2020-09-01 PCWorld

keyboard or mouse, and they can also be love letter to the technology [go.pcworld.

used to connect to an external drive, if you com/lvlt] should convince you. You’ll need a

don’t mind a slower transfer rate. A compatible laptop like the Spin 3 and a Wi-Fi

traditional HDMI port will connect a single 6E router, to take advantage, though.)

4K display at 60Hz. Our review unit shipped with Windows 10

The Thunderbolt port on the Spin 3 is a version 1909, which we used for testing.

rare and treasured find on budget laptops. Midway through, it was offered the May 2020

Thunderbolt’s particularly versatile I/O Update (go.pcworld.com/m2up), also

capabilities can connect to a dedicated known as version 2004.

Thunderbolt dock, a USB-C hub, or an KEYBOARD AND AUDIO
external display.

Thunderbolt is most noteworthy for its I’d characterize Acer’s keyboards as middling.

ability to connect a pair of 4K displays at an That’s not necessarily a criticism. Acer’s

eye-pleasing 60Hz, while a non-Thunderbolt keyboards tend to be shallow and a bit

USB-C port can connect to just one 4K mushy, bottoming out rather than cushioning

display at 30Hz via a hub. Thunderbolt your fingers. While the Swift 3 provides a

docks, however, range in price from $100 full-size keyboard, the keys themselves tend

to $250 or so. to be a bit smaller on average, and Acer left

There’s another, hidden advantage to itself with close to an inch of additional space

the Thunderbolt port. The

Spin 3 ships with Acer’s

narrow-tipped proprietary

charger. The Thunderbolt

port accepts a third-party

65W USB-C charger, giving

you a secondary power

option in a pinch.

Because this is an Intel

10th-gen device, wireless

connectivity is supplied by

Intel’s Wi-Fi 6 radio and

Bluetooth 5.0. (If you don’t

understand what Wi-Fi 6 can The Spin 3’s keyboard lean in to functions used by business travelers,
do for you, Michael Simon’s such as shortcuts to project to another display.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 47

REVIEWS ACER SPIN 3

on either side. Still, as I typically do, I wrote backups, anyway).

this review on the Swift 3’s keyboard itself, Acer’s audio straddles the broad divide

and it was reasonably comfortable. between disappointing and excellent, and

Acer’s Precision trackpad fills most of the that’s due to the default configuration. The

available depth below the keyboard, with an Spin 3’s dual speakers are “forward” (upward)

integrated fingerprint strip in the upper facing, and sounded a bit flat and tinny when I

lefthand corner. As a consequence, a good started playing music. But Acer also bundles

chunk of the trackpad isn’t clickable. I’d prefer the Spin 3 with the DTS audio enhancement

the trackpad to be wholly devoted to algorithm, which dramatically improves the

navigation, as there’s plenty of room sound quality with a bit of fiddling. Acer also

elsewhere for Acer to mount the reader. Also, claims the “TrueHarmony” paper-cone design

“strip” fingerprint readers typically aren’t as of its speakers improves the overall audio.

accurate as a larger sensor or a user-facing Never, ever turn DTS off, as the sound

depth camera, which Acer presumably then dissolves into an aural pile of garbage.

skipped over for cost reasons. The Spin 3’s Even with DTS turned on, the speakers

reader worked fine, though (and Windows sounded a bit faint. Using the custom audio

asks you to set up a PIN and password as settings, however, I was quickly able to tune

the speakers

directionally

(“front” versus

“traditional” versus

“wide”) to come up

something that was

both appreciably

loud and pleasing

to my ears.

Acer’s Spin 3 also

includes “Purified

Voice,” the name

Acer gave its far-field

mic technology

when it added it to

The Spin 3’s fingerprint reader, though not perfect, worked very well. Its the Spin 5 in 2018.
trackpad is quite spacious, too. While that device

48 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

Norton LifeLock, and

customers will receive a

30-day subscription. (While

we believe that the built-in

Windows Defender offers

satisfactory antimalware

protection (go.pcworld.

com/amlw), the service

comes bundled with a

password vault, backup,

and other services.) Acer

(and Microsoft) preloaded

the various Office apps,

though you’ll have to

Here’s the Spin 3’s in-box 65W barrel charger. You can charge the provide your own
laptop via the Thunderbolt port if you own a USB-C charger. While subscription.
fast charging doesn’t appear to be supported, a 25-percent charge in
about 20 minutes isn’t bad. Acer also provides a

collection of its own apps,

included four mics, this one has two. I was still which really deserve to be integrated into a

able to calmly ask Cortana for the local forecast single overarching utility. The only ones

with the laptop across the room, while my worth your time are the Acer Care Center,

home’s central A/C ran in the background. which allows you to request hardware

That technology also suppresses keyboard updates manually, tune the system via

noise, handy in video meetings where you defragmentation and other services, and so

might be typing as you talk. on. Quick Access provides a couple more

OH, NO: BLOATWARE features: the ability to manage charging via
the USB ports, and a superior blue-light

Some budget laptops come overburdened management control, with four gradations

with bloatware, and the Spin 3 is no that go far beyond Windows’ own settings.

exception. Some are welcome: The Spin 3’s Otherwise, the bloatware approaches

taskbar includes the Firefox browser as well as horrifying levels: separate applications for

Dropbox, which offers 25GB of cloud storage registering the unit; another, Acer Collection

as part of an Acer promotion. Acer S, that collects curated apps (like Facebook

preinstalled Norton Security Ultra from and Netflix, which is already installed

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 49

REVIEWS ACER SPIN 3

elsewhere); plus a second Apps Explorer with Deluxe, Candy Crush Friends. There are also
even more. There’s a PhotoDirector for Acer apps to manage Intel’s Optane drive (the Spin
trial. PowerDirector for Acer. A user 3 doesn’t have one) and a Thunderbolt
experience app. Shortcuts to Amazon, manager, which seemed to do nothing even
Booking.com, Evernote, ExpressVPN, a with a hub connected. Stop already!
GoTrust ID app that uses your mobile phone
to help authenticate, portals to buy audio and The one question I’m left wondering is
video editors from Magix Software, Hearts why, of all the software Acer bundles, there
isn’t a single good drawing app. That’s one of

the Spin 3’s selling points, after
all.

The Spin 3’s integrated stylus measures 125.31mm long with A FUN PEN, A
a 5.3mm diameter, according to Acer. A single button can be SUBPAR WEBCAM
used to select or erase e-ink.
Tucked inside the Spin 3 is an
A close-up of the pen’s charging connectors. integrated Wacom AES Active
Pen, which rather cleverly fits
inside an unobtrusive slot on one
side of the chassis. I’ve wrestled
with integrated pens before (go.
pcworld.com/inpn), but this pen
is designed such that it can be
inserted in only one way. The
pen’s apostrophe-shaped top
contains a small metal contact for
charging the pen, which Acer
says can last for 90 minutes on
just 15 seconds of charge, or
over 100 minutes with a
300-second charge.

Acer tells us that the pen uses
EDLC (electric double-layer
capacitors), which negates the
need for a battery. It also means
that Windows won’t report the

50 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

The image that the Acer Spin 3 captured appears to be a bit more washed-out than this rather grim
screenshot indicates.

pen’s battery level via the Bluetooth settings little ink lag. Tilt appears to be supported.

menu within Windows, because the AES pen Though the pen’s a bit on the skinny side

communicates directly with the Wacom (which can leave fingers feeling cramped after

digitizer built into the Spin 3. We noticed a a while), I was able to enjoy a relaxing session

of the Fresh Paint app. The battery

held up just fine. There’s no reason to

expect a budget laptop like the Spin

3 to have anything better than a

720p webcam—the same sort you’ll

find in the vast majority of laptops

currently available. The webcam’s

color accuracy seems to be on point,

but the image quality is flat and

mushy. The integrated HDR controls

A number of user-accessible screws on the bottom of the within the Windows Camera app
laptop should make upgrades possible. (We haven’t tested seem to have no effect, whether off
this ourselves.) or on.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 51

