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Gaming laptop deals have been pretty dire in recent months (to say the least), but every now and again I spot a listing that's worth the cash. That's the case today with this RTX 5070 Ti-equipped MSI Vector 16 for $1,399 (was $1,749) at Walmart.

If you've got a bit of cash to spend on a new laptop, then this MSI Vector is definitely worth keeping on your list. It's been a while since I've seen a machine with such a graphics card for so cheap, although there are a few caveats.

First, you only get 16GB of RAM, which is somewhat expected given the price. The second trade-off is that you only get a 512GB storage drive.

It's the storage drive that's the most galling omission here, although I'd be willing to sacrifice a bit of space to get such a powerful graphics card at this price. You're essentially trading the ability to have a ton of games installed at once for better in-game performance. Personally, I don't think that's too bad.

Vector 16 gaming laptop: was $1749 now $1399
Graphics card: RTX 5070 Ti
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 512GB

If you're looking for the maximum possible performance per dollar, check out this MSI Vector 16 at Best Buy this week. At just $1,399, this machine is easily one of the cheapest I've ever seen to feature a high-end RTX 5070 Ti graphics card. On top of that, you're also getting a decent Intel Core Ultra 7 chipset - although you will have to settle for 16GB of RAM and a rather meagre 512GB SSD. View Deal

• See more: check out all of today's gaming laptop deals at Walmart

Even with 16GB of RAM, I'd pick this MSI Vector 16 over similarly priced RTX 5060 and RTX 5070 machines on the market currently.

The RAM will likely bottleneck your performance in some games, but a machine with an RTX 5070 Ti and 16GB of RAM should still outpace a machine with an RTX 5060 and 32GB of RAM. For one, the RTX 5070 Ti features 12GB of VRAM versus the rather meagre 8GB on the RTX 5060. Again, I think the lack of RAM is an acceptable trade-off to secure the RTX 5070 Ti at this particular price.

• Apple's latest iOS update has been found to undermine NordVPN's anti-phishing tool
• The feature that causes the issue, Connectivity Assist, is turned on by default as part of the update
• According to NordVPN, the issues could have been prevented

Apple's new iOS 27 operating system update is undermining NordVPN’s anti-phishing tool, leaving users exposed to privacy vulnerabilities, the VPN has warned.

Connectivity Assist, a Wi-Fi Assist feature included in Apple’s twentieth operating system release, conflicts with NordVPN’s real-time protection, preventing it from working properly, the provider has found.

What’s worse? The tool is enabled by default, meaning users may not even know. What's more, other privacy tools on your phone may also have been compromised.

Connectivity Assist optimises your Wi-Fi connection by supplementing slow or unreliable Wi-Fi connections with mobile data, detecting connection issues, and redirecting requests to your mobile operator’s DNS servers instead.

However, when NordVPN’s anti-fraud protection blocks a phishing site, Apple may also interpret the failed connection as a Wi-Fi issue and switch to mobile data—outside the VPN’s protection—thereby compromising the functionality of the NordVPN tool.

The only option currently available to ensure full protection is to disable Connectivity Assistant, so it can’t switch to mobile data when real-time protection blocks a website.

Alternatively, you can choose only to enable real-time protection when using a VPN by disabling NordVPN’s ‘always on’ option - but this still leaves them unprotected when using mobile data - just now by choice.

“People are being made to choose between two things they shouldn't have to choose between, and there's no good way for us to fix it,” Laura Tyrylyte, Head of Public Relations at NordVPN, tells TechRadar.

Could Apple have helped resolve these issues before the release? Perhaps, according to the VPN representative. “Apple knew the feature interferes with DNS-based filtering before it shipped,” Tyrylyte notes. “Their own support page tells people running an ad blocker to switch Connectivity Assist for that network. Somebody spotted the conflict, it just didn’t get fixed.”

Users of Pi-hole, Firewalla, and other DNS-based filtering tools had previously reported the same behaviour, and Cloudflare's WARP also stopped blocking malicious sites following the update, NordVPN stressed.

