Paul Lilly
Paul is a seasoned geek who was first seduced into the world of computers and technology by the Commodore 64, and through the years he’s courted a number of OSes and platforms from DOS on up to the latest version of Windows. Having joined the HotHardware team in 2011, Paul is now a mainstay of the site covering the news beat and reviews, and resident wiseguy who keeps the mood light. He’s also an experienced freelance technology writer whose work has appeared in a number of online and print publications.
Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.
Recent posts
If you're reading this, it means you survived the madness that is Black Friday, and for that we congratulate you. Not all Black Friday shoppers are jerks, but if you're braving the crowds on the busiest shopping day of the year, you're bound to run into at least a few. Times are tough all around and the allure of saving big money has a tendency...
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You may not have heard of Supertron Electronics before, but over in India, the company's name is much better known. Supertron has a longstanding relationship with Seagate which, for thirteen years, existed as an import partner and sub-distributor. In 2006, Supertron became an official Seagate National Distributor...
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Two out of the top 5 best selling laptops on Amazon are Chromebooks (Acer C720 at No. 4 and Samsung XE303C12-A01US at No. 5). Chromebook critics are quick to point out that sales don't necessarily translate into a quality product, but if you look at the user reviews, there doesn't appear to be a lot of buyer's remorse...
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While Apple is over in Cupertino doing its best Ebenezer Scrooge impression by shunning cash discounts on products in favor of bundled gift cards, Microsoft is doing Black Friday the right way. There are some significant discounts on various Microsoft gear over at its online store, which not only means upfront...
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Intel, the world's largest semiconductor company, has a vested interest in seeing the hybrid PC model thrive. By "hybrid" we mean 2-in-1 PCs that function as both a full-fledged notebook and a tablet, in theory offering users the best of both worlds (check out our review of the Asus Transformer Book T100 Windows 8.1...
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Hello Razer, have we met before? You may ask yourself the same question after spying the peripheral maker's new Kraken Forged Edition headphones. Razer's been known to put out some solid gaming accessories, no doubt about that, but the Kraken Forged Edition aims higher than Razer has perhaps ever aimed. Not only is...
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It's said that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and who can blame them when it's been such a historical and ongoing struggle to gain equal rights? It took an amendment to the U.S. constitution to guarantee women the right to vote, and if you fast forward to today, a woman with a Doctoral degree is paid on...
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Google apparently isn't thinking straight these days, or at best, you could say the search giant's logic is flawed. How so? Well, the sultan of search contacted famed modder CyanogenMod and told him he could either remove his CyanogenMod installer from Google Play, or Google would remove it for him, adding that the...
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Apple and its manufacturing and component supply chain partners may finally have a handle on the newest iPad mini with a Retina-class display. It's that so-called "Retina" display that's been holding back production of the iPad mini, leading to a shortage of devices. However, it's now being reported that all...
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Nintendo surprised an entire flight of passengers on Southwest Airlines by handing out free Wii U consoles to each and every person. There were more than 100 passengers on flight 1883 from New Orleans to Dallas Love Field, and every one of them walked off the plane with Nintendo's latest home console after being...
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When it comes to waiting for ports, mobile gamers sometimes have it worse than the PC crowd. How so? Consider that while PC gamers are chomping at the bit (or "champing," if you want to avoid a citation from the grammar police) to play Grand Theft Auto V on their platform of choice, mobile gamers are still waiting for...
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Tis the season to shop until you drop, and rather than risk getting run over by savage shoppers who wouldn't think twice about trampling a toddler if it meant winning the race to the electronics section at Wally World, more and more people are finding it more convenient to shop online during Black Friday. That will...
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One thing we can say about the smartwatch movement is that if this category dies (and we suspect it will eventually fizzle out), it's not going to go down quietly. There are a handful of options on the market, along with persistent rumors that both Apple and Microsoft may be jumping on the smartwatch bandwagon, and in...
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Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is forging ahead without further guidance or input from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who agreed to sell back his 12.02 million shares in the company at yesterday's closing price of $16.93 per share. That works out to around $203.5 million, which Take-Two will fund from its cash...
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Hang tight, Moto X owners. If you're not already knee deep in Android 4.4 KitKat, you soon will be. Motorola is letting the world know that the most delicious version of Google's open source operating system is headed to the Moto X, the first smartphone manufactured in the United States, via an over-the-air (OTA) update. It's easy enough to...
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Looking to inject your desktop PC with a stick (or four) of instant adrenaline? Kingston may have exactly what you're looking for. The memory maker just announced the addition of 2800MHz memory kits to its HyperX Predator product line of high-performance RAM for overclockers, enthusiasts, and power users in general...
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If you were planning to purchase a $99 DNA test kit for the holiday season, you may have to put those plans on hold. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered 23andMe, a Google-backed DNA analysis company, to stop sales of its genetic testing kit since they're being sold without marketing clearance or approval...
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Some big money was raised at a special (RED) charity auction at Sotheby's in New York City over the weekend. One of the hottest items turned out to be a special edition red Mac Pro designed by Jony Ive and Mark Newson, which brought in a generous $977,000. It was the fourth biggest money maker during an auction in...
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So much has changed in the tablet market since Apple starting shipping its first iPad around three and a half years ago. Prior to the original iPad, the tablet category didn't really exist, not like it does today. Apple wasn't the first to market with a tablet -- not by a long shot -- but Steve Jobs and the gang were the first to release...
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A growing number of gamers have been complaining about an annoying issue affecting a "very small number" of Xbox One consoles. The issue has to do with the built-in disc drive not working properly. It seems that all or most who received a faulty console hear an awfully unsettling grinding noise when popping in a game...
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Benchmarking is serious business, and we're not saying that tongue-in-cheek. Buying decisions are often made based on how well a product benchmarks, which is why we spend so much time putting hot (and sometimes not-so-hot) hardware through their paces. However, benchmarks are only meaningful when there's a level...
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When it comes to choosing a storage scheme, there are couple of cost effective solutions for power users. One is to install a solid state drive (SSD) for the OS and programs, and a spacious hard disk drive (HDD) for storing photos, videos, and other data hogging files. A second option is to invest in a solid state...
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