While you should never buy any low-quality components for a computer build, I can't stress enough how important it is to never get a cheap no-name power supply unit. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with saving money, but a chintzy PSU has the potential to not only cause instability, but it could even fry your other components. Heck, it could even cause a fire. Please stick with well-known PSU brands, folks.

One such company that offers quality power supply units is Thermaltake. Today, that manufacturer unveils an absolutely beautiful such offering. Called "Toughpower iRGB PLUS 1250W Titanium TT Premium Edition," it features Japanese capacitors, and as the name indicates, it offers an impressive 1,250 watts of power. The 80 PLUS Titanium certified PSU is fully modular, meaning you only need to connect the cables you need -- good for both appearance and cooling. Its RGB fan has 16.8 million colors, which Thermaltake claims is the first ever on a PSU. It even has a mobile app that can alert you to fan failure -- very cool.

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Another day, another distro! Today, Linux Mint 18.2 achieves stable release. While the usual desktop environments, Cinnamon and Mate, are available immediately, so too are both KDE and Xfce. It is nice to see all four of these flavors released at once, as sometimes the Mint Team opts to stagger them.

Code-named "Sonya," this operating system is based on Ubuntu 16.04 which is a long term support version. This means Linux Mint 18.2 will be supported until 2021. The kernel is fairly modern at version 4.8. To further highlight the continuing death of optical media, the excellent Brasero is no longer being included by default.

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When you buy a laptop nowadays, it is becoming much more common for it to only have USB-C ports. While you can thank Apple for leading the way with its MacBook line of laptops, plenty of Windows PC manufacturers are following suit. This is wise, as it future-proofs your computer while giving the ability to connect to legacy devices (if needed) with low-cost dongles. Microsoft has infamously omitted USB Type-C from its Surface devices, which may cause pain to consumers in the future.

If you have already invested in one of these USB-C-only machines, there are two dongles that are definitely worth buying to keep in your bag -- USB-C to HDMI and USB-C to USB-A. Some users may need an Ethernet adapter too. Satechi has two new USB-C to HDMI options -- an adapter (dongle) and a cable. Both appear very well made and are quite affordable. Best of all, not only do the products offer 4K output, but at the much desired 60Hz. Despite being sold in color options that match Apple's laptops, the adapters will work fine with both Windows and Linux too.

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There are so many quality Linux distributions nowadays, that it can be hard to choose one. Heck, when people ask my advice on which operating system to install, it can be tough for me to match a person to a distro. While choice is a good thing, I am a firm believer that there can be too much choice. When an ice cream shop has 100 flavors, you can feel like the correct decision is an impossibility. Sometimes just offering a choice between chocolate and vanilla is the best experience. Linux could benefit from a few less flavors.

While I am a Fedora user primarily, I recognize that what's good for me is not good for all -- especially those new to Linux. Windows-switchers in particular may not want to deviate from the user interface they have used for many years. It is for this reason that I often suggest Netrunner -- one of my favorite Linux distros. Its polished use of KDE creates familiarity, and the OS comes chock-full of useful apps -- it really is fantastic. Today, the Debian-based operating system reaches version 17.06 -- code-named Daedalus. It is not a massive update by any means, but it is still exciting.

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Comcast's Xfinity cable service is used by many people in America. Not only does it offer television, home telephone, and internet, but cellular service too -- Xfinity Mobile. No, Comcast hasn't rolled out its own network, it is using Verizon's towers plus its own Wi-Fi hotspots to create a comprehensive nationwide offering.

Xfinity Mobile has a new smartphone by LG that is quite interesting. Called "X Charge," the Android device has a massive 4500mAh battery, meaning it should offer all-day usage. It has a respectable 5.5-inch display and is running the Nougat operating system. Best of all, it is very affordable.

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There has been tons of Ubuntu news lately, with the death of Unity continuing to be felt in the Linux community. Just yesterday, a company that is one of Ubuntu's biggest proponents -- System76 -- announced it was creating its own operating system using that distribution as a base. While some might see that as bad news for Canonical's distro, I do not -- some of System76's contributions should find their way into Ubuntu upstream.

Today, we get some more positive news, as Ubuntu Linux 17.10 'Artful Aardvark' has officially achieved Alpha status. While details about changes and such are virtually non-existent, you can download Alpha 1 for testing. The Artful Aardvark operating system is only available in four flavors for now -- Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Kylin, and Lubuntu Next. Not familiar with that last one? That is because it is a new experimental version of Lubuntu that uses LXQt instead of LXDE.

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When Canonical announced the death of the Unity desktop environment, it sent shock waves through the Linux community. After all, Ubuntu is probably the most popular Linux-based desktop operating system and switching to GNOME was changing its trajectory. With Unity, Canonical was promising Ubuntu would be an OS that could scale from smartphone to desktop with a focus on convergence, and then suddenly, it wasn't. Overnight, Ubuntu became just another desktop distro -- not necessarily a bad thing.

While this hit many people hard, computer-seller System76 was probably impacted the most. The company only sells machines running Ubuntu, meaning its entire customer base would be impacted by Canonical's decision. Not content with simply following Canonical and embracing vanilla GNOME, System76 has decided to take its future into its own hands. Today, the company releases the first alpha of an all-new Linux-based operating system called "Pop!_OS," which will eventually be the only OS pre-loaded on its computers. While it will still be based on Ubuntu and GNOME, System76 is tweaking it with its own style and included drivers. In other words, the company is better controlling the user experience, and that is smart.