Apple engineers have suggested alternative solutions in the forums, but these only work if users configure the DNS settings themselves, notes Tyrylyte.

“Deciding to treat deliberate filtering as a failed connection is a choice somebody made. They could have written it the other way: if a user-installed DNS service decides to resolve or block the query, leave that judgement alone,” Tyrylyte adds.

“Instead, the problem got handed to users, who now need to end up fielding the support tickets for something we can’t change,” she stresses.

NordVPN states that this is not the first time a change made by Apple to the network has compromised a security feature on iOS, with the VPN having to inform users.

In 2023, Apple’s VPN API contained vulnerabilities that disrupted NordVPN operations. “Both times users ended up having to pick between an Apple feature and their own protection, and both times Apple was the only one who could have prevented that,” Tyrylyte says.

“Apple makes the call, and we find out what the call was when the release lands, she stressed.

Whoever’s responsibility this is, one thing is for certain: it is users who stand to pay the highest price when tools quietly stop working. And reporting the issue in the press as a solution seems a poor substitute for preventing the problem in the first place.

Apple is yet to respond to a request for comment.

• Adobe Premiere on Android has officially launched
• The free video editing app adds easy 4K video editing, AI, and more
• I checked out how the app runs, what you get, and if it really does offer 'effortless editing' for creators

What works: Easy edits, unlimited 4K exports, clean interface, loads of templates, quick generative AI

What doesn't: Limited free AI tokens

Adobe Premiere for Android has arrived - finally, since Apple users got this app almost exactly a year ago. The mobile editing app is promising to deliver 4K video for content creators, alongside a slew of other tools including templates and AI generation (did you ever doubt it?).

Like most of Adobe's mobile apps, Premiere is free to download from the Google Play Store, although you'll need a subscription for extra AI generations and storage.

The upshot is, I've been keen to try out this Android app for a long time now, so here's what you can expect after I spent an hour dabbling with it on my Fairphone.

This new Adobe Premiere app is specifically designed for Android phones, including foldables. According to Adobe, you'll need a device running Android 13 or later, with a minimum of 5GB RAM.

The app serves up a host of useful tools for content creators, including 4K video, simple-to-use templates for speeding up production, multi-track timeline editing, music and audio effects, and generative AI for image and video.

One of the high-points, as far as I'm concerned, is that it has no ads and exported videos are watermark-free.

A lot of 'free' mobile video editors could learn from this. There are no added intros and outros promoting Adobe either. So you can basically start creating video for social channels immediately. You can read the full write-up in Adobe's blog here. But is it any good? Here are my thoughts...

I spent the last hour toying with Adobe Premiere to see whether it lives up to the promise of creating "stand out edits to share on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook."

Spoiler alert: It's good stuff. A responsive app that's worth checking out if you need a free video editor that does everything I'd expect it to do. Especially if you have a paid Adobe account for those extra AI generations.

Adobe Premiere on Android feels very clean, very sensibly laid out. That's a relief, because often I find Adobe's user interface to be unintuitive as a result of too many features. A phone screen is the last place you want to combat that.

Along the top of the screen are shortcuts for the main functions. This includes 'New from files' and 'Create for YouTube Shorts', as well as AI generations tools 'Image to video' and 'Text to video'. Once you start editing, your most recent projects can be found below this.

Under those key tools are a ridiculous number of templates for quickly spinning up videos - notably, there are ones designed specifically for YouTube, with "exclusive music and effects."

All in all, it's very simple to jump into the timeline and start creating.

Editing video is incredibly straightforward. It's not laggy or clunky like I've seen with some mobile apps.

In fact, I was impressed how responsive it was overall, even with relatively larger video files. Helpfully, there are undo and re-do buttons sitting beneath the large preview window. An absolute godsend when editing on a phone.

Once you have a clip loaded on to the timeline, double-tapping the video brings up the handles for trimming. There's a Plus sign for adding (or generating) more clips. And you can select from a range of transitions with the tap of a button.

Running along the bottom of the screen are options to add text and audio, modify aspect ratio. I particularly liked this, because inside the frame options are logos, letting you know which ratio is suitable for which platforms.

