Piltch Point (Video)

Tom's Hardware was founded 25 years ago and made a major impact on the internet. In the years since the first article was published, a lot of things have changed in the computer industry, while other things have remained mostly unchanged. As part of the anniversary, Avram decided to look back on the industry, rather than the site, and show how the industry has progressed.

For example, let's look at the core of the computer: the processor. In 1996, the bleeding edge, top-of-the-line processor was the Pentium P54CS, which ran at 200 megahertz. In today's world, processors in the megahertz range are for microcontrollers, not for computers. Instead, the Ryzen 9 5950x, today's top processor, runs at 3.5 gigahertz with a max boost of 4.9 gigahertz. But, in addition, there are 16 CPU cores, compared to the single-core of the old Pentium.

Another area where there has been significant change is in monitors. In fact, the fact that we use a screen at all is the only real similarity between 2021 and 1996. The Sony Multiscan 20se II was the top monitor in 1996 and was a whopping 21" of 1600x1200 glory. This CRT monitor weighed 66 pounds and was almost as deep as it was wide. Today, the LG 27GN950 offers 4K gaming with a 1 millisecond response time at 144 hertz. All of this in a 27" screen that is incredibly thin.

But, not everything has changed completely. The mouse continues to exist, and exist very similarly. The Microsoft IntelliMouse premiered in 1996, bringing with it the design we are all comfortable with today, including the scroll wheel. But, this model of the mouse still used a ball. Today, the mouse looks similar, but has a lot of new buttons and has ditched the ball for an array of optical sensors.

Of course, a lot of other technology has changed, including storage (hard drives and removable storage), phones, memory, and more. Avram discusses some of it and will publish a full article at Tom's Hardware.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

In January, Avram introduced us to the new Alienware m15 and m17 R4. This gaming laptop is considered to be the best performing laptop for gaming on the market today. But, like almost all gaming laptops, the biggest issue is the keyboard. Gamers tend to prefer a mechanical keyboard, but that has generally not been available on a portable rig. Thanks to a new set of switches from CherryMX, however, the m15 and m17 now have that option.

The new switches, known as CherryMX Ultra Low Profile switches. These all-new keyboard switches are designed specifically to create a mechanical keyboard that is still thin. This is because normal mechanical switches are taller than a normal laptop, and when you add the keycaps, they're even taller. For most people, that is an unacceptable situation, and so we have our new design.

A traditional CherryMX switch is 18.5 mm, the newer low profile switches are 11.9 mm, but the newest ultra low profile switches are just 3.5 mm tall. And, because of the design of the switch, the keycaps stretch across the top, as opposed to sitting on top of a post, meaning that all together they are just barely thicker than a traditional laptop keyboard. That is perfect for the m15 and m17 R4, because they are already super thin.

This new design switch maintains the ever important clicky feel while also slimming down. The design, according to the company, is based on the "Gullwing" doors from the Delorean car. When you press down on the middle of the key, a swing pulls two edges up, which the company says was directly inspired by the iconic doors from Back to the Future. No matter the inspiration, it is a welcomed addition to the laptop.

You can get both the m15 and m17 laptops right now for an additional $176.40.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

As the global chip shortage continues to affect product availability, finding certain technology products is getting more difficult. Whether you are looking for a new Radeon RX 6900 XT videocard or an Xbox Series X, you're up against limited inventory, high consumer demand, and scalpers. All of these conditions are adding to the overall challenge of acquiring one of these products. Obviously, if it is possible to skip one of these items in the near term, that is going to be your best choice. However, there are some processes and solutions if you need one of these items.

One company that is trying to provide a solution to the problem is Newegg. Their Product Shuffle feature creates a lottery system when a new shipment of inventory has been received. So, if you are looking for that NVIDIA RTX 3090 and Newegg receives a shipment, you can sign up to be considered for purchase. Once the time window closes, the company randomly draws the number of names for which they have inventory and send an email. You then have a limited amount of time to make your purchase before the inventory is unlocked once again. It's not ideal, but it does mean that you're not fighting the mob.

Another option is to sign up for an inventory alert system like HotStock. On these platforms, you can log your interest in a particular product, for example a PlayStation 5. You can also enter a maximum price you are willing to pay (which you should absolutely do), to limit the results. Then, when the system encounters the product available on one of its partner sites for a price within your range, you can get an email or a push notification (if you download the mobile app). One of the limitations of these systems, however, is that you cannot enter a product category. So, for videcards, you'll need to enter alerts for every manufacturer of a model, as opposed to just saying you want a Radeon RX 6800.

No matter how you solve the inventory issues for yourself, we wish you luck in finding the items you need.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

This month marks the 1 year anniversary of "15 days to slow the spread" and it has brought with it a number of new challenges. For many people, it was the first experience of working from home instead of going into an office. That change in paradigm created a need to rethink our homes, as well as the tools that we use to get through our workday.

