الجمعة، 29 نوفمبر 2019

ET Best Black Friday Desktop Deals

Desktops may be bigger and bulkier than laptops, but their strong performance and easy-to-upgrade nature gives them advantages that notebooks simply can’t compete with. Desktops undoubtedly offer better gaming performance than laptops at the same price, and their superior cooling and fast hardware also make them excellent options for work.

Key Features You’ll Want

When shopping for a desktop, the most important factor to consider is the system’s processor. This part more than anything else will determine the overall performance of the system, and it can also be used to determine a rough age for the machine. To best determine the performance of a system you should look for reviews of the processor inside of it. However, you can also roughly gauge the performance of the parts based on its name.

Both AMD and Intel use numeric identifiers in the names of their processors that make it easy to identify their age and relative performance. For example, let’s compare Intel’s Core i7 7700 with the company’s Core i7 8700 and Core i7 9700 processors. The first part of the product name, “Core i7,” designates the product line that the part belongs to, whereas the first digit in the four-number sequence identifies the processor’s generation. Knowing this, we can conclude that the Core i7 8700 is newer and more modern than the Core i7 7700, and the Core i7 9700 is the newest of these three products.

This also holds true for AMD’s products, with AMD’s Ryzen 7 1700x being older than the Ryzen 7 2700x and Ryzen 7 3700x. It should be noted, however, that AMD and Intel processors cannot be directly compared in this way.

Other parts, such as RAM and storage devices, are also important features to consider and also play a role in the system’s overall performance. For RAM, in general, more is better. When it comes to storage devices, the most important factor to determine is what type of storage device is used. HDDs offer a lot of storage space, but are relatively slow compared with SSDs, which typically offer significantly less storage space. Due to their faster performance, however, SSDs tend to make systems feel faster and more responsive, and as such it’s often better to have an SSD than an HDD, and the best solution is typically to have one of each.

The processor, RAM, and storage devices all have a significant impact on the price of the system, and as such it’s often necessary to balance performance among these parts to achieve the best possible configuration. Systems that are oriented towards gamers also come with graphics cards and will also have a strong impact on price. It should be noted, however, that some parts such as RAM are easily upgradable. Adding more RAM to a computer is often no more difficult than plugging in a USB port, and it’s also usually fairly inexpensive to perform this upgrade yourself. Adding an extra storage device is also relatively simple. Upgrading the processor, however, is typically more difficult and more expensive, which gives all the more reason why you should pay the most attention to this part when purchasing a desktop.

Top PC Makers to Consider

There are numerous companies that produce desktop computers today, far more than we could possibly cover here, but a few of the more notable companies include Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. These four companies represent the bulk of computer sales worldwide in terms of volume. Among these four, Acer tends to offer the best performance relative to how much you pay. HP systems are also budget-oriented. Dell and Lenovo tend to target the business sector of the market more than the consumer market. While both also produce consumer-oriented products, they tend to focus on producing higher quality products than Acer and HP that also raises their price tag.

This list is in no way inclusive of all worthwhile desktop manufacturers with other key notable companies including Apple, Asus, Corsair, CyberPowerPC, Gigabyte, iBuyPower, and MSI. Although it would take too long to discuss each of these companies individually, just know that desktop computers from any of these companies will typically be researchable with most of them being of decent quality.

Featured Desktops this Week

Dell XPS 8930 Intel Core i7-8700 Desktop w/ 16GB DDR4 RAM and 1TB HDD ($699.99)

Dell’s XPS 8930 desktop comes with an Intel Core i7-8700 processor with six CPU cores that can operate at clock speeds as high as 4.6GHz. The system also comes with 16GB of DDR4 memory, and it should perform exceptionally well for those that like to multitask. You can get this system marked down from $999.99 to just $699.99 from Dell with promo code AFF300XPS.

Acer Aspire TC-885-UA92 Intel Core i5-9400 Desktop w/ 12GB DDR4 RAM and 512GB SSD ($429.99)

Right now Acer’s Aspire desktop is one of the best systems you can buy for everyday use. Equipped with a quad-core Intel Core i5-9400 processor, 12GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 512GB SSD; this system offers excellent performance for work and multi-tasking. The system also comes with a keyboard and mouse, and it has a built-in DVD drive.

Acer Predator Orion 3000 Intel Core i7-9700K Desktop w/ Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080, 16GB DDR4 RAM and 256GB NVMe SSD ($1,699.99)

If you’ve been in the market for a high-end gaming desktop then look no further. This system with its Intel Core i7-9700K processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics card has plenty of power to run the latest games with maxed-out settings.

