#also anti body swap 2.0

[queer-reader-07]

i feel like all the theories that exist for why aziraphale went to heaven that basically boil down to “he was out of character so here’s what the plot twist is” really cheapen the story and underestimate the depth of aziraphale’s character and his potential. and also underestimate neil’s talent as an author and writer.

neil doesn’t recycle plot twists. he doesn’t do cheap cop out plot twists. he doesn’t leave out loose threads. everything is so carefully thought out and intentional.

i would be genuinely so put off if he wrote a plot twist of “actually it’s not aziraphale it’s crowley” (body swap 2.0 can go die in a hole i hate it) or “omg woah aziraphale was drugged” (one of these days i will write a meta on why coffee theory can go die in a miles deep PIT OF DESPAIR because i hate it even more)

because neil is a better writer than that. neil can and will do better than that. you might think there’s loose ends hanging out but i don’t think there are.

i remember reading american gods and thinking to myself more than once “this scene feels kind of random why’d he include it?” only for it to be actually very important later on in the book. whatever you think is a loose thread right now is more likely something that connects to whatever neil’s got planned for s3.

and also. aziraphale is a more complex character than either of those theories allow him. i’m sorry but if you think that he needed to be DRUGGED to make the decision he did you have not been paying any attention. everything leading up to this point has shown us that aziraphale believes that heaven can be good if only someone (him) can change it. that smile we saw on his face at the very end of s2ep6? that was the smile of an angel who has plans. who knows he can’t go back now, and is ready to gut this place from the inside out.

and body swap 2.0 doesn’t even compute for me. because like 1) body swap happened it’s not gonna happen a second time. and 2) it logically and logistically makes absolutely no sense that at some point in those last few minutes they agreed to body swap and send crowley to heaven. that would completely defeat the entire point of the conflict that is the Final Fifteen, and it would just make it all the more confusing as to why crowley looks so angry at the end? because if it was body swap and that’s actually aziraphale, aziraphale wouldn’t look that mad?? and he’s not even around anyone else so he has no reason to pretend.

and like i get why on some level these theories are fun to play with. but i just can’t shake the feeling that all these theories are on some level rooted in people thinking aziraphale isn’t a complex character. aziraphale has so much nuance and depth to his character, why do you have to convince yourself he was drugged in order to make a nuanced decision?

[derpcakes]

So we watched (nay, Experienced) the BBC/Netflix Dracula series

Brought to us by everyone’s favourite team, Steve Moff and Mark Gatiss, promising to be an innovative and exciting new vision of the classic novel

Boy it was definitely something!!!

First I will say: obviously Moff is not my favourite TV writer and my fam and I did go into this with a bias. I’m happy to report, though, that it’s going to be one of these shows that haunts me forever, because if it had just been bad I could have said “bleh” and deleted it from my brain. But because parts of this were genuinely cool, interesting, and fun, and parts of it genuinely had potential, all the bits that were bad stand out as so much worse and the whole thing feels as cursed as a 500 year old undead count. 

Things that were enjoyable and well put-together:

Van Helsing has been gender-swapped into a vampire-hunting nun and her cat-and-mouse game with Dracula is rife with belligerent sexual tension. I was ready to hate this, and ready for like, Sherlock and Irene Adler 2.0, but their dynamic was actually pretty fun to watch! Their power balance is kept even throughout most of the show, and Helsing is never struck down because of ~womanly failings~ or infantilised. She’s consistently really clever and, even if there are some cringey one-liners, I found her and Draccy’s playful quest to murder each other one of the most fun parts of the show. It could’ve been better, but it was enjoyable! (I also like how Helsing isn’t Young and Hot, but is a capable older lady, and her actor and Draccy’s even seem about the same age. Amazing)

The second episode is a spooky murder mystery/horror mini-movie on a ship, with a cast full of interesting characters who all had different things going on and different relationship dynamics that were compelling to watch. There’s even an interracial gay couple! And they’re like, written pretty sympathetically and to be layered and flawed in ways that didn’t feel too stereotypical! And they don’t die first!! Wack! I understand the bar is on the ground, but it’s still worth a mention

Some fun with vampire lore: Draccy absorbs knowledge and traits from people he drinks blood from (which is how he learns languages. Get Duolingo, dude, stop eating people), leading to the intriguing suggestion that myths like “vampires will die in sunlight” and “vampires are afraid of holy symbols” have kinda become real to him even if they don’t literally work, because he’s swallowed so many people to whom these superstitions and beliefs were law. I’m sure this isn’t the first time this has been done, but groundbreaking or no it was kinda neat

Things that were not enjoyable and well put-together:

EVERYTHING ELSE

Episode 1: a weird speedrun of most of the original novel, feat. weaponised nuns and a weird fixation on whether or not Jonathan Harker and Draccy boned. They did not. Dracula pops out of the body of a wolf and he’s Whole Ass Naked. Him and Van Helsing have a power play where she stands just on the threshold of a convent and calls him a little bitch, knowing he can’t come and get her. A knife is licked. 

Episode 2: aforementioned cool ship horror story. Definitely the best ep. It really makes me think about hbomb’s critique that Moff is pretty good at doing standalone stories (and pilots), but when things are tied into a bigger narrative things get zonkers. 

Episode 3: Things Get Zonkers!!

Let me just. Okay. I have the most to say about this one because this is where things really got batshit. And yet, also really boring? How does that figure? Anyway:

Dracula emerges from under the sea and finds that 123 years have passed and he’s now the star of a Modern AU. Upon setting foot on British sand he is immediately accosted by what appears to be an anti-vampire task force. There’s a helicopter. It is later explained how they knew to pounce on him at this exact moment, but holy god it was wild to watch the entire British Secret Service descend on this one wet bastard in a suit

The editing shifts aggressively in the direction of Sherlock. Mark Gattis is there playing an amazingly annoying character. There’s a fuckign.... Underground Secret Society devoted to studying vampires and they put Drac in a Designated Glass Prison for Smug Geniuses (also as seen in Sherlock). Van Helsing is dead but her great-great-grand-niece is played by the same actress and. Okay. Van Helsing, vampire hunting nun, possesses her descendent and rises through the ether to roast Drac one last time, and he’s DELIGHTED TO SEE HER AGAIN. 

And she has cancer, right, so her blood is poisonous when Draccy tries to bite her, but in the end, right, the end of the episode, right, the final shots of the show, he comes to a place where he’s willing to die, and she’s already dying, and so he drinks her blood and they die together on a table while cinematic metaphor vision shows them having sex in the middle of the sun

There was a badly CGI-ed vampire baby. Jonathan Harker falls from a tower and a scene later they flash back to this event by reversing the footage of him falling down, meaning we just see him go VWOOP up through the air, bouncing off the wall on the way. Van Helsing says the words “come boy, suckle” when she’s goading Drac into drinking her blood. The show sits in a weird middle ground where the characters talk about sex a lot (”dID yOu HaVe sExUaL iNterCOURSE with COUNT DRACULA?”) and Drac is clearly meant to be super magnetic and sexy but the characterisation and cinematography is not horny at all. People have these sexy-type dreams of their lover of choice when Drac is drinking their blood but even those are very boring and weirdly chaste, except of course for the final one where, if I  can take the chance to remind you, Van Helsing and Dracula have symbolic Mind Palace sex inside the centre of the solar system

I can’t speak too much on its quality as an adaptation since I actually haven’t read the book, but splitting the story so that some characters (the Harkers, Van Helsing) existed in the time the story is set, and some (Lucy, Dr Seward) exist in The Modern AU felt very strange. Was there any reason to set the third episode in modern times, apart from the fact that I guess they wanted to do their Sherlock thing again? Or, perhaps, because they wanted to do their Jekyll thing again?? Oh my god, that’s what the editing reminds me of - the small clips of Jekyll I’ve seen. The zooming. The slow-mo. The emphasis on The Monster Man’s weird goddamn teeth

(Also, I don’t really feel qualified to dig too deep into it, but I will say there felt something a bit uncomfortable about Lucy being black in this version, while also being written to be very promiscuous and vain. idk. Also, since it happened in an ep of Sherlock as well, “weedy white Nice Boy rescues the Very Cool woman of colour he has a tragically unrequited crush on” is now an official Moffattis trope)

Count Moffatula is an experience. Its pacing is buck wild. The speeding through the original plot and the mish-mashing of elements in the Modern AU section feels like another expression of contempt for the source material on Moff’s part. Someone says “reality is overrated” in a show set in the 1890s. Draccy quotes a Beatles song. He also makes quippy allusions to having eaten various famous figures and basically winks at the camera every time. Granted, this wasn’t as obnoxious as I was maybe expecting, but there are still too many lines of dialogue where you think “oh, the writers high-fived each other after they wrote that one, huh”. The fact that Moff has such vitriol against fan fic writers is more and more grating every day because this is so, so clearly a zany-ass fanfic that he happens to be getting paid for. The costumes are nowhere near as nice as they could have been, and Dracula’s cape looks like his mum made it for him for the school play in which he is playing Dracula. 

This show is So Much. Watch it to share in this fever dream. Or don’t, and save approximately 5 hours of your life. God. 5 hours. Who was I before Count Maffatula. Who am I now. Why was his cape so bloody ugly. Why did they bone in the centre of the sun

[jd-arts319]

Genesistale!!!!

Info:an Au where evolutions take place,the au's origin was currently unknown, but the monsters that lived there are called genesis monsters or evo monsters for short,the Au have been under locked & keyed for years now that not even the creator or the destroyer knew this Au,

The monsters in genesistale have power to evolve in their stronger form when in battle.

Story:a long time ago,humans & monsters live in peace,they have been.living in harmony in years until one day,a mysterious turquoise gemstone was found In the cave of Mt.ebott,the stone was studied by prof.w.d gaster along with the old mages,when they first experimented it on a plant,the results lead them to founding out the stone was a evolution stone,because of this discovery,Dr.w.d gaster & the old mages had talked about the stone in the matter,however a certain human who despised monsters for so long decided to use the stone against monsters & humans to ruining the peace,the humans & monsters band together to try & fought the now genocidal beast,but they are no matched towards the genocidal beast,until one of the monsters took the evo stone & Their a new beacon of hope have been made,seeing the monster evolve into a stronger ver.of Themselves,all the monsters took one of each piece of stone & evolved into their stronger forms along with the humans,they have defeated said beast,however the king decided that in order for all of monsters & humans to live in peace,he decided to ask the 7 wizards to trap the beast in the underground with all of the monsters including himself,the idea was successful but it leaves all the humans in grief & despair for their monster friends took the sacrifice for their sake.

Years had passed a unique human came into the underground & Their,the story begins....

Name:fana reine C.verdana/reine genesis

Age:16(Preiviou)-19(present)

B-day:June,30

Gender:female(GF)

Alias:rei,renny,genny

Relatives:Penelope genesis(step sister)

Personality:quite,calm,anti-social & socially awkward,aloof,reine acts like a normal sans but more active,she is also had long patient,hard to read,Nice,kind,earnest,cool,helpful,funny,rarely gets mad(be careful)

Likes:drawing,sleeping,singing(when no one is around),music,stargazing,night strolls,kids(sometimes)creating something.

Dislikes:he bullies,racist & discriminations,feeling alone,being misjudge,being centered on attention for too long.

