Stories by Ben Patterson

Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-30BQ review: A dual-core laptop that's slim, light, and priced to move

It won’t win any speed records, but the slim Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-30BQ makes for a compelling bargain-priced laptop all the same.

Hands-on: Samsung’s Galaxy Book S debuts with the Snapdragon 8cx

Samsung's Galaxy Books S made its surprise debut at Samsung's Unpacked 2019 event, sporting the Snapdragon 8cx CPU and a sliver of a design, less than a half-inch thick.

Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-51DJ review: Slim and inexpensive, but middling quad-core performance

If you’re looking for an inexpensive quad-core laptop that’s less than three-quarters of an inch thick, the Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-51DJ might fit the bill.

Nokia’s new Beacon 1 mesh Wi-Fi router learns which wireless channels are the least congested

The Beacon 1 mesh router uses the same mesh technology that powers the pricier Beacon 3, and it also boasts an intelligent channel-hopping feature and a bridge mode for compatibility with an existing router.

Logitech Wireless Keyboard K350 review: This ergonomic keyboard needs better keys

The Logitech Wireless Keyboard K350 could be just the thing for typists with aching wrists and tendons, provided you warm to the wave-like keyboard design.

Asus ZenBook 13 UX331UA review: A thin, light, and peppy budget laptop with battery life to spare

The Asus ZenBook 13 is just the ticket for productivity on a budget. It shines when it comes to everyday computing chores, and its battery keeps going and going.

Lenovo Legion Y530 review: An affordable gaming laptop saddled with an iffy graphics card

The inexpensive Lenovo Legion Y530 will tempt budget-minded gamers, but its middling graphics card struggles to keep up with today's games, let alone tomorrow's.

Lenovo Legion Y920 review: A hefty gaming laptop with buttery graphics and a mechanical keyboard

Big and heavy though it is, the Lenovo Legion Y920 boasts some serious gaming firepower and a mechanical keyboard to boot, not to mention one-touch overclocking and Dolby sound.

Dell G7 15 (7588) review: A hex-core gaming laptop that won’t break the bank

Armed with a screamingly fast hex-core CPU and a reasonably robust graphics card, the $1,200 Dell G7 15 packs in an impressive amount of processing and gaming power into a shell that’s less than an inch thick.

Acer Aspire 5 A515-51-58HD review: Optane memory gives this budget laptop a boost

While it’s thicker and heavier than we’d like and it suffers from an iffy display, the Optane memory-equipped Acer Aspire 5 delivers impressive quad-core performance for hundreds less than its ultraportable competitors.

Dell G3 15 (3579) review: This budget gaming laptop makes the most of what it’s got

It’s not the thinnest, lightest, or most powerful gaming laptop on the market, and we wish its 15.6-inch screen were brighter. But for a budget-friendly price, the GTX 1050 Ti-powered Dell G3 15 packs an impressive punch.

Acer Aspire E15 E5-576-392H review: A bargain-priced laptop with plenty of productivity power

The budget version of 2018’s Acer Aspire E15 delivers great value for the price as well as a significant performance boost over its predecessor.

Acer Aspire E15 E5-576G-5762 review: Smooth productivity and even gaming for a bargain price

While it's a couple of pounds too heavy to quality as an ultraportable, this $599 version of the Acer Aspire E15 will please bargain hunters looking for smooth Office performance, and it's even got some game thanks to its discrete Nvidia graphics car...

Lenovo Flex 6 14 review: A budget 8th-gen 2-in-1 that falls short in the graphics department

The Lenovo Flex 6 14 boasts peppy productivity performance, a discrete GPU and solid battery life for a relatively budget price, but it also comes saddled with a dim screen and iffy graphics.

Logitech MK320 wireless keyboard & mouse review: A flawed mouse holds this bundle back

The Logitech MK320 keyboard feels fine and boasts solid wireless connectivity plus programmable keys for a bargain price, but its included, stiff-buttoned mouse doesn’t quite pass muster.