Category Archives: Hardware

The New Screen Savers 166: New i9 MacBook Pro Can’t Take the Heat?

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2018 MacBook Pro throttled, Nuraphone’s headphones tuned for you, Moto Z3 Play review, and more. On The New Screen Savers, with Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton recorded on Saturday, July 21, 2018:

– The MacBook Pro (2018) is here. Leo and Patrick push its new i9 Intel chip to see if we get the full benefits of the 4.8GHz processor and attach the external Blackmagic eGPU to see if this changes the thermals of the laptop. Also, Mike Wuerthele from AppleInsider tells what they’ve found in their own tests.
– Samantha Lionheart from iFixit shows us the changes to the MacBook Pro’s third-gen keyboard with a new anti-dust membrane.
– Patrick loves headphones and brought two wireless versions: the Sennheiser HD1 and the Nuraphone that analyses your ears and tailors the sound to your hearing.
– In Call for Help, we answer a question about the best uninterruptible power supplies‎ (UPS).
– Jason Howell reviews the Motorola Moto Z3 Play.
– In the Mail Bag, find out which routers and loudspeakers Leo and Patrick recommend.

Updates for Spectre and Meltdown

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Jason Howell and Megan Morrone talk to Ed Bott from the Ed Bott Report on ZDNet about what every Windows Admin needs to know about Spectre and Meltdown and four steps to keeping a level head during this vulnerability and the next. Plus, what might have happened if the update had been able to come out on Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday as planned, instead of being rushed because of the embargo breach.

The New Screen Savers 129: iPhone X is Here

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– The iPhone X is here. Leo Laporte and Megan Morrone give their first impressions on how Face ID works, the lack of a home button, and screen.
– Kelsea Weber from iFixit.com already torn down the iPhone X. They found some inventive ways Apple built the phone, including using two batteries.
– Researchers at Stanford and Adobe developed an AI that can automatically edit video on a dialogue-driven scene in seconds.
– Megan and Leo will put an end to the Emjoi Cheeseburger kerfuffle in a taste-off between Facebook, Google, and Apple. Which emoji has the ingredients stacked correctly for taste?
– Jason Howell has the five most exciting features of the new Google Pixel 2 XL.
– Our Holiday Gift Guide continues. This week, Scott Wilkinson has his home theater picks including TVs, soundbars, AV receivers, UHD Blu-Ray players, and UHD streaming.

The New Screen Savers 121: Essential Phone Review and Teardown

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Leo Laporte and Jason Howell take an in-depth look at the new Essential Phone PH-1. It finally arrived and Jason has spent a lot of time with it the last few days and will have a review. Also, Kelsea Weber from iFixit.com joins us to talk about what’s inside the Essential Phone. They had a hard time getting inside and had to freeze it! (plus they broke two screens!) Leo has the new Mavic Pro drone from DJI. We’ll take it for a spin and see if it’s worth the high price tag. Megan Morrone has a full review of the Tovala smart oven. Father Robert Ballecer, SJ has some ideas to bring new life to your old remote controls. In Call For Help, we’ll talk about whether or not you should install Oreo on your Android phone.

– Equifax gets hacked and leaked personal info of 143 million consumers.
– Will the new Apple iPhone be named iPhone X?

The New Screen Savers 120: Echo, Echo, Echo…

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Leo Laporte and Roberto Baldwin try out the new Multi-Room Music feature on the Amazon Echo. We’ll set up several Echos in the studio to set it up and find out how it works. Anker has a new sister brand for smart-home devices called Eufy. One of their latest products is a tiny smart speaker called the Genie. We’ll see how to compares to the Echo Dot. Megan Morrone continues her #DigitalCleanse. This week is number four: Cleaning up your cloud storage. We’re going to revive an old Mac Pro (mid-2010) for our ‘Call for Help,’ and install NVIDIA’s flagship gaming GPU the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. We’ll take a first look at Tovala’s meal kit service that cooks itself in a smart oven that can steam, bake, and broil. Jason Howell shows us some AR apps on the Asus Zenfone AR. In the ‘Mail Bag,’ we answer questions about what to do with vintage computers and tracking apps for Android.

– Apple to unveil the next iPhone September 12th at the new Apple campus.
– Juicero shuts down and won’t sell juice packs.
– In an email snafu, Essential shared driver’s licenses numbers of some customers.
– Roberto was at the Hyperloop Pod Competition where the winning pod hit over 200MPH.