Dell PowerEdge T30 Intel Xeon E3-1225v5 Mini Tower Server w/ 8GB DDR4 RAM and 1TB HDD ($299.00)

Dell’s PowerEdge T30 system was designed as a mini-server that’s perfect for running a webserver. It would also work well as a data server for a small business. Use promo code BF299SERVER at checkout to get it for $299.00.

More Desktop Deals

Note: Terms and conditions apply. See the relevant retail sites for more information. For more great deals, go to our partners at BestBlackFriday.com.



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Raspberry Pi 4 Wi-Fi Fails When Using 1440p Video Output

There appears to be a problem with the Raspberry Pi 4 — and it’s not the kind of issue you’d expect to surface on this kind of platform. Using 1440p video output apparently makes the Wi-Fi stop working. Enrico Zini, a developer working to create digital signage based on the RBP4. The problem is unique to 1440p — use any resolution below or above that point, and everything works perfectly.

Zini has detailed his work and efforts to repro the bug, noting that they’ve tested three different RBP4’s, multiple cables, multiple cable adapters, four different power supplies, two different operating systems (Raspbian Buster, Raspbian Buster Lite), a phone hotspot, and an AP that was some meters away. In short, they’ve isolated the problem down to the video subsystem pretty thoroughly.

Mike Walters, of Assorted Hackery, performed an analysis of the HDMI output signal at 1080p and 1440p:

Here’s 1080p:

HDMI-Output-1080p

And here’s 1440p:

There’s a giant spike that could easily interfere with Channel 1 of a Wi-Fi adapter. So why is this happening? Because a 2560×1440@60Hz has a pixel clock of 241.5MHz and has a TMDS (transition-minimized differential signaling) clock of 2.415GHz, according to Hector Martin (@Marcan42). And what frequency does the RBP4 use for Wi-Fi? 2.4GHz. Which means… outputting on HDMI over 1440p can cause interference in a Wi-Fi channel.

Apparently this issue can be endemic to USB 3.0 hardware. Intel has released a whitepaper specifically discussing the problem of USB noise and its impact on 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless operations. The Intel whitepaper notes that a USB 3.0 hard drive can have a significant performance impact on a nearby wireless mouse. I may have run into this problem with wireless devices and USB 3.0 a few times, now that I’ve encountered it in this context. It would explain some odd peripheral behavior I’ve seen when certain USB 3.0 devices are simultaneously plugged in together.

The workaround, for the moment, would be to use a different resolution or refresh rate. Anything other than 1440p should work, and a 50Hz or 30Hz refresh rate would make 1440p work as well. Also, MacBooks (of at least some vintages) apparently suffer from this issue as well — it’s not unique to the RBP Foundation. There’s no word yet on any kind of fix or workaround. Clearly the RBP foundation made a mistake here — this problem may occur in multiple contexts, but most systems don’t suffer complete Wi-Fi drop out just because you change the display resolution. Between the USB-C cable issue and this, it would seem RBP has some easy fixes on the table when it comes time to build the Raspberry Pi 4+ variant.

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Samsung Might Drop Ultrasonic Fingerprint Scanning Tech, Says Analyst

Samsung was one of the first Android device makers to add a fingerprint sensor to its phones, but it was slower to adopt in-display fingerprint tech. The company finally took the plunge with the Galaxy S10 series earlier this year, following that up with the Note 10 this fall. However, Samsung might end up regretting its choice to go with ultrasonic sensor technology after the recent security snafu. Some analysts now believe Samsung may change course to use optical sensors that are available on other phones. 

The move toward slimmer bezels and thinner phones has made it harder to find a place for the fingerprint sensor. Samsung moved it from the front to the back with the Galaxy S8, and then repositioned the sensor to be more accessible on the back with the Galaxy S9. At the same time, some OEMs were ditching the exterior sensor altogether, instead opting for optical scanners under screens. 

Rather than going with an optical sensor, which uses light from the display to scan a fingerprint, Samsung went with Qualcomm’s ultrasonic fingerprint scanning tech. The small sensor under the OLED panel bounces sound waves off your finger to map the ridges, which Qualcomm claims is more secure than optical sensors. However, Samsung learned that may not be true the hard way. 

Several weeks back, reports began circulating that claimed the Galaxy S10 would unlock for anyone after people had applied a flexible gel screen protector. Many screen protectors block the ultrasonic scanner completely, but others apparently have patterns that look like fingerprint ridges to the scanner. Over time, the phone tries to improve its map of your fingerprints. So, the patterns in the screen protector become embedded in the match. Thus, anyone can unlock the phone because the sensor always sees the same screen protector patterns. 