The most important recommendation has been to carve out space in your home that is your work area. This helps to prevent the feeling of never leaving work and always being at home. It can be confusing emotionally to not have a separation between these aspects of your life. It doesn't need to be a whole room, but some space is good.

Of course, there are items that can improve your work, as well. A great keyboard for your computer can improve your typing and reduce strain on your wrist. Avram uses the Hexgears Impulse and Scott uses the Razer Cynosa V2 with the Razer Tartarus keyboard extension. A good mouse is also important, and Avram uses a Logitech M510 wireless mouse and Scott uses a Razer DeathAdder wired mouse.

A good webcam is another useful component. This is because the webcam that is built in to your laptop is statistically garbage. At this point, nearly no manufacturer includes a decent webcam, so getting an external one can make you look far more together on a meeting. Avram uses the Logitech C920 and Scott uses the bigger sibling Logitech C930.

Other enhancements include multiple monitors, wrist rests for your keyboard and mouse, and a decent office or gaming chair. Everyone's experiences differ, though, and we are very interested in what our viewers and listeners have used to improve their experiences. Feel free to contact us and let us know what tools have made your work from home experience better.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

In April 2012, Avram's son was born. This got him thinking about what technology and related industries we were using at the moment that his son would never use, or would never be a part of his normal life. Obviously, with Avram's job, there was always the possibility that these things would be around, but not because it's normal. As his birthday approaches, as does the 25th anniversary of Tom's Hardware, Avram looks back on the reality of his predictions.

Some of the predictions were pretty spot on. For example, Avram predicted no reliance on wired internet connections. Very few devices in their home use a wired internet connection. Thanks to advances like Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E, wireless speed and stability have gotten to the point where they are nearly on par with Ethernet. There are places for a wired connection, such as our studios, but for standard home use, Ethernet is mostly a thing of the past.

The same goes for point-and-shoot cameras. Today, most people's phones have cameras that are nearly as good if not better than these handheld cameras. In fact, phone cameras are quickly replacing even DSLRs for many uses, such as in Avram's daily life at Tom's Hardware. Of course, for content creators, particularly video, standalone cameras will continue to be an important part, but for consumers, phones are the way forward.

Unfortunately, Avram missed the mark on slow-booting computers. He had predicted that computers would get to the point of instant-on, like we usually see with the general usage of phones and tablets. In reality, it seems to have gone the other way, with phones and tablets taking longer to boot than they did previously.

He also missed the mark on windowed operating systems, but for the better. He was worried that moves like Windows 8 signaled the end of windows as know them, but Windows 10 showed that Microsoft had pushed too hard and lost the plot.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

This week marks the 9th anniversary of the launch of the first Raspberry Pi computer. In the following years, this tiny computer has had a huge impact on the computing industry. That could explain why the company has sold over 38 million units. As one might expect, demand increases every year, with 2020 being the biggest year on record. The company sold 9 million units during the last year, accounting for nearly a quarter of ann units ever sold.

The new Pico had a large impact on those numbers, with nearly 1 million of the new Arduino-like boards being ordered already. In fact, it could quickly become the best-selling unit, stealing the crown from the current king - the Raspberry Pi 3B. With 12.2 million units in the wild, it will take some time to get close. During the life of the 3B, the organization really hit its stride, attracting additional attention from publications, and an ever-growing maker community. Plus, the 3B had a long life, making it easy to be the top model.

That long-life availability is another big part of the brand's charm. The organization tries not to end of life older models. This is because there are thousands of products out in the world that might depend on the shape, features, or other aspects of an older model. If one breaks, they want the manufacturer to be able to swap it out without concern over compatibility.

But, all of this was not originally intended to be. Originally, the plan was to produce and make available only 1,000 units in total in a bid to increase applications for the computer science department at Cambridge University. Of course, a tiny $35, fully functional computer drew a lot of attention, and the organization as we know it today was born.

To learn more about the Raspberry Pi and find some creative uses for them, you can find a ton of resources at Tom's Hardware.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

Lenovo has recently released what it calls "ThinkPad's lightest laptop ever" - the ThinkPad X1 Nano. This new laptop comes in at just under 2 pounds (1.99 pounds). This model falls into the company's productivity category, featuring an 11th Gen Intel vPro processor, with a variety of speeds by model. They range from a Cor i5-1130G7 on the base model up through a Core i7-1180G7 on the top model.

As the name would suggest, the laptop itself is fairly small. It features a 13" screen, which is a perfect size for most people in the productivity world. The small screen and form factor makes it an ideal laptop for traveling (once that becomes a normal part of our lives again) as well as getting up from your home desk and traveling to your couch. The screen's resolution is a little odd: 2160 x 1350, which makes for an aspect ratio of 16:10. The screen is also extremely bright. It is marketed at 400 nits, with a real-world value actually higher than marketed: 430 nits.

