PC Pro Magazine

132 Pages·2017·28.863 MB·English

EXTEND YOUR PHONE’S BATTERY LIFE
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November2017 Issue277
@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO
HIGHLIGHTSTHISMONTH Fullcontentsoverleaf
PRODUCT
OFTHEMONTH
MicrosoftSurfaceStudio
ForgetCelticvsRangers:weallknowthereal
OldFirmbattleisbetweenAppleandMicrosoft,
andthelatestattackcomesontheall-in-
onebattlefield.WithAppleshowingsignsof
complacency–ithasstuckbyitsiMacdesignfor
fiveyears–Microsoftisstickingtenfingersupat
itsenemywiththetouch-enabledSurfaceStudio.
Noteveryonewillbeconvincedbythismove,but
withtheoptionalSurfaceDialitdoesopenup
interestingcreativepossibilitiesthatnoMaccan
match.Oh,anditcostsaratherfruity
£2,999forthebasespec.Evenif
you’renottempted,it’sa
50
fascinatingmove. p
46 38 14
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BLINDLOYALTYOF FARCEOF
TIPOFTHEMONTH
THEMONTH THEMONTH
Ifyou’resickofyourphonebatteryrunning
outofpowerbeforetheendoftheday,read Youcouldbespendingalmost£200extraper By2020,smartelectricitymetersweremeant
ouradviceonhowtoextendit.Don’texpect yearbyblindlystickingwithyourcurrent tobeinstalledin53millionUKpremises.In
amagiccure;doexpectusefultipsthatcould broadbandsupplier.Findoutifyou’rewith reality,millionsoftheinstalledmetersmay
breathenewlifeintoyourphone. oneoftheworstoffendersintheUK. needtobescrappedduetocompatibilityissues.
PPEERRSSOON OOF THE LABS IN ONE NUMBER
76
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wwiitthh aaiirrlliinnees,, Johhn Lewis withthesleekbeautiesinourLabsaveraging
aanndd FFeerrrraarrii.. overeighthoursinourtests.Notbadfor
machinesweighingaround1kg.
3
EXTENDYOURPHONE’SBATTERYLIFE
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Touchscreen
laptopsontest
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loyaltytaxNNNOOOWWW!!!
Areyouoverpaying £132
forbroadband?p38 PROOFDFUUCLTLS
Seep66
MAKE YOUR PC
ZING!
●Freeupgrades●Fastupgrades●Nuclearupgradesp30
42
p
ISSUE277NOVEMBER2017£5.99 SSF£3ut,ul0lruu0erv0ddfieaaawlliill--oociioonnff--ee oMni cer ppo5s0oft’s DcB£4uo3iIld–Ynyfoosugurroooanwlmetnefssrtoepm74s Lionuftwkoeet,hbdettorrdnaaa’tffrffgkiiccisv.i.ed..e
FEATURES BRIEFING
COVERSTORY 10Doubtsoverreliabilityof
30MakeyourPCzing! MicrosoftSurfacehardware
IsyourWindowssystemtakinganagetoopen Whileitshardwaredrawsmuchpraise–including
filesandgenerallybeingapain?Fearnot:we inthismonth’sreviewsandLabssections–the
revealaspectrumofwaystoboostperformance, Surfacelinehasstruggledwithreliability.
fromfreetweakstonuclearoptions.
12Unveiled:Thelatestkit
COVERSTORY Afirstlookateighth-generationIntelCorechips, 3SUBSCRIBE:
38Broadband:thehighpriceofloyalty aphonewith4Kvideoskillsandthe“Spectra”. THREEISSUES
Loyalcustomersarebeinghitwithaloyaltytax FOR£1
of£198.Areyouoneofthem?Andifso,whatcan 13CouldDNAcatchavirus? Subscribeto
youdo?StewartMitchellinvestigates. Scientistssuccessfullytransfermalwareviaa PCProtodayand
DNAsample,butdon’tpanicjustyet. youcanbenefit
42Howtobuildwebtrafficwithout 3THEPCPRO fromourthree
turningtothedarkside 14PCProbe:Sparksflyassmart
PODCAST issuesfor£1offer–
meterschemefalters
TheForceisstronginDaveyWinder,ashe JointhePCPro visitsubscribe.
explainswhybuyinglikesandlinkswilllead podcastliveevery By2020,we’reallmeanttohavesmartmeters– pcpro.co.uknow.
youdownthewrongpath. fortnightor buttherolloutisplaguedwithproblems.
