How-To Geek

You can't deny soundbar tech has gotten pretty amazing. High-end units now give you impressive clarity, crisp dialogue, and a surprisingly good width from just one sleek box. Today's soundbars are packed with multiple dedicated amplifiers, custom-designed drivers, and really powerful digital signal processing, which makes you wonder why some audiophiles hate them.

Depending on your computer and your motherboard, you might either have a lot of options for storage or you might not. The very best motherboards come with a ton of M.2 slots, but in others, you might be lucky to get two—and sometimes, you'll just have one.

I was working in my shop one day when a cut came out slightly off, but I couldn’t tell with the naked eye. I had to break out my calipers to find out what the problem was, and it was less than 0.05 of an inch—it was a millimeter. That’s when I realized it was time to ditch the imperial measurement system for something more accurate: metric.

Pop!_OS keeps getting recommended as the obvious beginner Linux distro, usually based on a few convenient defaults. It installs Nvidia drivers automatically, ships with a polished tiling workflow, and comes from System76, a company that also sells Linux laptops and desktops, which creates the impression of something closer to a vertically integrated stack.

Buying a used vehicle always comes with its share of unknowns, but when you add a high-voltage battery, a complex braking system, and a more expansive warranty to the mix, things can get a little more confusing. While a well-maintained hybrid can easily cruise past the 200,000-mile mark, the hidden costs of a neglected one can erase any potential fuel savings.

Who's ready to start their week off with some thrills? It might be a Monday, but the excitement of the weekend does not have to end. One of my favorite categories on Netflix is thrillers, a diverse genre with plenty of options. Whether you want action or horror with your excitement, the streamer's thriller page has it all.

It may officially be spring, and while we do very much encourage you to get outside and breathe the warmer air, us movie diehards still need to unwind during the week with a good movie or two.

Mozilla has started rolling out Firefox 149, one day ahead of schedule. It focuses on smarter multitasking and productivity-focused features. The latest version finally delivers a built-in split-screen mode that’s been in testing for months. There’s also a polished interface with updated visuals. Here’s everything new in Firefox 149.

March is typically a slow month for new movies. It comes after "Dumpuary" and before summer blockbuster season. Credit goes to Netflix, which has used March to its advantage by releasing several anticipated movies on its 2026 slate.

Engine additives are to cars what protein powders are to gym-goers: passionately praised by some as essential for performance, dismissed by others as mere hype or snake oil.

DietPi is a popular operating system for Raspberry Pi boards and other low-power systems, offering improved performance and pre-made configurations for common applications and self-hosted services. DietPi v10.2 has now arrived with Immich as an optional package, along with other changes.

I'm the last person to tell you that you need to buy new hardware when you clearly don't. While it's easy to get stuck in an upgrade loop and always want the next best thing in PC hardware, it's not a good idea. GPUs are a great example of this: upgrading every generation isn't optimal for most users.

Along with choice and sustainability, privacy is one of the three central pillars of the Open Home Foundation, the non-profit behind the free and open source Home Assistant software. The core of this pillar is the ability to control your devices locally without having to share data with cloud services. If you want to set up an offline smart home, it can be quicker and cheaper than you might think.

Mastering Microsoft Excel's tools is a never-ending process, even for those who have used the program at work or at home for decades. With this in mind, here are some of my favorite Excel hacks I've picked up over the years that you can take away and use to speed up your spreadsheet workflow.

One of the most common issues that sometimes pops up in smartphones is overheating. It’s very noticeable when the phone in your hands gets too warm, and manufacturers try their best to avoid this. However, Samsung went too far with precautions in the Galaxy S22 series—now they’re paying for it.

So you just bought a new drive, and you're planning on moving all of your files over from your older, slower drive to your newer drive. It can be a daunting task, especially if you're not experienced. It doesn't have to be, though.

There is nothing more frustrating than trying to get to work or an appointment on time and being slowed down by things out of your control—or are they? By making a few small changes in Google Maps, you can help make your morning commute less of a headache.

I don't know about you, but I love discovering a movie for the first time. There's something special about sitting down to watch a new film, knowing you only get one chance to experience that certain feeling. It's exciting.

At a time when expensive SSDs are, well, ridiculously expensive, using your best NVMe drive for trivial tasks feels even worse than it ever did before. And yet, many of us clutter those ultra-fast drives with apps that are wasting space and resources.

Perfect automation is the ultimate goal for my smart home, but until I reach that point, there are times when I need to make things happen manually. I've used smart buttons in my home, but I often prefer NFC tags, which can do the job for a fraction of the price.