PSA Newsletter 31: Privacy, Security, Automation!
A Yearly Reminder About the Dangers of Smart Toys, How to Make Sure Your Phone is Off, My Last Word on Choosing a Windows PC, and more...
Privacy
In what should be a yearly reminder to parents everywhere, the US Public Interest Research Group has released a report that cautions against purchasing A.I. smart toys for children this holiday season. That also goes for toys with cameras, microphones, and anything "cloud-connected". These products have a notoriously bad track record when it comes to data protection and privacy. Please avoid purchasing them for your children this (and every) holiday season. [1]
Security
One of the worst-kept secrets in the IT world is that modern mobile devices don't actually power off when they "power off". Instead, they shut off almost all functions, but keep several radios up and transmitting, including bluetooth, gps, nfc, and in some cases the cellular connection. In other words, they're nowhere near close to powered off. So, how can you be sure your phone isn't communicating when you've told it not to? Simple: a faraday bag.
When properly used, a faraday bag blocks wireless signals to and from your phone. To do so, place the device in the bag and seal it according to the manufacturer's instructions. Just remember that, although very handy, faraday bags will also stop Find My or other theft-prevention technologies that rely on these radios from working. Therefore, be sure to retain possession of your device when it's in the bag. Mission Darkness faraday bags have worked well in my own tests and are on sale at the source link as of time of writing. [2]
Autonomy
After the announcement last month, I believe it’s only fair to provide some guidance on choosing a new Windows laptop in 2025-2026. These guidelines don't apply to Mac laptops, as the only recommendation I can give for those is: Buy the latest model, with as much built-in storage and RAM as you can comfortably afford. Without further ado...
Brands
For everyday users, I recommend purchasing either Dell or HP laptops. They're reliable and their warranty support is best in the industry. Two brands I would never recommend are Lenovo or Toshiba, based on prior experience.
Physical dimensions and screen
First, start with screen size. This is one of the most important decisions when purchasing a laptop, so pick a size and weight you're comfortable using and carrying around. For most, that means a 14-16 inch screen, depending on bezel size. 13 inches is probably too small, unless you're looking for an ultraportable laptop; 17 is too large unless you're looking for a workstation that won't leave your desk.
RAM (Memory)
Next, pick the amount of RAM you need. Major PC makers nowadays won't sell a laptop with less than the minimum required to run Windows 11, which is a good jumping off point. Although Microsoft claims Windows 11 requires a laughably low minimum of 4 GB, a well-known convention in the IT world is to take whatever Microsoft says is the minimum and quadruple it for real-world specs. Therefore, the minimum required to run Windows 11 Home or Professional is 16 GB RAM. Don’t purchase a laptop with less memory than this. Now think about what you do on your PC. If you're running office apps either on the desktop or in a browser, then start with 16 GB for laptops and 32 GB for desktops. If you fall into any of the following use cases, start with 32 GB for laptop and 64 GB for desktop:
- You're gaming on said laptop,
- You need a specific work function or CPU feature-specific program (think multithreading or large formulas in Excel),
- You're doing heavy media work. Adobe, A/V, etc.
Optional: CPU
You may notice I'm skipping right past CPU. That's because I don't believe CPU matters much anymore for most users. See above for the exceptions to this rule.
Graphics Card
Avoid Intel integrated graphics. If you have an option for a discrete graphics card or chipset, choose that instead. It will be more expensive but the extra horsepower is almost always worth it. Go for any screen resolution higher than 1080p (1920x1080).
Storage Capacity
How much space are you currently using on your PC? If your hard drive is 10-49% full, purchase the same amount of storage built in. If it's 50-75% full, then double your storage. If it's 75-100% full, purchase 4x the storage, up to 2 TB. Beyond that, you should start looking into external drives and evaluating speed vs. capacity requirements.
Storage Type
I recommend you purchase NVMe M.2 storage drives. SATA SSD's can be cheaper, but are orders of magnitude slower than NVMe's. Most importantly, don't purchase spinning disk hard drives as your main drive, as they are too slow for modern computers. Avoid anything with an RPM rating, or the numbers 5400, 7200, or 10K. These are hints you're looking at a spinning disk drive.
Camera
Do not buy a PC laptop with a built-in camera unless it comes with a physical shutter to block the lens when not in use. Don't compromise on this point.
Incidentals
I believe touch screens on non-hybrid laptops are a gimmick and terrible for wrist ergonomics, but to each their own. I have seen a few malfunction, but that's purely anecdotal.
Wrap Up
These recommendations won't cover every individual use case out there, but should cover most. They're also meant to be my final recommendation for anyone asking for help choosing a new Windows PC and will likely not be updated, going forward.