Info:once was a human that fell in the underground & live with the sibling of skeleton she fused with,reine was only a human that lived a normal life,except with a bully who clearly hates her,she deals it in her own way until everything changes when she got lost in the Mt.ebott,meanwhle in the underground monsters lived peacefully with No human had fallen down since then,that is until another came & there things went downwards,leaving them to deal with a genocidal child,however things change another Human came & there escalated the two fighting but an unfortunate fate came,leading reine to die to the hands of the human while the said human died into the hands of the au's "sans" however the reset had cause her to be in a new timeline where she was experimented by a mysterious human who had found out she can remember the resets & experimented on here turning her into a half amalgamate,but that was put to an end when the genocidal human came again &.killed the scientist,another months had passed,she was almost having her normal life back,word"almost" when her bully(posessed by the genocidal human) came again & tried to kill her,only to be saved by "sans" who had used the evo stone to kill the human that posessed the bully,however the power was too much & it leads him to dying,reine who had been saved by "sans" was asked by him to fuse her soul with his body & take care of his Lil' sister,penelope, before he passed away,she agreed because she was indebt of him & there she is no longer a human,but an evo skeleton monster,with the promise in mind she starts a new life not knowing there is something the Au was keeping.

Abilities:(inhenced)gaster blasters,bones,Telekinesis,teleportation, Crystallokinesis,evolution,weapon summoning,code manipulation,(others unknown)

Name:Penelope gensis

Age:17

Gender:female

Alias:penny,lope,loppy

B-day:July,6

Relatives:Magnus(GT!sans),reine gensis(step sister)

Personality:(past)cheerful,quirky,kind,sweet,sisterly,(present)quite & stoic,now mellow & soft spoken but had terrifying anger(reine is wrost though),mature,& helpful.

Likes:cooking,gardening,Springs,kids,helping out.

Dislikes:some Au papyruses BS(some if the learn a lessons not to anger her),being reminded of he brother's death.

Info:the little sister of Magnus,penelope was grief stricken by the death of her brother,she used to be a cheerful girl,but the death of her brother hits her hard,she is now quite & mournful until reine came & she started to open up once more when she now mellow person who helped around the omega timeline.

Abilities:floral manipulation,blasters & bones,Telekinesis,teleportation,blue magic.

Facts

reine was actually came from me it's translate in two different languages mine is "reina" in Italian means "queen","reine" is the same in French.

She had a necklace given to her by sans before he died,that necklace was a genesis stone,it was unknown why "sans" gave her the peice of the real stone.

Penelope is the only female papyrus existed being Born as a female & not gender switch.

Reine had known the au's from the start,when she only saw them as her dreams.

Reine gets along well with the bad sanses & the good ones.

She met pj in a dreamscape when he was alone in the anti-void,the two met earlier than before.

Her real name is Fana Reine Charm Verdana,The name"Fana" came from my other oc,charm from my tumblr.& verdana was from my.oc.

Fana & reine are two seperate beings,one where fana had a different timeline while reine had fana's old timelines.

Reine was supposed to be "fana" but I changed them into separate beings.

Reine is me along with fana,I also have other au's ver.of reine but never much get into until now,available only are her fell & swap ver.but also her pj daycare ver.CT!Reine

She can be shipped as well as penelope.

She had a soul of time & evolution,while penelope had the soul of passion & happiness.

She had her hair still,she just hides them in a beanie underneath the hood.

Relationships:

Penelope:she & Penelope had a bit awkward & rocky relationships as siblings after sans death,but penelope soon slowly accepted reine as her new sibling.

Paperjam:she & him are friends from the start,where she was only 10 yrs.old &.only human,she & pj met in a dreamscape & had bonded each other becoming as friends,they still kept in contact on each other until she was 16 both had lost each others contacts,but the two will meet again in the near time,since the Au was underlocked & keyed until,she & Penelope found a way to get out of their Au & will soon meet each other again.

Bad sanses:she actually gets along well with the bad sanses,she helped horror with error to give them foods for his Au,helped killer with his emotions,helped dust with his power-hungry LV & EXP,helped nightmare with his personal issues,helped cross to restore his Au,& helped error with not only his hapephobia but also his other personal issues,she saw what the bad sanses really like inside,as she knew they care about each other deeply.

Chara's & some frisk's:she helped error with taking care of the chara's & some frisk's,she was Their big sister figure.

Good sanses:she had rather weird relationship with the three,she likes blueberry just fine she just finds him very....quirky,as for dream she saw him as a person who needs therapy....srsly is anyone gonna helped the golden boy? No?...ok,as for ink she saw ink as a toleretable soulless friend,yes she knew he was soulless.

Palette & goth:she loves the two as siblings & clearly shipped the two as her otp.

Tk:she likes to hang out with Tk & his papyrus along with their alternatives,both she & Penelope are Their funnester babysitters.

Abyss & his Team:

Abyss:her fluffy friend she adored & tease with but also the one who helped her with her soul.

Mecha:she sees as mettaton 2.0,but likes him for his funny yet seen attitude.

V:awkward acquaintances but gets along well.

Kin & beats:both bond over music & drawing.

Ganz(&Mel):she helps him with his mental state & sometimes talked to mel about him.

Most close relationship with Reine:

Penelope as her sister

Pj as her best friend(or boyfriend eh???*slapped by reine* :''''))

Error:duncle

Goth & palette:her cute otps

Tk & papyrus:her funnester bro's.

Ct!pj:her friend she is very much fond of...

Their au's counterpart:

Fell!Reine(Quinn)& swap!Reine(raina)

CT!Reine/Regina

Tk!Reine

Error!Reine/digit

Abyss!Reine/Novia

You can ship her with as:

Reine X pj!

Ct!Reine/Regina X Ct!Pj

(you can send some ship for her but I know no one will pay attention to them or either this blog anyway qwq)

Trivia:

All of their names are actually means "queen" just like mine,no really my secondary-name means "queen"in Italian.

She is basically oldest oc.

I shipped her with pj/Ct!pj even though she hates it ;)

Penny almost took after me as well as reine.

She had other au's ver. Like digit(error!Reine),Novia(abyss!Reine)

She likes to eat bread & warm milk to drink,she also liked ground meat burger,& her fav.drink is water or other flavor drinks,she likes the savory type of food than the junk foods.

Penelope is inspired by marcophanges from cell in delivery(I think)along with Reine.

Reine is inspired by Ania to skele!nia from @ania-da-pez

My 1st of liking undertale is @ania-da-pez ,along with @harrish6

Fana can be shipped but she is canonly shipped with Sean by my long time friend @rainbowdiamondsumaita so yeah,ads for me I cannot be shipped.

Reine is my real main oc/muse or mascot.

(you can ship my oc's if ya all want 😏(eventhoughsomeofthemwillneverfamousanywatnorwillbeshippedqwq)(

Genesistale,Reine & Penelope belongs to meh-

__________________-_-_____

[witchangelnekora]

Meet Antibelle 2.0 ! 

They are a fusion of Annabelle the Satanic Cursed Doll (Yes, that one....) and Antisepticeye, a Virus-like Demon. See, Last year i had this idea for Halloween, that i decided to bring back THIS year for a con i’m going to.

What happened to Anti after “Darkiplier Vs Antisepticeye”? Well sure, we saw him in “KILL JACKSEPTICEYE” and the ending of that one game where we saw him chase Chase Brody away, but i had this idea....After he was attacked by Goddess Chica (The big doggo~) and Dark ran off to heal after he was attacked, Anti was low on health, bleeding heavily from his arm and his left leg, floating around to find a source of healing..

Just Anything to help him recover, since he wasn’t able to find Jack anywhere nearby to possess him and regain his energy, he found the doll case that had the doll Annabelle inside of it (Yes, the doll exists. Look it up.) And since it was as evil as he was, he used all his remaining energy to open the case up and just jumped into the doll body, combining his wounded self with the possessed toy, using her as a sort of....Cocoon or Healing-Chamber thing, to use the demonic powers within the doll itself to heal him slowly while he thought of ways to return to his real body.

By doing so, he combined his body with her soul, creating a Genderfluid Demon known as Antibelle. They found some old wrappings since the wounds appeared on the now sentient 5′10″ Demon Doll as if they were makeup, and still bleeding heavily and bandaged up their arm, leg, and even their slit-throat to hide the fact that they were actually Anti, just in a new....albeit temporary form.

They attacked the first person they saw and took the sneakers off the corpse, since the doll shoes that were on Annabelle’s feet looked horrible. So, they put their weapon in the leg-bandages to hide it, used a little magic to change up the outfit a bit to look more modern, and that’s how Antibelle was created. 

Pronouns: They/Them.

Loves: Knives, Blades, Blood, Causing Chaos, Despair, Coffee, Sweets

Hates: Hope, People in general (they are not morning people),Annoyances, Not using the right pronouns when people are speaking to them.

They still speak in a glitched way, swapping from Anti’s voice to a more Feminine version (like if you glitched out Signe’s voice) at times, so you don’t know which side is speaking at times. They also hide a necklace underneath the front of the dress, which was also stolen from the corpse they looted.

They stole a bracelet (not seen) that they didn’t realize was blessed, which keeps Antibelle from floating away, but can still escape via dark magic.

Their eyes are decorated in Red-and-Green, but their eyes will glow a bright green when angry.

They share the same powers as their separate forms, such as Anti’s Reality warping and Annabelle’s cursed body, As it’s said that those whom touch the doll are said to either be cursed by a terrible fate or get deathly ill.

(That’s all i have so far. :3)

[magzoso-tech]

New Post has been published on https://magzoso.com/tech/realme-5i-review/

Realme 5i Review

It is well known that Chinese smartphone manufacturers Xiaomi and Realme are racing to outdo each other in the market. Both manufacturers have been launching new smartphone models at an unusually fast pace over the past year.

The latest smartphone to hit the market is the Realme 5i which is the fourth model in the Realme 5 series and the first one from Realme for this year. This new smartphone looks similar to the Realme 5 and the upgraded Realme 5s (which was launched recently) and also boasts of a quad-camera setup.

This new model will replace the Realme 5, which should reduce confusion a little for buyers. Do we really need a Realme 5i, or could we have done without it? We review this new model to find out.

Realme 5i design

The Realme 5i shares the same design as the Realme 5 (Review) and the Realme 5s (Review). The display measures 6.52 inches and has a mini waterdrop notch at the top that is smaller in size now. This helps liberate a little more screen space, resulting in an 89 percent screen-to-body ratio. The Realme 5i’s panel sports an HD+ resolution and has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection.

Just like the Realme 5s, this model also packs in a 5,000mAh battery which makes it a tad bulky at 195g. It measures 8.95mm in thickness. When you turn it around, you will notice that the trademark Realme diamond-cut pattern is missing, and the company has opted for a new sunrise design pattern. The smartphone comes in two colours — Aqua Blue and Forest Green. We have the former for this review. Realme claims that it has added an anti-fingerprint layer at the back which is effective to keep smudges off.

Just like the Realme 5 and the Realme 5s, the 5i is curved at the sides which makes it convenient to hold. The fingerprint scanner is at the back but we found it to be positioned slightly too high, and we needed to stretch a bit to reach it. There is a quad-camera module next to it which protrudes slightly.

The Realme 5i has the power button on the right while the volume buttons are on the left. These buttons are shallow but offer decent feedback when pressed. The SIM card tray is on the left just above the volume buttons and has two Nano-SIM slots along with a microSD card slot.

The Realme 5i sports a dated Micro-USB port

Realme still uses a Micro-USB port at the bottom, which we wish had been swapped out for a USB Type-C port. It also has a 3.5mm audio jack and the loudspeaker at the bottom. The top of the smartphone is bare.

