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PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

DIGITAL EDITION
JUNE 2020
 CONTENTS
JUNE 2020

COVER STORY
REMOTE WORK WILL
NEVER BE THE SAME
And That’s a Good Thing

FEATURES

10 CHEAP AND EASY HOW TO WORK FROM

WAYS TO LEVEL UP HOME SECURELY
YOUR HOME OFFICE Make sure you’re not the one who
Improve your current setup with accidentally exposes HR records
some simple tweaks. or leaks company secrets to a
competitor!

15 AFFORDABLE SMALL COWORKING

TOWNS IN THE US WITH COMMUNITIES CHART A
FAST INTERNET NEW PATH
Get away from the city but keep What’s next in collaborative (but
your remote-working lifestyle. socially distanced) work spaces.
WHAT’S NEW NOW

COVID-19 CREATES
SOARING DEMAND FOR
PCS
Research firms. Canalys
attributes the surge to
businesses upgrading their
workforces with new laptops and
IT equipment..

IN DESKTOP CPUS,
AMD IS DOING THESE 5
THINGS BETTER THAN
INTEL
AMD is in a prime position to
expand its footprint in the
desktop-CPU market.

NVIDIA PREVIEWS
AMPERE
ARCHITECTURE WITH
A100 DATA CENTER
GRAPHICS CARD
The technology will supercharge
the company’s enterprise GPUs..
REVIEWS

CONSUMER
ELECTRONICS
Garmin Vivoactive
4

TCL 10 Pro

HARDWARE
Apple MacBook
Pro 13-Inch
(2020) Garmin Vivoactive 4

Dell Inspiron 14
7000 (7490)

SOFTWARE
& APPS
Vegas Movie
Studio Platinum

ExpressVPN

Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch (2020)

ExpressVPN
COMMENTARY

CAROL MANGIS
First Word It’s worth
READER INPUT noting that a
full third of the
MAX EDDY
Politicians Are Making Things people PCMag
Easy for COVID-19 Scammers surveyed built
NEIL J. RUBENKING their own PCs.
Do You Really Need to Buy
Antivirus or VPN Anymore?

THE WHY AXIS

Eric Griffith

TIPS & HOW TOS

HOW TO TURN YOUR

SMARTPHONE INTO A
WIRELESS WEBCAM
A useful DIY, Zoomers!

GIVE YOUR EYES A

BREAK: HOW TO
CHOOSE THE RIGHT
BLUE LIGHT GLASSES
The can help to reduce
eyestrain.

HOW TO TAKE
BETTER BREAKS TO
BOOST YOUR
PRODUCTIVITY
The key is keeping to a
schedule.

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

 FIRST WORD
CAROL MANGIS

S
ummer is almost here, and we know what
that means: Time to start thinking about
WDNLQJVRPHRIWKRVHKDUGHDUQHGGD\VR̆
getting out into the beautiful weather, and hitting
the open road… Oh, wait. Not this year.

:HKDGRULJLQDOO\SODQQHGWR¿OOWKH-XQHLVVXHRI
the PCMag Digital Edition with stories about
travel technology—everything from how to plan
2020: The your trip to the right gadgets to bring along. But
even though parts of our country and the world
Year of the are starting to relax restrictions on travel (and
Staycation being outdoors, for that matter) imposed because
of the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us are not
going anywhere for a while.

So it made sense for us to change direction—

WRZDUGKRPH6SHFL¿FDOO\ZRUNLQJDWKRPHZKLFK
is swiftly becoming part of the new normal. In
fact, Google search volume for the term “work
from home” and variants nearly tripled since the
pandemic entered our collective reality, spiking up
from around 1.2 million in February to 3.4 million
in March. By April, a full 20 percent of US workers
who could were teleworking.

In our cover story, senior features writer Chandra

Steele explores how much working from home has
changed in such a relatively short time. Lot of
employees have always liked having the remote-
work option [raising my hand], but now employer
attitudes have shifted (seismically) in a positive
 @cmangis direction for telework; she talked to analysts and
H[SHUWVWR¿QGRXWKRZDQGZK\

7KURXJKRXWWKLVLVVXH\RX¶OO¿QGXVHIXOH[SODLQHUV
and how-to stories to improve your own work-at-
home life: building a better workspace for yourself,
staying secure online, and even scouting for small
towns with fast internet, in case you’re really going
remote.

$OVRIRU-XQHZHUHYLHZWKHQHZ*DUPLQ
9LYRDFWLYH¿WQHVVWUDFNHUWKHLQFK
Apple MacBook Pro, ExpressVPN, plus other
useful tech products.

And remember, even on your small local journeys

(that walk around the block or trip to the
pharmacy): Stay safe yourself, and keep others
safe too.

carol_mangis@pcmag.com

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

 READER INPUT
YOUR COMMENTS

EMBEDDING YOUTUBE VIDEOS

I just read your article, “How to Download
YouTube Videos,” which you recently posted
online. Your article is extremely informative and
KDVSURPSWHGPHWRZULWHWR\RXZLWKDVSHFL¿F
question, if you don’t mind answering?

Presently, I am developing a free Android family

app, and I intend to embed various YouTube
videos using Google’s YouTube API in the
application. Typical videos would include “The
Your Tale of the Lonesome Pie” and “Operation
Questions Mincemeat,” for example.

I am aware of Google’s terms of service for

downloading YouTube videos, but I would like to
Features Editor Eric
know how they would apply for Android
*UL̇WKKDV
applications. The answers that I have received
contributed many
from various technical Android groups are all
how-to stories to
over the map, and I must admit this issue is
PCMag, and lots of
giving me a bit of a headache! Consequently, I
readers reach out to
would really appreciate and value your expert
him with questions
opinion and insight on this subject.
and comments. Here
are just a few.
Many thanks for taking time out in your busy
schedule to read this letter, and stay safe during
these uncertain times.
—Trevor

Eric’s answer:
My understanding is that if you’re actually
embedding the videos—much the same way
anyone would on a web page, using the code from
WKH85/IRUWKHYLGHR²\RX¶UHSHUIHFWO\¿QH7KDW
way YouTube still has a modicum of
control in showing some ads and so
on, depending on the circumstances.
We do this all the time on PCMag.
com. The no-no is physically having
a copy of the video on your person or
using it in your software; that would
probably not go well with the
lawyers. Stick with embedding. The
option is there for exactly that
reason: YouTube wants its videos to
be everywhere, just with some
control over them.
WINDOWS 10 TIPS
I thought for sure I would hate
Windows 10, as it seemed
VLJQL¿FDQWO\GL̆HUHQWIURPSUHYLRXV
OSes from Microsoft. But I’ve been
using it for a year, and it’s not all
that bad. There are two items that
are annoying: One is the ever-
intrusive Bing (which I loathe—I
don’t care for anything that comes in
uninvited) and the lack of an easy
way to create desktop shortcuts that
was so easy to do in previous
versions. Any ideas on your end?
Thanks for your contributions I’ve
UHDGRQ3&0DJFRP²JUHDWVWX̆
—Mike
Eric’s answer:
Thanks for the kind words. I’ve been
using Windows 10 since it came out
and have almost zero interaction
with Bing, but I don’t use Microsoft’s
browsers or apps like Mail either, so
that probably helps. If you buy into
one aspect of the Microsoft
ecosystem, it’ll try to push the other
aspects. But you can always set the
browser search engine default to
something else. In Microsoft Edge,
for example, click the three-dot
menu and go to Settings. On the left,
select Privacy and Services; scroll
down to the Address Bar, click the
arrow next to it, and you can choose
Yahoo, Google, or DuckDuckGo as
your default search engine.
I don’t make a lot of desktop
shortcuts anymore, but the easiest
thing for me is just right-clicking the
LFRQIRUD¿OHRUSURJUDPDQG
selecting Create Shortcut, then
dragging it where I want. I just tried
that, and it still works, thankfully!
WHAT PC GAMERS WANT
Thank you for this very interesting
article [“PC Gamers Prioritize High-
End Graphics and ... Back Support”].
,DPGH¿QLWHO\DJDPHUEXW,GRQ¶W
¿WLQWRWKHW\SLFDOJDPHUFDWHJRULHV
I am 70 years old and have been a
gamer since Pong. Yep, I played
SRQJDQGORYHGLWZKHQLW¿UVWFDPH
out. I used punch cards in the very
beginning when we had to program
)RUWUDQDQG&REDOWDQ\RQH",SOD\HGRQDFRXSOHGL̆HUHQWSHUVRQDOFRPSXWHUV
XQWLOWKHRULJLQDOUHDO3&FDPHRXW0\¿UVWSXUFKDVHZDVWKHGXDOVSHHGYHUVLRQ,
remember when we upped the hard drive to 100KB and even contemplated 500KB
machines, and we wondered if anyone would ever need that much storage...

I still game and still love it. In fact, I am seriously thinking about getting another,
hopefully not my last, PC gaming rig. ... Yes I have played on Nintendo, PS, Sega and
Xbox but honestly they really can’t compete. Do I still play on them from time to
time, sure. They just aren’t the same.

PC games, for the most part, have to be fairly easily sellable to the masses of PC
players, not just to PC gamers. I use the term “players” for those who like the power
of PCs but really want a generic out-of-the-box, ready-to-go gaming PC. I am
thankful for them, because they keep our needed PC gaming companies in business.
But gamers are guys and gals who want their own machines. They tinker with them
like we used to do or still do with our cars. ... Yes, we enjoy playing lesser titles if they
are designed well, have decent graphics, and are fun. But we crave the highest games
that push us and our machines, in some ways forcing us to tweak and dig deeper to
get more out of them.
—Charles

?
Ask us a
question!
Have a question about a story in
PC Magazine, one of the products we
cover, or how to better use a tech
product you own? Email us at
letters@pcmag.com and we’ll
respond to your question here.
Questions may be edited slightly for
content and clarity.

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

WHAT’S NEW NOW
NEWS STORY

COVID-19 Creates Soaring

Demand for PCs BY MICHAEL KAN

Source: Igor Kardasov/shutterstock.com

T
he coronavirus and the ensuing need to work from home is creating
VN\URFNHWLQJGHPDQGIRU3&VDFFRUGLQJWRUHVHDUFK¿UPV&DQDO\V
attributes the surge to businesses upgrading their workforces with new
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QHZ3&VVRWKHLUNLGVFDQDWWHQGFODVVHVRQOLQH

³7KH3&LQGXVWU\KDVEHHQERRVWHGE\WKHJOREDO&29,'ORFNGRZQZLWK
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SULQWHUVDQGKHDGSKRQHV
5HVHDUFK¿UP,'&LVDOVRVHHLQJDVSLNHLQODSWRSVDOHV
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,'&DQDO\VW0DOLQL3DXOZULWHVLQDUHVHDUFKQRWH The
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GHPDQG7KHSDQGHPLFKDVEHHQGLVUXSWLQJWKHZRUOG¶V has been
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KDVEHHQJURXQG]HURIRU&29,'1RWKHOSLQJWKH the world’s
PDWWHULVWKDW,QWHO¶VORZHUHQG3&SURFHVVRUVKDYHEHHQ electronics
LQVKRUWVXSSO\IRURYHUD\HDUQRZ supply chain,
particularly
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PRYLQJWRZDUGQRUPDOOHYHOV%XW&DQDO\VGRHVQ¶W
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EDQNUXSWZLWKPLOOLRQVQHZO\XQHPSOR\HG´VD\V
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LQGXVWU\KDYHEHQH¿WHGIURPWKHHDUO\SDUWRIWKLV
H[WUDRUGLQDU\ORFNGRZQSHULRGEXWZHH[SHFWWRVHHD
VLJQL¿FDQWGRZQWXUQLQGHPDQGLQ4´

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

WHAT’S NEW NOW
NEWS STORY

5 Ways AMD Is Beating Intel

in Desktop CPUs BY CHRIS STOBING

I
n April, Intel announced the launch of its new set of mainstream-focused
desktop processors, the 10th Generation “Comet Lake-S” chips, which are
set to go head-to-head with AMD’s similarly positioned “Zen 2” line of
Ryzen CPUs. This announcement from Intel is familiar and predictable, lacking
WKHUHYROXWLRQDU\ÀDLUWKDWFDPHZLWKWKHODXQFKRI=HQODVW\HDUDQGOHDYLQJ
AMD in a prime position to expand its footprint in the desktop-CPU market.

On the surface, the launch of Comet Lake-S may have the appearance of
keeping Intel competitive with the performance hounds out there (gamers and
creators alike). But once you start to scratch through the PR crust, the core (no
SXQLQWHQGHGRIZKDW¶VRQR̆HUKHUHPD\QRWEHDVVXEVWDQWLDODVWKHFKLSJLDQW
ZRXOGKDYH\RXEHOLHYH'HVSLWHR̆HULQJWKHQHZHUSURGXFW$0'¶V=HQZLOO
KLWLWV¿UVWDQQLYHUVDU\RQVKHOYHVWKLVFRPLQJ-XO\,QWHOVWLOOODJVEHKLQGLWV
chip rival in a few key areas that warrant looking into before you decide which
processor will live in your next desktop PC, whether it’s a build-your-own
project or a prebuild from a system OEM.
WAY 1: AMD’S LITHOGRAPHY, OR “14” IS NOT “7”
To get it out of the way early: There’s no escaping the 14nm elephant in the
room. The 10th Generation Intel desktop processors, releasing in 2020, are still
EDVHGR̆DOLWKRJUDSK\WKDWOLNHO\VDZLWV¿UVWGUDIWRQWKHGUDZLQJERDUG
sometime in 2010, right around when the Apple iPhone 4 was hitting shelves.

Now in fairness, it’s possible that AMD’s plan for 7nm wasn’t much further
EHKLQGWKDW7KHFRPSDQ\XQṘFLDOO\XVHVWKHOLQHWKDW=HQZDV³HLJKW\HDUV
or so” in the making.) True roadmaps for CPUs, from the initial brainstorm
PHHWLQJWRWKH¿UVWFKLSVOHDYLQJWKHOLQHVFDQEHDQ\ZKHUHIURPDIHZ\HDUVXS
to potentially a decade, in Intel’s case. Understandably, these things take time,
and new process technologies are ever harder to execute on.

7KHUHDVRQV,QWHO¿QGVLWVHOIVRIDUEHKLQGLQDUDFHLW¶VEHHQGRPLQDWLQJIRUWKH
better part of a quarter-century are multiple, diverse, and not all the company’s
own fault. Intel has had a litany of publicly known issues with getting certain
IDEULFDWLRQSURFHVVHVR̆WKHJURXQGWKHPRYHWRQPKDVEHHQIUDXJKWZLWK
problems from the start), and the company has even openly admitted that its
own 7nm processors for mobile chips are still not due to arrive, at minimum,
before the end of 2021. It’s also possible COVID-19 may delay (or has already
delayed) this timeline even further, though Intel hasn’t made any public
VWDWHPHQWVDERXWWKHH̆HFWWKHSDQGHPLFKDVKDGRQSURGXFWLRQWLPHVRU
process roadmaps.
WAY 2: THE PLATFORM, OR YES, ANOTHER NEW SOCKET
Aside from the modest gains being made on an aging (downright ancient, by
modern standards) architecture, Intel is making the switchover to 10th Gen a
tad less appealing by requiring all-new motherboards: That is, a platform switch
to a new socket (called “LGA 1200”) and the need for new 400-series chipsets.

While there’s nothing new about platform switches, requiring a third in the
same lithography (14nm) seems, let’s say, gratuitous, and doubly so for anyone
who might want to upgrade from a 9th Generation part. That’s because all new
10th Generation Intel chips moving forward will be supported only on the new
socket, using boards with the Z490 (high-end), B460 (mainstream), or H410
(budget) chipsets.

=ERDUGVZLOOODXQFK¿UVWZLWKWKHFKHDSHURQHVWRIROORZVRRQDIWHU<RX
can read more about the Z490 platform and the full list of upgrades it has over
=LQRXU=ERDUGPHJDJXLGH,WGHWDLOVWKHDURXQGGL̆HUHQW
motherboards that are making their way down the platform pipeline over the
next few months.)
Some Z490 boards from the likes of MSI, Asrock, and
Gigabyte will come with latent support for the new PCIe
4.0 standard (that is, touted as PCI Express 4.0
“ready”). But Intel notes that this batch of 10th The
Generation chips supports only PCIe 3.0, and the chip speculation is
maker was mum about future possible developments on that Intel
that front. So, what gives? The speculation is that Intel plans to use
plans to use Z490 as the platform for its next generation Z490 as the
of chips, too, though when those are due out (along with platform for
the option to run any kind of Intel-based PCI Express its next
4.0 system) is anyone’s guess.
generation of
chips, too.
The problem with pushing 10th Generation to a new
platform without support for some of the main features
that justify the cost of upgrading? If you’re, say, an Intel
Core i9-9700K owner, and Intel is promising an average
performance boost of only around 15 percent, that
means you’ll be investing potentially half the cost of
upgrading your machine (depending on the
motherboard and CPU combo) into just a few frames
per second extra on your favorite game.

AMD, meanwhile, is still allowing users on its platforms

based on the AMD AM4 socket and earlier chipsets to
install top-of-the-line 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X chips into
some boards (depending on BIOS-update support) that
cost $100 or $150 four years ago. (That said, I’m sure
the company wouldn’t expressly recommend it.) But the
point is wide backward compatibility with many old
boards and new chips.

Sure, upgrading to boards based on AMD’s X570

chipset yields you cutting-edge tech like PCIe 4.0, b. But
if you’re on a budget and just want to upgrade an older
AMD AM4-socket-based system you already own, the
company has cut a clear path for you to do so, and you
might be able to spend substantially less than someone
upgrading to an Intel equivalent would.
WAY 3: PRICING REMAINS AN AMD EDGE
Let’s be clear: It doesn’t appear to be all grim news for Intel. At the top end,
some value gains are apparent in the Core i9-10900K, which succeeds the Core
i9-9900K and adds two more cores at a price reduced from its predecessor’s
E\<HV:K\"1RWVXUHEXWLW¶VOHVV

This almost militarily precise pricing structure continues down the stack, with
the Core i9-10900KF costing $472, the Core i7-10700K at $374, and so on.
:KLOHWKLVVHHPVVWUDQJHDW¿UVWRQHRQO\QHHGVWRFKHFNWKHFXUUHQWVWUHHW
prices of current AMD processors for a sense of where Intel may have gotten
LWVLQÀXHQFH
Also consider this: If these new Intel chips are just now
debuting at the street price of AMD chips that were
ODXQFKHGLQ-XO\RIODVW\HDUEDVLFPDWKWHOOV\RXPRVW
of what you need to know. Once AMD’s expected Zen 3 AMD’s
architecture makes its debut sometime this year (AMD’s pricing
latest earnings call told investors to expect a “late- undercut the
2020” launch alongside RDNA 2), with it will almost market of the .

GH¿QLWHO\FRPHSULFHVODVKLQJDFURVVWKHERDUGIRUWKH time by
current crop of Ryzen processors. nontrivial
percentages
If Intel is still asking full price for this line of 10th Gen across every
CPUs by the time that happens—and it probably will, as vertical.
the company is known for almost never dropping the
price of its processors until years after launch—every
processor in the stack will be left in the cost-per-core
dust by AMD yet again, two years in a row and
counting. (Plus most AMD Ryzen processors come with
QLFHVWRFNFRROHUVZKLFKDUHQ¶WIUHH-XVWVD\LQJ,QWHO¶V
are a mixed bag of cooler-versus-no-cooler, and the
stock fan is, shall we say, homelier?)

WAY 4: CHIPLETS CAN HELP WITH YIELD

When Zen 2 launched last year, one of the most
surprising elements of the whole reveal was just how
many cores AMD had managed to cram into one die at
what seemed like impossibly low prices. The pricing
undercut the market of the time by nontrivial
percentages across every vertical, including desktop
gaming and content creation.
This is because AMD’s new lithography allows for much
PRUHÀH[LELOLW\LQKRZPDQ\GLHVFDQEHXWLOL]HGSHU
wafer during the CPU production process. Because the
entire stack of Zen 2 chips relies on the same underlying The more
³FKLSOHW´VW\OHGHVLJQ$0'RUPRUHVSHFL¿FDOO\LWV yield AMD
chip fabricator, TSMC) has been able to achieve very gets per
good usable chip yields when spread across the full wafer, the less
product line: One anonymous source claims 70 percent it spends on
yield to Intel’s 35 percent with certain Zen 2 versus production of
14nm chips. Take those exact numbers with a big grain the same
of salt, but given the core/thread count for the money
number of
$0'KDVEHHQR̆HULQJDQGWKHSRVVLEOHDELOLW\WR
chips.
down-bin partly functional chips to lesser SKUs, AMD
is likely in a strong position here.

The more yield AMD gets per wafer, the less it spends
on production of the same number of chips, and the
more savings it can pass onto buyers.

A major point of foreboding in this department: Intel

hasn’t announced any concrete plans to adopt a chiplet
microarchitecture approach for its desktop processors
anytime in the near future. And that could mean AMD
(again, read: TSMC) might maintain this ostensible
yield advantage over Intel until the company switches
either to that kind of design or to any of the other newer
technologies that have been proposed to speed Moore’s
Law back up a bit for the next decade or so (such as chip
stacking, or new lithography processes).

WAY 5: CONTENT CREATION WORK? IT SURE

LOVES CORES AND THREADS
We should preface this section by saying that AMD
SURFHVVRUVDUHQ¶WVSHFL¿FDOO\EHWWHUWKDQ,QWHOIRU
running creative tasks on a core-to-core basis. But in
this instance, it’s just the cost-per-core ratio that gives
AMD a big edge.
In almost every modern creative application, more supported cores and threads
generally means more performance, all else being equal. That’s because unlike
most games, which max out at using four cores at a time, creative applications
that need to complete tasks such as rendering complex scenes in 3D worlds,
layering dozens of music tracks on top of each other, or encoding videos into
new formats will take every available ounce of processing power they can get to
¿QLVKWKHMRE

,IWKHSULFLQJWUHQGVRI=HQFRQWLQXHRQWKHVDPHSDWKWKDWZDV¿UVW
HVWDEOLVKHGLQ-XO\$0'DQGLWVFRPLQJ=HQDUFKLWHFWXUHFRXOGEULQJ
the per-core prices even further down a sinkhole than it already has. And that’s
a daunting prospect for any other companies that might dare challenge it.

Processors like the Ryzen 9 3900X and Ryzen 9 3950X have begun to bridge
the gap for the kind of power that’s available to amateur and professional
creators alike, giving even bedroom artists the opportunity to design, draw,
animate, and render to their heart’s content for a price that’s far lower per core
WKDQZKDW,QWHOR̆HUV$QGWKLVLVWRVD\QRWKLQJRIWKHUDZSRZHUWKDWFRUH
monster CPUs such as the Ryzen Threadripper 3970X bring to the table.

The Intel story isn’t so bleak as it may have been with the 9th-Gen desktop
lineup. Most of the chips in the new Comet Lake-S line support thread-doubling
Hyper-Threading, which is a big boost from the last generation, in which only
some chips (mostly at the high end) supported it. That will help in the content
creation market up and down the stack, no doubt about it.
Intel claims the new breed of 10th Gen chips will be “up
to 18 percent faster than previous generations.” And in
FKHFNLQJWKH¿QHSULQWZHVHHWKLVVWDWLVWLFLVSXOOHG
from an “Adobe Premiere Pro CC RUG [run that] Intel claims
measures the time it takes to export a Premiere Project the new breed
timeline to 4K HEVC video using the ‘Software of 10th Gen
Encoding’ option which is CPU only.” chips will be
‘up to 18
The bad part? In tests such as Cinebench R15 and R20, percent
which stress all cores, as well as Handbrake video faster than
encoding, the Ryzen 9 3900X performed between 25 previous
and 45 percent better than the processor Intel is using generations.’
for a point of comparison, the Core i9-9900K.

Run the math at each end of the spectrum, and on

average, the near-year-old, 12-core/24-thread AMD
Ryzen 9 3900X could, in theory, still produce results
between 7 and 38 percent faster in content creation
than the spanking-new 10-core/20-thread Intel Core
i9-10900K. We’ll have to see, when we test the latter,
whether that projection holds.

Again, the lithography, die design, and production

process are all part of the advantage for AMD here, and
until Intel makes some serious changes to the
underlying architecture of its desktop chips, that lead
isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

THE LAST THING: INTEL’S GOT A LONG ROAD

AHEAD
These days, a lot of the world can feel like Opposite
Land, and that’s apparent in the current standings
between Intel and AMD. AMD has struggled for much
of its recent history to beat Intel at its own game, and
up until the middle of last year, there looked to be no
end to that power dynamic in sight.
1RZWKRXJK,QWHOLVJUDVSLQJDWLQFUHDVLQJO\¿QHVOLFHGVWUDZVWRUHPLQG\RX
why you should still insist on Intel Inside in your next PC build or upgrade.
Much of it revolves around single-core performance or the ability to boost a few
cores rather than all of them in applications that use just a few.

This launch is more a story of what’s missing than what’s there. I suspect that
gaming performance with these new 10th Generation CPUs will continue to
outpace AMD on around the same level it did for the Zen 2 launch, and there
will assuredly be some Intel wins in overclocking potential. (The chips in this
current crop of Ryzens aren’t famed for their overclocking headroom.) But
despite all of that, in many ways, I’m still reminded of the game Fallout 76.

Even though it was released in 2019, that game runs on an engine that was
technically designed and built in 1998 for the development of Elder Scrolls:
Morrowind. Now, in the 22 years since the company made it, Bethesda has
become an all-out master of that engine; its developers know it back to front
and in and out. But ultimately at its core, it’s still an engine from 1998 trying to
run a modern AAA game (online, no less).

The case of 10th Generation Comet Lake-S from Intel feels similar. Due to many
factors that were in its control and a few that weren’t, the company is still at
14nm++, and there are only so many ways you can try to put a shine on an old
lithography before the cracks start to show, especially when AMD has been
blasting such a bright spotlight on them for getting on a year now.

