My first desktop computer, or at least the first one I used that was “mine” and not shared, had a 400MB hard drive. And at the time (about 1999, if I remember right) my parents thought it was mind-blowing. These days, you can get more than 1,200 times that much storage in a card the size of your pinky fingernail for just $27 on Amazon. How ’bout that. Amazon is selling a Lexar 512GB microSD card for 46% off, making it even cheaper than the 256GB version on the same page. It’s rated for 160 MB/s read and 100 MB/s write, so it’s more than fast enough for most storage, photo, and video needs. (Maybe not for 8K cameras, though.) It’s about as cheap as these cards get at the moment, and it’s ready to slide into any Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, Android device, or laptop to instantly give you some extra breathing room. This isn’t the cheapest I’ve ever seen a 512GB microSD card, but it’s the cheapest price for this particular one. It’s a great way to expand storage space in almost any modern device, so get it for cheap while you can. Amazon has this marked as a discount, but there’s no indication of how long the price will stay this low. Get Lexar`s 512GB microSD card for just $27Buy now on Amazon Read...

It seems that the end may be here for the Surface Laptop Studio, Microsoft’s targeted Surface series for creative work. According to The Verge, Microsoft has reportedly ended production of the Surface Laptop Studio 2 earlier this year. The Surface Laptop Studio 2 is expected to disappear from retailers over the summer, and it also appears that Microsoft currently has no intentions to launch a Surface Laptop Studio 3 in the near future. Microsoft now seems to be focusing only on the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, with the other products in the Surface family having been slowly discontinued over the years. That list of defunct Surface products includes the Surface Headphones, the Surface Earbuds, the Surface Duo, the Surface Studio 2, and now the Surface Laptop Studio 2. And it isn’t all safe for the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, either. Earlier this month, after Microsoft announced smaller and more affordable Surface revisions, the company went ahead and eliminated lower-end Surface models to make room for them. They also said goodbye to the proprietary Surface Connect port in favor of USB-C. Read...

Microsoft dealt a heavy blow to Windows 10 with the most recent Patch Tuesday. May’s KB5058379 update is causing some annoying problems, like making Windows request the BitLocker recovery key on startup on some Windows 10 PCs. (Windows 10 normally only requests this key when changes are made to the hardware or BIOS settings.) German blog Borncity reports on this problem as it relates to German users, but there are also reports in the US, like the one by Windows Latest. The problem affects Windows 10 computers in companies as well as PCs used privately, and information from affected users can be found both in the Microsoft forums and on Reddit. Without the BitLocker recovery key, Windows 10 remains locked and therefore cannot be used. Some affected users have to go through system recovery and restore their OS to a point in time before the update installation. But that’s not all. Even after Windows 10 starts, some users are running into blue screen crashes. As a workaround, it seems to help if you deactivate the “Intel Trusted Execution Technology (Intel TXT)” option in the BIOS/UEFI. Instructions on how to do that have been provided by Windows Latest and BleepingComputer. According to Windows Latest, the problem affects computers from Dell, HP, and Lenovo running Windows 10 22H2 or Windows 10 21H2 Enterprise. Microsoft doesn’t currently mention the above issues on the KB5058379 update support page, but this is an important security patch that you should install, and Windows should install it automatically once it’s available to your PC. Unless you have a good reason, don’t skip it. Further reading: How to upgrade Windows 10 to 11, step by step Read...

Social media users have complained about issues with online shopping and accessing Clubcards on the Tesco app. Read...

