Eliana Willis

When evaluating cloud hosting services, we focus on several key factors to ensure our recommendations are reliable and well-informed.First, the hands-on testing. During my time working with several large, international IT companies in the US, Taiwan, and Japan, I have professional experience using six of the seven cloud hosting services in our list (DigitalOcean being the exclusion). My experience with DigitalOcean comes from running personal sites, including one in the US that previously saw over 500,000 visitors per month (until Google’s controversial Helpful Content Update)  and another recently launched in Japan.This experience allows me, to the best of my ability, to access the user experience, ease of setup, costs, performance metrics (i.e. uptime, load times, etc.) and overall functionality.Then there’s customer feedback. The problem with reviews is that you can’t take one person’s word for it. Gathering hundreds of review ratings and comments from actual users helps us assess the services from other perspectives and get closer to the “truth.”Then, of course, we compare features, pricing, and security, as these elements can vary over time and between providers.Finally, we conduct additional research on each provider, including reviewing industry reports, expert opinions, and the company’s overall reputation in the market.By combining all of this (that is, the years of hands-on experience, feedback from real users, and other research), we’re able to properly evaluate these cloud services and provide cloud hosting recommendations that are practical and trustworthy. More

How do I care for my new Lenovo laptop?A new laptop is an investment, and making it last is essential to maximizing its value. To care for your new laptop, you’ll want to minimize the amount of bumps and vibrations it’s exposed to, and keep it closed when not in use to protect the keys and screen, which can be fragile. Maximizing your laptop’s battery life is also part of its longevity, as it’s best to keep it between 30% and 80% to optimize battery life. Besides these obvious factors, you’ll want to keep the software and drivers up to date, and get a backpack and sleeve for safe, efficient transport. How long does the battery typically last? Battery life depends on a variety of different factors, such as what kinds of tasks you’re doing and whether your computer is in a battery-saving mode or high-performance mode. Lenovo laptops are known for having solid batteries, particularly the ThinkPad and IdeaPad line of devices. Also: I’m a hybrid worker, and my laptop of choice is not a MacBook or a DellWhen looking at a laptop’s battery, take into account its watt hour number (written as Wh), which measures how much power a battery uses over one hour. The higher the number, the longer the battery should theoretically be able to last; however, how fast the computer burns through that power is another story.For example, the Legion Pro7i features a 99Wh battery, but the powerful hardware on board will demand lots of power from the battery. Conversely, the 70Wh battery in the Yoga Slim 7x will drain at a trickle in comparison thanks to the AI on board the Snapdragon X Elite processor. Which Lenovo laptop is most durable?Lenovo’s ThinkPad series of laptops is regarded as some of the most durable laptops on the market for their sturdy, well-built design and unpretentious form factors. They’re also known to be more repair-friendly than many other computers, as you can replace parts with relative ease. Also: This Lenovo laptop is ultraportable, lasts all day, and has a MagSafe-like superpowerRegarding the laptops on this list, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and X1 Extreme are made from partially-recycled magnesium, aluminum, and carbon fiber, and have been MIL-STD 810H certified in torture tests against travel hazards like shock, vibration, and extreme temperatures.Can you game on a Lenovo laptop?You can game on any Lenovo laptop, but you’re going to get the best performance from a computer that’s designed for gaming like the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro. The reason for this has a lot to do with graphics processing and whether or not the device is designed to mitigate heat well. Also: This Lenovo 2-in-1 is one of the most versatile business laptops I’ve testedMost Lenovo laptops are fine for casual or entry-level gaming, but once you start running graphically-intense games, you’re going to run into performance issues, and the laptop will not be able to compensate for the heat generated by the hardware. Lenovo’s own gaming options come with dedicated graphics cards, high refresh rate displays, and a robust cooling system. However, if you truly want the best gaming laptop, there are a host of other options out there, especially for demanding games. Check out the Razer Blade 15 More

DrPixel/Getty Images Welcome to ZDNET’s Innovation Index, which identifies the most innovative developments in tech from the past week and ranks the top four, based on votes from our panel of editors and experts. Our mission is to help you identify the trends that will have the biggest impact on the future. Research firm Gartner made […] More

David Gewirtz/ZDNETSince ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence (AI) hit the public consciousness in 2022, I’ve been exploring how well AI chatbots can write code. At first, the technology was a novelty, akin to encouraging a puppy to perform a new trick. But since seeing how AI chatbots can be effective productivity tools and programming partners, I’ve been subjecting the tools to more in-depth testing. Over time, I’ve compiled a set of four real-world tests that we’ve used to evaluate the performance of the main AI large language models (LLMs). So far, I’ve tested 10 LLMs. You can see the comprehensive results of all ten in this summary article:This article is intended to be a living document, where you can see my tests and even copy them to run your own. I’ll continue my series of individual tests, along with the articles that describe their performance. But now, you can dig in and play along at home (or wherever you have a good internet connection). If I update or add tests, I’ll also update this article, so feel free to check back in over time. More

Brand new, still in the box 2GB Raspberry Pi 5 Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNETWith the release of a variant of the Raspberry Pi with 2GB More

OsakaWayne Studios/Getty Images References to generative AI are popping up in more corporate financial statements, but not necessarily with a positive sense of intelligence and transformation. Among companies discussing the implications of generative AI, seven in ten cite its potential risks to competitive position and security, and the spread of misinformation. That’s the conclusion of […] More

Max Buondonno/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysThe Pixel 9 More

If a 16-inch laptop is a little too big, but you want a bigger screen than a petite 13-inch laptop can provide, a 15-inch laptop hits that perfect “sweet spot.” While their larger or smaller cousins often overshadow them, 15-inch laptops have a dedicated fanbase for being just large enough for a spacious screen but small enough to still be portable.Also: The best lightweight laptops: Expert testedWe’ve tested dozens of laptops this year, but these devices stood out to our team and are particularly worth mentioning. If you’re looking for a new 15-inch laptop but don’t know where to start, these devices stand out above the crowd. What’s the best 15-inch laptop right now? Our pick for the best 15-inch laptop overall is the MacBook Air M3 More