We haven’t had an opportunity to test any chips in the new Intel stack yet, but
rest assured that as they come in, we’ll be benchmark testing to see whether
Intel’s claims of gaming supremacy hold fast. With Comet Lake-S, the chip giant
has been more aggressive with its pricing structure this time around, and its
QHZR̆HULQJVRQRYHUFORFNLQJKHDGURRPDUHHQWLFLQJ:H¶OOVHHKRZWKHFKLSV
do under scrutiny once they arrive.

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

WHAT’S NEW NOW
NEWS STORY

Nvidia Previews Ampere

Architecture With A100 Data Center
Graphics Card BY MICHAEL KAN

H
ow Nvidia’s Ampere architecture will improve the company’s gaming
graphics cards remains a mystery. But in May, Nvidia CEO Jensen
Huang talked up how the technology will supercharge the company’s
enterprise GPUs.

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DEOHWRGRWKLVZLWKWKHKHOSRI760&¶VVHYHQ The Ampere
nanometer manufacturing technology, which can pack architecture
more transistors on the silicon. will first end
up in the A100,
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many as seven independent GPU tasks. This promises
to help data centers and cloud providers drive down
costs when leasing their computing power to clients.
“Each one of the customers could rent a smaller
FRPSXWHU<RXQRZKDYHWKHÀH[LELOLW\WRGRWKDW´
Huang added.
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cloud computing platform, Azure, which data scientists
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the state of the art on language, speech, vision and in the
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Mikhail Parakhin in a statement. cloud
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platform,
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potential treatments for the virus.

Although Huang focused little on the consumer side,

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months as the company prepares to release its rumored
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PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

Max Edd COMMENTARY

Politicians Are Making

Things Easy for COVID-19
Scammers

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millions of Americans. Most of us are
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the long haul.

max_eddy@pcmag.com

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

Neil J. Rubenkin COMMENTARY

Do You Really Need to Buy an

Antivirus App or a VPN Anymore?

R
ich people don’t get rich by wasting
money. So why spend money purchasing
antivirus protection for your devices? Is
that a waste of money? Overall, the answer is
no—it’s money well spent. Depending on your
operating system, adding antivirus protection
beyond what’s built in ranges from a good idea to
an absolute necessity.
As a PCMag lead
analyst, Neil
Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS all include evaluates and
reports on security
protection against malware, in one way or
solutions such as
another. For some, protection takes the form of a firewalls, anti-virus,
full-on antivirus. For others, security is baked anti-spyware,
ransomware
into the OS thoroughly enough that malware has
protection, and full
a really hard time doing anything. Either way, security suites.
though, you can improve your protection by
installing a third-party antivirus.

PLAN B: THE WINDOWS DEFENDER

STORY
0LFURVRIWKDVR̆HUHGVRPHYDULHW\RIEXLOWLQ
antivirus protection for Windows since the
release of Microsoft Anti-Virus for DOS in 1993.
The core of that product was purchased by
Symantec and became the original Norton
Antivirus. And wow, was it ever simple-minded.
$WUHOHDVHLWFRXOGGHWHFWDURXQGVSHFL¿F
viruses, and the software’s users had to install any
updates manually.
Neil J. Rubenkin Fast-forward to today, and we have Windows
Defender, a rather more impressive product. Oh,
it went through some rough stages
@neiljrubenking

developmentally. When the independent testing

labs started including Windows Defender, it
managed to score below zero in some tests. But
that was years ago, and this tool has been steadily
improving its scores.

It’s now called Microsoft Windows Defender

Security Center, because in addition to providing
antivirus protection, it also manages other
security features, including Windows Firewall. In
our testing of the solution, however, we
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example, it scored poorly in our hands-on
phishing protection test, which uses real-world
fraudulent sites scraped from the web. In any
case, its phishing protection and its defense
against malware-hosting sites both work only in
Microsoft browsers. Do you prefer Chrome?
Firefox? Sorry, you get no protection.

Microsoft recently added a kind of ransomware

protection in the form of a component that
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Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music,
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perhaps with reason; we found it annoying that
ransomware protection kicked in every time an
installer wanted to place an icon on the desktop.
In addition, you can’t authorize a program from
the popup warning the way you can with the
similar feature in Bitdefender Antivirus Plus,
Trend Micro, and others. Rather, you must dig
into Settings to add an exclusion.
 Windows Defender’s own developers seem to
Neil J. Rubenkin consider it a Plan B rather than a main solution.
When you install a third-party antivirus,
Windows Defender goes dormant so as not to Windows
interfere. If you remove third-party protection, it Defender’s
revives and takes up the job of defense again. The developers
best antivirus programs, even free antivirus tools, seem to con-
SHUIRUPVLJQL¿FDQWO\EHWWHULQWHVWLQJDQGR̆HU sider it a Plan
more features. B rather than
a main
GOOGLE PLAY PROTECT DOESN’T
solution.
Google immediately removes any malware that it
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here is “removes.” The Play Store doesn’t have the
same stringent vetting process that comes with
Apple’s App Store. So malware does get into the
store, and you might download it before Google
cleans up. In addition, it’s easy enough to allow
sideloading Android programs independently of
the Play Store.

Google Play Protect, the antivirus built into

Android, aims to protect your devices from
malware. As far as the independent testing labs
have found, it does a terrible job.

Experts at AV-Comparatives tested Google Play

Protect along with 10 third-party android
antivirus tools. They collected thousands of
unique Android malware samples and tested each
DQWLYLUXVDJDLQVWWKDWFROOHFWLRQ7KH\¿UVWOHWWKH
antivirus scan and eliminate samples it
recognized, and then launched any that
remained, to give behavior-based detection a
chance. They also installed 500 popular (and
legitimate) apps to check that the antivirus
doesn’t wrongly tag them as malicious.
 Trend Micro Maximum Security caught 100 percent of the samples, and
Neil J. Rubenkin eight others managed 99.9 percent. Play Protect trailed the pack with
83.2 percent protection. Nine third-party products exhibited zero false
SRVLWLYHVDQGDQRWKHURQHKDGMXVWWZR$VIRU3OD\3URWHFWLWLGHQWL¿HG
28 valid programs as malware. All the tested antivirus products received
the lab’s seal of approval. All, that is, except Play Protect.

In their reports on Windows, macOS, and Android antivirus products,

researchers at AV-Test Institute assign a product up to six points each
for Protection, Performance, and Usability. That last one means the
product doesn’t freak out the user by falsely accusing valid apps. Three
quarters of the other products earned 17 points or better in total, and all
but one took the full six points for protection (the outlier earned 5.5
points). Play Protect both missed blocking malware and actively
interfered with valid programs, getting zero for Protection and Usability.
Six points for not slowing performance doesn’t mean much when the
product doesn’t do its job.

The verdict is clear: Play Protect won’t protect you. You need a third-
party antivirus on your Android devices. We’ve reviewed some favorite
$QGURLGDQWLYLUXVWRROVORRNLQJVSHFL¿FDOO\DWVROXWLRQVWKDWVXSSRUW
multiple platforms, at PCMag.com.

SECURITY BAKED INTO MACOS

Sideloading (installing apps that come from outside the operating
system’s store) is common in Android. We’ve even seen security tools
that must be installed this way. Apple is much more insistent that only
App Store apps can be trusted. By default, if an app is not from the App
Store, you just can’t install it. (Yes, you can override that setting, but you
really shouldn’t.)

For another level of protection, a component called Gatekeeper checks

every app you install for malware. Starting in macOS Catalina,
Gatekeeper checks apps on every launch, not just at install time, and
examines non-malicious apps for security issues. Catalina also makes
apps get permission before they can access critical areas. And with
Catalina, the operating system resides on a read-only drive partition,
separate from all other programs.
Neil J. Rubenkin To infect another program, a virus needs to
modify that program, something that’s not
allowed in macOS. To steal private data, a
banking Trojan needs to read memory belonging To infect an-
to your browser, which is likewise not allowed. In other program,
the macOS environment, apps are isolated, able a virus needs to
to access only their own resources. And even if an modify that
app managed to break through this barrier and program, some-
access another program’s memory, features such thing that’s not
as ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) allowed
mean it couldn’t do much with that access. in macOS.

Many manufacturers make PCs, but only Apple

makes Macs. The company has full control over
the hardware, including the T2 chip present in
many newer Macs. This chip creates what’s called
a Secure Enclave, an area of memory that’s
completely unavailable to any process not part of
macOS. It also manages Touch ID, encrypted
storage, and more.

Despite all these safeguards, macOS malware

exists. In fact, one recent report by Malwarebytes
LGHQWL¿HVDKLJKHULQIHFWLRQUDWHIRU0DFVWKDQIRU
Windows boxes. Last year, an attack dubbed
CrescentCore weaseled its way past Gatekeeper
E\FRRSWLQJDFHUWL¿FDWHWKDW$SSOHDVVLJQHGWR
another developer.

While Macs aren’t as vulnerable as Windows

boxes or Android devices, the old saw that Macs
don’t get malware is demonstrably untrue. And
unlike Windows, macOS doesn’t include an
antivirus utility as such. If you don’t have
antivirus protection on your Macs, look into
getting it.
Neil J. Rubenkin WHAT’S TIGHTER THAN MACOS? IOS!
Apple has been developing operating systems since the 1980s—plenty of
time to make (and learn from) a lot of mistakes. By the time the
developers started working on iOS, they had learned a ton about what
makes for a secure operating system. And release after release, iOS gets
even more secure.

So secure, in fact, that it’s not really possible to create an antivirus to run
on iOS. The Malwarebytes report mentioned above notes, “On the iOS
side, malware exists, but there’s no way to scan for it.” It goes on to point
RXWWKDWWKLVL26PDOZDUHFRQVLVWVPRVWO\RIQDWLRQVWDWHH̆RUWVQRWWKH
kind of thing your average user needs to worry about (unless you’re an
average Chinese Uyghur).

Last year saw the release of checkm8, a technique that allowed a partial
jailbreak of any iPhone, from the iPhone 4s to the iPhone X. Sounds bad,
doesn’t it? But implementing checkm8 requires full access to the phone,
which must be physically connected to a PC or Mac. It doesn’t enable
RSHQLQJDORFNHGSKRQH$QGLWVH̆HFWYDQLVKHVZKHQWKHSKRQHUHERRWV
It’s a nice tool for researchers but not an actual threat.

Don’t look for a roundup of iOS antivirus products at PCMag.com—we

don’t have one. If all you ever use are iOS (and iPadOS) devices, you
really don’t need antivirus. You’ll still want to use an iPhone VPN in
some situations, however. Speaking of VPNs...

WHAT ABOUT MY PHONE’S BUILT-IN VPN?

We’ve had readers ask why they can’t just use the free VPN built into
WKHLUL3KRQHV,QGHHGWKHUH¶VD931FRQ¿JXUDWLRQSDJHLQ6HWWLQJVEXW
you can’t use it without going through the complex process of manually
VHWWLQJXSD931SUR¿OH7KHPRVWLPSRUWDQWHOHPHQWRIWKDWSUR¿OHLV
the VPN server you want to connect with. And to gain access to that
server, you’ll need to pay for a subscription. Which comes with an app.
So just use NordVPN or whatever app suits you best! The same is true
on Android devices.
Neil J. Rubenkin When you do have a VPN installed, it shows up in
Settings, in the same section that holds Wi-Fi and
%OXHWRRWK:HZHUHVXUSULVHGWR¿QGWKLVLWHP
present on a test iPhone when we hadn’t installed Windows De-
a VPN. It turns out that a Dashlane update fender is get-
automatically installed a simple VPN. Even then, ting better, but
the Settings page advised performing all it’s not up to
FRQ¿JXUDWLRQWKURXJKWKH'DVKODQHDSS6RUU\ the best com-
your phone doesn’t have a VPN client built in. petitors, even
the best
PROTECT YOUR DEVICES free ones.
If you’re using a Windows computer or an
$QGURLGGHYLFH\RXVKRXOGGH¿QLWHO\LQVWDOOD
third-party antivirus utility. Windows Defender is
getting better, but it’s not up to the best
competitors, even the best free ones. And Google
3OD\3URWHFWLVLQH̆HFWLYH

Mac users need protection too. One study showed

that last year Macs got infected at a higher rate
than PCs. That could well be due to the Mac’s
long-standing reputation for resisting malware.
As for iOS, Apple got it right, right from the start.
These platforms have security built in such that
it’s nearly impossible for an attack to succeed
(nearly, but not completely). That protection also
means it’s nearly impossible to write an iOS
antivirus. Use the time and money you saved not
installing iOS protection to triple-check all your
other devices.

neil_rubenking@pcmag.com

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

 REVIEWS
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GHYDOXHVWKHP

COMPARISONS AND CONCLUSIONS

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ZRUWKWKHSULFHDQGLW¶VRXU(GLWRUV¶&KRLFHIRUKLJKHQG¿WQHVVWUDFNHUV

ANGELA MOSCARITOLO

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

 REVIEWS
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

TCL 10 Pro: Best Midrange

Android Phone

W
hen you hear TCL, you probably think of TVs; but the company is
no stranger to making smartphones. TCL is behind some of the
latest BlackBerry releases, as well as hundreds of other white-label
phones for carriers across the globe. If the TCL 10 Pro is anything to go by,
however, the company should put its name in the smartphone spotlight more
often. With solid performance, good battery life, a sleek design, and a lovely
GLVSOD\WKH3URR̆HUVDQHDUO\ÀDJVKLSOHYHOH[SHULHQFHIRUVLJQL¿FDQWO\OHVV
than handsets from other manufacturers, and it earns our Editors’ Choice for
midrange Android phones.

DESIGN, DISPLAY, AND DURABILITY

No matter its price, the TCL 10 Pro is one of the most attractive devices on the
market, from its minimalist camera stack to its smoky-gray-ombre color. The
phone measures 6.24 by 2.85 by 0.36 inches (HWD) and comes in at 6.60
ounces, which feels perfectly balanced in the hand. It has a nice heft without
EHLQJKHDY\DQGDJRRGJULSWKDQNVWRLWVPDWWH¿QLVK
2QWKHIURQWRIWKHSKRQH\RX¶OO¿QGDLQFKFXUYHG TCL 10 Pro
AMOLED display with a teardrop notch for the front- PROS Excellent build
facing camera. Resolution comes in at 2,340 by 1,080, quality. Beautiful
IRUDSL[HOGHQVLW\RISSL AMOLED display. Solid
performance.
Promised Android 11
As the world’s second-largest television manufacturer, update.
TCL knows how to make a good display, and you can CONS No wireless
really see that on this phone. Colors are lush, highlights charging. Not
pop, and shadows are rich and inky, thanks to the waterproof.

FXVWRP1[WYLVLRQGLVSOD\HQJLQH1H[WWRWKHLQFK BOTTOM LINE The

*RRJOH3L[HODZKLFKKDVDKLJKHUSL[HOGHQVLW\ TCL 10 Pro offers solid
performance and
(441ppi), the 10 Pro looks more vivid (yet accurate), battery life, along
ZKLOHWKH3L[HOFRPHVR̆DVFRRO with an attractive
design and a beautiful
display that can easily
1[WYLVLRQDOVRDXWRPDWLFDOO\XSFRQYHUWV6'5WR+'5 hold their own against
HDUQLQJWKHSKRQH1HWÀL[+'5FHUWL¿FDWLRQ2XU much more expensive
RQO\FRPSODLQWLVWKDWWKHGLVSOD\FDQEHDOLWWOHGL̇FXOW Android flagships.

to see in direct sunlight.

7KHUH¶VDOVRDQLQGLVSOD\RSWLFDO¿QJHUSULQWVHQVRU,W¶V
EHWWHUWKDQWKHRQHLQWKH6DPVXQJ*DOD[\$EXWLW¶V
VWLOO¿QLFN\²LWZRUNHGRQO\DERXWSHUFHQWRIWKH
time in testing. The Face Unlock feature is much better,
but you need to be willing to give up a little security
for convenience.
The back of the phone has a minimalist aesthetic. The
KRUL]RQWDOFDPHUDVWDFNVLWVÀXVKZLWKWKHERG\DQG
creates a monochromatic stripe across the top quarter
of the phone, for a handsome alternative to the bulky, Like just about
unbalanced cameras we’re seeing on many new phones every other
these days. midrange
phone (aside
The top edge holds a 3.5mm headphone jack, while a from the new
86%&FKDUJLQJSRUWVSHDNHUDQGK\EULG6,0VORWVLW iPhone SE),
on the bottom. The left edge is home to a button that the 10 Pro
FDQEHPDSSHGWRUHVSRQGWRGL̆HUHQWWDSVDQGWKH
lacks an
volume rocker and power buttons can be found on the
IP rating.
right. All the buttons are easy to reach.

Durability is our only real concern with the design. Like

just about every other midrange phone (aside from the
QHZL3KRQH6(WKH3URODFNVDQ,3UDWLQJPHDQLQJ
LWLVQ¶WṘFLDOO\SURWHFWHGDJDLQVWGXVWRUZDWHU7KH
display and body are constructed of Gorilla Glass 5.
While not as durable as Gorilla Glass 6, it doesn’t
scratch quite as easily. As always, your best bet is to put
the phone in a sturdy case.
AUDIO, CALL, AND NETWORK QUALITY
The TCL 10 Pro is available unlocked. It supports LTE
EDQGV
DQGVKRXOGZRUNRQDOOPDMRU86FDUULHUV,WGRHVQ¶W Maximum
KDYHEDQGKRZHYHUVRUXUDO70RELOHFXVWRPHUV earpiece
PLJKWH[SHULHQFHVSRWW\FRQQHFWLYLW\ volume comes
in at 83dB,
6SHHGVZHUHVROLGRQ9HUL]RQ¶VQHWZRUNLQWHVWLQJZLWK which is loud
averages of 66.4Mbps down and 13.2Mbps up. That’s enough
not quite as fast as we’ve seen with other phones but is to hear
likely caused by network conditions, since the 10 Pro’s outside on a
6QDSGUDJRQ;PRGHPKDV/7($GYDQFHGFDUULHU busy street.
DJJUHJDWLRQ[0,02DQG4$0HQFRGLQJ
for downloads.

&DOOTXDOLW\LVJRRG0D[LPXPHDUSLHFHYROXPHFRPHV
in at 83dB, which is loud enough to hear outside on a
busy street. Noise cancellation works well, though we
noticed the sounds of some background construction
make its way into a few test calls.

7KHSKRQH¶VVLQJOHERWWRP¿ULQJVSHDNHUKDVDSHDN
YROXPHRIG%,W¶VORXGDQGZRUNVZHOOIRUFRQIHUHQFH
calls and Instagram videos, but it’s not something you’ll
ZDQWWRXVHIRUORQJ1HWÀL[ELQJHVRUWROLVWHQWRPXVLF
6SDWLDOO\WKHVSHDNHUODFNVDVLJQL¿FDQWVRXQGVWDJHDQG
VRXQGVER[\)RUWXQDWHO\\RXFDQXVH\RXUFKRLFHRI
wired or Bluetooth headphones.

The TCL 10 Pro has Bluetooth 5.0 and supports dual-

band Wi-Fi.

CAMERAS
The four cameras on the back of the phone consist of a
64MP primary sensor, a 16MP super-wide sensor, a
5MP macro sensor, and a 2MP super-low-light sensor.
7KHIURQWIDFLQJVHO¿HFDPHUDFORFNVLQDW03
 All our test
shots with the
64MP and
16MP sensors
show
excellent
color accuracy
and depth
of field.
For the most part, the rear cameras work well. All our
test shots with the 64MP and 16MP sensors show
H[FHOOHQWFRORUDFFXUDF\DQGGHSWKRI¿HOG7KHUH¶V
VRPHORVVRI¿QHGHWDLOZLWKERWKOHQVHVDQGPRVWRI
the shots with the super-wide lens have minor edge
distortion. That said, these issues are visible only when
YLHZLQJWKHLPDJHVDWIXOOVL]H²DELWVPDOOHUDQGWKH\
look great for social-media sharing.

:HDOVRWHVWHGDOOWKHFDPHUDVH[FHSWWKHPDFUR
sensor) late at night to pretty good results. Distortion
was a little more apparent with the super-wide lens, and
there was some edge noise in many photos, but they’re
VWLOO¿QHIRUVRFLDOVKDULQJ

Test shots with the 5MP macro lens, however, were a

GLVDSSRLQWPHQWORRNLQJÀDWDQGPXVK\DFURVVWKH
board. You might get a better shot with a tripod, but it
doesn’t work well handheld.

,QJRRGOLJKWWKHIURQWIDFLQJFDPHUDWDNHVFULVSVHO¿HV
ZLWKH[FHOOHQWFRORUDFFXUDF\3RUWUDLWPRGHSKRWRVRQ
the other hand, show some unnatural blurring around
KDLUDQGHDUVDQGORZOLJKWVKRWVDUHDELWÀDWZLWKD
lack of detail. For the best photo quality at this price,
\RX¶OOZDQWWRORRNDWWKH3L[HOD
SPECS AND PERFORMANCE
7KH7&/3URLVSRZHUHGE\D4XDOFRPP6QDSGUDJRQ
FKLSVHWZLWKDKHDOWK\*%RI5$07KHUH¶V*%
RIVWRUDJHRIZKLFK*%LVDYDLODEOHRXWRIWKHER[ The TCL 10
DORQJZLWKDPLFUR6'VORW Pro is
powered by a
$OWKRXJKWKH3UR¶V6QDSGUDJRQSURFHVVRULVQ¶WDV Qualcomm
SRZHUIXODVZKDW\RX¿QGRQÀDJVKLSVLW¶VQRVORXFKLQ Snapdragon
the performance department. We were able to open a 675 chipset
dozen apps and 30 Chrome pages before we noticed a with a
hint of slowdown.
healthy 6GB
of RAM.
For gaming, we tested the phone with Asphalt 8 and
PUBG: Mobile. Load times take a little longer than they
GRRQWKH6DPVXQJ*DOD[\6EXWFRQVLGHULQJWKDWWKH
6FRVWVPRUHWKDQGRXEOHWKH3URWKDWVOLJKWODJLV
easy to get past. Once loaded, we played for a few hours
DQGQHYHUH[SHULHQFHGDQ\FUDVKHVRUVNLSSHGIUDPHV

Benchmark testing shows the 10 Pro can handle a heavy

load without issue. On PCMark Work 2.0, a series of
tests that emulate everyday smartphone tasks, the phone
VFRUHGDERXWWKHVDPHDV\RX¶OO¿QGRQWKH*RRJOH
3L[HODDQGPXFKEHWWHUWKDQWKH6DPVXQJ
*DOD[\$

The 10 Pro has a 4,500mAh battery that should easily get

you through a full day. In our battery-drain test, which
streams HD video over Wi-Fi at full brightness, the
SKRQHODVWHGKRXUVDQGPLQXWHV:LWKPRUH
conservative use, you should be able to get a few more
hours of screen time.

:KHQLW¶VWLPHWRFKDUJHWKH3URVXSSRUWV4XLFN
&KDUJHDQGKDVD9DGDSWHULQWKHER[<RXFDQXVH
the phone’s battery to charge other devices at 5W via the
86%&SRUWDQGFDEOH8QIRUWXQDWHO\ZLUHOHVVFKDUJLQJ
isn’t supported.
SOFTWARE
The 10 Pro ships with Android 10 along with a TCL UI overlay. For the most
part, TCL’s custom skin adds some thoughtful changes to Android. The Edge
Bar lets you quickly add shortcuts to your most frequently used apps, and the
6RIWZDUH.H\DSSOHWV\RXHDVLO\PDSWKHEXWWRQRQWKHOHIWVLGHRIWKHSKRQH
:LWK6XSHU%OXHWRRWK\RXFDQFRQQHFWWKHSKRQHWRXSWRIRXU%OXHWRRWK
speakers at once.

,QDGGLWLRQWRWKHVWDQGDUGDUUD\RI*RRJOH$SSV\RX¶OODOVR¿QGDKDQGIXORI
7&/¶VRZQSURGXFWLYLW\DSSVZKLFKDUH¿QHEXWXQQHFHVVDU\)DFHERRNDQG
1HWÀL[DUHDOVRSUHORDGHGEXWFDQHDVLO\EHXQLQVWDOOHG$OWKRXJK*RRJOHKDV\HW
to announce Android 11, TCL promises the 10 Pro will receive an update to the
QHZ26LQWKHIXWXUH

CONCLUSIONS
The TCL 10 Pro hits the sweet spot for midrange Android phones. It has plenty
of horsepower for most users, along with good battery life, a lovely design, and a
WHUUL¿FGLVSOD\7KH3L[HODUHPDLQVDVWURQJRSWLRQIRUVKXWWHUEXJVEXWWKH
TCL 10 Pro has better build quality, longer battery life, and a more vibrant
display, earning our Editors’ Choice. That said, if you’re not tied to Android, we
DOVRKLJKO\UHFRPPHQGWKHL3KRQH6(ZKLFKKDVDPRUHSRZHUIXOSURFHVVRU
ZLUHOHVVFKDUJLQJDQGPXOWL\HDU26XSGDWHV

STEVEN WINKELMAN

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

 REVIEWS
HARDWARE

Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch

(2020): Gets the Basics
Right

A
controversial keyboard once present on every Apple laptop is now a
thing of the past. The new-for-2020 13-inch MacBook Pro was the last
Mac notebook waiting to be updated with the new Magic Keyboard,
following its introduction on the 16-inch MacBook Pro and the 2020 MacBook
Air. The Magic Keyboard ditches the extremely shallow keys of the previous
design, adding travel distance and stability in a bid to please people who type
on their laptops all day long. Also new on our review unit are an updated 10th
Generation Intel processor, faster memory, and more storage. The upgrades
DUHQLFHLI\RXFDQD̆RUGWKHPEXWPRVWSHRSOHZLOOEHVDWLV¿HGZLWKWKHEDVH
FRQ¿JXUDWLRQLQVWHDGZKLFKUHWDLQVRXU(GLWRUV¶&KRLFHIRUEHVW0DFODSWRS
TWO MAIN MODELS, ONE NEW KEYBOARD Apple
MacBook Pro
$SSOHVHOOVWZRPDLQFRQ¿JXUDWLRQVRIWKHLQFK 13-Inch (2020)
0DF%RRN3UR3K\VLFDOO\WKH\¶UHQHDUO\LGHQWLFDO%RWK
PROS Improved
have the Magic Keyboard and a thin touch-enabled keyboard comfort.
mini-screen forward of the keyboard called the Touch Excellent Retina
Bar. They also share the same dimensions: 0.61 by 12 by display. Four
Thunderbolt 3 ports.
8.4 inches (HWD) and 3.1 pounds. The main way you Long battery life.
can tell them apart from the outside is by the number of Good graphics and
SRUWV7KHHQWU\OHYHOFRQ¿JXUDWLRQKDVMXVW computing
performance.
WZR86%7\SH&SRUWVRQWKHOHIWVLGHEXWWKHXSJUDGHG
YHUVLRQUHYLHZHGKHUHR̆HUVDQDGGLWLRQDOWZR CONS Expensive as
configured. Limited
86%7\SH&FRQQHFWRUVRQWKHULJKWIRUDWRWDORIIRXU port variety. No
support for Wi-Fi 6.
2QWKHLQVLGHWKHGL̆HUHQFHVDUHPRUHVLJQL¿FDQW7KH BOTTOM LINE A
HQWU\OHYHOFRQ¿JXUDWLRQXVHVWKHVDPHWK*HQHUDWLRQ tweaked keyboard
,QWHO&RUHLRU&RUHLSURFHVVRUVWKDWSRZHUHGWKH and the option for a
10th Generation Intel
SUHYLRXVYHUVLRQRIWKHLQFK0DF%RRN3UR2XU “Ice Lake” CPU bring
review unit features an improved 10th Generation “Ice typing comfort and
/DNH´SURFHVVRUDYDLODEOHLQHLWKHU&RUHLRU&RUHL better performance
to Apple’s already-
YDULDQWV,QDGGLWLRQWRDQHZ&38GHVLJQWKHWK excellent 13-inch
*HQHUDWLRQFKLSVEULQJEHQH¿WVVXFKDVIDVWHUJUDSKLFV MacBook Pro.
processing and memory, which are unavailable on the
entry-level MacBook Pro.
:KLOHWKHFRQ¿JXUDWLRQGRHVR̆HUPRGHVWO\EHWWHUSHUIRUPDQFHPRVW
Apple shoppers who need computing muscle should select the 16-inch MacBook
3URLQVWHDGZLWKLWVPRUHSRZHUIXO&RUHLDQGGLVFUHWHJUDSKLFVSURFHVVLQJ
The main reason to upgrade to the 13-inch MacBook Pro is for the improved
typing comfort.

