TL;DR: Turn ideas into full-length books with AI—lifetime access for just $49. Writing a book takes time—something most of us don’t have between inbox chaos and back-to-back meetings. But what if all you needed was an idea? That’s where YouBooks steps in. This AI-powered tool helps you generate full-length nonfiction books with just a few prompts, and right now, you can lock in lifetime access for $49 (reg. $540). YouBooks pulls from several top-tier AI models, like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and combines them with live web research to build out detailed, structured manuscripts up to 300,000 words. Whether you want to write about productivity, startup culture, parenting, or personal finance, feed in your topic and let the AI do the heavy lifting. Why is Youbooks for you? 150,000 credits per month (1 word = 1 credit) Downloadable formats: PDF, DOCX, EPUB Commercial rights so that you can sell, share, or publish your books Custom style options to match your tone or brand It’s a serious time-saver if you’ve been sitting on an idea forever or want to build a content empire without writing every word yourself. Plus, unlike many AI tools, YouBooks gives you full ownership of the content you create. Snag a lifetime subscription to YouBooks for $49 and start turning your thoughts into fully formed nonfiction books: no ghostwriters, no subscriptions, and no gatekeepers. Youbooks – AI Nonfiction Book Generator: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: AdGuard’s Family Plan can block ads, shield your PC from malware, and restrict inappropriate content for kids for only $15.97 (reg. $169.99) with code FAMPLAN. Privacy solution: Your digital life deserves anonymity and security, and with AdGuard, you can shield your data from trackers, activity analyzers, and other bad actors. Block ads: Tired of ads ruining your streaming or browsing experience? This tool rids your device of every type of ad to give you a more enjoyable experience. It’s also compatible with both Android and iOS operating systems and can be used to protect up to nine devices at once. Shields your devices from malware and phishing sites to keep those and your personal information safe. For those with kids, AdGuard offers parental controls to ensure they can only view or access content that’s appropriate for them. One-time payment: Once you pay for AdGuard’s Family Plan, you’ll never have to pay another fee again for around-the-clock protection. You’ll even get constant updates and new improvements as you use AdGuard. Ready to take charge of your digital privacy? Grab lifetime access to the AdGuard Family Plan for just $15.97 (reg. $169.99) when you enter coupon code FAMPLAN at checkout. AdGuard Family Plan: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

