The ASUS BR1100FK 2-in-1 is intended to provide the functionality of a laptop with the convenience of a tablet. And it kind of does, and kind of doesn’t.

We were supplied with a BR1100FKA-BP0288RA model running an Intel Celeron N4500 CPU with integrated graphics, 4GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD. The laptop was running Windows 10 Pro Education, being promoted as a BYOD laptop for school use.

It’s a small lightweight device measuring 290mm x 200mm x 15mm, a size determined by the usability of the keyboard more than anything else. The 11.6-inch 1366x768touchscreenhas the resolution, and is large enough, for most office tasks and Internet browsing on the go.

The robust unit has a rubberised surround that Asus says can withstand a drop from 1m. I’ll take their word for that. The keyboard is also supposed to be slip-proof, perfect for kids.

The coolest feature is the way the device can open 360-degrees to be used as a tablet. Windows 10 can be set to switch to tablet mode turning the laptop into a proper Windows tablet PC (albeit with the redundant keyboard on the back). The device even comes with an integrated stylus that can be pulled out. To be honest, the inclusion of the stylus is probably the least kid-friendly feature and something sure to be lost. The tablet can also be stood up in a v-shape for use as a display screen.

The design of the device is really good. It even comes with an Asus branded cloth bag to protect it.

Under the hood, though, things are not quite as rosy. It’s worth being mindful that this is only an AU$600/NZ$700 laptop / tablet, though.

The Intel N4500 CPU is fine for everyday tasks but that’s about it. Anything more strenuous than office applications and it’s likely to falter. The 4GB of memory is half what is recommended by my kid’s school as a BYOD laptop. The 64GB SSD which I understand is upgradable, is another limitation.

I tested the latest version of Photoshop with the device and the performance was sub-par. NSW high schools expect kids to be using Adobe Creative Suite (which they get for free). You really wouldn’t want to be running that suite of software on this device.

The BR1100 is not designed to play video games. The Intel Celeron N4500 CPU with its integrated UHD graphics processor puts most games out of reach for the device.

However, the HD screen is perfect for game streaming.

I tested the device using the Xbox Cloud service that I get with myXbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. By connecting my Xbox One controller to the laptop I was able to play Forza Horizon 4 perfectly, streamed directly from Microsoft’s servers. All you need is a decent Internet connection to have access to the massive library of games available to stream via Xbox Game Pass. Other game streaming services, such as GeForce Now, which has just launched in Australia, will also work with the device in the same way.

The device has an impressive list of connectivity options. As well as the built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for wireless connections, the device has a range of ports for peripherals. On the left side, there are USB Type-C and Type-A sockets, as well as an HDMI port. There’s also a Kensington lock and the pull-out stylus. On the right side, there’s an RJ-45 Ethernet socket, another USB Type-A socket, and a headphone socket.

The Asus BR1100FK is a fabulous bit of kit for the price point. It’s well designed and fully featured.

As a school device, in my opinion, it falls short. A faster CPU and 8GB of memory would open the device up to a lot more applications. Similarly, even 128GB of internal storage would be better than the paltry 64GB.

I’d definitely have one for using Microsoft Office on the go as an alternative to a tablet, especially at this price. I love that it runs Windows rather than the Chrome OS or Android, as it means better integration with my Windows desktop PC. The Xbox game streaming is a bonus.

It’s only if you intend to use the device for anything more complex that will you run into its limitations.

The post ASUS BR1100FK 2 in 1 Laptop Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

As NVIDIA’s impressive (though hard-to-come-by) 3000 series continues it’s rollout, the GPU releases have moved down the stack from the super performing RTX 3090 to something a little more realistic for most people.

Now, with releases such as the ASUS’ TUF Dash 15 which I am looking at today, the new generation of graphics is in mainstream, reasonably priced laptops.

Given the popularity of these cards, what can a slimmed down GPU deliver, and what has ASUS been able to achieve with the new generation of efficient CPUs and GPUs?

