending directions, or anything else, Gboard has you covered. With Gboard, you can search and send anything from Google, including information on nearby restaurants, videos, images, weather forecasts, news, sports scores — you name it. The app also offers Glide Typing, which allows you to type messages faster and more accurately.

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Fleksy- GIF, Web & Yelp Search

Fleksy offers users a fun and interactive way to type in their own style. You can customize your Fleksy keyboard with powerful extensions and more than 50 colorful themes. Some of the themes cost $1, but many are free. More than 800 emoji come with the app, and it also has its own built-in GIF search engine. The keyboard supports several languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, Hebrew, and Dutch. It learns your typing habits as you go, enabling it to give you accurate predictions, which helps reduce typos.

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Fonts

Are you tired of sending your friends and family the same old boring messages? Spice things up with the Fonts keyboard app! You can customize your messages with a wide selection of fonts to fit your unique personality and style. Whether you’re feeling flirty, professional, or just plain silly, there’s a font for every mood. The Fonts keyboard works through iMessage, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, Clubhouse, TikTok, Telegram, Roblox, WhatsApp, Twitch, Discord, and more.

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Color Keyboard – Themes, Fonts

The king of keyboard customization is Color Keyboard. Sure, it gives you emoji and autocorrection and even allows you to tap and hold the space bar to move the cursor, but what really sets this keyboard apart is the option to change anything you want about the keyboard’s look. You can change the background using solid colors, gradients, textures, and even your own pictures.

You can also customize the buttons by changing the colors and borders, adding shadows, customizing the fonts, and changing the sounds. If your aim is customization, Color Keyboard takes things to the next level, but you have to subscribe to access everything, starting at $3 per week and rising for longer intervals and premium features.

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Bitmoji

Bitstrips

Bitmoji, a popular keyboard app, is ideal if you want to send an emoji that resembles you rather than using standard emoji or text. Bitmoji allows you to customize and send a personalized emoji, all from your keyboard. Use Bitmoji with any of your favorite chat apps, like iMessage or Snapchat. It’s never been easier to adapt a dynamic avatar with an ever-changing collection of stickers and moods. You’ll need your Facebook login information to sign into Bitmoji and initiate the avatar creation process.

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GIF Keyboard

Tenor

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a GIF can truly help get your point across. Get access to the massive library of animated and musical GIFs for free. From there, you can search for specific GIFs or use keywords to find animations that suit your mood. The GIF keyboard app is compatible with WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Messenger, iMessage, and just about any other messaging app or social media site.

To send a GIF, press your finger on your chosen GIF and hold it down to browse options. Once you’ve found one, share its link, the GIF itself, or a video, or save the media to your photo library. You can also customize the tool to match your specifications and save your favorite GIFs using the keyboard.

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All Symbol Keyboard Fonts Aa

MelonSoup

For the visual among us, the All Symbol Keyboard is an exciting alternative to humdrum alphanumerics with all the custom fonts, symbols, fancy letters, special characters, and emoticons you could ever want — compatible with any app on your iPhone. It works with Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and many others. Whether you’re looking for high-impact symbols to enhance your keyboard, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter posts, or even your username, launch the app and start typing. Premium versions provide unlimited access to features like the All Symbol Keyboard (every single symbol) and Facemoji library, but there’s tons of free stuff to get you started.

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The best emoji keyboards for Android and iOS

Gone are the days when words were enough to fully express our thoughts and feelings. Emoji, a recently accepted form of pictographic communication that now serves as a kind of Esperanto for the internet age, plays a major role in interpersonal and international communications. Most major keyboards for both Android and iOS feature built-in support for emoji, but they are hardly front and center. If you’re looking for a keyboard to truly satisfy your emoji obsession, you may need a dedicated emoji keyboard to carry out the task of conveying your emotions visually via a text environment.

When you download a keyboard app in iOS, you must add it to your list of keyboards. To do this, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboards. Then, scroll to the Third-Party Keyboards section and choose the keyboard app. Then, tap on the keyboard app and toggle on Allow Full Access. For Android 10, you can install your new keyboard directly via the Google Play Store to your Android phone, if it is compatible with the app, and then launch and follow any directions it has.

Here are a few of our favorite third-party keyboard apps for iOS and Android.

Gboard

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Gboard is a highly functional keyboard from Google that concentrates on handy features like emoji search, GIFs, stickers, and glide typing. Best of all, it has the Google search app integrated into the keyboard — no more switching apps. Just search for anything from the weather to your neighborhood bodega and send, all from this nifty keyboard.

Emoji>

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Emoji> offers a ton of emoji characters you can use via the keyboard, and they’re split into different categories, making it easy to find the emoji you’re looking for. The keyboard also provides animated stickers and the ability to set up specific emoji as favorites, so you can access them at a moment’s notice without having to search for the ones you want. Updates include compatibility with iOS 14 and all of its attendant emoji, including smiling face with tear, disguised face, ninja, pinched fingers, heart and lungs, black cat, polar bear, seal, dodo sandal, bubble tea, and toothbrush. New emoji widgets are also on hand.

Microsoft Swiftkey

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Swiftkey is not an emoji keyboard per se, but it is the next best thing — an excellent keyboard that comes pre-loaded with hundreds of emoji for you to use. Swiftkey is already a great favorite because of its valuable predictive typing, which can also be applied to emoji. When you type a word or phrase, for example, the app suggests emoji that you can quickly use. The most recent versions include renaming the app to Microsoft Swiftkey, a new Messaging Center on the keyboard toolbar, haptic feedback, one-handed mode, 400 new languages, and new language layouts.

ai.type Keyboard Plus

As its name implies, ai.type was developed around artificial intelligence, aiming to assist people in typing quickly and accurately. It also allows you to personalize the keyboard to fit your individual needs, enabling you to adjust the keyboard’s layout, theme, and color scheme. This means you can set an emoji front and center and select from an extensive inventory of more than 1,000 characters.

Similar to many other keyboard applications, the keyboard can also propose emojis depending on what you type. The most current versions are compatible with the new Emoji 12.1 for 2020 and 517 new emoji. Around 23 new gender-neutral emoji icons have been added. Some of these include a gender-neutral firefighter, astronaut, a person in a wheelchair, and a judge. You’ll also have access to fun emoji objects like an otter, ringed planet, beverage box, and pinching hand.

Fleksy

Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you want to add a bit more fun and animation to your typing, Fleksy could be the keyboard that you’ve been looking for. Fleksy is compatible with a wide variety of extensions, letting you quickly add new features as necessary. Maybe the most remarkable thing about Fleksy is how simple it is to get to your emoji. You can browse through dozens of emoji in each section and change categories with a quick tap at the bottom of the keyboard.

Just like many keyboards, you can also establish a variety of attractive themes. Updated versions include features like Next Word Prediction, prepared in 28 languages, and Emoji Prediction so you can inspect the suggested emoji in regards to your conversation’s context.

Go Keyboard

Go Keyboard is a personalizable keyboard that permits you to put emoji, emoticons, stickers, and GIFs in noticeable areas. The app converts text into emoji and emoticons, and you can pick from over 1,000 emoji and stickers, plus over 10, 000 different themes. It supports over 60 other languages, too. If that’s not enough to impress you, you can also type with gestures and various fonts, as well as individualize your keyboard with your own personal photo theme. The Fancy Font feature gives you the opportunity to select your preferred keyboard font.

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Best Linux desktop of 2024

By admin March 26, 2024

The best Linux desktops provide a simple way to find your perfect Linux desktop environment. The thought of a desktop environment as a separate entity from the operating system sounds foreign to most mainstream users coming from Windows or Mac OS.

But that’s just another example of the dexterity of Linux. For all intents and purposes, a desktop environment is just another piece of software, albeit an expansive and complicated one. At the end of the day you can install it just as you would any other piece of software.

Moreover, many desktop developers ensure you can easily drape their creations over your existing installation. Besides the mainstream ones like Gnome, KDE, Cinnamon, Mate, Xfce, LXDE that come pre-installed with one of the mainstream distros, here are some of the interesting ones that you might not have heard about.

We’ve analyzed these Linux desktops on various points, like how resource-intensive they are, their hardware requirements, customizability, and the out-of-box experience. We also considered the design and visual appeal — whether it was beautiful with interesting animations or sleek and minimalistic.

Best for customization

(Image credit: Github)

Developed and used by the Solus distro, the Budgie desktop is written from scratch using components from the Gnome stack.

The highlight of the desktop is its unified notification and customization center called Raven, which also gives you quick access to the calendar, media player controls, system settings and power options. All the elements on the desktop, such as the applications menu, are implemented as applets.

Budgie is easy to customize and extend and offers enough options to help you mold it as you want. For example, by default Budgie doesn’t show icons on the desktop and has only one workspace, but both of these behaviors can be overridden easily from the Budgie Desktop Settings app.

The developers have refined some of the essential elements of the desktop, which includes the Budgie Menu, which now sorts category names alphabetically, and the Icon Tasklist applet that has several new features and behavior refinements.

Several distros, including Ubuntu and Manjaro have spins based on Budgie and Fedora users can fetch it from the COPR repo.

Best for usability

(Image credit: Deepin)

2. Deepin DE

Best Linux desktop that’s aesthetically pleasing

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Configurability

Responsive

Host of native apps

Reasons to avoid

–

Not highly customizable

The Deepin desktop is part of the Deepin distro. It’s based on HTML5 and WebKit and uses a mix of QML and Go for its various components.

Besides the desktop itself, notable homebrewed Deepin components include the application launcher, dock and control center. All of Deepin’s tweakable parameters are accessible via a hidden panel that folds into the desktop itself.

The Deepin desktop tries to replicate the usability and aesthetics of Mac OS X, and has a clean and clutter-free interface with nothing except the dock at the bottom of the screen. The desktop now also supports touch-screen gestures. The desktop has configurable hot corners that by default allow you to access the applications menu and the control panel using which you can manage all aspects of the desktop.

The desktop isn’t officially supported by many distros, but several have community-supported spins and you can fetch the desktop via third-party repositories for your installation.