ChatGPT is rapidly changing the world. The process is already happening, and it’s only going to accelerate as the technology improves, as more people gain access to it, and as more learn how to use it. What’s shocking is just how many tasks ChatGPT is already capable of managing for you. While the naysayers may still look down their noses at the potential of AI assistants, I’ve been using it to handle all kinds of menial tasks for me. Here are my favorite examples. Further reading: This tiny ChatGPT feature helps me tackle my days more productively Write your emails for you Dave Parrack / Foundry We’ve all been faced with the tricky task of writing an email—whether personal or professional—but not knowing quite how to word it. ChatGPT can do the heavy lifting for you, penning the (hopefully) perfect email based on whatever information you feed it. Let’s assume the email you need to write is of a professional nature, and wording it poorly could negatively affect your career. By directing ChatGPT to write the email with a particular structure, content, and tone of voice, you can give yourself a huge head start. A winning tip for this is to never accept ChatGPT’s first attempt. Always read through it and look for areas of improvement, then request tweaks to ensure you get the best possible email. You can (and should) also rewrite the email in your own voice. Learn more about how ChatGPT coached my colleague to write better emails. Generate itineraries and schedules Dave Parrack / Foundry If you’re going on a trip but you’re the type of person who hates planning trips, then you should utilize ChatGPT’s ability to generate trip itineraries. The results can be customized to the nth degree depending on how much detail and instruction you’re willing to provide. As someone who likes to get away at least once a year but also wants to make the most of every trip, leaning on ChatGPT for an itinerary is essential for me. I’ll provide the location and the kinds of things I want to see and do, then let it handle the rest. Instead of spending days researching everything myself, ChatGPT does 80 percent of it for me. As with all of these tasks, you don’t need to accept ChatGPT’s first effort. Use different prompts to force the AI chatbot to shape the itinerary closer to what you want. You’d be surprised at how many cool ideas you’ll encounter this way—simply nix the ones you don’t like. Break down difficult concepts Dave Parrack / Foundry One of the best tasks to assign to ChatGPT is the explanation of difficult concepts. Ask ChatGPT to explain any concept you can think of and it will deliver more often than not. You can tailor the level of explanation you need, and even have it include visual elements. Let’s say, for example, that a higher-up at work regularly lectures everyone about the importance of networking. But maybe they never go into detail about what they mean, just constantly pushing the why without explaining the what. Well, just ask ChatGPT to explain networking! Okay, most of us know what “networking” is and the concept isn’t very hard to grasp. But you can do this with anything. Ask ChatGPT to explain augmented reality, multi-threaded processing, blockchain, large language models, what have you. It will provide you with a clear and simple breakdown, maybe even with analogies and images. Analyze and make tough decisions Dave Parrack / Foundry We all face tough decisions every so often. The next time you find yourself wrestling with a particularly tough one—and you just can’t decide one way or the other—try asking ChatGPT for guidance and advice. It may sound strange to trust any kind of decision to artificial intelligence, let alone an important one that has you stumped, but doing so actually makes a lot of sense. While human judgment can be clouded by emotions, AI can set that aside and prioritize logic. It should go without saying: you don’t have to accept ChatGPT’s answers. Use the AI to weigh the pros and cons, to help you understand what’s most important to you, and to suggest a direction. Who knows? If you find yourself not liking the answer given, that in itself might clarify what you actually want—and the right answer for you. This is the kind of stuff ChatGPT can do to improve your life. Plan complex projects and strategies Dave Parrack / Foundry Most jobs come with some level of project planning and management. Even I, as a freelance writer, need to plan tasks to get projects completed on time. And that’s where ChatGPT can prove invaluable, breaking projects up into smaller, more manageable parts. ChatGPT needs to know the nature of the project, the end goal, any constraints you may have, and what you have done so far. With that information, it can then break the project up with a step-by-step plan, and break it down further into phases (if required). If ChatGPT doesn’t initially split your project up in a way that suits you, try again. Change up the prompts and make the AI chatbot tune in to exactly what you’re looking for. It takes a bit of back and forth, but it can shorten your planning time from hours to mere minutes. Compile research notes Dave Parrack / Foundry If you need to research a given topic of interest, ChatGPT can save you the hassle of compiling that research. For example, ahead of a trip to Croatia, I wanted to know more about the Croatian War of Independence, so I asked ChatGPT to provide me with a brief summary of the conflict with bullet points to help me understand how it happened. After absorbing all that information, I asked ChatGPT to add a timeline of the major events, further helping me to understand how the conflict played out. ChatGPT then offered to provide me with battle maps and/or summaries, plus profiles of the main players. You can go even deeper with ChatGPT’s Deep Research feature, which is now available to free users, up to 5 Deep Research tasks per month. With Deep Research, ChatGPT conducts multi-step research to generate comprehensive reports (with citations!) based on large amounts of information across the internet. A Deep Research task can take up to 30 minutes to complete, but it’ll save you hours or even days. Summarize articles, meetings, and more Dave Parrack / Foundry There are only so many hours in the day, yet so many new articles published on the web day in and day out. When you come across extra-long reads, it can be helpful to run them through ChatGPT for a quick summary. Then, if the summary is lacking in any way, you can go back and plow through the article proper. As an example, I ran one of my own PCWorld articles (where I compared Bluesky and Threads as alternatives to X) through ChatGPT, which provided a brief summary of my points and broke down the best X alternative based on my reasons given. Interestingly, it also pulled elements from other articles. (Hmph.) If you don’t want that, you can tell ChatGPT to limit its summary to the contents of the link. This is a great trick to use for other long-form, text-heavy content that you just don’t have the time to crunch through. Think transcripts for interviews, lectures, videos, and Zoom meetings. The only caveat is to never share private details with ChatGPT, like company-specific data that’s protected by NDAs and the like. Create Q&A flashcards for learning Dave Parrack / Foundry Flashcards can be extremely useful for drilling a lot of information into your brain, such as when studying for an exam, onboarding in a new role, prepping for an interview, etc. And with ChatGPT, you no longer have to painstakingly create those flashcards yourself. All you have to do is tell the AI the details of what you’re studying. You can specify the format (such as Q&A or multiple choice), as well as various other elements. You can also choose to keep things broad or target specific sub-topics or concepts you want to focus on. You can even upload your own notes for ChatGPT to reference. You can also use Google’s NotebookLM app in a similar way. Provide interview practice Dave Parrack / Foundry Whether you’re a first-time jobseeker or have plenty of experience under your belt, it’s always a good idea to practice for your interviews when making career moves. Years ago, you might’ve had to ask a friend or family member to act as your mock interviewer. These days, ChatGPT can do it for you—and do it more effectively. Inform ChatGPT of the job title, industry, and level of position you’re interviewing for, what kind of interview it’ll be (e.g., screener, technical assessment, group/panel, one-on-one with CEO), and anything else you want it to take into consideration. ChatGPT will then conduct a mock interview with you, providing feedback along the way. When I tried this out myself, I was shocked by how capable ChatGPT can be at pretending to be a human in this context. And the feedback it provides for each answer you give is invaluable for knocking off your rough edges and improving your chances of success when you’re interviewed by a real hiring manager. Further reading: Non-gimmicky AI apps I actually use every day