,¿QGWKH0DJLF.H\ERDUGWREHDWOHDVWDVFRPIRUWDEOHDVWKHSUH$SSOH
NH\ERDUGVDQGVLJQL¿FDQWO\PRUHFRPIRUWDEOHWKDQWKHEXWWHUÀ\VW\OH
NH\ERDUGLWUHSODFHV7KH0DJLF.H\ERDUG¶VVZLWFKHVDUHPDGHRIWZRSDUWVD
FRPSUHVVLEOHUXEEHUGRPHVLWVEHQHDWKWKHNH\FDSWRSURYLGHWKHNH\¶V
springiness and bounceback, and a scissor mechanism guides the movement,
locking into the keycap at the top of travel to help prevent wobbly keys.

7KHSURFHVVLVQ¶WWHUULEO\LQQRYDWLYH5DWKHULW¶VDQLWHUDWLRQRIWKHZD\ODSWRS
NH\ERDUGVKDYHEHHQGHVLJQHGIRUGHFDGHV7KHEXWWHUÀ\GHVLJQE\FRQWUDVWLV
very innovative, but not in a good way—its keys barely move when you strike
them, providing an experience more akin to tapping on a touch screen than
typing on the keyboard.

3HUKDSVWKHRQO\EHQH¿WWRWKHSUHYLRXVNH\ERDUGGHVLJQLVLWVDELOLW\WRSUHYHQW
OLJKWIURPVSLOOLQJRXWDURXQGWKHNH\¶VHGJHV<RXFDQGH¿QLWHO\VHHWKLV
VSLOORYHULQWKH0DJLF.H\ERDUG,W¶VDVOLJKWO\PHVVLHUORRNZKHQ\RX¶UHXVLQJLW
LQWKHGDUNEXWLW¶VKDUGO\DGHDOEUHDNLQJDQQR\DQFH
TYPING ‘MAGIC’
Now that all Mac laptops have the Magic Keyboard,
shoppers on a budget will also be considering the
0DF%RRN$LUZKLFKVWDUWVDW7KH$LULVD¿QH Some apps,
choice for basic computing, but it lacks a few features including the
that are exclusive to the MacBook Pro. Some are trivial, Safari web
such as the Touch Bar. This tiny screen replaces the row browser and
RIIXQFWLRQNH\VEXWWKHIXQFWLRQDOLW\LWR̆HUVGHSHQGV Adobe
JUHDWO\XSRQWKHDSS\RX¶UHXVLQJ Photoshop,
make
Some apps, including the Safari web browser and Adobe
extensive use
Photoshop, make extensive use of the Touch Bar,
of the Touch.
R̆HULQJWKHDELOLW\WRRSHQERRNPDUNHGZHESDJHVRU
DGMXVWWKHGLDPHWHURIDSDLQWEUXVKWRRO0DQ\RWKHU
DSSVR̆HUQR7RXFK%DUVXSSRUWKRZHYHULQZKLFK
case it serves only as a way to control basic functions
such as system volume and screen brightness.

)UHTXHQWXVHUVRIWKH(VFDSHNH\ZLOODSSUHFLDWHWKDW
the new Magic Keyboard has reclaimed this vital key
IURPWKH7RXFK%DU7KHUH¶VQRZDSK\VLFDO(VFDSHNH\
located to the left of the Touch Bar, instead of a virtual
one built into the Touch Bar, as on previous versions of
the MacBook Pro.
7KHSUHVHQFHRIWKH7RXFK%DULVQ¶WDNH\UHDVRQWRFKRRVHWKH0DF%RRN3UR
RYHUWKH0DF%RRN$LU7KHSURFHVVRUGL̆HUHQFHVEHWZHHQWKH$LUDQGWKH3UR
DUHPRUHVLJQL¿FDQW7KHHQWU\OHYHO0DF%RRN$LUKDVDWK*HQHUDWLRQTXDG
FRUH&RUHLZLWKDEDVHFORFNVSHHGRIMXVW*+]DQGSRZHUFRQVXPSWLRQRI
ZDWWV0RUHSRZHUDYDLODEOHWRWKH&38W\SLFDOO\LQFUHDVHVSHUIRUPDQFHDOO
HOVHEHLQJHTXDO(YHQWKRXJKWKHHQWU\OHYHOLQFK0DF%RRN3URKDVDQ
ROGHUWK*HQHUDWLRQ&RUHLZLWKWKHVDPHQXPEHURIFRUHVLWV*+]FORFN
VSHHGLVKLJKHUDQGVRLVLWVZDWWSRZHUFRQVXPSWLRQ6WHSSLQJXSWRWKH
&RUHLLQRXUUHYLHZXQLWJHWV\RXDQHYHQEHWWHUWK*HQHUDWLRQ&RUHLWKDW¶V
PRUHSRZHUIXOWKDQWKHRQHLQWKH0DF%RRN$LUZLWKD*+]EDVHFORFNVSHHG

7KH0DF%RRN3URDOVRR̆HUVPRUHSRUWVWKDQWKH0DF%RRN$LUGRHV
which is handy when you need to connect to multiple peripherals and external
GLVSOD\V<RX¶OOVWLOOQHHGDGDSWHUVRUVSHFLDOFDEOHVVLQFHDOORIWKHSRUWVXVHWKH
VDPHRYDOVKDSHG86%&FRQQHFWRU²EXWZLWKIRXURIWKHP\RXPLJKWQRWQHHG
to buy an expensive docking station.

7KHDXGLRTXDOLW\RIWKH0DF%RRN3URLVJHQHUDOO\EHWWHUWKDQWKDWRIWKH
0DF%RRN$LUDVZHOO,WVVWHUHRVSHDNHUVR̆HUH[FHOOHQWEDVVDQGSOHQW\RI
volume for such a small laptop and certainly have more dimensional sound than
WKRVHRIWKH0DF%RRN$LU¶VVSHDNHUV7ZRWZHHWHUV¿UHXSZDUGWKURXJKJULOOHV
WKDWÀDQNWKHNH\ERDUGDQGIUHTXHQFLHVIURPWKHZRRIHUVHPDQDWHIURPYHQWV
on the bottom of the laptop.

7KHHQWU\OHYHO0DF%RRN3URLVGL̆HUHQWLQLWVDXGLRDUUDQJHPHQW,W
lacks dedicated woofers and tweeters, instead featuring four full-range speakers
WKDWDOO¿UHWKURXJKWKHNH\ERDUGÀDQNLQJJULOOHV7KHODFNRIGHGLFDWHGZRRIHUV
could have a slight negative impact on bass delivery, but I was not able to verify
WKLVZLWKP\RZQHDUVDV,KDGRQO\WKHPRGHORQKDQG

AS EVER, SHARP: THE RETINA DISPLAY

Other key features are virtually the same between the MacBook Air and the
0DF%RRN3URLQFOXGLQJWKH5HWLQD'LVSOD\,W¶VDLQFKSDQHOZLWKDYHU\
KLJKQDWLYHUHVROXWLRQVRPHZKHUHEHWZHHQIXOO+'DQG.,WPHDVXUHV
E\SL[HOV&RORUVDSSHDUEULOOLDQWDQGWH[WLVVKDUS,HVSHFLDOO\OLNHWKH
7UXH7RQHIHDWXUHZKLFKRSWLPL]HVWKHZKLWHEDODQFHRIWKHVFUHHQDFFRUGLQJWR
the nature of the ambient light around the laptop.
7KH0DF%RRN3UR¶VVFUHHQKDVDIHZPLQRUDGYDQWDJHV
RYHUWKH0DF%RRN$LU¶VGLVSOD\LQFOXGLQJDKLJKHU
QLWEULJKWQHVVOHYHODQGVXSSRUWIRUWKH3FRORU
JDPXWZKLFKR̆HUVPRUHFRORUV%XW,¿QGERWKVFUHHQV Touch ID
comparable for casual use such as watching videos or doubles as
editing documents. the power
button for the
&DPHUDTXDOLW\LVDOVRVLPLODUEHWZHHQWKHWZRODSWRSV laptop and
ERWKDUHHTXLSSHGZLWKSZHEFDPVWKDWR̆HURQO\ can also be
marginal video quality. Video chats are frequently used to
grainy indoors, even in well-lit rooms, though this is a
authenticate
common problem among nearly all laptop cameras.
Apple Pay.
The MacBook Pro and MacBook Air both have built-in
¿QJHUSULQWUHDGHUVZKLFK$SSOHFDOOV7RXFK,'VHQVRUV
Located at the upper right corner of the keyboard,
Touch ID doubles as the power button for the laptop
and can also be used to authenticate Apple Pay
purchases and grant permissions to apps without typing
your macOS account password.

Both of these laptops also have similarly excellent

WRXFKSDGV,QVWHDGRIDSK\VLFDOVZLWFKWKHRYHUVL]HG
glass surface uses haptic feedback to simulate clicks.
7KDWPHDQVWKHFOLFNLQJVHQVDWLRQLVDGMXVWDEOHLQWKH
System Preferences app, and the clicks will feel the
VDPHQRPDWWHUZKHUH\RXU¿QJHUKDSSHQVWREHRQ
the touchpad.

SILVER OR GRAY COLOR OPTIONS

The MacBook Pro is available in the dark Space Gray
DOXPLQXP¿QLVKRIRXUUHYLHZXQLWZKLFKLVDFODVVLF
color scheme that has been around for several years.
<RXFDQDOVRRUGHUD0DF%RRN3URLQDOLJKWHU6LOYHU
¿QLVK7KH0DF%RRN$LUDOVRR̆HUVERWKRIWKHVH
¿QLVKHVDQGLWDGGVDWKLUG5RVH*ROG¿QLVKZKLFKZLOO
certainly turn heads.
7KH0DF%RRN3UR¶VZLUHOHVVFRQQHFWLYLW\LVDQFKRUHGE\
VXSSRUWIRUDF:L)LDQG%OXHWRRWK6XSSRUW
for the latest Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) standard is missing,
XQIRUWXQDWHO\:L)LGRHVQ¶WR̆HUDKXJHEHQH¿W Wi-Fi 6 doesn’t
currently, since few wireless routers support it yet, but offer a huge
LWVDEVHQFHPHDQVWKH0DF%RRN3URLVQ¶WDVIXWXUH benefit now,
proof as it could be. but its absence
means the
,QDGGLWLRQWRWKHWK*HQHUDWLRQ&RUHLWKH MacBook Pro
version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro also includes 16GB isn’t as future-
RI0+]PHPRU\DQLQWHJUDWHG,QWHO,ULV3OXV
proof as it
JUDSKLFVSURFHVVRULW¶VSDUWRIWKH&RUHL&38DQGD
could be.
*%66':KLOHWKHPHPRU\DQGVWRUDJHDPRXQWV
DUHDGHTXDWHIRUDODSWRSRIWKLVSULFHWKH&RUHLLVQRW
Most current-model Windows ultraportable laptops in
WKLVSULFHUDQJHLQFOXGHDWK*HQHUDWLRQ&RUHL
among them the Dell XPS 13, the Microsoft Surface
/DSWRSDQGWKH5D]HU%ODGH6WHDOWK

8SJUDGLQJWKH0DF%RRN3URWRDWK*HQHUDWLRQ&RUH
LZLOOFRVW\RXDQDGGLWLRQDO<RXFDQDOVR
upgrade the memory and storage amounts, all the way
up to 32GB of memory and a 4TB SSD. The upgrades
reduce the value proposition even further: A maxed-out
FRQ¿JXUDWLRQLV
‘ICE LAKE’ ON PAR: DECENT COMPUTING PERFORMANCE
(YHQWKRXJKLWODFNVD&RUHLRXU0DF%RRN3URUHYLHZXQLWEHQFKPDUNVZHOO
FRPSDUHGZLWKWKH0DF%RRN$LUWKHHQWU\OHYHO0DF%RRN3URZLWKWKH
WK*HQHUDWLRQ&RUHLWKH5D]HU%ODGH6WHDOWKDQGWKH'HOO;36:LWKWKH
exception of the MacBook Air, all of these laptops perform roughly equally on
our video encoding test, in which we put a stopwatch on test systems as they
transcode a standard 12-minute clip of 4K video (the open source Blender demo
movie Tears of Steel)WRDS03¿OHXVLQJWKHRSHQVRXUFH+DQGEUDNH
DSS,W¶VDWLPHGWHVWDQGORZHUUHVXOWVDUHEHWWHU7KDWLVLQWHUHVWLQJ
FRQVLGHULQJWKHPL[RI&RUHLVDQG&RUHLV

6FRUHVYDULHGDELWPRUHRQRXU&LQHEHQFKWHVWZKLFKLVIXOO\WKUHDGHGWRPDNH
XVHRIDOODYDLODEOHSURFHVVRUFRUHVDQGWKUHDGV&LQHEHQFKVWUHVVHVWKH&38
rather than the GPU to render a complex image. The result is a proprietary
VFRUHLQGLFDWLQJD3&¶VVXLWDELOLW\IRUSURFHVVRULQWHQVLYHZRUNORDGV7KH
0DF%RRN3URHNHGRXWDZLQKHUHDQGLW¶VHVSHFLDOO\LPSUHVVLYHWKDWLWGRHV
EHWWHUWKDQWKH&RUHLSRZHUHG'HOODQG5D]HUDOWKRXJKWKHPDUJLQVDUHVPDOO

For a real-world look at image editing performance, we use Adobe Photoshop to

DSSO\DVHULHVRIFRPSOH[¿OWHUVDQGH̆HFWVWRDVWDQGDUG-3(*WHVWLPDJH
We time each operation and, at the end, add up the total execution time. As
ZLWK+DQGEUDNHORZHUWLPHVDUHEHWWHUKHUH7KH5D]HUDQGWKH'HOOERWK
performed better than the MacBook Pro on this test, though again, at least
DJDLQVWWKH5D]HUWKHPDUJLQVDUHVPDOO7KH3KRWRVKRSWHVWVWUHVVHV&38
VWRUDJHVXEV\VWHPDQG5$0EXWLWFDQDOVRWDNHDGYDQWDJHRIPRVW*38VWR
VSHHGXSWKHSURFHVVRIDSSO\LQJ¿OWHUVVRV\VWHPVZLWKSRZHUIXOJUDSKLFVFKLSV
or cards may see a boost.

Gaming performance from the Iris Plus Graphics in the MacBook Pro is very
JRRGIRUDQXOWUDSRUWDEOHODSWRSWKDW¶VQRWLQWHQGHGWRSOD\GHPDQGLQJ$$$
titles. On the Unigine Heaven game simulation, which renders and pans
through a detailed 3D scene and measures how the system copes, the MacBook
Pro managed 40 frames per second (fps) on the Medium quality setting at a
SUHVROXWLRQDQGISVRQWKH8OWUDVHWWLQJDWS

6WRUDJHSHUIRUPDQFHDQGEDWWHU\OLIHDUHDOVRH[FHOOHQW7KH0DF%RRN3UR¶V
*%66'DFKLHYHGZULWHVSHHGVRI0%SVDQGUHDGVSHHGVRI0%SV
RQWKH%ODFNPDJLF'LVN6SHHG7HVW:KLOHWKH0DF%RRN3URGLGQ¶WODVWDVORQJ
as the MacBook Air or the XPS 13 on our battery rundown test, it should
QHYHUWKHOHVVODVWWKURXJKDGD\RIOLJKWZRUNRUDQLQWHUFRQWLQHQWDOÀLJKW¶V
worth of video viewing.

MACBOOK PRO OR IPAD PRO?

Many prospective buyers will also want to consider an iPad Pro instead of a Mac
ODSWRS7KH*HHNEHQFK&38WHVWVXJJHVWVWKH$SSOH$SRZHUHGL3DG
Pro and our MacBook Pro review unit are roughly equal when it comes to raw
&38SHUIRUPDQFH7KH*HHNEHQFKWHVWPHDVXUHVDSURFHVVRU¶VDSWLWXGHIRU
everything from checking email to taking a picture to playing music. The iPad
3URVFRUHGRQWKH*HHNEHQFKVLQJOHFRUHWHVWDQGRQWKHPXOWLFRUH
WHVWDQGWKH0DF%RRN3URVFRUHGRQVLQJOHFRUHWHVWDQGRQWKH
multi-core test.

7KH*HHNEHQFKUHVXOWVVXJJHVWWKDW$SSOH¶VRZQ$VHULHVSURFHVVRUVDUHZHOO
positioned to replace Intel silicon in Mac notebooks, a switchover that is
rumored to begin in the next year or so. For now, though, the main decision
facing most Mac laptop shoppers is whether to go with the MacBook Air or the
MacBook Pro. The price of our 13-inch MacBook Pro review unit is a bit hard to
VWRPDFKIRUWKRVHZKRQHHGDODSWRSMXVWIRUEDVLFFRPSXWLQJWDVNVEXWWKH
HQWU\OHYHOYHUVLRQLVHDVLHUWRUHFRPPHQG,QIDFWWKDWFRQ¿JXUDWLRQLV
QRZDQHYHQEHWWHUYDOXHVLQFHLWWRRJHWV$SSOH¶VPRUHFRPIRUWDEOH0DJLF
.H\ERDUG,W¶VDOVREHWWHUHTXLSSHGWKDQWKHHQWU\OHYHOFRQ¿JXUDWLRQRI
the MacBook Air.

The MacBook Pro has long been a status symbol and an inspiration that has
given rise to legions of similar Windows ultraportable laptops. It can get pricey
DV\RXDGGRSWLRQVEXWQRZWKDW$SSOHKDV¿[HGWKHNH\ERDUGLWJHWVWKHEDVLFV
right and is our new top pick among Mac laptops.

TOM BRANT

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

 REVIEWS
HARDWARE

Dell Inspiron 14 7000

(7490): Ultraportable
Excellence

D
ell’s Inspiron laptops are positioned below its higher-quality, more
powerful XPS series, but you’d never know it judging by the Inspiron
7KHQHZVSHFL¿FDOO\PRGHOERDVWVD
magnesium-alloy chassis that’s virtually as thin, light, and sturdy as an XPS
HQFORVXUHDQGWKHXOWUDSRUWDEOHSXOOVR̆WKHQHDWWULFNRIVTXHH]LQJDLQFK
GLVSOD\LQWRDLQFKIRUPIDFWRU8QGHUWKHKRRGLWR̆HUV,QWHO¶VWK
Generation “Comet Lake” CPUs and optional Nvidia GeForce MX250
GHGLFDWHGJUDSKLFV8QOHVV\RXQHHGWKH.E\SL[HOUHVROXWLRQ
available with Dell’s XPS 13—and I’d argue you don’t in a 13.3- or 14-inch
VFUHHQVL]H²WKH,QVSLURQUHSODFHVWKH;36DVWKHXOWUDSRUWDEOHWR
own and our Editors’ Choice pick.
WELL-EQUIPPED AND WELL-ENGINEERED Dell Inspiron 14
Our test unit’s construction is just as impressive as its 7000
(7490)
Core i5-10210U processor, 8GB of RAM, 512GB solid-
state drive, and GeForce MX250 graphics. The new PROS Packs 14-inch
screen in 13-inch
,QVSLURQPRGHOQXPEHUSXWVDQHQGWR chassis. Thin and light
the days when Inspiron laptops were a cheap, plastic magnesium alloy
IDOOEDFNRSWLRQIRUWKRVHZKRFRXOGQ¶WD̆RUGWKHUXJJHG enclosure. Intel
“Comet Lake” CPU is
goodness of an XPS system. Dell says the magnesium- powerful and
alloy chassis is lighter than aluminum but just as efficient. Nearly
durable; it feels rigid without being heavy or bulky. around-the-clock
battery life. Wi-Fi 6.

7KHEODFNVFUHHQEH]HOLVLPSUHVVLYHO\WKLQRQDOOIRXU CONS Screen could be

brighter. Touchpad a
sides, which combines with new, higher-density boards bit noisy when clicked.
DQGFRPSRQHQWVWRKHOSVKULQNWKHVL]HRIWKHODSWRS
BOTTOM LINE The
7KH,QVSLURQPHDVXUHVE\E\LQFKHV+:' Dell Inspiron 14 7000’s
DQGZHLJKVSRXQGV%\FRPSDULVRQWKH'HOO;36 enviable blend of
LVRQO\VOLJKWO\WKLQQHUDQGOLJKWHUE\E\ performance, screen
size, and portability
LQFKHVSRXQGVDQGWKHLQFK5D]HU%ODGH unseats the
6WHDOWKLVDERXWWKHVDPHVL]HDQGDWDGKHDYLHUE\ company’s near-
E\LQFKHVSRXQGV'HOO¶VVWHSGRZQ,QVSLURQ legendary XPS 13 as
our favorite
14 5000 occupies more of a typical 14-inch laptop form ultraportable.
IDFWRUDWE\E\LQFKHVDQGSRXQGV
%ODFNEH]HOVDVLGHWKHV\VWHPLVDYLVLRQLQVLOYHU7KHOLG
keyboard deck, and the keys themselves are a light-silver
color. If you tend to keep the keyboard backlighting on all
the time, you’ll need to break that habit; the silver keys The keyboard is
R̆HUQRFRQWUDVWDJDLQVWWKHEDFNOLJKWLQJLQDEULJKWO\OLW roomy and
room, rendering the keyboard a mysterious blank slate. I responsive with
would have preferred traditional black keys. On the plus just the right
side, the keyboard is roomy and responsive with just the amount of
right amount of travel for a springy feel without being travel for a
mushy. No keys are shortened, and the top right key springy feel
FRPELQHVWKHSRZHUEXWWRQZLWKD¿QJHUSULQWUHDGHUIRU
without being
easy, secure logins.
mushy.
7KHWRXFKSDGLVDFFXUDWHDQGUHVSRQVLYHEXWLWR̆HUVD
ELWWRRPXFKWUDYHOZKHQFOLFNHG,WIHHOVDELWÀLPV\
especially when clicked in either of the bottom corners,
and its clicks are loud enough that they might annoy the
SHUVRQVLWWLQJDWWKHQH[WWDEOHDWDFR̆HHVKRS

GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS

Whether the Inspiron is hibernating or powered down,
the login screen appears without your having to hit the
power button, thanks to a sensor that begins to load
Windows as soon as you lift the lid. The 14-inch touch
VFUHHQR̆HUVE\UHVROXWLRQ8QOLNHZLWKWKH
;36WKHUHLVQR.XSJUDGHRSWLRQ)RUWKLVVL]H
display, however, a 1080p image is still sharp and
D̆RUGVDIDLUO\URRP\ZRUNVSDFH²QRWWRPHQWLRQWKDWLW
needs less battery power than a 4K panel. And the
Inspiron 14 7000 delivers outstanding battery life, as
you’ll see in the next section.

The display looks crisp with accurate colors, but it’s rated
IRUDQXQUHPDUNDEOHQLWVRIEULJKWQHVV7KDW¶V¿QH
for indoor environments but isn’t the best pick if you
ZRUNLQWKH¿HOGDQGSODQWRXVHWKH'HOOUHJXODUO\
outdoors, as you might be tempted to do by its portability
and optional LTE connectivity.
'HVSLWHWKHQDUURZEH]HOWKHXOWUDSRUWDEOH¿QGVURRPIRUDSZHEFDP
above the display. It provides a fairly sharp, well-balanced image for video-
FRQIHUHQFLQJDQGWKHV\VWHP¶VVWHUHRVSHDNHUVR̆HUSOHQW\RIYROXPHDQG
FODULW\IRUYLGHRFDOOVDVZHOODV<RX7XEHDQG1HWÀL[7KH\¶OODOVRVẊFHIRU
music playback as long as you don’t require a thumping bass response for full
enjoyment of your tunes. On the whole, the audio output is impressive
considering the laptop’s thin enclosure.

7KHḢFLHQWSRUWVHOHFWLRQFRYHUVWKHEDVLFV2QWKHOHIWLVD7KXQGHUEROWSRUW
that doubles as a USB Type-C and power port, an HDMI video output, a
microSD card reader, and a SIM card slot for mobile broadband.