Best Linux desktop of 2024

Also Read : 12 Best Linux Distros You Should Use

Best lightweight

(Image credit: Enlightenment)

3. Enlightenment

Best Linux desktop that’s lightweight and beautiful

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Animated actions

Lightweight

Tweakability

Reasons to avoid

–

Doesn’t ship with many apps

Enlightenment is a rather unusual desktop environment. It is in fact more of a window manager as it lacks taskbars, panels and even menus. Yet, unlike many lightweight environments, the Enlightenment desktop is full of eye-candy that you’d expect from a full-blown environment, at a fraction of the resources.

There are subtle animations tucked in almost every element of the desktop, from the menus to the various desktop widgets. The desktop has a first boot wizard that enables you to select various aspects of the desktop that define its behavior and appearance. For example, you get an option to select the text size in the windows, which is a really useful feature and even more so if you’re running Enlightenment on a high DPI display.

The desktop also offers plenty of modules and configuration options to keep you busy without overwhelming new users. However, you’ll have to put some time to set it up as per your liking. Configuring the desktop requires patience and willingness to try the different options and learn what each does. You can find Enlightenment in the official repositories of all major distros.

Best for old PCs

(Image credit: LXQt)

The LXQt desktop environment is a combination of the GTK-based lightweight desktop LXDE and Razor-Qt, which was an equally lightweight, but far less mature, desktop that used the Qt toolkit. Thanks to this combination, LXQt manages to pull off the look and feel of a modern desktop without being a drain on resources.

The desktop will feel at home on a modern machine, but is still light enough to push an out-of-commission computer back into active duty. It adheres to the old but familiar desktop metaphor, with a status bar laden with icons at the bottom of the screen. The applications menu features the traditional categorized list of apps as well as a search box to help launch apps.

LXQt offers a decent number of tweakable options that help customize the most commonly used aspects of the desktop. The desktop uses modules, which are essentially desktop-independent tools for desktop specific operations, and its panel also supports plug-ins. You can find LXQt in the repositories of virtually all distros.

Best for macOS users

(Image credit: Pantheon)

5. Pantheon

Best Linux desktop for migrating macOS users

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Animated actions

Minimalist

Keyboard shortcuts

Reasons to avoid

–

Lacking customizability

The Pantheon desktop from Elementary OS is another minimalist but stylish desktop that has created a name for itself as an elegant and user-friendly desktop environment.

The desktop uses its own Mutter-based window manager called Gala and takes cues from the Mac OS X desktop for a pleasant user experience. The desktop nicely integrates the various elements, such as the Plank dock, the top panel (called Wingpanel) and the Slingshot application launcher.

Nearly all actions on the desktop are subtly animated, but the desktop manages to strike a balance between form and function. You can use the Pantheon Tweaks tool to customize the desktop. Once it’s installed, you can use the tool to change the appearance of the desktop, set fonts, control the animations and more.

Many of the default apps that ship with Pantheon, such as the Calendar app, the Code text editor are written from scratch, to blend in with the rest of the desktop. Keyboard warriors can also access virtually all aspects of the desktop without using the mouse.

Pantheon isn’t officially supported on any other distro, but can be installed atop Arch, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE and Fedora.

Best Linux distro for Windows users of 2024

The best Linux distros for Windows users can make it simple and easy to switch from Windows to Linux systems.

It can be an inundating experience, especially for people coming from proprietary operating systems like Windows. Linux distributions, thanks to their open source nature, offer a lot more access than their closed source cousins, which makes the transition particularly difficult for many users.

This is where these specialized distros, designed for Windows users, come into the picture. Their objective is to allow users to experience the goodness of Linux while minimizing the learning curve that’s associated when switching to a different operating system. They all take various steps to ensure that the transition is as effortless as possible.

We’ve tested numerous Linux distros to find the best ones for Windows users. We looked at how user-friendly they were, the hardware requirements, the ease of installation, and the overall out-of-box experience. We also considered the distro’s learning curve and the desktop environment, among other aspects.

Best Debian distro

1. Deepin Linux

Best Debian distro for Windows users

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Reasons to buy

Home-brewed desktop

Helpful first-boot wizard

Touch-friendly interface

Reasons to avoid

–

Slow installer

Deepin Linux is a Debian-based distro that’s known for its aesthetically pleasing custom desktop environment called DDE. Together with several home-brewed apps, the distro is designed to ease new users into the Linux desktop.

Deepin comes in both a stable and experimental version. The “stable” version (currently 20.8) is based on the stable version of Debian at the time of release (in this case Debian 10 “Buster”).

The experimental version (current V23) is designed for “non-production environments”. In other words it’s better for personal use rather than anything critical. The latest experimental build is visually very rich with a “flow design” and added widgets so closely resembles Windows 11.

Deepin uses a first-boot configurator app to help you tweak the look and feel of your installation by changing icons, enabling window effects and more. These are classified into two broad categories and you can use either depending on the number of available resources on your computer.

On lower-end machines, you can run the installation in Efficient mode to make the best use of the limited resources, while on newer ones you can use the Fashion mode to turn up the bling. The amount of customizations in DDE are quite diverse and extend from the main desktop area to the notification management.

There’s a Deepin custom app for conducting the majority of common desktop tasks, such as watching films, listening to music, viewing images, taking backups, recording screencasts, and about a dozen more.

The other custom Deepin app that deserves a special mention is the App Store. It makes it fairly easy to discover and install news apps, which will be appreciated by new users not familiar to the Linux app ecosystem. Also, listed besides the usual categories of apps is the Uninstall section that can help you get rid of any installed apps using a more familiar parlance.

Best Ubuntu distro

2. elementary OS

Best Ubuntu distro for Windows users

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Reasons to buy

Aesthetic desktop

Picture-in-picture mode

Custom apps

Support for Flatpaks

Reasons to avoid

–

Doesn’t support 32-bit architecture

Elementary OS is based on Ubuntu. There are new releases every 1-2 years each of which are named after a different god. For instance, the most recent version (7.0) is codenamed “Horus”.

This isn’t all that’s divine about this OS. It has made a name for itself for crafting a very usable and aesthetically pleasing desktop distro. Everything from its pre-installed apps to its home brewed desktop is designed to give a comforting experience to users new to Linux.

Its custom-built Pantheon desktop, is a pleasing aesthetic take on the classical desktop metaphor. One of its distinguishing features is the picture-in-picture mode that enables you to select an area of a window or the desktop, and then pops it out. This pop-out is movable, resizable, always-on-top, and can move across workspaces

The distro comes with a carefully pruned collection of pre-installed apps that’s been assembled to make the desktop experience more consistent and appealing to new Linux users. In fact, many of its most-used pre-installed apps have functional names like Mail, Music, Photos and Videos, which makes them easier to discover.

The distro also has an onboarding app to help new users set up their installation. elementary OS also uses its own App Center. The latest version emphasizes app screenshots, as well as providing more information about the developer and how actively packages are maintained. Installation is via Flatpaks so it’s very easy to toggle automatic app updates too. It takes a similar approach to system settings with its custom app that exposes the bare essentials instead of throwing an endless stream of toggles and switches.

Best unique distro

Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu. It’s specifically designed to work “out of the box”. The two main flavors use the MATE (pictured) and Cinammon desktop environments. The layout is familiar for Windows users with a taskbar and configurable menus on the bottom.

This distro emphasizes compatibility with restricted/proprietary formats. Out of the box it can edit Microsoft Office documents via the LibreOffice suite. With one click of your mouse you can also “Install Multimedia Codecs” to play all kinds of audio/video files.

You can also use the Software Manager to install more programs. Linux Mint has its own repositories but can also access Ubuntu’s. There are around 30,000 packages available overall, so it’s likely you can find a good equivalent to Windows apps.

The latest version of Linux Mint 21.1 (Codename “Vera) is based on Ubuntu 22.04. This is a LTS (Long Term Support) release so updates will be available until April 2027.

Best for older machines

4. Zorin OS

Best Linux distro for Windows users with older machines

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Reasons to buy

Look changer app

Several free editions

Useful documentation

Reasons to avoid

–

Official tech support isn’t great

At first glance, Zorin OS comes off as just another Ubuntu-based distro. However, what makes it unique is the home-brewed Zorin Appearance app that tweaks the desktop environment to make it resemble Windows in both form and function.

Pitched as a distro for first-time Linux users, Zorin is designed to appeal to users coming from popular proprietary operating systems, namely Windows and macOS.

The GUI is Windows-like with a menu that opens from the bottom left of the desktop and a task bar. You can use the launch menu to install “Windows App Support” to run your favorite Windows apps through the ‘Wine’ compatibility player of ‘PlayonLinux’. The preinstalled LibreOffice suite can also open Microsoft Office documents.

Zorin is available in four different versions: the Core, Lite, and Education editions are free, while the Pro version costs $39. The Core edition is the standard edition that includes all the apps you’d find in a normal desktop Linux distribution, while the Lite edition is designed for older machines. The paid Pro version comes with support and a few extra features, such as the option of using interfaces that mimic macOS, classic Windows and Windows 11. It’s also chock-full of all kinds of apps like advanced video and photo editors.

The distro is complimented by a useful selection of documentation that’s again written for users migrating from proprietary desktops and aren’t used to the Linux way of doing things. All things considered, we’d advise you to use the Lite edition to take Zorin for a spin. This uses the Xfce desktop, so the layout is more familiar to Windows users. You can then switch to the Ultimate edition to experience the full potential of the distro.

Best for ease-of-use

5. Ubuntu

Best Linux distros for Windows users that’s easy to use

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Very accessible for novices

Security and stability of LTS version

Lubuntu spin is great for underpowered PCs

Reasons to avoid

–

Some flavors heavy on resources

Ubuntu is one of the most popular flavors of Linux and is strongly recommended for Linux newbies, as it’s extremely accessible. That’s why we’ve already featured two variations of Ubuntu in this guide, but it’s worth considering the main Ubuntu release itself.

New versions of Ubuntu are released every six months, and every other year the developer Canonical releases an LTS (long term support) version of Ubuntu. These guarantee five years of security and general maintenance updates, so you can carry on using your machine without the hassle of running a full upgrade every few months. Standard releases are supported for one year only.

The current LTS version of Ubuntu uses the Gnome desktop environment, which may be less unfamiliar to Windows and macOS users.