TL;DR: Get a lifetime license for Microsoft Office Pro 2021 and Windows 11 Pro for just $54.97 (reg. $418.99). If your PC is still running outdated software—or worse, you’re still paying monthly fees for essential tools—it’s time for an upgrade. For just $54.97, you can score a lifetime license to both Microsoft Office Professional 2021 and Windows 11 Pro. No subscriptions, no surprises—just the full suite of premium productivity tools and a modern OS to run them on. This version of Office gives you everything you need to work smarter—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, Access, OneNote, and Teams. It’s perfect whether you’re crunching spreadsheets, building out a pitch deck, or just trying to keep your inbox from eating you alive. Seriously level up your system with Windows 11 Pro—a sleek, secure OS that’s built for multitasking, content creation, and business use. From Snap Layouts to integrated Teams and advanced security like BitLocker and Hyper-V, it’s everything your daily grind demands. Whether you’re running a small business, freelancing, or managing a side hustle, this bundle gives you the backbone your digital world needs—permanently. Pick up the Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows + Windows 11 Pro Bundle on sale for just $54.97 (reg. $418.99). The Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License + Windows 11 Pro BundleSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Run Windows apps on your Mac without rebooting—Parallels Desktop is $59.99 (reg. $99.99) for a limited time. Running Windows on your Mac used to be a hassle; full reboots, clunky partitions, and hoping Boot Camp wouldn’t break your system. However, there’s a smarter way. Parallels Desktop for Mac gives you the power to run Windows, Linux, or other operating systems alongside macOS with zero reboots. Parallels creates a virtual machine on your Mac, letting you install and use another operating system just like you would on a real computer. That means you can run Excel, Access, or other Windows-only programs without switching devices or juggling complicated workarounds. Compatible with both Intel and Apple M-series chips, Parallels also includes over 30 handy tools, such as video converters, file organizers, and screen recorders. It supports macOS Sequoia 15 and runs optimized Windows 10 and 11 environments. This is a big upgrade over Boot Camp. There’s no need to reboot your Mac to access Windows. You can drag and drop files across systems, copy and paste content between apps, and keep all your productivity tools in one place. Whether you’re a developer testing across platforms or want to play a Windows game on your Mac, Parallels makes it easier, cleaner, and way more efficient. Download a 1-year Parallels Desktop subscription now for just $59.99 while it lasts. Parallels Desktop for Mac: 1-Year Subscription (Standard Edition)See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

If the (hang on, let me count) 16 different Lego sets in my office alone are any indication, then PC gamers and Lego fans have a big overlap in the middle of their Venn diagram. Alienware knows this, and has released an official, adorable set that lets you recreate an Area 51 gaming desktop in miniature. According to the promotional page, the set is made of authentic Lego bricks. I assume the company is sourcing them wholesale, since the packaging doesn’t have any Lego logos on the box. It’s 5.3 inches (13.2 centimeters) long and contains 318 bricks. But it’s a pretty cool little kit, replicating the exterior features of the case and a nicely detailed rear panel, with a transparent window showing off the motherboard, CPU, GPU, and even some tiny round pieces that stand in for cooling fans. There are even some piping elements that show off liquid cooler lines going to the “radiator.” Dell If you want one, you’ll need to engage in a little band loyalty. The Dell subsidiary isn’t selling the kit on its own, instead exchanging it for 3500 Alienware Reward Points (ARP). You can earn ARP by installing the Alienware Arena app and competing in various challenges and community activities. It doesn’t look fun, frankly, and I’d rather just send Dell $30 for a teeny-tiny gaming desktop kit. Alternately, if you’ve got a shoebox full of spare Lego parts like I do, you could just throw together your own. There are plenty of examples to choose from out there.