Realme 5i specifications and software

The Realme 5i shares most of its internals with the outgoing Realme 5 and the 5s as well. This phone is also powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC, which has four Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.2GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.8GHz. Realme only offers the 5i with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of EMMC 5.1 storage, for Rs. 8,999.

You do have the option to expand storage by up to 256GB using the dedicated microSD card slot. There is support for Bluetooth 5, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, and dual 4G as well as VoLTE. This phone also packs in a 5,000mAh battery.

Compared to the Realme 5, the 5i offers more RAM and storage for the same price. The display and the quad-camera setup at the back are identical but the Realme 5i has to do with an 8-megapixel selfie shooter compared to the 13-megapixel one. The Realme 5 commands a Rs. 1,000 premium for the better selfie camera which isn’t worth the price if you aren’t keen on using it.

The Realme 5i runs ColorOS on top of Android 9 Pie

The 5i runs ColorOS 6.0.1 on top of Android 9 Pie. Our review unit had the November security patch which is now relatively dated. The smartphone has a fair amount of bloatware such as Dailyhunt, Opera News, UC Browser, and Helo preinstalled. These push spammy notifications throughout the day after they are first launched. The Realme 5i has also has the company’s own Game Center and App Market which are alternatives to the Google Play Store for games and apps respectively. Realme does offer Android’s Digital Wellbeing feature along with a system-wide dark mode.

Since the software is identical to what we have used in the past, you can take a look at our Realme 5 review for more details. Realme has stated that the Realme 5i will receive Realme UI updates which will make it look and feel more like stock Android very soon but there is no word on an update to Android 10 yet.

Realme 5i performance and battery life

The Realme 5i is a good-looking smartphone and it has the hardware to back that up. The Snapdragon 665 SoC manages to deliver good performance without breaking a sweat. With 4GB of RAM on board, the device could multitask easily without having to kill apps in the background.

We found the display to have decent viewing angles, and it was bright enough when outdoors. The bottom-firing speaker is quite loud, which adds to the content viewing experience. We also found the fingerprint scanner, as well as the face recognition feature to be quick to unlock the smartphone.

The new sunrise design on the Realme 5i looks good

We ran our standard set of benchmarks to gauge the performance of the Realme 5i. In AnTuTu v8, it managed to clock 1,70,480 points. In Geekbench 5’s single-core and multi-core tests, the device managed 309 and 1,345 respectively. As for the graphics benchmark GFXBench, the Realme 5i managed to score 12fps in the Car Chase scene and 49fps in the T-Rex scene.

We played PUBG Mobile on the 5i and the phone defaulted to the ‘Low’ preset with the graphics set to Smooth and frame rate set to ‘Medium.’ It was playable at these settings without any issues. We played the game for 20 minutes and noticed that the phone was barely warm to the touch.

The Realme 5 and Realme 5s offer excellent battery life, and the Realme 5i isn’t any different. With our usage which consisted of an active WhatsApp account, using Google Maps and taking camera samples, the Realme 5i easily lasted over a day and a half. In our HD video loop test, the Realme 5i lasted as long as the Realme 5s. Charging the smartphone with the included 10W charger took us over two hours. Fast charging is not supported.

Realme 5i camera

The Realme 5i sports a quad-camera setup at the back, similar to the Realme 5. It has a 12-megapixel primary sensor, an 8-megapixel wide-angle-camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The primary sensor has 1.25-micron pixels and an f/1.8 aperture. The wide-angle-camera has an f/2.25 aperture, while the macro and depth sensors have f/2.4 apertures. For selfies, this phone has an 8-megapixel front shooter with an f/2.0 aperture.

Quad-camera arrangement is similar to the Realme 5

Realme’s camera app remains unchanged and is similar to what we saw on the Realme 5s. It has quick toggles for HDR, the flash, and to switch to the wide-angle-camera. It also has Nightscape and Portrait shooting modes.

The Realme 5i is quick to lock focus when shooting. In daylight, the Realme 5i metered light correctly and photos had decent dynamic range. The photos we took had good levels of detail, which was evident even after zooming in. The wide-angle camera offers a wider field of view but does not deliver the same level of detail. The edges of frames appeared to be slightly stretched. For close-ups, the Realme 5i managed good details and the results were good for a budget smartphone.

Shot using the primary camera on the Realme 5i (tap for full-sized image)

Shot using the wide-angle camera on the Realme 5i (tap for full-sized image)

Close-up shot from the Realme 5i (tap for full-sized image)

Ultra macro sample from Realme 5i (tap for full-sized image)

The macro camera lets you get very close to a subject and manages to produce sharp shots. However, the macro camera resolution is just 2 megapixels. While shooting portraits, we noticed that the Realme 5i does not offer the option to set the level of blur before taking a shot. Portrait shots were slightly hazy, and portraits shot against the light were not metered correctly.

Shot using Portrait mode on the Realme 5i (tap for full-sized image)

Lowlight close-up shot from the Realme 5i (tap for full-sized image)

Lowlight shot (above) and Nightscape mode shot (below) from Realme 5i (tap for full-sized image)

Low-light camera performance was below average, and photos didn’t come out looking sharp at all. We used Nightscape mode and did get brighter images, however, they were still very grainy.

Selfies taken with the Realme 5i had beautification applied to them by default, which can be disabled. The photos were strictly average and backgrounds were often overexposed when shooting outdoors. The Realme 5i also offers portrait mode for the selfie camera, which fared okay, but edge detection wasn’t up to the mark.

Selfie sample from the Realme 5i(tap for full-sized image)

Video recording maxes out at 4K for the primary camera, but stabilisation is only available when shooting at 1080p. Videos shot in the day were well stabilised. The wide-angle-camera also has stabilisation, but a mild shimmer effect is visible in the output. In low-light, the output was quite grainy and we found the stabilisation to be below average.

Verdict

The Realme 5i is a watered-down Realme 5 at a more aggressive price. For Rs. 8,999 the 5i does pack quite a punch thanks to the Snapdragon 665 SoC and 4GB of RAM. The 5,000mAh battery also delivers very good battery life. However, camera performance is a bit of a letdown.

The main purpose of the Realme 5i aims at offering powerful hardware at a more affordable price, and it succeeds at that to an extent. If you want a phone primarily for gaming, the Realme 5i should keep you happy. However, if you are willing to stretch your budget, the Realme 5s (Review) and the Redmi Note 8 (Review) are better all-rounders.

[privateplates4u]

Mazda MX-5 Miata RF: 10th Place – 2017 Motor Trend Best Driver’s Car

The last of the affordable roadsters, the Miata continues to deliver the best driving experience for the money. Mazda threw us a curveball this year by introducing a power-operated targa roof with dramatic flying buttresses rather than the sleek power-folding hardtop we have come to expect. Adding about 100 pounds to the featherweight sporty car, the power roof stows in the same space as the standard cloth roof. Being light and compact, the roof doesn’t add any structural stiffness to the chassis, but the added weight requires compensation elsewhere. Mazda retuned its springs, shocks, and electric power steering for the RF to account for the new roof. It’s Best Driver’s Car week! Keep it on MotorTrend.com this week as we count down the finishing order of our contenders this year and share bonus content you’ll only find right here. Power, however, remains the same. The 2.0-liter four-cylinder is unchanged at 155 horsepower and 148 lb-ft of torque, and it drives the rear wheels through a six-speed manual. Being a Club model, it also gets a standard limited-slip differential, an under-hood shock tower brace, Bilstein shocks, Brembo brakes, and BBS wheels. With a slightly heftier weight-to-power ratio, the Miata RF needs 6.4 seconds to hit 60 mph from a stop and 14.9 seconds to clear the quarter mile, where it will be doing 92.4 mph. Stopping from 60 mph takes 109 feet. On the skidpad, it’ll pull 0.91 g average, and on the figure eight it’ll put down a 25.9-second lap at 0.71 g average. But you’ll be hard pressed to find a more fun car to do it in. We Say “I wanted to love it, reward it, and rank it higher than the bottom quartile, but in the end I couldn’t. I love the styling—I can’t stand convertibles—and with the roof up it looks hardtop-coupey swooptastic. I couldn’t get into the driving sensations, which are old hat by now. Huge power/torque disparity aside (not that much of an issue because it delivers the sensation of speed just fine), it simply feels looser and softer sprung than nearly everything here. Admittedly it leans way over and gives you plenty of notice before it lets go, but that got a little old for me after a while (especially on the downhill). I kept thinking that this couldn’t be the fastest setup for this car; couldn’t it be a little stiffer—a little more buttoned down—and thus, even faster feeling? (Or was the sense of speed—the inner ear trickery—tied to the squat and roll and early onset tire howl?) One new criticism: I was surprised to find it is not as easy to place on the road. Steering is slowish and lacks precision.” – Ed Loh “I’m not nearly as in love with the Miata as I thought I’d be. Maybe it’s fast car fatigue, but it felt unsettled to me, like it’s always dancing on the top of its springs and edge of its tires. I think less rotation on turn-in would help. Every time you crack the wheel, the rear end jumps over. It sticks, but it makes you think it’s going to dance around on you. The ESC grabbing at the brakes doesn’t help confidence. It’s especially frustrating because when you do turn it off, it’s fine. Yeah, the rear end is playful, but it’s not trying to swap ends on you. I like that there’s a bit more roll stiffness on this one so you don’t flop onto the outside tire, but I think a little more stiffness would be better.” – Scott Evans Read about other 2017 Best Driver’s Car contenders: Aston Martin DB11 Nissan GT-R NISMO McLaren 570GT “So why is this underpowered Pokémon even considered in this field of ridiculous 600 horsepower cars? Because the chassis is so composed, it is impossible to over-drive it. I basically had the throttle mashed the entire way uphill Highway 198 and was carrying a good amount of speed, but no need for worry. The downside is that this means the engine is underpowered, and I wish Mazda would provide more thrust so that I could see just where the chassis limits are.”– Mark Rechtin “Wheeeeeeeeeee!” – Jonny Lieberman Randy Says “This car reminds me so much of the 1990, the Gen I, in terms of its light weight, body roll, that oversteering personality, especially on entry. It has very not-sticky tires on it. But it still does everything well anyway because of its light weight. It’s stable in braking when you’re straight, but if you’re braking when you turn, woo! You get sideways real quick and real easy. It has a lot of entry oversteer. It’s extremely well balanced on power. It’s loose off power, which is how the original Miata was too, the 1990. “On the street, it’s not as big a deal. But then there’s that entry oversteer, and part of where it’s coming from is that roll. The speed of it and the amount of it—it’s roll over steer, right? And when you turn, it rolls, and that roll has momentum. And that momentum brings the weight down on the outside tire. It shocks that tire, and the tire says, ‘Nope.’ “The car stopped well. It has a lot of brake dive. The pedal was a little long, which is unusual for a Miata. “A lot of these 500-horsepower cars are pretty much ridiculous on the street. And it’s so satisfying to be able to just track a car out, run it to redline, and snap off a quick shift with that great shifter. You look down, and you’re doing 64 miles an hour, not 120. “It is a nice drift car, though. I drifted all the way around turn two on purpose, just for the hell of it because it is such a fun, fun, fun, fun car. High on the fun factor. Low on the fast factor, but it is a superb driver’s car.” 2017 Mazda MX-5 Miata (RF Club 6MT) POWERTRAIN/CHASSIS DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT Front-engine, RWD ENGINE TYPE I-4, alum block/head VALVETRAIN DOHC, 4 valves/cyl DISPLACEMENT 121.9 cu in/1,998 cc COMPRESSION RATIO 13.0:1 POWER (SAE NET) 155 hp @ 6,000 rpm TORQUE (SAE NET) 148 lb-ft @ 4,600 rpm REDLINE 6,500 rpm WEIGHT TO POWER 15.6 lb/hp TRANSMISSION 6-speed manual AXLE/FINAL-DRIVE RATIO 2.87:1/2.87:1 SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR Control arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar STEERING RATIO 15.5:1 TURNS LOCK-TO-LOCK 2.1 BRAKES, F; R 11.0-in vented disc; 11.0-in disc, ABS WHEELS 7.0 x 17-in cast aluminum TIRES 205/45R17 84W Bridgestone Potenza S001 (Tread 280) DIMENSIONS WHEELBASE 90.9 in TRACK, F/R 58.9/59.2 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 154.1 x 68.3 x 49.0 in TURNING CIRCLE 30.8 ft CURB WEIGHT 2,420 lb WEIGHT DIST, F/R 50/50% SEATING CAPACITY 2 HEADROOM, F/R 36.8/— in LEGROOM, F/R 43.1/— in SHOULDER ROOM, F/R 52.0/— in CARGO VOLUME 4.5 cu ft TEST DATA ACCELERATION TO MPH 0-30 2.0 sec 0-40 3.2 0-50 4.5 0-60 6.4 0-70 8.4 0-80 11.1 0-90 14.1 0-100 17.6 0-100-0 — PASSING, 45-65 MPH 3.5 QUARTER MILE 14.9 sec @ 92.4 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 109 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 0.91 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 25.9 sec @ 0.71 g (avg) 2.2-MI ROAD COURSE LAP 1:51.43 sec TOP-GEAR REVS @ 60 MPH 2,500 rpm CONSUMER INFO BASE PRICE $32,430 PRICE AS TESTED $35,830 STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL Yes/Yes AIRBAGS 4: Dual front, front side/head BASIC WARRANTY 3 yrs/36,000 miles POWERTRAIN WARRANTY 5 yrs/60,000 miles ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE 3 yrs/36,000 miles FUEL CAPACITY 11.9 gal EPA CITY/HWY/COMB ECON 26/33/29 mpg ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY 130/102 kW-hrs/100 miles CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB 0.67 lb/mile RECOMMENDED FUEL Unleaded premium The post Mazda MX-5 Miata RF: 10th Place – 2017 Motor Trend Best Driver’s Car appeared first on Motor Trend.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/mazda-mx-5-miata-rf-10th-place-2017-best-drivers-car/

