Tony Hoffman

New York

Senior Analyst at PCMag

PCMag hardware analyst; writer; amateur astronomer & citizen scientist; travel & humanitarian photographer; radio amateur (AA2TH) @[email protected]

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Articles

Samsung 9100 Pro SSD

1 week ago | au.pcmag.com | Tony Hoffman

The Samsung 9100 Pro SSD (starts at $199.99 for 1TB, $549.99 for 4TB as tested) is the company's first foray into the PCI Express 5.0 arena, and it's an admirable effort. The 9100 Pro is available with a PlayStation 5-friendly optional heatsink, and an 8TB version of the drive is expected later this summer. It has scorching sequential throughput speed, but notably slow random 4K write speeds.
BenQ GW2486TC

2 weeks ago | au.pcmag.com | Tony Hoffman

The BenQ GW2486TC ($199.99) is an ideal home-office monitor for budget shoppers. True, it has a small screen and low resolution for a desktop display, but it packs in a feature set we would expect to find in a monitor selling for considerably more. From ergonomics to port selection to built-in speakers and a 100Hz refresh rate, it brings more to the table than other low-priced monitors we have reviewed.
Apple Studio Display vs. Asus ProArt Display OLED: Which Monitor Is Best for Creative Pros?

2 weeks ago | me.pcmag.com | Tony Hoffman

Price: Expect to Spend $1,500 and Up The base price for the Apple Studio Display is $1,599. Adding an anti-reflective coating to the 27-inch screen will cost you $300 extra. For its base price, the Studio Display comes with either a stand or VESA-mounting hardware for wall- or arm-mounting the monitor. The basic stand, although well machined, supports only tilt adjustment; to add height adjustment to the mix, it will cost you $400 more.
Asus ProArt Display OLED PA32UCDM

2 weeks ago | au.pcmag.com | Tony Hoffman

The Asus ProArt Display OLED PA32UCDM ($1,899) is a beast of a creator-centric monitor, with its 32-inch UHD QD-OLED display providing vivid colors, superb contrast, and exceptional HDR rendering. It should appeal to photographers, videographers, and other creative pros who use Windows PCs or Macs. A 240Hz refresh rate should also put it in good stead with game designers—not to mention, artists who like to get in a bit of fragging in their free time.
Asus ProArt OLED PA32UCDM Review: A Content Creator's Powerhouse Panel

2 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Tony Hoffman

6 hours agoOne retro gaming handheld to rule them all. When AYANEO first announced the Pocket ACE earlier this year, I was pretty lukewarm about it. It was billed as a “retro” focused handheld, but much like the Pocket DMG, it had specs to compete with the heavyweights. Everything was at odds: the 3:2 screen is …
Addlink G55H

1 month ago | au.pcmag.com | Tony Hoffman

The Addlink G55H (starts at $98.99 for 1TB, $174.99 for 2TB as tested) is a cool-running PCI Express 5.0 internal solid-state drive that comes equipped with a heatsink compact enough to fit in a PlayStation 5. The G55H's DRAM-less architecture helps keep its price and power consumption down. In our benchmarking, it effectively met its throughput speeds, but its performance on other tests was modest for a PCIe 5.0 SSD, with many of its results akin to a fast PCIe 4.0 SSD.
Here's Why the Jack-of-All-Trades Bambu Lab H2D Isn't a Newbie-Friendly Panacea

1 month ago | pcmag.com | Tony Hoffman

The recently released Bambu Lab H2D 3D printer has generated a lot of buzz for its ability to easily print in multiple colors and materials. It's also noteworthy for its laser engraver/digital cutter add-on, which prompted Bambu to dub the H2D a digital manufacturing hub. It's not cheap, but it promises extensive functionality and exceptional ease of use, which could make it a compelling choice for those who need and can afford it.
Lexar Professional NM1090 Pro

1 month ago | uk.pcmag.com | Tony Hoffman

The Lexar Professional NM1090 Pro (starts at $179.99 for 1TB; $494.99 for 4TB as tested) easily beats its rated sequential throughput speeds, according to our extensive tests, and it has the second-highest throughput scores we have seen from an SSD. But the NM1090 Pro's other test results are largely unimpressive; this PCI Express 5.0 internal SSD's sheer raw speed does not translate into great overall performance.
WD Black SN8100

1 month ago | me.pcmag.com | Tony Hoffman

The WD Black SN8100 (starts at $179.99 for 1TB, $279.99 for 2TB as tested) is the first WD-branded PCI Express 5.0 solid-state drive (SSD) to come to market, but it was well worth the wait. The SN8100 not only chalked up the highest Crystal DiskMark throughput and 4K read scores of any SSDs we have tested, it easily set a record high in our PCMark10 Overall Storage testing, which measures a drive's speed in performing a variety of everyday storage tasks.
MSI Modern MD272UPSW

1 month ago | au.pcmag.com | Tony Hoffman

The MSI Modern MD272UPSW ($356.99) is, in essence, a hybrid device. It can serve as a general-purpose personal or home-office monitor, or as a smart monitor integrating Google TV's huge collection of streaming apps, as well as services such as Google Home and Google Photos. It can operate either connected to or independently of a computer—in the latter case, you can attach a keyboard and mouse to it, connect it to Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and control it with the remote that comes with it.