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4
November2017 Issssuuee 277
@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO
AMD’spowerful
54 REVIEWSTHISMONTH
p Threadripperchip
makesitsfierydebut
DESKTOPPCS DIYGAMESCCOONNSSOOLLEESS
MicrosoftSurfaceStudio 50 Arduboy 74
PCSpecialistVulcanX02 58 Creoqode2048 74
YoyotechRedbackN6 59 Gamebuino 75
Makerbuino 75
PROCESSORS
AMDRyzenThreadripper1950X 54 PREMIUMLAPTOPS
HPEliteBookx3601030G2 82
WORKSTATIONS LenovoMiix720 83
ArmariMagnetar MicrosoftSurfaceLaptop 84
S16-TRT1000G2 56 MicrosoftSurfacePro 85
AcerSpin5 87
LAPTOPS AcerSwitch5 87
DellInspiron157000Gaming 60 AsusZenBookFlipUX560 88
LenovoThinkPadX1Carbon DellXPS132-in-1 89
(5thgeneration) 62 HuaweiMateBookE(2017) 89
ToshibaTecraX40-D-10H 63 LenovoMiix510 90
MicrosoftSurfaceBook 90
SMARTPHONES
AsusZenFoneAR 64 TOWERSERVERS
Nokia8 68 BroadberryCyberServeTS300 94
XiaomiMi6 59 DellEMCPowerEdgeT130 96
FujitsuServerPrimergy
PERIPHERALS TX1320M3 97
SonyXperiaTouchG1109 69 HPEProLiantML30Gen9 98
ViewSonicXG2530 70
THENETWORK
SOFTWARE AcronisBackup12.5 100
AcronisTrueIImmaaggee 2018 71 BrotherHL-L8360CDW 101
PPRREEMMIIUUUUUUMMMMMM
LAPTOOOOOPPPPPSSS
REGULARS
with a touch of class
Editor’sletter 7 Subscriptions 108
TheA-List 16 Nextmonth 129
Readers’comments 28 Onelastthing… 130
74
THENETWORK p
92BusinessFocus:Towerservers
Wetested13NAS
DaveMitchelladviseshowtochooseatower drivestohelpyou
server,andreviewsfourlikelyoptions. findtherightone
foryourneeds
99CheatSheet:Socialengineering
Whyemployeesareyourbiggestsecurityrisk.
RRRREEEEAAAALLLLWORLDCOMPUTING
102SevenstepstoGDPR
1111000
Strictnewdata-processingregulationscome JJOONNHONEYBALLIt’sMicrosoftvsMicrosoftttthhhiissmmontthh,,asthe
intoforcenextyear.Here’showtogetready. SSkkyyppeeforBusinessteam“upgrades”itsssssooooffffttttwwwwaaaarrrreeeewithhterrible
rrreeesssuullltttsssfffooorrrcompaniesthathaveinvestedintheSSSuuurrrfffaaaccceeHHubb.
106ShouldIrolloutChromeOS?
113
Quitepossibly–weexplainwhy. PAULOCKENDEN Quick-chargingphonesaren’tmagic,you
mightbedisappointedtodiscover,butasimpledemonstration
FUTURES ofphysics.Plus,athermalimagergetsPaulhotwithexcitement.
124Cantechnologysolvepoverty? 116AIDANFINN Ifyou’rethinkingaboutrunningaserver
Whyinvestorsbelievethefutureoftechisless solutionbasedonHyper-V,thenexpertAidanhasthe
aboutgadgetsandmoreaboutsocialissues. answers.Here,hedistilshisknowledgeintotwopagesofbest-
126GoogleAlphabet:FromAtoX 111188 DAVEYWINDERHeadtotheUnitedStatesandcustomsofficers
Meetthe“otherbets”thatGoogle’sparentis maydemandtoseeyourpasswords.Daveyexplainshowto
backing,includingtheenigmaticXX.. ccompllyy withoutgivingupallyourinformation.
128Whatis…Ethereum? 112200 STEVECASSIDYInanunlikelyfirst,andprobablelast,Steve
Theso-calledBitcoinrivalthat’sttaakkiingg channelsthewisdomofDonaldRumsfieldbeforeheadingoff
blockchainfarbeyonddigitalccuurrrreennccyy. tto meett DAFNI–andaskingfirewallvendorstobreaktheirpromises.
