Latest news with #MicroCenter
Winnipeg Free Press
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- Winnipeg Free Press
Merchbot enters Bombers' starting lineup
Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans can now purchase team merchandise at Princess Auto Stadium the same way they might buy a bag of chips in a workplace break room. Manitoba-based Vidir Solutions Inc. launched its merchandise vending machine at the Bombers' 2025 CFL season home opener last month. Referred to by the company as 'merchbot,' the machine allows fans to purchase hats, hoodies and T-shirts with a few taps on a touchscreen. Vidir is advertising the machine as the first of its kind to be found at a North American sporting event. It's designed to revolutionize how athletic programs manage merchandise sales. 'We wanted to create something that would cause some sizzle and some buzz,' said Mario Fontes, director of sales and marketing. 'We feel that the merchbot has some value for all kinds of sports organizations out there.' A family-owned business, Vidir makes an assortment of specialized automated material handling units. The business is headquartered about 100 kilometres north of Winnipeg in Arborg, with an additional manufacturing facility in Teulon. Vidir's vertical storage solutions are used by some of the biggest retailers in the world, including Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes. According to the company, the merchandise vending machine product improves a sports team's operations by automating the merchandise sales process in a compact space, improving the speed of service while maximizing on-hand inventory quantities. The challenge with the Bomber Store at Princess Auto Stadium, Fontes said, is it gets busy and the lines at the tills can get long. There's a potential for lost sales if people lose patience and leave the store before making their purchase. 'This (merchandise vending machine) allows teams to have multiple facilities in the building where people can pick up their hat or jersey away from the store,' Fontes said. The Bombers' machine is 2.1 metres tall, 1.5 m wide and 1.5 m deep, but Fontes said the company can manufacture merchandise vending machines more than three times that size. He added that Micro Center, a computer retail chain in the United States, is already using Vidir-created machines at six of its stores that are similar to the merchandise vending machine. The Micro Center machines are 7.3 m tall, 4.8 m wide and 1.8 m deep, and are self-serve kiosks where people can purchase different colours and gauges of 3D printing filaments. Vidir employees build the software that runs these machines. The software allows customers to track their inventory with ease. 'It's not just a hardware solution — it's a software solution as well,' Fontes said. He calls the Bombers' machine a test unit and envisions Vidir building six- and 7.5-metre-tall versions for sports teams. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. 'We're very happy about the product,' said Fontes, who declined to share how much such a machine might retail for. The merchandise vending machine has worked out well for the Blue Bombers, said Wade Miller, team president and CEO. 'For them to create something that helps us save space in our stadium and allows for vertical storage … it's fantastic,' Miller said. 'It allows us to carry more product than we usually would in that area (of the stadium). As our fans get used to it, we look forward to growing it.' Vidir Solutions was founded in 1986 by Willie Dueck, a farmer and entrepreneur. The company has more than 250 employees in Canada and around 20 in the U.S. It provides products to 45 countries. Aaron EppReporter Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. He was previously the associate editor at Canadian Mennonite. Read more about Aaron. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CNET
27-06-2025
- CNET
Acer Swift Go 16 (2025) Review: Affordable OLED Laptop Without Massive Compromises
CNET's expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise. 8.3 / 10 SCORE Acer Swift Go 16 (2025) $1,150 at Acer Pros Gorgeous OLED display Excellent productivity performance Fairly well priced for what's on offer Cons Disappointing battery life Bizarre, narrow number pad Pricing inconsistencies Acer Swift Go 16 (2025) 8.3/10 CNET Score $1,150 at Acer Acer's latest iteration of the Swift Go 16 line spans a wide gamut of roles and prices. It's designed to fill out a large swath of Acer's thin-and-light catalog below the high-performance Swift X models, offering productivity options for a variety of budgets. At the low end of the Swift Go 16 series, you'll find sub-$1,000 machines with a focus on providing large screens in lightweight packages. At the high end, like the machine I reviewed, the focus pivots to providing an attractive OLED screen backed by a high-performance processor, all squeezed into a slim chassis without a bank-breaking price. It's an improvement across the board from previous generations, including design, performance and specs. However, as always, some sacrifices are made. Acer chose to eschew dedicated graphics and battery endurance to focus on productivity and the display. While the company's choices are sensible for a laptop with this profile, they do mean the potential audience is narrower. Acer Swift Go 16 (SFG16-73) Price as reviewed $1,150 Display size/resolution 16-inch 2,880x1,800 120Hz OLED CPU Intel Core Ultra 9 285H Memory 32GB LPDDR5X Graphics Intel Arc 140T Storage 1TB SSD Ports 2 x Thunderbolt 4, 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI 2.1, microSD card reader, combo audio Networking Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 Operating system Windows 11 Home Weight 3.28 lbs The model I tested has