AVIRA PRIME

It’s time for the world’s biggest tech companies to take responsibility

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO O n e of the reasons

The A-List

The best products on the market, as picked by our editors

Readers’ comments

Your views and feedback from email and the web

Star letter

Crunch time for Windows 10

Coming next month

ON SALE Thursday 6 March 2025

It’s time for a zero-trust approach to “news”, argues the very real Jon Honeyball

I t was a watershed moment. I’m not

WordPress the nuclear button

CEO’s aggressive behaviour is shaking confidence in the web publishing giant

Microsoft: let them eat AI

Microsoft 365 price bumped to accommodate Copilot

Ofcom’s inflation ban backfires

Regulator’s new rules could lead to higher broadband bills for consumers

Could Hopcast cure net energy guzzling?

Device-to-device transfers may slash net energy grab

A light switch moment for smarter energy

Tewke founder reveals to PC Pro how he’s building a smart grid in the home

The pod people have landed

The changing fortunes of technology can be looked at exactly like the rise and fall of civilisations, and now is the time of the podcast

AI can make art, but it’s more fun when people do

A tech CEO reckons composers hate playing instruments so much that they’d give it up in favour of AI, but that doesn’t quite ring true

Big tech firms have no values

The rush to throw money at Trump underlines the uncomfortable truth that technology lives in a moral vacuum

Readers’ poll

Do you listen to podcasts?

BEST LAPTOPS OF CES 2025

PLUS 44 OTHER RELEASES

NVIDIA AT CES 2025

Jensen Huang’s keynote at CES 2025 didn’t disappoint, but it was only when we saw live demos using the new Nvidia cards that we appreciated what the company had achieved

Be more productive with focus sessions

Tame distractions and get things done: Nik Rawlinson takes a close look at focus features in Windows and other platforms

Video formats decoded

Want to know your QuickTime from your HEVC? Darien Graham-Smith demystifies the popular video-sharing formats and codecs

Acer Swift 14 AI (Intel)

Not the greatest multitasker, but long battery life, thin design and a good-quality screen lift its appeal

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel)

The 16in OLED panel and speakers are real strengths, making this an attractive choice for the price

Acer Swift Go 14 AI (Qualcomm)

Excellent battery life and a colourful 14.5in screen can’t hide all the sacrifices Acer has made to hit a price

Honor MagicBook Art 14 (Qualcomm)

An innovative camera setup marks out this slim and speedy laptop – if only it was on sale in the UK

How we test

Laptops and PCs We put PCs

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition Gen 9 (15in, Intel)

Not the most exciting laptop, but this affordable Copilot+ PC has great stamina and a neat trick or two

Raspberry Pi 5 16GB

The Pi 5’s power now comes with RAM to back it up, but the price means only diehard fans should buy it

Intel Arc B570 and B580 Graphics

Battlemage architecture has turned Intel Arc cards into solid mid-range alternatives to AMD and Nvidia

DJI Flip (RC-N3)

A great-value, lightweight drone that captures detailed 48MP stills and records gorgeous 4K/60fps footage

Acer PD3 Series

Two really is better than one when it comes to portable screens, but there’s no denying the PD3 Series’ bulk

DRAYTEK TRIED, TRUSTED & RECOMMENDED

When it comes to building a wireless network that PC Pro readers trust, DrayTek has over a decade’s worth of trophies in its award cabinet

Top new routers from DrayTek

DrayTek provides professional-grade routers, access points, switches and

Your bonus software

Total value this month £230

HTC Vive Focus Vision

A top-quality headset for VR gaming on a PC, but when you’re paying this much you deserve more

Xreal One

Thinner frames and a new spatial processor make the Xreal One tempting despite the price

OnePlus 13

If you’re after the best-value flagship phone you can get, this superb allrounder is the answer

OnePlus 13R

Not as cheap as the Pixel 8a, but battery life and overall performance make it a strong choice at this price

Amazon Echo Show 21

Amazon’s biggest and fastest smart display, with Wi-Fi 6E and the built-in Fire TV adding to its allure

