How-To Geek

In recent weeks, Microsoft has focused on broadening AI capabilities in Excel, modernizing the program's interface, and speeding up your spreadsheet workflow. Here are four new features to look out for this December.

It doesn't matter if you have a beastly GPU and a fantastic CPU. If your SSD is struggling, so will your entire PC.

Drama and action movies are the go-to genres, fine. But sometimes you don't just want a movie—you want a full-on spectacle. Musicals aren't for everyone, I get it. But Netflix actually has a great selection of some of the better ones I've seen recently. They're big on emotion and can often be dark and serious, but they also excel at eye-popping set pieces and stories that are magical and surreal.

There’s no shortage of smart-home security options on the market, but products range from basic and barely functional to high-tech and astronomically priced. The far ends of the spectrum come with too many trade-offs, but shrewd consumers know that there’s a sweet spot. High-tech smart-home brand Botslab hits that middle ground with affordable, high-end smart-home products powered by AI — without subscriptions or paywalled features.

If you’ve always wanted a fun, lightweight sports car but assumed reliability and affordability were out of reach, the used market says otherwise. For well under $25,000, there’s a Japanese-built two-seater that has quietly become one of the most dependable performance cars you can buy. It delivers the kind of open-air driving experience enthusiasts love, yet it’s also cheap to run, easy to maintain, and built to last hundreds of thousands of miles.

Toyota’s done something crazy. That wild GR GT3 Concept from the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon is now hitting the streets as a real car—and it finally has a name: the GR GT.

ASUS has released a new high-end router with tri-band Wi-Fi 7 support, up to 31 Gigabits of wired bandwidth, and the ability to run Docker containers. It's also billed as "the world's first AI router," because it's 2025 and everything needs AI.

You're only a true geek if you have a huge box or drawer full of cables that you don't actually need but are keeping on the off chance. Not every cable is created equal, however. There are some cables that have connectors that are so frustrating they should be banished to tech hell forever.

I’ve been conditioned to believe that opening up gadgets is the domain of experts and professionals. But the idea that the simple act of changing a battery is beyond the realm of mere mortals like you and me is a lie.

There are two ways to measure the performance of PC components: synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark or PCMark, and real-world benchmarks that test performance in games and various software using real-life scenarios. The latter's much better, here's why.

A network attached storage device (NAS) is one of the most useful things you can add to your home network, but a specialized NAS can run you hundreds of dollars just for the shell, and that is before you even buy additional hard drives for storage. If you want a large, robust NAS, you'll be on the hook for even more.

The right documentary can wow you, entertain you, and even make you question what you thought you knew—about your own brain, the simmering planet beneath your feet, or weirdo musical geniuses wearing flower pots on their heads.

Spending long hours at a desk can take a toll on your body, especially if you don’t have a good ergonomic setup. Aside from the inevitable neck cramps, if you use dual or triple monitors, you might also be running out of desk space.

One of Home Assistant’s biggest selling points is its ability to bring a vast range of devices together under one platform. To guarantee longevity, you might also want to choose brands that are committed to maintaining device compatibility with Home Assistant.

You can get more out of your Linux PC with the right software. I know from experience, though, that can be hard to find. Fortunately for you, I've found a few more free and open source Linux tools worth trying out this weekend.

If you’re shopping for a family SUV and planning to keep it long-term, resale value matters just as much as space, performance, or fuel economy. Yet one well-known American three-row model loses a startling amount of its value after just five years, far more than most shoppers realize. Its steep drop in price leaves owners with far less equity than expected, making it one of the segment’s biggest depreciation risks.

Are you looking for a new Raspberry Pi project to dive into this weekend? Why not spend some time to build your own UniFi gateway so you don’t have to buy Ubiquiti’s expensive solution. Or maybe build a flight tracker?

As we wrap up November and carefully maneuver into December, Amazon Prime Video is here to ensure you stay fully entertained at whichever pace you choose to move. Laughter always sparks energy for me, so that’s where we’re starting, courtesy of the absurdly funny Alan Tudyk. Next, we’re fighting for justice and freedom in the 12th century with a legendary hero, then we’re hunkering down for a new psychological thriller spanning across Greece and London.

I subscribe to a lot of streaming services, but Paramount+ has bailed me out more times than I can count when I've been in the mood for a TV series I can binge in a couple of sittings—nothing too long, but still juicy enough to sink into.

The Timekettle W4 semi-in-ear bone conduction earbuds are designed to translate face-to-face conversations in over 40 languages—and it can definitely help with that, but don't expect magic.