Fascinating Tech Products to add to your shopping list
Let’s begin with HP Envy 34 All-in-One Desktop (2022)
The all-in-one (AIO) PC market shows the general decline of the desktop PC market in recent years, but the pandemic-fuelled phenomenon of working from home comes as a bonus for these convenient, mostly wireless PCs. Note, however, that AIO typically provides minimal internal upgrade capabilities. This can be a problem for some power users who do not want these restrictions.
HP is one of the few PC makers to regularly release new AIO designs each year. The latest update to the HP Envy 34, with a price tag of $1,700, is one of the Palo Alto-based manufacturers’ most beautifully designed models. Positioned squarely to appeal to creative professionals, it also has broad utility for consumers and mainstream small business users. The HP Envy 34 features a sophisticated anti-glare 5K 34-inch display, a mobile HD webcam with an integrated privacy shutter, and impressive performance. Indeed, comparably priced legacy desktops can offer higher performance, especially in the area of discrete GPUs. But given its extensive feature set, the HP Envy 34 offers excellent value for money.
Its wireless nature makes it the perfect PC for executive offices, home offices, and dorm rooms. The keyboard and mouse are connected via Bluetooth, so only one power cord is required. Common interfaces are integrated into the back of the device.
- 4 USB-A ports
- Two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Audio – headphone/mic combo
- HDMI output
- gigabit ethernet
The cable management is enhanced with magnetic clips that help keep cables organized and within reach, which is a very nice touch.
Creative professionals gravitate to the 34-inch display arranged in a 21-inch format. Delivering a 9 aspect ratio at 5K resolution, the Envy 34 display rivals Apple’s vaunted 27-inch iMac. I found 500 nits to be very bright on this display.
The 5K (5120 x 2160) resolution is common to all models of the HP Envy 34, but the more expensive configurations come with his high-end, gaming-friendly Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 discrete graphics.
Another key feature that users will love is that two more USB-A ports, a memory card reader, and a third USB-C port are conveniently mounted on the stand. Configured with a high-end Intel i9-1100 processor, discrete Nvidia RTX 3080 graphics, 32GB of storage, and a 1TB SSD, the price quickly climbs to $3,430. But streamlined models are available for less than $2,000, making them the ideal PCs for telecommuters, design-conscious business executives, and professional content creators.
If you’re looking for an AIO PC, you can’t go wrong with the HP Envy 34.
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 Notebook
Thin and light laptops have ruled his PC world ever since Steve Jobs dramatically pulled his original MacBook Air out of the envelope at his Apple launch event in January 2008. With that release, Apple posed a challenge to the rest of the industry, declaring, “This is how a laptop should be designed.”
But over 14 years later, the PC industry hasn’t stood still. There are plenty of great MacBook Air alternatives out there, but the most famous is the recently announced Dell XPS 13 Plus, which uses the entire palm rest area as a touchpad.
No product in this category has reached perfection, but the new HP Elite Dragonfly G3 comes tantalizingly close. Great performance, great battery life, and great 3: in a lightweight, incredibly thin, and elegant form factor design 2 displays for increased productivity.
Perhaps most importantly, the Elite Dragonfly G3 offers the best typing experience of any thin and light laptop I’ve come across. Like previous Dragonfly models, this new one is made from magnesium, refreshed with a mixture of magnesium and aluminium that contributes to the curved “cushion corner” design of the display lid and outer bottom image. Weighing just 2.2 pounds, the laptop has a highly sleek, executive look with a display that can be opened with one hand.
It is available in two distinct colours:
Slate blue and natural silver. Of course, HP offers the Elite Dragonfly G3 with multiple panel options, from a multi-touch Full HD+ (1920 x 1280) WLED panel to his single 32K (3000 x 2000) OLED panel with enhanced sharpness. doing. Under the hood, HP opted for Intel’s more efficient 15-watt Core i5 1245U, Core i7 1255U, or Core i7 1256U in place of Intel’s new 12th Gen Intel Core P series, which consumes more watts. selected. This is a smart choice to extend the Elite Dragonfly’s battery life. That’s a staggering 14 hours.
As for security, the Elite Dragonfly also supports Windows Hello face and fingerprint recognition. I find the latter more convenient.
The icing on the cake is the Elite DragonFly G3’s sustainability story.
The laptop’s exterior is made of at least 90% recycled magnesium, which warms the hearts of those concerned about the environment. The HP Elite Dragonfly G3 is one of the most impressive laptops to cross my radar screen. Its “elite” design, strong battery life, rich feature set, and great connectivity convenience (Wi-Fi 6E and his optional 4G LTE or 5G cellular support) come at a cost. A fully configured model costs over $3,000. Price aside, if you can afford it, you’ll fall in love with the HP Elite Dragonfly G3.
Motorola Q14 tri-band mesh Wi-Fi system “AXE5400”
Many of my tech column readers know that I’m a big fan of his whole Wi-Fi router trend incorporating mesh technology over the last few years. These routers can single-handedly solve one of the home user’s biggest connectivity problems.
Reliably strong Wi-Fi coverage throughout your living area. A typical home has many active applications. B. The game is changing: gaming, streaming, video conferencing, and productivity. Most consumers are still using older Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) routers, but many companies offer fast iterations of mesh routes based on Wi-Fi 6 or (more recently) Wi-Fi 6E.
Motorola is catching up with established players such as Linksys, Netgear, and Asus. Despite its late entry into the market, the new Q14 has a lot of features.
The Q14 activates its 6GHz radio band for a huge boost in speed and can use up to 160 radio channels simultaneously. This feature significantly increases the number of Wi-Fi devices used simultaneously in your home without impacting overall performance. A mesh router typically consists of the router itself and one or two “satellite” nodes that can extend coverage up to 5,000 square feet. This is especially useful for people with large properties, providing Wi-Fi connectivity for devices outside the home, such as security. camera, and sensor-based alarms.
Priced at $649 (currently available on Amazon for $500), the Q14 list sent to me included the router and its two nodes, so I have the largest Wi-Fi in my house. Fi connection was provided.
The router and satellites are covered with high-quality mesh fabric and the innovative, modern design complements any room. You won’t be embarrassed to have it on your bookshelf, desk, or closet. Better overall performance isn’t the only difference between the Q14 and other mesh routers I’ve used. Setting up the router is made possible via one of the most intuitive smartphone apps I’ve ever used, with parental controls and cybersecurity at no extra charge. Using an app developed by Minim, I was able to set up the Q14 within 20 minutes without any issues.
Unlike many other companies that take a similar app-based approach to product setup, the Moto Sync app is highly visual and intuitive. Please note that Minim has an exclusive worldwide license to design and manufacture consumer networking products under the Motorola brand. Also, Q14 is an independent Wi-Fi network and can only be networked with other Q14 routers. Not a universal extender. There are some decent mesh routers on the market, but the Q14 stands out from a price point of view. Spanning 3,500 square feet, the Q14-02 is under $500, a steal when compared to Netgear’s $1,499 Orbi Quad-Band Wi-Fi 6E mesh system, but the Q14’s specs are more modest.
Regardless, the performance difference is likely to be indistinguishable from most mainstream home users, and we recommend saving $1,000.