THE SUITE SPOT

BEST SECURITY SUITES vs BEST FREE ANTIVIRUS

Security suites vs free antivirus: how to decide

The great thing about internet security software is that it’s easy to try before you buy – and if you’re after simple protection, there’s no need to spend a penny

BITDEFENDER TOTAL SECURITY

Focused on malware protection and not bloated with pointless features, a low price makes this a winner

McAFEE+ ULTIMATE

Going well beyond virus protection, this expensive suite comes with a range of identity protection services

NORTON 360 DELUXE

A strong performer in tests, but most people will be better off buying Avira’s or Norton’s retail alternatives

SOPHOS HOME PREMIUM

Sophos provides decent protection, but it’s the fully functional remote web interface that impresses

Best free antivirus (and more)

Don’t want to pay for a security suite? No problem: here, we round up the best free options and extra tools to keep you safe

AVAST ULTIMATE

Avast Ultimate will keep you safe, but make sure you buy it anywhere except directly from Avast

ESET HOME SECURITY ULTIMATE

Excellent antivirus and VPN performance, with identity protection a bonus, but that’s reflected in the price

F-SECURE TOTAL

Reliable malware and identity protection, even if it’s a little twitchy about false positives

G DATA TOTAL SECURITY

G Data provides competent protection that won’t surprise you with second-year price hikes

K7 ULTIMATE SECURITY

K7 Ultimate Security makes it appear that it’s protecting you against far more than it is, and we find this deceptive

MICROSOFT DEFENDER ANTIVIRUS

Windows’ built-in virus protection does the job, but more effective options are available

TOTALAV ANTIVIRUS PRO

Decent value in the first year, but its renewal fees are wildly overpriced for its limited feature set

How we test

We get hands-on with every product in the

View from the Labs

Is it a security suite with a VPN or a security suite with antivirus?

2025 guide to network-monitoring software

Predict and fix failures before they happen, and keep your business working smoothly, with the best network-monitoring software around. Dave Mitchell puts four products to the test

AdRem NetCrunch Professional 15

Fast deployment, smart dashboard views and plenty of features make NetCrunch a solid choice for SMBs

Park Place Technologies Entuity 22

A wealth of monitoring features presented in a well-designed web console with simple licensing plans

Progress WhatsUp Gold 2024

A great-value choice, with heaps of network-monitoring tools and a highly informative web console

SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted Essentials

A big bundle of monitoring tools wrapped up in a smart web console, with greatly simplified licensing plans

EnGenius ECW526

A good-value cloud-managed business Wi-Fi 7 AP with plenty of features and an impressive turn of pace

Qnap TS-433eU

Minimal upgrade potential, but this affordable NAS delivers plenty of features in a remarkably small chassis

Conquer the storage blues

As data stacks up, every business needs a storage strategy. Steve Cassidy looks at ways to manage your megabytes

Wi-Fi 7f or business

Should you be upgrading to the latest wireless standard? Steve Cassidy explores the benefits – and the limitations

“As a product test lab that specialises in technology such as Wi-Fi, it’s important that we’re at the bleeding edge”

Expert advice from our panel of professionals

“I think of myself as the Artful Bodger, a grubby-faced urchin that picks the pockets of OEMs”

After acquiring faulty parts, a PC repair shop hopes that the repair economy will be more profitable than setting fire to the cash in the till

“No-one is losing their life over infosec decisions and no-one should be losing their head”

Don’t be daunted by the rapidly changing face of the security landscape – learn from those who climbed the southwest face of Everest instead

“What if someone had got through the iOS defences? What if my iPhone was spying on me?”

Davey responds to Elon Musk and answers the “Am I Secure?” question that, it seems, is worrying so many iPhone users

“The Russians have rediscovered the art of dragging the seabed for cables and cutting them”

The recent assaults on undersea cables that make the internet work open up questions about businesses’ reliance on faraway servers

Old computers, new tasks

Inspirational stories from computing’s long-distant past

Live in the future now

You can have a driverless car, metaverse workplace and home-cleaning robots today! But it will cost you and likely disappoint, says Nicole Kobie