[toekneetv]

2020 Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h Review: Pura Vida

When I first landed in Liberia, Costa Rica, to drive the updated 2020 Lexus RX, I wasn’t sure why the Japanese luxury brand had flown me and other journalists to Central America. About 40 minutes from the Liberia airport on the Pacific coast, the Papagayo Peninsula—with its stunning landscape, crystal-clear water, and white-sand beaches—was where we immersed ourselves in the Lexus world. The brand is celebrating its 30th anniversary and chose Costa Rica not only because of its stunning roads and natural splendor but also because of its deep connection with Purdy Motor, Toyota’s exclusive distributor in the country. Costa Rica was Lexus’ fifth Latin American market, and it has seen consistent growth since it began operations in 2013. Lexus’ first worldwide market was the U.S., and today the luxury brand continues its expansion across the globe with plans to launch in Mexico in 2021. It will have a presence in 90 countries by then. It’s within this landscape—both literally and metaphorically—that we drove Lexus’ most popular model, which is getting a midcycle refresh for the 2020 model year. Most of the changes are inside, where the crossover received a touchscreen, a few updates to its infotainment system, and six USB ports. Buyers can choose between the standard 8.0-inch or the available 12.3-inch touchscreen; the latter can be had as a split screen and has a higher resolution than the smaller screen. Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Alexa are compatible with the updated RX, and we found it very easy to use CarPlay through the touchpad. Although the touch functionality is new, the screen is a bit hard to reach for the driver given its location on top of the dash; it’s pretty easy to control from the front passenger’s seat, though. Despite the busy design, the RX’s interior is a nice place to sit. The seats are comfortable, and materials feel soft everywhere you touch. The commanding driver’s seat position provides good visibility.

The bigger three-row RX L continues for 2020 with second-row captain’s chairs that ease entry and exit for third-row passengers. The exterior updates are subtle: The iconic spindle grille is now bigger, the front and rear fascias have been redesigned, and the triple-beam LED headlights are slimmer. The standard 18-inch wheels sport a new design, and the 20-inch wheels on the Luxury trim have also received a style update. Things remain the same under the hood, but according to Lexus, changes to the suspension and welding have increased the vehicle’s rigidity. The shocks have been retuned, the anti-roll bars were swapped for stiffer ones, and the dampers were updated to provide a smoother ride. The RX 350 is still powered by a 295-hp, 267-lb-ft 3.5-liter V-6 engine paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is still an option for the gas-only model; the unit we drove in the twisty, hilly roads overlooking the jaw-dropping Culebra Bay was fully loaded. The engine delivers enough power for an SUV of this size, but the transmission was always hunting for the highest gear. Thankfully, paddle shifters are standard for 2020, so the transmission holds gears longer when the shifter is in its sport position. The shifts are smooth, and body roll is controlled well, but we’ll need to spend more time with it to give you a full report.

During our drive we also got behind the wheel of the RX 450h, which is still propelled by the 3.5-liter V-6 mated to an electric motor and a CVT that sends power to all four wheels. The 308 hp make a huge difference compared with the “regular” engine—we found the hybrid to be more energetic. Whether we were driving up steep hills or taking sharp corners, the RX 450h was more fun to drive. It also felt agile when we stepped on the gas and happily passed slower cars on the two-lane road. After this short drive, we’d definitely go with the hybrid. We’ll get you deeper driving impressions once we have a chance to spend more time with it. The F Sport package continues for 2020, and now it can be split into two. The top-of-the-line F Sport Performance package adds the active variable suspension from the Lexus LC, as well as a cold air intake, active sound control, electric power steering, and a heated steering wheel. The standard F Sport package comes with sportier dampers and a drive mode selector with Sport+. The RX F Sport also offers red leather seats, more bolstering, and an F Sport badge on the wheel. Another update for 2020 is the addition of Lexus Safety System+ 2.0, which is now standard across the board. Thanks to the changes in the pre-collision system, every RX can now detect cyclists during the day and pedestrians at night, something new for this model year. Road Sign Assist and Lane Tracing Assist are also new, but the Tico roads we drove on didn’t have any lane marks, so we couldn’t really try this feature.

Lexus hasn’t announced pricing, but expect to pay about the same as the 2019 Lexus RX 350, which starts at $44,845. The Lexus RX won our very first SUV of the Year award back in 1999, and it’s a pioneer in the crossover segment, becoming the first unibody SUV that delivered a “carlike” ride with the seating position and interior space of an SUV. Since then, it has thrived in the segment, becoming Lexus’ most popular model by far, surpassing all of the brand’s sedan sales combined. With its updated styling, better technology, advanced safety, and Pura Vida attitude, the 2020 Lexus RX will continue to be the brand’s sales leader when it arrives at dealers at the end of August. This much-needed update will bring a breeze of fresh air to the crossover. A full redesign is expected in the next two to three years.The post 2020 Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h Review: Pura Vida appeared first on MotorTrend. Read the full article

[technuter]

