Stuff UK — June 2017

GADGET DOCTOR

●Double your RAM
Since the likes of Photoshop, Slack and Chrome are
constantly updated with new features, your laptop
can struggle to keep pace with their added multitasking
demands. Doubling its RAM is an easy way to tip the scales
back in your favour, especially since this stuff costs very
little indeed. The HyperX Fury Series offers especially good
value, with 4GB only setting you back £25.

●Dell XPS 13

While Apple’s new MacBooks are very nice indeed, they’re

also super-pricey. Getting Dell’s latest XPS 13 for £1149

instead will save you some cash – and still give you a very

capable machine with several posh extras. Chief among

these is Dell’s InfinityEdge display tech, which frames a

gorgeous HD display with bezels so thin they’re barely there.

Don’t have the cash to buy a replacement for your creaking
computer? There are two hardware options that’ll perk up
its performance without breaking the bank: more system
memory, and a faster drive. Before you invest in either,
double-check that your laptop supports them – otherwise
you’ll end up with some expensive paperweights. If you are
upgrade-ready, here’s what to do...

●Acer Chromebook R11

If all you use you laptop for is trawling through the hallowed

pages of Stuff.tv and other, lesser websites, then there’s

little point in picking up a Windows-powered machine. This

£250 Chromebook from Acer will do you just fine with its

11.6in touchscreen, 10-hour battery life and slick hinged

design that lets you use it in several handy configurations.

●Grab an SSD
Most cheap laptops come with a standard hard drive to
store your photos, music and movies. Sold state drives do
the same job – only more quickly, as they don’t have any
moving parts. Naturally, this means they’re significantly
pricier than their old-fashioned brethren, but Crucial’s
MX300 1TB model is available for an affordable £260.

●Asus ZenBook UX310UA

Wondering how much money to spend on a new Windows

laptop? We’d scramble together at least £600 for the

cause. That’s enough for the Asus ZenBook UX310UA,

a mid-range all-rounder with the looks of Apple’s old

MacBook Airs and the power for serious number-crunching

as well as day-to-day writing or web browsing. Plus, its

QHD+ 13.3in screen is a joy to work on.

NOW

TRY

THIS

Windows

10

Creators

Update

Not yet

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latest edition

of Windows

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features,

such as a

preview bar

for tabs in

Microsoft’s

Edge

browser and

the ability to

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Just head to

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it free of

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