The version of the ASUS TUF Dash 15 sent to me packed a fast Intel 4 core/8 thread mobile CPU coupled with NVIDIA’s relatively new RTX 3050 Ti graphics with 4GB of GDDR6 VRAM. This is a graphics card so far without compare in the desktop space, the lowest end there being the 3060) and makes for interesting testing.

It, together with its companion RTX 3050, are the lowest end NVIDIA or AMD GPUs featuring dedicated silicon for ray tracing and hardware accelerated AI tasks in the tensor cores. DLSS, NVIDIA’s somewhat incredible AI upscaling technique is of particular interest for this card.

Given this new GPU, there’s one main hypothesis I wanted to test with DLSS on the 3050 Ti: can it help keep games running at 60FPS or above.

But before we get to the results, some more on the rest of the laptop itself.

The TUF DASH F15 features a clean, pleasingly clean block-like appearance, with only mercifully small hints at gamery gaudiness in the design of the power and volume buttons. The bright 1080p display is clear, and while I generally prefer higher resolutions for 15” and above, 1080p is the right choice to pair with the RTX 3050 Ti – anything greater would severely hamstring performance.

The keyboard is nothing to write home about but in the same vein it is a solid performer. The keys are slightly mushier than I’d like but really I need to stop comparing laptop keyboards to my multi-hundred dollar mechanical keyboard setups.

And while the whole monitor has thin bezels, this comes at a great cost of no webcam whatsoever. While this makes the whole device look thinner, I can’t help but think this is a mistake for any device released from 2020 onwards. Without an often out of stock external webcam that needs to be purchased at additional cost this laptop isn’t ideal for school or university online lessons, which are now more than ever reliant on video conferences.

Fortunately, the display does feature variable refresh resolution – a feature often left out on other more mid-range gaming PCs. Strangely, I needed to turn on variable refresh rate manually in the windows graphics settings, but once that was on it worked a treat.

While I wasn’t able to confirm the exact chip used in the laptop, I was impressed with the speed of the SSD for a mid-range device. The version I tested came with a single 500GB stick, with a health Read of 3137MB/s and write of 1606 MB/s in CrystalDiskMark. This puts it firmly above many entry-level and mid range NVME SSDs and was a nice surprise in this class of device.

Alongside a solid, if not overwhelming arrangement of ports, the laptop featured 16GB RAM (please don’t buy 8GB for gaming, it’s not enough), with the important inclusion of Thunderbolt.

While the industry is still in the transition to USB4, specific Thunderbolt ports are an excellent way to improve I/O connectivity on laptops, and potentially increase their lifespan by being able to attach current and future higher-performing GPUs for better performance on the included or an external display.

Now to the games. To test, Turbo mode was enabled the entire time. This allows the laptop’s fans to ramp up louder than usual, which subsequently increases the computer’s ability to deliver higher framerates. While this is indeed louder than other modes, given the relatively low wattage of the chips in this laptop, the fans were not as intruding as I’ve experienced otherwise, great for gaming without headphones.

The system was tested with the included version of Windows 10 and the most up to date drivers at the time of testing. As a reminder, my sample featured a NVIDIA 3050 Ti 4GB VRAM GDDR6 running at what I think was PCIe 4.0 x4 (not x16), though I’m not sure whether this more limited bandwidth affected performance.

Firstly, Dirt 5 achieved an average of 63.3FPS on High (no RT) and 1% low of 50.5. It performed slightly under 60 during most of the benchmark, but thanks to the adaptive screen these will slide by unnoticed. Or you could just use dynamic resolution scaling or drop a setting or too.

This is a great result for a 2020 game, however Dirt 5 did complain about available texture memory, a theme that will become apparent in future titles.