The good news is that Ubuntu is available in a variety of flavors. The “Lubuntu” OS uses the LXQt desktop environment. This will feel comfortable for Windows users, as you can access the menu and minimize windows just as before. Both the desktop and apps that come bundled with Lubuntu are designed to be lightweight, making it perfect for older machines.

As of version 23.04, Ubuntu now officially supports the ‘Cinnamon’ desktop (pictured). This has a similar look and feel to Windows but uses much richer graphics. Naturally, you’ll need a more recent PC to make use of all its features.

Ubuntu has also become increasingly integral with cloud computing services, making it not just a good distro for easing beginners into Linux, but also one for those looking to develop their long-term business IT skills.

Linux distros for Windows users FAQs

How to choose the best Linux distros for Windows users for you?

With the best Linux distro for Windows users, you’ll enjoy a smooth transition from Windows to Linux. But you’ll have to look at many factors before selecting the right distro for yourself.

For starters, check whether your hardware can run the distro, mainly because not all distros run on 32-bit architecture. You’ll want a lightweight distro that’ll run without lagging if you’re on older hardware. It always helps if the distro has plenty of documentation available and an active forum where you can seek help. Also, check out the distro’s desktop environment to see if it’s to your liking, in terms of visuals, functions, and customizability.

The best Linux distros for Windows users: How we test

We analyzed various aspects of different distros to find the best Linux distros for Windows users. We looked at how resource-intensive the distros were, what kind of hardware they’d run on smoothly, the documentation available, and the out-of-box experience. We considered the installation time and the additional apps that came with the distro.

We evaluated the desktop environment based on the visuals, functionality, and customizability. We also checked out the online forums to see if there was an active community that could help with doubts.

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The best dash cams you can buy 2024

By admin March 24, 2024

Dash cams record footage of accidents, road rage incidents, and more. The best dash cams not only offer high resolution recording and cloud-based storage, but many can also record both the road and your car’s interior for more context in case of an accident.

Since you can’t keep track of everything all at once while driving, a quality dash cam can be a valuable tool for new and experienced drivers. By recording the road in front of your vehicle, a dash cam can provide important information for authorities and insurance companies in the event of an accident or collision.

Some models also record the interior of a car to monitor distractions and driving habits, making them great for parents of teen drivers or caretakers of elderly family members. Others include a second camera unit for mounting on the back of a vehicle to give you almost 360 degrees of recording. Many dash cams also use night vision to record at night and motion detection to automatically record movement and activity while your car is parked.

What is the best dash cam right now?

I chose the Vantrue N2 Pro as the best dash cam you can buy right now for its support of high-capacity microSD cards for more video storage, inclusion of a front and rear camera, and up to 1440p recording resolution. You can keep reading below to find out more about the Vantrue N2 Pro as well as my other picks for the best dash cameras.

Best dash cams of 2024

Vantrue N2 Pro

Best dash cam overall

The Vantrue N2 Pro is an excellent dash cam for new drivers as well as drivers looking to upgrade their current dash cam setup. It features a front-facing camera and an interior-facing camera, so you can record both the road and passengers as you drive. The front camera captures video in 1440p resolution at 30 frames per second, while the interior camera records in 1080p at 60 frames per second. You also can change the front camera to 1080p/60fps for smoother playback at faster driving speeds.

For power, you can either use the included 12V adapter or purchase a hardwire kit to connect the camera to your car’s battery for nearly unlimited runtime. The front camera uses infrared night vision to capture clearer images in the dark and even has a 24-hour parking mode, which uses motion detection to only capture footage when something moves near the car.

It supports microSD cards up to 256GB for storing videos, and the camera records in loops, so you never have to worry about offloading old videos. The camera will automatically overwrite old videos when the card is full. The built-in G sensor automatically detects when a crash or other accident happens and stores relevant video for later viewing. There’s also an optional GPS unit you can buy for accurate location tracking to help emergency services get to you faster in the event of an accident.

Verified customer reviews on Amazon agree that the night vision feature of the Vantrue N2 Pro does a great job of letting you see pedestrians, animals, and road hazards in the dark. They also agree that the system is easy to set up.

Nexar Beam

Best dash cam under $175

If you’re looking for a dependable dash cam that won’t break the bank, the Nexar Beam is an excellent option. This dash cam retails for less than $175, while still giving you awesome features like motion detection recording.

The front-facing camera captures video in 1080p for clear images, and the included 32GB microSD card can store up to 4 hours of dash cam footage. You also get unlimited free cloud backup storage for video, so you can have them on hand for insurance purposes if needed. And no need to worry about offloading video on a regular basis — the Nexar Beam automatically loops and overwrites old video when the card is full.

With the companion smartphone app, you can set up automatic updates for the camera so it’s always ready to go. You also can use the app to create detailed collision reports, complete with G force, speed, and location information as well as related videos.

If you forget where you parked your car or if it gets stolen, the app provides detailed location info so you can get your vehicle back safely. It even sends out SOS messages to emergency contacts in the event of a crash so that you can get help faster. The best part? There’s no monthly subscription fee.

The cost of the dash cam covers your lifetime usage of the app and its features. ZDNET’s own Eileen Brown got to go hands-on with the Nexar Beam, and loved the companion app for being easy to connect to the camera and customize features. And verified customer reviews agree with her, noting that the companion app allows you to create a cloud backup for recordings (for a fee).

Garmin Mini 2

Best dash cam for memory

If you drive a commercial truck or for a ridesharing service, you need a dash cam that can store dozens of hours of video, since you may not have reliable or frequent access to a computer to offload footage.

The Garmin Mini 2 supports microSD cards up to 512GB, which allows your dash cam to store almost 31 hours of 1080p video. The large capacity makes it great for road trips, long-haul trucking, and full-time rideshare drivers. The camera is also incredibly compact, measuring just 2 x 1 x 1 inches, so it won’t obstruct your view while you’re driving.

The Garmin Mini 2 uses built-in voice controls for hands-free use, so you can start and stop the dash cam record while driving without taking your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road. You also can remotely access the dash cam with your smartphone for live video streaming, allowing you to check on your vehicle while it’s parked. In parking mode, the camera uses motion detection to automatically start recording when it senses movement.

Vantrue N4

Best multi-view dash cam

With three different cameras, the Vantrue N4 allows you to get almost 360 degrees of video coverage for your car while you drive. The main camera records the road in front of your vehicle as well as the interior, while the second camera can be mounted on the back of your car to record behind you.

When used by itself, the front-facing camera can record up to 4K resolution at 30 frames per second for smooth playback. And when used with the other two cameras, it still records in 1440p while the interior and rear cameras record in 1080p.All three cameras are equipped with night vision for recording in the dark as well as motion detectors for capturing video when motion is sensed around the parked car. The built-in G sensor automatically detects when you’ve been in an accident or when something hits your parked car, saving recordings for evidence.

The Vantrue N4 supports microSD cards up to 256GB, allowing you to record up to 15 hours of video in 1440p. The camera automatically overwrites the oldest file on the card for loop recording, so you don’t have to worry about clearing out the microSD card. An optional GPS unit is also available to buy, which lets the camera record routes and location information. That can be helpful for parents of new teen drivers as well as family members who want to ensure senior family members are protected on the road.

Nextbase 622GW

Best dash cam with GPS tracking

Being able to give emergency services a precise location in the event of an accident or crash can make all the difference. The Nextbase 622GW is designed to provide video footage of your driving while pinpointing your location. It features integration with What3Words, an app that permanently assigns three random words to every 3-meter square of maps. These words then translate into real-world locations, allowing you to let emergency responders know exactly where you are, even if you don’t have a street address.

The front-facing camera features a polarizing filter to help reduce glare and washout from bright sunlight. It is capable of recording video in up to 4K resolution at 30 frames per second, though you also can record in 1400p at up to 60fps and in 1080p at up to 120fps for smooth playback even in high-speed-driving videos. You can use the slo-mo function to analyze footage frame by frame, while the built-in image stabilizer reduces picture sway for clearer frames.

With the camera’s night vision and motion detection, you can record at night and when your car is parked. The dash cam connects to your smartphone via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to automatically sync and store your video recordings. The built-in Alexa functionality gives you hands-free control and the ability to hear the news, weather, and your favorite music without taking your eyes off the road.

What is the best dash cam?

My pick for the best dash cam is the Vantrue N2 Pro. Not only does it record what’s on the road in front of you, but it also has a second lens for recording the interior of the car, which is helpful if your car is ever broken into or stolen. Parents of new drivers can assess their teens’ levels of distractions and dangerous driving habits.

It even has infrared night vision and motion detection to capture images in the dark and conserve battery life. It records in 1440p resolution at 30 frames per second for clean, crisp images. You can also switch to 1080p for a higher frame rate while you’re driving.

Best dash cam	Best Price	Resolution	Storage
Vantrue N2 Pro	$135	1440p	Up to 256GB
Nexar Beam	$170	1080p	Up to 256GB
Garmin Mini 2	$110	1080p	Up to 512GB
Vantrue N4	$205	4K	Up to 256GB
Nextbase 622GW	$260	4K	Up to 256GB

*Best price at time of writing. Please note that actual retail price may vary depending on the seller as well as available deals and active promotions.

Which is the right dash cam for you?

The best dash cam for you depends on what you want to record and for how long. There are many dash cams on the market that record the road in front of your car, which is great for providing evidence in case of crashes and accidents.

Others also can record the interior of your car, which is perfect for parents of teen drivers who want to keep tabs on their distractions and dangerous behaviors. Some dash cams come with a second camera that you can mount in the rear window of your car to record vehicles and the road behind you.

If you want to keep your car monitored while it’s parked or while you’re driving at night, you’ll want to opt for a model with motion detection recording and night vision for clearer images in dim light and to conserve battery while idle. You’ll also want to choose a dash cam with a high storage capacity so you can properly store several days or weeks’ worth of video.

Some dash cams also require professional installation, since they connect to your car’s battery, computer, and electrical systems to function. While these can be quite expensive on top of installation costs, they’re a good option if you don’t plan on switching vehicles or don’t want to mess with recharging batteries.