REVIEWS ACER SPIN 3

PERFORMANCE PCMark 8 Work 2.0

The Acer Spin 3’s moderate performance Native resolution
reflects its budget roots, and there’s no shame
there. For web surfing, movie watching, Excel PCMark 8 Creative PCMark 8 Work
and other office work, as well as some light
gaming, it will do the job. I was also surprised Acer Swift 3 4,514
to discover that the Spin 3 played back my SF314-42-R9YN 3,858
4K/60 YouTube test video without dropping
a single frame—other, more powerful laptops Ryzen 7 4700U 3,806
I’ve tested recently couldn’t do that!
Lenovo Yoga C940-14 3,683
Below, you’ll see a series of benchmarks 3,671
where we compare the Spin 3 to other, Core i7-1065G7 3,655
mostly budget-level 14-inch laptops. Keep an 3,635
eye on the Walmart Motile M142 (go. Acer Spin 3
pcworld.com/m142), a surprisingly decent 4,033
$500 14-inch laptop, the insanely good $675 Core i5-1035G1 3,441
Acer Swift 3 SF314-42-R9YN (go.pcworld. 3,377
com/r9yn) and the Lenovo Yoga C740-14IML Acer Swift 5
(go.pcworld.com/14ml), a $790 14-inch 3,331
convertible. We’ve compared it to last Core i7-1065G7
holiday’s Acer Aspire 5 (go.pcworld.com/ 3,224
apr5) (now out of stock), and a couple of Lenovo C740-14IML
Microsoft devices. By and large, though, Acer 3,291
owns a lot of the budget laptop category. Core i5-10210U 3,031
2,506
PCMark 8 is an older suite. We use the Microsoft Surface 2,939
Work benchmark to evaluate the laptop on its Laptop 3
ability to open and manipulate spreadsheets,
hold video calls, and edit test documents, Core i7-1065G7
plus indulge in some light gaming. Creative’s
suite stresses the CPU and GPU a bit more Acer Swift 3 SF314-
with photo editing, video editing, and more 57-57BN Core i5-1035G1
intensive gaming tests. The Spin 3 did well Lenovo Yoga C640-
here, posting one of the higher scores on 13IML Core i3-10110U
both tests.
Acer Aspire 5 A515-
54-30BQ Core i3-8145U

Walmart
Motile M142

Core i3-10110U

Microsoft Surface
Go 2

Core m3-8100Y

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

The Acer Spin 3 performs quite well in both the
Work and Creative tests, as we’d expect.

We use Cinebench to test the CPU
capability, pushing all of its cores to the limit.
We’d expect the Spin 3’s 10th-gen “Ice Lake”
Core chip to post midrange performance,
and it does.

The HandBrake open-source transcoding
tool takes a conventional Hollywood movie
and transcodes it into a lower-resolution

52 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

Cinebench R15.038 HandBrake 0.99 Encode

All threads Seconds

Acer Swift 3 1,061 Acer Swift 3 1,876
SF314-42-R9YN 751 SF314-42-R9YN 2,973
688 3,236
Ryzen 7 4700U 678 Ryzen 7 4700U 3,490
670
Microsoft Surface 634 Microsoft Surface
Laptop 3 Laptop 3

Core i7-1065G7 Core i7-1065G7

Walmart Motile Walmart Motile
M142 M142

Core i3-10110U Core i3-10110U

Lenovo Yoga Acer Spin 3
C940-14
Core i5-1035G1
Core i7-1065G7
Lenovo Yoga 3,706
Lenovo C940-14 4,027
C740-14IML
Core i7-1065G7
Core i5-10210U
Acer Swift 5
Acer Spin 3
Core i7-1065G7
Core i5-1035G1

Acer Swift 5 598 Lenovo 4,128
C740-14IML 4,183
Core i7-1065G7
Core i5-10210U 6,153
Acer Swift 3 562 7,673
SF314-57-57BN 351 Acer Swift 3 8,682
300 SF314-57-57BN
Core i5-1035G1 245
Core i5-1035G1
Lenovo Yoga
C640-13IML Lenovo Yoga
C640-13IML
Core i3-10110U
Core i3-10110U
Acer Aspire 5
A515-54-30BQ Acer Aspire 5
A515-54-30BQ
Core i3-8145U
Core i3-8145U
Microsoft Surface
Go 2 Microsoft Surface
Go 2
Core m3-8100Y
Core m3-8100Y

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE SHORTER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

Acer’s Spin 3 is a middle-of-the-road laptop where Acer’s Spin 3 is a middle-of-the-road laptop where

pure compute power is concerned. pure compute power is concerned.

format appropriate for a tablet. It’s a good test GPUs. The 10th-gen Core i5-1035G1 (go.
of a real-world task, and evaluates how well pcworld.com/i5g1) used in the Spin 3
the laptop can work under stress for a includes a “G1” suffix, indicating the
prolonged period of time. The Spin 3 finished weakest graphics performance within Intel’s
the task faster than most of its rivals. 10th-gen lineup. As a result, some of the
other Ice Lake CPUs outperform the Spin 3
Next up is the 3DMark Sky Diver in graphics performance.
benchmark, an older test that’s still
applicable for laptops with integrated It’s worth noting that the Spin 5

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 53

REVIEWS ACER SPIN 3

3DMark Sky Diver 1.0 Battery Life

Graphics score Minutes

Acer Swift 3 10,877 Lenovo Yoga 985
SF314-42-R9YN 10,441 C640-13IML 784
8,995 654
Ryzen 7 4700U 8,242 Core i3-10110U 626
585
Microsoft Surface Lenovo Yoga 539
Laptop 3 C940-14

Core i7-1065G7 Core i7-1065G7

Lenovo Yoga Lenovo
C940-14 C740-14IML

Core i7-1065G7 Core i5-10210U

Acer Swift 5 Microsoft Surface
Laptop 3
Core i7-1065G7
Core i7-1065G7
Walmart Motile 6,932
M142 6,261 Acer Aspire 5
A515-54-30BQ
Core i3-10110U
Core i3-8145U
Acer Spin 3
Acer Spin 3
Core i5-1035G1
Core i5-1035G1

Acer Swift 3 6,226 Acer Swift 5 498
SF314-57-57BN 4,574
4,285 Core i7-1065G7
Core i5-1035G1 3,451
3,425 Acer Swift 3 490
Lenovo SF314-42-R9YN 464
C740-14IML 441
Ryzen 7 4700U 398
Core i5-10210U
Acer Swift 3
Lenovo Yoga SF314-57-57BN
C640-13IML
Core i5-1035G1
Core i3-10110U
Microsoft Surface
Acer Aspire 5 Go 2
A515-54-30BQ
Core m3-8100Y
Core i3-8145U
Walmart Motile
Microsoft Surface M142
Go 2
Core i3-10110U
Core m3-8100Y

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

A 10th-gen “G1” processor like the Spin 3’s simply The Acer Spin 3 averages just under nine hours of
isn’t as powerful as its competition. battery life.

technically failed a 3DMark stress test, which performance while playing games.
loops a single benchmark over and over. Finally, we take a look at battery life,
“Failing” the test means that one or more
results are inconsistent with the others, where we set the display brightness to 250
usually indicating that the laptop’s nits, connect earbuds at medium volume,
performance has degraded due to power or and loop a 4K video over and over until the
thermal limits. In this case, this probably just battery expires. Though a slightly hefty
signifies that you shouldn’t expect consistent laptop like the Spin 3 has room for a larger
battery, the 47.9Wh capacity is average (and

54 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

it stopped a bit short of full design capacity, (go.pcworld.com/
charging to just 45.9W). Its battery life of just r9yn), which is both
under nine hours will get you through a full lighter and faster.
day’s work. However, other modern laptops (My gut says that
are doing far better. AMD Ryzen
4000-powered
BOTTOM LINE laptops will be the
budget laptop
For a budget laptop that’s largely middle-of- story of 2020.) Or if
the-road, the Acer Spin 3 still manages to battery life is your
stand out because of several forward-looking priority, Lenovo’s
features. The Thunderbolt port, the Yoga C740-14IML
integrated stylus, and the Wi-Fi 6 antenna are (go.pcworld.
things you won’t find on many other models com/14ml)
in its price range. excels—and it’s also
more expensive. If
You do have options. You could pay $30 you shop around
more to buy the Acer Swift 3 SF314-42-R9YN and still end up
with the Acer Spin 3, though, you shouldn’t
be disappointed.

Acer Spin 3 SP314-54N-58Q7

PROS

• Performance is generally average for a budget PC.
• A nicely integrated stylus.
• Decent price.

CONS

• Lots of bloatware.
• Webcam image quality is a little flat.

BOTTOM LINE

The Acer Spin 3 is a budget laptop with a few
surprisingly nice features: An integrated stylus, a
Thunderbolt port, and Wi-Fi 6. Even if its
performance is average, those bonuses help it
stand out.

