How-To Geek

One of my favorite Ryobi purchases lately isn't even a power tool. Instead, it's the new power source battery charger that lets you use your Ryobi battery pack as backup power for small devices, recharging phones and more during a blackout. Here's what you need to know and how I used it to power my Wi-Fi router during an outage.

There's no shortage of advice promising to make Windows 11 faster. Disable startup apps, turn off animations, change your power plan, and run a debloating tool, and your PC will supposedly feel brand new. But after testing several popular tweaks on my ASUS laptop, I found that many didn't solve the problem I thought they did. Some reduced background activity, some removed interface delays, and others barely made a measurable difference.

A cheap or secondhand mini PC might not be powerful enough to run demanding games or large AI models, but you can use it for a lot more than just browsing the web or running common homelab services. There are plenty of things you can do with a mini PC that you might not have considered.

Back in the 1990s, Adobe created the PDF format to simplify sharing documents across different computers and operating systems without losing their original formatting.

Google Pixel phones tend to hit maturity a few years after launch, as bugfixes and updates slowly fix and add functionality. Still, you may find that you're envious of all the cool new features Google has introduced on newer Pixel devices.

New 3D printer models keep coming thick and fast. This can lead to a feeling of FOMO that makes you want to upgrade, but your old printer probably has plenty of life left in it. Unless you’re specifically looking to boost your printing capacity, your money is better spent scratching that maker itch with something else.

Microsoft has bloated Windows with so many features, yet I probably don't use half of them. On the one hand, they are of no use. On the other hand, these features take up my PC resources and, even worse, can be a threat to my privacy. Windows' OneDrive Folder Backup is one such feature I recently uncovered.

If you're an Android user, there's a good chance you're reading this in Chrome. It comes preinstalled, and most people don't have a reason to switch. But Chrome for Android actually comes in four flavors, and the other three have specific purposes. You can even run them all together.

Most people print using PLA filament, and some like to use ABS for its strength properties, but you don't hear much about the use of PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol-modified.) Yet, this material has many excellent qualities to recommend it.

As Home Assistant users, we’re spoiled by the project’s clockwork release cycle that sees a new major release arrive every month without fail. But not all updates are built equal, and November 2026 brings a very special community effort into the core release.

Imagine this scenario. You see a movie on Netflix and save it to your My List. One week later, the calendar changes, and the movie you saved is no longer available on Netflix. It's a common problem that many, including myself, have faced.

You look up "gaming mouse" in the dictionary, and you're liable to find a picture of the Logitech G502 X. Logitech isn't bluffing when it calls the G502 X the "world's most popular gaming mouse," but so much success understandably makes Logitech hesitant to shake up the formula. The latest G502 X Plus is here with a modest list of improvements, and it's basically guaranteed to keep selling in droves—but that doesn't mean it's still the best. I also have the brand-new Razer Basilisk V4 Pro in hand, and in lieu of a dedicated review, it's going head-to-head against the G502 X Plus to prove Logitech's competition hasn't been idly sitting by.

I wanted to build a second brain, so I installed the one app synonymous with the idea — Notion. The plan was to set up a few databases and start capturing all my notes into them, so everything would stay neatly organized and easy to find when I needed it. However, if you’ve used Notion before, you probably already know what’s coming.

There’s nothing quite like free energy, both in dollars and emissions, so I’ve started powering as many devices as I can entirely with solar power — including the one I’m writing these words on. I'm not going to tell you this is practical for most people, but it's doable, and for some of us, it’s fun.

Every few months, a storage warning lands in my inbox. I've noticed that they all sound the same and ask me to pay a little more to make the storage problem go away. The number is never big, but I still hate paying it. That price is what got me staring at the dusty computer in my closet, wondering if it could do the job instead.

Since outlining its Leap 16 plans in 2024, Linux distro openSUSE has been working toward a more flexible Linux ecosystem, embracing SUSE’s Adaptable Linux Platform technology while promising to preserve traditional installations. This eventually resulted in two distinct offerings: Leap for traditional desktop and server environments, and Leap Micro for immutable systems. Leap 16.1 now combines both approaches.

If one of your fancy Milwaukee tools is broken, has stopped working, or isn't operating as it should, don't just throw it away. Most Milwaukee power tools come with a 5-year warranty, or a cheap spare part might be the difference between enjoying it for years to come and spending big bucks on a replacement.

I use ChatGPT and Gemini for all sorts of little things throughout the day. Sometimes I need help fixing a message, sometimes I want to clean up a photo, and other times I’m just curious about something I spotted on screen. But I don’t always need to open a separate AI app and type out a prompt to get these things done.

Vivid outdoor lighting is one of the best ways to kick off the holiday season. There's something about those bright lights and flashing colors that create a festive atmosphere and put a smile on people's faces. Be the first to light up the block with 42% off the Litsoul 600FT Permanent Outdoor Lights.

Whether you’ve got a budget PC build or a top-of-the-line gaming or productivity beast, your favorite machine likely has some untapped potential you can unlock by tweaking one component or another.