Choose this dash cam…	If you need…
Vantrue N2 Pro	An affordable and well-rounded dash cam for front and interior recording.
Nexar Beam	A very affordable dash cam with cloud storage, SOS messaging after crashes, and good resolution.
Garmin Mini 2	A name-brand dash cam with high-capacity storage, a compact design, and voice controls.
Vantrue N4	A dash cam kit for recording multiple viewpoints with 4K resolution, night vision, and motion detection.
Nextbase 622GW	A high-end dash cam with voice controls, 4K resolution, and GPS tracking.

What should I look for in a dash cam?

Whether it’s your first dash camera or an upgrade for your current setup, here are a few features to keep in mind as you shop:

• Price: Staying within your budget is important, not only to be nice to your wallet, but to ensure that you aren’t paying for features you aren’t going to use, or making up in frustration what you’ve saved in cash.

• Recording set up: Many dash cams are made to only record the road in front of the vehicle. But there are models that also record the interior of your vehicle or include a second camera to use as a backup camera or for traffic recording.

• Smart features: Many dash cams work with companion apps for smartphones and tablets which give you access to saved recordings, expanded cloud storage, and enhanced settings like motion detection and night vision.

How did we choose these best dash cams?

While testing and researching each dash cam featured on this list, I and other ZDNET experts kept these criteria in mind:

• Set up: Some dash cams require you to hardwire them into your vehicle’s electrical system for a continuous source of power, while others have built-in rechargeable batteries. We included several types on this list to suit both newcomers and dash cam experts.

• Expandable memory: Whether you opt for expandable internal storage via microSD cards or cloud storage backup, each dash cam on this best list has been ensured to support various memory capacities for recording video and still photos.

• Video resolution: Having a dash cam doesn’t make much of a difference if you can’t tell what was recorded. Each dash cam on this list has been vetted to have a minimum recording resolution of 1080p HD.

Do dash cameras work when the car is off?

Absolutely! Whether it uses your car’s battery or its own rechargeable one, your dash cam will be able to record as long as it has access to a reliable source of power.

I recommend using a dash cam with motion detection if you’re planning to hook it up to your car battery, so it won’t get depleted overnight. And you won’t have to worry about your dash cam depleting your vehicle’s battery, as it doesn’t require much power.

You can also avoid this altogether by buying a dedicated battery pack for your dash cam. These also charge when your vehicle is in motion.

How long do dash cameras keep footage?

It mostly depends on how much storage space you have. A 32GB SD card can store about four hours of 1080p footage before it needs to be overwritten, whereas a 512GB SD card can store up to 24 hours of 1080p video.

If your dash cam is capable of cloud storage, you can have almost unlimited video storage, since it will upload data to the cloud server to make room for local recording. However, as you go up in resolution, your storage can handle less footage. A 32GB card will only hold about 30 minutes of 4K video, and a 512GB one will hold close to four hours.

That’s why it’s best to have a dash cam with cloud storage. It also comes in handy if you’re involved in an accident and the device incurs damage.

How big should my dash cam SD card be?

If you only plan to use your dash cam while you’re driving, a smaller SD card will be just fine. A 32GB SD card can hold up to four hours of 1080p video, giving you plenty of storage space for typical commutes or shorter road trips.

If you want to be able to record video overnight, you may want to invest in a 128 or 256GB SD card to make sure you have enough space.

Are dash cams worth the money?

Yes, they are worth the money. If you’re involved in an accident, dash cams can provide a video recording of what happened, which can absolve you of responsibility if the incident was caused by another driver.

On that principle alone, it can save you money relative to repair fees and injuries incurred by other parties. It can also keep you from receiving points on your driver’s license. If it shows you’re not at fault for the accident, it can prevent your car insurance premium from skyrocketing.

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Computer

Best color laser printers for 2024

By admin March 20, 2024

The best color laser printers can be a great investment, saving you quite a bit of time and money. For shoppers worried about the long-term ink costs, you’ll find color laser printers surprisingly affordable. Laser printers use toner, which lasts a very long time, delivering a low cost per page for monochrome documents and fast color prints. The best color laser printers offer quick performance and reliability to help keep your home office or small business productive.

If you need to scan documents for record-keeping and photo capture or want the convenience of a color copier, an all-in-one color laser printer is an essential tool for your small business or personal use. For a small added cost, you get expanded capabilities. That’s why every model on this list is an all-in-one from the best printer brands.

Why you should trust us

Digital Trends has been reviewing printers for 20 years, testing them to determine which offer the best quality and fastest speeds. We check the long-term value of each printer, so you’ll know in advance if a low-cost printer is truly affordable or if it has outrageous toner costs.

Printers are complex machines that require a good understanding of the technology to make a solid recommendation. Reviews also highlight problems with compatibility and other details that can become deal breakers when you depend on particular features.

Key considerations while selecting the best color laser printer for you

There are several key factors to consider when choosing a color laser printer. Purchase price matters, but long-term costs can add up quickly. Review the entire list to find the perfect printer.

Print quality and color fidelity

If you’re choosing color, you need more than a hard copy — you want your document to look great. You still need razor-sharp text, but it’s essential for colors to match what you see on-screen and in photos without banding or streaks.

Speed and economy

A laser printer should be fast and efficient with low running costs. Otherwise, you should choose a more versatile and lower-cost inkjet printer.

Special features

All-in-one printers include scan, copy, and sometimes fax functions, filling multiple roles in your office. Many printers offer duplex printing (double-sided), an automatic document feeder (ADF), multiple paper trays, Wi-Fi connectivity, and walk-up printing. These details could be critically important when making a purchase decision.

HP Color LaserJet Pro 4301fdw

Best all-in-one color laser printer

Why you should buy this: It’s a modern, eco-friendly color laser printer with great speed and quality.

Who’s it for: Home offices and small businesses that need documents printed quickly.

Why we picked the HP Color LaserJet Pro 4301fdw:

With blistering fast print and scan speeds, the HP Color LaserJet Pro 4301fdw makes short work of challenging jobs. It prints 35 pages per minute (ppm) for monochrome and color documents and scans with its ADF at 31 ppm.

Color documents look great and photos come out nice even on plain paper. A USB port allows walk-up printing via a thumb drive, making the LaserJet Pro 4301fdw an excellent all-in-one printer for home and office.

Best color laser printers for 2024

HP LaserJet Pro MFP M182nw

Best deal on a color laser printer

Why you should buy this: It’s a great bargain on an HP color laser printer.

Who it’s for: Anyone upgrading from an inkjet printer for more speed and durability.

Why we picked the HP LaserJet Pro MFP M182nw:

An HP color laser printer usually costs a lot more than this. HP is recognized as one of the most popular brands for rugged and durable laser printers, so you know a LaserJet will have good quality and long-lasting value.

The HP LaserJet Pro MFP M182nw outputs the first page in 11.6 seconds and has sustained print speeds of up to 17 ppm. That’s not superfast for a laser printer, but doubles or triples the color document speed of most inkjets. Combined with budget pricing, this is a good introduction to laser printers for anyone who has used only inkjet printers so far.

Setup should be quick and easy with the HP Smart mobile app, or you can connect the LaserJet Pro MFP M182nw directly to a Windows PC or Mac. HP quality is rarely this cheap.

With integrated scanning and copying, this will work nicely for a home office to take the burden off your inkjet printer.

Canon Color imageClass MF656Cdw

Best color laser printer for small business

Why you should buy this: Great color print quality in a multifunctional printer.

Who it’s for: Anyone who needs to print or copy documents and graphics quickly.

Why we picked the Canon Color imageClass MF656Cdw:

Laser printers are known to be fast and rugged, and the Canon Color imageClass MF656Cdw fits this description well. While we wouldn’t recommend it for photographers, the MF656Cdw is hard to beat for an office that needs to make or reproduce color documents that contain graphics and photos.

While the 22-ppm print speed of the Canon Color imageClass MF656Cdw doesn’t match the fastest color lasers, it does offer duplex printing, copying, and scanning from its 50-sheet document feeder. With a monthly duty cycle of 2,500 pages, it can also hold up to the standard printing demands of small to medium-sized offices.

In addition to USB, print jobs can be sent wirelessly via Apple AirPrint, Mopria, Wi-Fi direct, and Canon’s Print Business app.

Brother MFC-L3720CDW

Best Brother laser printer for photos

Why you should buy this: You’ll get full-color laser prints quickly at an affordable price.

Who’s it for: Home and small office customers with moderate print volume needs.

Why we picked the Brother MFC-L3720CDW:

Color laser printers aren’t cheap. This affordable Brother makes a great addition to a home office or small business. It has many of the same features as more expensive models, like its 3.7-inch touchscreen for easy access to functions and a 250-sheet tray that lets you print more without replacing paper.

With a numeric pad for faxing, fast single-sided scanning, and quick copying, this printer is ready to help make your workday easier. It’s a large, heavy printer that’s designed to last a long time.

If you like the look of this printer, but need duplex scanning and copying, Brother’s MFC-L3780CDW offers super-fast single-pass scanning of multiple double-sided documents in its automatic document feeder for about $100 more.

Why you should buy this: Brother’s MFC‐L8905CDW delivers fast printing speeds and long-lasting supplies at affordable operating costs.

Who it’s for: Small and medium-sized businesses.

Why we picked the Brother MFC‐L8905CDW :

The Brother MFC‐L8905CDW features ultra-high yield toner cartridges that supply up to 9,000 monochrome pages and 8,000 color pages, so you rarely need to interrupt a busy workday. An optional 500 sheet paper tray expands the onboard capacity of 250 sheets in the main tray and 50 sheets in the multi-purpose tray.

Print speeds of up to 33 ppm make short work of long documents and extra copies. This sturdy business printer offers duplex for fax, scan, copy, and print functions and can connect to any device with Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or USB. A USB port allows walk-up operation with a thumb drive, while an NFC reader limits access to authorized personnel.

The Brother MFC‐L8905CDW has a recommended duty cycle of 4,000 pages per month but it can handle printing up to 60,000 pages in a month. For such a rugged printer, Brother didn’t skimp on convenience features. The seven-inch color touchscreen can be customized with up to 64 shortcuts to speed up frequent operations.

Brother HL-L3270CDW

Best budget color laser printer

Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget-friendly option for offices with limited space.

Who it’s for: Small and home offices.