The excellent, and well optimised Doom Eternal at Ultra and DLSS Quality achieved an average of 111FPS, though there were some dips during non-interactive glory kills. Strangely, I was not able to activate ray tracing in this title for some reason but this is an excellent result nonetheless. Again, I had to lower the texture memory pool because 4GB VRAM wasn’t sufficient for standard Ultra settings.

Gears 5, an excellent demonstration of the power of Unreal Engine 4 at 1080p Ultra, achieved a 79FPS average with 1% low of 55.5 FPS. You could get even better performance with smart nips and tucks to settings, so fans of third person shooter action should be very happy with this.

Technical powerhouse Control by Remedy Entertainment, using both DLSS and medium ray tracing ran at a solid 62FPS, with some areas substantially higher than this. High textures were used to fit into the 3050 Ti’s 4GB of available VRAM.

While I don’t generally play FFXIV, the MMORPG has an excellent benchmark for the upcoming Endwalker expansion, and using top settings at 1080p achieved an average of 89FPS, enough to keep frames high even with vast amounts of on screen chaos.

Lastly, Forza Horizon 4 at 1080p Ultra runs at an average of 68FPS. Tellingly, lowering the settings to high, which still looks excellent, ran at 104FPS. Given that racing games benefit from higher frame rates, which gives better handling and lower input lag, rather than higher resolutions, this would be a no-brainer decision for me, but either option will result in very playable frame rates either way.

So from this suite of tests, it is easy to see that the RTX 3050 Ti is capable of handling 60FPS 1080p performance in some demanding titles.

The inclusion of DLSS capabilities certainly helps to increase performance in cases, such as Control, where enabling ray tracing would have meant a dip below that magical 60FPS threshold. The limited VRAM does limit texture quality in some areas, but with only a 1080p display the impact of this is lesser than for a GPU targeting higher resolutions.

Overall, the ASUS TUF DASH 15 is confirmation that if you’re satisfied with 1080p gaming, entry into the PC gaming space is viable right across NVIDIA’s RTX stack.

With a lean, unobtrusive design, future-proofing with DLSS and Thunderbolt technology, and a CPU that is well matched to 1080p gaming, the TUF DASH 15 is a solid entry-level option for occasional or aspiring gamers.

Personally, I am happy to see ray-tracing and DLSS come to the lower end of the NVIDIA range; their 16 series always felt like a stopgap to me. Without a real competitor at this level from AMD, NVIDIA has crafted a compelling GPU, and ASUS has given it the space to work.

The post ASUS TUF DASH F15 Laptop Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

In September 2020, Microsoft shared their vision for continuously improving Microsoft Flight Simulator by bringing meaningful updates to the simulator on a regular basis.

The virtual world in Microsoft’s Flight Simulator is getting its latest major update, one with a focus on Europe’s Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Renowned for its natural splendour and architectural wonder, this region has been rendered in its most realistic fidelity yet in World Update V: Nordics.

Simmers can take to the northern European sky and explore vast fjords, riveting urban vistas, domineering peaks, and centuries-old iconic castles from within the cockpit. World Update V: Nordics includes improvements in detail of broad swaths of landscapes, enhancements to regional architecture, improved data for 100 airports and 78 carefully selected points of interest.

This update also features five bush trips, one for each of the Nordic countries, that show off some the very best elements of these destinations.

Finally, World Update V: Nordics brings new hand-crafted airports, and five original landing challenges designed to test and hone aviation mettle throughout a range of conditions. Test your landing skills at: Denmark’s Bornholm, Iceland’s Ísafjörður, Sweden’s Stockholm Arlanda, Norway’s Svalbard, and Finland’s Vaasa Airports.

World Update V: Nordics is available FREE to all Microsoft Flight Simulator users. Be sure your simulator is up to date first, then visit the Marketplace to download the latest world update and immerse yourself in this magnificent and expansive corner of the world.  The sky is calling!

Microsoft Flight Simulator is currently available on Xbox Game Pass for PC, Windows 10, and Steam and is coming to Xbox Series X|S on July 27th, 2021.