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My favorite Windows 10 device of 2016 was the Huawei MateBook. Much like the Surface Pro, it is a tablet that can become a laptop with an optional keyboard purchase. While it was less powerful than Microsoft's offering, it was also less expensive. For basic needs, such as web surfing and word processing it was an absolutely fabulous value. Despite the meager internal specs, Huawei made the device feel premium with a beautiful outward design and the addition of USB-C (something no Surface has).

Last month, Huawei announced that it would expand the MateBook line beyond a single tablet to a total of three distinct machines -- MateBook X, MateBook E, and MateBook D. The "E" variant is the successor to the aforementioned tablet (which now comes with the keyboard), while the X and D are traditional 13 and 15.6-inch laptops, respectively. Sadly, exact availability and pricing for the USA was unknown. Today this changes, as Huawei not only reveals cost and pre-order date, but configuration options too.

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Do you need a 10Gbps network adapter? I am going to go out on a limb and say no. Many homes only use Ethernet for the internet -- not transferring files between machines on the network. While some businesses could absolutely benefit from the speed, installing such a card in a workstation would be pointless without a 10Gbps network to which it could connect. That's the thing, to get the full speed of such a card, you need a compatible network, which you probably do not have.

I say all of this to highlight that a 10Gbps PCIe network adapter card for consumers is as bit silly right now, but that hasn't stopped ASUS from making one. Today, the company announces the XG-C100C 10Gbps PCIe network adapter for both Windows and Linux. While not the first 10Gbps card, it is surprisingly affordable.

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Summer is here, meaning many folks will spend time outdoors at places like the beach, the park, or in the pool. Let's be honest though, not everyone is into going outside. If you are like me, rather than relaxing in the sand or playing in the water, you might choose to play video games, watch movies, or chat on IRC instead. There is no shame, guys.

Now is the time that Steam historically has its PC game sale for the summer, but the company is getting some major competition from Microsoft. The Windows-maker is once again having its own discount celebration called "Ultimate Game Sale." Unlike Steam, which only offers PC game deals, Microsoft is also offering Xbox One title discounts too. In fact, you can even go into a retail Microsoft Store to pick up the games.

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Some people don't like advertisements, but I do. They are a great way to learn about new products while also helping to pay for "free" content. People think I am crazy when I say this, but many times I don't bother fast-forwarding commercials when watching my DVR. Heck, in 2017, there is so much great content that is subsidized by ads, such as news articles, YouTube videos, and of course, both television and radio. If it weren't for advertisements, you would probably be "nickle-and-dimed" at every turn.

A great example of advertisements helping consumers is Amazon's 'Prime Exclusive Phones' program. The consumer gets a discount on the smartphone by agreeing to see ads on the device's lock screen. It is not forced on the buyer -- they get to choose if it is worth it to them. It actually empowers the consumer. Today, Amazon is introducing five more handsets into the scheme from Motorola, Alcatel, and for the first time, Nokia.

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Embracing cloud storage is a smart move -- it ensures your data is safe even if your computer fails or if there is a disaster that impacts your home. Quite frankly, it helps me to sleep better at night knowing my precious family photos and videos are stored in the cloud.

When you keep your files exclusively in the cloud, however, you lose control. If the storage company goes out of business or gets hacked, you could potentially lose everything. That's why it is wise to embrace a redundancy strategy of storing files both in the cloud and locally. Today, Western Digital launches the My Passport Ultra for that exact usage case -- it comes with free specialized software for cloud backups. With capacities up to 4TB, it should meet the needs of many consumers.

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Last year, Nintendo shocked the world with the miniature NES Classic Edition. This game console was a mini replica of the original NES (with comically short controller cables), that came pre-loaded with many classic games. Thanks to both nostalgia and a low price, it became a very popular holiday gift, making it hard to find. Despite the popularity, Nintendo discontinued it, meaning many people couldn't get one even if they wanted it. Many have speculated that the stoppage in manufacturing was due to the fact that the NES Classic Edition was hacked to play additional pirated games.

Today, Nintendo announces yet another such console -- the Super NES Classic Edition. Yes, a mini SNES is coming, and this could prove even more popular than its predecessor. Not only does it come pre-loaded with many classic games from yesteryear, but an unreleased one too -- Star Fox 2! The game can be unlocked by simply beating the first level of the original Star Fox.

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Many Linux snobs push the Arch operating system as the greatest thing since sliced bread. In fact, some members of the Arch community (not all of them) can be downright mean and unpleasant to non-users. Not using Arch? Ugh. Peasant! In reality, while Arch is a fine OS (stable and fast), it can be very hard to install and set up, and quite frankly, often not worth the hassle. People have lives to live, and sometimes it is easy to forget that an operating system and associated computer are tools -- not a religion.

But OK, if you want the benefits of Arch without the tedious setup process, there are Linux distributions that can help. One such operating system that I love is Manjaro. The OS is excellent, and you can tell the developers truly care about the user experience. Its wonderful Calamares installer makes everything a breeze. Today, version 17.0.2 becomes available with three of the best desktop environments -- GNOME, KDE, and Xfce.

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During Build 2017, Microsoft delighted open source enthusiasts with a surprise announcement -- Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, and SUSE) was coming to the Windows Store. If you were running Windows 10 (not including the crippled "S" version) you would soon be able to install a Linux distribution directly from the official software store. Exactly when these distros would become available was unknown, sadly.

Ubuntu and Fedora are still not yet in the Windows Store, but starting today, both SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 and openSUSE Leap 42 are -- sort of. You see, while they are technically in the store, you must be a Windows Insider running Windows 10 build 16190.0 or higher to install. If you are like me and you aren't running an Insider build because you prefer a stable experience, you are out of luck for now. Sigh.

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