Technologies

I Love GeForce Now on My Steam Deck — Until It Starts ‘Waiting for the Next Available Rig’

It was the first time I’d encountered it in the past week, but 20 to 45 minutes seems like an eternity when you have a console in your hands and are ready to play.

I started chair dancing when Nvidia told me about its GeForce Now cloud-gaming app for the Steam Deck. My Deck OLED is my most frequently used nonessential device, so I was stoked that GFN provided a way to play Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games on it. And it was great, even on my pretty uneven Wi-Fi connection, until it started tossing me into queues with up to 40 people ahead of me. And that was on Ultimate, the priciest tier with the shortest wait times and longest sessions.

It was a blip in my otherwise great experience during the past week — relatively glitch-free, low-latency gameplay, including when attached to a monitor with a hub for keyboard and mouse — and it cleared up later in the day, but it was a frustrating blip nonetheless. (I contacted Nvidia, but the company didn’t have an explanation like «East Coast servers down for maintenance!» at the ready.) It’s something people on the Premium and free plans might experience, though, so it merits discussion.

And yet, it’s still less glitchy and frustrating than Xbox Cloud Gaming. Sigh.

To me, the Game Pass support is the most important feature because a lot of Xbox Cloud gameplay is really erratic for me on my mobile devices. To Nvidia, battery life is most important, I suspect partly because it’s critical and quantifiable.

And yes, the Deck can last much longer — I’d say I get a couple more hours out of it — because it takes a lot less power to run the game in the cloud and stream to you than it does to run locally, which requires a lot more processing to run and render the games. That said, I also tested the app on the Lenovo Go S SteamOS model (which I’m working on a review of and otherwise really like), and that, thus far, seems to have poorer battery life than the Deck, so it may become an important factor for me as well.

In general, even weighty games such as Doom: The Dark Ages and Clair Obscur Expedition 33 (the first from Game Pass, the second Steam) played zippily (60-plus fps) on a monitor at Epic/Ultra/whatever quality presets, although I didn’t get a chance to test HDR. Platformers like Have a Nice Death (Steam) seemed equally responsive and relatively latency-free compared with running locally.

The app provides extensive, or more compact, statistics if you want, but even shrunk down, they take up a relatively large amount of (sometimes critical) real estate on the Deck’s small screen. On the flip side, the icon indicating a Wi-Fi bandwidth issue is tiny and easy to miss. While GFN occasionally gave me network warnings, which I’m used to, it never seemed to result in more than the occasional stutter.

I do find that after about an hour in most games — especially my current addiction, The Blue Prince (see above re: Game Pass) — my connection gets wonky enough that some games become bogged down until they become pretty unresponsive and unplayable. GFN seems to provide the most consistency, although I did get dizzy once from buffered camera rotations racing around the screen to catch up with my stick movement.

I have a few nitpicks about the implementation that aren’t really Nvidia’s fault. Installation requires switching to desktop mode, which I always forget to customize, so I can actually hit what I want in the touch interface. I have to look up how to switch every time. Installing only happens once, though, so it’s not really a big deal.

More long-term annoying is the app’s relegation to the Non-Steam Games section of your library, combined with the absence of any content on its screen. GFN also has its own overlay and doesn’t provide any statistics, such as how many hours you played a given game for, in its interface, even aggregated for GeForce Now use. All the info is in there, but not always where you expect or want it. As a whole, these make the GFN experience feel disconnected.

Note that for free or even Premium plans, your mileage may vary because they run on lower-end GPUs rather than the GeForce RTX 4080-class versions. And you’re still restricted to games GFN supports, which is a fraction of the games universe. But it’s still a great way to play games on the Deck, especially non-Steam games, if you have one.

Technologies

Act Fast to Save 15% on This Powerful CarbonMag Portable Charger

This Sharge charger can keep you powered on the go, and right now you don’t have to pay full price.

There’s nothing worse than your phone dying in the middle of the day, especially when finding an outlet means being stuck in an uncomfortable situation. MagSafe portable wireless chargers are a great fix for that, as they snap onto the back of your phone and charge it while you go about your day. One solid pick that won’t weigh your phone down like a brick is the CarbonMag MagSafe portable charger by Sharge. And right now it can be yours for less with this Prime Day deal.

Thanks to Prime Day, you can currently snag it for 15% off with the code QHUAPIWG at checkout — bringing the price down from $70 to just $59. That’s the same cost as the smaller 5,000mAh model, but this one gives you double the battery capacity for the same price.