The post Microsoft Flight Simulator World Update V: Nordics appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Work faster, play smarter. Microsoft’s mid range Surface Laptop 4 has the goods to keep you going and going and going.

The small form factor laptop comes in at 13.5 inches and super light-weight for a simple pick up and go.

STG received a unit for Microsoft for review – and from the moment it arrived it has been a surprise.

Minimally boxed, there’s the power cable magnet connector which is proprietary with all Surface devices and a small Warranty manual.

Inside the Surface Laptop 4 there’s enough for the multi-task wizard through to the casual gamer.

Now, Microsoft do state, and correctly so, that the Surface Laptop 4 is not a gaming laptop.

Built with an 11th gen Intel processor which is Intel’s latest and greatest crunches data @ 2.40 GHz and is optimized for power sustainability.

Couple that with a middle of the road maximum of 8GB and you’re set for work, study, content creation and more. A generous 512GB SSD is installed to see you right for all your folders and files on the go when there’s no WiFi available to access cloud storage.

The Surface Laptop 4 is equipped with a FHD (2256 x 1504) touch screen.

The likes of Adobe’s Creative Cloud ran smoothly.

Using Photoshop and Premier on the review unit didn’t see any issues, or even an accelerated heat disperse.

Now, gaming. The Surface Laptop 4 has a built-in Iris (on-board) graphics chip. No high quality visuals for gaming to be had here.

However, surprisingly, I was able to get the likes of Borderlands 3 to run on this small beast, albeit with shading and graphics settings toned down.

If you’re a light gamer and aren’t in need of the hard-core juicy eye candy when gaming and don’t necessarily need to have your games run at their optimal settings you’ll be fine.

For eSports gamers that play DOTA, League of Legends or Fortnite these also run fine via the client software. PUBG struggled.

The major point of note for the Surface Laptop 4 is the battery.

In an exclusive briefing session that I was invited to Microsoft stated that the battery in this device can last up to 17 hours of continuous use.

This is of course dependent on what you run on your Surface Laptop 4.

When I was experimenting with gaming I got 7 hours – that’s amazing, as the bigger gaming specific laptops will only handy around 3 hours before they scream out for their life.

Content creation (editing a 4K video) and using Photoshop saw the laptop last an impressive 12 and a half hours from a full charge.

If you’re in the market for one of these for general admin, study or streaming then you’ll certainly get that 12 hours use, maybe a tad more.

Looking chic, smooth and thin the Surface Laptop 4 has the goods at a mid-range level that when compared to some of last year’s offerings for the more kitted out laptops is almost on par.

Microsoft have aimed to keep ports to minimum but thankfully for most of us they included one USB 3.0 socket and a USB-C (this also supports dual screen) and lastly a 3.5mm headphone socket.

The only drawback is the price.

The post Surface Laptop 4 Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Microsoft has just announced to us here at STG details on their newest member of its Surface family – Surface Laptop 4.

As people adapt to a spectrum of unique work environments, Microsoft is responding with a new assortment of audio and video accessories certified for Microsoft Teams and available to business customers.

The perfect balance of power and beauty, the Surface Laptop 4 retains the iconic sleek design consumers love of the Surface Laptop. This includes our signature 3:2 PixelSense touchscreen displays in 13.5” or 15” models, metal or Alcantara finishes, and first-rate touch, type, and trackpad experiences.

Within this familiar and sleek form, Surface Laptop 4 offers even longer battery life, the power of the latest processors, Dolby Atmos Omnisonic speakers, and bold new Ice Blue colour you can’t get anywhere else.

Kiwis today crave more flexibility than ever, with 71% claiming that they want flexible remote work options to stay, and 56 percent agreeing they are likely to move to a new location because of this newfound freedom. 

To meet these new demands, Surface Laptop 4 offers a built-in HD front-facing camera with incredible low-light capability and a studio microphone array, ensuring video calls come through loud and clear as users connect with loved ones or participate in a crucial virtual work meeting.