$649

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 55

REVIEWS

Crucial P5 SSD: Excellent bang
for the buck

It’s not the drive for pros writing very large data sets, but for the average
user it’s a great deal. BY JON L. JACOBI

Having reviewed both midrange NVMe SSD. Note that the 250GB
Crucial’s P1 and P2 bargain version is rated for half the write speed of
NVMe SSDs, I expected more the larger versions. This is common across
of the same middling the industry in that capacity. A single
performance from the new P5. I was wrong: NAND chip, instead of the two or more
The P5 was strictly upper-crust with normal with larger capacities, doesn’t have as many
workloads, and actually took home first prize data lines.
in one test. It’s not the drive you want for
extremely long writes, but otherwise—it The P5 utilizes a Micron-designed
hauls the freight. controller and 96-layer TLC (Triple-Level
Cell/3-bit) NAND, various amounts of which
DESIGN AND SPECS are allocated dynamically as secondary SLC
cache. This augments the primary DRAM
The P5 is available in four capacities: 250GB cache (1GB per 1TB of NAND). SLC cache is
($63 on Amazon [go.pcworld.com/p5am]), simply writing the cell as an off/on binary
500GB ($87 on Amazon [go.pcworld.com/ voltage, rather than the more refined and
p5am]), the 1TB we tested ($180 on Amazon error-prone voltage required to represent a
[go.pcworld.com/p5am]), and 2TB ($400 2-bit (MLC), 3-bit (TLC), or 4-bit (QLC) value.
on Amazon [go.pcworld.com/p5am]).
Those prices are pretty much on track for a The P5 carries a five-year warranty and is
rated for 600 TBW (TeraBytes Written) per 1TB

56 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020 IMAGE: CRUCIAL





CrystalMark 6 48GB copies

MBps (Seconds)

Crucial P5 WD Black NVMe SN750 Crucial P5 WD Black NVMe SN750

Kingston KC2500 Seagate FireCuda 520 Kingston KC2500 Seagate FireCuda 520

Random 3,323 Total time 335
Write 4K 2,574 333
342
(Q=32, T=1) 2,978
3,479 355

Random 3,511 48GB 132
Read 4K 3,485 folder 127
3,507 write
(Q=32, T=1) 3,474 146
48GB 147
LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE folder
read 148
The Crucial P5 (the top bars above) garnered the 142
fastest CrystalDiskMark 6 sustained write score 48GB 140
we’ve seen out of a PCIe 3.x NVMe SSD. folder 152

of capacity. That’s meager by current 48GB read 25
standards, but still more data than the average 32
user is likely to write in a decade. 29
28
PERFORMANCE
30
To be clear, my surprise over the P5’s 32
excellent performance is not due to a lack of 27
faith in Micron’s ability to produce a great 28
drive—merely that they’ve sent me only
bargain types recently. The numbers garnered SHORTER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE
by the 1TB P5 I tested were extremely
impressive, even during relatively large write The P5 was second only to the WD Black
tasks. SN750 when it came to overall read and write
performance in our 48GB transfer tests.
CrystalDiskMark 6 rated the P5 as the
fastest NVMe/PCIe 3.0 (by a whisker over the Seagate FireCuda 520 [go.pcworld.com/
sgfc]) reader we’ve ever tested. The result is
well within the margin of error, but hey... a win
is a win.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 57

REVIEWS CRUCIAL P5 SSD

450GB write it does happen with most midrange drives—
so there’s still a reason to go for a pro-level
Seconds drive. Unless of course you consider
Kingston’s midrange KC2500: Its synthetic
Crucial P5 WD Black NVMe SN750 benchmark tests aren’t as impressive as those
of other drives, but it rocks in long transfers.
Kingston KC2500 Seagate FireCuda 520
Testing is performed on Windows 10
450GB 1,240 64-bit running on a Core i7-5820K/Asus X99
write 1,200 Deluxe system with four 16GB Kingston
2666MHz DDR4 modules, a Zotac (Nvidia)
360 GT 710 1GB x2 PCIe graphics card, and an
257 Asmedia ASM2142 USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps)
card. Also on board are a Gigabyte
SHORTER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE GC-Alpine Thunderbolt 3 card and
Softperfect’s Ramdisk 3.4.6, which is used
The P5 ran out of cache during our 450GB write for the 48GB transfer tests.
tests, as do most midrange NVMe SSDs. The
exception is the Kingston KC2500. The winner BOTTOM LINE
here, Seagate’s outstanding FireCuda 520, is a
top-tier drive. The P5 is an excellent midrange SSD that can
run with the big drives in everyday
The P5 was impressive in the 48GB read/ performance, and even in all but the most
write tests too, though again, the contest was demanding long transfers. It’s a short-lister for
very tight. sure. Nice job, Crucial.

Where reality struck home was in the Crucial P5 SSD (1TB)
450GB write test. Obviously the P5 ran out of
SLC cache, though it was so far into the PROS
process (about 300GB) that we can think of
few real-world scenarios where you’d actually • Excellent everyday performance.
see the slowdown. • Great bang for buck.

It’s not alone in this behavior, as you can CONS
see. Of the midrange 1TB drives we’ve tested,
only the Kingston KC2500 (go.pcworld.com/ • Will slow down during very long writes.
knkc) shown here doesn’t slow down. Note
that as an SSD fills up, there’s less NAND BOTTOM LINE
available for cache, so long writes will slow
down. We test with the drive empty, so this is 99.99 percent of the time the P5 will perform
best-case performance. competitively with NVMe SSDs costing far more. An
excellent midpriced product from Crucial.
Regardless of when a slowdown happens, $150

58 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

Cherry DW 9000 Slim: Eye-
catching keyboard and mouse
combo is pleasingly productive

Thin, durable, and customizable, the DW 9000 Slim is a worthy replacement for your daily
driver. BY MICHAEL ANSALDO

T he Cherry DW 9000 Slim is a side, its half-dozen customizable keys allow
modestly priced wireless desktop you to tailor it to your productivity needs.
keyboard-and-mouse combo. With
its full-size layout and comfortable DESIGN
keys, the keyboard can be easily swapped in
for your daily driver without missing a stroke. The Cherry DW 9000 Slim is quite a looker.
And, though the mouse is a little on the small The underside of my review model was done
in bronze, with the top deck and keys in

IMAGE: CHERRY SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 59

REVIEWS CHERRY DW 9000 SLIM

black. (It’s also available in a very Apple-like low-profile keyboard, is how it handles height

silver-and-white color scheme.) There’s a bit adjustment. Instead of the integrated flip-

of cutaway around each key to allow a sliver of down feet you’d expect, a quartet of

bronze to show through, creating a nice individual rubber feet are included as

accent trim. Despite the plastic casing, the accessories. To attach them, you have to peel

keyboard weighs about half a pound due to a off a sheet of plastic covering some adhesive

solid metal plate placed inside the chassis to and stick them on the bottom.

increase stability. It feels very durable. It works well enough, but it makes

The keyboard measures 17.3 x 5.1 x .06 ergonomics feel like an afterthought. And

inches. That’s ample room for a full set of unlike with retractable feet, which allow you

alpha-numeric keys; a dozen function keys; a to change keyboard postures at your whim,

number pad; scroll keys; and Windows lock, these adhesive ones require you to make a

browser, volume up/down, mute, and commitment. While I suppose you could peel

calculator buttons. It runs on a rechargeable them off and reattach them when needed,

lithium-ion battery, and there’s a micro-USB they will undoubtedly lose their stickiness

port on the back for connecting the supplied over time.

charging cable. CONNECTIVITY
The DW 9000 doesn’t include

backlighting, but that’s a minor quibble. More The DW 9000 and its accompanying mouse

surprising, given the lux look of the can connect via Bluetooth or a 2.4GHz USB

receiver. Each of these

connection methods is the

same for both devices.

