This comprehensive kit includes a demonstration board that uses the MC9S12NE64 on chip EMAC and EPHY to demonstrate typical MC9S12NE64 applications ...
The move is part of a push to make remote education accessible for children while schools are closed, and includes a new online academy to offer pupils online lessons.
It comes on what would have been the first day of summer term for most pupils, and after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said no date has been set for re-opening schools in England.
He apologised to pupils for the interruption to their studies and said there are no plans to open schools in England over the summer holidays.
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Mr Williamson said 4G routers will be provided to ensure disadvantaged secondary school pupils and care leavers can access the internet where their families do not already have mobile or broadband internet.
The Oak National Academy will launch on Monday, having been created by 40 teachers from some of the leading schools in England in less than a fortnight.
Its 180 video lessons per week will cover a broad range of subjects including maths, arts and languages for pupils ranging in age from reception to Year 10.
Electronic devices will be ordered for pupils "in the most vital stages of their education for those who receive support from a social worker and care leavers", the Department for Education (DfE) said.
Young people will be eligible for the devices if they do not already have one and either have a social worker or are care leavers, or are disadvantaged children in year 10, ahead of GCSEs next year.
The DfE said schools and colleges will be able to keep the laptops and tablets once they reopen.
The Government said it would also make funding of £1.6 million available immediately for the NSPCC to expand and promote its national helpline for adults.
Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "The NSPCC Helpline is a crucial cog in the child protection system, last year we responded to almost 73,000 contacts from people with concerns about a child's welfare.
"At a time when there are increased risks of harm to vulnerable children but teachers and social workers' access to them is more limited, we must all play our part in recognising the signs of abuse and neglect and be sure to report any concerns."
Becca Lyon, Save the Children's head of child poverty, said: "Additional online support for all children to continue their learning will help many, but those without access to the internet will still be missing out. Extending router availability to the families of younger children in poverty will ensure children continue to learn at a critical point in their development."
Polling of teachers and parents published by the Sutton Trust found over half of students in independent schools take part in online lessons every day, two and a half times as often as their state school contemporaries.
It said the gap was largely explained by access to resources, as independent schools – as well as state ones in more affluent areas – were more likely to have existing online platforms allowing them to broadcast classes online, or receive work submitted by a class.
Sutton Trust founder and chairman, Sir Peter Lampl, said: "The widening of the attainment gap over these next few months threatens to have negative implications for years to come. It is crucial we do all we can to address inequalities through high quality tuition and access to technology."
Mr Williamson told the daily Downing Street press conference on Sunday that five tests must be met before English schools can re-open,
"People are anxious to know when we're going to relax restrictions, when schools are likely to be fully back and open again," he said.
"Of course, I want nothing more than to see schools back, get them back to normal, make sure the children are sat around, learning, and experiencing the joy of being at school.
"But I can't give you a date. Because before we do, we need to meet five tests."
They include protecting the NHS's ability to cope, seeing daily death rates come down, and having reliable data that shows the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels, he said.
Mr Williamson said there also must be confidence that any changes do not risk a second peak of infections.
He added: "There are currently no plans to have schools open over the summer period and we haven't been working on plans to have them open over the summer period."
My Favourite Note-Taking App for Students - Notion (2020)
DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- A science teacher at a Durham charter school is trying to keep her students up-to-date, despite many lacking the technology to work from home.
Elizabeth Sewell, a fifth-grade science teacher at Research Triangle Charter Academy, has been struggling with the new world of education.
"I miss the actual classroom environment itself: the desk, the pencils, actually having one-on-one conversations with them," Sewell said
Sewell's been a part of the charter school for four years. Between three classes, she teaches about 75 students.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic pushing schools to go virtual, Sewell's noticed many of her kids don't have the technology available to keep up, saying around 25 percent lack the proper equipment.