ASUS announces its a new line-up of ROG Gaming Laptops & Desktops

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) unveiled a whole new range of gaming laptops accompanied with some significant refresh models as well. The latest launches flaunt refreshed systems to balance the performance required by gamers, content creators, and power users with the convenience of creature comforts that enhance everyday use. The launch event also witnessed the presence of Prakash Mallya, MD-Sales & Marketing Group India, Intel and Adarsh K Menon, Vice President Electronics, Private Labels and Furniture at Flipkart. The S-class laptops offer a premium experience fit for professionals, while M-tier designs scale back slightly to find the sweet spot for savvy users. The new G series focuses on core essentials to improve affordability and welcome more gamers into the brand. Esports-specific models have special requirements and are treated differently, as are top‑end desktop replacements available only with high‑performance hardware under the hood. Regardless of the chassis or target audience, ROG gaming laptops are guided by an Intelligent Cooling philosophy that combines the right thermal hardware with smart software to ensure optimal performance and acoustics for what's happening in the moment. Commenting on the latest launch, Arnold Su, Business Development Manager, ASUS India, said, "We are excited to announce the latest ROG Gaming laptops and desktops variants, which pack in the powerful feature for today's aspirational gamers and users demanding exceptional performance. The cutting-edge products are crafted with our quintessential focus on providing unrivalled powerful performance and top-notch features. We are affirmative that India's new-age users will appreciate the latest offerings and look forward to a positive response." ASUS has, furthermore, adopted an omni-channel approach for the availability of new launches. To the same end, G531GT and G531GD will be available on Flipkart from 9th July. Present at launch, Adarsh K Menon, Vice President Electronics, Private Labels and Furniture at Flipkart added, "Flipkart is proud to bring the best products that the world has to offer to the flourishing gaming community in India, and today, we are delighted to partner with ASUS yet again to unveil this stunning range of ROG Gaming Laptops. This offering focuses on core essentials to improve affordability and therefore, offer a superior experience to a wider community of gamers. We are confident that this launch will resonate well with our customers, who are looking at the best gaming devices at affordable price points." Speaking at the launch Prakash Mallya, Vice President and Managing Director, Sales & Marketing Group, Intel India said, "The best gaming is done on the PC and Intel is an integral part of that experience. India today has one of the biggest esports audience in the APJ region and the growing community of PC gamers in the country has made gaming the fastest growing PC segment. Intel continues to be focused on driving technology innovation and supporting the ecosystem to elevate PC gaming for the community. Our new 9th Gen Intel Core mobile processors power the ultimate laptops for gamers and creators taking premium performance to a whole new level." G703 carries the torch for desktop replacement clamshells The 9th generation Intel Core i9 overclockable CPU, through ROG, is able to stably overclock to the 4.8GHz scale, making it the most powerful esports laptop for AAA titles. The CPU and GPU dual overclocking and NVIDIA GTX 2080 graphics card 1855 MHz boost clock challenges the limits of desktops. The HyperDrive Extreme storage uses exclusive technology to combine up to three NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 SSDs, providing G703 with the world's fastest RAID 0 storage configuration available in a gaming laptop. The 17.3-inch wide viewing angle display has a refresh rate of 144 Hz and 3ms response time for fluid gaming. The powerful performance is well complimented with the patented Anti-Dust Cooling technology and also integrates Xbox Wireless for gamers. For a truly immersive gaming experience, the laptop supports Thunderbolt 3, Mini DisplayPort 1.4, and HDMI 2.0 for a truly immersive gaming experience.  Go big and stay slim with Zephyrus S GX701 The Zephyrus S GX701 offers a lot of computing power with Up to 9th Gen Intel Core i7 processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX  2080 GPU (Max-Q). This makes the GX701 the 17" gaming laptop rivalling most standard desktops in performance, packed into an even more compact 15" ultra slim chassis while keeping everything cool. The new 17" panel is not only great for gaming with a 144Hz 3ms response time display, but it is also gives content creators accurate, Pantone Validated colors with factory calibration and ProArt TruColor Technology. All this is packed in thin bezel design offering an 81% screen to body ratio. The laptop is powered by ROG Active Aerodynamic System (AAS) that expands to help Zephyrus S sustain top performance for gaming and other heavy loads. Per-key RGB Lighting and Aura Sync extends the best of comfort to gamers and customizable RGB backlighting per key. Zephyrus S GX531, the world's slimmest gaming laptop Presenting the world's slimmest gaming laptop, ROG Zephyrus S GX531 is 15.35~16.15mm thin and features NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q.  Weighing only 2.1KG with the 9th generation Intel Core i7 CPU, the laptop offers uncompromised display with super-narrow bezel and 144Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time enable super smooth gaming with blur-free graphics. The slimmest laptop extends the most realistic gaming experience with the new generation RTX 2070 series GPUs, real-time ray tracking and AI calculation acceleration. Enhanced performance with optimum cooling is ensured via ASUS' patented Active Aerodynamic (AAS) cooling system. Fill the middle with Zephyrus M GU502 Offering great power and great portability, Zephyrus M GU502 features NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti, clocking up to 2100MHz at max load in Turbo mode with ROG Boost, delivering formidable graphics performance. Also experience the fast 144Hz display with a 3ms response time and another level of realism with a PANTONE Validated colour for the best gaming experience and creative work. The ESS Sabre HiFi digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) with Hi-Res Audio certification delivers broader dynamic range with less distortion, ensuring an immersive experience. Pick your esports champion: Strix SCAR III or Hero III With up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which can reach speeds of 1540MHz at 115W in Turbo mode, the Strix SCAR III delivers high frame rates for smooth fast-paced FPS action. G531GW features RTX 2070, G531GV is powered by RTX 2060, and G531GU and Hero III come with GTX 1660Ti graphics. Furthermore, with up to a 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9880H CPU, the laptops allow users to power through demanding games and apps, with 8-core processor clocks as high as 4.1GHz with a single core, with 16 threads to speed up heavy multitasking. Intelligent Cooling optimizes performance with a blend of hardware, software, and innovative structural design with enhanced air intake from a wide, ventilated 3D Flow Zone. Strategic keyboard ventilation also keeps your hands cool during longer gaming sessions. Keystones or the physical keys help unlock deep customization stored in the ROG ID and the dedicated hotkeys make accessing vital commands easily. The laptops are also powered by ASUS' Wi-Fi RangeBoost technology and Aura Sync. Strix G Edition: G531 & G731 The latest Strix series laptops are available in 15.6‑inch (G531) and 17.3‑inch (G731) sizes with ultra-narrow bezels that make the footprints more compact. Powered by up to a NVIDIA® GeForce GTX™ 1650, the mid-sized models feature High-FPS action that is smooth and clear on an up to a 120Hz/3ms display, while slim bezels make space for an immersive 81.5% screen-to-body ratio. Helping users power through demanding games and apps, with up to a 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H CPU. With Aura Sync, the laptops have an illuminated outer edge of the chassis and the smarter Wi-Fi with RangeBoost ensures optimum connectivity. Desktops under Gaming DT Products Under the desktop variants, ASUS ROG has unveiled three dynamic and powerful products. The ROG HURACAN G21CX features up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 GPU and the latest 9th i9 binned CPU with Intel Z390 chipset and Overclocking technology. The folding magnetic side unleashes the true power, complimented with Aura Sync, ROG Strix Flare keyboard and ROG Gladius II Mouse.  While making it easier for users to swap SSD, the model has a special Fan & heat sink design to keep high performance with low noise With ROG GL12CX DT, ASUS is packing the latest i9-9900K processor with factory overclocked up to a top speed of 5.1GHz. It features up to RTX 2080 Ti 11GB graphics for unrivalled gaming experiences, supported by Intel Z390 chipset and ROG exclusive DIMM.2 module. The vertical expansion slot on the motherboard holds two M.2 SSDs that are cooled by a dedicated heat sink, and can be configured into an ultrafast RAID array. It supports Intel® Optane™ memory to accelerate your HDD and also ensures enduring performance with a liquid cooling system. Lastly, GL10CS Customized ROG DT comes with i7-9700K k-series CPU and i5-9400 option, featuring up to RTX 2060 Graphic card and customisable ROG DT. The variant features two isolated air chambers; upper chamber housing CPU and GPU while the lower chamber hosts power supply unit. This ensures cleaner airflow and prevent heat from the CPU and GPU from warming up the power supply unit and storage drives. The DTS Headphone X feature supports 7.1 channel with virtual surround over specific headphone. AVAILABILITY & PRICING: ROG G703GXR: 3,99,990 ROG Zephyrus S GX701 & GX531 starts from 2,39,990 ROG Zephyrus M GU502 starts from 1,49,990 ROG Strix Scar III & Hero III:  starts from 1,39,990 ROG Strix G: G531GT GTX1650 and G531GD GTX1050 is available on Flipkart from 9th July starts from 59,990 G731 will be available in the second half of July. Starts from 79,990 Desktops – ROG HURACANG21CX : starts from 1,99,990 INR ROG Strix GL12CX : starts from 1,49,990 INR ROG Strix GL10CS: starts from 61,990 INR Read the full article

[phantomshadow]

My take on a Venom movie - Agent Venom, Lovecraftian Themes, Agents of SHIELD Crossover

Ever since he was introduced in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man, Venom has been a fan-favorite Marvel villain/anti-hero. The character made his big-screen debut in 2007′s Spider-Man 3, being played by actor Topher Grace. His depiction in the third part of Sam Raimi’s trilogy was one met with backlash from fans who loved the character, seeing as his arc felt very rushed due to an already-convoluted story.

Ever since then, a Venom movie has been stuck in development hell over at Sony Pictures. During that time, Sony rebooted the Spider-Man movies with Andrew Garfield playing the web-headed hero and then, through a deal with Marvel Studios, allowed Spidey to appear in the third Captain America movie (now played by young actor Tom Holland) and officially join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, teaming up with Iron Man himself in his first MCU solo movie.

Happy to see that sweet cash from success again, Sony Pictures was quick to announce a new movie starring Spider-Man-related characters Black Cat and Silver Sable, and also revive that Venom movie idea, even casting the wonderful Tom Hardy as the symbiotic villain. 

Now, what everyone’s worried about, is the fact that it’s not clear if those movies will be part of the MCU. Some argue that they could work like the ABC and Netflix TV shows, where while they do happen in the same universe, they tend to stick more to their own plots, or maybe Sony is just going crazy and willing to make a whole different universe to play with (the so-called “Sony Marvel Universe”). I think it will be like the TV shows, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Regardless, here’s a little of my opinion on how they could make an interesting Venom movie without Spider-Man (oh yea, did I mention they don’t want to have Spider-Man in the movie? Yeah...):

Firstly, make it based off Agent Venom, but instead of being Flash Thompson, make the evil symbiote’s host the original Venom, Eddie Brock.  

When the Venom symbiose was acquired by the U.S. government, they gave rise to a new super-soldier project called Project Rebirth 2.0, seeking to bond the now-tamed alien symbiote to a soldier. That soldier was, of course, veteran Flash Thompson. 

Now, I know this isn’t classic Venom, and I know that some people don’t like him that much. And also, that’s supposed to be an older Flash Thompson! So what the hell!?

Well, Flash Thompson is still a teenager in the MCU, so I don’t want him to turn into Venom... yet. 

Recently, Eddie Brock, much like Flash, has been working with military forces and even on a recent Carnage comic book series, he was there to help take down his long-time rival Carnage who was trying to awaken a Lovecraftian elder god who just so happens to look like a giant symbiote. And guess who’s rumored to be the villain of the movie? Yep, Cletus “Carnage” Kasady.

I think Eddie Brock, in this universe, could take the role of a veteran U.S. soldier, willing to take part in a super soldier program. He bonds with the symbiote, and he becomes Agent Venom... with no Spider-logo since he has no connection to Spider-Man.

The plot of the movie would be very inspired by the most recent Carnage comic... the one I mentioned before where he tried to awaken an elder god...

In the movie, the U.S. military would find not one, but two alien symbiotes the inside a cave from a distant island. They captured them and decide to first test the more agitated one in a convicted serial killer called Cletus Kasady, thinking that if the alien proved itself too much for the psychopath’s body and killed him, it wouldn’t be much of a ploblem since it was a serial killer and all. 

Cletus goes even insaner, and breaks out off the U.S. facility he was being kept, hearing a mysterious calling in his mind, louder and louder... a call to awaken the elder god Chthon. 

To do it, he must acquire a book called “the Darkhold”. Written by Chthon himself, the book is Marvel’s version of H.P. Lovecraft’s “Necronomicon”, a tome full of forbidden knowledge that can make the weak-minded go insane. Thanks to the already-insane and blood-thirsty mind of Carnage, was can read the contents of the book and summon Chthon in the island where the symbiotes were found.

That book is already a part of the MCU, having made its first appearance in the fourth season of Marvel/ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. 

The season involved people using the Darkhold to acquire powers, and Ghost Rider. As of the end of the season, the whereabouts of the book are unknown. I think it would be fine to think that the books is still somewhere hidden on Earth, and a fight against its current guardian could happen in the movie, finally giving us that movie-TV tie-in.

Agent Eddie “Venom” Brock, who can sense a little of Chthon’s calling and sense the presence of his sibling symbiote, is assigned to get the book from Kassady’s hand and prevent the villain from awakening Chthon. 

The movie could also feature Silver Sable, giving us our first introduction to the character before her movie with Black Cat. 

It would be implied that the symbiotes are part of Chthon, turning them into Lovecraft-style extra-dimensional aliens. 

At the end of the movie, Carnage opens a portal to Chthon’s dimension and almost succeeds in summoning the elder god. The portal is fragile, so it can only take the passage of one individual. A character from Brock’s team, potentially a love interest, sacrifices herself to close the portal, and Brock beats up and locks away Carnage.

After-credits scene shows that some symbiotes arrived on Earth through the portal. Since they’re only parts of Chthon, they managed to pass trough the portal without having it close. 

Aaand, that’s it, really. In the future, Eddie Brock could lose the Venom symbiote and it goes on to take Flash Thompson as a host. Flash and Eddie basically swap places in this universe. 

Yep, that’s it, I guess.

[gta-5-cheats]

Dell Inspiron 27 7775 All-in-One Review

New Post has been published on http://secondcovers.com/dell-inspiron-27-7775-all-in-one-review/

Dell Inspiron 27 7775 All-in-One Review

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All-in-One (AIO) desktop PCs are great for when you’re tight on space or simply want a neat desk. While the PC market continues to fight an uphill battle, premium AIOs including Apple’s iMac lineup continue to be popular with those who need a serious desktop machine for heavy work such as video editing.

In the Windows space, Dell has added a new roster of products to its portfolio, and one of them includes the new Inspiron 27 7000 series AIO. This PC is built around an AMD CPU and GPU, which makes it stand out. It isn’t merely a new version of an existing model with AMD processors instead of Intel ones; the new Inspiron 27 7000 series features a completely different design. Two configurations are currently on sale in India, and we have for review the higher-end end one which costs Rs. 1,51,290. Let’s see how it fares.

  Dell Inspiron 27 7775 All-in-One design and build

Setting up the Inspiron 27 7775 once you get it out of the box is simple enough. The base for the stand is the only thing that needs to be attached, and all you need to do is tighten a thumbscrew. In the box, you also get a wireless keyboard and mouse which connect to the AIO through a single USB adapter. One power cable is the only wiring you have to deal with, and it can routed neatly through a hole in the neck of the stand. The 330W external power brick is massive, but such a size can’t be avoided when you have to power desktop-class components.

