Here, we'll look at five ways you can speed up a Windows PC, but Apple Macs suffer from the same problem and the solutions are similar too.How to speed up Windows: Get rid of start-up programs
Part of the reason why well-used PCs take so long to start is because of all the applications and utilities you've installed. Many automatically run when Windows starts up, yet most of them don't need to and should only use up resources when you actually need to use them.
At the right side of the taskbar, click the upwards-facing arrow to display the notification icons. Each is a program that loads with Windows. Some are essential - antivirus software for example - but others may not be. Right-click each one and if there is a Settings menu, select it and turn off the option to start automatically with Windows. Some programs, such as Google Drive, can be manually started when they are needed instead of running all the time.
To disable all the other programs and 'helpers' apps which start with Windows, press Windows+R and type msconfig and click Ok. Select the Services tab, tick ¡®Hide all Microsoft services' and see what's left. There may be services you can live without and clearing the tick box prevents them from running. For example, Firefox works perfectly well without the Mozilla Maintenance Service.On the Startup tab (use Task Manager in Windows 8 and Windows 10), are lots of programs that start with Windows. Knowing what to disable isn't easy, but you can use Google to search for items and see if they are necessary, useful or neither of those.
Recent versions of Windows automatically defragment the disk, but Microsoft's tool is basic and there are better defragmenters that boost performance even more. Programs including OO Defrag are good, but IObit's Smart Defrag 5 is nearly as good and is free. Bear in mind that you should only use one of these if your PC has a traditional mechanical hard drive. If it has an SSD, don't use such utilities on them, but if you have both, only use a defragger on the hard disk.
The ultimate speed up technique is to reinstall Windows. This removes all unwanted software that slows down the PC, erases adware and other malware, clears out junk files and so on. For more details, see How to reinstall Windows.
A Windows disc is needed for old versions of Windows, but Windows 8 has a built in Refresh option that makes the job easy. Bring up the Charms bar on the right side of the screen and click Settings, Change PC settings. Click Update and recovery, then Recovery. Under Refresh your PC without affecting your files, click Get started.
In person this means colours don¡¯t pop quite much as some, with deep reds in particular lacking the impact they have on a laptop that hits just about the whole of sRGB, like the rival 15-inch MacBook Pro. Aside from lacking a tonal richness, the screen does look quite natural, though. And with good contrast of 1017:1 it does not lack impact.
Maximum brightness of 281cd/m is fair, but you really want to see 300-plus if you¡¯re after a laptop to use outdoors regularly, particularly with a glossy-finish display like this. Saying that, we tried using it in direct sunlight in a cafe, and it's still very usable at top brightness.
The HP Envy 15's screen can lean back a good way, but despite the chrome finish it's a fairly traditional hinge. This is no hybrid.
If you like the idea of the HP Envy 15¡¯s size and style but want a bit more of a ¡®current¡¯ flavour, the HP Envy x360 is very similar in most respects but has a hinge that flips all the way around. To suit this style the x360 also has a touchscreen.
Where the x360 is part of the newish convertible laptop crowd, the Envy 15 is clearly out to cater for the apparently dwindling audience of people simply after a "good laptop that doesn't cost £1000¡±.
Alien: Isolation averages 163fps at high settings, and 186fps at 720p. Right now, the hardware is actually a little wasted on the Gigabyte P57x V6-CF2¡¯s display, but offers scope for several other important eventualities.
There¡¯s VR, of course, attaching a 4K monitor or TV and upping the resolution of your games, or just having the security of knowing the spare power means games are going to run well on the 1080p display for years to come.
Nvidia¡¯s new GPUs are the most important laptop gaming hardware advancement in years. Finally you don¡¯t need to feel like you¡¯re paying over the odds for graphics hardware that doesn¡¯t really compare with the desktop alternative.
There is a problem, though. The Gigabyte P57x V6-CF2 is not very good at managing its own heat output.
Look at the underside of the laptop and you can see the two main fans, one at either side. They are large enough to make a fairly low whooshing sound rather than a much more annoying whine, but the airflow is not all that effective.
After a few minutes of high-intensity gaming, the right side of the keyboard starts to get quite warm, and this starts to spread across the laptop as you play. After half an hour much of the keyboard ends up a little toasty. The crucial WSAD keys are some of the last affected, and don¡¯t get anywhere near as warm as the right part of the board, but it is not ideal.