RELATED: As schools switch to online courses amid COVID-19 concerns, students who lack access to internet, computers suffer
"A lot of my kids don't have access to the internet or only have one computer, and there's three or four of them in a household at a time," Sewell said.
It promoted the science teacher to focus on only reviewing the curriculum they covered in person, so these boys and girls aren't left trying to teach themselves.
While the elementary kids without laptops are given physical educational material, Sewell says it's tough to really teach new topics over the phone.
"At the same time, now we're behind. EOGs have already been canceled, so that doesn't matter anyways; but, they're still missing key units that they need when they go to middle school," Sewell said.
The charter school receives help from Durham Public Schools, along with information about how to deal with the pandemic. The school also provides meals to students Mondays through Fridays.
Sewell believes renting out their school laptops to their children could be a viable solution.
She's brought the matter forward to the Dean; however, no one's allowed in the building until a deep cleaning is completed, "So we're unable to get them the resources that they need".
To make ends meet, the teacher also works at Mystic Farm and Distillery in Durham, helping make hand sanitizer for the current pandemic on the weekends.
Sewell hopes they can address the laptop problem in the coming weeks.
This article originally appeared in our sister publication Maximum PC. For nearly 20 years, Maximum PC is considered by enthusiasts to be the absolute source for the latest in guides, reviews, in-depth analysis on cutting edge PC hardware. Subscribe to Maximum PC
Welcome to our guide on how to speed your laptop for free. It's not always possible to buy a brand-new laptop, but you can save a huge amount of money and hassle by following these steps to speed up a laptop and get it running like new – all for free.
The steps we go through here can breathe new life into your existing laptop. They could even help you if you buy a second-hand laptop (or get given one from a friend or relative).
For most people, your laptop will likely be running Windows 10, so we'll be focusing on tips and tricks for speeding up your Windows 10 laptop. We also have guides on how to speed up MacBooks.
General laptop speed up tips1. Keep Windows 10 up to date
Ah, the Windows Update. Truly the modern-day raven, rap-tap-tapping on Edgar Allen Poe's operating system with menacing intent.
Taking control of your updates is objective number one for anyone trying to optimize their laptop, so jump into "Update Settings" and remember to smash that "Check For Updates" button.
You can turn on auto-updates, too, under "Advanced options," but if you have a metered connection, we advise against this, and instead recommend manual updates. You can also pause all updates for up to two weeks; useful if you want to try something in a specific version of Windows 10.
2. Shut Cortana up
For the vast majority of users, Cortana is little more than a frustration baked into the core of Windows 10. Annoying pop-ups, constant data-gathering, and forced Bing search (come on, Microsoft…) make Cortana the least helpful voice assistant in the biz, but fortunately, shutting her down is reasonably straightforward.
Find the Cortana page under "Settings," then toggle all the sliders off. To complete the process, head back out to the main "Settings" menu. Under "Privacy Settings," you'll fi nd "Speech" and "Inking and typing personalization."
Turn both of these off to cut down the amount of data Cortana gathers from your typical PC usage. You can also block all apps from accessing your camera and microphone on the "Privacy" page.
3. Disable startup apps
We've all been there, booting up our laptop to get a quick task completed, only to be waylaid by Spotify, Steam, Uplay, and Discord introducing themselves like the worst barbershop quartet of all time.
Windows has you covered, though—the "Startup" page under "App Settings" lets you view which apps are set to start up immediately (albeit in the background) when you log into Windows, and also which ones have a higher impact on your boot times.
Toggle off any of these that you want to open manually, such as Spotify or OneDrive, and your system should start up faster.
Speed up laptop myths debunked
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
The tips on this page will show you how to speed up your laptop for free – but watch out for false advice. Here's some 'tips' that often make the rounds, that sadly won't make a difference.
Don't defrag an SSD
Defragmentation software can be helpful, but only for older drives. If you have a SATA SSD or M.2 NVMe drive, you don't want to try defragging it; there are no significant performance benefits (because SSDs have no moving parts, there's no risk of mechanical latency building up over time), and the lengthy defragmentation processes can actually wear out the memory cells and ruin the drive's lifespan if you do it too many times. Just don't bother.