This device is made out of carbon fiber, which makes it 40% lighter than your usual power banks and 80% more durable than chargers made with the materials normally used. It gets you a 10,000mAh battery capacity, enough to charge your devices multiple times throughout the day. You’ll enjoy up to 15W wireless charging, which can power an iPhone 15 from 0% to 55% in just 44 minutes.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

The charger also features ultrastrong (but safe) magnets that maintain a stable hold on your smartphone. You can use the built-in USB-C port for pass-through charging or to power another device at the same time. The only catch? We don’t know when the discount code expires, so you might want to hurry.

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Why this deal matters

MagSafe wireless chargers can be a game-changer for anyone tired of juggling wires throughout the day. This deal gets you a slim, lightweight, yet powerful option at a $11 discount for a limited time. We recommend acting while you can.

Technologies

Save Up to $35 Off a Baseus Charging Station This July 4th and Stay Powered Up All Weekend

When USB ports aren’t enough, a Baseus charging station is what you need. Power all your gadgets with multiple well-spaced AC outlets and no clutter.

Keeping all your gear charged can be a job unto itself, and it gets more complicated when you have visitors. Whether you’re having guests this Fourth of July weekend or you just need a better charging solution for your family, a charging station could be the answer. But even the best charging stations can only share so many watts between devices, which is why the best charging stations from brands like Anker and Baseus not only feature multiple USB ports but also multiple AC outlets. AC outlets accommodate those few devices that still use proprietary chargers, and it lets you expand beyond the included 2-4 USB ports without sacrificing wattage when you need to top off everyone quickly before heading out.

The Fourth of July deals are bouncing into next week’s Amazon Prime Day to give us some of the best savings of the year a week early. Among the dozens of mobile accessories Baseus has on sale this holiday weekend is a trio of towers that can declutter your desk and keep everything you need ready and recharged. Available in 6-in-1, 7-in-1 for $65, and 10-in-1 varieties, these charging stations all offer two USB-C ports, at least one USB-A port and multiple AC outlets. Just note: You’ll need to clip the on-page coupon to get the lowest possible price.

For the best blend of power and ports, Baseus’ 100W 7-in-1 USB-C charging station can fast charge a laptop at 65W — full speed for all Chromebooks and many Windows laptops — while a phone and tablet each standard charge at 15W and still leave 5W for your smartwatch while your non-USB tech or your desk’s smart speaker can use the AC ports on both sides and the back of the tower. These towers are part power delivery chargers and part surge protectors with surge and lightning protection to keep your digital lifelines from frying should calamity strike.

The Baseus $35 10-in-1 desktop charging station model may sound like it’s the most powerful, but it only offers 35 watts to share between the two USB-C and USB-A ports, leaving the lion’s share of the station’s potential power to the six AC ports. This isn’t to say 35W between four ports is useless, but you’ll want to use those ports for lower-powered devices like recharging your smartwatch or wireless earbuds.

If you’re looking to charge multiple phones and tablets with those ports, you’re probably better off going with the 6-in-1 USB-C Charging Station at $50, which may only have three AC ports but features a retractable USB-C cable in addition to one standard USB-A and one USB-C port. Those three ports share 65W, meaning that you can charge both a phone and tablet at full speed rather than both getting middling speeds.

Why this deal matters

I use a 100W charging station like this at my desk and have another next to my couch for both me and my guests to keep our phones powered and ready. Being able to stick my 65W travel charger into one of the AC ports and fast charge four phones instead of two — well, one phone and my Chromebook — when I have people over and then swap it back to powering my oil diffuser or smart speaker once they’re gone is a godsend, and since the wall outlets are spread out across multiple sides of the tower instead of sandwiched next to each other in a line, I never have to worry about bulky plugs blocking out half my ports.

Because these charging stations double as surge protectors, you can also click their switch to power off and disconnect everything when severe weather comes, unlike standard charging stations you would have to unplug. Living in lightning capital of the U.S. makes this feature more important to me than most, but it can also be handy for parents wanting a one-click shut-off for all the kids’ consoles and computers.

We’re still days away from Prime Day, and deals like these will continue to drop through the next week, but these chargers are all within a few dollars of their lowest prices ever. We’ll watch for further price drops and competing deals throughout the holiday week, including Anker’s plethora of deals on chargers, speakers and smart home appliances.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 4, #284

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 4, No. 284.

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

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has kind of a July 4 flavor. But come on, New York Times puzzle makers, is the blue category really a sport? Read on for hints and the answers. And pass the mustard.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: What you won.

Green group hint: Lone Star State sports.

Blue group hint: Chow down.

Purple group hint: Not cold.