For Bluetooth, you slide a

switch—on the back of the

keyboard and bottom of the

mouse—to BT, and press a

button next to it to activate

the connection, then follow

the prompts on your PC to

complete the process. To

connect using the receiver,

The keyboard and mouse are attractively designed and durable. The you remove the USB dongle

stick-on feet feel like an afterthought, though. slotted magnetically into the

60 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

The mouse has six broken-glass pattern that isn’t on the
buttons that can be keyboard. It’s a bit on the small side—my
custom mapped. pointer and index fingers extended well over
the edge with the mouse in my palm—but the
bottom of the buttons are responsive, and the scroll wheel
mouse and plug has a nice incremental bump for more precise
it into your scrolling. Like the keyboard, the mouse
computer. Then buttons can be configured using the Cherry
slide the switch on Keys software (go.pcworld.com/chky).
the keyboard or
mouse to RF and the BOTTOM LINE
device will connect automatically.
The Cherry DW 9000 Slim doesn’t sacrifice
TYPING FEEL productivity for its modicum of flair. Both the
keyboard and mouse are well-made and
Surprisingly, for a company known for its comfortable to use, and its connectivity
iconic mechanical switches, Cherry’s DW consistently held up over hours of use.
9000 uses a scissor-mechanism switch Whether you’re looking for a new workhorse
instead. Despite the keyboard’s thinness, the or just want to spice up your daily doldrums,
Chiclets-like keys have a decent amount of the DW 9000 Slim will abide.
travel and deliver a snappy stroke with a
satisfying thunk. I appreciated that tactile Cherry DW 9000 Slim
feedback because the keys are virtually silent
when typing with normal pressure. PROS

As a touch typist, I’m sometimes thrown • Attractive and durable design.
off my game by wireless keyboard layouts. • Smooth and satisfying typing feel.
But with its roomy design and slightly • Supports Bluetooth and RF connectivity.
concave keys, I had no problem with key
discovery and was able to switch between it CONS
and my laptop keyboard without having to
adjust my finger spread. • Feet have to be stuck on with adhesive to raise the
keyboard.
The accompanying six-button mouse
weighs three ounces and sports the same • No backlighting.
bronze-and-black color scheme, plus a gray • Mouse is on the small side and may be

uncomfortable for larger hands.

BOTTOM LINE

The Cherry DW 9000 Slim keyboard and mouse
offer enhanced productivity and appealing aesthetic
if you can look past its stick-on keyboard feet and tiny
mouse.

$70

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 61

REVIEWS

We tested an eGPU in some of
2020’s biggest games

Can an eGPU upgrade your laptop’s gaming chops. BY ADAM PATRICK MURRAY

T hunderbolt 3-based eGPUs have biggest games from the past couple of years.
been around for many years, Each game was tested in four different ways,
offering the ability to plug a full and below are the specs of the equipment I
desktop-class GPU into a laptop. used—all of which is covered in the video.
Theoretically it’s an appealing idea, especially
if someone is using an older laptop that has a DELL XPS 15 7590 SPECS:
perfectly fine CPU to handle games, but the
GPU is long in the tooth. But there are some • Available from go.pcworld.com/xp50
drawbacks. • 15.6-inch 4K OLED panel
• Intel 9th-gen Core i9-9980HK
In the video (linked to at the end of this • Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650
article), I talk about my experiences using an • 32GB DDR4/2666
eGPU over the past 4 months to play 10 of the • 1TB Samsung NVMe M.2 SSD

62 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020 IMAGE: ADAM PATRICK MURRAY

EGPU SETUP:

• Asus XG Station Pro ($330 from

B&H Photo [go.pcworld.com/

asxg])

• Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070

Super Founders Edition ($856.80

from Amazon [go.pcworld.com/

fe70])

As you can see in the video,

the 2070 Super inside this eGPU

offered higher frame rates than the

GTX 1650 in the XPS 15 in almost We used Dell’s XPS 15 7590 in our testing.

every game. The 8-core Core

i9-9980HK was also able to perform with Thunderbolt 3, any eGPU you run isn’t going

higher clocks for longer periods, because it to perform as well as if it were in a PC tower. It

didn’t have to share cooling with the GTX might get close, but you are always going to

1650. The improvements would be even give up performance.

more dramatic on older laptops with out-of- Third, I did have to troubleshoot some

date video cards. games and make changes in Windows in

But there are considerations with such a order to get games to work with the eGPU,

setup. First off, you have to weigh the return meaning your mileage may vary depending

on investment. In theory it’s nice to have the on the game you want to play.

best of both worlds—the portability of a With all that said, an eGPU is still a viable

mainstream laptop, and the power of a GPU option if you know the drawbacks going in

at home. But the price of buying an eGPU and want to get more out of a laptop. In the

enclosure and a desktop GPU (as you can see future I plan on testing this eGPU setup in

from the prices of our components) can be creative applications and look forward to see

upwards of $800 or even $1,000—just as what Thunderbolt 4 (go.pcworld.com/thu4)

much as building an equally capable PC. And can enable on future laptops.

if you don’t have a laptop you will get more VIDEO: REAL-WORLD
bang for your buck by getting as much power EGPU GAMING
as you can afford in a laptop right now, and BENCHMARKS IN 2020
then upgrading to an eGPU later.
Watch now at go.pcworld.com/xgp
Second, because of the constraints of

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 63

REVIEWS

The outrageously fun Fall Guys:
Ultimate Knockout could be
gaming’s next megahit

It’s like a battle royale, Mario Party, and the old ‘Wipeout’ game show
all mixed into one. BY BRAD CHACOS

I dig PUBG. My kids are into Roblox and com/stfl] and PlayStation [go.pcworld.com/
Minecraft. We’re all wildly in love with psfl] since this writing). It’s just $20, but the
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout after playing game will also be free for PlayStation Plus
a closed technical beta one past subscribers—a recipe for success that helped
weekend. Turns out that a cute, colorful battle Rocket League blow up back in the day.
royale party game was exactly the game I
need in the dark summer months of 2020. But more importantly, it’s an absolute
This could very well be gaming’s next big hit blast to play.
(which has launched on Steam [go.pcworld.
Fall Guys channels the feel of the old
Wipeout game show, if up to 60 contestants

64 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020 IMAGE: MEDIATONIC

plowed through

Wipeout’s zany courses

simultaneously. It even

refers to each

multiplayer run as a

“show,” split up into

several short,

randomized stages that

last roughly one to four

minutes a pop. Each

stage counts as a round,

with the goal of 45 qualified. 15 did not. Adios.

outperforming the other

players to qualify for the next one. Between and over again.

each stage, the cuddly avatars of the losers The various challenges careen between

plummet from a Hollywood Squares-esque competitive and cooperative modes. One

game board, until a small handful of players minute, you might be racing against 59 other

reach the final level, where they race through Fall Guys through long obstacle courses full of

an obstacle course to touch a (literal) crown spinning surfaces, devastating whirligig

first and become the champion. windmills, and rotating mallets. The next, you

It sounds simple, and it is—your only action might be split into soccer teams trying to

buttons are jump,

dive, and grab—but

the massive crowds,

relentless pace,

ludicrous sound

effects, and

delightfully fun stages

kept us coming back

for one more round

over and over again,

huge grins on our

faces. Fall Guys begs

to be played over Door Dash is pure pandemonium in the early stages of a show.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 65

REVIEWS FALL GUYS

score the most goals in the allotted time, or chaos when that level
playing a fruit memory game where wrong lands early, but if you
answers plunge you to your death, or trying come upon the stage
to balance on a rotating log alongside closer towards the end
everyone else while hazards zoom toward of a show, the teams
you, or…well, the list goes on and on, with might not be evenly
25 stages available at launch. split.

The rapid-fire shift in focus keeps Fall Guys That might frustrate
feeling fresh even once you’ve played most of ultra-competitive
the available levels. When the stages pop up gamers, but Fall Guys:
can make a huge difference, too. A massive Ultimate Knockout isn’t
horde of 60 hooting, really intended for
grabbing, leaping Fall tryhards, and losing isn’t punishing like it is in
Guys throwing themselves other battle royales. Coming in second in
at walls in Door Dash as a PUBG hurts you in your soul; in Fall Guys, you
massive wave plays much smile, shake it off, and leap right back into a
differently than trying to new show. You can opt to continue watching
find the real doors as part other players compete in later stages if you fail
of a smaller, higher-stakes to qualify in a match, but it’s quick and easy to
group later on. Being split back out and hop into another game. In the
into big teams to sort eggs technical beta, I wasn’t left waiting for players
or play soccer is pure for longer than a minute. You have to think it’ll
be even faster when people other than

66 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

streamers and press can

play the game. It’s perfectly

tuned for an easy-breezy

night of binge gaming.

There’s no split-screen

support, which was a bit of

a bummer while playing

with my kids, but you can

queue up with up to four

buddies to play together.

Mediatonic, the developer, Customization options are sparse before you start playing.

says it’s explored

supporting split-screen, cross-play, and unlockables as you play. I couldn’t care less

private rooms during development and about this part of the game, but my kids were

hopes to add those features in future updates. all over it.