an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H at its heart and is built around a 16-inch, 3K (2,880x1,800 pixels) 120Hz OLED display. It comes with a generous 32GB of memory and a 1TB SSD and weighs a slight 3.3 pounds. It's affordably priced, but the pricing currently listed on Acer's US site is misleading. The product page states that this version of the Swift Go 16 retails for $1,150 and provides a link to a single retailer (MicroCenter) with available stock. However, if you click through to the MicroCenter page, the price jumps to $1,200 without any apparent changes to the SKU. Perhaps it's a tariffs-related price hike. Most of Acer's other Swift Go 16 options have IPS panels and also sacrifice storage, RAM and CPU to push the price below the $1,000 mark (in some cases significantly below it, with the least expensive option currently available for $700). There is a single alternate OLED option, though it slashes the RAM allotment to 8GB, drops storage to 512GB, and has a lowly Ultra 5 125H processor. While it's currently priced at $730, it's hard to imagine someone willing to shell out for an OLED with so little under the hood to back it up. While my review model is the most expensive, it's also the best bargain, especially if it becomes available at the suggested retail price rather than with MicroCenter's $50 bump). The $1,150 cost puts it squarely in midtier laptop pricing for a thin and light laptop, and that price is largely justified by the excellent OLED screen and components. The Swift Go 16 is available in the UK on Acer's website starting at £1,300. Pricing was not available from Acer's Australian site at the time of this review. Alan Bradley/CNET Acer Swift Go 16 performance Intel's high-end Core Ultra 9 285H chip, part of its Arrow Lake-H series, is designed to power workstations and creator-focused laptops. On its website, Acer lists the Swift Go 16 under its AI laptops, a designation justified by the Ultra 9's neural processing unit, which combines with the CPU and integrated graphics to deliver a total of 99 TOPS. This means it provides more than double the 40 TOPS required to earn Microsoft's Copilot Plus laptop label, opening the doors to Windows' suite of AI applications like Recall, which captures "screenshots" of your activity and can retrace your steps or search them on demand. The Ultra 9 delivered both excellent single-core and multicore benchmark test results. This was especially true of tests that focused on CPU loading; 3D rendering results were less spectacular. Also, as expected from the integrated Arc graphics, graphics tests were largely underwhelming. The Swift Go 16 was clearly not designed to be a gaming or content-creation laptop, struggling to hit acceptable frame rates even on Low settings on modern AAA games. While it's perfectly fine for less graphically demanding or older titles, don't expect high-end gaming performance or to handle GPU-intensive tasks like video editing on the Swift Go 16. Another letdown is the battery life. In our video streaming battery test, the Swift Go 16 only survived for less than 8 hours. Contrast this with the Swift 16 AI, another OLED machine from Acer, which lasted more than 12 hours in the same test. This is likely due in part to the variance in integrated graphics: the Swift 16 AI uses the more energy-efficient 140-volt version of Arc, while the Swift Go 16 leans on the 140T version for better performance. Either way, falling short of 8 hours of battery life is disappointing for any laptop that lacks a dedicated GPU. A sleek-looking, aesthetically pleasing machine It might not turn heads at the local coffee shop, but the Swift Go looks nice enough. The etching and company logo on the lid are understated but lend an elegant look to the matte black finish, though it does pick up fingerprints fairly easily. It's svelte and light, though the sharp angles, particularly along the upper edge of the lid, make it slightly unpleasant to hold. So. Many. Fingerprints. Alan Bradley/CNET That said, for a 16-inch machine, it's portable, clocking in at an impressive 3.3 pounds and only 0.7 inches thick (tapering down to 0.4 at the front). Allowing for a 16-inch screen also means that there's plenty of real estate for the keyboard and trackpad, which makes some of the design decisions in that department seem baffling. While the keyboard is responsive with pleasant tactile feedback and key travel, it's compressed in the center of the laptop to make space for wide borders on each side. This is a particularly odd choice when you consider the number pad, which has been narrowed and crowded in alongside the keyboard to make room for those borders. Using it feels clumsy and awkward, with a lot of opportunity for mistaken inputs. It's especially confusing given the unused space to either side of the keyboard. There's room for the keyboard to extend to the edges of the laptop, but Acer decided to make the numpad keys smaller instead. Alan Bradley/CNET The mechanical trackpad is perfectly serviceable. I commend Acer's restraint here; a lot of manufacturers are plastering huge logos or designs on their trackpads, but Acer has opted for only including the Swift name in a modest font at the bottom. The OLED is definitely the showpiece. It's slick, glossy and gorgeous, with rich blacks and vivid, accurate colors. It's a beautiful display, and the 3K resolution matches well with the 16-inch panel to deliver sharp visuals and highly legible text. The only small letdown is the brightness, which topped out at 409 nits in our testing. This means you'll likely push the brightness setting to its peak a lot of the time, especially if you're working outside or in a brightly lit office, putting further strain on an already heavily taxed battery. While the pair of speakers won't wow any dedicated