Brian Fagioli

When you think of the brand MSI, you probably picture things like laptops, desktops, motherboards, and other PC accessories. MSI products are legendary with the PC gaming community. While MSI is not a name you would normally associate with networking gear, the company is looking to change that by launching two all new wireless gaming routers.

Called "RadiX AXE6600," this Tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router has six external antennas that all feature RGB lighting. Yes, folks, you can customize the light colors on this router. The RGB can even be used to indicate the in-use QoS mode. The router has four Gigabit LAN ports and a 2.5G WAN port. You also get a USB-A port.

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Installing a Linux-based operating system on an existing computer has gotten far easier over the years. Long gone are the days where replacing Windows with Linux had to be a frustrating experience. Still, for many people, installing a Linux distribution is a scary task. Thankfully, there are many computers being sold with Linux distributions pre-installed.

Today, The Kubuntu Focus Team launches its latest such Linux PC. The "Focus NX GEN 2," as it is called, is a NUC-like desktop that comes with Kubuntu 22.04 LTS pre-installed. The diminutive computer is powered by a 16-core 12th-Gen Intel Core i7-1260P. The second-gen Focus NX can be configured with up to 64GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, up to a 2TB NVMe boot SSD, and up to a 4TB secondary SATA SSD.

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What is a Chromebook? Quite simply, it is a laptop running Google's Linux-based ChromeOS operating system. However, when you connect one of these notebooks to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, it becomes a very capable makeshift desktop computer.

The most elegant way to transform a laptop into a desktop is with a USB-C docking station. But how can you be sure your Chromebook is compatible with such an accessory? Well, if the dock is officially certified as "Works With Chromebook," then you can be assured that it will work flawlessly.

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It isn't easy to stand out in the desktop PC market nowadays. I mean, we have seen it all already, right? What can possibly be done at this point? Well, Minisforum was able to surprise the world last year when it announced the AMD Ryzen 5 5625U-powered MC560. You see, this mini desktop PC has an integrated webcam. Yes, folks, a 2.5k camera is built into the desktop itself. Is that a smart design choice? Absolutely not. But hey, it is different!

Why wouldn't you want a webcam integrated into the desktop? Because now you have to keep the PC in front of your monitor to properly use the webcam. In other words, you can't hide the PC behind the monitor or under your desk, as that would block the webcam. Having a webcam on a cable that sits atop your monitor is obviously superior. You also can't easily unplug this webcam for added security/privacy. And no, it doesn't have a privacy cover.

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Super Bowl LVII is happening this upcoming Sunday, and men across America are excited to watch the big game. While some women will also watch the Super Bowl, many of them will only be watching for the TV commercials. You see, even if you aren't a fan of football, the advertisements have become a spectacle in their own right.

The cost of running a Super Bowl commercial is very expensive, which makes it quite odd that Google has leaked its Pixel 7 ad early. Yes, over on YouTube, you can view the search giant's Super Bowl commercial now, meaning there will be no excitement surrounding it come Sunday.

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Minisforum is a well-known manufacturer of miniature computers. The company has many models with differing specifications and features. Quite frankly, it can be hard for consumers to choose, as there are so many options!

Today, Minisforum unveils yet another tiny PC, and it is one of the company's most impressive offerings. Called "NUCG5," this little Windows 11 desktop is powered by a 12th generation Intel Core i5 processor and comes with either 16GB or 32GB of RAM. While the specs are quite nice, there are three things that really make this model stand out -- the beautiful carbon fiber chassis, external Wi-Fi antennas, and two ThunderBolt 4 ports.

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Curved televisions are gimmicky and an overall bad idea. I bought a curved 4K TV several years ago, and while I do like it overall, it has a big negative -- it shows a lot of glare when the sun comes through the windows. Ultimately, the curved aspect doesn't seem to provide much (if any) value over a flat set when sitting on my couch

Where curved displays are wonderful, however, is for computer monitors. When you are sitting closer to a display, such as at a desk, it provides a more immersive experience -- particularly for gaming. Today, YEYIAN unveils its latest curved display. The 34-inch "Sigurd 4000," as it is called, features a 3440x1440 resolution, wide 21:9 aspect ratio, and one millisecond response time.

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Last year, Samsung released the T7 Shield -- a fast and durable USB-C SSD. At the time, the portable drive was offered in three colors (beige, black, and blue) plus two capacities (1TB and 2TB).

Today, Samsung adds a new 4TB capacity option to the T7 Shield lineup. Yes, you can now get the drive with double the storage of the previous top capacity. Unfortunately, this 4TB variant is only available in black -- fans of beige and blue are out of luck with this capacity.