The P57x V6-CF2 explains larger laptops¡¯ use of more involved airflow systems.
It does seem to cause some throttling of performance too, although not to an extent that will affect you in real terms at this point. We ran our Thief benchmark test over and over to see if performance would fall off a cliff, but the P57x V6-CF2 only dropped by around 5fps. One run dropped by almost 10fps. It appeared to be an aberration, though.
Poor handling of heat is the main reason to consider waiting to see the Alienware, Asus and Acer alternatives, which tend to use larger rear heat/air vents.
It otherwise has just about everything you could need. There¡¯s a 256GB SSD for performance-critical data, and a 7200rpm 1TB hard drive for all your general files.
GIGABYTE P57X V6-CF2 REVIEW: BATTERY LIFE
With truly muscular power on tap, the Gigabyte P57x V6-CF2 was always unlikely to last that long off a charge. However, it does have a large, non-removable 75.8Wh cell that lasts for a handful of hours if you only leave it to handle light work.
Playing back a 720p movie on loop, it lasts four hours 50 minutes. Don¡¯t expect anything like that if you start playing demanding games, though. This is fairly standard performance for a good gaming laptop.
GIGABYTE P57X V6-CF2 REVIEW: SPEAKERS
Gigabyte hasn¡¯t put any special effort into the speakers either. The Gigabyte P57x V6-CF2 has a pair of drivers that fire out from each side of the front¡¯s underside. Those parts above the keyboard that look a bit like speaker grilles are actually ¡®passive¡¯ heat outlets: just a bit more ventilation.
As you¡¯d hope for a laptop this big, max volume and the general bulk of the sound are fair. However, it¡¯s not super-refined. The mids are a little boxy, a tiny bit crude and prone to occasional distortion with certain material.
Now that makers of smaller laptops are starting to put more effort into making their speakers sound better, the Gigabyte P57x V6-CF2 is shown up a little. But like the conventional trackpad, the assumption is likely that you¡¯re going to use speakers for any serious gaming.
The Gigabyte P57x V6-CF2 is an eye-opening demo of what Nvidia¡¯s new GPUs are capable of. If you have some money to spend, laptop gaming has never been so good. However, the Gigabyte P57x V6-CF2 has a few issues that make us hungry to see what other laptop-makers will come up with. The one serious issue is that it gets hot, and not just in areas you won¡¯t notice. That the keyboard gets hot after a relatively short stint under pressure is a sign of flawed laptop design.Although Apple said the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are the same price as previous models, that appears to be the case for the US only. In the UK, the phones have has sizable price increases and although it's not officially due to Brexit, it's not hard to figure out. Even though they have double the storage, Apple buys those components very cheaply and the US price staying the same is a big hint.
The iPhone 7 is now £599 for the cheapest model which is an increase of £60. However, the iPhone 7 Plus is a whopping £100 more expensive at £719.It's not just the iPhone which has got a price rise, either, although the iPad range has been bumped to 32GB storage as standard.The iPad Pro 9.7 price has been increased by £50 to £549 and the 128GB is up £20. However, the largest model is cheaper by £10 ¨C go figure. It's a similar story with the larger iPad Pro which is also £50 more expensive for the cheapest model.It's interesting with the iPads because Apple has made them cheaper in the US even with the storage upgrade.Not a price increase but the new Apple AirPod earphones are the name figure in dollars and pounds - £159 and $159.
Our 13-inch MacBook Air (early 2015) review discusses the changes Apple has made to its portable laptop line-up (such as enhanced specs and performance) and the things Apple has decided to keep the same (such as physical design). We'll also cover UK pricing and availability, and briefly consider whether this strikes us a value-for-money upgrade. Now we have spent some time with review samples, we have expanded our original preview into a full review and verdict.
Update: Since we wrote this review, Apple updated the 13-inch MacBook Air so it now has 8GB of RAM as standard.
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Here's the original review:
Apple's MacBook line of laptops has been updated. As well as introducing an entirely new model - the super-slimline 12-inch MacBook - Apple has added significant upgrades to its 13-inch MacBook Pro (but not the 15-inch Pro: that's unchanged) and to both the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Airs. In this review we're looking at the updated 13-inch MacBook Air; you can read our review of the 2015 11in MacBook Air here.