audiophiles, I found the speaker quality and volume range to be perfectly acceptable in a laptop this thin. The 1440p webcam, by contrast, delivers a crisp, wide-angle view. It's bolstered by a handful of AI effects provided by Acer's Quick Panel overlay, like "gentle light" and "super sharp," though they, like Windows' AI Studio Effects, were largely underwhelming. The built-in privacy shutter is a nice touch, and the toggle for it is virtually invisible in the webcam's housing. Alan Bradley/CNET On the security tip, the Swift Go 16 takes advantage of Windows Hello biometrics, allowing you to login via facial recognition or with the fingerprint sensor on the power button. Both worked reliably, which means more kudos for the QHD webcam; we've had mixed or inconsistent results logging in with other laptops' webcams, but the Swift Go 16's proved to be extremely dependable. There's also a fairly standard serving of ports. You get two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports that deliver speedy 40Gbps transfer speeds and provide up to 100 watts of charging. There's also a pair of USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, headphone jack and a microSD slot. The microSD reader is a nice inclusion and notable because previous generations lacked it. Alan Bradley/CNET Is the Acer Swift Go 16 a good laptop? Far from being all looks, the Swift Go 16 has strong core hardware paired with its pretty OLED screen, and at $1,150, it's a solid value proposition. For photo editing, heavy multitasking or most other productivity use cases, it's a great fit, though its graphics hardware doesn't quite do justice to that lovely display. The roomy, 16-inch screen means it's also a nice option for streaming movies or shows, or going deep down a YouTube rabbit hole, though you may want to opt for headphones for an audio experience that matches the visuals. That said, if you're looking for an OLED because you need to do a lot of GPU-heavy editing or rendering, or you want to show off the latest AAA games, you'd be better served by a machine with at least an entry-level graphics chip such as the HP Spectre x360 16, which is discounted right now to $1,240 as HP closes out its Spectre series. That's only $90 more than the Swift Go 16 (or only $40 if you can't find it for less than $1,200 at MicroCenter), a reasonable cost to level up your graphics performance with an RTX 4050 GPU. Hide our expert take Photo Gallery 1/1 How we test computers Photo Gallery 1/1 The review process for laptops, desktops, tablets and other computerlike devices consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our expert reviewers. This includes evaluating a device's aesthetics, ergonomics and features. A final review verdict is a combination of both objective and subjective judgments. The list of benchmarking software we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. The most important core tests we're currently running on every compatible computer include Primate Labs Geekbench 6, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10 and 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra. A more detailed description of each benchmark and how we use it can be found on our How We Test Computers page. Hide our expert take Geekbench 6 CPU (multi-core) Acer Swift Go 16 (SFG16-73) 15867 Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7640 12388 Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 (DB06250) 11080 Acer Swift 16 AI (SF16-51T) 10993 HP Envy x360 16 10941 Lenovo Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 9507 Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i 16 8939 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Geekbench 6 CPU (single-core) Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 (DB06250) 2760 Acer Swift 16 AI (SF16-51T) 2716 Acer Swift Go 16 (SFG16-73) 2697 Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i 16 2587 HP Envy x360 16 2510 Lenovo Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 2378 Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7640 2258 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Cinebench 2024 CPU (multi-core) Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7640 883 Acer Swift Go 16 (SFG16-73) 815 HP Envy x360 16 748 Acer Swift 16 AI (SF16-51T) 533 Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 (DB06250) 491 Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i 16 426 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Cinebench 2024 CPU (single-core) Acer Swift Go 16 (SFG16-73) 124 Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 (DB06250) 122 Acer Swift 16 AI (SF16-51T) 121 Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i 16 108 Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7640 103 HP Envy x360 16 100 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance PCMark 10 Pro Edition Acer Swift Go 16 (SFG16-73) 7263 Acer Swift 16 AI (SF16-51T) 6855 Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7640 6829 Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 (DB06250) 6805 HP Envy x360 16 6671 Lenovo Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 6618 Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i 16 6067 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Online streaming battery drain test Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i 16 15:34 Acer Swift 16 AI (SF16-51T) 12:20 Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7640 11:11 HP Envy x360 16 11:11 Lenovo Yoga 7 16 Gen 9 10:57 Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 (DB06250) 8:58 Acer Swift Go 16 (SFG16-73) 7:41 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
The Verge
05-06-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Today I'm touring Micro Center, Silicon Valley's first big computer store in years.