On the right is a pair of USB 3.1 Type-A ports and a headphone/microphone

jack. My wish would be to have a USB-C port on the right edge so I could
connect the power cable to either side of the laptop.

PERFORMANCE: STATE-OF-THE-ART SILICON

We’ve now seen a number of laptops with 10th Generation Intel mobile
processors, both 14nm “Comet Lake” and 10nm “Ice Lake” varieties. The
Inspiron’s Core i5-10210U is one of the former, a quad-core, eight-thread CPU
ZLWKDFORFNVSHHGRI*+]DQGPD[WXUERVSHHGRI*+]$PRQJWKH
laptops we used for performance comparison, the Dell XPS 13 also features a
“Comet Lake” chip in the Core i7-10710U. The other three contestants have “Ice
Lake” processors: a Core i5 in the Dell Inspiron 14 5000 and Core i7s in the HP
6SHFWUH[DQG5D]HU%ODGH6WHDOWK
PCMark 10 and 8 are holistic performance suites
developed by the PC benchmark specialists at UL
IRUPHUO\)XWXUHPDUN7KH3&0DUNWHVWZHUXQ
VLPXODWHVGL̆HUHQWUHDOZRUOGSURGXFWLYLW\DQGFRQWHQW Despite the
FUHDWLRQZRUNÀRZV:HXVHLWWRDVVHVVRYHUDOOV\VWHP narrow
SHUIRUPDQFHIRUṘFHFHQWULFWDVNVVXFKDVZRUG bezel, the
processing, spreadsheeting, web browsing, and ultraportable
videoconferencing. The test generates a proprietary finds room for
numeric score; higher numbers are better. a 720p
webcam
PCMark 8, meanwhile, has a storage subtest that we use
above the
to assess the speed of the PC’s storage subsystem. This
display.
result is also a proprietary numeric score; again, higher
numbers are better.

7KH,QVSLURQ¿QLVKHGEHWZHHQWKH;36DQG
the Inspiron 14 5000 in the PCMark 10 test. The two
³,FH/DNH´&RUHLODSWRSVWRRN¿UVWDQGVHFRQGSODFHV
As we see in almost every laptop review nowadays, the
systems’ swift solid-state drives posted scores hovering
around the 5,000 mark in PCMark 8’s storage exercise.

Next is Maxon’s CPU-crunching Cinebench R15 test,

which is fully threaded to make use of all available
processor cores and threads. Cinebench stresses the
CPU rather than the GPU to render a complex image.
The result is a proprietary score indicating a PC’s
suitability for processor-intensive workloads.

Cinebench is often a good predictor of the results of our

Handbrake video-editing trial, another tough, threaded
workout that’s highly CPU-dependent and scales well
with cores and threads. In it, we put a stopwatch on test
systems as they transcode a standard 12-minute clip of
4K video (the open-source Blender demo movie Tears
of Steel)WRDS03¿OH,W¶VDWLPHGWHVWDQGORZHU
results are better.
 Our Inspiron 14
7000 test unit
flaunted an
Nvidia GeForce
MX250 GPU
with 2GB of
dedicated
display
memory.
We also run a custom Adobe Photoshop image-editing
benchmark. Using an early 2018 release of the Creative
Cloud version of Photoshop, we apply a series of 10
FRPSOH[¿OWHUVDQGH̆HFWVWRDVWDQGDUG-3(*WHVW
image. We time each operation, and at the end, we add
up the total execution time. As with Handbrake, lower
times are better here. The Photoshop test stresses the
CPU, storage subsystem, and RAM, but it can also take
advantage of most GPUs to speed up the process of
DSSO\LQJ¿OWHUVVRV\VWHPVZLWKSRZHUIXOJUDSKLFV
chips or cards may see a boost.

7KHVL[FRUH'HOO;36EUHH]HGWRHDV\ZLQVRYHULWV
quad-core rivals in our Cinebench, Handbrake, and
Photoshop tests. Even the latter are respectable choices
for light media editing chores, though creative pros will
lean toward larger, more powerful laptops such as the
16-inch Apple MacBook Pro and its eight-core Intel
&RUHL&38

GRAPHICS TESTS
3DMark measures relative graphics muscle by
rendering sequences of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D
JUDSKLFVWKDWHPSKDVL]HSDUWLFOHVDQGOLJKWLQJ:HUXQ
WZRGL̆HUHQW'0DUNVXEWHVWV6N\'LYHUDQG)LUH
6WULNHZKLFKDUHVXLWHGWRGL̆HUHQWW\SHVRIV\VWHPV
Both are DirectX 11 benchmarks, but Sky Diver is more suited to laptops and
midrange PCs, while Fire Strike is more demanding and made for high-end PCs
WRVWUXWWKHLUVWX̆7KHUHVXOWVDUHSURSULHWDU\VFRUHV

The Intel Iris Plus integrated graphics found in “Ice Lake” processors are more
powerful than the Intel UHD graphics you get with a “Comet Lake” chip. Our
,QVSLURQWHVWXQLWKRZHYHUÀDXQWHGDQ1YLGLD*H)RUFH0;*38
with 2GB of dedicated display memory, helping it outrun the XPS 13 and
6SHFWUH[7KH5D]HU%ODGH6WHDOWKDQG,QVSLURQUDQLQWRGULYHU
LVVXHVWKDWSUHYHQWHGWKHPIURPFRPSOHWLQJWKH'0DUNEHQFKPDUNV

Next up is another synthetic graphics test, this time from Unigine Corp. Like
3DMark, the Superposition test pans through a detailed 3D animation—this one
UHQGHUHGLQWKHFRPSDQ\¶VHSRQ\PRXV8QLJLQHHQJLQHR̆HULQJDGL̆HUHQW'
workload scenario than 3DMark for a second opinion on the machine’s
graphical prowess.

The GeForce MX250 GPU doesn’t change the productivity-oriented Inspiron 14

7000 into a gaming laptop like those with Nvidia’s GeForce GTX and RTX
VLOLFRQEXWLWV6XSHUSRVLWLRQUHVXOWVVKRZWKDWWKHXOWUDSRUWDEOHR̆HUVVRPH
ability beyond casual or browser-based gaming, so long as you keep your
expectations and image-quality settings in check.

BATTERY RUNDOWN TEST

After fully recharging the laptop, we set up the machine in power-save mode (as
RSSRVHGWREDODQFHGRUKLJKSHUIRUPDQFHPRGHZKHUHDYDLODEOHDQGPDNHD
few other battery-conserving tweaks in preparation for our unplugged video
UXQGRZQWHVW:HDOVRWXUQ:L)LR̆SXWWLQJWKHODSWRSLQDLUSODQHPRGH,Q
WKLVWHVWZHORRSDYLGHR²DORFDOO\VWRUHGS¿OHRIWKHVDPHTears of Steel
movie used in our Handbrake trial—with screen brightness set at 50 percent
and audio volume at 100 percent until the system conks out.

A full workday plus an evening’s entertainment is just the beginning for the
Inspiron 14 7000. It lasted nearly 21.5 hours in our battery drain test, which is
one of the longest runtimes we’ve encountered, topping the excellent 18-hour
battery life of the HP Spectre x360 13. Should you run low on juice, Dell claims
WKDWWKHV\VWHP¶V([SUHVV&KDUJHWHFKQRORJ\ZLOOWDNH\RXIURP]HURWR
percent charge in an hour.
 The Inspiron 14
7000 fits a 14-
inch display
into an
ultraportable
that’s compact
and light
enough for
daily travel.
AN INSPIRED CHOICE
7KH'HOO,QVSLURQR̆HUVDQHQYLDEOHPL[RI
SRUWDELOLW\DQGSRZHU,W¿WVDLQFKGLVSOD\LQWRDQ
ultraportable that’s compact and light enough for daily
travel, with a metal chassis that’s durable enough to
VWDQGXSWRFRPPXWLQJDEXVH,QVLGHLWR̆HUVPRGHUQ
components including a speedy CPU and optional
integrated graphics for light media editing and a pinch
of gaming. Finally, the battery will let you leave your
charger at home.

With its larger screen and longer runtime, the Inspiron

swipes the ultraportable crown from Dell’s own XPS
13—it’s our new Editors’ Choice. Of course, with Dell’s
;36RQWKHKRUL]RQKRZORQJWKH,QVSLURQ
7000’s reign may last is an open question.

MATTHEW ELLIOTT

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

 REVIEWS
SOFTWARE

Vegas Movie Studio Platinum

Review: Maybe Too Pro

E
diting power has never been in short supply with Vegas Movie Studio.
Instead, usability has long been the main problem for this software,
ZKLFKDSSHDUVPRUHOLNHDPRGL¿HGSUROHYHOYLGHRHGLWLQJSURJUDP
than a consumer one. The latest version includes interface tweaks that help a
OLWWOHLQWKLVUHJDUGDQGDGGVSRZHUIXOFRORUJUDGLQJVORZPRWLRQDQGDVFUHHQ
FDSWXUHWRRO7KHVRIWZDUHQRZDOVRJHWVSRLQWVIRUVXSSRUWLQJGHJUHH
HEVC H.265, and 4K content. Add to that hardware acceleration for both
1YLGLDDQG$0'EODFNEDU¿OOLQJIRUYHUWLFDOVKRWVDQGYHU\GHWDLOHG
keyframe editing, and you have a powerful—if still less than intuitive—video
editor. Even with this upgrade, however, Vegas Movie Studio falls short of the
competition from Adobe, Corel, and CyberLink.
WHAT’S NEW IN VEGAS MOVIE STUDIO Vegas Movie
Studio Platinum
For those who are already familiar with Vegas Movie
Studio, here’s a cheat sheet of what’s new for the latest PROS Customizable
interface. Multicam
iteration, Version 17: editing. Lots of
effects and

• More convenient color grading: The color wheel, transitions, with plug-
in capability. Good
HSL, and curves tools get a dedicated panel, letting slow motion and warp
you use them on multiple events. flow transition tools.

• Better storyboard function: You can use a clip in CONS Less intuitive
more than one storyboard entry and the thumbnail interface than
shows the In point. competitors. Weak

• ,PSURYHGVHDUFKDQG¿OWHUIRUH̆HFWV View
multicam and motion-
tracking
H̆HFWVE\FDWHJRU\RUIDYRULWHWKHPIRUHDV\UHFDOO implementations. No
Ditto for transitions and media generators (shapes LUT support.
Comparatively slow
and text). rendering.
• 9HUWLFDOYLGHR¿OO A more elegant way to deal with BOTTOM LINE Vegas
SRUWUDLWPRGHVKRWVIURPVPDUWSKRQHVWKDQEODFN Movie Studio is a
bars. powerful tool, but it

• Warp Flow transition: This smooths out jump trails the leading
video editing software
cuts, and a companion Smart Split tool lets you apply in ease of use,
this smoothing. rendering speed, and

• Slow motion:³2SWLFDOÀRZWHFKQRORJ\´FUHDWHV new effects.

VPRRWKHUVORZPRWLRQH̆HFWV
• Kinetic text: 25 templates let you dazzle viewers
ZLWKERXQFLQJÀ\LQJDQGWZLVWLQJWLWOHV
• GPU acceleration: For editing operations such as
decoding AVC and HEVC; it works with AMD as well
as Nvidia GPUs, which is rare.
• Lens correction:7KLV¿[HVJHRPHWULFGLVWRUWLRQ
and is based on a database of lenses; it’s particularly
DSSOLFDEOHWRZLGHDQJOHDFWLRQFDPOHQVHV
• Screen capture:&DSWXUHRQVFUHHQDFWLRQDVD
YLGHR¿OH

The previous update, Version 16, added several

capabilities, too. Here’s a recap of those:
• More guidance: From the moment you start the program, you see a
ZHOFRPHVFUHHQWKDWR̆HUVVLPSOHHGLWLQJPRGHVZLWKVLPSOL¿HGLQWHUIDFHV
The Guided video creator steps you through the process of building,
enhancing, and sharing a movie.
• Easy editing modes: These options pare the interface down to just the
tools needed for a particular step in the process, such as adding and arranging
PHGLDWH[WJUDSKLFVWUDQVLWLRQVDQGH̆HFWV
• In and Out points: You now get lines to show In and Out points for each
clip in the source panel; editing changes you make here show up in the live
preview window. You can now resize the thumbs to make this trimming more
convenient. The same lines appear in Storyboard mode, also live updating the
timeline preview.
• Autosave:7KLVLVDELJRQHIRUDQ\YLGHRHGLWLQJVRIWZDUH,W¶VVXFKD
FRPSXWLQJLQWHQVLYHDFWLYLW\WKDWHYHQVRIWZDUHIURPWKHELJJHVWQDPHVLV
subject to occasional crashes. Autosave for all your editing actions can provide
VRPHSHDFHRIPLQGWKRXJKLWVDYHV\RXUZRUNRQO\HYHU\¿YHPLQXWHV
• Hover scrub: Apple popularized this capability in iMovie; simply passing
the mouse cursor over a clip thumbnail in the source lets you scrub through
the underlying video clip.
• Motion tracking:7KLVWRROJRHVDJDLQVWWKHPRYHWRZDUGPRUHLQWXLWLYH
IHDWXUHV,W¶VOLPLWHGWR%H]LHUPDVNVLW¶VKDUGWR¿QGLW¶VKDUGWRXVHDQGLW¶V
unreliable.
• 360 video support:7KHSURJUDPFDQVWLWFKDQGGLVSOD\95¿OHVDQGLW
even boasts a stabilization tool for this content.

PRICING AND GETTING STARTED

Vegas Movie Studio comes in three editions. The base edition lists for $49.99,
OLPLWV\RXWRWHQYLGHRWUDFNVDQGGRHVQ¶WSURYLGH%OXUD\EXUQLQJSLFWXUHLQ
SLFWXUH'HGLWLQJSOXJLQVRUGHJUHHVXSSRUWDPRQJRWKHUWRROV7KH
IXOOSRZHU3ODWLQXP(GLWLRQZKLFKOLVWVDWLVWKHYHUVLRQWKLVUHYLHZLV
based on: Platinum increases the track
limit to 200 and adds back all those
PLVVLQJWRROV7KHWRSVKHOI9HJDV0RYLH
Studio 16 Suite lists for $139.99 and adds
VL[1HZ%OXHSOXJLQH̆HFWVLQFOXGLQJ
Titler Pro Express, Chroma Key Pro, and
Stylizers 5 Cartoonr Plus.
7KRVHSULFHVDUHDWWKHORZHQGRIWKHUDQJHIRUHQWKXVLDVWOHYHOYLGHRHGLWLQJ
software: CyberLink PowerDirector Ultimate and Pinnacle Studio Ultimate both
list for $129 and change. Adobe Premiere Elements and Corel VideoStudio
Ultimate both cost $99.99, and MAGIX Movie Edit Pro Premium is $79.99.

At installation, Vegas Movie Studio gives you a choice of modules, which is

KHOSIXOZKHQ\RXGRQ¶WQHHGDOOWKHH[WUDH̆HFWVRUWKHLQFOXGHGV\VWHPWXQHXS
utility. Then you choose a language (English, German, French, Spanish, or
Polish), accept the user license, and choose a folder location for the program.
2Q¿UVWUXQDGLDORJDVNVIRU\RXUOLFHQVHNH\DQGHPDLODGGUHVVRUOHWV\RX
start the free trial.

THE MOVIE STUDIO INTERFACE

Though it has improved, Vegas Movie Studio’s interface still feels somewhat
pieced together, with some elements looking current and some appearing to be
holdovers from the Windows XP era—for example, the Preferences menu. At
WKHRXWVHWLW¶VPRGHUQORRNLQJDQGGDUNZLWKDUHDVRQDEOHQXPEHURIEXWWRQV
There are small buttons below the timeline for editing options that most novice
users won’t care about, but none above, which most programs have for the
PDMRUWULPPLQJRSWLRQVDXGLRH̆HFWVDQGVRRQ(YHQ)LQDO&XW3URR̆HUV
these. The Dashboard panel is an attempt to make up for this, with large
EXWWRQVIRU$GG$UUDQJH0HGLD7H[W*UDSKLFV7UDQVLWLRQVDQG(̆HFWV
By contrast, Adobe Premiere Elements and other
programs have entire modes (also called tabs or
workspaces) that take you through the steps of
LPSRUWLQJHGLWLQJDQGRXWSXWWLQJ7KH\DOVRR̆HUDQ Though it has
option to save custom Window Layouts, and the same improved,
PHQXFKRLFHR̆HUVSUHVHWVWKDWGXSOLFDWHWKH Vegas Movie
Dashboard’s choices, such as Add Text and Titles, and Studio’s
Add Video Transitions. interface still
feels
A helpful feature in Movie Studio pops up as soon as somewhat
you start the app: It gives you choices for starting from
pieced
a sample project or opening an existing one. There you
together.
choose whether your video is widescreen or tall, and
you can access one of the easy editing tools or go
straight to the advanced editor.

7KHUH¶VQRWRXFKVFUHHQIULHQGO\RSWLRQZKLFKXVHGWR
EHDSDUWRIWKHSURJUDP¶V6LPSOHPRGH(YHQWKHSUR
OHYHO$GREH3UHPLHUH3URR̆HUVDWRXFKLQWHUIDFH
option. Another quibble is that you can’t run Vegas in a
IXOOVFUHHQPRGHZLWKRXWWKHVWDQGDUGZLQGRZWLWOHEDU
showing, as you can in Premiere Elements and
CyberLink PowerDirector.

The Show Me How tutorials highlight how to import,

trim, edit video, edit audio, add text, and more. That’s
useful, but some menu options will perplex novices,
VXFKDV4XDQWL]HWR)UDPHV3RVW(GLW5LSSOHDQG
Build Dynamic RAM Preview. There are 31 entries in
WKHFRQWH[WPHQXWKDWDSSHDUVZKHQ\RXULJKWFOLFNDQ
audio track and 28 for video. The top entry in the media
Properties dialog is Tape Name! It’s easy enough to
OHDYHWKHVHR̆SXWWLQJRSWLRQVDORQHEXWWKHIDFWWKDW
they’re still included hinders the program’s usability.
<RXZRQ¶W¿QGDQ\RIWKLVLQDSURJUDPWKDW¶VWUXO\
designed for hobbyists, such as Corel VideoStudio or
Adobe Premiere Elements.
7KHLQWHUIDFHXVHVDVWDQGDUGWKUHHSDQHOYLHZZLWKVRXUFHDWWRSOHIWSUHYLHZ
at top right, and timeline across the length of the bottom of the window. It
PDNHVPRUHXVHRIWKUHHOLQH³KDPEXUJHU´PHQXVWRKLGHPXOWLSOHRSWLRQV7KH
track headers have been cleaned up a bit this way; they’re no longer showing
EXWWRQVIRUPD[LPL]HPLQLPL]HDQLPDWHDQGFRPSRVLWLQJPRGH$SLFWXUHLQ
picture track is included by default, which might be helpful to some novices.
7KHOD\RXWLVDPRQJWKHPRVWÀH[LEOHLQLWVFODVV<RXFDQXQGRFNDQ\SDQHODQG
ÀRDWLWRQWKHGHVNWRSDQG\RXFDQVDYHPXOWLSOHSUHVHWOD\RXWV0DVWHUFKDQQHO
volume meters (or master bus) show you the audio level at the right of the
video preview.

IMPORTING AND ORGANIZING IN VEGAS

You can import or capture DV, XDCAM, HDV, or AVCHD content, and you can
DOVRXVH$9,%0303(*03(*03(*RU:09¿OHVRQ\RXUGLVN,
had no trouble importing HEVC clips from an iPhone X, something that
LQH[SOLFDEO\ED̈HV$GREH3UHPLHUH(OHPHQWVHYHQZLWKWKHQHFHVVDU\
Windows codecs installed. Movie Studio can import or export 4K content, for
ZKLFKLWDXWRPDWLFDOO\FUHDWHVSUR[\¿OHVIRUIDVWHUHGLWLQJ2QHWKLQJ,OLNHLV
WKDWZKHQ\RXDGGDFOLSWRWKHWLPHOLQHLWVVFDOHDGMXVWVWR¿OODOOWKHFOLSVWR
the width of your view.

Instead of explicitly importing media, you simply browse your disk folder and
choose content. Vegas intends you to arrange the media using the improved
storyboard view, which lets you drag clips around and preview them, but not
apply transitions the way PowerDirector lets you.

There is also a Capture tool that lets you grab media from a FireWire device or
DVD camcorder disc. The Search Media Bins tool listed keywords among its
search parameters, but there’s no way to add keywords to clips; you can add
them to projects only.
A new import option is the Vegas Capture tool, which
lets you capture both your webcam and computer
desktop simultaneously, which is helpful for when
you’re creating tutorials. Other software, including The Trimmer
Corel VideoStudio and CyberLink PowerDirector, lets you select a
include similar tools. region of a
source clip for
BASIC EDITING insertion into
$VZLWKPRVWFXUUHQWYLGHRHGLWLQJVRIWZDUH\RXGUDJ the project,
and drop clips from the source onto the timeline, where which is how
you have access to a choice of trimming tools, including
pro-level
VKẌHVOLSVOLGHWLPHVWUHWFKDQGVSOLW7KH7ULPPHU
software works.
lets you select a region of a source clip for insertion into
WKHSURMHFWZKLFKLVKRZSUROHYHOVRIWZDUHZRUNV,W
doesn’t, however, let you use two video preview
windows for source content and project view, which
pros insist on. The timeline allows just 20 tracks—most
other products let you add as many as you want.

The timeline is easily navigable. Spinning the mouse

wheel expands and contracts the timeline scale. There
are two ways to move back and forth through your
movie: Dragging the play head simply changes its
position, and dragging it with Ctrl held down scrubs (or
³VKXWWOHV´WKURXJKWKHYLGHRZLWKWKHVRXQGSOD\LQJDW
the speed at which you scrub. There’s also a separate
Shuttle control at bottom left that you can speed up
with a pointer indicator.

Each clip entry includes icons for cropping, FX, and an

RYHUÀRZPHQX:KHQ\RXFOLFNWKH);EXWWRQDQRWKHU
ZLQGRZRSHQVIRUDGMXVWLQJSDQFURSDQGH̆HFWV7R
get to transitions, FX, and the Trimmer, you click on
tabs below the source panel. This is not visually
intuitive; every other consumer editor and even the
SUROHYHO$SSOH)LQDO&XW3UR;KDVLFRQVWKDWLQGLFDWH
their purposes.
Scores of keyboard shortcuts let you perform operations quickly. The left side of
each clip has helpful solo, mute, and FX buttons. Within each clip display on the
WLPHOLQHLVD3DQDQG&URSLFRQZLWKPRUHFKRLFHVDYDLODEOHIURPDULJKWFOLFN
context menu.

2WKHURXWGDWHGRUSUROHYHODVSHFWVRI9HJDV0RYLH6WXGLRDUHWKDWLWXVHVWKH
terms bins and envelopes,DQGH̆HFWVDUHVKRZQLQIROGHUVWKRXJK\RXGRVHH
SUHYLHZWKXPEQDLOVIRUWKRVH<RXFDQDOVRJHWWRH̆HFWVIURPWKHWDEEHORZWKH
VRXUFHSDQHOZKLFKUHYHDOVSUHYLHZWKXPEQDLOVIRUWKHH̆HFWVWKHZD\PRVW
software in this category does. The Search function helps mitigate this, however,
PDNLQJLWHDVLHUWR¿QGPHGLDDQGH̆HFWV7KHVHDUFKDOVRZRUNVIRUQRQ
WUDQVLWLRQH̆HFWV<RXFDQQRZVWDUIDYRULWHH̆HFWVDQGPHGLDJHQHUDWRUV

7KH7ULPPHUWRRO¶VKRYHUVFUXEKHOSV\RX¿QGWKHSRLQWLQWKHFOLSZKHUH\RX
want to make a cut or set an in or out point. But the Trimmer window has been
RYHUVLPSOL¿HGWRWKHSRLQWRIEHLQJXVHOHVV²PRVWRILWVRSWLRQVDUHQRZLQD
dropdown menu, and it shows only one clip, so you can’t adjust splices. The
Insert Region control is helpful because it lets you name a section of a clip, but
in practice it’s cumbersome to use.

2QHWRRO,ZLVKZHUHLQFOXGHGLVDULJKWFOLFNRSWLRQWRUHPRYHHPSW\WUDFN
VSDFHZKLFKPRVWFRPSHWLQJWRROVR̆HU$QRWKHULVWKHDELOLW\WRVHWWKHGHIDXOW
time for still images to run on the timeline—5 seconds is too long for many
photos. There’s no easy way to select a bunch of them and set the duration to
something shorter.
Guided mode is a wizard that takes novices through the steps of adding clips,
applying transitions, inserting titles, and adding a background music
VRXQGWUDFN7KHODVWVWHSLVWRRXWSXWWKHSURMHFWHLWKHUE\UHQGHULQJDYLGHR¿OH
or uploading to social media. It’s certainly a quick way from clips to
presentation, but most users will want more customization.

GETTING FANCY WITH DIGITAL MOVIE EFFECTS

9HJDV0RYLH6WXGLRQRZR̆HUVWUDQVLWLRQVDQGRYHUFXVWRPL]DEOHH̆HFWV
DQGWKHVHFDQEHEROVWHUHGE\WKLUGSDUW\SOXJLQV7KHWUDQVLWLRQSUHYLHZVVKRZ
standard A>B demos rather than your own content, which would be more
KHOSIXO$QGWKHH̆HFWVDOOVKRZWKHVDPHH\HLPDJHZKLFKGRHVQ¶WGHPRQVWUDWH
them well. The program has improved in making transitions easier to use, but it
lacks the popular seamless transitions that CyberLink and Pinnacle Studio have
recently added.