RAM Disks aren't that useful
Also known as RAM drives, these nifty data storage solutions use thirdparty software to partition a given amount of your memory to be used as data storage instead of random-access memory.
The advantages jump out immediately; RAM is a lot faster, netting you vastly improved data transfer speeds for your virtual drive. If you're moving files around a lot and only have an HDD or SATA SSD, it seems like a no-brainer.
However, RAM disks are volatile memory; if your PC loses power, that data is wiped. It's necessary to have regular automatic backups to your physical drive, and to reload the RAM disk image back into your memory every time you boot up your system, which takes time. Unless you have a staggering amount of memory to spare, it just isn't worth it.
Don't tweak power plans on a desktop
While many of these tips will also apply to desktop PCs as well as laptops, there's no point messing around with a desktop's power plan.
If your PC is connected to mains power, set the power plan to high performance and call it a day. Some people will claim that there are benefits to using the other plans; we're not saying those people are wrong, but we are saying that any benefits will be practically unnoticeable.
Don't reinstall Windows
A complete fresh install of Windows should only ever be a last resort, when other attempts to salvage your system have failed.
System restore points are a more useful resource, and it's generally a good idea to have both cloud-based and physical backups of your data.
Reinstalling Windows is often like bringing a broadsword to a knife fight; effective, but far too much effort and potentially messy.
4. Disable background apps
This one comes down to preference, and isn't so necessary on more powerful systems with plenty of memory and high-speed storage.
Under "Privacy Settings," you can individually select which apps you want to run in the background, and disable the rest.
There's a ton of tools included with Windows 10 that you might use sometimes, but don't ever want running in the background. Windows News? Disabled. Voice Recorder? Deactivated. Xbox Console Companion? Begone!
5. Uninstall unwanted applications
Speaking of stuff included with Windows 10, there's plenty of bloatware you can just get rid of which will help speed up your laptop.
The most obvious contender is of course Candy Crush, but if you take a trip into "App Settings" and scroll through the "Apps & features" list, you may find a surprising amount of software you never use, and never intend to use.
Click on a program to view options, and uninstall it from there. If you're unsure what a piece of software does, always look it up online before removing it.
6. Update device drivers
Updating your drivers is often a handy fi x for something not working with a PC, but it's a good idea to keep your device drivers up to date whenever possible. To check for updates, right-click the "Home" button and select "Device Manager," then right-click the device you want to update the drivers on. You can also scan for new hardware here; if you change something about your physical setup, you might need to relocate it within the Device Manager in order to update the drivers and ensure everything is working properly.
7. Log in faster
The Windows 10 lock screen is a pointless innovation. Having to swipe up or hit the spacebar before logging in slows things down a bit, and using a conventional password is slower, too.
First up, assign a PIN rather than a password for logging in; four digits and no need to hit Enter, either. If your system supports it, Windows Hello is pretty speedy, too.
You can even remove the lock screen altogether, going straight to the login screen upon boot. Annoyingly, how you do this is different for Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro. For Windows 10 Home edition, you need to run regedit from the "Run" prompt, make your way to "HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Policies > Microsoft" and right-click "Windows," select "New > Key" and call it "Personalization."
Once created, right-click this key and add a new "DWORD (32-bit) Value," with a name of "NoLockScreen." Double click this and set the "Value" to 1. For Win 10 Pro, hit Win-R, type "gpedit" and hit Enter.
Double-click "Administrative Templates," double-click "Control Panel," click "Personalization," then double-click "Do not display the lock screen," and click "Enabled." Click "Apply," and then "OK." Job done.
8. Check your power plan
It's worth taking a peek at your power plans in the Control Panel on a laptop, found under "Hardware and Sound."