The Inspiron 27 looks really slick thanks to its aluminium-grey finish. Even the back is designed nicely, and complements the overall look very well. The PC isn’t very thick when seen from the sides, and there are vents at the top and bottom for air to pass through. The display tilts five degrees forwards and about 30 degrees backwards, but its height isn’t adjustable.

The screen has fairly slim borders all around, which gives the AIO a very slick look. An anti-glare coating helps cut out most reflections from indoor lighting, so we didn’t need to max out the brightness most of the time. The 27-inch display has a 4K resolution (3840×2160) and is of the IPS variety, which means that colours are accurately represented and viewing angles are wide. We didn’t notice much colour shifting when viewing content at extreme angles. Due to the thin borders around the display, the front camera system needed to be placed below the screen.

We also have the two front-firing speakers below the screen, which deliver a total output of 10W. They’re complemented by a rear-mounted subwoofer which pumps out of 5W. The HD camera in the front is accompanied by two IR emitters and an IR camera which are all used in conjunction with Microsoft’s Windows Hello authentication feature. Just below the display, towards the right, we have a button to switch input sources and the power button. However, there aren’t any manual controls for brightness or volume. To the left of the speaker, we have an SD card slot, a USB 3.1 port, and a headphones and microphone combo port.

The rest of the physical connectors are on the back of the PC. Just beside the power inlet is a Gigabit Ethernet port and an audio-out socket. The rest of the connectors face the back and these include two USB 2.0 ports; three USB 3.1 ports; one USB Type-C port (USB 3.1 Gen1); an HDMI input for connecting another source; and an HDMI output for a second monitor or projector.

Dell Inspiron 27 7775 All-in-One specifications and features

With this version of the Inspiron 27 7775 AIO, you get a desktop-class AMD Ryzen 7 1700 CPU, which packs in eight cores for a total of 16 threads. Along with this, you also get 16GB of DDR4 RAM running in dual-channel mode. Graphics duties are handled by a discrete AMD Radeon RX 580 GPU which has its own 8GB of GDDR5 memory. For storage, there’s a 1TB 5400rpm hard drive as well as a 256GB NVMe solid state drive. Connectivity options include dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.1. The AIO also has four array microphones on the top, just in front of its vents.

The rear panel slides off easily from the top once you take out two screws at the bottom. With it off, we can see the woofer, the 2.5mm hard drive, and the giant exhaust fan. There’s another metal panel on the right, which once unscrewed, lets you access the SSD and RAM modules. It’s nice to have this option as most AIOs don’t let you upgrade anything – not easily, at least. However, despite this convenience, Dell says that opening up the back by yourself will void the warranty, so you’ll have to take your Inspiron 27 to a service centre to have anything upgraded.

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Dell ships the AIO with Windows 10 Home, along with a 15-month subscription to McAfee antivirus and a full copy of Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition preinstalled. There’s also the usual bundle of preinstalled apps from the Windows Store, which you can get rid of if not needed. You get Dell’s software utility too, which periodically checks for and downloads system drivers.

Dell Inspiron 27 7775 All-in-One performance

General Windows performance is very good. The ample amount of RAM and the speedy SSD ensure quick booting, and apps load quickly too. Text on the display is sharp, which can be seen when browsing the Web or even working on Excel sheets. The large screen is great for multitasking with multiple windows open on the desktop, without having to resize them too much. The webcam captures video and stills at an awkward angle due to its placement below the screen, but it does have a wide field of view so it easily accommodates your entire upper body. Windows Hello works very well, although we found that if the is screen tilted to the front, you’ll have to squat a bit in order for your face to be recognised.

We tried using the Inspiron 27’s HDMI video input functionality – which lets you use the all-in-one as a display – and it worked well. We connected an Xbox One X and were able to game at the native 4K resolution. Audio has to be routed to external speakers using the audio-out port next to the power inlet – it won’t play through the Inspiron 27’s own speakers. There’s also a little caveat when it comes to using another video source, which is that the PC needs to be powered on and running Windows. Even if the PC goes to sleep, the video will be cut off. This is a useful function but it won’t let you use the AIO’s display as a standalone monitor to extend its life after your next upgrade, or if the PC isn’t working for any reason. Having said that, it is still nice have this option, as most AIOs don’t let you do this.

The speakers get really loud and audio quality is very good. You can tweak audio levels and microphone sensitivity through the Waves MaxxAudio Pro software. Games run very well. The Radeon RX580 is VR-ready and manages to handle most 3D games very well at the screen’s native 4K resolution. In Rise of The Tomb Raider, with the settings cranked up to Very High at 4K, the built-in benchmark returned just 23.6fps. Things improved slightly by switching to the High preset where we got 29fps. At 1080p using the Very High setting, we got much smoother framerates averaging 57fps. The best balance that we found was to use 2560×1440 with the Very High preset, with which we averaged 35-40fps.

We were also pleasantly surprised to see the Inspiron 27 handle GTA V very well, with all the graphics sliders maxed out and most of the eye-candy turned all the way up (except for anti-aliasing, which was turned off). The built-in benchmark averaged 33fps while during actual gameplay, we were able to get around 34fps, which is still pretty smooth. All this was at 4K resolution.

The exhaust fan is easily audible when gaming, and if you don’t have headphones on, it can be distracting. We also ran some synthetic benchmarks and got 5047 points in 3DMark’s Fire Strike Extreme test, while in PCMark, we got scores of 3636, 5618 and 3012 in the Home, Creative and Work test suites respectively.

The bundled keyboard is of average quality and isn’t the best when it comes to prolonged typing. We did like the mouse though, which offers good ergonomics and works well on most surfaces.

Verdict

The Dell Inspiron 27 7775 All-in-One comes at a hefty price of Rs. 1,51,290 and is backed by a three-year warranty. As a premium AIO, it’s pretty feature-rich and offers very good multimedia and gaming performance. As a bonus, we like the fact that components can be swapped out easily if needed, and you can use the 4K display with another source such as a gaming console too. If you don’t need all this power, Dell has a tamer version of the Inspiron 27 7775 priced at Rs. 1,08,190. With this variant, you get an AMD Ryzen 5 1400 CPU, 8GB of RAM, a Radeon RX560 GPU, and a 27-inch full-HD screen. You also lose out on the SSD, but the rest of the features are the same. 

If you’re thinking of going the DIY route, building a desktop with a similar configuration as the one we tested today wouldn’t really save you a whole lot of money. Upgrading components would be simpler, sure, but getting the slick look of an AIO would be next to impossible. We would have liked a better quality bundled keyboard, and the webcam placement could have been more natural, but overall, this is a pretty solid AIO PC which offers good flexibility and performance. 

Price (MRP): 1,51,290

Pros

Vivid 4K display and good sound

Components are upgradeable

Good connectivity

Striking design and sturdy construction

Cons

Bundled keyboard isn’t great

Exhaust fan is noisy at full load

Webcam placement is awkward

Ratings (Out of 5)

Design: 4.5

Display: 4

Performance: 4

Software: 4

Value for Money: 4

Overall: 4

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[robertkstone]

Mazda MX-5 Miata RF: 10th Place – 2017 Motor Trend Best Driver’s Car

The last of the affordable roadsters, the Miata continues to deliver the best driving experience for the money. Mazda threw us a curveball this year by introducing a power-operated targa roof with dramatic flying buttresses rather than the sleek power-folding hardtop we have come to expect.

Adding about 100 pounds to the featherweight sporty car, the power roof stows in the same space as the standard cloth roof. Being light and compact, the roof doesn’t add any structural stiffness to the chassis, but the added weight requires compensation elsewhere. Mazda retuned its springs, shocks, and electric power steering for the RF to account for the new roof.

It’s Best Driver’s Car week! Keep it on MotorTrend.com this week as we count down the finishing order of our contenders this year and share bonus content you’ll only find right here.

Power, however, remains the same. The 2.0-liter four-cylinder is unchanged at 155 horsepower and 148 lb-ft of torque, and it drives the rear wheels through a six-speed manual. Being a Club model, it also gets a standard limited-slip differential, an under-hood shock tower brace, Bilstein shocks, Brembo brakes, and BBS wheels.

With a slightly heftier weight-to-power ratio, the Miata RF needs 6.4 seconds to hit 60 mph from a stop and 14.9 seconds to clear the quarter mile, where it will be doing 92.4 mph. Stopping from 60 mph takes 109 feet. On the skidpad, it’ll pull 0.91 g average, and on the figure eight it’ll put down a 25.9-second lap at 0.71 g average. But you’ll be hard pressed to find a more fun car to do it in.

We Say

“I wanted to love it, reward it, and rank it higher than the bottom quartile, but in the end I couldn’t. I love the styling—I can’t stand convertibles—and with the roof up it looks hardtop-coupey swooptastic. I couldn’t get into the driving sensations, which are old hat by now. Huge power/torque disparity aside (not that much of an issue because it delivers the sensation of speed just fine), it simply feels looser and softer sprung than nearly everything here. Admittedly it leans way over and gives you plenty of notice before it lets go, but that got a little old for me after a while (especially on the downhill). I kept thinking that this couldn’t be the fastest setup for this car; couldn’t it be a little stiffer—a little more buttoned down—and thus, even faster feeling? (Or was the sense of speed—the inner ear trickery—tied to the squat and roll and early onset tire howl?) One new criticism: I was surprised to find it is not as easy to place on the road. Steering is slowish and lacks precision.” – Ed Loh

“I’m not nearly as in love with the Miata as I thought I’d be. Maybe it’s fast car fatigue, but it felt unsettled to me, like it’s always dancing on the top of its springs and edge of its tires. I think less rotation on turn-in would help. Every time you crack the wheel, the rear end jumps over. It sticks, but it makes you think it’s going to dance around on you. The ESC grabbing at the brakes doesn’t help confidence. It’s especially frustrating because when you do turn it off, it’s fine. Yeah, the rear end is playful, but it’s not trying to swap ends on you. I like that there’s a bit more roll stiffness on this one so you don’t flop onto the outside tire, but I think a little more stiffness would be better.” – Scott Evans

Read about other 2017 Best Driver’s Car contenders:

Aston Martin DB11

Nissan GT-R NISMO

McLaren 570GT

“So why is this underpowered Pokémon even considered in this field of ridiculous 600 horsepower cars? Because the chassis is so composed, it is impossible to over-drive it. I basically had the throttle mashed the entire way uphill Highway 198 and was carrying a good amount of speed, but no need for worry. The downside is that this means the engine is underpowered, and I wish Mazda would provide more thrust so that I could see just where the chassis limits are.”– Mark Rechtin

“Wheeeeeeeeeee!” – Jonny Lieberman

Randy Says

“This car reminds me so much of the 1990, the Gen I, in terms of its light weight, body roll, that oversteering personality, especially on entry. It has very not-sticky tires on it. But it still does everything well anyway because of its light weight. It’s stable in braking when you’re straight, but if you’re braking when you turn, woo! You get sideways real quick and real easy. It has a lot of entry oversteer. It’s extremely well balanced on power. It’s loose off power, which is how the original Miata was too, the 1990.

“On the street, it’s not as big a deal. But then there’s that entry oversteer, and part of where it’s coming from is that roll. The speed of it and the amount of it—it’s roll over steer, right? And when you turn, it rolls, and that roll has momentum. And that momentum brings the weight down on the outside tire. It shocks that tire, and the tire says, ‘Nope.’

“The car stopped well. It has a lot of brake dive. The pedal was a little long, which is unusual for a Miata.