There is, however, a new Warp Flow transition option that’s similar to Final
Cut’s Flow transition. It lets you smooth out jump cuts and multiple takes in
VLPLODUVKRWV7KHWRROZDVH̆HFWLYHLQVPRRWKLQJRXWDWHVWWDONLQJKHDGYLGHR,
made, but there was a problem with the audio, which the transition didn’t
D̆HFW²WKHLPDJHVPDWFKHGXSZHOOEXWWKHVRXQGZDVR̆V\QFPRPHQWDULO\

$OVRQHZIRU9HUVLRQLVDQDXWRPDWLFVLGH¿OOHUIHDWXUHIRUYHUWLFDOYLGHRV
The tool is called Black Bar Fill and has six variations, depending on how much
\RXZDQWWREOXUWKHEDFNJURXQG]RRPDQGVKDGRZWKHRULJLQDO$QGH̆HFW
SOXJLQVIURPWKHUHVSHFWHG1HZ%OXHFRPHDORQJZLWKWKH3ODWLQXPOHYHORI
9HJDV0RYLH6WXGLRDQG\RXFDQLQVWDOO2SHQ);H̆HFWSOXJLQVLQFOXGLQJ
professional ones like those from Red Giant.
Time stretching is possible in Vegas Movie Studio—speeding footage up or
putting it in slow motion—but, again, there’s no button or icon to click on to
show you the feature exists. You simply have to know that you can either drag
the left or right edge of a whole clip, hold Ctrl, and drag to enlarge or shrink the
timeline entry. Or you can enter a playback rate factor in the clip’s Properties
dialog. But you can’t just speed up or slow down part of a clip.

$QHZ6ORZ0RWLRQH̆HFWXVHVIUDPHLQWHUSRODWLRQUDWKHUWKDQMXVWUHSHDWLQJ
IUDPHVDVWKH7LPH6WUHWFKLQJWRROGRHV<RX¿UVWKDYHWRDQDO\]HWKHFOLS
choosing among Course, Medium, and Fine quality settings for that process.
Once analysis is done, you can choose Optical Flow or Morph; the latter looked
smoother in my test on a geyser eruption. As with the Warp Flow transition, the
DXGLRLQP\WHVWZDVQ¶WD̆HFWHGWKHUH¶VQRRSWLRQWRFUHDWHWKHIDPLOLDUGHHS
PRQVWHUVRXQGLQJYRLFHVORPRH̆HFW

7KHQHZOHQVSUR¿OHFRUUHFWLRQOHWV\RXPDQXDOO\¿[EDUUHODQGSLQFXVKLRQ
geometric distortion or automatically correct it using a database of lenses. This
is something I’ve seen before only in photo software, and unfortunately, the
database mostly includes SLR and action cam lenses—no smartphones.

7KHIUHH]HIUDPHWRROLVVLPLODUWRWKDWLQ$GREH3UHPLHUH(OHPHQWVWKRXJK,
KDGDKHFNRIDWLPH¿QGLQJLW,WGRHVQ¶WVKRZXSLQDQ\RIWKHWRSPHQXV²IRU
example, in Edit or Insert. To use it, you place the insertion point where you
ZDQWWKHH̆HFWDQGWKHQWDSWKHKDPEXUJHUPHQXDQGFKRRVH)UHH]H)UDPHDW
&XUVRU7KLVVLPSO\LQVHUWVDVHFRQGVWLOODWWKHLQVHUWLRQSRLQW7KDW¶VXVXDOO\
too long, but you can trim the clip on the timeline with the standard tools. A
bigger problem is that the clip’s audio track is not adjusted, so when you use
WKLV)UHH]H)UDPHWRROHYHU\WKLQJDIWHUWKHH̆HFWZLOOKDYHRXWRIV\QFDXGLR
making the feature pretty much broken for most common uses.

,QP\FKURPDNH\WHVWWRIDNHDEDFNJURXQGIRUP\VXEMHFW,FRXOGHLWKHU
choose a green or blue screen or choose the dropper to set my background color
to transparent. The initial result wasn’t as simple and correct as with Premiere
Elements and PowerDirector, but Vegas Movie Studio gives you high and low
WKUHVKROGVOLGHUVWKDWOHW\RXFOHDUWKHEDFNJURXQGQHDUO\DVH̆HFWLYHO\DVWKRVH
competing apps.
)RUJHWSLFWXUHLQSLFWXUHSUHVHWVVXFKDVWKRVHR̆HUHGE\3RZHU'LUHFWRUDQG
VideoStudio. You can, however, resize video within the preview window. This
involves going to the Video Event FX window, with its host of adjustments, to
do either of these things. Finally, there is a stabilization tool buried in the Media
);RSWLRQV,¶GORYHPRUHRIWKHVHYLGHRH̆HFWVWREHDYDLODEOHIURPDULJKW
click), and it did a decent job of smoothing out test footage, once I found it.

7KHDSS¶VPRWLRQWUDFNLQJOHWV\RXIROORZDQRQVFUHHQREMHFWEXWWKHWRROLV
OLPLWHGWRIROORZLQJPRWLRQZLWKDPDVN,ZDVHYHQKDUGSUHVVHGWR¿QGLW,W¶V
KLGGHQGHHSLQVLGHWKH%H]LHU0DVNLQJWRROZKLFK\RX¿QGDIWHURSHQLQJWKH
Tools > Video > Video Event FX. (Don’t expect motion tracking from the Track
Motion option—that’s just moving the whole video po sition around.) The
competition, including Corel VideoStudio, Premiere Elements, and CyberLink
PowerDirector, have much clearer and more capable motion tracking tools.

AUDIO
As mentioned, the Vegas interface shows audio level sliders in a panel on the
ULJKWDQGGLVSOD\VZDYHIRUPVLQWKHWLPHOLQH,WDOVRLQFOXGHVD̆HFWVVXFKDV
UHYHUEQRLVHJDWHDQGÀDQJH7KHVHDSSHDULQD¿OHIROGHUOLNHYLHZMXVWOLNH
WKHYLGHRH̆HFWV

Unfortunately, no canned stock background tracks are included, as with many

FRPSHWLWRUV6RPHRIWKRVHHYHQDXWRPDWLFDOO\¿WEDFNJURXQGPXVLFWRPDWFK
your video content.
TEXT TOOLS IN VEGAS MOVIE STUDIO
There’s no tab or toolbar button to take you to the program’s text tool: Text is
just another choice under the Media Generators tab. You can also get to this
SOXJLQIURPWKH,QVHUWPHQX<RXUWH[WFDQXVHDQ\V\VWHPIRQWDQG\RXFDQ
adjust the size and color to taste. You can’t type directly on your preview
window. You do so rather in the separate FX window—no WYSIWYG
functionality here. You can also animate the text’s position, scale, and pretty
much every other property from clock icons next to each. The Media Generators
WDER̆HUVSUHVHWVIRUWKHVHWH[WDQLPDWLRQV

New for text in Version 17 are 25 Kinetic text templates, which let you do things
like apply Action Flip, Bounce, Fly In, Drop, and Twist In motion to your titles.

COLOR TOOLS
7KHUHGHVLJQHG&RORU*UDGLQJWRROLQ9HUVLRQR̆HUVFRORUZKHHOVDQGDFXUYH
graph control. You no longer need to open the tool separately for every clip, but
you still have to apply color grading to each clip separately. The new tool
LQFOXGHVZKHHOVDQGVOLGHUVIRU/LIW*DPPD*DLQDQG2̆VHW7KHUH¶VQRKHOS
LQWKHSURJUDPWR¿OO\RXLQRQZKDWWKHVHDOOGREXW,IRXQGDGHFHQWWXWRULDO
RQWKHPRQOLQH$VZLWKPDQ\9HJDVWRROVLW¶VIDLUO\SUROHYHODQGHYHQ)LQDO
Cut Pro’s color wheels are more intuitive.
Vegas Movie Studio’s Color Match tool is another
VRPHZKDWSUROHYHOIHDWXUHEXWLWFDQPDNHDQ\YLGHR
movie look better. It’s helpful when you’re shooting at
GL̆HUHQWDQJOHVZLWKYDU\LQJOLJKWVRXUFHV7KHWRRODOVR The Color
has a Match Brightness option with an obvious and Match tool is
helpful function. Color Match opens a very tall window another
in which you can choose the source and target color somewhat
PDWFKLPDJHRUFOLSIURPWKHFOLSERDUGD¿OHWKH pro-level
screen, or preview. I’d prefer simply being able to select feature, but it
video thumbnails or timeline clips for matching. In my can make any
WHVWLQJLWZDVDVXEWOHH̆HFWIRUPRVWFRQWHQWEXWWKH video movie
tool did improve clip uniformity. look better.
3D AND 360-DEGREE VIDEO EDITING
9HJDV0RYLH6WXGLRVXSSRUWV$9&+''DQGPXOWL
stream 3D formats. It also lets you pair 3D subclips.
Templates for 3D projects let you build for both the
,QWHUQHWDQG%OXUD\RXWSXW7KHSURJUDPGRHVQ¶WPDNH
editing and viewing 3D content as easy as Magix Movie
Edit Pro or PowerDirector does, but Help shows you
how to set up 3D editing and viewing. Movie Studio
supports the popular Nvidia 3D Vision system as well as
anaglyphic (red and blue) 3D glasses.

<RXJHWPRUHDQGEHWWHUWRROVIRUHGLWLQJGHJUHH
VR content in PowerDirector, Corel VideoStudio,
Pinnacle Studio, and Premiere Pro. In Vegas, you need
to check the 360 Output box in Project Properties, and
WKHQXVHWKH'XDO)LVK(\H6WLWFKLQJSOXJLQ7KH
program successfully stitched my 360 video (though a
seam was apparent) and let me preview with
RPQLGLUHFWLRQDOSDQQLQJ,WHYHQR̆HUVH̆HFWLYH
GHJUHHVWDELOL]DWLRQDQGWKHIXQ7LQ\3ODQHWH̆HFW
7KHODWWHUR̆HUVDGMXVWPHQWVOLGHUVIRU/DWLWXGH
Longitude, and Z axis, but I couldn’t get a very good
result in my testing.
MULTICAM EDITING IN VEGAS
Adding multicam support to Movie Studio is a nice boasting point, but the
VRIWZDUHGRHVQ¶WSHUIRUPWKH¿UVWVWHS²V\QFLQJFOLSV²DXWRPDWLFDOO\DVDOO
other editors I’ve tested do. Instead, you must eyeball the audio waveforms and
line them up manually.

The program supports up to four angles, which is probably enough for most
amateurs, but competitors allow more. All competing products I’ve tested show
you the angle sources and the results of the edit; with Movie Studio, you can see
RQO\WKHUHVXOWLQJPRYLHZLWKDQH[WHUQDOPRQLWRURUDIWHUWXUQLQJR̆PXOWLFDP
editing mode. As with all these tools, you click on the preview of the angle you
ZDQWWRKDYHLWDSSHDULQWKH¿QDOYLGHR<RXFDQVOLGHWKHFXWVDIWHUIRU¿QH
tuning, but I found that this occasionally messed up my video alignment.
Needless to say, the program’s multicam editing tools could use some polish.

9LPHRLVDUHFHQWGLUHFWXSORDGRSWLRQMRLQLQJ)DFHERRNDQG<RX7XEH7KH
Make Movie button still lets you easily output your creation to a multitude of
YLGHRIRUPDWVLQFOXGLQJ.LQ;$9&6'9'DQG%OXUD\([SRUWLQJWR+
UHTXLUHV9HJDV0RYLH6WXGLR3ODWLQXP7RDGG'9'DQG%OXUD\PHQXVDQG
chapters, you need the companion DVD Architect Studio, which doesn’t cost
extra. I tried uploading to Vimeo, and the program simply went through the
same rendering process and then popped up a browser window with my Vimeo
login, after which I could authorize the app. You can also include a title and
description, tags, and privacy level.

PERFORMANCE
Vegas felt snappy on my home PC with a 3.4GHz Core i7 6700, 16GB RAM, and
an Nvidia GeForce GTX 745—hardly the ultimate rig, but no slouch. For Version
17, the company announced support for AMD as well as Nvidia graphics
DFFHOHUDWLRQZKLFKLVXQFRPPRQLQYLGHRHGLWLQJVRIWZDUH,FDQ¶WSURYLGH
FRPSDUDWLYHUHQGHULQJVSHHGWHVWVDVLQWKHSDVWGXHWR&29,'UHVWULFWLRQV
that prevent me from accessing my test PC at PCMag Labs. I’ll update this with
those when it becomes possible.

I will note that performance in my test rendering seemed good on the system
detailed above. I rendered a movie consisting of four clips of mixed types (some
SVRPH6'VRPH.ZLWKDVWDQGDUGVHWRIWUDQVLWLRQVWR03(*IXOO
+'DW0ESVISVXVLQJ++LJK3UR¿OH$XGLR
was MPEG AAC Audio: 192 Kbps. For the project, Vegas
turned in a time of 3:41 (min:sec). The rendering dialog
does a good job of showing how long the operation will It’s still got a
take. But Corel VideoStudio accomplished the same long way to go
task in a much brisker 1:08. to catch up
with its
IS VEGAS WORTH THE GAMBLE? competition,
Vegas Movie Studio Platinum, under Magix’s auspices, especially in
has made some moves in the right direction. But it’s still usability and
got a long way to go to catch up with its competition, rendering
especially in usability and rendering speed. The speed.
SURJUDPR̆HUVPRVWRIWKHWRROV\RXQHHGIRUHGLWLQJ
EXW¿QGLQJDQG¿JXULQJRXWKRZWRXVHWKHPLVPRUHRI
a challenge than in competing software. Too much of
the program still feels like software designed for
professionals rather than enthusiasts.

9HJDVR̆HUVVWURQJFRORUJUDGLQJIHDWXUHVVORZ
PRWLRQGHFHQWKHOSGHHSH̆HFWDQGHGLWLQJWRROVDQGD
slightly improved interface. It’s still missing some new
H̆HFWVDQGHDVHRIXVHWRROVWKHFRPSHWLWLRQKDVEHHQ
adding all along. Longtime Movie Studio users might be
pleased by the familiarity, but the program still falls far
VKRUWRIRXUFRQVXPHU3&YLGHRHGLWLQJVRIWZDUH
Editors’ Choice, Cyberlink PowerDirector.

MICHAEL MUCHMORE
 REVIEWS
SOFTWARE

ExpressVPN: Great for

Travelers
If you’re ever concerned about who might be peeping over your virtual
shoulder, then consider a virtual private network (VPN). An excellent entrant in
WKH¿HOGRIFRQVXPHU931V([SUHVV931KDVDZLGHGLVWULEXWLRQRIVHUYHUV
across the globe, ensuring one will likely be close at hand. It has also invested
heavily in creating and explaining how it operates a safe and secure company.
%XWZKLOH([SUHVV931KDVLPSURYHGWKHYDOXHRILWVR̆HULQJLW¶VVWLOORQWKH
H[SHQVLYHVLGHIRUZKDWLWR̆HUVWKHDYHUDJHFRQVXPHU

WHAT IS A VPN?
:KHQ\RXFRQQHFWWRDQXQVHFXUHG:L)LQHWZRUNDWWKHORFDOFR̆HHVKRS
\RX¶UHQRWVDIH$QXQVFUXSXORXVSHUVRQFRXOGVQRRSRQ\RXUZHEWUḊFRU
perhaps the free Wi-Fi is phony and designed expressly to steal information
from anyone who connects to it. On the web, governments and advertisers are
NHHQWRJHW\RXUGDWD(YHQ\RXU,63LVORRNLQJWRSUR¿WIURPVHOOLQJ\RXU
anonymized data.
When you’re connected to a VPN, your data travels ExpressVPN
through an encrypted tunnel to a server operated by the PROS Large, diversely
VPN company. From here, it exits onto the web. While distributed fleet of
servers. Strong
in transit, it can’t be intercepted, stopping sleazes at the privacy and
FR̆HHVKRSIURPVQRRSLQJRQ\RX2XWRQWKHRSHQ information security
internet, your real IP address can’t be discerned, practices. Split
tunneling. Supports
EHFDXVH\RXUWUḊFDSSHDUVWREHFRPLQJIURPWKH931 OpenVPN protocol
VHUYHU5RXWLQJ\RXUWUḊFWKURXJKWKH931¶VVHUYHU across all platforms.
DOVRH̆HFWLYHO\VSRRIV\RXUORFDWLRQ Simple interface.

CONS Expensive. May

PRICING AND FEATURES be challenging to
inexperienced users
([SUHVV931KDVWKUHHVXEVFULSWLRQRSWLRQVSHU .Would benefit from
PRQWKELOOHGSHUVL[PRQWKVDQGSHU widely distributed
\HDU/LNHPRVWVHUYLFHVWKHRQO\GL̆HUHQFHLVIRUKRZ audits

long you commit. The company accepts payment by all BOTTOM LINE
major credit cards, PayPal, and services such as Alipay ExpressVPN’s
dedication to privacy
DQG:HE0RQH\([SUHVV931VXEVFULSWLRQVFDQDOVREH is impressive, and its
purchased with Bitcoin. fleet of far-flung
servers outclasses
much of the
The current monthly price of a VPN service averages competition. That
DURXQGORZHUWKDQ([SUHVV931¶VDVNLQJ comes at a hefty
price. Many VPNs come in well below the average. price, and many may
not need its
0XOOYDGIRUH[DPSOHFRVWVMXVWSHUPRQWK worldwide access.
making it one of the cheapest VPNs available.
7KHRQO\WKLQJFKHDSHUWKDQFKHDSLVIUHHDQG([SUHVV931GRHVQRWR̆HUDIUHH
VPN subscription. That’s unfortunate, because the best way to tell if a VPN will
ZRUNIRU\RXLVWRWU\LW7XQQHO%HDU931GRHVR̆HUDIUHHWULDOEXWOLPLWV\RXWR
0%RIGDWDSHUPRQWKZKLOH+RW6SRW6KLHOG¶VIUHHVXEVFULSWLRQFXWV\RXR̆
DW0%SHUGD\3URWRQ931RQWKHRWKHUKDQGSODFHVQRGDWDUHVWULFWLRQV
RQLWVIUHHVXEVFULSWLRQDQGKDVDÀH[LEOHSULFLQJVWUXFWXUHWKDWFDQJHW\RX
VWDUWHGIRUSHUPRQWK

3UHYLRXVO\([SUHVV931OLPLWHG\RXWRMXVWWKUHHVLPXOWDQHRXVFRQQHFWLRQV
IURPGL̆HUHQWGHYLFHV,¶PKDSS\WRVD\WKDWWKHFRPSDQ\KDVLPSURYHGLWV
R̆HULQJWRPDWFKWKHLQGXVWU\DYHUDJHRI¿YHVLPXOWDQHRXVFRQQHFWLRQV7KDW
ZHOFRPHFKDQJHFRPHVDOLWWOHODWHDVVHYHUDO931VR̆HUOHVVUHVWULFWLYHSODQV
1RUG931R̆HUVVL[FRQQHFWLRQVDQG&\EHU*KRVWR̆HUVVHYHQZKLOH7RU*XDUG
VPN lets you choose how many connections you’d like with a simple slider that
JRHVIURP¿YHWR$YLUD3KDQWRP931(QFU\SWPH931*KRVWHU\
0LGQLJKW6XUIVKDUN931DQG:LQGVFULEH931GRQ¶WHYHQERWKHUWROLPLWWKH
number of simultaneous connections.

$OWHUQDWLYHO\\RXFDQVSULQJIRUDURXWHUSUHORDGHGZLWK([SUHVV931VRIWZDUH
WKDQNVWRDSDUWQHUVKLSEHWZHHQ([SUHVV931DQG)ODVK5RXWHUV2U\RXFDQ
IROORZ([SUHVV931¶VLQVWUXFWLRQVDQGFRQ¿JXUHWKHURXWHU\RXUVHOI7KH
advantage of a VPN-enabled router is that it protects every device on your
QHWZRUNLQFOXGLQJWKRVHWKDWFDQ¶WUXQ931VRQWKHLURZQDQGH̆HFWLYHO\OHWV
\RXFRQQHFWDQLQ¿QLWHQXPEHURIGHYLFHV([SUHVV931QRWDEO\SURYLGHVDSSV
or installation instructions on a dizzying number of platforms, so you’re sure to
¿QGVRPHWKLQJWKDWPHHWV\RXUQHHGV
VPN PROTOCOLS
931VDUHDPDWXUHWHFKQRORJ\DQGWKHUHDUHDORWRIGL̆HUHQWZD\VWRFUHDWHD
VPN connection. I prefer OpenVPN, which is an open-source project. That
PHDQVLWVFRGHKDVEHHQSLFNHGRYHUIRUYXOQHUDELOLWLHV([SUHVV931KDSSLO\
VXSSRUWV2SHQ9318'37&3RQ$QGURLGL26/LQX[PDF26DQG:LQGRZV,W
DOVRVXSSRUWVFRQ¿JXULQJURXWHUVWRXVH2SHQ931

([SUHVV931DOVRVXSSRUWVWKHROGHU/73SURWRFRORQPDF26DQG:LQGRZVDV
well as the much less secure PPTP on Windows only. I don’t recommend using
either unless you absolutely have to, for some obscure legacy reason.

,W¶VQRWDEOHWKDW([SUHVV931VXSSRUWV2SHQ931LQLWVL26DSS$SSOHPDNHV
app developers who wish to use OpenVPN jump through additional hoops, so
VRPHGHYHORSHUVGRQ¶WERWKHU([SUHVV931DOVRVXSSRUWVWKH,.(YSURWRFROV
RQL26ZKLFKLVP\QH[WEHVWFKRLFHRI931SURWRFRODIWHU2SHQ931

The Wireguard protocol is the heir apparent to the OpenVPN throne. This
open-source project has long been in development and just recently left its
experimental phase, leading some VPN companies to adopt it. In my limited
testing, I have found this new technology to be extremely fast. I hope
([SUHVV931IROORZVVXLWEXWLW¶VQRWDPDMRULVVXHIRUWKHPRPHQW
SERVERS AND SERVER LOCATIONS
Part of what you’re paying for with a VPN subscription is access to the
FRPSDQ\¶VÀHHWRI931VHUYHUV7KHVHDUHWKHPDFKLQHVWKURXJKZKLFK\RXU
ZHEWUḊFZLOOÀRZ*HQHUDOO\VSHDNLQJLW¶VJRRGWRKDYHDGLYHUVHGLVWULEXWLRQ
RIVHUYHUVZKLFKZLOOHQVXUHWKDW\RX¶OOEHDEOHWR¿QGRQHFORVHE\QRPDWWHU
where you travel, and you’ll likely get better service because of that closeness. It
DOVRJLYHV\RXPRUHRSWLRQVIRUVSRR¿QJ\RXUORFDWLRQ

([SUHVV931R̆HUVVHUYHUORFDWLRQVDFURVVFRXQWULHV$PRQJP\WRS
UDWHG931V([SUHVV931R̆HUVWKHEHVWEDODQFHRIKDUGZDUHDQGYLUWXDOVHUYHUV
in the largest number of countries (more on this later). It has held this
GLVWLQFWLRQIRUDORQJWLPHEXW&\EHU*KRVWLVFDWFKLQJXSR̆HULQJVHUYHUVLQ
FRXQWULHV,QDGGLWLRQWRKDYLQJWKHPRVWVHUYHUORFDWLRQV([SUHVV931DOVR
excels in geographic diversity, with several in Africa and excellent coverage
DFURVV6RXWK$PHULFD²WZRFRQWLQHQWVRIWHQXQGHUVHUYHGRUFRPSOHWHO\LJQRUHG
E\RWKHU931FRPSDQLHV([SUHVV931DOVRPDLQWDLQVVHUYHUVIRUVRPH
countries with repressive internet policies, including Turkey, and Vietnam.

6RPHUHDGHUVKDYHH[SUHVVHGFRQFHUQDERXWYLUWXDOVHUYHUV7KHVHDUHVRIWZDUH
GH¿QHGVHUYHUVPHDQLQJWKDWRQHSLHFHRIKDUGZDUHFDQKRVWPXOWLSOHYLUWXDO
VHUYHUV9LUWXDOVHUYHUVFDQDOVREHFRQ¿JXUHGWRDSSHDUDVWKRXJKWKH\¶UHLQD
country other than where the physical hardware is located. Virtual servers
aren’t necessarily bad, but the idea that your data may be heading to some
country other than where you want it to go can be unnerving.
([SUHVV931LVWUDQVSDUHQWDERXWLWVXVHRIYLUWXDO
servers. An explanatory webpage says that less than 3
percent of the company’s servers are not physically
located where they appear to be, and it lists their true Part of the
ORFDWLRQV$FRPSDQ\VSRNHVSHUVRQFRQ¿UPHGWKLV reason it uses
LQIRUPDWLRQ([SUHVV931H[SODLQVWKDWSDUWRIWKH virtual servers
reason it uses virtual servers is to provide better is for better
performance, but it does so also for improved security. performance,
You wouldn’t necessarily want a VPN server to be but it does so
located within a dangerous country, as it could be also for
tampered with, potentially revealing private
improved
LQIRUPDWLRQDERXWLWVXVHUV([SUHVV931¶V7XUNH\
security.
Venezuela, and Vietnam servers, for example, are all
virtual. This sounds reasonable.

The only other VPNs that boast better coverage are

3XUH931DQG+0$931ZKLFKFRYHUDQG
countries, respectively. These companies, however, are
heavily reliant on virtual server infrastructure. Of
3XUH931¶VORFDWLRQVDUHYLUWXDO2IWKH
FRXQWULHVRI+0$RQO\DUHSK\VLFDOORFDWLRQV,
WKLQN([SUHVV931KDVDEHWWHUDSSURDFKDQGLW¶VRQH
that feels more honest to customers.