You do get access to a limited number of free tokens for AI image and video generation.

And when I say limited, I mean it. It's not very generous, and Firefly eats through them. I managed to squeeze out a single 4-second 720p clip before I needed to upgrade (or rather, sign into my main account).

Still, the generation itself works well, and it's relatively quick. Functionally, it's exactly what you'd get if you were using Adobe Firefly in your browser, or the Premiere desktop app.

I like that you can define the first and last frames of a video, generate in 720p and 1080p resolutions, change the duration, and opt to add audio. But to really make the most of this part of the app, a paid subscription is essential.

Super-simple, this one. When you're done editing, tap the ever-present Export button in the upper-right corner. You're then able to either export direct or tweak the settings.

Those settings include changing the resolution (720p, 1080p, 4K), the frame rate, between 24 and 60fps, and quality (low, medium, high).

Once you've got it set, Adobe Premiere offers an estimated file size, which is a nice touch. I exported a 17-second video at 4K in highest quality. The 106.5MB video took 34 seconds to complete. I then had the option to share via the usual channels.

The Android spin on Adobe Premiere is actually very good - although I'll be keen to put it under the full review process. But it's very easy to use, and the 4K res video export without watermarks is excellent.

The real catch is the laughably small AI generation limit. Unless you're a paid subscriber, I'd swerve those and use it strictly as an editor for your own clips. On that score, it delivers everything I'd expect from a free video editor for your phone.

• Where to get it: You can grab Adobe Premiere on Android free from the Google Play Store here

The R1 isn’t Bambu Lab's first venture into laser engraving; of course, we first saw the small-capacity engraver in the H2D, which enabled, with the cutter and 3D printer, a full range of manufacturing tools in one not-so-small machine. The R1 is something altogether more serious and much closer to machines such as the xTool P2 that I've previously tested.

It's also an important machine for Bambu Lab and shows them expanding further into the growing maker space. The R1 is the company's first dedicated product outside 3D printing and is based around a 55W CO2 laser rather than a diode; the H2D utilised diode lasers. Using CO2 rather than diode laser technology lets the machine work with a wider range of materials, most notably clear acrylic and glass, while also providing considerably more cutting power; most diodes currently top out at 40W, although several far more powerful heads exist.

However, as with Bambu Lab’s entrance into the 3D print market, the machine technology and market aren’t new, and plenty of other players already exist. xTool, LaserPecker, Glowforge and Creality have already demonstrated how far enclosed desktop laser cutters have progressed in recent years. Five years ago, many of the smaller laser engravers I looked at were open-frame machines that required assembly and considerably more caution, to the point where I will no longer cover them. These days, fully enclosed machines are really where the technology is at, and there are some great options at very reasonable prices.

While there are plenty of machines in the sector, this is Bambu Lab, and with their first laser, they also bring much of the knowledge of 3D printing with them, along with their own approach to automation.

The R1 handles focusing, material positioning and optical alignment, with cameras, lasers and encoders helping the machine understand where the material is and where the toolhead is moving. On paper, this looks great because it will speed up workflows; however, it was only during testing that I realised what a difference it can make.

I've been using the R1 for around three weeks, mostly cutting 3mm basswood ply and acrylic, but also testing MDF, leather, paper, ceramic, glass, coated metal, and plenty of irregular wooden objects. What I have found during that time is that the hardware is exceptionally polished, and while Bambu Suite is good, it still has some catching up to do to realise its and the machine's full potential.

The Bambu Lab R1 launches at $2,499 in the US direct from the company site and £2,249 from the UK site. Pre-orders start on September 22, 2026 and shipping scheduled to begin in October.

The short-focus lens is included. The Riser Base, Conveyor, Rotary attachment, medium- and long-focus lenses, Vision Encoder, E1 Pro Air Purifier and Auto Fire Extinguishing System are optional extras.