The ultrasonic sensor that lives under the OLED screen.

Samsung Securities analyst Lee Jong-wook says that Samsung may have to drop the ultrasonic technology altogether, even after issuing a fix for the security flaw. Samsung won’t talk specifics, but the “fix” may simply have been to stop improving fingerprint recognition over time. That will make the sensor less accurate, and ultrasonic sensors are already slower than a good optical scanner. 

Another option may be to just drop the fingerprint scanner altogether. Apple did that several years ago with the iPhone X, and Google did it with the Pixel 4 and 4 XL. Although, Jong-wook points out using optical fingerprint sensors could benefit Samsung financially as it has ties with local Korean companies that could supply the parts.

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Dell Cuts Full Year Forecast Due to Intel Supply Challenges

When Intel warned on earnings last week, we noted how odd it was for the company to issue a general supplier update telling the entire industry that it was still facing a challenging production environment. It’s now at least partly clear why Intel did that — Dell told Wall Street during its Q3 earnings call that it would report lower than expected full-year revenue due to Intel’s supply challenges.

Dell’s executives did not want to comment on the overall supply conditions as they will exist in 2020 (Dell’s FY 2021) at this point in time, but the phrasing of the warning was interesting. Jeffrey Clarke, CEO of Dell, said: “Intel CPU shortages have worsened quarter-over-quarter the shortages are now impacting our commercial PC and premium consumer PC Q4 forecasted shipments.”

Up until now, Intel has taken the brunt of the impact on its product shipments at the low end of the market. When we’ve heard about proposed foundry agreements between Intel and TSMC, they’ve focused on chipsets and supplementary products. Intel has now said it will increase its use of third-party foundries. Put it all together, and you’ve got a situation in which the supposedly-improving supply crunch appears to have become worse relatively quickly.

Intel is shipping 56-core solutions now, like Cascade Lake-AP. Those didn’t exist when 14nm was new.

My theory is that what we’re seeing today is the combined impact of several issues. In 2014, Intel delayed bringing Fab 42 online. It restarted the bring-up process in 2017, but the fab won’t be fully online until 2020. Second, Intel had to increase die size to compete against AMD’s Ryzen and Epyc CPUs. Third, Intel has faced difficulty and challenges ramping up its 10nm process. It continues to work through these issues, but Intel set a target for itself that it absolutely had to hit: 10nm would be on store shelves by Holidays 2019.

But hitting that target with 10nm in volume production meant that Intel would have had to dedicate an increasingly large percentage of its foundry space to 10nm, even though 10nm yields aren’t going to be nearly as good as 14nm yields are at this point in time. Smaller process nodes offer the opportunity to build more CPUs per wafer, but low yield percentages steal back the gains. Tool installation at Fab 42 is supposed to be finished by early 2020 and the new plant will produce 10nm and eventually 7nm CPUs, but Intel hasn’t given a firm date for when it will commence volume production out of this factory.

It’s not clear how much longer these conditions will persist or whether they will funnel more business to rival AMD. HP has indicated it expects them to continue through at least the first half of 2020.

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Take An Extra 20 Percent Off Your Favorite Tech Gear and Gadgets This Black Friday

Black Friday is upon us and that means that we have deals on all of your favorite tech gear as well as some gadgets you didn’t know you needed. This Black Friday only, you can get 20 percent off all of these already discounted tech products by using offer code BFSAVE20 at checkout.

TREBLAB Z2 Wireless Noise-Cancelling Headphones

Nothing’s more annoying than loud sounds interrupting your jam sessions. These TREBLAB headphones feature solid sound quality, active noise cancellation, and 35 hours of battery life, allowing you to listen to music the way it was meant to be heard for hours on end.

  • MSRP: $259.99
  • Sale Price: $69.99
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $59.99

Kharbon IP67 Wireless Earbuds

If you lead an active lifestyle, you shouldn’t be hindered by low-quality earbuds with poor sound and battery life. These Kharbon IP67 earbuds feature an ergonomic design and lengthy carbon ear canal tubes for amazing sound quality. On top of that, they feature IP67 water and dust resistance and 150 hours of battery life thanks to the portable charging case

  • MSRP: $200
  • Sale Price: $79
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $63.20

VIZIO SP30-E0 SmartCast Crave Go Wireless Speaker

You can’t be the life of the party without a portable wireless speaker to keep the good vibes rolling. This VIZIO SmartCast speaker connects wirelessly to your mobile devices through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, allowing you to play music wirelessly straight from the SmartCast app.