OK, won’t lie. I first became aware of so-called “electric scissors” when I saw an influencer hawking them on the TikTok Shop. The basic promise is that you can break down cardboard boxes quickly – and without the safety risks of using a box cutter, Stanley knife or whatever else you call those slicey things in your neck of the woods. I didn’t click the TikTok link, but I did begin researching this product category, and discovered that, wow, electric scissors may be more useful than I expected. The most obvious benefit is that the cutting blade is fully electric-powered and attached to the end of a hand grip. This alone makes breaking down boxes for recycling a safer proposition. With a box cutter, unless you’re laying the cardboard flat on a level surface, you’re likely wielding the sharp blade in a manner where it could potentially snag and slice into your leg. I mean, c’mon. Look at this guy at the 30 second mark. But electric scissors, like the $46 Worx Zipsnip model I eventually bought on Amazon, afford you greater control and safety. I can hold a box in one hand, and the Worx in the other, and simply glide the scissors through the cardboard. The ease-of-use makes it a lot more convenient to break down boxes into multiple pieces—and that means I can pack more cardboard into the recycling bin. Worx The electric scissors also make quick work of clamshell “blister packs,” which have been estimated to spur more than 6,500 emergency room visits a year. Electric scissors are also great for cutting fabric, but be warned: They’re not strong enough to cut through 3/8-inch rubber floor mats. I tried. So, yes, I’m an electric scissors convert, and here’s the kicker. The Zipsnip scissors give me a certain ASMR-like endorphin rush whenever I break down boxes and hear the lowkey industrial whir of the spinning blade. Cardboard boxes are a nuisance! So, seeing them reduced to progressively smaller pieces… well… it just feels good. The Worx Zipsnip model I bought comes with an AC charger, an extra blade and a carrying case. Are they the best Amazon has to offer? I don’t know. But they’re rated at 4.5 stars, and I didn’t want to go with the cheaper models, which cost about $10 less. When it comes to commodity hardware at these low price points, I just have more confidence in the stuff that costs a bit more. I haven’t tested any other models, so please poke around Amazon and do your own research. All I can share is that recycling day is now easier, quicker, safer and a lot more Zen. Read...

You probably know that it’s easy enough to fake audio and video of someone at this point, so you might think to do a little bit of research if you see, say, Jeff Bezos spouting his love for the newest cryptocurrency on Facebook. But more targeted scam campaigns are sprouting up thanks to “AI” fakery, according to the FBI, and they’re not content to settle for small-scale rug pulls or romance scams. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a public service announcement yesterday, stating that there’s an “ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign” that’s using faked audio to impersonate a senior US official. Exactly who the campaign is impersonating, or who it’s targeting, isn’t made clear. But a little imagination—and perhaps a lack of faith in our elected officials and their appointees—could illustrate some fairly dire scenarios. “One way the actors gain such access is by sending targeted individuals a malicious link under the guise of transitioning to a separate messaging platform,” warns the FBI. It’s a familiar tactic, with romance scammers often trying to get their victims off dating apps and onto something more anonymous like Telegram before pumping them for cash or blackmail material. And recent stories of federal employees and bosses communicating over Signal, or some less savory alternatives, have given these messaging systems a lot of exposure. Presumably, the scammers contact a specific target using an unknown number and pretend to be their boss or some other high-ranking official, using an attached voice message to “prove” their identity. These have become trivially easy to fake, as recently demonstrated when billionaires like “Elon Musk” and “Mark Zuckerberg” started confessing to heinous crimes via the speakers at Silicon Valley crosswalks. “Deepfakes” (i.e., impersonating celebrities via animated video and voice) have now become extremely common online. The FBI recommends the usual protection steps to avoid being hoodwinked: don’t click on sketchy links over text or email, don’t send money (or crypto) to anyone without lots of verification, and use two-factor authentication. One thing I’ve recently done with my family (since my ugly mug is all over TikTok via PCWorld’s short videos) is to establish a secret phrase with my family to give us a way to authenticate each other over voice calls. But with automation tools and hundreds of thousands of potential targets in the US government, it seems inevitable that someone will slip up at some point. Hopefully, federal law enforcement won’t be too busy with other matters to take care of real threats. Read...

Proton VPN is one of the very best VPNs on the market, and it’s currently offering a can’t-miss discount. Swiss company Proton is celebrating its 11th birthday right now, and for the next two weeks, from May 14 to May 28, you can snag a huge 70 percent discount on Proton VPN’s Plus plan. For just $2.99 per month for a two-year contract, you’ll enjoy great speeds, stellar privacy, and advanced security features. ProtonVPN Read our review Best Prices Today: $9.99 at Proton VPN In our latest review, Proton VPN earned a coveted Editor’s Choice rating for its abundant privacy and security features. It excels at just about everything you’d want a VPN service to do, plus some things you didn’t even know you needed. Aside from the great features, Proton VPN boasts a large server network, and all of its servers also work to unblock streaming services. Plus, its transparent, privacy-first approach to VPNs is positively refreshing when compared to other services just out to make a quick buck. In fact, transparency is so essential to parent company Proton that it has made it the guiding principle in everything it does. From all apps being open-source to regular independent audits of its no-logs policy, users can rest assured that their data is being protected to the highest degree. Be sure to sign up before May 28 to take advantage of the sale. Proton even offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can cancel anytime beforehand should you decide it’s not for you. Get 70 percent off on Proton VPN`s Plus planSave now at Proton VPN Read...