Why we picked the Brother HL-L3270CDW

If all you need is a printer that prints quickly, fits perfectly in your small home office, and doesn’t break the bank, then this is the printer for you. With the Brother HL-L3270CDW you can expect print speeds of up to 25 ppm for both black and color pages, a wide variety of connectivity options including wireless and Ethernet, and a 250-sheet max paper tray that can support different paper sizes and types like envelopes or card stock. It’s a great, affordable option for simple, straightforward print jobs.

HP Color LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f

Best color laser printer for medium-sized businesses

Why you should buy this: HP’s Color LaserJet Pro MFP M480f is a speedy all-in-one printer that’s designed for printing and digital document archiving with intuitive support for cloud storage.

Who it’s for: Small businesses that need a speedy color laser printer.

Why we picked the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M480f:

Workgroups and businesses that don’t have much office space to spare to house a large printer will appreciate HP’s Color LaserJet Pro MFP M480f. The MFP M480f adds multifunctional features that will help with your office’s document needs, including a built-in flatbed scanner, automatic document feeder, and duplexing capabilities. The M480f is a well-rounded multifunction printer that can still output up to 29 ppm in black and white or color.

This speedy but compact number has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low-Energy, and mobile printing is supported across a number of devices and platforms. The big limiting factor on this printer is its small 250-sheet paper input tray, though larger offices with bigger print jobs can upgrade to the optional 550-sheet tray. Duplexing is supported to help save paper and the environment. A front-facing USB port makes it easy to print from a storage drive. The printer can print from or scan to a variety of cloud providers, making it easy for digital document archiving. Businesses on a limited print budget can invest in high-yield toner cartridges for a lower per-page print cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

Color laser printers versus inkjet printers: what’s best?

Laser printers are better for text documents, as they produce crisp text even at small font sizes. Over time, they are also cheaper to run than cartridge-based inkjets. However, laser printers require a larger initial investment. If you don’t print very often, a cheap inkjet printer could make more sense and it may take a long time before its higher operational costs catch up to the higher initial cost of a laser printer. For smaller print jobs, the faster pages-per-minute rate of a laser printer also won’t be much of an advantage.

If you’re looking to save money in the long term and need to print pictures, check out inkjet solutions that rely on tanks for ink rather than cartridges, like Epson’s EcoTank series. Since the tanks are refillable with bottled ink, tank printers cost even less than toner for laser printers. Not only will tanks be better for the environment through less waste, but they will save you money for larger print jobs.

Laser printers are still more durable reducing maintenance costs if you print at high volume. Lasers offer faster printing speeds, saving time on large print jobs. That’s why businesses often choose laser printers.

Beyond print quality, inkjet photo printers can also handle a wider variety of paper types and sizes compared to laser printers. Some very large inkjets are available that can print posters and banners. A color laser printer will handle inline photos and graphics in documents just fine. Most modern color laser printers, especially those made for small offices, will be able to handle standard sizes and types of print jobs, from standard documents to labels and card stock.

While color laser printers have gotten much better at handling photographs, if you’re looking to make detailed, color-accurate photographic prints to hang on your wall, display in a gallery, or sell to customers, a high-end inkjet photo printers is still the way to go (or simply outsource the work to a photo lab).

Do color laser printers come with Wi-Fi or AirPrint support?

Yes. As with inkjet printers, wireless connectivity has become standard on color laser printers. That means you can use Apple AirPrint for your iPhone and iPad with nearly any printer and Android’s print service is equally adept at connecting. There are more details about mobile use below.

You can also use Wi-Fi to print and scan with Windows and macOS. However, if you use a Linux computer or want to print from a Chromebook, check the manufacturer’s page to confirm the printer is compatible with your system.

How can I print from my iPad, iPhone, or Android device?

Color laser printers support Apple AirPrint, making it easy to print from an iPad or iPhone to a printer on your Wi-Fi network. Android phones and tablets can also connect to Wi-Fi printers quickly and easily.

For scanning, maintenance, and other specific features, you will need to install the manufacturer’s mobile app from Apple’s App Store or Google Play. The mobile app will often provide more options for quality, input tray, and paper size and type.

How often will I have to buy toner?

This depends on how much you print. Toner cartridges often have yields of 2,000 pages or more (check the specifications of your printer for your model’s specific yield). For light home use, that means many people could easily go a year or more without replacing toner. For office use, the replacement interval will be shorter, but toner could still last a few months.

How can I save money on toner?

The first step is to print efficiently; that is, double-check your page layout settings and make sure everything is correct before you hit that print button. You can also save money by preventing wasted color toner by setting a black and white printer as the default.

When it is time to reorder, you can save money by buying third-party toner cartridges. However, buying third-party toner likely isn’t recommended by your printer’s manufacturer, but so long as you make sure it’s compatible with your printer, it should work just fine. However, some printers, like the HP model above, look for a toner that uses a special chip identifying it as original equipment. HP warns that while some other cartridges may work today, they may not in the future.

Can I buy a color laser printer with built-in fax?

Yes. Many all-in-one laser printers can scan, copy, and fax documents. If you’re doing a lot of faxing, copying, or scanning, be sure to choose a printer with an automatic document feeder (ADF), and if you want to do double-sided scans and double-sided prints, a model that has a duplex ADF and duplex printing will be best. Double-sided prints can also help save money if cost is a concern. Note that not all all-in-ones — also called multifunction printers — have fax modems, so be sure to check the specs before you buy. If you need a multifunction printer, be sure to check out our best picks for all-in-one printers.

How do you test color printers?

To find the best color laser printers, we factor in criteria such as speed, price, maintenance costs, and any unique features that help them one-up the competition.

Our selections are based on our long- and short-term testing; experience with earlier models; familiarity with the company’s technologies; consultation with industry experts, fellow journalists, and users; online forums; lab results; and other third-party reviews. We look across the board — not just at our own experiences — to find consensus on what we think are the best-performing printers you can currently buy. We also look at list pricing to determine if a product is worth the cost. We will even recommend printers that aren’t new, provided the features are still best-in-class.

The printer market evolves constantly, with manufacturers either introducing better models with new features or basic upgrades. So, you can expect our picks to change as well. But don’t worry — the models you see here will be with you for some time, and if we anticipate better models on the horizon, we will state that upfront to help you decide whether you should buy now or wait.

Which is the best color laser printer for home use?

When searching for a color laser printer for home use, you probably don’t want a 100-pound beast meant to survive the rigors of a shared work environment.

A compact, budget-friendly color laser might be ideal. Printing photos is a common use for home printers and some models have good quality even on plain paper.

Is a laser printer good for color?

The first laser printers were monochrome, but most manufacturers offer several color laser printers that provide great quality for color documents.

However, some handle photos better than others. For photographic-quality color pictures, it’s hard to beat an inkjet printer that’s optimized for photos.

Are laser printers being phased out?

Laser printers will continue to be manufactured for the foreseeable future. However, there are some concerns about their environmental impact.

Epson, for example, is phasing out laser printers worldwide by 2026, citing the significant energy required to generate enough heat to fuse toner onto paper.

Meanwhile, HP has found ways to make laser printers more eco-friendly by altering toner formulations and improving efficiency.

If you find our top picks aren’t the right fit for your specific needs, there are other color laser and other printer types that are worth checking out. If you’d like a top-rated printer that can match the quality of the best scanners, or you simply just need a more affordable model, be sure to take a look at some of the all-around best printers on the market.

If you’re looking for additional savings, check out our guides to the best cheap printer deals and best laser printer deals available now.

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Computer

Best Nintendo DS Emulators for Windows and Mac in 2024

By admin March 15, 2024

If you are looking for the best Nintendo DS emulator for Windows, Mac, and Android devices then keep reading as we have mentioned some of the best just for you.

A gaming console helps in enhancing the gaming experience which you won’t find while using the keyboard or mouse. Out of the many gaming consoles we have here listed some best emulators for Nintendo DS. The reason we are sharing this particular model is that there are more than 150 million people who bought it and it was discontinued in 2013.

So if you are one of the 150 million users who are still looking for the best emulator options then keep reading to know each and every detail about the software.

Best Nintendo DS Emulators to Use in 2024

Here are some of the emulators that can help you use your Nintendo DS Emulator Windows 11 easily for any game.

1. NO$GBA: Best Nintendo DS Emulator Under Active Development

The name can be tough to read but it is pronounced or read as No Cash GBA. This is one of the best Nintendo DS emulators. In the beginning, the emulator was named as Gameboy Advance emulator before it got support for Nintendo DS and DSi, later it got the name NO$GBA. The standard version for Windows has all the features that can help you run Mario, Pokemon, and other regular titles, however, the NO$GBA debug version for Windows has been designed for programmers.

The best part about these DS emulators for PC is that both versions are available for free to use. The latest version of NO$GBA is v3.02 which was released in May 2020. The new update supports multiplayer mode for most of the GBA and DS ROMs.

The reason why this Nintendo DS emulator for Mac is in the top position is that it has great compatibility with commercial DS ROMs. It also supports Nintendo DS homebrew. Using this emulator you can play various games like Pokemon Diamond on full screen without any interruption. It uses very few resources which is why it is a great pick.

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2. DeSmuME: Best Open Source Nintendo DS Emulator

DeSmuME is another great Nintendo DS emulator which is open-source and free to use. This emulator is available for all the major OS including Mac, Linux, and Windows. It supports both 32-bit and 64-bit, apart from this it even supports graphics modification depending on the system you are using and its capabilities.

This best DS emulator for Windows 11 PC offers a cheat code manager, save slot, and USB controllers support. The save slot feature lets you continue from where you left off. For Windows devices, the emulator depends on the Microsoft UCRT DLLs that are in your system. The users of this Nintendo DS emulator for Mac and Windows should even patch the latest version available for stable and better performance.

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3. MelonDS

The next software on the list of best Nintendo DS emulators is MelonDS. It is also an open-source emulator that works on every Windows PC. The emulator is fast and offers accurate emulation for the Nintendo DS. Using the emulator you can run your favorite Pokemon and Mario games.

The features list of this emulator might really interest you. The list includes JIT recompiler, 3D upscaling, Joystick support, and OpenGL renderers like many features that help in fast emulation and better user experience.