  • MSRP: $199
  • Sale Price: $64.99
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $51.99

SparkMaker Original SLA 3D Printer Starter Bundle

With the SparkMaker Original 3D Printer, your only limitation is your imagination. This bundle comes with a 3D printer and 3 bottles of resin to build practically any sculpture your mind envisions.

  • MSRP: $369
  • Sale Price: $299
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $239.20

ModMic Business Attachable Noise-Cancelling Boom Microphone

Gamers valuing sound quality need to choose between either an audiophile pair of headphones or a mediocre gaming headset. With the ModMic, you can turn any set of headphones into a feature-rich gaming headset. It features enhanced noise-cancellation and can fit onto any pair of headphones thanks to its patented clasp system.

  • MSRP: $49.95
  • Sale Price: $34.95
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $27.96

TAP STRAP 2: All-in-1 Wearable Keyboard, Mouse & Controller

If you travel often, you can’t be hassled to carry a keyboard, mouse, or controller at all times. With the Tap Strap 2, you can send texts, type characters, and command mobile devices wirelessly simply by tapping your fingers on any surface.

  • MSRP: $199
  • Sale Price: $169
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $135.20

Altec Lansing ALT-500 Turntable

Streamed music quality gets better every year, but nothing beats the level of high-fidelity sound that vinyl offers. This turntable allows you to play old and new vinyl records and can be connected to your Bluetooth speakers, giving this classic piece of tech a modern edge.

  • MSRP: $150
  • Sale Price: $74.99
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $59.99

Mobile Pixels DUEX Pro Portable Dual Monitor

Whether you’re a creative or a number cruncher, having a second screen handy allows you to view and accomplish more work at once. The DUEX Pro is a portable monitor that connects to the back of your laptop and boasts a crisp 1080p display. With the flexible hinge and thin design, you can enjoy two displays in any work environment.

  • MSRP: $249
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $199.20

3-in-1 Wireless Power Bank for Apple Watch, iOS & AirPods

No Apple fan should leave home without a power bank for their iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch. This 3-in-1 charger is small enough to fit in your pocket but powerful enough to charge all three devices at once, and you only need a single Lightning cable!

  • MSRP: $99.99
  • Sale Price: $39.99
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $31.99

Flume Smart Home Water Monitor

If your home experiences a plumbing issue, you can waste hundreds of dollars before finding the culprit. Flume uses a water sensor to immediately detect areas of leakage and excessive water usage. It then sends you an alert through the Flume app, which you can use to diagnose and resolve the problem efficiently.

  • MSRP: $199
  • Sale Price: $169
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $135.20

X3 Hurricane Variable Speed Canless Air Duster

Dust gets everywhere, and nothing’s more effective at getting rid of it than a can of compressed air. However, this X3 Hurricane Canless Air Duster is an environmentally-friendly alternative that eliminates dust more effectively than store-bought canisters.

  • MSRP: $159.95
  • Sale Price: $119.99
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $95.99

blurams Dome Pro 1080p Security Camera with Facial Recognition + Night Vision

If you plan on traveling over the holidays, you need to keep a watchful eye over your home somehow. The Dome Pro uses facial recognition to alert you when strangers are inside and allow you to view a live stream of your home straight from your mobile phone.

  • MSRP: $59.99
  • Sale Price: $49.99
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $39.99

BONDIC Starter Kit + Extra Refill

Glue is adequate for basic arts and crafts or home projects, but it can be unforgiving if you need to make precision repairs. BONDIC is a cleaner, more effective solution that uses a UV light to cure its adhesive, allowing you to make clean repairs without the sticky cleanup.

  • MSRP: $24.99
  • Sale Price: $14.99
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $11.99

NetGear Nighthawk AC1900 Wi-Fi Cable Modem Router (Refurbished)

Paying for high-speed internet is pointless if your router bottlenecks your mobile devices. With the NetGear Nighthawk, you can enjoy extended Wi-Fi coverage and ultra-fast AC1900 speeds for online gaming and 4K video streaming.

  • MSRP: $269.99
  • Sale Price: $99.99
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $79.99

CIRQ: World’s Smallest 1080p Projector

There are some cases, like presentations or camping trips, where your laptop screen just doesn’t cut it. With the CIRQ, you can project a 240-inch image at 1080p resolution. It’s small enough to fit in your pocket but boasts 5 hours of battery life and built-in speakers, making it the perfect travel companion if you need to satisfy your daily Netflix binge while on the go.