While the game supports keyboard and You can also earn two different currencies

mouse, complete with the ability to rebind while you play: Crowns and Kudos. Crowns

keys, it’s like Dark Souls in that you’ll definitely can only be earned when you win, while

want to play with a gamepad. The Fall Guys Kudos can be purchased or earned in-game

themselves feel delightfully physical and to progress your level. “Both of these

clunky. It’s borderline impossible to stay currencies can be used to buy new costumes

upright in the middle of a horde—hence Fall for your Fall Guy,” a public relations rep told

Guys—and getting banged and bopped me. “Many of the best costumes in the game

around while your character hoots in protest (including some very special collaborations

provides endless entertainment. we have yet to announce) will only be

YOUR FALL GUY available via Crowns.” The developers also
plan to release small costume packs as DLC

In a game where you’re battling gargantuan over time for folks with the insatiable thirst to

hordes of other players, part of the appeal is collect every skin.

making your chubby Fall Guy, well, your I can hear some of you already groaning

chubby Fall Guy, and the game includes as I type this. “Microtransactions again?!” But

customization options to do just that. You’re it’s important to note that this is not a pay

able to tinker with your Fall Guy’s color, -to-win scenario. “All purchases are linked to

patterns, and accessories, earning more cosmetics, are completely optional, and will

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 67

REVIEWS FALL GUYS

with play, and like I said, my

kids were into it. And we were

all deeply, deeply into the

wild, wacky gameplay itself.

The hours just melted away

during the tech demo, and that

was with (I think) a limited

number of stages available.

I can’t slap a review score on

this since I haven’t played the full

After you leave a show, you’re awarded Crowns and Kudos. game, but I can tell you I plan to

pick up Fall Guys: Ultimate

not affect the core experience,” Mediatonic’s Knockout (go.pcworld.com/fgul) the second it

PR says. New levels and features will continue launches. I’m telling all my friends about it too,

to roll out over time at zero cost to existing as the graphics can run on even modest gaming

players. Adding in-game purchases like this systems, and at just $20, the price is certainly

helps keep the cost of the base game low right. It probably won’t be the deepest game

while supporting that additional development around, but I suspect it’ll sneakily rack up a lot of

over time. hours played in my house.

In the technical demo, the customization You know, like Rocket League. Fall Guys

aspect was minimally invasive. You never could—should—blow up.

need to visit the

character screen

before leaping into

shows. That said, the

store section of the

game was locked

during these closed

betas, so I can’t

speak much to how

it’ll be implemented.

I’m not personally

worried about the

cosmetics interfering Seize the crown.

68 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

WHEN YOU’RE BUZZED,YOU
GET IDEAS. LIKE ASKING
EVERYONE INSIDE THE TACO
TRUCK WHAT DRIVING
AROUND IN A KITCHEN IS
LIKE AND THEN ORDERING
22 TACOS WITH EXTRA
GUACAMOLE AND ALL THE
CHEESE FOR EVERY DRUNK
PERSON IN LINE. BAD IDEA
FOR YOUR WALLET, BUT
NOT AS BAD AS DRIVING
HOME BUZZED.

FEATURE

70 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

WINDOWS 10
AT 5 YEARS

HOW IT TRANSFORMED THE PC

MICROSOFT AND
WINDOWS 10

CHANGED THE
WORLD OF PCS—AND

SOMETIMES, THE
WORLD CHANGED

WINDOWS 10.
BY MARK HACHMAN

IMAGE: MICROSOFT

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 71

FEATURE WINDOWS 10 AT 5

So far, Microsoft’s chosen to charge for applications like Office, not the Windows 10 OS itself.

A s Windows 10 turns five years (go.pcworld.com/8pre)—even as PC
old this week, it’s a good time to makers hoped and prayed (go.pcworld.com/
look at how much Windows 10 hope) that Windows 10 would outsell the
has changed the PC—with debacle that was Windows 8 (go.pcworld.
everything from Windows Hello to free com/dbw8).
updates, seemingly in perpetuity.
Well, it did. Improvements like Windows
Microsoft began shipping Windows 10 to Hello might be taken for granted now, but
PCs on July 29, 2015—“ordering pizza for 1.5 they were groundbreaking for their time.
billion people (go.pcworld.com/pzza),” as (Apple Macs still haven’t quite figured out
one Microsoft executive put it. Few
remember now that PC makers barely made VIDEO: WINDOWS 10
the launch (go.pcworld.com/brln), with AT FIVE YEARS: HOW IT
even Microsoft admitting most PCs would TRANSFORMED THE PC
ship with Windows 8 pre-installed instead
Watch now at go.pcworld.com/w10

72 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

what these “touchscreen” things are!) As you have to make money somehow. In

Windows 10 celebrates its fifth birthday, let’s Windows 10, Microsoft’s early answer to this

look back at 10 ways the operating system question was data, and the telemetry that

has transformed our computing lives...mostly some saw as a privacy risk (go.pcworld.com/

for the better. prsk). (Here’s how to reclaim your privacy in

1. THE POWER OF FREE Windows 10 [go.pcworld.com/prrc].)

Wow, a free upgrade? Chrome OS does it, 2. WINDOWS DEFENDER:
as do Android, iOS, and now Macs. But at FROM ZERO TO HERO

the time, a free transition from Windows 8 Historically, if you wanted to protect your PC,

to Windows 10 (go.pcworld.com/frtr) still you purchased an antivirus subscription.

managed to make the world sit up and Microsoft promised to change all that with

take notice, legitimizing the model so Windows 10’s free antivirus program,

prevalent today. Windows Defender, which started out as

What many don’t realize, however, is that notoriously subpar. But wait! Over time,

so far Windows is one of the only Microsoft Microsoft really beefed up Defender (go.

products to skip away from Microsoft’s pursuit pcworld.com/bfup), and it went from the

of subscriptions, whether they be Microsoft industry’s doormat to a champion in just a few

365 (go.pcworld.com/mi36), Xbox Game years. Today, there’s an argument to be made

Pass (go.pcworld.com/xgps), or a more that Defender is good enough to protect your

generic support agreement. Many have PC—no subscription required.

wondered whether Microsoft

would eventually establish

“Windows as a service,” requiring

users to pay for patches or new

features. Microsoft has yet to

make that leap, instead

encouraging users to pay for

Office and its Xbox game

subscription. Really—a

subscription for Microsoft

Solitaire (go.pcworld.com/

msol)?

The downside of free is that Windows Hello is simple, effective, and awesome.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 73

FEATURE WINDOWS 10 AT 5

3. WINDOWS HELLO AND apps, without the need to type in a password.

THE DEATH OF PASSWORDS It’s unquestionably one of the most important

Windows Hello could be the best feature conveniences Windows 10 adds.

Windows 10 added to the PC ecosystem. 4. EVERYTHING’S ALWAYS
While fingerprint readers had been in use IN FLUX
before then—Apple, for example, launched

Touch ID in 2013 with the iPhone 5s—facial When you bought Windows XP, Windows 95,

recognition via a PC’s user depth camera or Windows 98, you knew you were buying a

debuted with Microsoft, Windows 10, and suite of baked-in features, some patches, and

PCs like the Lenovo Yoga 15. Windows Hello a service pack or two. Today, Microsoft is

just worked (go.pcworld.com/jswk) then, constantly iterating, with free upgrades every

and it still does today. spring and fall.

It hasn’t stopped there. Correctly Re-reading our original Windows 10

recognizing that Windows users appreciated review (go.pcworld.com/orev) quickly

security but hated passwords, Windows 10 reminds you that what was called “Windows

added PIN support, and two-factor 10” then is an entirely different operating

authentication (go.pcworld.com/twoa) using system from what it is on PCs today—to the

an associated smartphone. Fingerprint point that Windows 10 is now on its third

readers or physical tokens can be added as browser, as we’ve moved from the hidden,

further layers of security. Today, you can log in legacy Internet Explorer through Microsoft

to your Windows PC, as well as numerous Edge and now onto the “new” Edge (go.

pcworld.com/newb).

New features, such as the

People app, came and

went. While Microsoft

sometimes over-promised

and under-delivered (go.

pcworld.com/ovun), the

early days of Windows 10

were a lively time.

