How They Test Everything They Review

PCMag’s core mission has been to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology by delivering independent reviews of the latest products and services. We've been testing, rating, and recommending technology products based on lab testing for more than 40 years. The rigorous, repeatable testing of more than 1,500 products each year is what gives us the best handle on the full range of the market, and has always set us apart from their competitors.

Shortly after PC Magazine was born in 1982, PC Labs, a mammoth testing lab in New York City, was built. It has taken a variety of forms over the decades, including a 1990s stint associated with Ziff Davis Benchmark Operations (ZDBOp), a division of PCMag’s then-privately held mother company Ziff Davis. In its time, ZDBOp was a key player in the computing industry, devoted to advances in the art of benchmarking and creating tools for the industry to use in assessing PC performance. This was at a time when the early waves of PC clones had come roaring through the market, and the templates for personal computing as they know it today were being cut.

(Photo: Tony Hoffman)

PC Labs has housed, at times, more than 30 technology testers sitting together in that giant temperature-controlled room complete with anti-static flooring, dozens of benches with test beds, running benchmarks on desktops, laptops, PC peripherals and components, so that writers and editors could craft reviews to print in a twice-monthly magazine.

As the technology landscape has evolved, so has their testing. Now, in addition to all forms of PC hardware and software, they cover the full range of consumer technology including categories like smart home devices, digital health and fitness gear, and electric vehicles, all of which require out-of-lab testing. The core of PC Labs still remains in their New York offices, but their testing expertise is far more diffuse, spread across a team of more than 50 analysts, editors, reporters, and contributors across the United States and overseas.

Combined, PC Labs’ on-staff analysts and key contributors can claim, conservatively, more than 600 years of combined experience in their fields. (Add them all together, and you're contemporary with the Middle Ages, the Byzantine empire, and the Incas.) How much genuine testing is that? To take just a simple example: They rate and review about 200 laptops and desktops each year, and each gets a dozen or more benchmark tests, that translates to around 2,500 annual tests run on PCs alone. Data for analysis and product comparisons is not in short supply.

(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)

When evaluating products, repeatable, defensible benchmark and experiential testing is at the core of what they do. Wherever feasible, these processes are based on step-by-step scripts, exhaustively vetted for meaningful, consistent results. Sometimes, such as in cases of display testing, they use advanced, industry-standard measuring equipment to supplement their findings. In addition, some testing categories are anchored by testbed computers that they use over and over for consistency of results. (They are refreshed, and key products are retested on the new testbeds, when industry changes demand it.)

(Photo: Molly Flores)

Likewise, their scripts are often revised to match current trends in consumer/business PCs and related gear, and follow changes in core technology. When a script changes, products are only directly compared with other products tested on the same script, under the same conditions, for comparability of results.

(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)

Some of their benchmarking tools are industry standards. For PC testing, for example, the core of their benchmark suite is based on highly regarded tools from Underwriters’ Lab (UL, formerly Futuremark), supplemented heavily by repeatable, usage-representative tests from a host of other sources. In some cases, these tests are internally derived and designed.

Benchmarks and performance numbers only take you so far in finding the right technology. It's important to evaluate factors like value, features, and what it's actually like to use that camera phone in a dim restaurant, wire that video doorbell, or configure that VPN. Luckily, their reviewers rate more products than anyone else, so they're uniquely positioned to provide you the full scoop, along with a close look at the competition so you can easily compare all the products you're considering.

(Photo: Zlata Ivleva)

We believe it's essential for their audience to understand how their company earns money. The following statement is at the top of every story on their site:

PCMag reviews products independently, but they may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page.

The editorial team, however, does not handle affiliate commissions in any way. Their reviewers do not know how a particular story is monetized and do not receive any of the commission earned. Reviewers are paid for their work and do not earn bonuses. Sponsored articles exist on this website, but are disclosed as such.

Companies, even those with affiliate relationships with PCMag, or are owned by their parent company do not have any input into review scores or outcomes, and their writers have a collective bargaining agreement that disallows pay-for-play writing. For more, read their editorial mission statement.

The variety of lab and real world testing processes requires an article for each major category they cover, just to scratch the surface of what they do, day in and day out. Scan below for more detailed dives by category into how they test everything they review.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

How They Test Laptops

How They Test Desktop PCs

How They Test SSDs

How They Test Graphics Cards

How They Test Processors

(Photo: Molly Flores)

How They Test Wi-Fi Routers

How They Test Monitors

How They Test Printers

How They Test Scanners

How They Test Projectors

How They Test Hard Drives

(Photo: Weston Almond)

How They Test Phones

How They Test Bluetooth Headsets

How They Test Cellular Modems and Hotspots

How They Test Tablets

How They Test Digital Cameras and Lenses

How They Test Drones

(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)