For best ergonomic results, you need to bring your laptop to eye level, else you’ll ruin your posture and cause strain across your neck, shoulders, back, and more. One way to do this is with a laptop stand, but don’t just get any old stand! You can do better with this Ugreen USB-C docking station laptop stand that’s on sale for $34 on Amazon. Right off the bat, you can see how practical this thing is. It has four angle settings from 15 degrees to 33 degrees, and it uses an anti-slip material to prevent your laptop from shifting no matter the angle. It folds down into a compact size and it’s easy to toss into your bag, able to be taken wherever you go with your laptop. And it’s not just good for ergonomics but heat dissipation so your laptop doesn’t overwork itself. But the best part is that this laptop stand also doubles as a docking station with five essential ports. It hooks up to your laptop via USB-C, and then you can use the stand’s two USB-A ports, HDMI port, and SD/microSD slots to connect extra drives and devices on top of whatever other ports you might have built into your laptop. The HDMI even supports 4K output to an external display. Why buy a laptop stand and docking station separately when you can get them together at a better price? Get the Ugreen USB-C docking station laptop stand for just $34 while you still can! Get the 5-in-1 USB-C laptop dock stand for $34Buy now at Amazon Read...

New owners of VPNSecure have been taking major flak recently after unexpectedly cancelling all lifetime subscriptions for users of the VPN service. The owners claimed that they didn’t know about the lifetime subscriptions when they first bought VPNSecure and are now unable to continue honoring them. Per Ars Technica, the first complaints from users losing their lifetime access began in March of this year. In April, users with lifetime subscriptions received an email stating, “To continue providing a secure and high-quality experience for all users, Lifetime Deal accounts have now been deactivated as of April 28th, 2025.” In response to a sudden wave—24 pages in total—of negative 1-star customer reviews on TrustPilot, a representative for the provider clarified, “In 2023, we acquired only the infrastructure and brand in a distressed asset sale after that company shut down. No contracts, payment data, or customer obligations were transferred.” VPNSecure has apologized to customers who were caught off guard by the sudden cancellations but reinforced its new position by saying it “never will” sell lifetime subscriptions. The whole ordeal seems to have been bungled from the start, but the company drew further ire with the way in which it so abruptly cut subscriptions. While it may have mitigated some of these issues by giving more advanced notice of the cancellations, it was never going to be an easy pill to swallow for previous lifetime plan holders. Adding insult to injury, there is no evidence that VPNSecure is offering refunds to those who purchased lifetime subscriptions. Instead, it’s offering affected users “an exclusive deal starting at just $1.87/month to continue using the service.” Insert eyeroll here. The whole ordeal is a great reminder that lifetime subscriptions are rarely as trustworthy as advertisements lead you to believe. Should the company ever go out of business or be sold, these previous ‘guarantees’ can be nothing but hot air. If you happen to be someone affected by these cancellations or are just looking for a VPN service that you can trust, refer to our list of the best VPNs. Read...

I am not a video editor. But Alex Esteves is — in fact he edits most of the videos on PCWorld’s YouTube channel and TikTok. So he knows a thing or two about what kind of PC works best for Adobe Premiere and other video editing software. And he’s in the studio, in front of the camera this time, to break it down for us. First of all, it’s not a straight matter of Bigger Bar Better. So simply shelling out the most you can possibly afford on a processor, or tracking down the one with the best benchmarks for your budget, might not be the optimal approach. More and faster processor scores are generally better, but that’s a generality. Examining the subscores in PugetBench’s Premiere Pro test breaks them down into Intraframe, LongGOP, and uncompressed RAW scores, different measures of performance based on how codecs are processing video. Once again, I am not video editor — watch Alex’s explanations for the technical details. But the gist of it is that how you edit your video, the hardware you use, the specific methods you choose between the different editing steps, affect which processor will be the ideal choice for you. For example, if you’re using LongGOP heavily, shelling out for a processor with more performance cores probably isn’t going to benefit you that much. The good news is that the delta between more affordable, mid-range desktop processors and the most expensive stuff on the market isn’t absolutely insurmountable, so you can do plenty of quality editing without sinking multiple thousands of dollars into hardware. For more on PC hardware, be sure to subscribe to PCWorld on YouTube, and check out our weekly podcast The Full Nerd. Read...