TL;DR: Block all ads on nine devices with AdGuard’s Family Plan on sale for $15.97 (88% off) through July 20. Ads are the internet equivalent of mosquitos at a summer picnic. They’re annoying, follow you everywhere, and they literally suck. Pop-ups that try to get under your cursor, banners that block half your screen, and those unskippable video ads that plague YouTube… It sounds like you need a good ad blocker. AdGuard works on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices, and you only have to pay once to block ads on nine of them for life. It works best on browsers, and verified reviewers confirm that it blocks ads on YouTube, which seems worth the price alone. But AdGuard doesn’t just block ads. It also protects you from trackers, activity analyzers, malware, and even shady phishing websites (these are the culprits behind ads that know what you were just shopping for). It even has parental controls, so you can keep your children safe from the wild west of the internet. Don’t let ads suck the fun out of the internet. Use code FAMPLAN by July 20 at 11:59 p.m. PT to get an AdGuard Lifetime Family Plan for $15.97. AdGuard Family Plan: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Accounting can be costly, but small business owners can now score pro-level accounting tools with a one-time payment of $250 for Intuit QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus 2024. For small business owners seeking a reliable and cost-effective accounting solution, Intuit QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus 2024 is now offering a lifetime license for a one-time payment of $249.99 (reg. $699). This version provides robust features designed to streamline your business’s financial management without the burden of recurring subscription fees.​ Let’s dive into what QuickBooks comes with to simplify your accounting needs: Enhanced reporting: Access advanced reporting tools, including custom dashboards and reports, to gain deeper insights into your business finances.​ Inventory management: Track inventory with improved reports and manage stock more efficiently to prevent shortages or overbuying. Data security: Your business can become vulnerable to bad actors, which is why QuickBooks has AES 256-bit encryption—the industry-leading security standard—to ensure your financial data is protected. User-friendly interface: Navigate through an updated and intuitive interface, all designed to make it easy to manage your business accounting tasks.​ With a lifetime license, you’ll never need to pay for a pesky subscription again. This version is optimized for Windows 10 and 11, so be sure that your PC’s operating system meets download requirements before purchasing. Whether you’re a freelancer, contractor, or small business owner, you can streamline your finance management by grabbing this Intuit QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus 2024 lifetime subscription, now available for $249.99 (reg. $699) while supplies last. Intuit QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus 2024 (1 User) for Windows: Lifetime LicenseSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