If it's a powerhouse laptop that you're essentially using plugged-in as a desktop replacement, slap that high performance plan on and call it a day; otherwise, you'll want to take a trip into the advanced power plan settings.
The default balanced plan is usually a good call, but even then you might want to make some adjustments; like disabling certain ports while the monitor is asleep, for example.
9. Disable tips
Windows 10 wants to be helpful, but like a bumbling manservant, sometimes that help is actually less than helpful.
By default, Windows 10 scans your system periodically to give you (usually unwanted) advice, and this can have a small impact on mobile processor performance, particularly in cheaper laptops.
You can turn it off in System Settings, under "Notifications and action." Just toggle off the slider marked "Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows."
10. Manage your temperatures better
It's a good idea to use third-party software, such as HWMonitor, to keep an eye on your system temperatures.
This is even more critical with laptops, where keeping your CPU cool is an even more difficult endeavor.
If you're regularly using demanding software on your laptop—3D rendering tools, for example—then heat spikes are inevitable, but there are a few things you can do to alleviate the temperature load on your poor laptop.
The general optimization tips elsewhere in this article are a good start, but making sure you're positioning your laptop right is important, too. Don't actually put it on your lap, for starters.
Ensure that all the air vents are clear, and only use it on hard, fl at surfaces. If you have problems with temperature, consider using something to prop your laptop up, creating more empty space beneath it for better airflow.
11. Create a Restore Point and restore your system
In the Control Panel, go through "Security and System > System > System Protection," and you'll open up the window for system restore options.
You can hit the big "System Restore" button to revert your version of Windows to a saved restore point; your PC should regularly create these by default, but it saves over the previous one when it does so.
Hit "Configure" and you can tweak your restore settings, or create new restore points. This isn't something you need to do too often, but it's worth having restore points for each of your drives, just in case a new software or OS update causes problems.
12. Track CPU usage
There's a handy function Task Manager has hidden in its box of tricks. When the Task Manager window is open, you should see a tiny square icon with a grid pattern in the bottom-right corner of your screen, in the notification area.
It may be hidden in the expanded menu; just click the arrow and drag it on to the taskbar if needed. That icon is a microcosm of your CPU usage, showing a tiny graph that indicates how much of your CPU is currently being utilized, and placing your mouse over it shows exact percentages.
To keep it present when Task Manager isn't open, select "Hide when minimized" from the Task Manager's "Options" drop-down menu, then minimize the window
13. Check for malware
Of course, ideally you won't have a single bit of malware on your PC, but if you suspect something is amiss (or you watched in slow motion from across the room as your child clicked an extremely dubious link), Windows 10 can scan your system for viruses.
Find the "Windows Security" tab under "Update & Security Settings," and select "Virus & threat protection." From this menu, you can run quick security scans on your system, or set up full scans that take longer.
Windows Defender automatically scans your system for malware periodically; you can tweak that in this menu, too, check for security updates, and manually input exemptions from Defender's scans.
That last point can be particularly helpful for users who deal with a lot of unlicensed software or shareware, but always err on the side of caution when it comes to downloading new programs.
14. Use Task Manager better
Making the best use of Task Manager is key to mastering control over Windows 10. First up, access it faster by right-clicking the "Home" button and selecting it; no need to Ctrl-Alt-Del here.
You're also going to want to get rid of the simplified view by hitting "More details" to expand to the full Task Manager experience. Here, you can monitor component usage, view the full suite of active and background processes, and a whole lot more that you won't need to fiddle with.
What is useful here is the ability to check exactly how much pressure each program is putting on your CPU, GPU, memory, and drives. If one background app is chewing up CPU power, or you want to compare the RAM impact of two different browsers, this is the place to do it.
You can end any task manually by right-clicking it, but be careful—there are lots of background processes that are vital to your system's operation, so don't shut off anything you don't recognize.
15. Stop apps resuming on startup
Another matter of preference, here we'll explain how to disable apps and browser tabs resuming upon booting up.