If you’re a fan of

frequent updates, that’s

Managing Windows updates (go.pcworld.com/mupd) can be important great. But one reason
to maintain your sanity. Microsoft diehards

74 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

refused to budge

from Windows 7

(go.pcworld.com/

w7ho) was a

stubborn “if it ain’t

broke, don’t fix it”

mentality. In an

abrupt about-face,

however, Microsoft

adopted that

strategy over the last

two years, with most

recent updates

devoted to

incremental Windows Subsystem for Linux plays very well within the Windows world.

performance

improvements. access to its inner workings before official

It’s been a weird growth curve. While the launches. New builds are released frequently

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (go. for Insiders to test.

pcworld.com/fl19) positioned itself as an Managing the cacophony of

idealist out to change the world, the recent suggestions, bug reports and snark within

May 2020 Update (go.pcworld.com/mayu) is the Windows 10 Feedback Hub is a huge

more like a burned-out office drone punching task. Microsoft still rightfully takes heat for

the clock. missing reports of showstopper bugs (go.

5. MICROSOFT’S GREAT pcworld.com/shst) amid the noise. But the
WINDOWS INSIDER ability to track changes and updates before
PROGRAM they’re pushed to the public benefits analyst,
reporter, user, and IT admin alike, and is one

The Windows 10 Insider program (go. of Microsoft’s best accomplishments. Even

pcworld.com/iprg) was a groundbreaking better, the monthly, informal podcasts with

move by Microsoft. Opening its flagship the Windows Insider team are a great

operating system’s beta development to the opportunity for average users to ask

masses allowed millions of invested users to questions and give feedback to help

help shape the OS while being granted influence Windows’ direction.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 75

FEATURE WINDOWS 10 AT 5

6. LINUX...IN WINDOWS? fully entrenched by the time Windows 10

We still can’t quite believe that the company rolled out.

previously famous for bashing Linux would Windows 10 shattered the concept of an

actually build a Linux shell into its prize app into pieces. Windows 10 began with

operating system. But that’s what happened purpose-built, specialized UWP apps like Mail

when Windows built in the Windows and Calendar existing alongside Office 365

Subsystem for Linux (go.pcworld.com/sblx), apps like Outlook—which, because they were

which originated as a text-driven Linux subscription-based, were regularly updated

interface. That the company is now teasing a with new features. UWP apps were updated

GUI interface for Linux as well as GPU on the same cadence as Microsoft’s feature

compute capabilities (go.pcworld.com/ updates—until they weren’t. Now these UWP

cmcp) means that you have an easy way to try apps have their own feature road map and

out Linux within Windows. Again, it’s just schedule.

crazy…and cool. Those app road maps are often

7. WHAT EXACTLY IS AN fragmented into different “limited preview,”
APP, ANYWAY? “preview,” and “shipping” schedules, which
may differ by geography and by platform. (Oh

A decade ago, life was simple: Windows yes—some features arrive first on the web

users lived in a world of

Win32 applications,

with updates and

patches and a new

Office suite every few

years. But with

Windows Mobile and

Google Docs (go.

pcworld.com/godc) on

the horizon, Office

2010 launched

Microsoft’s suite of

“companion” web apps

(go.pcworld.com/ Together Mode in Microsoft Teams puts video meeting participants in a
o10r). That online/ virtual setting designed to make meetings more engaging. It’s just a drop
offline dichotomy was in the deluge of features Microsoft is rolling out for Teams.

76 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

version of the app, then

on the desktop, and

separately on the mobile

counterparts for iOS and

Android.) Microsoft

Teams—an app—has its

own apps (go.pcworld.

com/owap)! And let’s

not even talk about

PWAs, or webpages that

can be “saved” as

“apps” in your Start

menu. Madness! You may not use a pen with Windows 10, but support is there if you need it.

Apple’s regimented

rollouts look very much like a Roman legion be a simple, easily-managed operating

taking to the battlefield in tight formation. system that a second-grader could navigate,

Apps within Windows sometimes remind me it’s possible that Windows 10 S would have

more of a howling mob of barbarians never come to be. But until Microsoft gains a

storming the gates. foothold in American K-12 classrooms, it’s

8. CHROMEBOOKS GAVE likely we’ll see Windows 10X positioned as
US WINDOWS 10 S the next great education OS.

Why do we have Windows 10 in S Mode (go. 9. TOUCH, GAZE,
AND PEN INPUT
pcworld.com/smde)? Why do we have

Windows 10X? The answer to both is the Compared to the number of times my fingers

same: Chromebooks. Microsoft may have tap my keyboard’s keys, the amount I touch

developed Windows 10X as the “next my laptop’s touchscreen is infinitesimal. Using

Windows” for dual-screen devices (go. a pen? Eye tracking (go.pcworld.com/itrk)?

pcworld.com/dlsc), but both operating Even less. But yes, I do holler at Cortana

systems are now tasked with trying to crack across the room. All of them have an

the low-cost American education market (go. important place in my work, and all of them

pcworld.com/edmk), where Google- are modalities Microsoft has steadily

powered Chromebooks have a stranglehold. prioritized throughout the development of

If educators considered Windows 10 to Windows 10.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 77

FEATURE WINDOWS 10 AT 5

I use each of these as ways of interacting sad story (go.pcworld.com/sdst). It sat by

with Windows and my PC, for productivity’s and watched Google’s Android and Apple’s

sake. But for many users with disabilities, one iOS take over the smartphone market, as

or a combination of these input mechanisms Microsoft’s mobile ambitions died a slow,

may be the only way they can interact with a painful death (go.pcworld.com/pnf1).

PC. Neither Apple (touchscreens…on a But there’s a bright note, too: Microsoft’s

Mac?) nor Google get anywhere close to the mobile apps for Android and iOS are

level of accessibility that Windows 10 offers. excellent, especially Outlook, and the

10. THE DREAMS THAT DIED company’s been busy enriching Teams and its
other mobile apps with complementary

In some cases, Windows didn’t change the features. Microsoft may not have a mobile

world—the world changed it. We remember version of Windows 10, but its mobile app

the features that rose in a blaze of glory... ecosystem is surprisingly robust.

before they died a sputtering death, or What’s next for Windows? Well, if recent

otherwise shuffled into obscurity. We tip our reports are true, development on Windows

hats to the HoloLens mixed-reality headset 10 could slow, as Microsoft shifts its efforts to

(go.pcworld.com/mrhd); the fun Story Remix the cloud (go.pcworld.com/efcl) and to

app with 3D animations (go.pcworld.com/ Windows 10X. Windows 10’s future could

srmx) you could insert into your photos and hold yet more game-changing features. For

videos; the utopian vision of Paint 3D (go. now, however, we’ll have to wait.

pcworld.com/pn3d) and its trove of

shareable images.

And then there was Cortana,

one of, if not the flagship feature of

Windows 10 (go.pcworld.com/

fshp), with voice actress Jen Taylor’s

cheery voice welcoming you to the

world of Windows. Today, Cortana’s

not so much the voice of Windows

as just another Windows 10 app

(go.pcworld.com/anor), with

neither an appliance nor a mobile

operating system to call home.

Windows 10 Mobile is another RIP Windows phone.

78 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020



Discover the unsearchable
Discover the forest

Find a trail near you at
DiscoverTheForest.org

FEATURE

WE TESTED FOUR
MODERN LAPTOPS’
SD CARD READERS
AND FOUND HUGE
PERFORMANCE
DIFFERENCES.

BY GORDON MAH UNG

WHY
YOUR
LAPTOP’S
SD CARD
READER
MIGHT BE
TERRIBLE

IMAGE: LUIS QUINTERO / PEXELS SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 81

FEATURE YOUR LAPTOP’S SD CARD READER

F or content creators, a laptop with a would be pointless without a fast SD card, we
built-in SD card reader is a preferred used a 128GB SanDisk Extreme Pro SD card.
feature. Some users go so far as to The card is a UHS-II card, meaning it rides on
consider laptops only if they have a the Ultra High Speed II bus and features a

reader. second row of contact pins on the back to hit

One mistake with that choice is it assumes the higher performance ratings of the

all SD card slots are created equal. Our tests interface. The UHS-II bus can hit 312MBps in

clearly show they’re not. It’s also difficult to full duplex mode and 624MBps in half-duplex

know how fast the SD card reader in your mode. We formatted the card in exFAT, which

laptop is. If SD card speed really matters to has seemingly become the standard for most

you, the best way to get what you want is to large-capacity SD media.

buy an external reader whose specs are The SanDisk Extreme Pro SD Card is rated

clearly designated. for read speeds right up to the limit of UHS-II

PCWorld put four newly manufactured at 300MBps with write speeds rated at

laptops’ SD cards through their paces. For 260MBps.

this challenge we looked

at:

• Dell XPS 15 9500

(go.pcworld.com/9500)

• Gigabyte Aero 17

(go.pcworld.com/gb17)

• XPG Xenia 15 (go.

pcworld.com/xn15)

• Dell G5 15 SE (go.

pcworld.com/dlg5)

To give us a control

point, we also recorded

the performance of a

SanDisk Extreme Pro

UHS-II USB 3.0 card

reader inserted into one

of the Dell G5 15 SE’s

USB 3.0 slots. We used a 128GB SanDisk Extreme Pro card rated for 300MBps
Because this test reads and 260MBps writes for our testing.