That said, most consumers probably do not need a lot of

VHUYHUORFDWLRQV²YLUWXDORURWKHUZLVH:KDWWKH\QHHG
are many servers as near as possible to their homes. The
average person probably doesn’t have a reason to tunnel
LQWRFRXQWULHV7KLVUHDOO\FXWVLQWR([SUHVV931¶V
YDOXHSURSRVLWLRQ7KHFRPSDQ\R̆HUVDQH[FHOOHQW
service all around, but its best feature is really geared
toward the frequent traveler, the business person, or
VRPHRQHZLWKYHU\VSHFL¿FQHHGV

Most VPN companies will spin up servers as needed

(virtual or otherwise) to meet demand. As such, the
RYHUDOOQXPEHURIVHUYHUVLVLQÀXHQFHGE\KRZPDQ\
subscribers a company can boast. But a large server
ÀHHWDOVRPHDQV\RX¶UHPRUHOLNHO\WR¿QGDQXQFURZGHGVHUYHUZKLFKFDQ
SRWHQWLDOO\JHW\RXEHWWHUSHUIRUPDQFH([SUHVV931KDVRYHUVHUYHUVDW
its disposal, placing it among the largest collection of servers we’ve seen.
+RWVSRW6KLHOG3ULYDWH,QWHUQHW$FFHVVDQG7RU*XDUGDOVRKDYHRYHU
VHUYHUVEXW&\EHU*KRVWDQG1RUG931DUHDWWKHWRSRIWKHKHDSZLWKZHOORYHU
VHUYHUV

YOUR PRIVACY WITH EXPRESSVPN

:KHQ\RXXVHD931\RX¶UHHQWUXVWLQJLWZLWKDFFHVVWR\RXUZHEWUḊF,ID
VPN company were lacking in morals, it could easily monetize your personal
LQIRUPDWLRQLQPXFKWKHVDPHZD\DQ,63FDQ7KH931FRPSDQ\PLJKWDOVR
get requests from law enforcement to hand over customer information. This is
why it’s important to read and understand a VPN’s privacy policy. But don’t
ZRUU\,¶YHUHDGWKH¿QHSULQWIRU\RX,¶PKDSS\WRVD\WKDW([SUHVV931JRHVWR
impressive lengths to protect customer privacy and secure its data and
infrastructure. It’s one of the few companies whose claims have been tested by
FULVLVDQGLWFOHDUO\PDNHVWKHH̆RUWWRGRZHOOE\FRQVXPHUV

7RLWVFUHGLW([SUHVV931¶VSULYDF\SROLF\LVDUHDVRQDEOHOHQJWKWKRXJKLWFRXOG
stand to be much easier to read. TunnelBear does an excellent job of being
transparent to customers in an understandable way, and more companies
VKRXOGHPXODWHLWVH̆RUWV
([SUHVV931LVFOHDUDERXWWKHOLPLWVRILWVGDWD
gathering. The company says it stores no logs of user
activity, originating IP address, the VPN IP you connect
with, the session duration, nor a connection timestamp. ExpressVPN
That’s what you want to hear from a VPN company. makes it clear
%HWWHUVWLOO([SUHVV931PDNHVLWFOHDULQLWVSROLF\DQG in its policy
YHUL¿HGWRPHWKDWLWJHQHUDWHVUHYHQXHRQO\WKURXJK (and verified to
subscriptions. The company does not sell user data. me) that it
generates
([SUHVV931GRHVKRZHYHUFROOHFWVRPHLQIRUPDWLRQ,W revenue only
gathers the aggregate amount of data transferred by each
through
user. It logs the most recent date (but not time) a
subscriptions.
successful connection was made. And it notes which
931ORFDWLRQ\RXFRQQHFWZLWK²EXWQRWDVSHFL¿FSXEOLF
IDFLQJ,3DGGUHVV([SUHVV931VWUHVVHVWKDWWKLV
LQIRUPDWLRQLVQRWVẊFLHQWWRLGHQWLI\DQLQGLYLGXDO
since it would be identical to the data of many other
XVHUV6WLOO\RXVKRXOGDOZD\VEHVNHSWLFDORIDQRQ\PL]HG
data, since it doesn’t always stay anonymous.

These policies have also been backed up by practice. A

company representative proudly pointed out that when
7XUNLVKDXWKRULWLHVVHL]HGDQ([SUHVV931VHUYHU
LQYHVWLJDWRUV³FRXOGQRW¿QGDQ\VHUYHUORJVWKDWZRXOG
enable investigators to link activity to a user or even
GHWHUPLQHZKLFKXVHUVRUZKHWKHUDVSHFL¿FXVHUZHUH
connected at a given time.” Perhaps it is a good thing that
([SUHVV931QRZXVHVDYLUWXDOVHUYHUWRFRYHU7XUNH\

([SUHVV931LVKHDGTXDUWHUHGLQWKH%ULWLVK9LUJLQ
Islands, which has no data-retention laws. The company
points out that any request for user information would
have to be issued from a local court and would be
honored only if the crime under investigation would be
punishable by at least a year in prison in the British
Virgin Islands. The hope is that this would slow down
frivolous or intrusive investigations that would encroach
on your privacy.
6RPH931FRPSDQLHVKDYHEHJXQUHOHDVLQJWKHUHVXOWVRIWKLUGSDUW\DXGLWVLQ
order to validate the security of their services. NordVPN commissioned an audit
of its no-log policy, and TunnelBear has committed to releasing annual audits of
LWVHQWLUHSURFHVV,QWKHFRPSDQ\UHOHDVHGDWKLUGSDUW\DXGLWRILWV
browser extensions, which did little to shed light on how the company handles
GDWD,Q)HEUXDU\([SUHVV931DQQRXQFHGDQDXGLWIURP
3ULFHZDWHUKRXVH&RRSHUWKDWORRNHGPRUHGHHSO\DWWKHFRPSDQ\¶VFRGHDQG
practices. Unfortunately, this report was not made available to the general
SXEOLFDVLVRIWHQWKHFDVHZLWK3Z&UHSRUWVEXWLW¶VDVWURQJHQGRUVHPHQWWKDW
([SUHVV931LVNHHSLQJLWVZRUG

([SUHVV931LVRQHRIWKHIHZFRPSDQLHVWKDWWROGPHLWXVHV5$0RQO\VHUYHUV
That means servers are completely rebuilt at reboot, removing any nasty
VRIWZDUHKLGLQJLQVLGH,WDOVRPDNHVWKHPGL̇FXOWWRFRQ¿VFDWH6HYHUDO
FRPSDQLHVLQFOXGLQJ1RUG931DQG6XUI6KDUNDUHPRYLQJWRZDUGGLVNOHVV
RSHUDWLRQEXW([SUHVV931KDVEHHQWKHUHIRUVRPHWLPH([SUHVV931DOVRVD\V
it uses a cryptographic key scheme that assigns unique keys for each server and
does not store those keys on disk, making it much harder for an attacker to
LPSHUVRQDWHDQ([SUHVV931VHUYHU7KRVHVHUYHUV([SUHVV931VD\VDUHLQ
third-party data centers that limit access to servers.

:KLOH,DPVDWLV¿HGZLWK([SUHVV931¶VH̆RUWVWRSURWHFWFXVWRPHUSULYDF\\RX
PD\IHHOGL̆HUHQWO\,I\RXGRQ¶WIHHO\RXFDQWUXVWD931IRUDQ\UHDVRQ,
VWURQJO\VXJJHVWFKRRVLQJDGL̆HUHQWVHUYLFH

HANDS ON WITH EXPRESSVPN

,KDGQRWURXEOHGRZQORDGLQJDQGLQVWDOOLQJWKHVRIWZDUHRQDQ,QWHO18&.LW
18&L%(+%HDQ&DQ\RQGHVNWRSUXQQLQJWKHODWHVWYHUVLRQRI:LQGRZV
2QHTXLUNRI([SUHVV931LVWKDW\RXGRQ¶WORJLQZLWKDXVHUQDPHDQGSDVVZRUG
or a generated username, as you do with Private Internet Access. Instead,
\RXXVHDQDFWLYDWLRQFRGHIRXQGRQWKH([SUHVV931FXVWRPHUSRUWDO7KLV
might be confusing for some people, but it is certainly easier than having to
enter it manually.

2QFH\RX¶UHORJJHGLQ([SUHVV931SUHVHQWVDPLQLPDOLQWHUIDFH7KHVLPSOH
main window lets you connect and disconnect quickly via a large, clearly
PDUNHGEXWWRQ,W¶VYHU\VWUDLJKWIRUZDUGDQGSURYLGHG\RX¶UHQRWSXWR̆E\WKH
odd login experience, very easy to understand intuitively. On all the successful
FRQQHFWLRQVDIWHUWKH¿UVW([SUHVV931VKRZVDOLVWRIVKRUWFXWVWRDSSVDQG
ZHEVLWHV<RXFDQHGLWWKLVOLVWIURPWKHVHWWLQJVRUWXUQLWR̆FRPSOHWHO\

([SUHVV931¶VKLJKO\IXQFWLRQDOPLQLPDOLVPFHUWDLQO\KHOSVJLYHLWDWLPHOHVV
ORRNEXWLW¶VQRWVOLFNE\DQ\PHDVXUH6XUI6KDUNDQG1RUG931E\FRPSDULVRQ
have some of the best-looking and most engaging apps in the VPN industry,
while TunnelBear doubles down with powerful bears and a bright-yellow
color scheme.

Additional windows let you sort and save preferred servers, but I wish the app
showed more information about each server, such as overall usage. I especially
OLNHWKHVSHHGWHVWZLQGRZZKLFKSHUIRUPVDTXLFNWHVWDFURVVDOO([SUHVV931¶V
available servers to help you pick the best one. These test results tracked closely
with my own.

([SUHVV931HVFKHZVVSHFLDOL]HGVHUYHUVDQGXSVHOOIHDWXUHVLQVWHDGR̆HULQJD
URFNVROLGSURGXFWRXWRIWKHER[(YHU\WKLQJ\RX¶GH[SHFWLVKHUHLQFOXGLQJD
.LOO6ZLWFKWRSUHYHQWDSSVIURPFRQQHFWLQJWRWKH,QWHUQHWLIWKH931LV
disconnected. Other network security features, including integrated ad-blocking
DQGDQWLPDOZDUHDUHQRWEXWWKH\¶UHQRWPLVVHG6WDQGDORQHRSWLRQVDUH
generally better.
([SUHVV931DOVRR̆HUVDUDUHO\VHHQIHDWXUHFDOOHGsplit tunneling. When active,
this lets you designate which applications send their data through the VPN’s
tunnel and which travel outside the tunnel without encryption. If you perform
FHUWDLQDFWLYLWLHVWKDWDUHEORFNHGZKHQ\RXXVHD931RUDUHD̆HFWHG
negatively by poor network performance (say, gaming), split tunneling is a
useful workaround.

7KH([SUHVV931DSSIDOOVLQWRDQXQXVXDOSRVLWLRQ,WR̆HUVPRUHIHDWXUHVWKDQ
a set-and-forget operation but not enough to really tweak your experience. The
technically savvy and adventurous may be frustrated.

,ID931LVFRQ¿JXUHGLQFRUUHFWO\LWFRXOGOHDN\RXUUHDO,3DGGUHVV\RXU,63
RU\RXU'16UHTXHVWV,FRQ¿UPHGWKDWP\,3DGGUHVVZDVKLGGHQDQGP\,63
REVFXUHG8VLQJWKH'16/HDN7HVW,IRXQGWKDW([SUHVV931UHGLUHFWHGDOORI
my requests to the right spot without leaking any information. Note that I
WHVWHGRQO\RQHVHUYHURWKHUVHUYHUVPD\EHLQFRUUHFWO\FRQ¿JXUHG

EXPRESSVPN AND NETFLIX

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VXFKDV1HWÀL[VRPHWLPHVEORFN\RXUDFFHVVZKHQ\RXXVHD9317KLVLVRIWHQ
done to protect distribution agreements for streaming companies.

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PD\VWLOO¿QG\RXUVHOIEORFNHGKRZHYHUVLQFH931VDQG1HWÀL[DUHLQDQ
ongoing arms race over access.
BEYOND VPN
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from competitors. For example, NordVPN attempts to block advertising at the
network level. Other companies try to block malicious URLs, or they provide
VWDWLFSXEOLF,3DGGUHVVHV([SUHVV931GRHVQRWR̆HUWKHVHH[WUDV

SPEED AND PERFORMANCE

A perennial concern with VPNs is that using one will slow your internet
connection to a crawl. While it’s true that using a VPN will increase latency and
reduce upload and download speeds, it’s usually a bearable experience. To get a
sense of the impact a VPN has on the internet experience, we run a series of
WHVWVXVLQJWKH2RNODVSHHGWHVWWRRO2RNODLVRZQHGE\=L̆'DYLVZKLFKDOVR
RZQV3&0DJ

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PRUHRIDVQDSVKRWIRUFRPSDULVRQUDWKHUWKDQD¿QDOYHUGLFWRQSHUIRUPDQFH

,QP\WHVWLQJ,IRXQGWKDW([SUHVV931SHUIRUPHGZHOOLQFUHDVLQJODWHQF\E\
RQO\SHUFHQW7KLVEHDWRXWDPHGLDQRISHUFHQWIRUFRPSHWLQJ
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VFRUHVE\SHUFHQWDQGXSORDGVSHHGWHVWVFRUHVE\SHUFHQW7KHPHGLDQ
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([SUHVV931FXWIDLUO\FORVHWRWKRVH¿JXUHV

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6KLHOG¶VGRZQORDGVFRUH7KDWVDLG,EHOLHYHWKDWIHDWXUHVDQGRYHUDOOYDOXHDUH
far more important than speed, and I discourage readers from judging a VPN
solely on these results.

EXPRESSVPN ON OTHER PLATFORMS

([SUHVV931R̆HUVDSSVIRU$QGURLGL26PDF26DQG:LQGRZV,KLJKO\
recommend that people use an app with a VPN, since it is easier to use, requires
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also supports Linux users with a command line tool.
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&KURPH1RWHWKDWEURZVHUSOXJLQVIXQFWLRQDVSUR[LHVOHWWLQJ\RXFKDQJHWKH
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encryption found with VPN protocols.

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TOUGH COMPETITION
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emphasis on secure hardware set it apart from other VPN services that boast big
server distributions. It has made a strong commitment to the privacy and
security of its customers and has worked to make its product a better value by
DOORZLQJWKHLQGXVWU\DYHUDJHRI¿YHGHYLFHVFRQQHFWHGVLPXOWDQHRXVO\

(GLWRUV¶&KRLFHZLQQHUV7XQQHO%HDUDQG3URWRQ931VKLQHEULJKWHUEXWQRW
EHFDXVHRIDQ\IDLOLQJRQ([SUHVV931¶VSDUW7KHVHVHUYLFHVVLPSO\R̆HUDORW
for less, making them more attractive to the average consumer. If you’re on the
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([SUHVV931¶VSULYDF\VHWXS([SUHVV931ZLOOQRWGLVDSSRLQW

MAX EDDY

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

FEATURES

REMOTE
WORK WILL
NEVER BE
THE SAME
AND THAT’S A GOOD THING
The home office you’ve occupied for
months could be the wave of the future.
BY CHANDRA STEELE
P
ivot is a word you hear a lot in business, and in particular, the tech
industry. The thing with pivoting, though, is that if you do it enough,
\RX¿QG\RXUVHOIEDFNZKHUH\RXEHJDQ

The founding myths of Silicon Valley are regularly based in garages. Success
VSXQRXWRIWKHPWRFUHDWHDQHQWLUHUHJLRQRIEXVLQHVVSDUNVDQGFDPSXVHVWKDW
serves as a shorthand for technology. Until now, when COVID-19 quarantine
has driven everyone into their homes.

,WZLOOWDNHDYDFFLQHDQGDFRQVLGHUDEOHDPRXQWRIWLPHEHIRUHWKHZRUOGEHJLQV
to resemble anything familiar. Even when it does, with so much time spent
DZD\IURPṘFHVDQGWKHFRQFHSWRIWKHPDVQHFHVVDU\EHLQJGHEXQNHGWKH
ZD\ZHZRUNQRZFRXOGEHFRPHWKHQHZQRUPDO

³)RUVRPHFRPSDQLHVWKHLQYHVWPHQWVWKH\¶YHPDGHWRVXSSRUWZRUNLQJIURP
KRPHDUHOLNHO\WREHVXVWDLQHGPRYLQJIRUZDUGDQGUHVXOWLQDFRPSOHWHFXOWXUH
shift,” Kelly Reynolds, department chair of community, environment and policy
at the University of Arizona, told us.

+HUH¶VRQHH[DPSOH:LWKTXDUDQWLQHRUGHUVVWLOOLQH̆HFWLQPRVWVWDWHV
7ZLWWHUGHFODUHGWKDWZRUNLQJIURPKRPHZRXOGEHFRPHWKHQHZQRUPIRUWKH
PDMRULW\RILWVHPSOR\HHV7ZLWWHU&KLHI0DUNHWLQJ2̇FHUDQG+HDGRI3HRSOH
Leslie Berland tweeted about the company’s decision: “Decentralization and
UHPRWHZRUNZDVDWRSSULRULW\IRUXVSUH&29,':H¶OOFRQWLQXHWROHDUQDQG
LPSURYHWRPDNHWKHH[SHULHQFHHYHQEHWWHUEXWLWVWDUWVZLWKHPSRZHULQJ
SHRSOHWRZRUNZKHUHWKH\IHHOPRVWFUHDWLYHFRPIRUWDEOHDQGVDIH´

)RUVRPHFRPSDQLHVZRUNLQJIURPKRPHKDVORQJEHHQWKHQRUP-RG\
7KRPSVRQFRFUHDWRURIWKH5HVXOWV2QO\:RUN(QYLURQPHQWPDQDJHPHQW
VWUDWHJ\WROGXVWKDWWKHFRPSDQLHVVKH¶VZRUNHGZLWKDUHEXVLQHVVDVXVXDO

THE HIGHLY EXAGGERATED DEATH OF TELECOMMUTING

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Valley but not exactly encouraged by it, particularly in the past decade.
&RPSDQLHVWKDWKDGRSHQO\ZHOFRPHGUHPRWHZRUNHYHQWKRVHDWWKHIRUHIURQW
of having employees telecommute, changed their policies—sometimes abruptly
and to much criticism.
In 2013, within a year of becoming president and CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer
SXWDQHQGWRWKHFRPSDQ\¶VZRUNIURPKRPHSROLF\$PHPRIURPWKHKHDGRI
human resources read, “We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with
physically being together.” The move was part of a turnaround Mayer hoped to
H̆HFWDWWKHWURXEOHGFRPSDQ\

It was seen as a controversial act both inside and outside the company. But
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<DKRR¶VERWWRPOLQH,%0IROORZHGEULQJLQJLWVORQJKLVWRU\RIKDYLQJDZRUN
from-home policy to an end in 2017. That was unexpected, since the company
KDGGHYHORSHGWHFKQRORJ\WKDWDOORZHGVRPHRILWVZRUNIRUFHWRZRUNUHPRWHO\
DQGKDGWRXWHGLQWKDWSHUFHQWRILWVZRUNIRUFHZRUNHGIURPKRPH
And in 2014, IBM published a whitepaper that found only upsides to the
practice. Yet after 20 quarters of decreased revenue, CEO Ginni Rometty
FKDQJHGSURWRFRO,%0HUVZHUHJLYHQWKHFKRLFHRIHLWKHUZRUNLQJLQDQ,%0
ṘFHRUTXLWWLQJ

These decisions were predicated partly on the belief that colocation is necessary
for collaboration. “Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway
and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings,”
the Yahoo memo read.

Source: fizkes/shutterstock.com
7KDW¶VQRWQHFHVVDULO\WKHFDVHWKRXJK7KHRSHQṘFHVWKDWKDYHIRXQGIDYRU
ZLWKVRPDQ\ZRUNSODFHVFDQDFWXDOO\KLQGHULQWHUDFWLRQ$VWXG\E\7KH5R\DO
Society found that the more people could see their colleagues, the less they
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SHUFHQWPRUHLQṘFHHPDLOVRYHUGD\VUHFHLYHGSHUFHQWPRUHVXFK
emails, and were cc’d on another 41 percent.

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H[DFWO\ZKDWLVUHTXLUHGRIWKHP7KH\ZLOOWKHQVHHNRXWDQGZRUNZLWKWKH
people they need in order to achieve their goals.

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preponderance of research about productivity has found that employees get far
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IRXQGHURIZRUNSODFHVHUYLFH¿UP,RPHWULFVVDLGGHVSLWHWKHVXERSWLPDO
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KHU¿UPUHSRUWHGEHLQJOHVVGLVWUDFWHGDQGEHWWHUDEOHWRIRFXVDWKRPH

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VDLGWREHDULQPLQGWKDWFRSLQJGXULQJ&29,'LVQRWZKDWUHPRWHZRUNLV
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important to remember, because that’s getting lost in this crisis,” she said.

A month after the Yahoo policy was announced, Mayer admitted at the Great
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innovative when together,” they’re more productive when they’re alone. In an
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DGGHGWKDWWKHODUJHVWEHQH¿WRIHPSOR\HHVZRUNLQJIURPKRPHLVDKDSSLHU
PRUHSURGXFWLYHZRUNIRUFH

THE NEW NORMAL

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“essential employees” required to be onsite. And it’s changed some minds,
Kamouri said.
“Mid-managers who were previously the most resistant to the idea of remote
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ZRUNLQJDQGDUHPRUHOLNHO\WREHVXSSRUWLYH´.DPRXULVDLG

Thompson echoed this, saying that such managers were used to managing
SHRSOHQRWZRUN³1RZWKH\DUHIRUFHGWRVHHWKDWSHRSOHFDQZRUNLQGL̆HUHQW
ORFDWLRQVDQGVWLOOJHWZRUNGRQH´VKHVDLG

([DPLQDWLRQVRIEHVWSUDFWLFHVDQGH̆HFWLYHQHVVDUHIRUQRZRXWWKHZLQGRZ
But when the pandemic and its impacts are behind us, companies that assess
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telecommuting a regular practice.

“On the positive side, a lot of companies are seeing how productive their
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KRPH´=DOHVNLVDLG³/HVVVWUHVVIXORQWKHHPSOR\HHVREYLRXVO\DQGWKHLU
families, but also just on the company’s needs and just the environment.”

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ṘFHDQGKRPHHYHU\GD\&RPPXWLQJLVDQH[SHQVLYHH[KDXVWLQJHQGHDYRU
that depletes employees and the environment. Eradicating it provides a
FROOHFWLYHEHQH¿W

Source: stockelements/shutterstock.com
The time that people spend commuting is increasing
every year, according to US Census data. In 2018, 14
PLOOLRQZRUNHUVKDGDFRPPXWHWLPHRIRYHURQHKRXU
WRZRUN$QGGXULQJWKHWLPHWKH\VSHQGFRPPXWLQJ The time
people have to contend with poor infrastructure: For that people
LQVWDQFH1HZ<RUN&LW\¶VLQIDPRXVWUDQVLWGHOD\VZHUH spend
UHVSRQVLEOHIRUDORVVRIIRUFLW\FRPPXWHUV commuting
DQGIRUQRQFLW\FRPPXWHUVLQ is increasing
DFFRUGLQJWRWKH1HZ<RUN&LW\,QGHSHQGHQW%XGJHW every year,
2̇FH according to
US Census
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found a 20 percent higher rate of absenteeism for those
with long commutes as compared to those with no
commute.

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WUḊFHYHU\GD\´7KRPSVRQVDLG³7KDWNLQGRIVWUHVV
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get used to that every day, that stress level. Now we’ve
DOOVWRSSHGWKDWDQGLWWDNHVDZKLOHIRUSHRSOHWROHWJR
RIWKDWVWUHVVEXWWKH\¶UHMXVWWKLQNLQJKRZULGLFXORXVLW
LVWKDWZHDOOJRRXWDQGVLWLQWKHUXVKWUḊFHYHU\GD\
when it’s not necessary.”

$OOWKLVLVDVVXPLQJDQHPSOR\HHFDQHYHQD̆RUGWROLYH
in the vicinity of a city that has enough jobs to consider
such a commute worthwhile.

“It’s so prohibitive to live in these big cities right now

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you will get a more diverse candidate pool as a result if
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follow with, obviously, more talent who didn’t get access
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7KRXJK,%0SUHVHQWHGLWVR̆HUWRHPSOR\HHVWRVKLIWWKHLUMREVIURPKRPHVWR
,%0ṘFHVDVDFKRLFHIRUPDQ\WKHUHZDVQ¶WUHDOO\DQ\FKRLFHUHSRUWLQJHYHU\
GD\WRDFRPSDQ\ṘFHZRXOGPHDQDPRYHIRUWKHPRIWHQWRDQH[SHQVLYH
city. The Bay Area housing crisis was caused by tech companies that pushed out
people who lived there for decades and spawned new crises, including a teacher
VKRUWDJH(YHQVD\HQJLQHHUVDW*RRJOHKDYHWURXEOHD̆RUGLQJWKH
astronomical housing prices and elect sometimes to live in vans instead.

Source: Sundry Photography/shutterstock.com

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WRIDFWRULQDKHIW\WUDQVSRUWDWLRQDOORZDQFH$VXUYH\E\/HQGLQJ7UHHORRNHGDW
the cost of commuting in 100 major cities in the United States. Those in San
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just under $10,000. If you’re using time as money to calculate cost, people in
Fremont, CA, spend, on average, $49 a day.

&RPSDQLHVWKDWUHO\RQNQRZOHGJHZRUNHUVZKRFDQHDVLO\GRWKHLUMREVIURP
home hold the power to return cities to diverse, thriving populations where
WHDFKHUVWUXFNGULYHUVDQGDUWLVWVFDQDOOD̆RUGWROLYH-XVWLPDJLQLQJVXFKD
thing gives you a sense of space and expansiveness. It’s not illusory, because it
would also be literally easier to breathe in such cities. We’ve all seen the maps
and memes of what has happened to the air and water that surround us, as
people have been forced inside by quarantine.
“Some large cities have documented dramatically reduced rates of air pollution
WKHZHHNVIROORZLQJVWD\DWKRPHRUGHUV´5H\QROGVVDLG

³:RUNLQJIURPKRPHPHDQVOHVVFRPPXWLQJ´:DJQHUVDLG³$OOHOVHHTXDO
that’s good.” “All else equal” means that newly non-commuting people don’t
increase their carbon footprint in other ways, such as buying more house than
they need in the suburbs.