5
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SADYAPNTIVCE 35" ultra-wide curved
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gaming monitor with
• 2560x1080@200Hz
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eu.aoc.com/gaming
November2017 Issue277
@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO
Editor’sletter
Therelevanceof
processorsin2017
provesdivisive
“DOESANYONECARETHESEDAYS?”askedlistenerMartin itslimitedprocessingpower.TheXPS132-in-1scoredonly
Hazellonmixlr.com/pcproduringourfortnightlylive 31inourbenchmarks,50%lowerthantheHPEliteBook
podcast.“Forthemajorityofpeople,aren’tprocessorsfast x360I’vealsogotmyeyeon,andthatmakesadifference.
enough?”Thiswasn’tMartinthrowingoutrandom EvenifI’monlyusingdemandingapplicationssuchas
thoughts.AssociateeditorDarienhadbeenexplaining InDesignafewtimesamonth,thethoughtofwaiting,
whatIntel’seighth-generationCoreprocessors(seep12) waiting,waitingforthingstohappendrivesmeinsane.
hadtooffertheworld,andIsuspectMartinwasechoing IfIwasjustbrowsingtheinternetorusingbasicweb
whatmanylistenerswerethinking. applications,thenmyreasoningwouldbedifferent.
Inanswer,IcanonlyresorttomyGCSEBiologyclass, Indeed,JonHoneyballespousestheviewthatevery
wheretheteacherwasgamelyattemptingtoexplainwhat businessshouldseriouslyconsiderswitchingto
mitosismeans.This,asI’msureeveryPCProreader Chromebooksinthismonth’sBusinessQuestion,“ShouldI
remembers,iswhensingle-celledamoebasplitintotwo rolloutChromeOSacrossmybusiness?”(seep106)
new,single-celledamoebae.Thenucleusdividesandthen Forme,though,thequestionisn’tChromebookor
thecytoplasmsplitsinhalf,withtwonewcellscreated. laptop.LikevinylandRickAstley,desktopPCsseemtobe
That’sme,asIstruggletocopewithmyfeelingsabout backinfashionamongtechaficionados,andyouonlyneed
processors.Ontheonehand,Martin’srightthatthevast toglanceatthismonth’sReviewssection–itcontainsa
majorityofpeoplecouldn’tgiveamonkey’speanutabout firstreviewofAMD’snewThreadripperCPUinagraphics
processors.BeyondhavingavagueideathataCorei7 workstation,plustwopowerfulRyzen-basedPCs–tosee
mightbefasterthanaCorei3,andthatwillmean“things” there’sawealthofoptionsbeyondIntel’sCorerange.
runmorequickly,formostbuyersit’samatterofpicking I’meventemptedbytheSurfaceStudioonp50.But,like
thenicest-lookingboxforthehighestpricetheycanafford. alltheSurfaceproducts,thespecificationIwantkicksit
Whichisasitshouldbe.IfIwasbuyingafamilylaptop intothethousandsofpounds.So,hereIam,wondering:
thenI’dpaylessattentiontotheprocessorthanIwouldthe 2-in-1laptoporheavy-dutyworkstation?Orperhapsa
memory,typeofstorageandthemachine’sergonomics. compactRyzensystemplusalightweightXPS132-in-1for
ThingsaredifferentwhenI’mbuyingformyself–asI mytravels?OrshouldIbitethebulletandgetthecutting-
thinktheywouldbeifIwaschoosingabatchofmachines edgeSurfaceStudio?Scchlpp.That’sthesoundofmitosis
forabusinessrollout.Whetherformalorinformal,you happeningagain,asmytwodecisionpathssplitintofour.
needtotakeanauditofwhatyouuseyourcomputerfor, AndIstilldon’thaveananswer.
andwhatyoumightdointhefuture.
I’mcurrentlygivingtheDellXPS132-in-1aspin,a
TimDanton
beautifullittlelaptopthatstillonlymademid-tableinour
laptopsLabs(seep76).Ilovethedesign,butI’mputoffby Editor-in-chief
CONTRIBUTORS
JonathanParkyn DaveyWinder GarethHalfacree JamesMorris
IfWindowsisrunninglike WanttotraveltotheUS Themanwholiterally WorkstationguruJames
aslothandyouaren’tsure butdon’twanttohand wrotethebookon givesThreadripperits
whethertogiveitatweak overallyourpasswords– RaspberryPi–alongwith firstspin,andAMD’snew
oranoverhaul,Jonathan orwithholdthemfromthe founderEbenUpton– graphicschipVega.Hewas
revealshowtoaddsome authorities?Daveyhasthe turnshisattentiontoDIY moreimpressedbyone
much-neededzingonp30 answeronp118 gamesconsoles.Seep74 thantheother…seep54
7
November2017 Issue277
@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO
EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
TimDanton:[email protected]
Wegiveanumberof
EDITORIALFELLOW
optionsto“addzing
DickPountain toyourPC”from
ASSOCIATEEDITOR p30–butwhatdoour
DarienGraham-Smith contributorsdofirstif [email protected]
REVIEWSEDITOR,ALPHR theirPCrunsslow? TWITTER@pcpro
JonathanBray:[email protected] FACEBOOKfacebook.com/pcpro
FEATURESEDITOR SUBSCRIPTIONENQUIRIES03303339493
BarryCollins [email protected]
FUTURESEDITOR
NicoleKobie “Ifit’salaptopmychildren PCPro,31-32AlfredPlace,London,WC1E7DP
BRIEFINGEDITOR use,assumetheworstand
StewartMitchell scanforviruses.Ifit’smine, MANAGINGDIRECTORJohnGarewal
LETTERS&SOFTWAREEDITOR clearoutsomediskspace.But DIRECTOROFADVERTISINGJulianLloyd-Evans
NikRawlinson I’mtemptedbythismonth’s GROUPCFO/COOBrettReynolds
nuclearoptiononp36…” CHIEFEXECUTIVEJamesTye
ART&PRODUCTION COMPANYFOUNDERFelixDennis
ARTDIRECTOR
PaulDuggan PRODUCTION&DISTRIBUTION
FREELANCEDESIGN PrintedbyWyndehamBicester.