“A lot of these 500-horsepower cars are pretty much ridiculous on the street. And it’s so satisfying to be able to just track a car out, run it to redline, and snap off a quick shift with that great shifter. You look down, and you’re doing 64 miles an hour, not 120.

“It is a nice drift car, though. I drifted all the way around turn two on purpose, just for the hell of it because it is such a fun, fun, fun, fun car. High on the fun factor. Low on the fast factor, but it is a superb driver’s car.”

2017 Mazda MX-5 Miata (RF Club 6MT) POWERTRAIN/CHASSIS DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT Front-engine, RWD ENGINE TYPE I-4, alum block/head VALVETRAIN DOHC, 4 valves/cyl DISPLACEMENT 121.9 cu in/1,998 cc COMPRESSION RATIO 13.0:1 POWER (SAE NET) 155 hp @ 6,000 rpm TORQUE (SAE NET) 148 lb-ft @ 4,600 rpm REDLINE 6,500 rpm WEIGHT TO POWER 15.6 lb/hp TRANSMISSION 6-speed manual AXLE/FINAL-DRIVE RATIO 2.87:1/2.87:1 SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR Control arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar STEERING RATIO 15.5:1 TURNS LOCK-TO-LOCK 2.1 BRAKES, F; R 11.0-in vented disc; 11.0-in disc, ABS WHEELS 7.0 x 17-in cast aluminum TIRES 205/45R17 84W Bridgestone Potenza S001 (Tread 280) DIMENSIONS WHEELBASE 90.9 in TRACK, F/R 58.9/59.2 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 154.1 x 68.3 x 49.0 in TURNING CIRCLE 30.8 ft CURB WEIGHT 2,420 lb WEIGHT DIST, F/R 50/50% SEATING CAPACITY 2 HEADROOM, F/R 36.8/— in LEGROOM, F/R 43.1/— in SHOULDER ROOM, F/R 52.0/— in CARGO VOLUME 4.5 cu ft TEST DATA ACCELERATION TO MPH 0-30 2.0 sec 0-40 3.2 0-50 4.5 0-60 6.4 0-70 8.4 0-80 11.1 0-90 14.1 0-100 17.6 0-100-0 — PASSING, 45-65 MPH 3.5 QUARTER MILE 14.9 sec @ 92.4 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 109 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 0.91 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 25.9 sec @ 0.71 g (avg) 2.2-MI ROAD COURSE LAP 1:51.43 sec TOP-GEAR REVS @ 60 MPH 2,500 rpm CONSUMER INFO BASE PRICE $32,430 PRICE AS TESTED $35,830 STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL Yes/Yes AIRBAGS 4: Dual front, front side/head BASIC WARRANTY 3 yrs/36,000 miles POWERTRAIN WARRANTY 5 yrs/60,000 miles ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE 3 yrs/36,000 miles FUEL CAPACITY 11.9 gal EPA CITY/HWY/COMB ECON 26/33/29 mpg ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY 130/102 kW-hrs/100 miles CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB 0.67 lb/mile RECOMMENDED FUEL Unleaded premium

IFTTT

[davidegbert]

Teclast Tbook 10 S Review – 10.1-Inch Full HD 2-In-1 Tablet With 4GB RAM

Whether you are in the market for a good performing yet cheap 10.1-inch tablet or a 2-in-1 tablet with detachable keyboard – running either Windows 10 or Android 5.1 Lollipop OS, or both, the 2017 Teclast Tbook 10 S can deliver in all categories. Being the top model among its rivals and powered by a Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor as opposed to the Intel Atom x5-Z8300 processor in the 2016 Teclast Tbook 10, I wanted to do a long term Teclast Tbook 10 S review too see how I would like this Android & Windows 2-in-1 tablet after spending some time with it.

Teclast Tbook 10 S (E6N2) is a 10.1-inch Full HD 1920 x 1200 resolution tablet with 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, and optional keyboard. But even so, the price is still very low, at just $159: http://www.gearbest.com/tablet-pcs/pp_6918692.html

In brief, I like the Teclast Tbook 10 S more than my old Asus Transformer Book T100, with my main complaint being a Wi-Fi range that makes the bandwidth go down more than average over longer distances. But that can be worked around.

Starting with the performance, the Teclast Tbook 10 S performs like you would expect, with 64GB of eMMC storage, 4GB of DDR3L RAM, and the quad-core Intel Atom “Cherry Trail” x5-Z8350 processor at 1.44 – 1.92 GHz. The processor and RAM performs well, achieving Geekbench scores of almost 900 in single-core and 2000 in multi-core, on average. It handles large apps, and complicated things like Java scripts quickly and smoothly. So like with all computers, it’s only when you overstep the intentions of a computer, ike if you want to do hardcore gaming with high framerates at high resolution that it will start to slow down. All other normal games works well, both in load time and smoothness.

The Teclast Tbook 10 S score in the AnTuTu benchmark was 58308 as you can see below, so that’s good value for money. The processor and RAM works well. In the CrystalDisk benchmark for the 64GB storage, the generic storage was benchmarked with 130MB/s read speeds, and 33MB/s write speeds at the highest, but I didn’t notice any problems with the read/write speeds in games, apps, movies, or documents. The memory bandwidth was benchmarked to 4.7GB/s in Geekbench.

The back of the tablet doesn’t get too warm when gaming, or when running combinations of complex Java applications with high Wi-Fi bandwidths streaming while also charging the tablet at the same time.

With USB OTG you can add USB hubs or any USB device you like, and the HDMI port works well with external displays. The tablet itself can also run 4K videos glitch free.

Teclast Tbook 10 S is a dual-boot or dual-OS tablet with both 64-bit Windows 10, as well as Android 5.1 Lollipop without any bloatware.

With 64GB of storage, a little over 40GB is partitioned to Windows with 25GB storage space available after the updates, while Android is partitioned with a little over 20GB of storage, with just over 15GB storage space available after the updates. MicroSD cards up to 128GB are supported, and the tablet is powerful enough to drive external hard drives through the USB port without the need for external power for any additional hard drives.

Users can swap between Android and Windows easily both inside an OS, or when it has been turned off completely and starts up again. But when you put it to sleep, it will awake with the OS you used the last, just like any other tablet. So that gives users over 3 million apps to chose from in Google Play and Windows Store combined, in addition to all of the many Windows programs that have never been placed in Windows Store as an app in the first place.

Both operating systems works well on this Teclast tablet. Android was designed for mobile computing, but so is Windows 10, and Windows 10 users can easily swap between regular Desktop Mode and into Tablet Mode with larger tiles and the many, many tablet settings, by swiping from the right side of the bezels onto the display to swap between mode of operation.

The Windows button works as a Home Button in both Windows and Android, so that’s a nice touch that adds some extra user friendliness. Cortana is also there, ready to assist you if you want to do voice searches, activate apps, close apps, search maps, check the weather forecast, make notes or appointments, or have Cortana recognize what song is playing.

Browsers scroll well in both Android and Windows. I’ve used and tested this Teclast tablet for weeks now, which means that any problems with the browsers or OS that may have been there, will have been fixed by the automatic updates by now. Because of that, I always find it a good idea to use tablets for a while to break them in, before I give a verdict on them.

The design of Teclast Tbook 10 S is smart and of high build quality. It has a solid aluminum alloy casing, tight build, and the color of the tablet is Champagne Gold, but in a discreet way, with an understated elegance, enhanced by a sort of diamond cut thin shiny edges around the frame of the tablet. The finish also provides good friction and grip on the back and on the sides of the tablet, while still making it feel smooth in your hands. The aluminum alloy body makes this tablet very solid, and it is perfectly balanced with equal weight on each side.

Teclast Tbook 10 S

It is 8.7 mm thick and weighs 586 grams, and a positive feature is that the bezels are thinner than what is standard in this tablet category too, and I measured the bezels being between 12-13 mm wide around the display. It has a combined on/off or wake/sleep button on top, right next to the +/- volume rocker and, and it has the Windows Home button on the bezel.

It’s then equipped with a microSD card slot, a mini-HDMI port, a micro-USB 2.0 port, a 3.5 mm audio combo jack, a DC charge port (with a DC-to-USB charge port cable in the box), stereo speakers at bottom on each side in landscape mode, a smart discreet and hardly noticeable front facing mic, and a 2MP front camera.

These 2MP cameras tends to take grainy pictures, and this camera is no exception. It’s like it has a very high ISO. There is no size distortion of objects seen through the camera, the colors are generally accurate, and the video frame rate is good in video chat. It’s just that the overall picture quality could be better because it lacks sharpness and good contrasts, but I have seen worse cameras too.

The microphone pickup is between normal and good, maybe a bit better than average because of the smart location of the mic. The speakers are loud so the volume is good, but the sound quality that is produced is typical tablet speaker sound, with clear vocals but little bass of course.

The 10.1-inch screen on Teclast Tbook 10 S has a Full HD 1920 x 1200 resolution display with wide viewing angles. The screen is sharp, with clear and sharp text that is pleasant to read, and the colors are accurate, with not too much saturation and not too little either.

If used in strongly sunlight areas, either outdoors or in a bright room in a skyscraper with lots of sun coming in through large windows, then the screen could be a little brighter, otherwise I found it bright enough. The reflection levels are normal, and as demonstrated in the first image below, I also tested it with the sun shining directly onto 1/3 of the display, and as you can see, it hardly has any effect at all on the right side of the screen.

Teclast Tbook 10 S outdoors reflection test on snow and ice

The display has 10-point touch support, and the display responds to touches very well, while it also feels very smooth to touch and swipe. A new optional pen has been made for the 2017 model Teclast Tbook 10 S that is different than the pen for the non-S Teclast Tbook 10, but since it lacks palm rejection, I don’t see much point, unless you understand how it will behave then.

I can recommend the optional Teclast Tbook 10 S keyboard dock though. The Teclast Tbook 10 S keyboard has the same Champagne Gold color as the Teclast Tbook 10 S tablet, and this detachable keyboard is attached through strong magnets in combination with two supporting pins or columns to keep the tablet safely attached. The magnets in this attachment are so strong, that you can safely lift up the tablet with the keyboard hanging attached underneath, and the keyboard still won’t fall off. I don’t actually recommend holding it like that, but you can if you want to.

But despite that, it is still quick and easy to detach the tablet from the keyboard, by holding the keyboard lightly down while tilting the tablet off to the side. So that makes it a very friendly 2-in-1 tablet to use.

The keyboard also doubles as a stand, so you can turn the tablet around and attach it away from the keys of the keyboard, or place it “upside down” in tent mode, or put int in clipboard mode on top of the keyboard with the screen facing out, or even in vertical tent mode, and it will still be standing very firmly, with no chance of falling over. The hinges also have just the right amount of resistance to them to make sure of that. The data connectors between the tablet and the keyboard are gold plated pogo pins, and it has 4 anti-slip grip points under the keyboard, to prevent the keyboard from sliding.

Teclast Tbook 10 S keyboard

The Teclast Tbook 10 S keyboard also adds a full-size USB port on the right side, and it has a touchpad/trackpad with integrated left and right mouse click buttons on the bottom of the touchpad. And with the touchpad you get the Windows 10 touchpad gestures too, which all works on this keyboard.

The mouse pointer surfaces on the screen when you start using the touchpad, but disappears again if you start to touch the screen with your fingers. You can lock the touchpad to prevent accidental touches, and there’s even a Number Lock on the keyboard.

Even though the keyboard is a “10-inch keyboard”, compared to full-size keyboards, the difference in distance between the first row of QWERTY letter keys from the left side Q to the right side P, is actually only half an inch, or about 12 mm in total. The keys are very accurate, so typing and pressing the keys can be done with a lot of confidence. The keys on this keyboard are also more silent than average when you type.