Laser technology: 55W CO2
Working area: 600 x 300mm
Working area with Conveyor: 600 x 3000mm
Maximum speed: 1,000mm/s
Maximum acceleration: 20,000mm/s²
Positioning accuracy: < 0.2 mm
Absolute motion accuracy: < 0.1 mm across 600mm with Vision Encoder
Dimensions: 940 x 560 x 200mm
Weight: 33.5kg
Maximum input power: 780W
Software: Bambu Suite
Supported OS: Windows, macOS
Connectivity: Dual-band Wi-Fi, USB
Laser safety: Class 1 in standard enclosed configuration
Short-focus spot: 0.11mm
Medium-focus spot: 0.17mm
Long-focus spot: 0.19mm
Maximum cutting capacity: 18mm black walnut with medium/long-focus lens; 20mm acrylic.
Standard lens: Short-focus
Supported cutting/engraving materials: Wood, acrylic including clear acrylic, leather, fabric, paper, EVA foam and shell
Engraving materials: Glass, ceramic and coated metal
Optional accessories: Riser Base, Conveyor, Rotary, medium/long-focus lenses, Vision Encoder, E1 Pro Air Purifier and Auto Fire Extinguishing System.

Unpacking the box, and having already checked the specifications before the machine arrived, I was surprised the packaging was smaller than expected. It still required two of us to manoeuvre the box into the workshop, but once unpacked and at 33.5 kg, I could lift and position it with little issue. It’s still heavy, but looking at the slight curve that’s left in the desk from the previous test, it's not quite as heavy as the previous 3D printer that took up the space.

The weight and, for that matter, the size are actually very manageable, and with a footprint of 940 x 560mm, the machine was able to sit on the standard section of the 60cm-deep workshop bench. While the main machine sits quite happily in that space, you’ll also need to consider venting and leave enough vertical clearance to open the lid.

Once in position, the R1's design is unmistakably Bambu Lab. The finish is superb; everything feels properly manufactured rather than assembled from off-the-shelf laser components, and I was pleased to see the machine arrived largely configured; I just had a few small setup procedures to follow before I could start.

As with all engravers, the first job was to attach the exhaust to the filter, and in my setup this was paired with the optional E1 Pro filtration system. You also need to fill the cooling reservoir with distilled or de-ionised water.

The instructions suggest adding antifreeze if you live in a colder climate. My workshop can drop below 5°C during winter, so I filled the system to the -10°C protection mark. Once I removed the transport restraints and checked the interior, the R1 was ready to power on.

The initial startup takes roughly 30 seconds before calibration begins. The automated self-check and initial calibration took around half an hour. Once that completes, you can then run the laser alignment procedure, and this is the first sign that this laser is something a little different.

Unlike the more manual approach of other CO2 lasers, here all you need to do to calibrate is to lift the small cover on the toolhead, then attach the supplied Laser Alignment Sensor, which clicks into place magnetically. Select the alignment function from the touchscreen, and the R1 handles the rest. The complete process took me approximately five minutes, including fitting and removing the sensor.

That's longer than Bambu's roughly one-minute claim for the alignment operation itself, but from my perspective there was virtually nothing to do. Then inside, there are a few removable slats that help to support the material that is placed within.

These are all easy to reposition, but again I would have liked more of them, although there are a few more than when I looked inside the LaserPecker LX2 in my recent review. The main issue is that small cut pieces can fall between the gaps, and for detailed work I still prefer a proper honeycomb bed, which I used for most of the review.

Around the machine, things are similarly clean. The exhaust and main power connection are at the rear, while Air Assist is integrated. Accessory connections sit on the side, alongside USB, and an easily accessible emergency stop is included. Unusually for a laser engraver, it has a small touchscreen, which is extremely useful. Most laser cutters force almost every operation back through the computer. Having direct access to machine functions makes the R1 much easier to use.

A look through the specifications, and the first thing to note is that this is a 55W CO2 laser; at present, there are only a few CO2 laser engravers at this price aimed at the enthusiast and small-business sector, and the only real competition is the xTool P2.