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HPLVVLRQV&RPPXWHUVRIWHQKDYHOLWWOHFKRLFHDERXWKRZWKH\FDQJHWWRZRUN
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which calculates how much CO2 commuting options generate, it’s hard to beat
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CLOSING THE DOOR ON OPEN OFFICES

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ṘFHV(YHQZKHQDUHWXUQWRZRUNSODFHVLVSRVVLEOHH[SHFWWRKHDUDQHFKRLQ
RSHQSODQṘFHVSDFHV-XVWWDNHDJODQFHDWDVHDWLQJFKDUWIRUD6RXWK.RUHDQ
call center that the CDC released to show how COVID-19 can spread, and you’ll
UHDOL]HWKDWWKHPRVWSRSXODURIṘFHGHVLJQVLVWKHPRVWGDQJHURXVWRSXEOLF
and individual health. On just one side of the building, among 137 closely
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³:LWKVRPDQ\RIXVZRUNLQJIURPKRPHWKHULVNRIDQLQIHFWHGSHUVRQ
transmitting a pathogen to others is dramatically reduced,” Reynolds said of
our current situation. “In addition, if someone does become ill, notifying their
contacts is much easier when the number of people they have interacted with
is minimized.”

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$'DQLVKVWXG\IRXQGWKDWWKRVHLQRSHQSODQṘFHVWRRNSHUFHQWPRUHVLFN
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SDQGHPLFZLOOLQYROYHWKHPDVVSXUFKDVLQJRIṘFHGLYLGHUVLQVWDOODWLRQRI
surfaces that are easy to clean, and HVAC systems that can greatly reduce
airborne transmission.

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QRLVH$WLQ\EXPSG%LQDELWRIQRLVHFDQPHDQDSURGXFWLYLW\GLSRI
SHUFHQWDFFRUGLQJWRUHVHDUFKE\-RVKXD7'HDQDVVLVWDQWSURIHVVRURI
behavioral science at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. While
noise can’t be completely eliminated in homes, particularly those with young
children, it can be mitigated more easily.

Quarantine has been hard on parents, since they’re responsible for every aspect
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more “normal” times can cut down on the considerable cost of childcare.
:RUNLQJSDUHQWVLQ&DOLIRUQLDFDQH[SHFWGD\FDUHWRFRVWSHUFHQWRIWKHLU
salary, according to a report from Child Care Aware of America. Single parents,
PRVWRIZKRPDUHZRPHQFDQVSHQGXSWRSHUFHQWRIWKHLUVDODU\

$ODFNRIFKLOGFDUHRSWLRQVWKDWFDQ¿WLQZLWKZRUNLQJLQDQṘFHKDVORQJEHHQ
UHVSRQVLEOHIRUUHPRYLQJZRPHQIURPZRUNSODFHV$&HQWHUIRU$PHULFDQ
3URJUHVVVXUYH\IRXQGZRPHQDUHSHUFHQWPRUHOLNHO\WKDQPHQWRKDYH
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VSHQWLQWKHṘFHZLWKDGYDQFHPHQWZRPHQORVHRXW

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DVNLQJSHUPLVVLRQWKHUHLVPRUHJHQGHUSDULW\7KRPSVRQVDLG%XWVLQFH
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XQIDLUO\VHHQDVOHVVFRPPLWWHG³,WPDNHVWKHPORRNDVWKRXJKWKH\¶UHQRWDV
dedicated, even when they’re getting just as much done.”
This is when women are hired at all, particularly for
tech roles in which a large gender gap still exists. Hiring
UHPRWHO\EHQH¿WVGLYHUVLW\RIDOONLQGVDFFRUGLQJWR
=DOHVNL³,QPDQ\ZD\VPHHWLQJVRPHRQHLQSHUVRQFDQ A lack of
be very misleading, because you’re valuing the person childcare
EDVHGRQWKHLUERG\ODQJXDJHZKDWWKH\ORRNOLNHKRZ options has
WKH\GUHVVDOOPDUNHUVWKDWUHDOO\FDQGLVDGYDQWDJH long been
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the way that sort of our ideal candidate has been for removing
LQJUDLQHGLQWRSHRSOH¶VKHDGV´VKHVDLG³:HDOONQRZ women
there’s a huge amount of bias in hiring.” from
workplaces.

Source: fizkes/shutterstock.com

WILL WE EVER GO BACK?

If we’ve learned anything from COVID-19, it’s that
nothing occurs in isolation. All of the factors above that
D̆HFWHPSOR\HHVDOVRD̆HFWWKHLUHPSOR\HUV

Companies can’t recruit the best talent if those people

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expected to cost public companies $1 trillion in the next
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transmission is pricey and prohibitively so for many
smaller businesses. And childcare falling through added
up to $13 billion for American businesses last year.
Kamouri said research conducted by Iometrics and
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WRUHWXUQWRWKHṘFHIRULQWHUDFWLRQDQGFDPDUDGHULH
%XWWKH\DOVRZDQWWRFRQWLQXHZRUNLQJIURPKRPHDW Employees want
least on a part-time basis, preferably two to three days a to continue
ZHHNZKHQWKHSDQGHPLFLVRYHU working from
home at least
“We’re done with the 20th century,” Thompson said. on a part-
“We have to start focusing on what matters, so that time basis,
SHRSOH²PHQZRPHQHYHU\ERG\²FDQWDNHFDUHRIWKHLU preferably two
OLYHVQRWKDYHWKHṘFHWDNHFDUHRIWKHLUOLIHRUWKHLU to three days a
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WKLVLQWRDFFRXQWDQG¿QGLW¶VD¿QDQFLDOEHQH¿WWRWKHP
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savings. “It may well save them a lot to not have to
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Wagner said.

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win-win situation for everyone.

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

FEATURES

10 CHEAP AND
EASY WAYS TO
LEVEL UP YOUR
HOME OFFICE
BY JILL DUFFY
A
re you working from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic? Not
knowing how long your remote-work situation will last might leave
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KRPHṘFH

Before you sink too much time, work, and money into this project, consider
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KHOSJHW\RXWKURXJKWKHQH[WIHZZHHNVRUPRQWKV

1. INVEST IN HEADPHONES
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SXUSRVHLQDKRPHṘFH1RWHYHU\RQHOLNHVWRZHDUWKHPHYHU\GD\EXWZKHQ
\RXQHHGWKHP\RX¶OOEHJUDWHIXOWRKDYHWKHP²HVSHFLDOO\LI\RX¶UHKRXVHERXQG
LQDVPDOOVSDFHZLWKRWKHUVDVPDQ\RIXVDUHULJKWQRZ

$JRRGQRLVHFDQFHOLQJSDLUFDQWDPSGRZQDPELHQWVRXQGV$QGFRPIRUWDEOH
over-ear headphones can make you feel like you have more privacy than you
DFWXDOO\GRKHOSLQJ\RXIRFXV$Q\VHWWKDWFRPHVZLWKDPLFURSKRQHLPSURYHV
YLGHRDQGDXGLRFDOOVIRUERWK\RXDQGWKHSHRSOHRQWKHRWKHUHQG,I\RX¶UH
shopping online during the COVID-19 pandemic, be sure to double-check the
VWRUH¶VUHWXUQSROLFLHVDVVRPHKDYHFKDQJHGGXULQJWKHFULVLV

Source: fizkes/shutterstock.com
2. USE A BACK PILLOW
<RXGRQ¶WQHHGDQH[SHQVLYHṘFHFKDLUDWKRPHDVLW¶V
easy to adapt any standard chair to be more comfortable
ZLWKDEDFNSLOORZ<RXFDQEX\DQLQH[SHQVLYHFXUYHG When you
foam cushion for your chair, or save yourself a few look at your
EXFNVE\WU\LQJDVWDQGDUGSLOORZRUUROOHGXSWRZHO computer,
your eyes
3. RAISE YOUR MONITOR OR LAPTOP should be
When you look at your computer, your eyes should be nearly level
QHDUO\OHYHOZLWKWKHWRSRIWKHVFUHHQ&RPPRQO\WKH with the top
VFUHHQRUPRQLWRULVWRRORZ7KDW¶VKRZ\RXZLQGXS of the
FUDQLQJ\RXUQHFNRUKXQFKLQJRYHU7KHUHDUHWZR screen.
VLPSOHVROXWLRQV

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laptop, you need a little more equipment: a laptop stand
(also sometimes called a riser) and an external keyboard
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DQGWLOWWRR'RQ¶WWU\WRW\SHRQDODSWRS¶VNH\ERDUG
while the device is on a stand, as it could cause injuries
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FKHDSODSWRSULVHUVRQWKHPDUNHW

Source: ElRoi/shutterstock.com
4. LIGHT YOUR FACE FOR VIDEO CALLS
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'XULQJGD\OLJKWPDNHVXUH\RXUEDFNLVQ¶WWRDZLQGRZDVDVWURQJOLJKWEHKLQG
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SLYRWLQJ\RXUSRVLWLRQGHJUHHV,IWKHURRPLVDOLWWOHGDUNDQRUGLQDU\WDEOH
ODPSZLWKDVKDGHVKRXOGKHOS

5. MAKE SPACE FOR YOUR CHARGERS

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\RXUSKRQHVWDUWVWRUXQORZ\RXZRQ¶WKDYHWRWDNHDODSDURXQGWKHKRXVH
ORRNLQJIRUDFRUG

6. DEAL WITH YOUR CABLES

0RVWKRPHṘFHVPRVWKRPHVIRUWKDWPDWWHUKDYHXQVLJKWO\PDVVHVRI
cables wherever computers, routers, external hard drives, monitors, printers,
scanners, phone chargers, and so on are all trying to connect to power and to
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ORRNVDQGIXQFWLRQDOLW\RI\RXUṘFH<RX¶OOQHHGWRVHWDVLGHWLPHWRXQSOXJDQG
detangle everything, but the good news is that you can get the cables into a tidy
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FDEOHQDLOLQVRUFOLSVDQGSRZHUVWULSV,I\RXFDQD̆RUG]LSWLHVDQGSDLQWHU¶V
WDSH\RXFDQJHWVWDUWHG

Source: sirtravelalot/shutterstock.com
 Source: Andrey_Popov/shutterstock.com
7. KEEP A CLOTH (OR TWO) ON HAND
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of some kind on hand to wipe the desk and keyboard,
like a square of an old dish towel or a damp paper towel
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ZRRGVDQGDQ\WKLQJYDUQLVKHG

8. SCENT THE AIR

Place an inexpensive candle on your desk, or add a few
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Aromatherapy posits that certain smells can help calm
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PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

 Source: Sachiczko/shutterstock.com
9. DECORATE WITH PLANTS
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to windows that look onto natural scenes, have a
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DQGGHFUHDVHVWUHVV

10. PREVENT CLUTTER FROM BUILDING UP

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WKHUH¶VQRVHFUHWWRFOXWWHUSUHYHQWLRQHLWKHU-XVWGRQ¶W
SXWDQ\WKLQJWKDWLVQ¶WQHFHVVDU\RQ\RXUGHVN

JILL DUFFY

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

FEATURES

HOW TO WORK
FROM HOME
SECURELY BY NEIL J. RUBENKING
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SECURE YOUR COMPUTER

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SECURE YOUR NETWORK

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Source: jijomathaidesigners/shutterstock.com
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SECURE YOUR PASSWORDS

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We always
advise you to
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every site and
not to reuse
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PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

15
AFFORDABLE
SMALL TOWNS
IN THE US WITH
FAST INTERNET
BY SASCHA SEGAN
M
illions of Americans have been working from
home during the COVID-19 crisis. And
plenty of tech and knowledge-industry
workers are looking around their tiny apartments in
tech-hub cities and asking themselves: Could I do
bigger and better than this?

According to Global Workplace Analytics, a consultancy

WKDWKHOSV¿UPVGHVLJQZRUNIURPKRPHVWUDWHJLHV
percent of the US workforce has the ability to work from
home, and the number of regular work-from-home
IRONVLVOLNHO\WRMXPSIURPSHUFHQWWRWR
SHUFHQWRIWKHZRUNIRUFHE\%XWDFFRUGLQJWRD
survey from WhistleOut, over a third of people say that
lack of high-speed internet has prevented them from
Over a third of
doing their work.
people say
So let’s say you want to get away from the big city but
that lack of
keep your remote-working lifestyle in the fast lane. We high-speed
IRXQGDWWUDFWLYHD̆RUGDEOHVPDOOWRZQVDQGFLWLHV internet has
across America with gigabit internet connection options prevented
and reasonable housing prices—at least, more them from
reasonable than in job-rich places such as New York, doing their
San Francisco, and Seattle. work.

We used data from Zillow and our partners at Ookla

6SHHGWHVWRZQHGE\=L̆'DYLV3&0DJ¶VSDUHQW
company) to identify towns where Speedtest users
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Home Value Index had an estimated home value of
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that are not suburbs or exurbs of big cities. Then we
cross-referenced with some lists of “best small towns”
and tried to select places that were appealing.
 Source: The Old Major/shutterstock.com
APPOMATTOX, VA
Population:
Gigabit ISP:)LUHÀ\)LEHUSHUPRQWK
Zillow Home Value Index:

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charming, historic town in central Virginia. As with many of the cities on our
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need to be careful about where you live—the Central Virginia Electric
Cooperative’s lines cover some streets but not others. The Digital Divide exists
even within a small town.

Source: Atomazul/shutterstock.com

BISBEE, AZ
Population:
Gigabit ISP: 6SDUNOLJKWSHUPRQWK
Zillow Home Value Index:
$IRUPHUFRSSHUPLQLQJWRZQQHDUWKH0H[LFDQERUGHU%LVEHHLVDGHOLJKWIXOO\
kooky, artsy place with a preserved heritage downtown and far more
restaurants and art galleries than a place its size ought to have. It’s a popular
day trip destination from Tucson, which is only about an hour and a half away.

Source: Weldon Schloneger/shutterstock.com

COUNCIL GROVE, KS
Population:
Gigabit ISP:7&7SHUPRQWK
Zillow Home Value Index: 

A historic stop on the Santa Fe Trail, Council Grove has two lakes, nature trails,
and a riverside walkway. The local chamber of commerce tries to play up the
town’s historic sites, but its top appeal appears just to be the peace and quiet of
LWVFODVVLF3ODLQV

DIAMONDHEAD, MS
Population: 
Gigabit ISP:&6SLUHSHUPRQWK
Zillow Home Value Index:

An upscale and heavily golf-oriented resort community on the Gulf Coast,

'LDPRQGKHDGLVDOVRQHDU%D\6W/RXLVZKLFKSouthern Living Magazine
GHFODUHGWREHRQHRILWVIDYRULWHD̆RUGDEOHVPDOOWRZQV
 Source: Nolichuckyjake/shutterstock.com
JONESBOROUGH, TN
Population:
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Zillow Home Value Index:

$SSDODFKLDQFXOWXUHLVDOLYHLQ-RQHVERURXJKDUHJLRQDOFXOWXUDOKXEZLWKD
repertory theater, an arts center, and a historic downtown with tours led by
costumed reenactors. The town’s annual National Storytelling Festival has led
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RSSRUWXQLWLHV1HDUE\-RKQVRQ&LW\LVDODUJHUFRPPHUFLDOKXEVXUURXQGHGE\
state parks.

KENAI, AK
Population: 7,778
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Zillow Home Value Index:

*&,$ODVND¶VGRPLQDQW,63KDVEHHQVSUHDGLQJJLJDELWVHUYLFHWRVXUSULVLQJO\
remote locations, including this peninsular city three hours south of Anchorage.
You’ll pay for it, but that’s life in Alaska. According to locals, Kenai has good
schools, friendly people, and a dramatic landscape, but you’ll have to deal with a
ORWRI$QFKRUDJHYDFDWLRQHUVLQ-XO\
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MONTOUR FALLS, NY
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Zillow Home Value Index:

7KHJRUJHRXVDVLQIXOORIJRUJHV)LQJHU/DNHVDUHDRIFHQWUDO1HZ<RUNKDV

multiple dueling gigabit providers and a slew of picture-perfect small towns
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to charming Corning and Ithaca. And a waterfall runs through downtown.

PAWLET, VT
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=LOORZ+RPH9DOXH,QGH[

5XUDO3DZOHWLQWKHORZUROOLQJ7DFRQLF0RXQWDLQVLVDWZRVWUHHWIDUPLQJ
town on the New York–Vermont border and at least an hour and a half from
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DOVRD*ESVSODQIRUWKRVHZKRDUHZLOOLQJWRSD\SHUPRQWK
PETOSKEY, MI
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to Traverse City, called one of the “best small towns in America” by
Architectural Digest.3HWRVNH\LVH[SHQVLYHIRUQRUWKHUQ0LFKLJDQ²VR
H[SHQVLYHWKDWORFDOORZZDJHZRUNHUVFDQ¶WD̆RUGWROLYHWKHUH²EXWLW¶V
much less expensive than many of the coastal cities from which tech workers
may be moving.

Source: Karel Bock/shutterstock.com

PRICE, UT
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Zillow Home Value Index:

/RRNLQJIRUGUDPDWLFQDWXUDOEHDXW\",WFRPHVDWDUHODWLYHO\ORZSULFHLQ3ULFH
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ancient art.
 Source: Martha Marks/shutterstock.com
RANGELY, CO
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Rangely is in an extremely rural part of Colorado, near People are

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from all the madness but close to canyons with fossil about Petoskey,
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$QHDUE\UHVHUYRLUR̆HUV¿VKLQJDQGERDWLQJ in northern
Michigan with a
SALYERSVILLE, KY
preserved
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downtown.
month)
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hiking near there and not much else, but locals say the
town is friendly and community-oriented. Zillow shows
a lot of inexpensive, unbuilt land nearby—you can get
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SHALLOTTE, NC
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weight in terms of shopping and dining, as it’s the major commercial
destination in its county. Golf is a big deal here, with 39 golf courses nearby.

SHINER, TX
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$FXWHFRPSDFWFLW\6KLQHULVEHVWNQRZQIRULWV6SRHW]O%UHZHU\KRPHWR
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German heritage, with a culture that extends into food and music traditions as
well as its world-renowned brewing.

TAOS, NM
Population:
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Zillow Home Value Index:

Taos is a legendary artists’ colony, home to a motley collection of former city

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0DJD]LQHOLVWVUHDVRQVWRORYH7DRV7KHORFDO.LW&DUVRQ(OHFWULF
Cooperative’s gigabit service isn’t listed on its Web site, but the company says
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*ESVFRPLQJWKLVVXPPHU

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

FEATURES
COWORKING
COMMUNITIES
CHART A NEW PATH
DURING COVID-19
We checked in with Pauline Roussel, CEO
of Berlin-based Coworkies to find out
what’s next in collaborative (but socially
distanced) work spaces.
BY S.C. STUART
A
year ago, PCMag interviewed Pauline Roussel and Dimitar Inchev,
co-founders of Coworkies, an online job forum, advice site community
builder, and all-round knowledge base for the free agent. In April
2019, the pair were working on their book, Around the World in 250
Coworking Spaces, and had just returned to Berlin from New York City. In May
2020, like the rest of us, they were grounded at home.

But they weren’t just kicking back and watching TV on the couch. They were
organizing Hack Coworking Online, which took place May 28 to 30 (remotely,
RIFRXUVH:HH[FKDQJHGHPDLOVZLWK&RZRUNLHV¶&(25RXVVHOWR¿QGRXWPRUH
about the conference and coworking in the time of COVID-19. Here are edited
and condensed excerpts from those conversations.

PCMag: Hello from Hollywood! All the coworking spaces here closed
when California’s ‘Safer at Home’ ordinance hit on March 17. When
did it kick in for you in Berlin?
Pauline Roussel: Greetings from Berlin! The situation started to slowly
become critical around the beginning of March here. Unlike other European
countries, such as France or Spain, where the rules have been very strict,
*HUPDQ\WRRNDGL̆HUHQWDSSURDFKWRWKHORFNGRZQEDVHGRQWUXVW2IFRXUVH
like everywhere in the world, concert venues, shopping malls, and restaurants
had to shut their doors. But for coworking spaces—at least in Berlin—because
HDFKSODFHKDVGL̆HUHQWUXOHVLWZDVQHYHUDQREOLJDWLRQWRVKXWGRZQ0DQ\
did it, but they rather closed their doors to the public or external visitors. For
existing members, many spaces in the city have provided a certain time frame
GXULQJWKHGD\ZKHUHPHPEHUVFRXOGDFFHVVWKHLUṘFHLIQHHGHGIROORZLQJRI
course, all the safety measures the government has released.

What’s the biggest challenge facing coworking spaces now?

The fact that coworking spaces can’t operate their physical spaces has actually
brought forth an interesting question: ‘How do I keep adding value for my
members?’ In times like today, when many freelancers lost clients and many
companies had to postpone projects, what everyone needs is to be connected to
others with whom they can collaborate.

How has Coworkies been able to help them address this question?
For Coworkies, it’s actually a great opportunity, as we can really work with
coworking spaces and help them support their members in paying their rent by
JLYLQJWKHPWKHSODWIRUPWKH\QHHGWR¿QGDQGVKDUHZRUNRSSRUWXQLWLHVRI
various sorts.

Which brings us to Hack Coworking Online. Tell us how the original

Hack Coworking event started.
7KLVHYHQWVHULHVVWDUWHGLQLQ/RQGRQZKHUHZHKRVWHGRXU¿UVWHGLWLRQ
in a coworking space called HubHub. And the idea behind it was to bring
together coworking-space users, from occasional user to the ‘I go to a coworking
space every day’ kind of user, to discuss and build new ideas and develop new
products that can enhance the overall experience one has in a coworking space,
both physically and digitally.

After launching in London, the idea was to go global, right?

<HVDIWHUDVXFFHVVIXO¿UVWHGLWLRQLQ/RQGRQZKHUHZHKDGWHDPV
presenting projects, we decided to take the event around the world with us and
were supposed to do it this year in Japan and New York.

But then COVID-19 came along.

When COVID-19 hit, we had to adapt our plans and decided to shift to an online
format. Instead of focusing on one particular region, we decided to make it a
JOREDOFRQYHUVDWLRQ,QWKHVSDQRI¿YHGD\VZHKDGVSDFHVIURP,QGLD&DQDGD
United Kingdom, Japan, Portugal, Albania, Argentina, Bulgaria, and a few other
FRXQWULHVVLJQHGXS:HORYHWKLVGLYHUVLW\EHFDXVHLWEULQJVVRPDQ\GL̆HUHQW
perspectives into the discussion.
Are you developing a playbook for coworking
post-lockdown?
More than a step-by-step playbook, we wanted to have a
pool of ideas that people could tap into. Social
distancing is becoming a thing, [but] we need to keep in
mind we are humans, and social interaction is the
cornerstone of our communities. ... We need member-
driven innovation for coworking spaces, not solutions We need to
that are put top-down for coworkers. Spaces need to keep in mind
¿QGWKHEHVWZD\WRJHWKHUZLWKWKHLUPHPEHUVWRUHVWDUW we are humans,
their workspaces in the new reality. Hearing what and social
coworkers think and what ideas they have is essential interaction
for coworking spaces to restart. is the
cornerstone
Have you heard from any of our friends in of our
Korea and Japan about contact-tracing apps communities.
and/or temperature sensors to see who’s sick
and needs to go back into quarantine?
We had a few conversations with Japanese spaces. ...
They didn’t mention anything about contact-tracing
apps, but temperature check is a must. They do it
everywhere. We’ve seen some interesting initiatives
going on there, like a coworking space that used an
open-source template of face masks and face shields
and 3D printed them for their members and for the
PHGLFDOVWD̆RIWKHLUFLWLHV
Do you think coworking spaces will take a page from the playbook of
grocery stores when reopening? Will we be following route stickers
RQWKHÀRRUWRPDLQWDLQEHWWHUÀRZUHGXFLQJGHQVLW\E\H[SDQGLQJ
opening hours, and sanitizing everything?
Many spaces are already doing it. And in some places, it is mandatory by law—
like in Italy, for example. A coworking space in Rome called Millepiani shared
with us via a Zoom call that they are reopening next week, and by law, they have
to get a sanitizing company to clean the space. Which adds quite a burden on
WKHLU¿QDQFLDOV

Guess it all depends on the size of the coworking space.

<HV,I\RXUFRPPXQLW\LV¿YHWRSHRSOHSUHVXPDEO\LWKDVTXLWHJRRG
communication between members, [and] those communities should come
together and decide on what’s best for everyone. Maybe scheduled space use is
something that can be implemented as an introductory measure, before things
can go to their normal state.

+RZGR\RXWKLQNVRFLDOGLVWDQFLQJZLOOD̆HFWWHDPEXLOGLQJ",NQRZ
culture often dictates one’s approach to personal space, but I’m
JXHVVLQJWKHUH¶OOEHQRKXJJLQJLQWKHKDOOZD\VRUHYHQKLJK¿YHVWR
celebrate the win when we all return.
)LUVWWKLQJV¿UVW:HVKRXOGOHDUQQRWWRVXSSUHVVRXUHPRWLRQVDVWKLVFULVLVLV
adding a huge emotional burden to our approach to life. If everyone is good
ZLWKKLJK¿YHVJLYHKLJK¿YHVWKHQZDVK\RXUKDQGV

Is it more about the spaces themselves developing trust through

action and awareness?
The presumption is that your workspace would be a safe place to interact with
others. How that trust is established will be up to the spaces. Operators should
start with guidelines and scenarios on how to act as individuals and as a
community to make everyone feel safe. People need to trust each other that
everyone acts in the safest way possible when outside of the space.

And if a space is soulless or without leadership, just a place where

people used to rent space rather than ‘belong,’ there’s no way to
build trust.
Right. Trust within the community will become a decisive factor [as to whether]
a coworking space can sustain as a business or not.
:KDWDERXWWKHH̆HFWRQVKDULQJ
generally? No bowls of candy at
reception? Everyone putting their names
on the Soylent supply and wearing gloves
to handle food items?
From what we’ve read, it’s better to wash hands
than to wear gloves. Some people put on the
gloves and stay with them all day. Visually,
gloves [say], ‘I am taking precarious measures
to stay safe.’ But on the other hand, if we look at
it realistically, it says, ‘I keep myself safe, but I
touch everything with those gloves.’ Washing
hands often is better. Again, depending on the
VL]HRIDFRPPXQLW\ZHFDQH[SHFWGL̆HUHQW
ways of dealing with it.