How They Test Smart Home Devices

How They Test Robot Vacuums

How They Test Smart Displays

How They Test Smart Fitness Equipment

How They Test Fitness Trackers

(Photo: Molly Flores)

How They Test TVs

How They Test Speakers

How They Test Headphones

How Noise-Cancelling Headphones Work (and How They Test Them)

How They Test VR Headsets

(Photo: Zlata Ivleva)

How They Test Antivirus and Security Software

How They Test VPNs

How They Collect Malware for Hands-On Antivirus Testing

How They Test Antispam

How They Test Password Managers

How They Test Web Hosting Services

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Best gaming laptops under $1,000: Best overall, best battery life, and more

Let’s face it, not all PC gaming enthusiasts have the scratch to purchase a premium gaming laptop. Luckily, there are some great budget options out there. Budget gaming laptops nowadays can sport some pretty decent CPU and GPU performance. Sure, you might have to dial back those ultra graphics settings in order to hit the 60fps sweet spot, but your experience can still be plenty satisfying.

The important thing is that you make the right compromises. We’ve compiled a list of the best gaming laptops under $1,000 to help you in that quest. (Note that laptop prices can fluctuate and there might be times when the price of one of their picks hovers over $1,000.) And in case you’re lucky enough to find some extra money under the sofa cushion, we’ve added a pick for those who can stretch their budget a little bit further.

For more recommendations on gaming laptops, see their roundup of the best gaming laptops across all prices. Additionally, before you buy, take a look at their roundup of the best laptop deals.

Asus Vivobook Pro 15 – Best overall

Pros

Cons

Price When Reviewed: $1099.99

The Asus Vivobook Pro 15 lives up to the “Pro” title with its outstanding price-to-performance ratio. Packed with a Ryzen 7 CPU, an RTX 3050 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB M.2 NVMe hard drive, this laptop gives you the power and performance of higher-end alternatives for much cheaper. But the feature that makes the Vivobook Pro 15 stand out from the rest of the pack on this list is the gorgeous 15.6-inch OLED display that offers crisp visuals and a near-perfect contrast ratio.

True, its design doesn’t stand out, but that’s not what this laptop is about. Asus isn’t trying to beat premium laptops on design or build quality here. Instead, they want to load this laptop with so much power that the design doesn’t even matter—and they were successful. The Asus Vivobook Pro 15 gives you the power and features of a much more expensive midrange laptop for the price of a budget-friendly option.

HP Victus 15 – Best budget option

Pros

Cons

Price When Reviewed: $549.99

The HP Victus 15 might not be as powerful as some of the other options on this list, but what it lacks in performance, it makes up for by being extremely affordable. It is one of the cheapest options we’ve seen that still offers discrete graphics—albeit an older GTX 1650 model. Even though 60 frames-per-second might be out of reach on this laptop on most modern games, you can still play them at lower graphics settings. If you’re really strapped for cash but want that boost a discrete graphics card gives you, then the HP Victus 15 is worth your consideration.

Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition – Best battery life

Pros

Cons

Price When Reviewed: $1,099.99

Gaming laptops aren’t known for having the best battery life and gaming while unplugged can drain your battery in the blink of an eye. This makes it difficult to game on the go without being tethered to the nearest outlet. However, that’s not the case with the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition. It packs a massive 90 watt-hour battery, which lasted a staggering eleven hours during their testing. Of course, intensive gaming will reduce this significantly, but you can still expect to get in the neighborhood of seven hours of continuous 1080p gaming without having to plug-into an AC outlet. That’s an amazing result considering most gaming laptops only muster between three to six hours. The robust chassis and sturdy overall design means it can also take the occasional accidental bump or knock while out and about.

It’s no slouch when it comes to performance either. It expertly handles 1080p gaming due to its combo of a Ryzen 7 processor and AMD Radeon RX 7600S graphics card. During out tests, it scored very well in their Shadow of the Tomb Raider game benchmark tests, outpacing more expensive competitors. This all combines to make the A16 an excellent option for 1080p gamers who want to enjoy untethered gaming on the go.

Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Gaming Chromebook – Best Chromebook for gaming

Pros

Cons

Price When Reviewed: $569.99

You probably don’t think of Chromebooks when you consider purchasing a laptop for gaming, and they don’t blame you. But with the advent of cloud gaming services, higher-end Chromebooks can now double as gaming devices. Still, some of these Chromebooks cost more than budget Windows gaming laptops, putting them out of reach for most. Enter the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Gaming. For less than $600 it comes loaded with a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a bright 16-inch 2560×1600 display.

If you have decent enough internet and are willing to pay the monthly fee for a cloud gaming service, you’re now able to stream the very best modern games straight from the cloud to your Chromebook. In their tests of the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Gaming Chromebook, they even found that they could stream AAA games at good resolutions and up to 120Hz. See their roundup of the best cloud gaming services to learn about options.