Inside is a very decent 600 x 300mm working area, which, from my testing, is large enough for most projects; if you need to go larger, there is an optional conveyor. Based on my testing of the base unit alone, I found I could place two standard 300 x 300mm basswood sheets side by side, which was useful when cutting multi-part models, such as the flower box and an RC boat I’m partway through. If you need longer than 300mm, the Conveyor enables working lengths of up to 3000mm, but you are still limited to the 600mm width.

After reviewing all the information, Bambu Lab is keen to highlight the Auto Laser Alignment. This is because, in the past, this process has been very hands-on with other machines, as a CO2 laser relies on mirrors to direct the beam through the machine, and those mirrors need to remain aligned.

On most machines, these mirrors are pre-calibrated, but they do occasionally need recalibration, which can be time-consuming; here, however, that process is fully automated with motorised mirror actuators and an alignment sensor.

For design placement accuracy on materials and tight measurements, the machine uses a TriSense system. This combines the BirdsEye Camera, Toolhead Camera, Pinpoint Laser, distance-measurement laser, and XY encoders to locate material, measure its surface, and monitor movement.

During testing, I accidentally put this to the test when I made an error importing a cutting design and left the paths set as lines rather than cuts. I ran the job, removed the basswood from the machine and only then realised the mistake. Normally, that could easily mean starting again.

Instead, I put the sheet back into the R1, used the camera view to align the cutting paths with the lines already engraved into the material, changed the operation to Cut and reran it. The cuts followed the previous lines accurately, with no obvious signs of the mistake.

When it came to small objects, the positioning was equally impressive. I placed pre-cut objects such as placemats around the work area, positioned the artwork through Bambu Suite, and achieved results very close to what I had on screen.

Alongside the hardware is the Bambu Suite software, which offers plenty of functionality, and I found it to have good overall stability when working on macOS, but the workflow isn't yet as fluid as the hardware deserves.

Importing a DXF, for example, involves selecting Open Image, when Open File would make considerably more sense. Once you import a design, you can assign Cut, Line, and Fill operations. Then you move into Prepare, where you set up the machine and material.

This separation isn't always convenient. If you realise you've assigned the wrong operation later, changing it isn't as immediate as right-clicking the object in the earlier screen.

Capturing the work area also requires you to enter the preparation workflow. During testing, I occasionally found the workspace remained blank until I selected Measure and ran through the capture procedure again. On the Mac version, I also occasionally saw a ghost of the previously captured image underneath the current one. However, none of this stopped me from working.

After a couple of days, the workflow logic did make sense, and after three weeks I could move through jobs quickly, although I still didn’t feel that the workflow was as fluid as it could have been. Material profiles cover most common materials, while manual control gives you plenty of flexibility when experimenting with less conventional materials and objects.

I started the test with the setup process, and while this was straightforward, there was a little to-and-fro with attaching vents and making sure the filter vent was routed outside. I then had to fill the machine with distilled water and antifreeze before running through the calibration processes, which all took around an hour.

Starting the tests, I focused on using 3mm basswood ply; this is for a couple of reasons: it's a common material used by crafters, model makers, and many small businesses. Second, I’m familiar with how it reacts under lasers and the initial results I should expect. As I started the process, the Bambu Lab philosophy that I’ve seen with their 3D printers started to become obvious.

One of my standard initial tests is a flower-box project. I imported the design, detached individual components and rearranged them across two 300 x 300mm basswood sheets to make better use of the material. I tried the auto layout, but because I hadn’t regrouped the paths, the design scattered across the work area. Undoing the mistake didn’t work, so I had to reload the design.

Once I’d re-laid out the design over the two sheets, I hit the Make button, and then the main button of the machine the R1 started the process of engraving and cutting, and with decent speed that I seen with other CO2 engravers. The complete model took around 10 minutes to cut across those two sheets, and the result was close to perfect.

However, there was one issue. Once the pieces were cut free, the smaller parts dropped between the support slats, and a couple of scorch marks appeared where they fell into the laser's path. Moving the slats closer helps, but this is where a honeycomb grid should really be used.