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Are the Linux Mint developers fans of the Spice Girls? That I don't know. What I do know, however, is Linux Mint 21.2 has been code-named "Victoria." I'd like to think this version of the operating system is being named after soccer-star David Beckham's wife Victoria (who once went by the stage name "Posh Spice" as a member of the aforementioned pop singing group), but probably not.

Anyway, besides the codename of "Victoria," the Linux Mint developers have shared some interesting tidbits about the upcoming Ubuntu-based operating system. Most importantly, it will be released in June 2023. As expected, Linux Mint 21.2 will once again come with your choice of three desktop environments -- Cinnamon, Mate, and Xfce. If you opt for the Xfce variant, you will be treated to the cutting-edge version 4.18.

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Apple's iPad is a tablet, obviously, but when you add a keyboard case, it magically becomes a laptop too. But did you know M1 or M2-powered iPad tablets (running iPadOS 16.1 and higher) can also serve as a desktop PC with full-screen monitor support? It's true! By plugging in a USB-C dock, you can connect a keyboard, mouse, monitor, external storage, and more.

Today, Plugable launches a new USB-C Stand Dock (model number UDS-7IN1). While this product is primarily designed for M1/M2 iPad devices (such as iPad Pro and iPad Air 5), it can work with USB-C Android devices and Windows tablets (such as Surface Pro) as well. While this dock should technically work with laptops and desktops, the "stand" aspect (which props up the phone or tablet like a monitor), would be wasted.

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On January 17, Apple unveiled new MacBook Pro laptops with M2 Pro and M2 Max processors. Fans of macOS around the world were very excited for these powerful new notebooks.

If you end up buying an M2 MacBook, and you want to add a bit of functionality, Satechi has a new product called "Pro Hub Slim" that you need to check out. This mini-dock converts two of the Thunderbolt ports into several different useful ports. While it is technically designed for the M2 MacBook Air, it will actually work with any MacBook from 2017 or later.

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A new TCL smartphone will be hitting prepaid carrier Metro by T-Mobile tomorrow (January 26). Called "ION X," this Android 12 phone will cost only $119, but if you open a new line of service, you can nab it for free. While that is an affordable price, the specifications of the 4G LTE phone aren't exactly exciting.

The TCL ION X is powered by a MediaTek octa-core processor and comes equipped with a meager 3GB of RAM. Onboard storage is just 32GB. The phone features an edge-to-edge 6-inch display with a rather pathetic 1600×900 resolution. You get a 5MP front camera (with face unlock), a 13MP rear camera, and a respectable 3000mAh battery.

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Back in the day, people often scoffed at the idea of switching to a Linux-based operating system due to a lack of software. While that is still true for some people -- especially business users -- it is less of a concern these days since so many things are done through the web browser. For many consumers, just having the Google Chrome browser on, say, Ubuntu, is more than enough to accomplish all of their wants and needs. Not to mention, there are many quality Linux apps like GIMP and DaVinci Resolve.

But OK, lets say you really want to use a Linux-based operating system, but there's some Windows-only software that you absolutely cannot live without. Thankfully, you may still be able to ditch Windows and upgrade to something like Freespire or MX Linux. How? Thanks to the excellent Wine! This compatibility layer can sometimes enable you to run certain Windows software on Linux. Today, version 8.0 is released, and Microsoft should be very worried.

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Ubuntu is a Linux distribution based on the Debian operating system. Xubuntu is an operating system that is based on Ubuntu, but using the Xfce desktop environment instead of GNOME. Freespire is an OS that is based on Xubuntu. What does this mean? Well, besides too many Linux distributions existing, it means Freespire is, very loosely speaking, sort of like the great-grandson of Debian.

Anyway, today, Freespire 9.0 becomes available for download. A 64-bit ISO of the Linux-based operating system can be had immediately. It is notable for using Xfce 4.18.

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Netrunner is one of my absolute favorite Linux distributions, but I haven’t been recommending it to people lately. Why? Well, to be honest, I thought the operating system was dead. You see, the last time the developers released a new version of Netrunner was early 2021. I assumed development had ended. The year 2022 came and went without any substantial Netrunner news.

But no, Netrunner lives! Out of the blue, a new version of the KDE-focused operating system is made available for download. Code-named "Vaporwave" (no, not vaporware), Netrunner 23 is based on Debian 11 "Bullseye" stable for the first time. Yes, fans of Netrunner can finally have modern Debian.

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