Though only single-player gameplay is available, unlike others that offer multiplayer. Things to note, the emulator requires firmware and BIOS dumps for Nintendo DS because the developers do not offer Nintendo DSi titles. The same is with the Nintendo DSi titles you need to have the BIOS, NAND, and firmware. It offers an ad-free experience too, looking at all the features offered the emulator is one of the best Nintendo DS emulators for Mac and Windows.

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4. RetroArch

RetroArch is a great emulator which lets you play games, media players, and other applications. This is a free-to-use and open-source emulator which everyone can use easily. Using this you can play classic games on every computer without any issue. The interface as seen in the images is very simple and easy to navigate options.

Apart from the common features, it also has some unique features which you might like. The list of features includes netplay, 4K upscaling, rewinding, shaders, next frame response time, machine translation, and many others.

This DS emulator for PC is also available for mobile devices. It is available for all the latest versions of Mac, Windows Linux, Android, Raspberry Pi, and iOS devices. Other than this if you have an older version you can still use this emulator easily as it supports older versions too. It can run on game consoles like 2DS, 3Ds, U, Switch, PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, and others.

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5. OpenEmu: Best Nintendo Ds Emulator for Mac

Yet another free and open-source emulator that works on most of the systems. It can be used for various gaming consoles like Game Boy, Genesis, Nintendo GS, and many others. If you have used Apple Music then you might find it a little similar to that. Using the emulator it is very easy to browse, add, and organize.

The layout has multiple screens that support cheat codes, shows saved states and many other options. All the games that you will play will be organized in a library for easy access. You can even create a separate collection using various titles from different consoles. The software smartly maps the controls of various devices including DualShock (3 and 4), PlayStation, Wiimote, and many others.

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6. Ensata

Ensata is a Nintendo-developed emulator that works perfectly with the Nintendo DS. It was developed as a debug target for the development of DS apps. The software emulates the ARM7 and ARM9 dual screen processors, using the mouse cursor as a touch screen. The leaked source codes have made this available to add commercial games.

The feature which makes it one of the best DS emulators for Windows is accurate rendering. It aims to remove the gap between the two screens of the actual Nintendo DS console. The software doesn’t even require much from the PC to run. All you need to use Ensata is an Intel Pentium or above processor with a minimum of 256Mb of RAM and GPU with support of DirectX 9. You can use this Nintendo DS emulator for Windows 11 and older versions easily.

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7. iDeas

Next up is iDeas which is another great Nintendo DS emulator which is free to use. It can easily run several ROMs with support for major NDS functionalities. Inspired by the N64 emulator it uses the plugin system. Using this software you can run great games like ZooKeeper, Mario 64. Though you might witness some glitches while playing, there are a few that can be ignored.

Just like Ensata it also supports the dual-screen setup, using which you can easily take screenshots of both screens. Moreover, it also offers touchscreen supports that let you remap keys according to your preferences and ease.

The only negative point of this software is that the development of iDeas has been stopped, so the new games aren’t compatible with this Nintendo DS emulator for PC. But for the old games, it is one of the best options to go for.

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8. NeonDS

If you have a feeling that these Nintendo DS emulators cannot run the commercial games then you might be wrong because NeonDS is built for that purpose. The software offers fast rendering even with the old PCs which other emulators lack to offer. The rendering system is optimized to OpenGL 2.0 which offers freedom to record screens as well.

Though the emulator does not offer full compatibility it can still run on all major titles like Scribblenauts. Other than this there is another negative of this software, it hasn’t got new updates for a long time now which makes it incompatible with new games. Only if you are trying an emulator for better performance then you can try this DS emulator too.

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9. DuoS

Just like NeonDS, this is also another abandoned project which might not be ideal if you are looking for new games. This emulator has both features GPU acceleration and dynamic recompiler with software renderer. This is a mixture of two emulators that we have listed above. It is a great software that offers quick processing and some of the greatest features.

The development of this software caused the downfall otherwise it would have been the best Nintendo DS emulator to use. The developers even planned to release new iDuos for DSi and Ds emulators for mobile devices, but unfortunately, none of them came into the market. Above all, it is still a must-try software as it offers some of the features which might help you.

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10. Citra: Best Nintendo 3DS Emulator

Citra is among the best DS emulators for PC that you can try. It is a free and open-source emulator which can be used by anyone easily. The software can run most of the titles including commercial 3DS on Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android. Using the emulator you can play games like Pokemon X/Y that require HLE audio and LLE audio.

However, unlike other software, this emulator might not work well in the old system as well as it works in new ones. It requires a powerful and fast processor to have a smooth run. You might even face issues with some games or apps as it will not load and only show a black screen. While the other compatible games run smooth and there you won’t face any issues. It supports WiFi but it doesn’t support Nintendo’s servers so if you want an emulator for the Nintendo server then you can skip this one.

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11. Drastic Ds Emulator

Drastic Ds emulator offers some of the best features which help it save a position on the list of Best Nintendo DS emulators. The software offers to save states, button mapping, controller support, and many other features. It can also increase the screen resolution if you wish to do that. For high-end smartphones, this one can be a great performer.

Though the screen of Nintendo DS is different from the mobile screen, to compensate for that the software offers as many as six different layouts. The layouts are single view, stacked view, keeping one screen shorter than the other, default view. This is the best NDS emulator but a paid software that charges $4.99, but looking at the features list the price is worth paying.

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12. Lemuroid

The next emulator on our list of best Nintendo DS emulators is Lemuroid. This is a great pick for Android users as it is completely free and ad-free too. Just like other emulators, it supports most of the systems like Atari 7800, Atari 2600, Atari Lynx, Super Nintendo, Nintendo, Game Boy, and others. It offers some of the important features like gamepad support, quick save, and others. It can connect easily to one gamepad.

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13. NDS4droid

The next name on this list of the top best ds emulator alternatives is NDS4droid. This emulator is available for Android devices. The tool is completely free and does not require any kind of payment to use. The interface of this emulator is quite simple and straightforward. Additionally, you get other features with the best NDS emulator.

The emulator is quite popular for its effective and ever-lasting save states. Hence, you can easily use the tool to save the game at any point. Apart from the Nintendo devices, the emulator can also run the OUYA games easily. Moreover, the tool does not pose any kind of security threat to your device and its files in any way.

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14. Project64

The next name on this list of the top best ds emulator alternatives is Project64. With the help of this lightweight emulator, you can easily play the realtor Nintendo games on your Windows PC. The interface of the emulator is quite simple and basic. Additionally, the tool is also built on a retro theme, hence all the users of Nintendo can easily get the best out of the emulator as required. The gameplay support offered by Project64 is just outstanding and amazing with a simple and steeper learning curve. Additionally, users can also play OUYA games using this emulator.

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15. EmuBox

The next on our list of Best Nintendo DS Emulator for Windows and Android is EmuBox. The website enables users to have a top notch gaming experience for retro games with the help of online emulators. It offers easy search options, storage over the cloud, stats display, friendlist, WebRTC multiplayer gaming, and more.

You can go through the list of authorized users and their recommendations. In the review section find out the user experiences and learnings to improve your gaming. All you need to do is scan the desired game and play it on your Android device.

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16. Fast DS Emulator

Yet another best Nintendo DS emulator on our list is Fast DS Emulator. It was formerly known as NDS Emulator and is one of the more recent additions to the market. It supports all of the fundamental components, such as external controller compatibility, save states, load states, and programmable on-screen gamepads, among other things. In terms of compatibility, the emulator worked perfectly with the titles that we put it through its paces, although we only put around a half dozen games through it.

The lower rating on Google Play is primarily the result of some bugs and other concerns. On the other hand, this is one of the few DS emulators that is currently undergoing active development, so we hope that the creator can iron out those kinks.

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17. NDS Boy! NDS Emulator

Next, we would like to introduce you to NDS Boy! It is among the best Nintendo DS emulators to play Nintendo DS games on a Windows computer because of its sleek and simple interface, the ability to save and load game states, and customizable graphics settings and audio/input game controls.

Moreover, support for cheat codes and an option to play your favorite games in full-screen mode contributes to justifying this emulator’s position on our list. The only prerequisite is your computer should have at least 2GB of RAM and a 2GHz processor.

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18. DSemu

Here’s another one of the best Nintendo DS emulators for you. This is a great emulator that is built on an open-sourced platform and hence highly customizable. The interface of the tool is very easy to use and alluring. Moreover, the tool even allows you to play a number of games on your Windows device with ease.

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Frequently Asked Questions: Nintendo DS Emulator Windows 11 Edition

You may have some queries related to the best DS emulator for PC, Mac, and Android. To quench your curiosity, we are answering some of the most commonly asked questions related to the same. We hope that these questions and answers will help you.

Q.1 Are emulators illegal?

No, emulators are not illegal to use. Emulators of any kind, whether it is the best ds emulator for pc otherwise, can be used and shared with others freely as required. You will not be under any copyright laws unless you share the ROMs illegally online.

Q.2 What is the best free DS emulator?

If you are looking for the best free DS emulator, then DeSmuMe and NO$GBA are the top ones available for you. You can use and modify these emulators as required and proceed to enjoy the gameplay.

Q.3 How can I play DS games on a PC without an emulator?

No, you can not play DS games on a PC without an emulator. It is compulsory to use an emulator to play the games as the operating system of the PC and the Nintendo DS are different from each other. Hence, it is wise to use the best DS emulator for Mac or PC listed above for an optimal gaming experience.

Final Words on the List of Best Nintendo DS Emulators

Now that you have gone through the list of the best Nintendo DS emulators we hope that you have found the best emulator for you. The software we have mentioned can be used for various PCs and most of them are compatible with the older ones too. If you have any suggestions regarding the list then you can drop your suggestions in the comment section below.

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Computer

The best processors in 2024 AMD and Intel CPUs

By admin March 13, 2024

The best processors in 2024 AMD and Intel CPUs, AMD and Intel have fought for supremacy for decades, duking it out in a bid to make the best processors you can buy. The competition is fierce, and that’s a great thing for PC enthusiasts. In 2024, the list of the best CPUs is larger than ever and packed with options from Team Red and Team Blue.

Intel’s bang-for-the-buck king of this generation is the 14600K, but its last-gen flagship the 13900K is still well worth considering. If you’re a gamer though, the 7800X3D should be the top of your list. Here’s a rundown of those chips and a whole lot more.