  • MSRP: $600
  • Sale Price: $249.99
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $199.99

U-Grip Cup Holder Car Mount for Phones and Tablets

Your standard phone and tablet mounts either stick to your dashboard or windshield, which simply obstruct your field of view. With the U-Grip Cup Holder Mount, you can mount any mobile phone or tablet without blocking your view of the road.

  • MSRP: $59.99
  • Sale Price: $12.99
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $10.39

RAVPower Fast Wireless Charger with HyperAir Qi-Certified 10W Charging Stand

If you plan on picking up a new smartphone over the holidays, you can expect it to be Qi charging-enabled. Make sure to pick up this Qi-certified wireless charger for your desk or nightstand. It features a variety of safety features to prevent overcharging, over-discharging, and overheating.

  • MSRP: $25.99
  • Sale Price: $15.99
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $12.79

VILTA Handheld Smartphone Gimbal

Smartphone cameras are extremely powerful nowadays, and you can capture crisp, 4K video without needing expensive camera equipment. With this VILTA Handheld Smartphone Gimbal, you can stabilize your smartphone footage for a smoother cinematic experience.

  • MSRP: $95
  • Sale Price: $79
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $63.20

Triton 3-in-1 Cable

Don’t you hate having to share your charging cable with other people? Using an iPhone while your friends all have Androids only makes matters worse. Luckily, this 3-in-1 charging cable lets you charge mobile devices using USB-C, Lightning, and micro USB all at once.

  • MSRP: $29.99
  • Sale Price: $9.99
  • Price with BFSAVE20: $7.99

Note: Terms and conditions apply. See the relevant retail sites for more information. For more great deals, go to our partners at BestBlackFriday.com.



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الخميس، 28 نوفمبر 2019

ET Best Black Friday Deals: Fire TV Stick, Apple iPad, MacBook Pro, Echo Dot, 4K TVs and More

Black Friday is finally here bringing with it thousands of deals on just about everything you can imagine. We’ve looked through and found many of the best deals currently available to help you save on everything from a new computer to smart home appliances.

Apple 7th Gen iPad 128GB 10.2-Inch Tablet ($329.00 / 32GB Model For $249.00)

Apple’s 2019 iPad features a large 10.2-inch display with a high resolution of 2,160×1,620. Under the hood these tablets come equipped with Apple’s custom made A10 Fusion chip that gives this tablet all the power of one of Apple’s iPhones but with a larger and more enjoyable display. Right now you can pick one up with 128GB of internal storage from Amazon with a $100 discount that drops its price from $429.00 to $329.99. You can also get the more affordable 32GB model marked down from $329.00 to $249.99.

Apple MacBook Pro Intel Core i5 13-Inch Laptop w/ Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD ($999.99)

 

This compact Apple MacBook Pro computer features a quad-core Intel Core i5 processor that has a powerful integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 graphics processor. This enables the relatively small system to run some games in addition to also helping the system with content creation.

TCL 55S425 55-Inch 4K HDR Roku Smart TV ($279.99)

TCL designed this TV with a 4K panel that supports HDR to produce a more lifelike picture with superior color. The TV also comes equipped with Roku software, which makes it easy to stream content from numerous sources. Right now you can get it from Amazon marked down from $599.99 to $269.99.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K ($24.99)

As its name suggests, Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K is capable of streaming 4K content to your smart TV from a wide range of sources. It also comes with a remote that features Alexa, which is able to hear and obey voice commands. Right now select customers can get it marked down from $49.99 to $24.99.

Featured Deals

Check out more Black Friday Adscans and Sales from Best Black Friday.

Apple Devices

More Apple Deals here.

Amazon Devices and Services

More Amazon Device Deals here.

Smart Home Devices

More Smart Home Deals here.

Laptops

More Laptop Deals here.

Desktop Computers

More Desktop PC Deals here.

Monitors

More Monitor Deals here.

HDTVs & Home Entertainment

More TV Deals here.

Storage

More Storage Deals.

Networking

More Networking Deals.

Components

More Components Deals.

PC Accessories

More PC Accessories Deals.

Gaming, Toys, and Collectibles

More Gaming Deals here.

Smartphones

More Smartphone Deals here.

Wearables

More Wearables Deals here.

Electronics

More Electronics & Tech Deals here.

Headphones, Speakers & Audio

More Headphone and Audio Deals here.

Tools & Home Improvement, Kitchen Gadgets, and more

Note: Terms and conditions apply. See the relevant retail sites for more information. For more great deals, go to our partners at BestBlackFriday.com.

 



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