The new Surface Laptop 4 is available for pre-order at the Microsoft Store and available to purchase at Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, Noel Leeming, PB Tech, and other major retailers starting 27th April 2021.

The post Introducing Surface Laptop 4 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The Surface range from Microsoft.

PC computing on a tablet and laptops, a franchise that actually started it’s life as a interactive touch coffee table.

The range is also generally pricey, usually, from the mid-range to the highest spec Surface you won’t get much change out of a few thousand.

That’s not really to say that they are overpriced, they’re not. You get all the benefit of Windows and in the higher spec models, some decent game time on the go.

However, this year (2020) has been a difficult one for all of us around the Globe with the pandemic reducing incomes and costing jobs.

Microsoft have noticed this and released the Surface Laptop Go a mid-range 12 inch laptop that has a more realistic pricing tier.

I received their Gold coloured metallic cased, 256GB SSD storage, 8GB RAM model which crunches data the latest gen Intel i5.

Being on the lower pricing scale I figured that there would be some serious compromises when pitted against their tablet equivalent which is considerably more expensive.

There’s none.

The Surface Laptop Go is sufficient enough for pretty much all users, from students through to medium level users.

I am probably classed as a more heavier user, needing such resource gobbling apps like Creative Suite and other editing apps.

The real test for me was to see if the Surface Laptop Go was able to keep up with me and my daily content creation for this very website you’re reading the review on (and yup I am writing this review on the Surface Laptop Go).

To my surprise, using the latest versions of Photoshop, Sony Vegas and Adobe Premier was flawless.

Although with rendering times for 4K video the laptop did get warm. Not hot, but warm enough.

The Surface Laptop Go can play games too.

Sure it’s not likely to play the heavy hitters too well, let down by the fact that the graphics card is an onboard Intel UHD one.

Still the likes of Borderlands 2, PUBG played exceedingly well. I tried Forza 7 and Borderlands 3 too.

Both of these struggled, not from a processor or memory issue but graphics where it was stuttery and laggy.

But let’s be fair – Microsoft did not produce the Surface Laptop Go as a gaming laptop at all.

One large feature for me is the battery.

I was told by Microsoft that the Surface Laptop Go will last for up to 12 hours in one marathon use.

Using creative software drained the life from full to 5% in around 6 hours. That far out weighs any other laptop I have reviewed to date.

Lighter gaming (2 hour session) with Borderlands 2 knocked off only 30% from a full charge.

Battery life is always dependent on what you use your laptop for – but being that this one has an all day battery and then some and is actually able to play mid-range games, it’s an ideal candidate for some eSports titles.

Super light, slim and given it’s small form factor also makes the Surface Laptop Go the prime for portability.

The outer casing has minimal ports – but unlike alot of laptop manufacturers now they have included one full USB 3.0 port.

Along with that is a single USB-C and the Surface universal magnetic charger. a finger scanner is on the keyboard for security.

The Surface Laptop Go is a premium device not at a premium price and if I am to fault it in anyway – I would’ve liked to see the FHD screen be a touch one.

Other than that the small and beastly Surface Laptop Go gets a full recommendation from me for PC users of every level.

The post Microsoft Surface Laptop Go Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

It’s big, it’s bold. It’s Dell’s XPS 9500.

The 15.6 inch laptop actually appears larger once opened due to the miniscule bezel around its UHD+ (3840 x 2400) touch anti-reflective screen.

The latter XPS’ have opted for that almost zero bezel effect which is reflected on this model aswell. It’s all screen.

The model that we received in was the later released White colour but you can also get in black.

The white is more of a matte and when comparing the two options – I’d suggest the matte white finish. It looks very elite.