If you use your system a lot and have numerous Chrome tabs you want to preserve, skip this step, but otherwise, take a trip into "Accounts Settings." Under "Sign-in options," at the bottom of the page, there's a slider for reopening your apps "after an update or restart."
It tries to resume the active programs you had running when you last shut down your PC, potentially including non-essential background processes, and that slows down your PC's boot time. Toggle it off.
16. Free up drive space
The less stuff on your drive, the better it runs. This is more true of older hardware, but can also affect SATA SSDs to a significant degree. Clearing up your drive on a semi-regular basis is a good idea, as it can also improve the drive's effective lifespan.
There's a few ways to do this, which work best when done in conjunction: First off, empty the recycle bin. It's easy to forget about that little white trash can on your desktop, but emptying it regularly is a good idea.
Windows 10 also has a built-in disk cleanup tool, found under "Windows Administrative Tools" in the "Start" menu. If you've recently upgraded to Windows 10, this is worth doing; it can safely erase old system files. If you can, move files to a cloud storage solution, such as Google Drive or OneDrive—that can help, too!
17. Check your system health with Performance Monitor
Another handy tool in Windows 10's repertoire is the Performance Monitor. Activate it by typing "perfmon /report" into the search bar (without the quotes) and give it a few minutes to gather system data.
It then spits out a highly detailed interactive report; any major issues with system files or processor loads should be highlighted immediately, and you can also check through a series of system checks and a resource overview, which can identify if one part of your system is working overtime when it shouldn't be.
18. Disable syncing
Windows 10 has a bit of a digital hard-on for synching everything; whether that's banal things such as appearance themes, or important stuff, such as passwords, search history, and cloud data.
If you use Windows on numerous devices, this can be helpful; otherwise, it just puts extra strain on your system, and potentially poses a cybersecurity risk.
You can shut off a number of these under "Sync your settings" in "Accounts Settings," but you might also want to disable OneDrive synching, too. To do this, you have to open up OneDrive and head into the settings, then select "Unlink this PC" under the "Account" tab.
19. Disable visual effects
Look, Windows 10 is great, but it's undeniable that some areas are overdesigned. This step does come down to personal preference regarding aesthetics, but it can also be useful if you're running a system with integrated graphics that needs to keep things as simple as possible.
Under the "System Properties" menu, there's a tab entitled "Advanced." Hit the "Performance settings" button on this page to open up full customization of all the visual effects baked into Windows 10.
Hit "Custom" and you can tweak to your heart's content; you probably won't want to disable everything, but there are some animations here that can safely be turned off.
Speed up older laptops20. Use ReadyBoost
ReadyBoost is a handy feature for laptops with older or limited hardware, and uses removable storage (typically a USB flash drive or SD card with at least 12GB of storage) to temporarily cache data and speed up your system.
You can activate it by plugging in an empty flash drive, right-clicking the drive in File Explorer, and selecting the "ReadyBoost" tab under "Properties." Select "Dedicate this drive to ReadyBoost" and reserve all available space for caching.
We advise against using flash drives with data stored on them for this; while it shouldn't be a problem, it reduces the available storage space for ReadyBoost to use, and constantly caching files can reduce the drive's lifespan.
21. Run Defrag on hard drives
If you're still rocking an HDD in your laptop or PC in 2020 (hey, we don't judge), it's important to remember to defrag that drive now and then, lest long-term fragmentation ruins your data.
Fortunately, Windows 10 has a defrag tool built-in, although it's been shuffl ed around a few times between version updates. Punch "defrag" into the search bar, open "Defragment and Optimize Drives," select your hard drive, and hit "Optimize."
Depending on the size of the drive and the degree of existing fragmentation, it could take a while, so leave this until last if you're taking some time to clean up your laptop.
22. Disable search indexing
Windows 10's search function is great, but the indexing process can be fairly resource-intensive on older (or super-budget) systems.