You know those color LED light strips that sync with the images on your TV screen? I’m not a fan. They’re eye-catching, sure, but they’re also distracting (especially when they’re not working properly, which happens frequently), they mess with the perceived picture color, and they’re expensive.  There’s a far better and cheaper way to boost the picture on your TV, and as a bonus, you’ll be easing the eye strain that comes from watching a bright image in a dark room. This product—the Scenic Labs LX1 Bias Lighting strip—is one I’ve been using for years, and I swear by it.  Yes, it’s still a light strip, but instead of the fancy color-syncing variety, it’s a white-light LED strip that’s tuned to 6500 Kelvin, the same daylight color temperature used as a reference by TV calibrators, video professionals, and filmmakers.   Instead of putting on a dazzling light show, this “bias” light strip shines dimly but steadily, at a brightness that’s roughly 10 to 15 percent of the maximum brightness of your TV screen. With the brightness set just right, you’ll barely notice the light at all during, say, a Netflix binge-watching session. But the faint glow of the LED strip is there, and it does a few key things.   A properly calibrated 6500K LED bias strip gives off a faint glow, but offers big benefits.Ben Patterson/Foundry First, because it’s tuned to 6500K (assuming you pick a light strip that’s been properly temperature tuned), the colors on your screen will look more natural. For video pros, 6500K is considered the standard for “white,” and they use it when color-grading their creations. So with a faint 6500K glow behind your TV, the colors on your screen have a better chance of appearing the way the filmmakers intended. Conversely, the garish color shows served up by picture-syncing LED light strips will distort your perception of the picture.  Second, a properly tuned 6500K light strip can do wonders for the perceived contrast of your TV images, especially if you own a non-OLED TV. The pale halo from the strip will make dark or gray areas on the screen appear darker than they would in a pitch-black room (you can read more about this effect here), giving you a quasi HDR-type boost. The effect won’t be as dramatic on an OLED TV, which already has terrific contrast ratios. But on an older LCD TV, a LED light strip could provide an instant and inexpensive contrast upgrade.  It only takes a few minutes to attach the LED strip to the back of your TV.Ben Patterson/Foundry Finally, a white-light LED light strip can reduce the eye strain that comes with watching a bright image in a dark room for lengthy periods. By boosting the light in the room just a tad, the faint LED glow eases the contrast between your overall dark surroundings and the bright screen, thus giving your pupils a break and avoiding eye strain symptoms like soreness, watery eyes, blurred vision, and headaches.  The Scenic Labs LX1 Bias Lighting strip (which, besides being my personal choice, is also a TechHive’s Editors’ Choice) can be ordered directly from the company at prices ranging from $26.95 (for a one-meter strip) to $51.95 (for six meters). That’s a little pricier than the LED lights strips you’ll find on Amazon, but this model is known for its color accuracy, and it’s been serving me well for three years without any hiccups.  That said, there are cheaper options available on Amazon, including this 6500K light strip from Govee for about $30 (16.4 feet).   Either way, I highly recommend an LED bias light strip for any TV owner—and by the way, they work great with PC monitors, too (I have a couple in my office). 

When it comes to flash drives, there are a few things to take into consideration: capacity, speed, and compatibility. That last one is a problem with the growing prevalence of USB-C because there just aren’t that many good USB-C flash drives around. But right now, you can get the Samsung Type-C flash drive for only $18 on Amazon! You’re getting 128GB of storage space for the price of a couple fancy coffees, which is pretty impressive when you look at the big picture. As the name suggests, this one has a USB-C connector so you can plug it into your laptop, smartphone, tablet—nearly any modern device. It’s also fast, with transfer speeds up to 400 MB/s. When you need to quickly back up files or move them between devices, this is the one to rely on. And it’s super compact, too. You can slip it into your pocket and forget it’s there. The sleek design looks great, but it’s also robust with a cap that protects the connector and a sturdy build that’s waterproof, dustproof, shockproof, magnet-proof, X-ray-proof, and good to use even in extreme temperatures. Oh, and it’ll survive drops and bumps. Snag your very own 128GB Samsung USB-C flash drive for next to nothing on Amazon while you can. Need more capacity? The other sizes are also on sale, including the 256GB version for $27 (was $35) and 512GB version for $50 (was $65). It’s up to you and how much you’re willing to spend for how much space you think you’ll need. Buy now at Amazon

The shooter genre sometimes feels oversaturated with games that, like Battlefield and Call of Duty, only recognize serious campaign scenarios and lean far into gritty realism. This makes titles like the Borderlands franchise, which doesn’t take itself too seriously and is simply meant to be fun escapism, all the more refreshing. Even more refreshing than the Borderlands games? Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, a 2022 spin-off that swapped out the familiar sci-fi planets and repetitive missions with a creative fantasy setting. Here you don’t fight against the usual Borderlands opponents but against goblins, skeletons, dragons, and other fantastical monstrosities. The ingenious thing about Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is that it wrapped itself up in a Dungeons and Dragons-esque plot in which the crazy Tiny Tina is in charge as she completely changes the rules of the game (or the surrounding levels). If you want to try it out, you can grab it from the Epic Games Store for free and keep it forever. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands normally costs $59.99, but it’s been three years since its release and you may not want to pay full price anymore. It’s still worth playing, though, especially if you can snag it for free like you can right now. This offer is good for about a week. Don’t miss your chance to get it for free At the time of its release, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands received very good ratings and was particularly impressive for its colorful setting, which feels like a good round of D&D with friends. The levels and missions are imaginatively designed and provide plenty of variety. The humor is completely over the top and not for everyone, but the popular loot shooter mechanics of the Borderlands series is carried over and keeps you motivated to play just a bit longer, collect just a few more weapons, and kill just a few more enemies. If you fancy Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, all you have to do is log in to the Epic Games Store and grab the game by June 5th. Once added to your library, you can keep it forever.