The Dell XPS 9500 is powered by Intel’s latest gen i7 core processor running @ 2.6GHz – a processor designed to maximize battery life, limiting it’s core use when not needed all the while outputting maximum grunt to ensure that even the most resource intensive applications and games run as smoothly as they should.

Adobe Creative Suite – Photoshop and premier ran well. Rendering out a 10 minute 8K video in it’s native resolution via Premier usually chugs along at around 30 to 40 minutes on average.

Dell’s XPS 9500 managed to output in less than 20 minutes. Not bad indeed.

Internal storage was a little on the light side though. 450GB which is going to get smashed real easy with a couple of high end game installs. Given that the price of a Dell XPS 9500 is over $4K with the spec covered in this review I feel that 1TB would have been a better inclusion.

Inside there’s 16GB of RAM, which is nearly becoming industry standard for larger laptop (except Apple who still only give you 8GB in theirs but still charge a premium).

The RAM (memory) aides you in multitasking – and given the prowess of the i7 the XPS 9500 is a multi-tasking beast.

Games fared well too.

Dell have added a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti graphics card in to the XPS 9500.

While perfect for content creators and as equally ideal for the FHD screen on this laptop, for high end PC gaming it is mid-road.

Still the likes of Forza 7, Gears 5 and Borderlands 3 played superbly in full graphic settings.

Battery wise Dell have done well here too. A 4 hour Borderlands 3 marathon chipped off about 1/4 from full charge.

Forza 7 on the hand was greedier and ate just over half (I place this down to the required fast rendering of graphics).

Creating media content the fully charged battery lasted from 10am through 8.30pm before it was red-lining.

While the XPS 9500 is obviously portable and a winner to use on the go due to it’s lengthy battery life – those that need to flit from place to place may find this laptop gets a bit heavy after a short while.

It is weighty – which was the very first thing I noticed about it when I removed it form the box for first use.

Dell have removed any USB ports and replaced with three USB-C sockets (one designed as the charging port), a card reader and the traditional 3.5mm mic / headphone socket.

If you are going to use the Dell XPS 9500 as a mostly desktop PC you’re going to need a USB-C capable external monitor for dual screen.

A surprise in the box was the USB-C enternet and single USB hub that is included – and real handy if you’re external gear (such as a mouse or external hard drive) is traditional USB only.

The Dell XPS 9500 is an all-rounder. A perfect laptop for content creation and even gaming.

It has enough grunt to keep up with a modest gaming RIG, keeps cool and calm even through the most vicious game playing sessions.

The post Dell XPS 15″ 9500 Laptop Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Huawei are known for producing smartphones with killer spec’d cameras – but the giant tech company also make other stuff.

From modems, telco equipment through to laptops. Recently they released their latest small form factor notebook – MateBook 13.

As it’s namesake, the MateBook is 13 inch FHD+ (2160 x 1440) touchscreen with some serious goodness under the hood.

Designed for work or play – the MateBook 13 is also ideal for content creators and even gaming.

Powered by latest gen Intel i7 with a clock speed of 2.30GHz this is coupled with 16GB RAM and a NVIDIA GeForce MX 250 GC (Graphics Card) with 2GB dedicated memory.

The unit that we received from Huawei has been a powerful beast.

Able to handle almost everything thrown at it. Adobe Premier, Photoshop and more – aswell as the usual everyday use.

Editing and outputting a 4K video of around 7 minutes did get the MateBook 13’s fans going for sure – but the rendering time was shorter than expected at less then two minutes.

Given the small stature that this 13 inch notebook actually is I wasn’t expecting too much from it, but it exceeded my expectations ten fold.

Games ran absolutely brilliantly.

Starting of on the lighter side (and a fav of mine) with the RPG Deathspank. This cell shaded humourous overload of a PC game is not exactly taxing on most PCs so I was unsurprised that it played and played well.

So it was time to switch it up.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider didn’t seem to cause any strain on resources and after an hour of play the Matebook 13 remained cool and calm. It did put a small dent in the battery though from full charge.