Intel Core i5-14600K

The best value processor

It’s tough beating the Core i5-14600K on pure value. This slot was previously held by Intel’s Core i5-13600K, and if you already have that processor, it’s best to stick with it. If you’re upgrading from anything older, though, the Core i5-14600K is the CPU to buy.

It comes with the same core count as its last-gen counterpart, though with additional optimizations and a slight bump to clock speed. The result is slightly better productivity performance and much better gaming performance. On top of that, Intel didn’t raise the price of its Core i5 chip, so you’re getting better performance for around the same price. It’s fairly overclockable, so if you don’t mind pushing the power draw and temperatures even higher, you can close that gap with the higher-end CPUs a little more.

At the time of publication, the Core i5-14600K is only around $30 more expensive than the Core i5-13600K. We recommend checking the prices of the last-gen chip, however, because it still offers most of the performance and could be a better value.

The best processors in 2024 AMD and Intel CPUs

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

The best gaming processor

With the launch of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, the 5800X3D finally has a worthy successor. This CPU is the fastest gaming CPU out there, beating Intel’s Core i9-13900K by miles and even eclipsing the 14900K in most games. In pure gaming scenarios, it also keeps up with the pricier Ryzen 9 7950X3D.

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D benefits from AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology, and once again, it shows off the power of adding copious amounts of L3 cache on top of the chip. It sports a total of 104MB cache, which marks a drastic upgrade from the Ryzen 7 7700X, which only comes with 40MB.

In terms of core counts, AMD seems to have stuck with what worked well for it before. The processor has eight cores and 16 threads. The boost clock speed is considerably lower than in the Ryzen 7 7700X — the 7800X3D maxes out at 5GHz. However, it still remains far superior in gaming tasks.

This chip is insane for gaming, but it drops off a cliff in productivity tasks when you compare it to the Ryzen 9 7950X3D. However, for pure gamers, this should not be a problem. In our internal testing, the CPU hit almost the same frames per second (fps) as the more expensive part — 239.3 versus 239.5. If you just want a solid processor for gaming, save your money and go with this one.

Intel Core i9-13900K

The best Intel processor

Intel’s 13900K might not be the flagship it once was, but it’s basically the same as the 14900K, it’s cheaper, and it uses less power. What’s not to love?

Similar to the previous-generation’s Core i9-12900K, the Core i9-13900K combines performance (P) cores and efficient (E) cores. Core counts are up this time around, though. You’re getting eight P-cores designed on the new Raptor Cove microarchitecture, as well as 16 E-cores using the Gracemont architecture from the previous generation.

Those extra cores help accelerate demanding multithreaded tasks, which is why the Core i9-13900K managed an 8% lead over the Ryzen 9 7950X in Cinebench R23. The redesigned P-cores also help the Core i9-13900K outpace AMD’s best by 12% in Cinebench’s single-core test.

Across nearly all benchmarks, the Core i9-13900K tops the charts, aided in no small part by additional L2 cache and boosted clock speeds. It’s the fastest processor you can buy, but more importantly, it comes in cheaper than AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X.

However, it can’t catch up with the X3D CPUs in gaming, so you will be falling behind a little there if you opt for this powerful Intel alternative, so bear that in mind. The upgrade path is a little limited, too, as you only really have the 14th gen to move to and nothing there beyond the very top chips can compete with the 13900K.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X

The best AMD processor

While it’s not quite as fast as the 13900K or 14900K in gaming or productivity, there’s no denying the raw power of the Ryzen 9 7950X, which nearly matches the Core i9-13900K in most tests.

The processor delivers on its promises, offering a 31% jump in single-core performance and a 36% improvement in multi-core performance compared to the previous generation. It takes a slight back seat in some tasks compared to the Core i9-13900K, but only by razor-thin margins. And in some games, like Far Cry 6, the Ryzen 9 7950X is actually a bit faster.

Beyond the processor itself, the Ryzen 9 7950X introduces AMD’s new AM5 platform. It used to be much more expensive, but thankfully, new motherboards and falling DDR5 prices make the upgrade a little more affordable. In addition, AMD says it will support AM5 until at least 2025 (and maybe beyond). That means it should be easy to upgrade to future Ryzen generations without buying a new motherboard.

Although the Ryzen 9 7950X isn’t at the peak of performance, it’s just a step behind. And with features like Smart Access Memory and distant platform support on offer, it’s still a very attractive flagship CPU.

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D

The best last-gen processor for gaming

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is the fastest AM4 processor for gaming ever made, and it will hold that title for the rest of time, because there are no new AM4 chips coming down the pipe which can compete. It blows everything else from the same generation out of the water and remains competitive in gaming with much newer processors. Why? A curious technology called 3D V-Cache.

For specs, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is slightly worse than the base Ryzen 7 5800X. It comes with the same eight Zen 3 cores, but the clock speed is 200MHz slower, and you can’t overclock the 3D-stacked part. The difference is that the Ryzen 7 5800X3D comes with an additional 64MB of L3 cache stacked on top of the processor.

It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but extra L3 cache makes a big difference in games. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D beats everything while gaming, including the Core i9-12900KS that costs twice as much. It’s also still competitive against newer CPUs from both Intel and AMD.

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is one of the best gaming CPUs, and it only really takes a backseat to AMD’s 3D V-Cache newcomers, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Keep in mind that this is a pure gaming CPU. If you plan on doing intense video encoding or other productivity tasks, it’s better to go with an AMD or Intel chip with a higher core count.

Intel Core i3-12100

The best processor under $100

It’s tough finding CPUs under $100 in 2024, but the Core i3-12100F is a standout. It’s part of the Alder Lake family, and though it does have newer-generation counterparts in the 13100 and 14100, they are more expensive and don’t perform much better, making the 12100F an absolute steal for a budget gaming PC.

The Core i3-12100F is a quad-core CPU that ranks among the best Intel processors you can buy. It doesn’t come with a hybrid architecture, instead opting for four performance cores, but that doesn’t hurt performance too much. It lacks onboard graphics, too, so you will need a dedicated graphics card with it.

Gaming is certainly possible, even if it’s a bit behind the six-core Ryzen 5 5600X, and day-to-day use is excellent. This is an entry-level processor, no doubt, but the Core i3-12100F still punches above what its price would suggest.

AMD Ryzen 5 8500G

The best processor with integrated graphics

Gaming without a GPU is possible, but it’s not an ideal experience. The AMD Ryzen 5 8500G is an exception, because its onboard RDNA 3 GPU is more than capable of playing most games at 1080p medium settings at 30 frames per second (fps) in AAA games, and a far higher rate in more casual titles. It’s not going to replace a dedicated graphics chip, and the CPU isn’t as fast as its non-APU counterparts, but it’s a great choice for GPU-free gaming.

It has six Zen4+ cores, giving it solid CPU performance, with support for 12 threads. It is limited to a 5GHz boost clock, though, which is lower than its Ryzen 7000 counterparts. Still, it has a low TDP, and if you’re building a budget gaming machine, want to save money to buy a bigger graphics card later, or are putting together a compact machine that will only do light gaming, the 8500G is a great pick.

If you want more power, the 8700G is available, but it’s around twice the price and its performance isn’t that much better.

AMD Ryzen 5 7600

The best value AMD processor

AMD made sure that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree with the Ryzen 5 7600. It’s close to its predecessor in some ways, sporting the exact same core count, but it does offer a number of generational upgrades that make it a good way to future-proof your PC.

The Ryzen 5 7600 comes with six cores and 12 threads. It has a maximum clock speed of 5.2GHz. It’s a pretty well-rounded processor, with solid gaming performance, but also plenty of room for productivity. It’s not going to beat some of this generation’s heavyweights, but it’s more than sufficient even for AAA gaming purposes.

The downside of it lies in the extra expense compared to the last-gen chip, and it’s all due to AMD’s new AM5 platform. This means a new motherboard if you’re upgrading, and unfortunately, you have to stick with DDR5 memory due to a lack of DDR4 support.

This is why the previous-gen chip is still a very attractive choice — overall, you’re looking at quite big savings if you stick to the previous generation. On the other hand, switching to AM5 now means plenty of room for upgrades going forward.

Intel Core i5-13400F

Best value Intel CPU

The Intel Core i5-13400F might be a last-generation chip, and it might be a little slower than the new-gen 14400, but there’s a sizeable discount to be had for opting for this slightly older model. It works on the same motherboards, supports the same DDR4 or DDR5 memory, and it has the same (albeit limited) upgrade potential.

It’s the cheapest Intel 13th- or 14th-generation CPU with efficiency cores, so its productivity performance is seriously impressive, rivaling much more high-end CPUs from older generations and offering credible competition for higher-end AMD CPUs. Pair it with a midrange graphics card, and this is a seriously capable chip for gaming.

As for upgrades, you’ll only be able to switch it out for higher-end 13th and 14th gen chips, which does give you an upgrade path, but that’s the end of it. After this generation, you’ll need to switch out the motherboard for something new.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which processor is the fastest?

The fastest processor you can buy right now is the Intel Core i9-14900K. It comes with 24 cores and high clock speeds, allowing it to rip through games and intense productivity applications. However, it has serious competition in gaming from the AMD 7800X3D and 7950X3D, both of which are far more efficient and draw far less power than the 14900K. They can’t compete on productivity, but the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, isn’t far behind and is no slouch in gaming either.

Is i7 better than i5?

Intel Core i7 and Core i5 processors are both excellent options. As the names suggest, i7 processors are faster and more powerful than i5 processors, and they’re more expensive. They may not be the best choice for everyone, though.

For several generations, Intel has segmented six cores to its Core i5 processors and eight cores to its Core i7 processors. The two extra cores provide a performance boost, but they’re not as important if you’re gaming or running basic applications on your PC.

Which type of processor is the best?

AMD and Intel are the main CPU manufacturers, and they tend to leapfrog each other every couple of years. Currently, Intel processors are the best option for raw performance all round, but that comes at a high power draw. For absolute gaming performance, though, AMD’s X3D CPUs, like the 7800X3D and 7950X3D as the fastest out there.

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Application

Best Free Productivity Apps to Be Efficient in 2024

By admin March 5, 2024

This article has the best free productivity apps that can help you in enhancing the output and increasing the speed of your work. Follow the article to know more about the apps in detail.