For years, Notepad has existed as a bare-bones text editor. No longer. Microsoft keeps adding to it, including a new update that includes capabilities that you might have expected in another Windows application, WordPad. Microsoft said Friday that it is adding “lightweight formatting” in Notepad, including markdown input and file support, but also bold and italic fonts and even hyperlinks. They’re all accessible via a new toolbar that includes these new formatting options. Microsoft didn’t indicate that it is testing the new Notepad or offering these features in preview, so presumably these updates will arrive on your Windows PC soon. Two things seem to be going on here. In late 2023, Microsoft killed off WordPad, the rich text editor that served as a poor man’s alternative to Microsoft Word. (There’s a way to bring WordPad back, but you’d need access to an older version of Windows where WordPad still existed.) Traditionally, Notepad has been the Windows answer to a light text editor that coders can use or write in, although more sophisticated alternatives like vim exist. It seems that Microsoft is adding more features to try and help those users, while moving towards a WordPad replacement. Microsoft, meanwhile, is bringing the Edit app to Windows as well. Edit is an open-source app that was basically designed as a command-line interface, or CLI, and Microsoft specifically references how obtuse vim was to use when it announced it. Either way, by beefing up Notepad –heck, even with Copilot! — and adding the Edit option as well, Windows is offering a number of lightweight CLI and text-editing interfaces without bloating the operating system even further.

TL;DR: Save big with this sleek, refurbished MacBook Air (2017) for only $199.97—limited-time deal, includes free shipping. Not everyone needs the latest MacBook that costs more than a month’s rent. If you’re looking for a sleek, reliable laptop that still packs a punch without ruining your budget, this refurbished Apple MacBook Air 13.3″ (2017) is your new best friend. For just $199.97, you get the real deal—1.8GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 128GB SSD, and Intel HD Graphics 6000. Whether you’re working, studying, streaming, or casually online-shopping for things you don’t need (no judgment), this Mac handles it all. The 13.3″ display is bright and clear, battery life stretches up to 12 hours, and yes—it’s light enough to toss in your bag and forget it’s even there. This MacBook is Grade A/B refurbished, which means it may have some minor scuffs or dents; however, it has been fully tested and is ready to use. Perfect as a travel laptop, get this refurbished Apple MacBook Air while it’s still available for just $199.97 (reg. $999) with free shipping. Apple MacBook Air 13.3″ (2017) 1.8GHz i5 8GB RAM 128GB SSD Silver (Refurbished)See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

When you’re working remotely, you might sometimes get caught out with no way to charge your laptop on the go. Thankfully, you never have to worry about that again if you have a proper laptop power bank—like this one by Baseus that’s only $51 on Amazon (was $100). You’ll need Prime for this deal, but if you aren’t a member, you can always sign up for a free 30-day trial of Prime to unlock this price plus other perks. The Baseus Blade is a no-brainer when you can snag it for nearly half off its original price. It’s faster than your typical power bank with 100W of charging output, and it has a large 20,000mAh capacity so it can fully recharge your laptop from zero to full and then some. Want to use it with your smartphone? It can recharge it nearly four times. And the Blade is super-thin at just 0.7 inches thick and super-light at about 1 pound, so you can slip it into any bag next to your laptop and won’t notice it. You’ll find four total ports on this power bank—two USB-A and two USB-C, with the USB-Cs able to reach 100W each while the USB-A are limited to 30W. If you use multiple ports at once, the total charging power will get split up between them. Fortunately, the handy digital display shows you exactly how fast each port is charging at any given time, along with how much charging power it has remaining. I have the second edition of the Baseus Blade and love it quite a bit, but mine is smaller and slower than this one. If I could do it again, I’d get this one instead now that it’s the same price. Take advantage of this Prime deal and get the Baseus Blade for $51! If you don’t have Prime yet, grab a free Prime trial to score this awesome price. Buy now at Amazon