Gears 5 and Borderlands 3 is where the MateBook did eventually feel a bit of a workout as 20 minutes in to play the internal fans started up.

It was on Gears 5 where the notebook also got warm. Not hot, just warm to the touch.

Nonetheless there was no gameplay lag, glitches or slow loads. The MateBook 13 can truly handle serious gaming.

The sleek metallic body is super minimal on external ports. It nearly has none at all.

Two USB-C sockets, one is for the charger and the old fashioned 3.5mm headset / mic socket.

The internal storage of 512GB SSD is quick enough – even for game loads and rendering and Huawei have taken the time to partition the internal storage to segregate the Windows and apps installation C Drive, in the unit that we reviewed.

But the partition for C was perhaps not generous enough at only 80GB – get creative apps installed, a couple of top shelf games and poof – it’s dangerously full.

So where possible install anything big and juicy on the second partition or better yet use a external drive – and in order to do this you’re going to need to get yourself a USB-C adapter to add additional ports. If you get an adapter with a HDMI port you can plug a second monitor in for dual screen action.

The Power button to the top right of the chiclet keyboard also acts as a fingerprint reader for security and the internal battery life is superb.

For usual everyday use and nothing to resource intensive you should expect to get 6 to 7 hours from the MateBook 13.

Playing Tomb Raider, Gears and Borderlands 3 reduced that alot – by the end of the test, which was just over three hours there was 30% battery life left from a full charge.

The MateBook 13 is an excellent all-rounder. A one stop device that is going to see you right for all of the boring stuff during the daytime and some furiously serious game-time all night.

The post Huawei MateBook 13 (2020) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The Windows based tablet, the Surface has come along way since it first started out life as a hideously expensive coffee table in 2008.

From there it almost completely went in to obscurity until 4 years later in 2012 when the first Surface tablet released rocking Windows 8 (which had a tiled tablet mode).

Having reviewed a few Surface units over the years I have always been fond of them.

For the higher spec’d ones being able to game and content create anywhere, anytime without the need for lugging about a laptop bag and such.

But they have always been super expensive. Until now.

Microsoft have released the Surface Go 2, a full Windows 10 Home Edition tablet designed for light users, students and those that are keen to take the first step in to working and playing on a tablet.

Coming in at just abit under or over $1K NZD (depending on retailer) for the basics, as you would imagine the specs on the Surface Go 2 are not the highest.

But – also not the lowest they could have been either.

Powered by a Intel Pentium 4425Y which is great for battery consumption but crunches data at a lowly 1.70GHz there’s a pleasing 8GB RAM on board and a modest (given the price) 118GB storage (Windows 10 Home Edition x64 takes a sizable chunk of that though).

The full 10.5 inch touch screen is HD (1920 x 1080) and the tablet has an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP for the front. Both are capable of recording in 1080p.

Microsoft have done away with the traditional USB port and shrunk it all down replacing that with a USB-C socket to the right when in landscape mode.

Power and volume keys are at the top (again when in landscape mode) and a traditional 3.5mm headphone / mic port to the right.

There is also a little known feature on the Surface tablets, that even Microsoft themselves do not make alot of noise about – you can expand the storage by way of microSD. Under the back stand is a small slot for your flash storage card – and the Surface Go 2 also has it.

From a year or so back Microsoft stopped including peripherals with the Surface. So now if you want to use the stylus called the Surface Pen you’ll need to trump up extra cash. It’s sold separately, as is the keyboard cover (you’re likely to really need one of these).

While you’re not going to be able to game, much, on the Surface Go 2, you sure are able to multitask like a pro.

The dedicated memory of 8GB is more than enough to wield multiple tabs in browsers while streaming media and finishing off that assignment or presentation… or writing a review for this exact tablet. Which is what I am doing now.

Microsoft Store pretty much takes care of what apps you can and can’t install.