6SHDNLQJIURPH[SHULHQFHVXUYLYLQJDVDIUHHODQFHUZLWKRXW
community and gathering places is tough. Have coworking spaces
with a clear brand handled the transition to digital communities
better than others?
(DFKDQGHYHU\FRZRUNLQJVSDFHKDVDGDSWHGGL̆HUHQWO\WRWKHVLWXDWLRQ7KH
Wing, for instance, has indeed shifted to online using their already-developed
app to produce content—mainly events—for their members. What’s great about
them is that they’ve opened up their events to anyone for free, which means I
could attend one of their talks or webinars, although I am not a member.

What else have you seen that works to maintain remote

connectivity?
,W¶VLQWHUHVWLQJWRVHHKRZIDVWFRZRUNLQJVSDFHVKDYHDGDSWHG)URPR̆HULQJ
YLUWXDOFRZRUNLQJDOOGD\PRUQLQJFR̆HHFKHFNLQVZLQHGRZQHYHQLQJV\RJD
VHVVLRQVRU3LFWLRQDU\QLJKWWKH\¶YHDOOR̆HUHGDZD\IRUWKHLUPHPEHUVWRNHHS
connected to the community they belong to. We even had a coworking space
that’s part of Coworkies that celebrated its nine-year anniversary all online with
their community!

As CEO, how has your role changed since the crisis hit? I’ll bet you
never thought you’d be compiling a guide to infectious diseases
when you started this business.
It’s a great question, and my role did evolve. Like
anyone on the team, I had to adapt and be where our
community needed me the most. As our community is
composed of both coworking spaces and coworking
PHPEHUVZH¶YHODXQFKHGGL̆HUHQWIHDWXUHVDQG
resources to support them during those times.

So much of your role is encouraging

cohesiveness among those who actually manage
spaces, too.
Yes, and for our coworking spaces managers, we’ve
created The Community of Community Managers, a
closed group where we invited community managers
from various coworking spaces to a safe space where we
discuss weekly ways of doing community management
without a physical space. The response has been great, Operators
and we’ve been sharing so many interesting ways of should start
engaging with members in any context. with guidelines
on how to act
Random observation: I saw on your site that as individuals
‘new-school work communities’ is the latest and as a
phrase. Are we parking ‘coworking’? community to
For us, coworking is an activity, not a space... We’ve make everyone
been repeating this since we started, so ‘new-school feel safe.
work communities’ can be a shared space or a virtual
group on Slack. In Japan, we have a friend who started
an online coworking community for coworking
FRPPXQLWLHV3HRSOHIURPGL̆HUHQWVSDFHVFDQJDWKHU
and work together online.

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

TIPS & HOW TOS
DIY WEBCAM

How to Turn Your Smartphone

Into a Wireless Webcam
BY WHITSON GORDON

I
f you’re stuck inside and want some human interaction, a little video-
chatting can help. While most laptops come with built-in webcams,
desktops do not, and laptop cameras can break at any time.

Because of the rising demand for video conferencing, USB webcams might be
hard to come by. But with a bit of free software, you can turn your phone—or
any spare smartphone—into a webcam for your PC.

FOR ANDROID PHONES: DROIDCAM

If your phone runs Android, you can use an app called DroidCam to turn it into
a webcam. The free version has everything you need to get started, though a $5
upgrade to DroidCamX adds 720p video and an experimental high frame rate
option and gets rid of the small banner ads. If you plan on using it a lot, it’s a
worthy upgrade, but I felt the experience was pretty solid with the free version.
To get started, you need two pieces of software: the
DroidCam Android app from the Play Store and the
Windows client from Dev47Apps. Once both are
installed, make sure your computer and phone are on Friends on
the same Wi-Fi network. The DroidCam Android app the other end
should have an IP address listed—something like said the SD
192.168.1.91—which you can enter in the desktop app to video quality
connect the two. looked fine,
but there may
Be sure to check the Audio box if you don’t have a be a bit of a
microphone on your PC. Click the Start button, and you
delay in
should be connected. Most video chat apps should
the video.
recognize DroidCam as a valid webcam, though you
may need to restart an app that might have been
running when DroidCam was installed. (Skype can be a
ELW¿QLFN\²\RXPD\QHHGWRXVHWKHROGQRQ±0LFURVRIW
Store version.)

In my experience, DroidCam worked well enough.

Friends on the other end said the SD video quality
ORRNHG¿QHEXWWKHUHPD\EHDELWRIDGHOD\LQWKH
video. Some had trouble with the audio coming from
my phone, so my computer’s microphone was still ideal.
You can adjust a few things in the settings, including which camera to use (front
or rear), which microphone to use (camera or speakerphone), and a few battery-
saving features. But just know that it probably won’t operate as well as a
traditional webcam.

If you prefer to connect over USB rather than Wi-Fi, DroidCam can do that too,
WKRXJKLWUHTXLUHVDOLWWOHDGYDQFHG¿QDJOLQJZLWKVRPHSKRQHVSHFL¿FGULYHUV
Even if you stick with Wi-Fi, though, you may want to charge your phone while
video chatting, since it will drain the battery fairly quickly.

FOR IPHONE USERS: EPOCCAM

If you have an iPhone, EpocCam is the app I’d recommend for turning it into a
webcam. It’s actually cross-platform—available for iPhone, Android, Windows,
and macOS—but in my experience, DroidCam is the superior option if you have
a choice. EpocCam’s ads are very intrusive, and it has very few features in the
free version, almost necessitating the paid upgrade. DroidCam has better video
and audio overall, but your mileage may vary.

To use EpocCam, download the EpocCam app to your iPhone and download the
drivers for Windows or macOS. You may need to restart your computer after
installing the desktop software.

Once you restart, you can launch the EpocCam Viewer app on your computer
alongside the EpocCam app on your phone to see whether it’s working. As long
as the two devices are on the same Wi-Fi network, they should link without any
extra steps. EpocCam should show up as a webcam for Zoom, Google Hangouts,
or any other video chat application you may use.
EpocCam’s free version is quite limited, with only the rear camera available for
use (unless you rate the app). Microphone support, HD video, USB connections,
and zoom/focus adjustments are available only in the $7.99 paid version.

The free app also has some annoying full-screen ads and a watermark on your
video, but in my testing, it worked as well as can be expected. You’ll probably
want the paid version if you plan on using it more than once or twice.

ALTERNATE WORKAROUNDS
If the above apps don’t quite meet your standards, or you’d rather not use third-
party software, you have a couple of other options.

First, you could just use your phone without your PC. Most video conferencing
apps, including Zoom, Skype, Hangouts, and others have mobile apps that you
can use to chat right from your phone. You won’t be able to see your friends as
easily on the small screen, but it’ll do the trick. (If you have an iPad or Android
tablet with a front-facing camera, all the better.)

If you like seeing your friends on a bigger screen or you need to use screen
sharing from your computer, here’s a nifty workaround: Connect to the video
conference using both your PC and your phone (again, using the mobile app for
Zoom, Skype, or whatever app your compatriots require). You can use your
phone to transmit your video, but use the PC to see and hear everyone else. As
long as you have enough bandwidth to handle both chats at once—many apps
don’t allow you to disable your partner’s video, so you’ll be streaming it on two
devices—it’ll work in a pinch.

Whichever of these options you use, make sure you have a good way to stand
your phone up, so you don’t have to hold your arm out for an hour. I used a
ÀH[LEOH*RULOOD3RGVWDQGWKDW,DOUHDG\RZQHGEXWMXVWDERXWDQ\SKRQHRU
tablet stand should work. You could even just prop it up on some books to get it
to eye level and avoid giving your friends an up-the-nose view.

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020

TIPS & HOW TOS
REDUCE BLUE LIGHT

Give Your Eyes a Break:

How to Choose the Right
Blue Light Glasses BY WILL GREENWALD

Photo credit: fizkes/shutterstock.com

A
s we’ve been spending more time at home staring at screens, we’re
becoming increasingly vulnerable to eye strain. You’ve probably
DOUHDG\KHDUGRIEOXHOLJKWDQGKRZLWFDQKXUW\RXUH\HVDQGD̆HFW
your sleep, and maybe a pair of blue-light-blocking glasses has caught your
attention. But it’s important to understand that there are lots of options for
reducing eye strain when staring at screens, and they go beyond just getting
new lenses. Here’s what you should know about blue light and some of your
choices for reducing your exposure to it.
WHAT IS BLUE LIGHT?
On the most basic level, blue light is exactly what it
sounds like: light that’s blue. That’s not the full picture,
though, and this is where light and color theory come The light
into play, along with concepts such as color coming from an
temperature, Planck’s Constant, and the black body incandescent
radiation curve. Without going too far into the weeds, LED light bulb
you simply need to understand one fact about light: The is warmer than
color white isn’t universal. the light
coming from a
There is no singular white but a whole range of visible
computer
light that counts as white. Depending on the lighting
monitor.
FRQGLWLRQVDQGZKDWLVUDGLDWLQJDQGUHÀHFWLQJOLJKW
white light can appear very yellow (warm) or blue (cool)
in color. For instance, the light coming from an
incandescent LED light bulb is warmer than the light
coming from a computer monitor. This is called color
temperature, and it’s measured in kelvin (K).

What we perceive as white light shifts along a range of

generally 2,700K to 7,000K. Confusingly, warmer light
has a lower color temperature than cooler light, with the
DOPRVW¿HU\JORZRIWXQJVWHQKLWWLQJDURXQG.
and overcast sunlight hitting about 6,000K.

Photo credit: HQuality/shutterstock.com

Computer monitors typically set white at a very cool temperature to simulate
natural sunlight, close to 6,500K. That means the light coming from your screen
is quite blue, which you’ll notice if you look from a web page with a white
background to a warm light bulb. Blue light has been accused of causing eye
strain and even eye damage, so the solution should be to warm that light up
before it hits your eyes.

IS BLUE LIGHT THAT BAD?

Here’s where it gets tricky. Lots of promises from manufacturers of blue-light-
blocking glasses don’t necessarily hold up to medical scrutiny. Essentially, blue
light can’t directly damage your eyesight. The American Academy of
Ophthalmology notes that ultraviolet radiation can damage eyes, but that
computer monitors and other screens don’t emit that kind of radiation. The
whites are cool, but they aren’t actually harmful. In fact, the AAO doesn’t
recommend any special eyewear for computer use.

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GD\7KRXJKWKHUDGLDWLRQPLJKWQRWKXUW\RXUH\HV\RX¶UH¿[DWLQJRQD
powerful light source a few inches to a few feet from your eyes for long periods
of time, and that can cause strain. Your eyes can become dry, irritated, blurry,
or even produce headaches when you look at screens for hours on end. Blue-
light-blocking technology can help reduce that strain by making the light appear
more soothing and less bright.

The AAO recommends the 20-20-20 rule, where every 20 minutes you should
look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds to give your eyes a break. It’s a
good habit to get into, but it isn’t always realistic, and it isn’t the only thing you
can do to help your eyes.

I sometimes get light-sensitive headaches, and I’ve found that tinted lenses can
help reduce them. For that, blue-light-blocking glasses are very useful. They
warm up the light, blocking out a bit to give your eyes a rest. They can relieve
eye strain, which is their real value rather than the promise of simply blocking
out blue light.

So you might be well served by getting some blue-light-blocking glasses. There

are a few other options to consider, as well. With that in mind, read on for
products that can (and cannot) help alleviate screen strain on your eyes.
Gunnar Glasses
L l l l m
Gunnar is one of the most established
brands for “gaming glasses,” blue-light-
blocking computer glasses for gamers. If
you go to major video game events, such
as PAX, you’ve probably seen a pair.

7KHFRPSDQ\R̆HUVDYDULHW\RIIUDPHVDQGWLQWW\SHVLQFOXGLQJWKH&OHDUOHQV
that blocks 35 percent of blue light while not tinting colors too much; the more
intense Amber lens that blocks 65 percent of blue light, and even transition
lenses that are tinted indoors and get darker like sunglasses when you’re
outside. These glasses are available standard or with a prescription.

We’ve reviewed a few Gunnar glasses, and each pair we’ve tested has been
nicely made, sturdy, and comfortable. They can get a bit pricey, especially if you
get prescription lenses, but they’re quality glasses.

Jins Screen
L l l l m
EDITORS’ CHOICE

Jins is a Japanese glasses company that

also makes blue-light-blocking lenses,
which it calls Jins Screen. They block
out 25 percent of blue light with a fairly
modest tint.

Based on the Frontswitch glasses we reviewed, Jins frames are exceptionally

well made, which, along with Japanese manufacturing, accounts for their high
prices. They’re good glasses, but they’re a splurge.

Zenni Blokz
Zenni is a glasses brand that lets you order inexpensive frames and lenses over
the web—prices start at $7. If you have your prescription, you can simply enter
the numbers into an online form, and your glasses will come a few weeks later.
I’ve sworn by Zenni for stocking up on
“backup” glasses, though its pricier frames
and lenses are generally pretty well made.
=HQQLR̆HUV%ORN]LWVRZQEOXHEORFNLQJOHQVWHFKQRORJ\%ORN]OHQVHVVWDUWDW
$17, so you can get prescription blue blocking glasses for as little as $25.

AMAZON ABOUNDS WITH CHEAP CHOICES

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RWKHUUHWDLOHUVWKRXJK\RXZRQ¶WKDYHWKHEHQH¿WRISUHVFULSWLRQOHQVHV:H
also haven’t looked at any of these glasses ourselves, so we can’t attest to their
lens or frame quality. We have, however, noticed an interesting pattern: Many
of them are the same.

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EUDQGQDPHVGRQ¶WPHDQPXFK,I\RXGRQ¶WUHFRJQL]HWKHEUDQGDQGWKH
company doesn’t appear to have its own site, you can expect a generic
experience.

SKIP THE SPECS, TRY F.LUX

You don’t need glasses to warm up your screen: f.lux is a useful piece of
software that adjusts your computer’s color temperature, letting you shift
everything on your screen to look warmer. It can even be set with sunrise/
sunset timers to make the screen warmer at night to reduce eye strain when it’s
the only source of light for you, while keeping colors untouched when there’s
daylight out.

It’s an excellent tool for dealing with monitor-based eye strain without glasses.
Just make sure you disable it when you want to watch a movie or play a game,
so the colors are accurate.

DO NOT GET: BLUBLOCKER SUNGLASSES

Ironically, the popular-in-drugstores brand BluBlocker is not advisable for
reducing blue light when staring at a screen.

BluBlockers are sunglasses, and their tints are too strong for looking at your
monitor comfortably. If you use too strong a tint, you can strain your eyes in the
other direction, forcing them to deal with too little light instead of too much.

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TIPS & HOW TOS
PRODUCTIVITY

How to Take Better Breaks

to Boost Your Productivity
BY JILL DUFFY

Photo credit: fizkes/shutterstock

Y
ou’ll never be the best you can be if you aim to be 100 percent
productive all the time. It’s impossible to work nonstop without paying
a price: a decrease in quality, output, or safety. We all need to take
breaks. If you’ve recently found yourself working from home while the world
tries to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, you may be tempted to
compare your at-home break schedule to one you used to follow in your place of
business: “Would I have spent 10 minutes opening a package if I had been at
work?” or “I’m not usually this distracted when I’m at work.”

WE’RE ALL UNDER MORE STRESS THAN USUAL

First, anyone who has worked remotely for a long time will tell you that there’s
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WR¿JXUHRXW\RXUQHZZD\RIZRUNLQJ
Second, the current situation is not normal. You might be more distracted by
the news; you might get interrupted by children, pets, or other people in your
home. And third, with all these changes, we are all under more stress than
usual. Stress depletes our energy. When we’re low on energy, we need a break.
I’ll explain more about that concept in a moment.

Knowledge workers (myself included) usually are responsible for their own
break schedules. It’s up to us to determine when to take a two-minute break to
read headlines or how slowly to stroll down the hall to get a glass of water.

People often take breaks based on intuition, without any sort of regard for how
long they need to recuperate or when they will take their next break. Not
everyone has good intuition. It’s easy to get led down an internet rabbit hole
while taking a break. It’s also easy to stop one task to take a break only to get
caught up in checking email—and that’s not a break.

THE THEORY OF BREAKS

To take useful breaks that actually allow us to be more productive, we need to
understand the theory of why and how they work.

When describing workplace burnout, which is what we’re trying to avoid when
we take breaks, researchers sometimes turn to the model of conservation of
resources. The theory, developed by Stevan E. Hobfoll in the 1980s, explains
how people handle stress. In short, it says that we all have internal resources for
coping with stress. We can use our resources for a while, but at some point, we
need to rebuild those resources.
Photo credit: fizkes/shutterstock
At the time Hobfoll came up with this theory, experts were starting to
understand that stressors are constant and ubiquitous rather than caused by
single events. In other words, we experience stress any time we work; it’s always
there, and we’re always using our resources to deal with it. As we run low on
resources and our remaining resources are threatened, burnout happens.

So what do we need to do to rebuild those resources? Under what conditions do

we start to feel healed and recovered? Two researchers who were examining
these questions ran a study on vacations. They concluded that three things
really help people recover and return to work feeling recharged: positive work
UHÀHFWLRQWKLQNLQJDQGWDONLQJDERXWWKHSRVLWLYHDVSHFWVRIRQH¶VMREPDVWHU\
(working on a skill), and relaxation. All three help rebuild resources.

Two more things that may help are socializing on the weekend and not dealing
with unexpected hassles when you’re trying to take a vacation—think of getting
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If we pull back and think about what all those pieces mean collectively, it’s that
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It may sound like common sense, but if you’ve ever taken a break from a work
WDVNE\FKHFNLQJHPDLOZKLFKLVVWLOOZRUNDQGKDUGO\HQMR\DEOH\RXGLGQ¶W
really take a break, did you?

WHAT KINDS OF BREAKS ARE BEST?

So we know that the break must actually be a break from work and work-related
VWX̆(PDLOLVQRWDEUHDN&RPSODLQLQJDERXWZRUNZLWKFRZRUNHUVFDWKDUWLFDV
it may be, isn’t a break.

Two questions people have about breaks is how often should they be and how
ORQJVKRXOGWKH\EHIRUPD[LPXPEHQH¿W3XWWLQJQXPEHUVRQWKHOHQJWKDQG
frequency is tricky. Some studies have attempted it for knowledge workers, but
there is no number that’s agreed upon across multiple studies. A popular and
often cited 2014 post on The Muse says the ideal break schedule is to work for
57 minutes, followed by a 17-minute break, but I wouldn’t rely too heavily on
that. Those numbers, which come from a computer-monitoring software
FRPSDQ\GRQ¶WLQFOXGHDQ\ULFKGHWDLOVDERXWWKHVXEMHFWVWKHLUOLQHRIZRUN
the raw data, or how it was analyzed.
A better study found that the optimal amount of time for breaks is about 12
percent of the workday. The same study showed that short intermittent breaks
are better than one or two long breaks. If we take 12 percent and apply it to an
eight-hour workday, then we get about 58 minutes of break time. As an
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VD\VWKDWIRU\RXUKHDOWKDQGWRSUHYHQWFRPSXWHUZRUNUHODWHGLQMXULHV
workers should take a break about once every 20 minutes. They can be
microbreaks, but it’s best to stand up, stretch, and maybe walk around for a
minute or two. According to Hedge, movement improves circulation, comfort,
DQGSHUIRUPDQFHZKLOHDOVRGHFUHDVLQJWKHULVNRIDQLQMXU\

TOOLS THAT HELP YOU TAKE SMARTER BREAKS

1RZ\RX¶UHWDNLQJH̆HFWLYHEUHDNVDQGNQRZLQJZK\WKH\¶UHEHQH¿FLDOZKDW
they should be like, and how often to take them. But there’s also the matter of
sticking to the breaks you decide to take, and then getting back to work when
they’re over.

An app that I use from time to time when I need to be more regimented
ZLWKP\ZRUNEUHDNSDWWHUQLV6WULFW:RUNÀRZ7KLVSOXJLQIRU&KURPHORRVHO\
(but without trademark violation) implements the Pomodoro Technique on
your computer.

Photo credit: AlessandroZocc/shutterstock.com

The Pomodoro Technique is a method of working that separates time into work
phases and break phases. So you work for x minutes, break for y minutes, and
repeat. The name comes from using kitchen timers, which were often in the
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than a timer that changes color and buzzes an alarm when either phase is up.
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\RX¶UHLQWKHZRUNSKDVH\RXFDQVHW6WULFW:RUNÀRZWREORFN\RXIURP
accessing certain URLs that might distract you from work, such as Facebook
and Twitter.

Other break apps run on your operating system rather than in the browser,
LQFOXGLQJ7LPH2XWIRU0DF%UHDNDSSVGRQ¶WMXVWWLPH\RXDQGORFN\RXRXWRI
websites that prevent you from working during a work phase—they also lock
you out of your entire computer during the break phase, forcing you to stop
working. Your screen only unlocks after the break time you set runs out.

Break apps are commonly used by people trying to avoid repetitive stress
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OHDYH\RXUZRUNVWDWLRQGXULQJHDFKEUHDN,I\RXHQMR\VXU¿QJWKH:HEDVSDUW
of your break, use a plug-in instead. Or make a rule for yourself that you’ll do
OHLVXUH,QWHUQHWVXU¿QJRQO\RQDPRELOHGHYLFH

One more way to make sure you add breaks into your day is to get up and leave
\RXUGHVNHYHU\WLPHWKHLGOHDOHUWYLEUDWHVRQ\RXU¿WQHVVWUDFNHU0DQ\¿WQHVV
trackers now have this feature. You set a window of time—say 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
—during which, if the tracker catches you sitting still for more than a certain
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display. The default for most trackers is 60 minutes of idle time, but often you
can customize it. Set it for 55 minutes, perhaps, to give yourself an extra few
minutes to wrap up your thoughts before you get up and take a proper break.

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WHAT’S NEW NOW
WHY AXIS

PC Gamers Prioritize High-End

Graphics and ... Back Support
BY ERIC GRIFFITH

T
he personal computer is arguably the most powerful gaming platform,
considering how customizable a PC’s setup can be. To get a handle on
exactly what PC gamers prioritize, PCMag surveyed 23,696 people, ages
18 to 54, from March 23 to April 5, 2020 (via Google Surveys).

The majority of those people, 63.1 percent, weren’t gamers at all; what they’re
doing to pass the time is a mystery. Of the 36.9 percent who said they were
indeed gamers, the majority uses a mobile device or tablet for gaming (26.1
percent); the number-two slot was an even split between Xbox and PlayStation
users each at 21.7 percent.

PC gamers made up 19 percent, in total about 1,001 of the survey respondents.

The majority aren’t buying super-expensive rigs, but they also don’t scrimp too
much. Most go with a moderately priced gaming PC, spending $501 to $1,500.
Only about 8.2 percent opt for the really high-end setups that cost over $3,501.
Those are the people you hate most when you lose at Fortnite.

It’s worth noting that a full third of the people surveyed built their own PCs.
That seems like an astronomically high number, until you consider that gamers
want to personalize not only the components inside but often the outside look
of their rigs.

The graphics card is the most important component for a gamer: 42.8 percent
have invested in a GPU to make their games’ frame rate and graphics the best
they can be. Memory comes in second, and storage is third.
Externally, there’s nothing more important to a PC gamer than having a top-
ÀLJKWPRQLWRU2WKHUZLVHZK\ERWKHULQYHVWLQJLQWKDWQHZ*38"6HFRQGLVD
headset, even ahead of a mouse or keyboard input, which underscores the
necessity of good audio communications—and for keeping the sound down so
as not to disturb your family or roommates. (Speakers and soundbars are low
on the list.)

Not many of our respondents cared about the light show. Only 41.1 percent said
they’d set up RGB lighting on their system, but that’s still 411 people who like
the pretty lights!

We asked about furniture. Only about a quarter of the respondents have

bothered going with the standing desk option; healthy bodies is not a priority
over frags. But gaming chairs are important, and the most crucial aspect of their
seats was having good lumbar support for their backs. Being able to fully tilt/
recline was a distant second, implying that there is very little sleeping
happening during gaming.
 The graphics
card is the
most
important
component for
a gamer: 42.8
percent have
invested
in a GPU.
Finally, we asked where survey respondents get their
games online. We found that 44.8 percent go to Steam
(our Editors’ Choice for PC Game Store). Next were the
big retailers, such as Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop,
at 25.9 percent. First-party game publishers with online
services, like Blizzard’s Battle.net or EA’s Origin, came
in next, at 9.9 percent. In some telling results, people
ages 45 to 54, in the upper age range of our
respondents, were much more likely to purchase a
physical game at a retailer than to use online
subscriptions and downloads. Young people don’t want
discs laying around like we old-timers do.

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 MASTHEAD
EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, PC MAGAZINE NETWORK Dan Costa

EDITOR Wendy Sheehan Donnell
MANAGING EDITOR, DIGITAL EDITIONS Carol Mangis
PRODUCTION DESIGNER José Ruiz

NEWS & FEATURES

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Chloe Albanesius
FEATURES EDITOR Eric Griffith
SENIOR FEATURES WRITER Chandra Steele
ASSOCIATE EDITOR, HELP & HOW-TO Jason Cohen
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR Matthew Humphries
NEWS REPORTERS Michael Kan, Adam Smith

REVIEWS
EXECUTIVE EDITOR John Burek, Oliver Rist
MANAGING EDITORS Sean Carroll, Alex Colon
LEAD ANALYSTS Jim Fisher, Michael Muchmore, Neil J. Rubenking, Sascha Segan, Jeffrey L. Wilson
SENIOR ANALYSTS Tom Brant, Max Eddy, Will Greenwald, Tony Hoffman
ANALYSTS Matthew Buzzi, Ben Moore, Angela Moscaritolo, Gadjo Sevilla, Chris Stobing, Steven Winkelman

ART, MEDIA, & PRODUCTION

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Pete Haas
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Zlata Ivleva
PRODUCER Emily Zoda
SENIOR VIDEO PRODUCER Weston Almond
VIDEOGRAPHER Zach Yuzon

CONTRIBUTORS
John R. Delaney, Jill Duffy, Tim Gideon, Ben Z. Gottesman, Eric Grevstad, William Harrel, Edward Mendelson,
Stephanie Mlot, M. David Stone, Kathy Yakal

PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE I JUNE 2020