As you would expect from a ThinkPad, it has the high-quality keyboard, which is something the brand is known for. It also features the eraser head mouse, for those who appreciate it, as well as a traditional trackpad for those who do not. The eraser head is a long-standing tradition on Lenovo laptops, as it remains popular in business applications.

The body features a soft touch surface, on both the outside and inside of the case. This finish is becoming increasingly common on more premium laptops, as it makes for a more comfortable experience. It is most felt when actually using the laptop, as the combination of a curved front corner and the soft touch material prevent cuts and creases on your wrists and overall fatigue. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano is available now from Lenovo.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

A few years ago, there was a lot of interest in mining cryptocurrencies using consumer hardware. This created a run on videocards, because GPUs work better than CPUs for mining. Over the past few years, however, that interest has waned because consumer hardware is no longer the best way to do it. Instead, professional miners use ASIC miners, which are devices designed specifically for mining. However, in the past few weeks, a renewed focus has been placed on videocard mining, especially for Ethereum, which has seen a major price increase. But, which cards work best? Avram's got some new suggestions.

Jarred Walton over at Tom's Hardware benchmarked and calculated ROI on a number of major videocards - some old and some new. The conventional wisdom might suggest that the newest videocards would be your best bet for mining, but that would be incorrect because of the unbelievable cost of videocards right now. Current videocards, and even some of the older cards, have gone through the roof because of scalpers and miners, all looking for hardware.

A GeForce RTX 3090 is able to produce $12.26 per day, but their current retail price is so high that it takes 194 days to break even. Instead, take a look at some of the older cards, like the GeForce GTX 1060 6GB. You can pick one up on eBay for about $275, compared to the almost $2400 for the 3090. Even though the card only produces $2.82 per days, it takes only 96 days to break even on the cost of the card.

Of course, once the cards pay for themselves, the 3090 will be the best card going forward. However, the returns are still very low on videocard mining. Don't make a purchase of a card specifically for mining. Instead, check out an ASIC if you want to get into mining on a serious level.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

Alienware has long been known as one of the best brands for gaming computers, and the newest version of the Alienware M17, the R4. In the gaming laptop space, there have been two directions manufacturers have gone - make them very portable at the expense of speed, or very fast at the expense of portability. The M17 R4 definitely goes with the latter, because this beast is HEAVY. Coming in at 5.51 pounds, this is a massive laptop. However, it makes up for this with performance.

Sporting a 10th Generation Core i7 or Core i9, system performance is quick. But, when you add an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 or RTX 3080, gaming performance becomes impressive, too. In fact, even Avram was impressed by the performance, getting 60 FPS on Cyberpunk 2077 on fairly crushing settings. This game is known for bringing desktops to their knees, but the laptop was able to handle it well.

In addition to the performance, the laptop also comes with other things gamers enjoy. In particular, it features an RGB keyboard. In the video, you can see the zones animate across the keyboard. In addition to controlling this behavior, you also have control over the other LED features on the laptop, like the exhaust port on the back. This exhaust port is designed to look sci-fi, but it also functions as system exhaust. But, you also get a number of your ports across the back, like HDMI and Thunderbolt 3.

There are a number of configurations available, including drive size (ranging from 256GB to 4TB), RAM (16GB or 32GB), and processor (Core i7 or Core i9). The Core i9 configurations offer only the RTX 3080, while the Core i7 could come with the RTX 3070 or RTX 3080. The Core i7 offers white or black bodies, while the Core i9 currently only offers white.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.

Raspberry Pi has long been the gold standard in learning platforms for programming, particularly when it comes to interacting with hardware. Robotics classes have used them, Internet of Things classes have used them, and a lot more. But, the platform has always been a lot more expensive than that of Arduino, because it is a fully functioning platform on which you can program itself. But, the organization is taking a different approach to the newest entry - the Raspberry Pi Pico.

Unlike other boards from the organization, the Pico is a true microcontroller. It does not have a user-accessible operating system or a user interface, like its siblings. In fact, it is far closer to the Arduino than it is to the other Raspberry Pi models. The board starts at only $4, rather than the $35 of a full Pi. It even takes on the Arduino approach, creating an ecosystem of compatible boards from various manufacturers (including Arduino). The board created by the foundation is a core design board, with additional concepts coming from others. This has been one of the biggest wins for the Arduino platform, as you can get a wide variety of unique designs and feature sets.

The ecosystem approach will also bring a large collection of add-on components that can be used across manufacturers and models. A lot of this will be focused on the core uses for a microcontroller - hardware control. I suspect that motor encoders, LED strips, and more, will be in a first wave of aftermarket add-ons.

As always, Tom's Hardware has a ton of additional information on the new platform, including a review, a setup guide, pin solder setup, and a lot more.

The initial production run of the Raspberry Pi Pico seems to have already been exhausted. Sites that had inventory on Friday were sold out by air time. New inventory should hopefully be available from the foundation, as well as the new models coming from partners.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.