82 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

WHY NOT UHS-III? CrystalDiskMark 7 Seq.

If you’re wondering why we’re not using an Read (MBps)
even faster SD card using the newer
UHS-III bus, it’s because we couldn’t find a Dell XPS 15 9500 279
card that even supported the newer
interface, which takes speeds to 312MBps UHS-III x1 PCIe
in full duplex mode and 624MBps in
half-duplex mode. Having searched Gigabyte Aero 17 262
Amazon.com, we saw no signs of a UHS-III
card for sale. UHS-III USB 3.0

(And no, don’t confuse UHS-III [the bus] SanDisk Extreme 246
with the U3 symbol. U3 refers to the card’s Pro
“UHS Speed Class” mark for video 91
performance of a camera and card. Yes, they UHS-III Reader USB 3.0
seriously have U3 and UHS-III which don’t
mean the same thing. U3 has largely been XPG Xenia 15
supplanted by the newer and slightly less
confusing “V” video speed class mark.) USB 3.0

We contacted SanDisk to ask why it wasn’t Dell G5 SE 15 40
offering a newer UHS-III bus card. Company
officials said it’s largely concentrating on the USB 2.0
even faster SD Express standard (go.pcworld.
com/sdxp), which has a speed limit of LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE
3,940MBps.
Gigabyte Aero 17.
LAPTOP SD CARD SLOT Aero 17 and XPS 15 9500 users can be
PERFORMANCE
happy they’re getting awesome read
All four laptops feature integrated card performance, but you’re probably wondering
readers, but performance varied greatly, as just why the Xenia 15 and G5 SE 15 are
you can see from our first test, Crystal Disk sucking wind. You’ll see the reason if you look
Mark’s default sequential read test. The at the labels for the laptops above: It’s largely
Dell XPS 15 9500 comes out in front by a due to the card reader and the interface
fair margin over the XPG Xenia 15 and Dell they’re connected to.
G5 15 SE, but it’s very close to the
For the worst laptop here, the Dell G5 15
SE, it’s likely gated by the USB 2.0 interface
it’s hooked up. USB 2.0 has a maximum
theoretical speed of 480Mbps or 60MBps.
Once you account for overhead it’s generally
far lower than 60MBps.

After the Dell, the XPG Xenia 15 doubles
the performance of the G5 15 SE with about
91MBps read speeds. The Xenia 15 highlights
the other issue that matters for a laptop’s SD
card reader: It’s not just the interface, it’s also
what the host card reader is rated for.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 83

FEATURE YOUR LAPTOP’S SD CARD READER

CrystalDiskMark 7 Seq. LAPTOP SD SLOT
WRITE SPEEDS
Write (MBps)
Writing to the cards is slower for the XPS 15
Dell XPS 15 9500 217 and Aero 17 and largely a tie. The SanDisk
Extreme Pro card reader also does a fine job.
UHS-III x1 PCIe Meanwhile, the G5 15 SE and Xenia 15 are far,
far behind the pack.
Gigabyte Aero 17 216
REAL-WORLD TESTS
UHS-III USB 3.0
Writing to an SD card from a laptop isn’t
SanDisk Extreme 204.5 something most people do. The most
Pro common method is to shoot photos or video
81 to an SD card and then copy the contents to
UHS-III Reader USB 3.0 your laptop for editing in the field.

XPG Xenia 15 To simulate that we took a folder of 266
JPEG and RAW files totaling 3.4GB, shot with
USB 3.0 a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. We manually timed
how long it took to copy the files to the
Dell G5 SE 15 25.6 Windows desktop of each laptop. We
performed the test three times, with reboots
USB 2.0

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

For the Xenia 15, we couldn’t find Copy 266 JPEG+RAW
anything other than that it’s a RealTek card to Laptop SSD
reader on USB 3.0. Because USB 3.0 can
reach speeds of 5Gbps or 625MBps on Seconds
paper, we know it’s not the USB 3.0
interface. We can only assume that the Dell XPS 15 9500 16
Xenia 15 uses a UHS-I reader rated for
104MBps transfer speeds. UHS-III x1 PCIe

We make that assumption because clearly Gigabyte Aero 17 17.7
the Aero 17 on USB 3.0 with its RealTek UHS-II
reader can easily reach 262MBps read UHS-III USB 3.0
speeds. Our control, the SanDisk Extreme Pro
UHS-II reader, also can hit a decent 246MBps SanDisk Extreme 19.4
read speed. Pro
47
The winner of this, although not by the UHS-III Reader USB 3.0
margin you’d hope for, is the Dell XPS 15
9500, with its UHS-III-rated RealTek card XPG Xenia 15
reader hooked up to the PCIe bus. The XPS
15 9500 has a decent edge, but it’s likely USB 3.0
gated by the fact that we only have access to
a UHS-II card for our testing. Dell G5 SE 15 96.8

USB 2.0

SHORTER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

84 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

between runs to

remove OS caching

from equation. We

also manually

trimmed the laptop’s

internal SSDs before

testing was

conducted.

The results

largely mirror our

read tests using

CrystalDiskMark 7.

The higher-

performance card

readers all track very Content creators hate using external readers, but a fast USB 3.0 reader such as
closely, the Xenia 15 this SanDisk Extreme Pro reader is probably faster than your laptop’s reader.

achieves an

acceptable 47 seconds, and the G5 15 SE with the EOS 5D Mk IV, using its 4K video

strolls past the finish line the next day. setting. The camera uses the insanely

Our last test created a nine-minute video inefficient MJPEG codec at a 500Mbps bit

rate, which produced a whopping 34GB file.

Copy 34GB 4K MJPEG As with our still image test, we take an
to Laptop SSD average of manually timed runs with reboots
in between.
Seconds

Dell XPS 15 9500 135 With a file this large, we now see why
having a high-speed SD card reader is so
UHS-III x1 PCIe

Gigabyte Aero 17 145 valuable. It takes a little over two minutes with
155 the XPS 15 9500 and Aero 17 to copy a 34GB
UHS-III USB 3.0 file to the desktop. The Xenia 15 takes about
412 five additional minutes to copy over. The Dell
SanDisk Extreme and its USB 2.0-bound card reader takes a
Pro 919 painful 15 minutes to do the same task. And
remember: 34GB seems like a large file, but
UHS-III Reader USB 3.0 that means 90GB of video files would take

XPG Xenia 15

USB 3.0

Dell G5 SE 15

USB 2.0

SHORTER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 85

FEATURE YOUR LAPTOP’S SD CARD READER

probably 45 minutes. That’s time lost on the performance: to have a fast SD card reader in

editing process. your laptop, and feed it with a fast SD card. For

BOTTOM LINE example, if you look at the picture below, the
128GB Sony UHS-I card will read at a dismal

The first takeaway from this is that clearly, not 45MBps and write at 36MBps on the Dell XPS

all laptop SD card readers are created equal. 15 9500. The Lexar UHS-II card will read at

All four of the laptops we tested are current 153MBps and write at 71MBps, while the

models introduced this year, yet we see a SanDisk Extreme Pro will read at 279MBps and

huge swing in performance. write at 217MBps. So don’t feed a fast laptop a

The second takeaway is, stop turning slow card, and don’t feed a slow laptop a fast

up your nose at USB card readers. We’ve card, if you care about performance.

talked to content creators who

see a lack of an onboard SD

reader as a reason not to buy a

particular laptop. But you just

don’t know what level of card

reader you’re going to get, even

on new laptops. So just buy a

verifiably good external reader

and don’t look back.