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tomulti-gigabytes–andif
JonHoneyball,DaveMitchell, England,number1138891.
it’stoobigIdeleteit.”
MarkNewton,PaulOckenden,
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CONTRIBUTORS Thispublicationmaynotbereproducedortransmittedinanyform
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8

Briefıng
Backgroundandanalysisonalltheimportantnewsstories
Unveiled AcomputervirusinfectsDNA PCProbe
Thehottesthardwarereleases, ResearchersfindthatDNA Whysmartmeterscouldcost
including8th-genIntelCPUs malwarecouldbeathreat consumersmoremoney
p12 p13 p14
Doubts over reliability of
Microsoft Surface hardware
DidMicrosofthideSurfacefailuresfromtheirownCEO?
MICROSOFTHASBEENhitbyadamning notbetterthanotherdevices forMicrosoft,
verdictonthereliabilityofits inthecategory.” especiallyasSurface
Surfacehardware–andfaces However,leakeddocuments saleshavedipped
questionsoverwhetheritblamed suggestthatConsumerReports’ inthepasttwo
Intelforitsownfaults. findingsaren’tvastlydissimilar quarters,thebiggest
ConsumerReports,theUS toMicrosoft’s.Thechartsshow damagecouldcometo
equivalentofconsumerwatchdog thatMicrosoftdidseeaspike Microsoft’sreputation.
Which?,strippedMicrosoft’s infaultymachineslatein2015 “Microsoft’sgoalwith
portablesfromitsrecommended whenthe90-dayreturnrate producingtheSurface
listafterasurveyofmorethan hit15%fortheSurfacePro4 wastomakethis
40,000usersfound“25%ofMicrosoft and17%fortheSurfaceBook. hardwareashowcase
laptopsandtabletswillpresenttheir Thefaultsspikedshortly fortheOEMsasto
ownerswithproblemsbytheendof afterlaunchandreturnrates whata‘great’devicefor
thesecondyear”. haddroppedbackto6%byspringof Windows10wouldlook
Microsoftdismissedthe thisyear,buttheConsumerReports ABOVESources like,”saidMichaelCherry,analyst
findingswithacurtstatement, surveywouldhaveincludedthose suggestMicrosoft withDirectionsonMicrosoft.“Itwas
saying:“WhilewerespectConsumer machinesboughtshortlyafterlaunch. hashadariftwith supposedtobeamodelofhardware
Reports,wedisagreewiththeir Inteloverfaults thatwouldexposeWindows10
■ Blamegame
findings.Microsoft’sreal-world withtheSurface featuresinthebestcircumstances.”
returnandsupportratesandcustomer AlthoughtheConsumerReports Onepartneritmayhavetowork
satisfactiondatashowweareonparif documentwouldhavebeenablow particularlyhardtoappeaseisIntel,
accordingtosourcesthatspoketo
respectedWindowswatcherPaul
Thurrott.Itseemstherehas
beenabelow-surfaceriftwiththe
chipmakerbubblingalongsince
thoseearlyproblemswiththe
SurfaceBookandSurfacePro.
Internally,Microsoftwasblaming
thefaultandcrashesonIntel’s
Skylakehardware,accordingto
Thurrott’ssources.Inoneblogpost,
acompanyengineerevenexplained
thattheproblemscustomerswere
experiencingwithrecovering
fromSleepwereduetoafault
withtheprocessors,saying:“Power
managementisaveryhardcomputer
scienceproblemtosolve,especially
withnewsilicon.”
Thereportclaimsthatsenior
managementwithinMicrosoft
weresoconcernedaboutIntel’s
complacency,andthelack
ofanychallengefrom
AMD,thatthe
companyrevived
effortstoport
WindowstoARM-based
10