I’ve been reading ebooks on Kindles for close to 15 years now, swapping them out every so often when newer and better versions come out. Throughout that time, I’ve tried all sorts of Kindle cases to protect my precious. But it wasn’t until last year that my reading experience got leveled up in an entirely new way with one simple $15 buy. I’m talking about a Kindle case with a built-in elastic hand strap. Yes, yes, I know—it sounds unremarkable. Trust me, I was skeptical of it for a long time myself. But once I gave it a try, suddenly all of my “reading yoga” became a lot easier. No matter what weird position I ended up in, I could still grip my Kindle and read comfortable. Gabriela Vatu / Foundry Sometimes I put my whole hand through the strap, other times I just hook a finger through it. Either way, it works. The beauty of this case’s design is that the strap goes straight down the middle, so I can use either left or right hand without issue. I’ve seen other cases where the strap is off to one side, but I like the flexibility in switching hands when I want to. Honestly, of the many Kindle cases I’ve tried over the years, they mainly focus on protecting the screen than maximizing my comfort as a reader. And guess who ends up dropping her Kindle on her face more often than she’d like to admit? Me, that’s who. The built-in hand strap seems like a small thing, but the impact has been huge for me. Okay, so why not use a clip-on elastic hand strap that you can put on and take off on demand? How is a case with a built-in strap better? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s an example of one such grip belt that I’ve used with my Kindle before: Gabriela Vatu / Foundry These are actually pretty great! You can position them however you want, whether diagonally across the device or down the middle. But in order for the straps to stay in place, they need tension, right? What I noticed is that when I put my hand through it, the hooks press into the sides of my Kindle, and even though they’re only plastic, they caused marks and imprints—not acceptable to me, especially with a pristine device. I also want to mention that there are Kindle cases with built-in kickstands AND hand straps, but I don’t like them for two reasons. First, the kickstand usually adds extra weight and that’s more of a net-negative to my reading comfort. Second, the kickstand usually pushes the strap to one side or the other, whereas I prefer my strap down the middle. So, I think I’ve found my ideal Kindle case—and it only cost me $15 on Amazon. It’s one of the best Kindle upgrades I’ve ever made, and it has transformed my reading comfort more than I ever expected. If holding your Kindle while you read is a pain, try out this case! Buy this Kindle case on Amazon

Traditionally, PC graphics cards have included two types of ports: DisplayPort and HDMI. Now, they may be adding a third: Thunderbolt. Sparkle showed what it called “Project Thundermage” this year at Computex, a prototype OPC graphics card that put HDMI, DisplayPort, and a pair of Thunderbolt ports onto the same graphics card. The tell, however, was the partner: Intel, whose “Battlemage” Arc GPUs were paired with the Intel “Barlow Ridge” Thunderbolt 5 controller. To date, graphics cards have taken advantage of either the latest DisplayPort or HDMI ports, which both offer the bandwidth necessary for gaming-class displays — such as in the graphics card above, which isn’t from Sparkle. Meanwhile, displays with integrated USB-C ports were typically paired with laptops with Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 ports for laptop docking stations: perfect for productivity, but lacking support for the high-refresh-rate displays normally associated with gaming. Thunderbolt 5, however, alters that equation. Thunderbolt 5 offers 80Gbits/s upstream, and even 120Gbits/s in certain cases. That’s enough for both high-resolution content creation as well as high-speed gaming, provided that manufacturers support it. It’s not clear whether display makers will be willing to add yet another port to their displays, but Intel partner Sparkle is obviously making the case that it could. Videocardz, which noted a @akiba_ten_M’s photo showing off Sparkle’s booth, notes that Thunderbolt’s integrated power delivery could be used to power external displays, too. That seems less likely, but certainly could be a way to reduce the cost of an external display.