Access the indexing menu by searching for "indexing options" in the Control Panel, hit "Modify," then hit "Show all locations." If you want to fully disable indexing, select everything here, and click "OK."
This stops Windows Search from indexing your results, freeing up system resources to speed up your PC.
Speed up gaming laptops23. Disable hardware acceleration on mouse
If you're a serious gamer, you've probably done this already. Hardware acceleration for computer mice smooths out the overall pointer experience by making your cursor move further if you move the physical mouse faster, but this can be ruinous in first-person shooters, where snap movements to aim at a target can overshoot their mark.
Hop into the Control Panel and select "Hardware and Sound," then fi nd your mouse settings. Under "Pointer Options," you can deselect "Enhance pointer precision"—this is what Windows 10 calls in-OS hardware acceleration. You can tweak baseline mouse sensitivity here, too, although we recommend doing that via the physical DPI controls on a gaming mouse.
24. Block auto-updates in game launchers
This is a must-have, particularly if you're on a metered Internet connection. Steam is easy enough; select "Downloads" under "Steam Settings," and toggle the settings to your heart's content. In particular, we advise unchecking "
Allow downloads during gameplay" if you play online games. Origin and Epic don't have quite the same array of choices, but do still allow for blocking auto-updates; Epic even allows you to tweak update choices on a per-game basis.
25. Revert game version
This is a somewhat niche tip, but it can be a lifesaver if an update tanks one of your games. Steam has a beta feature—not available in every game, but it's easy to check—that allows you to roll back your game version to a previous update.
Right-click the game in your library, select "Properties," and navigate to the "Betas" tab. From here, you can opt in to older versions of the game in the drop-down menu, let the game update, and boom—you're running a previous update.
It doesn't work for most online multiplayer games, of course; you need to be running the same version as everyone else.
26. Disable focus assist
This is the big one: Get rid of Focus Assist. Have you ever been midway through a high-stakes online match, only to be yanked out of it as Windows tabs you back to the desktop to inform you that you've received an email from your co-worker?
Yeah, that's got to stop. Find the "Focus Assist" tab under "System Settings," and slap it to "Alarms only"—there's no option to turn it off completely, but you can also disable it during gameplay or screen sharing. Lastly, you can deactivate the option to show you "what you missed" when you return to the desktop; an unnecessary irritant, for our money.
27. Keep your GPU drivers up to date
Another potentially obvious tip for gamers is to keep your GPU drivers up to date. No, that doesn't mean installing GeForce Experience—the clutter-free way to do this is simply to head to the manufacturer's website and locate the most recent drivers for your GPU.
Both AMD and Nvidia have handy search functions to help you find your exact GPU, and what drivers it needs. Remember to select the "Game Ready" drivers if you're using a newer Nvidia card, rather than the "Studio" version.
28. Enable Game Mode
A simple change to make, although it isn't likely to improve game performance by much on most systems.
Under "Gaming Settings," find "Game Mode." Make sure this is toggled on and your PC will manage temperature and available memory better to (theoretically) improve frame rates in games.
While we're not sure it really boosts frame rates, it does also block Windows Update from doing anything while you're in-game. It's possible that some games see more stable frame rates—perhaps Microsoft's own stuff, as Game Mode is officially listed as an Xbox-branded tool.
29. Install DirectX 12
You might already have DX12 installed, but there's an easy way to check if you do have the latest version of the widely used Microsoft API tool.
Hit the Windows key and R to open the Run function, then type "dxdiag" (again, no quotes), and hit Enter.
This should bring up the DirectX Diagnostic Tool; on the bottom of the page, it shows you which version of DX you have installed. If DX12 isn't installed, go check your Windows Updates!
Peters, while hopeful, is a bit more pessimistic. "I'm hopeful. The hopeful part of me, which is the person who opened the business, but there's also this person sitting here in the middle of an unknown opening date," Peters said. "It seems like fitness and whole foods and the reality of being healthier is catching on during this, which obviously it should. But, also you're talking about huge financial hits that people are taking and things of that nature, so are they going to be able to afford to pay for gym membership?"