After several impressive results in basswood ply, I then produced the same flower-box design in acrylic. This took considerably longer at around 29 minutes, but the finish was exceptional, one of the best results I've achieved with this particular cutting plan in acrylic. The use of this material is one of the reasons that you would want to go for a CO2 laser over a conventional diode laser.

I also pushed the R1 beyond thin sheet material, testing materials ranging from lightweight paper through to 16mm MDF; in the case of these materials I tended to opt for the manual control so that I could get the best possible cut, and I was pleased to see it was possible to save down the settings as presets.

In the engraving tests, I used leather, ceramic, coated metal, and glass. Across those materials, the CO2 source's added power and flexibility became apparent, especially compared with the smaller diode engravers I've used.

Through the test, the raw cutting power was impressive, and by slowing the engraver down and maxing out the power, I was able to cut through an 18mm sheet of ply. However, the positioning accuracy is what has really impressed me.

For small objects, the position shown in Bambu Suite and the finished engraving were exceptionally good. Once I'd grouped individual elements of a design correctly, the automatic positioning tools made batches of pre-cut objects far easier, although I was equally as impressed by the xTool and Creality machines that I’ve looked at recently in this respect.

Curved-surface engraving, however, was one up from what I have experienced before as it was easy to set up and use. Essentially, I can place something such as a bowl or piece of timber into the R1, select curved-surface machining, and manually check that there's enough clearance for the toolhead.

The machine then measures multiple points across the object to gauge the changing surface height and generates a height map. I could then position the artwork and run the job the same way I would on a flat sheet.

I tried this with curved wooden objects, including a log, and the resulting lines stayed clear and focused as the surface height changed. There is a bit of physical interaction involved. The lid needs to be raised and lowered as the R1 works through parts of the measurement process, and an automated lid would make the experience even slicker.

Bambu Lab may be arriving relatively late to the dedicated desktop laser market, but the R1 doesn't feel like a first attempt. After three weeks of use, what stands out isn't just the 55W CO2 laser; it’s that Bambu Lab's formula has been applied, which means it looks great, is easy to use, and produces great cuts and engravings.

The automatic optical alignment seems to do its job and removes some of the more complex maintenance tasks that come with owning a CO2 laser. Then there's the TriSense system that makes positioning objects and designs easy, and the curved-surface measurement procedure just works exceptionally well.

I even felt that the material presets were spot on, enabling me to get excellent results without spending the first afternoon with the machine producing endless power-and-speed test grids. Something I’m all too familiar with.

The physical design is excellent and weight and size means it sits perfectly in the workshop with teh 600 x 300mm work area enabling enough rooom for most of the jobs that I would want to do on this style of machine.

Bambu Suite does, however, need more work. I'd like quicker access to camera capture, a more fluid transition between design and preparation, clearer terminology, and a few interface bugs ironed out. I'd also like more support slats in the actual machine, or preferably a honeycomb bed that was supplied with the machine and not an optional extra.

Also, on the interior, a little more headroom would have been nice, but then you can use a raiser, but that or the use of the conveyor changes the machine from a class 1 to a class 4.

The R1 has been designed to be part of the Bambu Lab ecosystem and is designed for makers who are already invested in Bambu. Putting laser engraving and 3D printing together at scale does provide a solid base for personal manufacturer and it is exciting.

For small businesses, workshops, model makers and serious crafters, this is a fast, accurate and unusually easy to use CO2 machine.

Value:

Premium price, but with serious production capability

4

Design:

Considering the size of the work area it's relatively compact and exceptionally solid

4.5

Features

Automation brought over from 3D printing makes complicated jobs simple.

5

Performance

Excellent cuts and detail with superb positioning and minimal scorching

5

Total

Exceptional CO2 cutter, software needs some workflow issue resolving.

4.5

You already 3D print
Pairing the R1 with a Bambu 3D printer creates an exceptionally flexible workshop for combining printed components with wood and acrylic.

Accuracy really matters
Camera positioning, surface measurement and automatic alignment make placing detailed engravings onto pre-cut and curved objects remarkably straightforward and repeatable.View Deal

Space is limited
The R1 is compact for its capacity, but at 33.5kg with extraction and filtration, it still requires a proper workshop setup.

