Technologies

Razer Is Back to Selling One of Its Laptops Despite Tariffs

The Razer Blade 16 has reappeared online, but only in one configuration.

Tech company Razer made headlines earlier in April when it temporarily stopped selling all its laptops and the newly announced laptop stand. Although the company did not comment on the change, it seemed likely it was tied to President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on Chinese-made goods.

As of Friday, the Razer Blade 16 has reappeared on Razer’s website — kind of. The only model of the Razer Blade 16 for sale at this time is the one that comes with the Nvidia RTX 5080, an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, 2TB of storage and 64GB of RAM for $3,799. If you attempt to change any of those specs using Razer’s configurator, the website either throws a 404 error or says that the laptop with that particular configuration is still out of stock.

A representative for Razer did not respond to CNET’s request for comment.

Per The Verge, Razer has also altered its configurations. If you attempt to equip the Razer Blade 16 with an Nvidia RTX 5090, it locks the laptop into 64GB of RAM and 4TB of storage. However, review units that many reviewers used were equipped with an RTX 5090, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage.

As of Friday, the 14- and 18-inch Razer laptops and the laptop stand are still listed as out of stock and attempting to use Razer’s configurator still throws errors. Customers will have to wait for the rest of the stock to reappear if they don’t want that one particular configuration of the Razer Blade 16.

What changed?

At the time that online laptop sales were first paused, Trump was increasing China tariffs almost daily, culminating in a 145% tariff increase on Chinese goods as of last Friday.

The president’s stance seems to have softened a little since then. The administration exempted smartphones, computers and other electronics from being affected by tariffs, which may account for Razer slowly bringing its laptop sales back online.

The exemptions had other effects as well. Nintendo had initially delayed its Switch 2 pre-orders due to tariffs, and reversed course late this week with pre-orders now starting on April 24.

Laptop maker Framework, which had increased prices due to the tariffs, also lowered prices on some of its laptops after the exemptions.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Dec. 17

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 17.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Nod (off)
Answer: DOZE

5A clue: Naval submarine in W.W. II
Answer: UBOAT

7A clue: Tricky thing to do on a busy highway
Answer: MERGE

8A clue: Heat-resistant glassware for cooking
Answer: PYREX

9A clue: Put into groups
Answer: SORT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Break up with
Answer: DUMP

2D clue: Falls in line, so to speak
Answer: OBEYS

3D clue: Legendary vigilante who cuts a «Z» with his sword
Answer: ZORRO

4D clue: Rarin’ to go
Answer: EAGER

6D clue: Common reminder for an upcoming appointment
Answer: TEXT

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

You Can Watch an Exclusive Avatar: Fire and Ash Scene on TikTok Right Now

Disney and TikTok partner on an immersive content hub for James Cameron’s latest movie about the alien Na’vi.

If you’re not quite ready to head to the theater to watch Avatar: Fire and Ash, an exclusive scene preview might sell you on the visual spectacle. As part of a new collaboration with the social media giant, Disney is posting snippets of its new movie to its TikTok account.

This scene isn’t part of any trailer and won’t be posted to other social media accounts, making TikTok the only place you can view it — unless you buy a movie ticket. A first look at the new movie’s scenes isn’t the only Avatar-related bonus on the social media platform right now, either. TikTok has partnered with the house of mouse to bring an entire «immersive content hub» to the app.

A special section of TikTok includes quizzes and educational videos that explore the alien world of Pandora shown off in the movies. On TikTok, you can take a personality quiz to find out what Na’vi clan you most closely align with and unlock a special profile picture border to use on your account.

Science and fiction blend together with a series of videos from real doctors who explain the basis for some of Avatar’s world-building. If you want to learn about exoplanets or how realistic the anatomy of the movie’s alien animals is, these videos will feed your brain while still providing entertainment value.

Perhaps the most enticing part of Disney’s latest social media collaboration is the opportunity for fans to win prizes and trips. TikTok creators who make edits with the #TikTokAvatarContest hashtag are entered into a competition to win Avatar merchandise. The biggest winners will be able to take a trip to visual effects studio Wētā Workshop in New Zealand or visit Avatar director James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment Studio in Los Angeles.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is the third installment in director Cameron’s cinematic passion project. While the first Avatar movie was released in 2009, Cameron didn’t release another entry in the franchise until 2022. In total, there is a five-movie arc planned for the indigo alien Na’vi on the moon of Pandora.

The Avatar movies are known for pushing the boundaries of CGI visual effects in cinema. They are also historically big winners at the box office: the original Avatar is the highest-grossing film of all time, earning $2.9 billion across its theatrical releases. Its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, is the third-highest-grossing film of all time, trailing Avengers: Endgame. You can stream those movies on Disney Plus.

It remains to be seen whether Avatar: Fire and Ash will financially live up to its predecessors. The film currently has mixed reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.