Shoulders Uneven One Shoulder Higher Why & How to Fix Easily.
For the most part, Lenovo kept the spring refresh of its Legion gaming laptops and desktop relatively low key and under the hood, with the de rigueur updates to the latest Intel processors (and the addition of AMD Ryzen options), Nvidia GPUs and faster screens. The company did upgrade most of the systems with a new keyboard, dubbed "Legion TrueStrike" along with a new, bigger Precision trackpad and some fancier lighting.
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But this time the updates are accompanied by name changes. So goodbye, Legion Y740 and Y540; hello, Legion 7, 5i and 5.That "i" denotes an Intel CPU-equipped model, but only, it seems, if there's an AMD alternative; sans "i", the Legion 5 incorporates an AMD Ryzen 7 or 5 4000 series processor, the first time Lenovo's offered an AMD-based model. But the Intel-based Legion 7 doesn't bear the "i," nor does the entry-level gaming laptop, the IdeaPad L340 Gaming, which now becomes the IdeaPad Gaming 3. The one exception to the new-name rule is the Y740S announced at CES 2020, the gaming laptop that's not a gaming laptop.
All the laptops are expected to ship in May, priced as follows:
Lenovo Legion 7, starts at $1,600
Lenovo Legion 5i 15-inch, starts at $830
Lenovo Legion 5i 17-inch, starts at $1,130
Lenovo Legion 5 15-inch, starts at $850
Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3, starts at $730
Lenovo Legion Tower 5i, starts at $800
As revealed by Nvidia in its updated Max-Q Design announcement, the flagship Legion 7 is the first laptop to take advantage of Nvidia's Advanced Optimus technology. Advanced Optimus' redesigned graphics architecture essentially puts a switcher on the bus between the integrated GPU and the discrete GPU so the system can change between them on the fly. You previously had to be on one bus or the other, and the built-in display was usually connected to the iGPU. Being able to switch on the fly allows the system to better choose whether to use the slower, low-power iGPU or the fast, high-power discrete GPU. In theory, that means less battery drain without sacrificing performance when you need it.
The new Legions debut the TrueStrike Keyboard, which Lenovo says has a softer landing than the previous one, despite a reduction in key travel from 1.7mm to 1.5mm, and adds a number pad at the expense of the column of macro keys down the left on current models. Otherwise, it retains all the features. And in a welcome change, the webcam moves up to the top of the screen and gets a shutter.
Screen options vary depending on the model, but Lenovo now lets you dial it up to 11 on the Legion 7 with a 240Hz 1080p DisplayHDR 400 calibrated IPS display covering the Adobe RGB gamut. You can also go as high as a 10th-gen i9 CPU and GeForce RTX 2080 Super GPU. Of course, Lenovo's upped the performance of its cooling system to keep pace.
On the desktop side, the Legion Tower 5i replaces the Y530 and Y730 -- it's got an "i" because there will be an AMD model later this year. Lenovo made some subtle design changes, such as moving the grab handle, adding some fans and venting, embiggening the transparent panel and so on, in addition to bumping up the CPU and GPU options. The company also has an updated wireless mouse, the M600 and a new, full-featured 25-inch 240Hz esports monitor that can decode HDR, has a built-in USB hub, supports FreeSync and is G-Sync Compatible.
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Valorant's closed beta has been out for about a week, and players are starting to discover more about the game and how it works. Among the most recent discoveries is the fact that part of the game's anti-cheat system, called Vanguard, launches as soon as you start your computer to help prevent more the sneaky forms of cheating.
This issue first came to light when a Reddit user posted a thread on the Valorant subreddit wondering if the start up was intentional. While many of the responses to the thread were skeptical, this is actually something that Riot announced several months ago, before we even knew the game was called Valorant.