Dell G16 – Best for work and play

Pros

Cons

Price When Reviewed: $1,499.99

If you’re able to stretch your budget, the Dell G16 is a fantastic laptop for work or play. It crushed the competition in the processor department. That means it has plenty of power for everyday tasks like office productivity, video chatting, checking e-mail, and more. This laptop also turned in 131 FPS while running the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark. For hardware, it features an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. The G16 isn’t the most attractive laptop we’ve ever reviewed, but it gets the basics right and that’s what really matters. If you’re on the hunt for a laptop that you can work and play on, there’s no better option than the G16.

The PCWorld team puts each and every Windows laptop through a series of benchmarks that test GPU and CPU performance, battery life, and so on. The idea is to push the laptop to its limits and then compare it against others we’ve tested. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of each test and the reasons why they run them.

When it comes to picking the right gaming laptop, it really depends on what you want to do with it. Do you plan on playing lightweight indie titles like Stardew Valley (no shade, I love this game) or something more visually demanding like Cyberpunk 2077? Are you going to use the machine for work as well as play? It’s possible to get reliable performance out of a gaming laptop that costs under a grand, but you’ll need to take a hard look at the individual components. You don’t need a powerful GPU for something like Fortnite. You can run even most of the existing games very well at 1080p resolution with even entry level graphics cards if you don’t mind dialing down the in-game visual settings from Ultra to more-reasonable High to Medium settings. You’ll almost certainly need to do so to hit 60 frames per second in modern games on a gaming laptop under $1,000, but the good news is they should still look good, especially on a laptop display.

This will depend on the type of gaming you want to do. But frankly, no they don’t make good gaming laptops in a general sense. Chromebooks can handle web games and Android games just fine. But a Chromebook won’t cut it if you’re looking to play the latest high-powered AAA games. This comes down to two factors, they don’t run Windows and they likely don’t have sufficient graphics power.

With that said, Google is trying to bring cloud gaming to Chromebooks and it will likely be available in the future. Cloud gaming services use a remote PC or console to play games streamed through the cloud onto the Chromebook. Until that service is up and running though, Chromebooks will not be able to compete in the gaming arena.

Nowadays, the latest processors with integrated graphics can run a faire amount of modern PC games at reasonable settings. Intel’s newer Iris Xe line of processors with integrated graphics, for example, have been shown to run some of the latest games at 1080p and 30fps. You should know though that not all integrated graphics are capable of the same things.

Intel and AMD’s integrated graphics have made huge leaps in accurate years with regard to gaming performance. If you’re on a budget or looking for an ultra thin laptop with integrated graphics you can still enjoy some light gaming as well. Check out their article about Intel’s Core 12th-gen Iris Xe and AMD’s brand new Ryzen 6000 RDNA 2 for more detailed info.

This will come down to personal preference and intended use. If you plan to travel a lot with your laptop, then a small ultraportable size in the neighborhood of 13 to 14 inches is best. However, if want to use it as a gaming machine, then something in the 15- to 17-inch range would be ideal. Also, don’t forget to check the weight of the laptop before you buy it. Ultra thin laptops can weigh a featherlight 2 pounds while beefy gaming computers top the scales at three or four times that.

Standardized Test Policy

We don’t require applicants to submit standardized test scores because they think there are better ways to determine if you’ll be successful at Conn. And they want you to highlight your strengths in the application process, not write about a random subject we've assigned. They believe your high school transcript, essay, recommendations or other application materials may show your strengths better than test scores.

Our advice is to submit your scores if you feel they are representative of your achievement and will enhance your application. (Review the middle 50% range of scores submitted for the Class of 2024.) However, if you feel your standardized test scores do not reflect your full potential and elect not to submit them, you will not be at a disadvantage in the admission process.

In the Common App, simply choose which one testing score option you'd like us to consider:

If you would like us to consider your tests scores as part of your application, note that they accept both official and self-reported test scores.

Official test scores can be submitted in any of the following ways:

Self-reported test scores can be submitted in either of the following ways:

If you submit self-reported scores, please note that your official test scores will be required upon enrollment. Any discrepancies from self-reported test scores may result in rescinding their offer of admission.

We “superscore” the SAT Reasoning Test and use the combined highest composite score from the ACT. You should send scores from every SAT/ACT date for which you received your best scores in specific sections.

Scores from standardized tests taken through November typically arrive in time for Early Decision I consideration. Tests taken in December will arrive in time for Early Decision II and Regular Decision applicants.

Standardized test scores are not considered in the transfer application process.

Conn's standardized testing policy does not apply to testing for purposes of demonstrating English proficiency. Students whose first language is not English must submit the TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo or PTE.