You want simplicity
The hardware is exceptionally polished, but Bambu Suite's current workflow requires some familiarisation and could still benefit from further refinement.View Deal

For more crafting tech, I've tested and reviewed all the best 3D printers and the best laser engravers.

With the price of the new Mac mini M6 skyrocketing compared to previous editions, we've been looking out for Windows 11 alternatives to Apple's mini PC. And the Beelink SER8 is one of the most stylish we've tested. You get some serious desktop performance here, in a 5.3x5.3-inch chassis only slightly larger than the Mac mini.

• Best for: Anyone who wants a powerful desktop PC for productivity or creative work but would rather have a compact machine that takes up very little desk space.

• The deal: The Beelink SER8 with 32GB RAM and a 500GB is $769 at Amazon. The 32GB/512GB model is $779 (was $929) at Best Buy.

• Why it matters: This mini PC is about $100 cheaper than the new Mac mini M6 base configuration, but just as stylish and performance-driven. You get an eight-core Ryzen 7 8745HS processor with 16 threads and Radeon 780M integrated graphics, alongside plenty of upgrade potential and support for three external displays. A USB4 port allows you add an external graphics card for creative workloads, too.

SER8 Mini PC: $769
Beelink's mini PC combines an eight-core Ryzen 7 8745HS processor, Radeon 780M graphics, 32GB DDR5-5600 RAM, 500GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, Wi-Fi 6, 2.5Gbps Ethernet and triple-display support in one compact PC.View Deal

• The Beelink SER8 with 32GB RAM and 512GB SSD is now $779 (was $929) at Best Buy

The Ryzen 7 8745HS CPU delivers boost speeds up to 4.9GHz, giving the SER8 enough processing power to handle most tasks. There's plenty of scope for upgrading with two memory slots and support for up to 256GB of DDR5 RAM and up to 8TB of SSD storage.

In his four-star review, our expert Mark said it was "a classy small system ideal for those needing processing power (or even AI)" and that "Beelink makes some excellent mini PCs, and the SER8 is another in a long line of high-quality products from that brand. The enclosure's engineering delivers styling and refinement that even Apple would admire."

At $769, the price at Amazon is the cheapest we've seen - although for an extra $10 you get 512GB storage buying from Best Buy. It's a case of whether that's right for you out of the box, since the SER8 does let you expand storage up to 8TB anyway.

For alternative options look at our roundups of the best mini PCs and this week's best mini PC deals.

✅ Buy the Beelink SER8 mini PC if...

You want solid performance without taking up a lot of desk space. The Ryzen 7 8745HS, Radeon 780M graphics and 32GB DDR5 RAM make it suitable for demanding tasks. You can replace the memory and add considerably more internal storage if required.

❌ Skip the Beelink SER8 mini PC if...

You need a dedicated graphics card for demanding 3D workloads. The Radeon 780M is capable integrated graphics, but it isn't a substitute for a powerful discrete GPU.

• Pensacola fishermen pulls large unidentified military drone from the Gulf
• The aircraft surfaced only miles from Eglin’s extensive military testing zones
• Authorities recovered the drone without publicly identifying its origin or mission

A Pensacola-based fishing charter pulled a large military-style drone from Gulf of Mexico waters over the weekend, surprising both crew and onlookers.

Hot Spot Fishing Charters discovered it during a routine six-hour trip roughly 15 to 30 miles offshore from Pensacola Beach.

Authorities arrived later that same day and retrieved the aircraft, though details about the recovery process itself remain largely unavailable to the public.

The waters near this stretch of coastline sit close to Eglin Air Force Base, one of the largest military test ranges nationwide.

That base oversees restricted airspace and offshore zones used for trials of advanced weapons systems, including hypersonic missile technology in recent years.

The exact model of the drone remains unconfirmed, though local station WEAR-TV suggested the aircraft resembles an MQM-172, a drone flown for weapons testing and aircrew training.