In a blog post on the League of Legends website, Riot developer Phillip Koskinas explained that Riot was working on a new kernel driver anti-cheat system. The post explains that the purpose of the kernel driver is to detect cheats that operate on a higher level of Windows' permissions.
While many cheating methods work on the same permission settings as games, newer cheats hook their way deeper into users' computers to avoid detection from anti-cheat systems. So Riot decided to take its new anti-cheat detection to the deepest level it could to detect any cheat above it. Riot needed something on the kernel level to achieve that, and that meant starting the anti-cheat driver as soon as the computer boots up.
While this means that your Valorant games are much less likely to have cheaters than other online shooters with less robust security, some players in the Reddit thread also feared that it could mean giving Riot more access to their computers. But this was another concern answered in the blog post. According to Koskinas, this doesn't give Riot any more information than it already had.
In the Reddit thread, Valorant's anti-cheat lead Paul Chamberlain provided a few more details to help assuage players' concerns.
"The Vanguard driver does not collect or send any information about your computer back to us. Any cheat detection scans will be run by the non-driver component only when the game is running," Chamberlain explained. "The driver component does not collect any information from your computer or communicate over the network at all."
Chamberlain goes a step further, letting players know that they can uninstall the Vanguard driver, called vgk.sys, any time they'd like. The program is called Riot Vanguard and the driver component is called vgk.sys. It needs to be on your system for you to play Valorant, however, and after reinstalling it you'd need to reboot your system so that it can run at startup.
Riot's anti-cheat system isn't the only system that requires it to boot at start-up. EasyAntiCheat and Battleye use kernel drivers as well. Anything accessing a computer at a deeper level, or opening itself on start up should raise concerns about data privacy. But as it turns out, Riot thought ahead about some of these issues and has already stepped in to let players know that the driver and anti-cheat system doesn't do anything other than check for cheats. While there's no way to fully confirm all of the driver's processes that at the moment, Riot's statement should at least provide players with a bit of peace of mind, and prevent them from feeling like they need to delete the driver every time they close Valorant.
What Is Riot's New Anti-Cheat - Riot Games FPS - Valorant
Many families are trying to balance work while keeping their kids' education on track due to school closures from the coronavirus pandemic.
While you might have been able to get by with a single family computer at home a month or so ago, the current situation may demand buying something to supplement it. Or maybe you're just in need of accessories to make the computer you've got do more.
If you're simply looking for new laptop suggestions, however, here are our best laptops for 2020.
Asus Chromebook C223NA-DH02
Many school districts switched from iPads and Windows laptops to Chromebooks. The best part about this is you can get the kids a good, reliable Chromebook such as this Asus model for less than $200. They also make great secondary or tertiary computers for this reason. If you're not sure how they differ from a Windows PC or MacBook, check out CNET's breakdown of what Chromebooks can and can't do and basic Chromebook buying advice.
Apple iPad (fifth generation or newer)
In need of an iPad? If you want to buy a new one, CNET has lots of suggestions where you can find the best prices. You can, however, find better deals on refurbished or renewed models direct from Apple as well as Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and Gazelle. And, in case you're concerned, buying a refurb iPad is a great idea. What's most important is that the model you buy supports the apps you need. Apple has a list of all the models that support the current version of iPadOS on its website. You should also pay attention to the warranty that comes with it.
ViewSonic VX2276-SMHD external monitor (22 inch)
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The biggest downside to working on a Chromebook (or any laptop really) is screen space. Getting your student something larger will make classwork so much less painful. Many of our top picks are getting scarce or commanding a premium price. However, a smaller, 22-inch version of one of our choices, the ViewSonic VX2776-SMHD, is still available for the moment at an excellent price via Amazon.
The following CNET staff contributed to this story: senior editors Joshua Goldman and Laura K. Cucullu and copy editor Jim Hoffman. For more reviews of personal technology products, visit cnet.com.
Get an A+ With These 21 Cheat and School Hacks by Crafty Panda
