The best USB-C hubs for your laptop or tablet

A USB-C hub allows you to add connections and ports that your laptop or tablet lacks: an HDMI connection, for example, or an SD card slot. But it's also important to know if what you're looking for is a true USB-C hub, or a more powerful, pricier Thunderbolt dock. Both have their uses.

Laptops with USB-C ports are becoming more and more common, as the world slowly move away from slower, somewhat inflexible USB-A to this faster, more versatile connection standard. Some laptops only have USB-C ports—that means a USB-C hub is essential if you want to connect a wired USB mouse or keyboard, or an older wired printer. 

Fortunately, there are so many USB-C hubs available with various combinations of legacy I/O that finding one to meet your particular needs is as easy as ordering off a menu. We’ve divided our picks into two categories: basic and full-featured, the latter denoting hubs that offer greater extensibility, including charging. Expect to pay about $20 for the “basic” category of USB-A/SD hubs. The more advanced full-featured options can run up to $70 or so, depending upon which ports are included.

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Retrospect 17 Solo review: Backup software that gives you everything

Retrospect 17, one of the most comprehensive backup programs you can find, is the latest incarnation of a venerable, capable, and reliable program that PCWorld has actually used to back up its content in the past. The Solo version I tested offers the same file backup and disaster recovery and vast media type support I became used to, but adds modern niceties such as online storage, storage pool support, and more. It served us well once, and will serve you well if you need its advanced feature set.

The flip side of that is that the program would be overkill for many users. Also, the interface, while efficient, involves a learning curve, especially because of the jargon-heavy terminology used. 

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Excel: How to create simple and dependent drop-down lists

Drop-down lists in Microsoft Excel (and Word and Access) allow you to create a list of valid choices that you or others can select for a given field. This is especially useful for fields that require specific information; fields that have long or complex data that’s hard to spell; or fields where you want to control the responses.

Creating dependent drop-down lists (when combined with an INDIRECT function) is another benefit. This allows you to select a product category from the main menu drop-down list box (such as Beverages), then display all the related products from the submenu (dependent) drop-down list box (such as Apple Juice, Coffee, etc.). This works very well for ordering and inventory purposes because it divides all the products into manageable categories. This is how most wholesale and retail companies handle their product lines. In fact, companies from hospitals and insurance carriers to banks and more use drop-down lists, check boxes, combo lists, and/or radio buttons to minimize typing and user errors.

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HP Envy 13 Wood Series review: Walnut enhances a slender, capable laptop

The HP Envy 13 Wood Series is the company’s second foray into natural design flourishes—remember the leather-bound Spectre Folio? Now the company’s thin-and-light Envy 13 laptop has a Wood Series variant, featuring a walnut wood palm rest and touchpad.

While these details might seem frivolous to some, the finely textured wood panel makes for a surprisingly warm, yet practical touch in a laptop that (for the most part) nails the fundamentals. That said, the 4K display on this reasonably priced Envy model skimps on a key feature, and we also had some (non wood-related) touchpad issues.

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Leviton Decora Smart Wi-Fi 4-Button Controller review: This device fits its niche almost perfectly

This Wi-Fi smart home device can control Leviton light switches, dimmers, outlets, and ceiling fans all over your home. But it's not designed to control a local load.

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