The Teclast Tbook 10 S battery life comes in at 4 hours and 31 minutes in repeated tests, and the battery capacity is 6000 mAh. Charging the tablet is achieved the fastest through the 2.5A DC port, with a charging time of just under 3 hours. But you can also charge through the micro-USB port which will take a little bit longer.

To connect to the Internet, this tablet has Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi cover. The Wi-Fi bandwidth is normal at close range to the Wi-Fi router, but the download bandwidth tends to drop over longer distances. For an as of yet unknown reason, it affects the download bandwidth much more than the upload bandwidth on longer distances. So because of that, I am not sure where the issue is. I have notified Teclast, and I’m crossing my fingers for a hypothetical firmware update that can improve this. I will update this article if Teclast informs me later on.

There is a way around this in the meantime though, which would make the Wi-Fi even better than an optimal original, and that’s by opting for a small USB ac Wi-Fi dongle which starts at $10. USB ac Wi-Fi adapters comes in different sizes, and the smallest ones are just tiny 10 mm dongles. With an 802.11 ac Wi-Fi adapter, users get the fastest possible Wi-Fi anyway, so that would upgrade the tablet a lot, and it would improve both the Wi-Fi range and the bandwidth or speed up to maximum, provided you have ac Wi-Fi in your Wi-Fi router of course.

ConsPros– Wi-Fi bandwidth drop on long distances. – Battery life could be improved. – Grainy pictures from camera.– Good display. – High build quality. – User friendly and versatile. – Good value for money.

In conclusion, the Teclast Tbook 10 S gives a lot, either as a Windows tablet, Android tablet, Windows 10 2-in-1 tablet, or as an Android tablet with detachable keyboard – It can do all four categories, and it can run Microsoft Office an other work tasks in both Android and Windows, run large apps, edit files, do gaming, browsing, and social media, play movies, view and edit images.

Because of its capacities, it can be used as a proper computer, either as a budget computer or as an additional portable computer. And because of the price, it can be upgraded in the areas where it could improve, and still not cost much. A 10.000 mah power bank costs around $20 and would more than double the battery life. A USB ac Wi-Fi dongle starts at around $10.

– Tom Bowen

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[privateplates4u]

Exclusive 2018 Kia Stinger GT First Test: Well Stung

The concept of “grand touring” has been around for centuries, and the moniker has been applied to cars since the 1940s, but it’s a term we tend to associate with exotic sports cars. The formula, though, is pretty simple: stylish, comfortable on a long drive, and plenty of power. But there’s no rule that says it has to cost a fortune, and the Kia Stinger GT is absolutely taking advantage of this exception. We’ve driven prototypes at an overseas R & D complex, on a frozen Swedish lake, and on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Now, finally, we’ve driven a production-spec 2018 Kia Stinger GT on real roads and to our own Auto Club Speedway test track. How does it fare against the German luxury sedans against which it will undoubtedly be compared? Korean-branded cars usually aren’t synonymous with performance, but the rear-drive Stinger GT launches from 0 to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds and clocks the standing quarter mile in 13.3 seconds at 106.9 mph. An emergency stop from 60 mph requires 113 feet, and it’ll pull 0.85 average lateral g on a skidpad. On our exclusive figure-eight test track, the Stinger GT recorded a lap of 26.2 seconds at 0.71 average lateral g. Impressive numbers. It’s pretty good to drive away from the test track, too. Out in the mountains, the Stinger GT exhibits a surprising but intriguing combination of vertical compliance and lateral stiffness. Over bumps, the suspension was soft and the ride of luxury-car quality. In the corners, though, it was stiff with excellent body control. Even when pushing hard, the Stinger GT rode well but dug into corners with little body roll. The power is well-matched to the vehicle and only feels inadequate if you let the revs drop too low. You want those turbochargers working for you, and the best way to do it is to take advantage of the paddle shifters because the transmission isn’t quite aggressive enough for the really twisty roads. “The engine has a fat torque curve, strong in midrange with noticeable lag at the bottom end,” our staff professional racer, Randy Pobst, said during filming for an episode of Ignition—which you can watch right now at Motor Trend OnDemand and YouTube.com/motortrend. “Low revs mean calling ahead and waiting for the power to be delivered. The Stinger is quite powerful, and one must constantly remind oneself that this is a Kia that is tearing up this winding road or on-ramp.” Randy’s critique continued: “The transmission is just not sport-smart enough in automatic, especially on the track. It shifts up, so I just let it. There’s no reason for me to pull that paddle. I just have to remember to downshift on the way in, or else it won’t. The shifting is reasonable. It matches revs. It’s quick.” It’s hard to say whether the transmission programming has changed since I drove a prototype on the Nürburgring or if our mountain roads and the Streets of Willow Springs racetrack are so much tighter that it amplifies the transmission’s inadequacy, but my initial impressions were more positive. As well as we know the Stinger GT can drift in the right conditions, it doesn’t actually want to get wild out in the real world. The suspension tuning is conservative, the default behavior at the limit understeer. It makes the car very stable, never trying to swap ends no matter how hard you drive it. Thankfully, there’s a lot of grip in the front end, so you have to push it very hard to get it to plow. Just driving fast, it feels neutral. You need to be pushing your braking points to the last second and carrying as much speed as possible into a corner to make it cry uncle. Here again, I wonder if the American-market tuning increases understeer versus the European-spec car I drove. Or maybe Randy just carries that much more speed in the corners. It’s probably the latter. The upshot: You’ll never feel a stability control intervention. “What they’ve done is create stability control by tuning the car for a lot of understeer in the middle of a corner,” Randy said. That’s not to say it won’t drift. Turn the computer off, give it a Scandinavian flick and too much throttle, and it’ll do a nice power oversteer or two. It’s just not a hoon by nature. “It seems that the stability control is always learning and adapting,” Randy said. “Even with it turned off, it became more and more invasive as the day wore on, and the wheelspin and sliding woke up the nannies that watch over us hooligans. After a few nice drifts, the car began to resolutely resist power oversteer—a darned shame and frustrating.” In other words, this is a grand touring sedan that actually takes its GT badge seriously. Out on the highway, it’s everything you want on a road trip. It floats over bad pavement while remaining taut and responsive on long, sweeping corners. In a world of Demons and Hellcats, 365 hp might not seem like a lot, but it’s plenty when applied correctly. The in-house eight-speed auto is programmed smartly for real-world conditions, delivering downshifts with little prodding. With the revs up and the turbos spinning, the engine delivers a pleasant surge of power that whisks you past trucks and loafers. It’s a very easy and comfortable car to cover distance in. “The springs and shocks that control vertical motion are quite soft,” Randy said. “But transitional responses are quite well-controlled, likely by relatively strong anti-roll bars, and the ride is still quite compliant. Think ‘older Buick’ ride quality. Surprising for a sport sedan like this.” It’s not just comfortable from the driver’s seat, either. The Kia has 2 to 4 inches of wheelbase over the Germans, and it puts them to good use. There’s ample rear-seat legroom and, despite the sloping roof, headroom for tall people. The front seats, meanwhile, are aggressively bolstered so you can concentrate on those mountain roads when you cross their path. Capable though it may be from seat to steering, and despite testing it on the Nürburgring, Kia insists the Stinger GT isn’t a track car. We took it to a track anyway, and things got complicated. Kia’s press cars at the moment are all preproduction prototypes, and the first car they gave us suffered a power steering failure and had to be replaced. The second car, as it turns out, hadn’t yet had its U.S.-spec springs and dampers installed, and it exhibited considerably more body roll and understeer on the track than the first car. As a result, Randy posted a lap time—1:28.90—that he felt wasn’t representative of what the car could do. With a properly equipped car, Randy believes he could subtract a full second. Things that didn’t change on track: the car’s weight and its braking performance—113 feet isn’t anywhere near a record in our 60–0-mph braking test, but it only tells part of the story. Randy was continually impressed at the durability of the brakes. Throughout a very hot day, the pedal remained consistent, and the steel brakes refused to fade. “The brakes are impressively strong, with a consistent and firm pedal feel that inspires confidence,” he said. “The braking does not upset the chassis, and the pad compound can take the heat.” There will be heat, and not just from the brakes. The Stinger GT is taking on a wildly competitive segment ruled by a small in-crowd. Whether it’s staring down the German triumvirate or the American holdouts, the sport sedan from the value brand has a lot to prove. “For a first effort at a genuine sport sedan, the Stinger is quite an accomplishment,” Randy said. “It clearly is set up for a comfortable ride as a priority over race car dynamics, but in the real world, this makes sense. Even more so among buyers of a big, powerful GT car.” Like no Korean car before it, the Stinger GT speaks the language of the enthusiast. Will they listen? 2018 Kia Stinger GT BASE PRICE $40,000 (est) PRICE AS TESTED $50,000 (est) VEHICLE LAYOUT Front-engine, RWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan ENGINE 3.3L/365-hp/376-lb-ft twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve V-6 TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) 4,005 lb (52/48%) WHEELBASE 114.1 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 190.2 x 73.6 x 55.1 in 0-60 MPH 4.8 sec QUARTER MILE 13.3 sec @ 106.9 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 113 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 0.85 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 26.2 sec @ 0.71 g (avg) EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON Not Tested How does the Stinger stack up? How good are the Kia’s performance numbers for a 365-hp 3.3-liter twin-turbo V-6 with 376 lb-ft of torque and a roughly $40,000 starting price? They seem all right when you consider the Stinger GT falls between a midsize and full-size sedan in dimension and weighs 4,005 pounds. Making a direct comparison is trickier because it’s hard to say exactly what the Stinger competes with. The Chevrolet SS was the most obvious spoiler, but it’s out of production. It started at about $48,000, hit 60 mph in 4.7 seconds, ran a quarter mile in 13.2 seconds at 108.9 mph, stopped from 60 in 108 feet, pulled 0.94 g average on the skidpad, and posted a 24.7-second figure-eight lap at 0.78 g average. You could match it up with the Dodge Charger even though that car is 10 inches longer with a wheelbase nearly 6 inches longer, and it’s 300 pounds heavier. An R/T with the 370-hp 5.7-liter V-8 is cheaper by five grand, but the Kia will dust it everywhere but the skidpad and figure eight—and even then, it’s close. You need the $41,000 R/T Scat Pack with the 485-hp 6.4-liter V-8 if you want to win. And the Kia has a far nicer interior. No, Kia wants a piece of the Germans. After all, the Stinger GT has a hatchback like the smaller Audi A5 Sportback or BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe. (The more appropriately sized Audi A7 is $69,000, in case you were wondering.) The Audi A5 is $43,000 to start, and your only option is the 252-hp 2.0-liter turbo-four. Based on results of the lighter A4, it’s slower, but like the Charger, it just pips the Kia on the skidpad and figure eight. But it’s substantially smaller. The BMW is also smaller but can be had with a turbo I-6 with 320 hp for about $50,000. Based on our test of the lighter 340i sedan, the 440i Gran Coupe is slower than the Kia, full stop. Mercedes-Benz doesn’t make a hatchback sedan (yet), but to smoke the Kia, you’d need to spring for the $54,000 C43 AMG, which clips the Kia in every test but is, again, a smaller package. In other words, the Kia can hang with the big dogs and might have carved out a pretty sharp niche.The post Exclusive 2018 Kia Stinger GT First Test: Well Stung appeared first on Motor Trend.

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