The third recommendation is

not to get too caught up in

wanting UHS-III. Some new

laptops have touted UHS-III

support as a bullet point, and to

be fair, the Dell XPS 15 9500’s

UHS-III reader on the PCie 3.0

bus was consistently the fastest in

our tests. It’s just not clear that

the standard will matter if card

makers skip UHS-III cards for

SD Express. The speed of your laptop’s SD card won’t matter if you only feed
Our final takeaway is this really it slow 40MBps cards like the 128GB Sony UHS-I card here. Run
a UHS-II card such as the 128GB SanDisk Extreme Pro, which can
matters only if you care about hit 300MBps, or even the Lexar card which can reach 150MBps.

86 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

Discover the unsearchable
Discover the forest

Find a trail near you at
DiscoverTheForest.org

MY SHELTER PETS ARE
MY BEST FRIENDS

OLIVIA MUNN WITH FRANKIE AND CHANCE: ADOPTED 2016 AND 2014.
They’re a little bit of a lot of things, but they’re all pure love.

THESHELTERPETPROJECT.ORG

Here’s How HOW TO BUILD, MAINTAIN,
AND FIX YOUR TECH GEAR

How to remedy these 5 Android
issues that a restart won’t cure

Fix what ails your phone. BY MICHAEL SIMON

J ust like your PC or Mac, a lot of what 1. BLUETOOTH DEVICES
ails your Android phone can be WON’T CONNECT
fixed with a simple restart. Laggy
navigation, crashing apps, and system If you own an Android phone—especially a
quirks can be cleared easily that way. Pixel or a Galaxy—you’ve encountered this:
But some maladies need more than a restart. The Bluetooth device that you were using
Here’s how to remedy those peskier yesterday won’t connect anymore. You could
problems. try toggling the Bluetooth switch, but even if
that works it’ll likely be a temporary fix.

IMAGE: MICHAEL SIMON SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 89

HERE’S HOW REMEDY 5 ANDROID ISSUES

But other than waiting for the

next Android update, there are a

few things you can try to fix it. Of

course, you could unpair the

device from your phone in the

Bluetooth settings and try to pair

it again. If that doesn’t work, try

resetting your network settings

(inside System).

Failing that, you can clear the

Bluetooth cache by heading

over to the Apps tab in Settings. If your screen is too dark to read, try turning off adaptive or
Tap the menu in the app list, automatic brightness.

select Show System Apps, and 3. YOUR PHONE’S SCREEN
then scroll down to Bluetooth. Once you find IS TOO DARK
it, open it, select Storage & Cache, and clear

both. That should get you going. Your Android phone has numerous ways to

2. GOOGLE PHOTOS enhance your experience, one of them being
WON’T SYNC adaptive or auto-brightness, which adjusts
the intensity of your screen based on the

Google Photos is a fantastic service for surrounding light. It’s a great feature, even if it

keeping pictures synced across phones, is a battery sucker, but it could lead to

tablets, and PCs, and it’s usually occasional problems in bright light, especially

instantaneous. But sometimes photos can if Adaptive Battery is turned on as well.

get stuck on one of your devices, and Thankfully the solution is easy. If you find

there’s a simple culprit: your micro SD card. yourself struggling to see your screen outside,

If you have large photos or videos on your just pull down on your notification shade and

external storage device (which we all do), uncheck or flip the adaptive brightness toggle.

Google Photos will first try to back them up 4. APPS WON’T
before getting to ones you just took on your AUTOMATICALLY UPDATE
device, even if you’ve turned off backups

for the card. All you need to do is pop out Google has set it up so you don’t need to

the SIM tray for a few seconds, and your worry about using the most current version of

backup will proceed. an app, thanks to the auto-updating feature

90 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020

5. AUTOCORRECT
NEEDS A LITTLE
HELP SOMETIMES.

Autocorrect can be helpful—and

maddening. Depending on

which keyboard you’re using,

you can find the settings in the

menu to see if anything can be

tweaked (such as offensive

words). If that doesn’t help, you

can reset the keyboard and

Clearing the Play Store’s cache and storage can help spur apps to delete the words it has learned
update on their own. to start fresh. (You’ll find that in

either Advanced or Reset.) If you

built into the Play Store. It’s great when it don’t want to go nuclear, you can eliminate

works, and not so great when it doesn’t— individual words as they appear in the

especially when the app updates pile up over predictive text bar by tapping and holding

a couple of weeks. If you’re constantly one. Then either drag it to the trash, or tap

needing to take trips to the Play Store to Remove and you’ll never see it again.

nudge your apps to

update, you can try

resetting the app.

Go to the Apps tab

in Settings and find

Google Play Store

and Google Play

Services. Open

them each and tap

the Storage tabs,

then hit the Clear

Cache and Clear

Storage buttons.

That should get

things moving again. Autocorrect needs a little help sometimes.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 91

HERE’S HOW

How to get rid of old files and clean
up your PC with Windows’
Storage settings

We can show you how to find some hidden storage already on your PC, to make room
for massive new games like Microsoft’s Flight Simulator reboot. BY MARK HACHMAN

H ow to find and delete unwanted clutter. It’s the DIY kit to the more
files on your PC is a chore sophisticated WinDirStat tool (which we
everyone thinks is going to take recommend if you want to dive deeper;
hours, when in fact it takes just a go.pcworld.com/wdrt).
minute or two. Just don’t use Windows 10’s
File Explorer! The Windows Settings’ Storage The need is only growing: Laptops with
menu was designed to eliminate digital file 128GB and 256GB SSDs are still the norm,
but photos and videos already hog a lot of

92 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020 IMAGE: MICROSOFT

unused or undesired apps &

features,” “Remove unused

cloud-backed content,” and

so on. Each category tells you

how much of your PC’s

storage is tied up with apps,

videos, and so on.

Apps traditionally gobble

You can use Windows 10’s traditional File Explorer to find massive up the most space on a PC.
files that you want to delete, but if you do so, you’ll spend way too You may find that a “small”
much time on the task. game that you downloaded

actually takes up a few

space. If you’re a fan of reboots of classic gigabytes that you want back. Click the Apps

games like Flight Simulator, you need to know menu, which will lead you to a page where

that they can take up to 150GB of storage (go. Windows will show you the apps stored on

pcworld.com/15st), just by their lonesome. your PC. Reorganize the list by file size to see

Here’s how to take back some of that space. which apps consume the most space, then

HOW TO USE WINDOWS click the app and select Uninstall to get rid of
10’S STORAGE SETTINGS it. Note that some Windows native apps, such
as Photos, won’t be uninstallable.

In the Windows 10 Settings menu, go to The Temporary Files and OneDrive

Settings > System > Storage. At the top, subheadings are typically the mother lode of

you’ll see a toggle to turn

Storage Sense off and on.

We’ll touch on that later.

In the middle of the

screen, you’ll see your

local hard disk (or disks)

with an easy-to-read menu

explaining how the

storage is divvied up

within your PC. Note how

the subtext points you to

the task at hand: “Uninstall This is Windows 10’s Storage page, within the Settings menu.

SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 93

HERE’S HOW HOW TO CLEAN UP YOUR PC

unwanted files. Clicking the Temporary Files copy in the cloud. (Note: don’t expect this
subheading opens up a wealth of files that
even Windows thinks are unnecessary, from option to simply copy your hard drive into the
temporary Internet files to the Recycle bin.
Click the Remove files button at the top to cloud. It won’t! It will simply clean up local
clear everything out.
files that have been previously backed up,
The OneDrive subheading is a bit more
subjective. By default, Microsoft’s OneDrive which won’t be everything on your PC.)
cloud-storage service backs up your
Documents, Pictures, and even your Desktop A file that’s backed up in OneDrive can be
folder. But it keeps a placeholder—sort of a
file bookmark on your local hard drive. Files accessed by clicking it in File Explorer, just
that you’ve stored locally are maintained on
your local hard drives, but a copy is also kept like a local file. Before you can access it,
on OneDrive (provided you have the space).
Windows is smart enough to know if such a however, it must be downloaded from
copy exists, and can delete the local copy,
preserving the bookmark and maintaining the OneDrive, which might be undesirable for

Apps typically those users with slow or unreliable Internet
consume gobs
of gigabytes connections. You can save space, sure, but it
at a time, so
look here first might not be worth the inconvenience.
for unwanted
old apps that Likewise, you may find that the remaining
consume
space. Filter Storage categories aren’t worth poring
by file size to
make the task through as part of your digital cleanup
easier.
routine. The Desktop and Videos folders

probably hold content you want to keep, and

The Temporary
Files section
usually
contains a
number of
files that can
be safely
deleted. There
will be some
who say that
you should
keep older
Windows
Update files
in case you
need to roll
back a flawed
update, but
this is rare.

94 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020