Adobe’s Photoshop Elements works fine, but you’re not going to get the non-light versions to run too well.

The Surface Go 2’s battery is not too bad either. Given that you cannot run anything too taxing on the tablet – for light to moderate use I was able to get 5 to 6 hours from full to 5%.

The Surface Go 2 is an entry point to having a Surface tablet.

It can handle more than I imagined it could but is definitely slated at light users.

The post Surface Go 2 Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Full sized gamepad for on the go.

Steelseries has released their new connect or plug and play game controller which gives you the option of going wireless via bluetooth or via USB for PC.

STG received one in including the sold separately Steelseries Smart Grip.

The Stratus Duo is a fully spec’d, perhaps even a bit overwhelming controller with its array of buttons and options.

The usual D-Pad, X, Y, A and B action buttons, L1 and 2, R1 and 2 triggers and dual joysticks. But there’s more.

The center buttons act depending on what device you are using the pad on.

The center round button moreover is a ‘Home button’ and the two either side can be a ‘Start’ or a ‘Back’, ‘Option’ or ‘Mode’ button. I also found that those could be game specific too.

Then on the rear sided bridge are two toggle switches and pairing buttons. One for Bluetooth and the second for USB.

The four white light bars on the front of the Stratus Duo indicate either; connectivity (when in pairing mode) or battery life.

First up I gave bluetooth connectivity a go.

The Stratus Duo will connect to Android powered devices (smartphones / tablets) and PC wirelessly.

For mobile there was something of a magical experience having a full sized gamepad in my hands when out and about. Generally I do recommend pairing the Stratus Duo with the Smartgrip accessory if you’re Fortnite’ing on a mobile device.

The Smartgrip is exactly what its namesake says. It cradles the Stratus Duo and can take a handset as large as 6.5 inch and as small as 4 inch, snap locking everything in to place.

The Smartgrip is designed to not only be secure for both the controller and your smartphone but also portability as it will fold nice and easy.

Bluetooth pairing via BT 4.1 to both an Android smartphone and a gaming PC went exceedingly well with no glitches – I was able to game and do almost any function on my phone with the controlpad. For PC, Windows 10 picked it up and I was Borderlands 3’ing instantly.

The Stratus Duo does not work with iOS (Apple devices). I know as I tried it out of curiosity. This is a shame as it would be a killer controller for iPhone and iPad.

USB mode was next.

The Stratus Duo comes with a 2.4 GHz wireless USB dongle. Now as I used bluetooth already on PC and successfully I’d leave it to you if you decide to use the dongle or not.

Being the frequency that it runs on it does give a more uninterrupted connection – so having the dongle in competitive play or eSports is a definite.

Windows 10 picked up the USB peripheral immediately, however it was not until I disconnected the bluetooth connection I already had for the Stratus duo on the PC then paired via the USB setting that Windows 10 knew what the dongle was for.

It’s okay, it was expected.

For PC on wireless again it worked fantastically. No drops, no connection LAG. Brilliant.

The Stratus Duo is rechargeable. A full charge from flat takes around 40 minutes (USB charging cable supplied) and you’re likely to get 20 hours out of it. Should you need more juice, use the charge cable to plug and keep playing.

I’m over 20 hours usage and it is still going, with one light bar remaining (this means that roughly I still have a quarter of a battery remaining). When you realise that the Stratus Duo is designed to be a mobile controller, to take on the go, 20+ hours of non-stop pillaging, looting, battling, firing and adventuring is superb.

For me the Stratus Duo is an elite mobile controller that once connected to your device is a main stay and never lets you down – always up for the gaming challenge you throw at it.

As I said, I would’ve loved to see it iOS compatible and this is the only let down for me personally.

Priced at just a little over $130.00 (NZD), not including the Smartgrip add-on, the Stratus Duo is a precision and elitist weapon to wield for your portable gaming – and now that we are out lockdown Level 4 and 3, what better time is there to get out there and game.

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