TL;DR: Master important tools with 246 hours of expert-led training with this on-sale 2025 Microsoft Tech Certification Training Super Bundle for just $79.99 (reg. $429). Whether you’re chasing that next promotion, eyeing a new role, or just tired of Googling how to troubleshoot Teams meetings, there’s never been a better time to sharpen your Microsoft skills. The Complete 2025 Microsoft Tech Certification Training Super Bundle is now available for just $79.99 (reg. $429)—and yes, you get lifetime access to all 11 courses. That means you can level up your career with 246 hours of instructor-led content, whenever you have time. This isn’t one of those “watch and forget” online courses—these are in-depth, certification-aligned training modules covering Microsoft’s most in-demand platforms and tools. The bundle includes top-tier prep for certs like Managing Modern Desktops (MD-101), Microsoft 365 Identity & Services (MS-100), and Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure (AZ-204). You’ll also dig into Microsoft Teams, Power Platform, Exchange Online, and a whole lot more—whether you’re in IT, systems admin, or cloud engineering. Perfect for IT pros, aspiring administrators, or anyone responsible for tech infrastructure, this bundle helps you stay current in a Microsoft-powered workplace. Better still? You don’t have to blow your budget on bootcamps or subscriptions. Get the Complete 2025 Microsoft Tech Certification Training Super Bundle while it’s available for just $79.99 (reg. $429). The Complete 2025 Microsoft Tech Certification Training Super BundleSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Score a compact, travel-ready touchscreen Chromebook for just $79.99 (reg. $284.99) — perfect as a backup, second device, or portable sidekick. You probably don’t want to bring your $1,000 laptop on a plane just to stream Netflix or answer emails at 38,000 feet. That’s where the Lenovo 300E 11.6″ Touchscreen Chromebook comes in—compact, lightweight, and surprisingly capable for just $79.99 (reg. $284.99). Whether you’re looking for a reliable backup, a travel companion, or a laptop for casual use, this refurbished Chromebook covers all the basics. It has 4GB of RAM, a 32GB SSD, and a zippy Intel N3450 quad-core processor. This is a Chromebook that doesn’t try to be everything—it just does the things you need, well. Think: checking emails, writing docs, watching videos, joining video calls, or making sure your kid gets through remote learning without hijacking your work laptop. Even better? It ships free and won’t wreck your budget. That makes it perfect for tossing in your carry-on or using as a backup at home. Get the refurbished Lenovo 300E 11.6″ Touchscreen Chromebook for $79.99 (reg. $284.99) plus free shipping for a limited time. Lenovo 300E 11.6″ Touchscreen Chromebook (2018) 4GB RAM 32GB Storage (Refurbished)See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.

I freakin’ love bone conduction headphones, which keep my ears open so I stay alert to traffic while I’m walking, or bears while I’m kayaking, or far more frequently, fellow shoppers when I’m stomping around the grocery store. Today Shokz’ newest, most advanced design, the OpenRun Pro 2, is $60 off at Best Buy. That brings the final price down to $119.99. This blue-and-gray colorway is actually a Best Buy exclusive, but lacks any kind of branding (aside from, well, Shokz), so I don’t feel weird wearing it. I’ve been using the OpenRun Pro 2 for the better part of a year. I love the clearer mids and deeper bass than my previous, cheaper pair, and unlike some other bone conduction headphones, these recharge via USB-C so you don’t need to pack a separate cable. They’ll pair with multiple Bluetooth devices at once, just like all modern headphones. They also last a lot longer than some previous designs at 12 hours, and combined with a sleek, lightweight body and some water resistance, they’re great for workouts. I’ve dunked mine in Lake Wallenpaupack and the Delaware River (not exactly intentionally, ahem), and they’ve survived to tell me more audiobook tales. Best Buy is selling this exclusive color both on its own site and via its eBay account. I’d hop on it quickly, these headphones are popular, and this discounted blue-and-gray set might not last long. View Deal

When you’re in a hurry and shoving charging cables into your bag, you risk them getting damaged or tangled. That will never be an issue again if you grab this retractable Baseus USB-C cable that’s only $9 on Woot right now—a stunning 55% discount (was $20). Baseus made an amazing cable for anyone who hates worrying about their cables getting snagged on random crap. This one automatically winds itself up in its protective casing, so it takes up less space and avoids unwanted snags and doesn’t get tangled. This thing is only 3.3 feet long, but that’s enough for most needs. Sure, you might want a 6-footer when you’re lounging in your bed and plugged into the wall, but for any other time, this length is perfect. And with it supporting up to 100 watts of charging power, this cable can fast-charge any phone or laptop (as long as you have a power bank or wall plug that’s capable of pushing that much wattage). At $9, this retractable Baseus USB-C cable is a no-brainer impulse buy. And with this being a Woot deal, you can even score free shipping if you have Prime. But it’s only available for the next few days—or until stock runs out—so don’t wait. Order now before it expires! Buy now via Woot