How-To Geek

Repairing things is one of the best reasons to get a 3D printer, and it might just give you the push you need to learn to model items for yourself. If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are some examples of how a 3D printer can come in clutch and save you money.

The SUV world has changed a lot in the past decade. What used to be all boxy, practical vehicles now puts design, style, and tech front and center—even in affordable crossovers.

An NVMe SSD is the fastest type of storage you can put in a PC, but it's also a lot more temperamental than the old spinning hard drives they've replaced. Lately, my system hasn't felt nearly as fast as when I first built it. I first noticed slightly longer loading screens, but sluggish file transfers between my PC and my NAS is what truly gave the problem away—it was my nearly full SSD.

Building a homelab might sound like the kind of project that requires a big budget or an entire weekend, but it doesn’t have to. Any old PC or laptop collecting dust at home can be repurposed into a surprisingly capable homelab. With the right tools, the setup can be quick and beginner-friendly. Here’s how I turned my spare computer into a fully functional homelab for $0 in under an hour.

Dealing with an older car’s infotainment system is incredibly frustrating. Whether it’s an ancient, basic stereo from the era of CDs or an early touchscreen setup, the lack of Android Auto severely limits what you can do with it. So, you’re probably thinking about upgrading to an aftermarket head unit, but you’ve heard mixed things about their quality and reliability.

There are many streaming services out there, with a lot of underrated shows. Whether it’s underrated shows on Netflix or maybe the shows on MGM+ that get slept on, there are so many out there that people don’t know about.

I don’t like to see a bunch of notifications gather at the top of my phone, but I’m afraid to swipe them away for fear I’ll forget to do something important. Fortunately, there’s a tucked-away corner of Android where no notification goes forgotten.

I have a lot of gadgets in my smart home, and many of them can genuinely save me time. The trouble is, the list of things I want to do next with my smart home continues to grow, and there's simply not enough time in the day to get it all done.

Motion detectors are useful smart home devices for creating simple automations, such as turning on your lights when you enter a room or being alerted to motion in your home when you're away. Standard infrared motion detectors aren't always the best tools for the job. There are some compelling reasons to choose mmWave sensors instead.

The first graphics card I ever bought with my own money was a 16MB Voodoo 3 2000. That card introduced me to the world of hardware acceleration on PC. No more software-rendered Quake, only "real" 3D objects with smooth frame rates and sharp resolutions.

Laptops have become powerful enough that for most people it's not necessary to own both a laptop and a desktop PC. However, you don't have to put up with the cramped work environment of a laptop when you're at your desk. Here's how I use my laptops as desktop computers.

Serials have become the backbone of the streaming era, especially on Netflix. Serialized television is when a show's plot unfolds in sequential order over the course of a season. It's long-form storytelling that typically works best with dramas—Stranger Things, The Crown, etc. Watching the episodes in release order matters. Often, these shows are binged because the complex character arcs and cliffhangers encourage streaming multiple episodes at once.

Choosing the right motor oil is a major step toward keeping an older vehicle on the road, but simply picking a bottle off the shelf is only half the battle. While conventional oil has served drivers for decades, high-mileage engines, typically those over 75,000 miles, face unique mechanical challenges that standard lubricants aren't always equipped to handle.

The humble power button has been a standard feature on phones since before they were smart. For most of that time, the button has been used for, you know, power. That changed when virtual assistants arrived on Android phones—you don’t have to live with it.

For lots of makers, that magic of outdoor 3D prints vanishes quickly once their creations are exposed to nature. It's disappointing when you spend twenty hours printing something, only for it to warp into an unrecognizable blob in the July sun or shatter into brittle pieces after the first autumn frost.

While HBO Max revels in the success of hits like The Pitt, Industry, and newcomer DTF St. Louis (all of which we've written about and that you should totally get into), the streamer has a deep, award-winning catalog we still love to mine.

Third-party driver updaters pose a significant threat to Windows PC stability and security. These programs are often scareware, using aggressive warnings to push paid subscriptions for services Windows already provides through Windows Update. Relying on these uncertified utilities jeopardizes your PC's security, and it's not worth risking your computer or your own information when you can update your drivers the safe way. Instead, use the installers that were built to keep you safe and to ward off malware.

Naturally aspirated engines were once the heart of every great sports car, delivering linear power, high-revving excitement, and an unmistakable connection between driver and machine. But as emissions regulations tighten and turbocharging and electrification take over, this type of engine is rapidly disappearing. What was once the standard is now becoming a rarity, reserved for only a handful of performance-focused models.

Most PCs these days come with an SSD, but those main drives are often modestly-sized unless you splurged. Laptops still come with 500GB (or smaller) SSD capacities, and many desktop users settle for 1TB.

It's rough out there for mobile app developers. The Play Store is filled with millions of apps to compete with, and most of them are free. Yet, even with so many free apps to choose from, I gladly pay for many of my favorites, and I enjoy my phone much more as a result.