Technology plays a major role in today’s time as you can use the technology and proceed with the projects and work with ease. To improve the efficiency of work you need to have the right combination of apps and software so that you can work effectively and efficiently. That’s where the productivity apps come into play. These apps have professional tools that you can use to make the work easy.

For every profession there are dedicated apps, if you are a designer then you can use graphic design software, if you are an architect then you can use floor plan software. This article will similarly help you find the best free productivity apps that would help you with your work and projects. So without any further delay let’s take a look at the software and apps that you can use to increase productivity.

16 Best Free Productivity Apps to Use in 2024

Here are 16 top productivity apps like the note-taking app, graphic design app, and many others that can help you work efficiently. Read below about the apps in detail.

1. Google Keep

Google Keep is one of the best Google Chrome extensions that you can use to note every important point easily from your browser. You can download this app on your mobile and can even have it on your PC. Remembering the important tasks and dates can be very tough when working, so this app will help you keep track of all the important notes. You can simply add the document with all the important dates and work and then add them to the home screen.

You can add a different color to the notes to differentiate depending on the importance and work. Some of the notes apps require a subscription to use them, but Google Keep is absolutely free and anyone can use the app.

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2. MindMeister

MindMeister is very unique and one of the best free productivity apps that you can use. This app can be used to help you remember your ideas. This app will help you keep the ideas saved as most people get ideas while talking to people or browsing on the internet. At that time you can simply use this app to note down the important points for future consideration.

You can simply add solutions and points along with other new ideas together in a very attractive manner. The app offers 3 mind maps for free, if you wish to use it further then you have to pay $4.99/ month. The paid plan will unlock unlimited mind maps for personal use.

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3. Google Drive

Google Drive is a great person as well as an office app that you can use to store files. This is another best free productivity app from Google which will help you store and keep the files accessible for every device. Every hardware has limited storage which will be filled someday and in that case, you need to either change the device or choose another way to store files.

This cloud storage platform is available for every device including PC and mobile phones. You can simply log in with your account credentials and get all the data. Other than this the work which you do on Google apps will be saved on Drive only. When you first sign up with your ID you will get 15 GB free storage after that you need to purchase the monthly plan for the storage you require. The app charges $1.99 for 100GB storage/ month.

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4. HelloSign

In the digital world, we all need to keep our documents and signatures together to register and start new things. While most people fail to keep the images together, this productivity app will help you sign every document digital without any issue. Now after having this app you don’t have to rush for printouts and then scan those hard copies to share via mail. The process is very simple. All you need to do is click on the add signature field to add it to the document easily.

The app has helped in easing the work which is why it is considered the best free productivity app to use. Using the free version of the app you can sign up to 5 pages a month, if you wish to upgrade the plan then you need to pay $15/ month for the pro plan.

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5. Foxit

PDF files are a digital form of the hard copy, you can use the field as .pdf format to share and edit them easily. To help you in the process to edit pdf we have added one of the best free productivity apps that you can use. Foxit is a great app that can help process all the pdf related work.

Using this app you can easily add new files and convert them into PDF format. Other than this you can easily edit and open PDF files.y you can even sign the files without using any third-party application. The software is available for mobile phones and desktops, you can even use it on the web browser and save space on the hard disk.

Foxit is one of the top productivity apps that offers features like read and sign pdf documents in the free version. If you wish to use the core online editing feature then you need to pay $7.99/ month.

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6. Scanbot

In this digital world, you need to have all your documents in digital form to share them easily. The main task is to convert those hard copies into digital form but this free productivity app named Scanbot is made to help its users in scanning hard copies easily. Though this app is only available on your phone or tablet so you cannot use it on any other platform.

The app is really simple, all you need to do is open the camera from the app to scan for the documents and just click a picture of the pages or file for which you wish to create a digital copy. After you have saved the image the app will change your file into pdf format so that you can easily share it using various platforms.

This app can be considered as a paid and a free productivity app as it offers both versions to its users. For the core, scanning features the app charges $4.99 and for the Scanbot pro version, the app charges $6.99.

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7. Pixlr

There are many apps that can be used to edit and manipulate images. The king of all the software is Adobe Photoshop but then in this list of best free productivity apps, we have mentioned a new name. Pixlr is a great tool that you can try to edit images easily. Though this app is also not among the free productivity apps, the reason for adding this in the list is its amazing features.

The app offers various features which can make your work easy and help you to become more productive. The toll offered by the apps includes crop, resize, rotate, blur, heal, rotate, and others. You can even add elements to your social media handle. The elements offered by the app are borders, stickers, text, graphics, and other effects from various platforms.

The app has professional tools as well, so if you wish to create or edit a project using the professional tool you can easily proceed with the app. The best part is Pixlr has a very easy-to-use interface that can be adapted by any of the users whether newbie or experienced. If you wish to use the pro tools then you need to pay a $5/ month fee to access them. The user who is new and doesn’t want to use the pro tool can use this app for free.

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8. Lucidchart

Next app in the list of best free productivity apps is Lucidchart. This app offers various features that you can use to create different and unique charts easily. Whether you wish to create charts for the presentation of school or for work, you can simply create them as per the need. The apps have many templates that can help you easily create charts.

This is very easy: you can simply use the elements from the left menu of the screen. You can even simply drag and drop your creation as per need and requirement. The app can be used on PC as well as on mobile devices. The app offers 3 active documents up to 60 objects for free, if you wish to upgrade then the app requires a $11.95/ month fee that offers larger documents and templates.

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9. Screencastify

While researching or working on any product you need to keep adding data from various sources. The data can be anything including images, articles, or files, some of the data isn’t available to download. For those read-only files or data from a web browser, this is the best productivity app that can be used.

This app can be used to record the screen and record audio from the microphone. You can use the recording for your projects and share them easily by using various platforms. Using the free version you can screen record for 10 minutes and if you wish to record more than you have to purchase a monthly subscription for unlimited video length. The monthly subscription costs $24/ year.

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10. Rescue Time

The way you can be productive, the same way there are many distractions that can distract you from being productive. You cannot calculate how productive you were. This app is developed to help you track all your activities and time spent browsing through the apps. As the name suggests this app can help in rescuing your valuable time.

This app offers a detailed database of apps under various sections like productivity and distracting. This app also shows a graph comparing today and last week, with a gentle reminder. You can use this top productivity app to access your activity. The app offers free core tracking features but if you want to block distracting sites, track time away from PC and make a detailed report then you can buy the premium version for $9/ month.

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11. Zoom

Zoom is one of the best free productivity apps that you should use. The time has changed and the pattern of meetings too, in today’s time you need to have a video conferencing app that can help you connect with your teammates easily. This is a reliable tool that can have up to 100 people in a single room.

The teammates can easily use the virtual whiteboard to explain ideas to other people at the meeting. You use to create and join meetings using a web browser which means users can save space on their PC.

The app can host meetings for 100 members for 40 minutes for free. If you wish to have unlimited meeting time then take the monthly plan. The plan for unlimited time and users costs $14.99/ month.

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12. TeamViewer

This is the best productivity app that will let you work remotely on your office computer or laptop. If you are surprised by knowing then believe me this is true. Using this app you can easily control other PCs. The app is not bound for geographical location, you can stay 1000km away and still make necessary changes to your office or home computer.

The graphics can have lower quality but then you can easily get your stuff done from anywhere. This is a free productivity app for personal use but for business use you need to take the monthly plan which costs $49/ month.

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13. LastPass

Every website now requires you to sign in with your email address and a password. The password criteria in every website can be different from one another which means you would need to have different passwords for every site. Keeping those passwords in mind is very tough especially for the website which you use once a month.

This top productivity app is created to help you store all your passwords easily. You can download and add the apps extension to your browser. While you browse any website this extension will save the password and even the card information.

You can use this app for free with core features. For premium features you need to pay $2/ month, the premium account holders can share passwords and store encrypted files as well.

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14. Grammarly

Next best free productivity app on the list is Grammarly. This app will help you eliminate all the errors which you made in the documents. Whether you are preparing a presentation or working on your blog. You can simply download the app or can even add the extension to the browser. Using the browser extension you can simply rectify all the errors on the documents you open on the browser.

The app will suggest spelling errors, grammar checks, plagiarism checkers, and other tools. The app will give you relevant suggestions according to industry-specific terms. The app offers a free core tool for all users but if you wish to use the advanced tools then you need to pay $29.99/month.

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15. CloudConvert

Last app in the list of Best productivity app list is CloudConvert. While you might have struggled many times to use a file with a different file format. Using this app you can simply convert files to the format you want and easily access them. The app has more than 200 file types which include .doc, .xls, and others.

Other than this you can even convert files into design files too so that you can simply use them on the graphic design software. The files can be converted into .psd, .ai, .dwg, and other formats. The files you can convert using this top productivity app can be stored on the cloud platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, and others.

Using the free version you can convert up to 1 GB files and 25 minutes of conversion per day. To have more conversion minutes you need to pay $8 for 500 conversion minutes.

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16. ClickUp

ClickUp is the next name on this list of the best free productivity apps for you in 2024. With the help of this simple tool, you can increase your productivity and bring it to the roof. The app uses artificial intelligence to offer quality functionalities to you. Whether it is your meetings, daily tasks, scheduled events, or anything else, ClickUp is the perfect tool to manage every task.

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Let’s Conclude the List of Best Free Productivity Apps

The list shared above has all types of paid and free productivity apps. You can easily choose the app which suits you best. If you wish to use the apps for basic features then the list has the best productivity apps. We hope that we have helped you find the productivity app which you were looking for. If we did, tell us how knowledgeable you find this article. Please write in the comment section below.

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computer

The best processors in 2024 AMD and Intel CPUs

Intel Core i5-14600K

The best value processor

The best processors in 2024 AMD and Intel CPUs

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

The best gaming processor

Intel Core i9-13900K

The best Intel processor

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X

The best AMD processor

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D

The best last-gen processor for gaming

Intel Core i3-12100

The best processor under $100

AMD Ryzen 5 8500G

The best processor with integrated graphics

AMD Ryzen 5 7600

The best value AMD processor

Intel Core i5-13400F

Best value Intel CPU

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