The delta-wing shape of that platform also resembles Iran's Shahed-136 strike drone, a design widely recognized for its distinctive triangular silhouette.

Such resemblance likely explains why a civilian fishing crew would pause and take a closer notice of an unfamiliar aircraft floating offshore.

WEAR-TV described the discovery only as a large drone pulled from Gulf waters, providing little additional identifying information beyond that.

A brief video clip, shared widely across social media platforms, shows crew members hauling the large aircraft aboard their vessel.

The charter company regularly runs six- to eight-hour offshore excursions, giving anglers access to waters far beyond the immediate coastline.

Those extended trips routinely place crews within range of restricted military zones tied to ongoing weapons trials and training missions.

Eglin's long association with cutting-edge programs, including hypersonic missile trials, adds extra intrigue to any unexplained hardware found nearby offshore.

No agency has issued a public statement claiming the aircraft or explaining how it drifted into civilian waters.

Regulations at Eglin explicitly bar small unmanned aircraft systems from operating within the base's land reservation and its surrounding boundaries as well.

Aircraft used for weapons testing sometimes conclude their operational service in open water, particularly following live-fire exercises conducted offshore near the base.

Whether this particular drone came from a specific Eglin program or another branch's testing effort remains an open question for now.

Investigators have not confirmed whether the aircraft drifted naturally with Gulf currents or was intentionally released during a recovery attempt.

Images circulating online appear to show visible damage along the fuselage, consistent with an extended period spent adrift at sea.

Residents have expressed curiosity about whether similar recoveries might happen again given the area's ongoing military testing activity.

It usually takes days or weeks for government officials to comment on unexplained hardware recovered along the Gulf coastline, especially when it's military.

Via Gadget Review

• The US could have a 157,000 shortage of semiconductor and microelectronics workers by 2030
• International chip makers are reportedly bringing in workers as a temporary measure
• Worker salaries aren't the issue, but competition with other sectors might be

New analysis from the SEMI Foundation has revealed the US could face a shortage of up to 157,000 semiconductor and microelectronics workers by as soon as 2030.

This shortage will likely cover all manner of jobs, right from semiconductor engineers to supply chain workers and maintenance staff, putting immense pressure on the sector at the very time that it needs all the resources it can get.

Speaking with CNBC, Samsung semiconductor EVP Jon Taylor declared that the company is "concerned" because it's not seeing enough technical workers coming through the US pipeline.

Only 3% of US engineering graduates enter the semiconductor industry every year, the report warns, with nearly three in four (73%) semiconductor companies reporting significant difficulties recruiting engineers.

The ongoing AI boom, and especially America and the Trump administration's push for more domestic manufacturing and AI processing, are accentuating this shortage of workers. According to McKinsey, semiconductor sales growth during the first six months of 2026 reached its highest year-on-year rate since the mid 80s, with revenue surpassing the trillion-dollar mark.

Numerous high-profile companies are also working on expanding their US footprints despite the clear strains. Samsung itself reportedly expects to create around 3,500 new jobs from two fabs at its Taylor, Texas site, however it's unclear with how much success it will fill them given news about recruitment struggles.

Micron, SK Hynix, TSMC and Intel are also opening new manufacturing facilities, per the CNBC report.

However, the report also reveals that both Samsung and SK Hynix are bringing in workers from South Korea temporarily to offset some of those US struggles.

Despite low uptake, these roles typically fetch some pretty attractive salaries. SEMI's figures put typical US semiconductor compensation around $127,000 to $187,000, with some senior roles exceeding $238,000.

Ultimately, it's clear that companies are willing to pay the right compensation to attract workers, so the issue lies elsewhere.

And it could be cross-sector competition that's making jobs at other companies more attractive – semiconductor workers are also great fits for software, AI and aerospace, per the report.

In the meantime, hyperscalers are increasingly prepared to remind us that investments in new campuses also go hand-in-hand with local training opportunities, college funding and upskilling. But with the impacts of those schemes unlikely to be seen for many years, it's likely that many US semiconductor roles could remain unfilled in the meantime.