Sean Hollister The SF Bay Area used to have a lot of PC stores. Most got wiped out! But Micro Center has returned to Santa Clara, CA, and it's a joy to browse. (Yes, the store reportedly sold dozens of GPUs that turned out to be backpacks; the company hasn't yet answered my questions.) BTW, you'll see a special gold GPU in this video, signed by Nvidia's CEO. It's now up for charity, with bidding at $8,600.
Android Authority
31-05-2025
- Business
- Android Authority
I finally have tech geek paradise nearby, and I'm so excited
C. Scott Brown / Android Authority When it comes to buying the latest and greatest smartphones, tablets, computers, TVs, and more, Americans have a pretty limited set of options for shopping in a physical retail store. Over the past 15 years, the number of stores focused exclusively on electronics has dwindled. Even Best Buy, the largest physical electronics retailer in the US, is struggling. One retailer, though, is bucking the trend by not only surviving, but thriving. That retailer is Micro Center, a small-ish company that caters to hardcore tech geeks rather than the general tech consumer. When I lived in New Haven, Connecticut (where I spent most of my life), my nearest Micro Center was in Brooklyn, New York, which was quite the hike. However, it was always a worthwhile trip, for reasons I'll explain in a bit. When I moved to California's North Bay area in 2022, though, I was dismayed to find only one Micro Center in the entire state: the location in Tustin, more than eight hours away. Thankfully, the twenty-ninth Micro Center location just opened in Santa Clara, CA, a much more reasonable 90-minute drive from my house. On invitation from the company, I attended an early access opening of the store — and it was amazing. What is Micro Center? C. Scott Brown / Android Authority If you're a very old American, like me, you probably remember visiting a Radio Shack. In its heyday, it was one of the few places to get all manner of electronics and tech accessories, including hard-to-find items like uncommon batteries, unique adapters, and even soldering equipment. You probably also remember, though, that Radio Shack stores were cramped, disorganized, and staffed by unsupportive workers. Radio Shack went bankrupt in 2015. Decades before Radio Shack folded, a few guys who worked for the company saw its problems early and knew they could fix them. They left their Radio Shack jobs and started Micro Center, determined to create a welcoming space catered directly to tech-savvy consumers. Today, in 2025, Micro Center is one of the most respected and lauded privately owned retailers in the US. Micro Center was started by former Radio Shack employees determined to make a store by tech nerds and for tech nerds. The secret sauce for Micro Center is made up of two pillars. The first, and most integral, is knowledgeable staff. If you're a frequent reader of sites like Android Authority and have ever visited a Best Buy, you likely have experienced that company's biggest problem, which is that you, the customer, know more about the tech than the employees. That's not likely to be the case at Micro Center. Just like you and me, the people on staff in all its stores know their stuff. If you've never experienced it, I can assure you that it's quite the thrill to ask a tech question during a purchase and have someone who actually knows what they're talking about answer. The second pillar of Micro Center's success is that it understands and respects its customers. Rather than trying to appeal directly to the general tech consumer, Micro Center prioritizes being unabashedly nerdy. Yes, the general tech consumer — people who don't live and breathe tech but still need to buy a phone, laptop, TV, etc. — are more than welcome in Micro Center stores. But people who are passionate about tech are what Micro Center focuses on, and everything it does — store layouts, product categories, service offerings, etc. — always keeps that consumer category in mind. In other words, it's a store created by tech nerds for tech nerds. It's like a store made specifically for me C. Scott Brown / Android Authority Since I work at Android Authority, you know I love smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and all the other things we regularly cover here. However, I'm into tech-related stuff that we rarely talk about. I built my own gaming PC, for example (4090 gang, represent). I also have a Plex server, am very into smart home tech, and dabble in flying drones. I'm also a content creator, so I have a growing collection of tools for that, including cameras, lights, microphones, and more. Micro Center carries products related to all of these categories — and much, much more. In addition to everything I've already mentioned, Micro Center also has TVs, computer monitors, laptops, 3D printers (and filament for those printers), repair tools, board games, mechanical keyboards — the list goes on and on. It is a paradise for anyone passionate about a tech-related hobby. Regarding common tech categories, Micro Center has a distinct advantage in that it usually has a broader selection than most other stores. Just look at the laptop section of the Santa Clara store above. That is way more selection than you'll see in any Best Buy, Costco, Target, etc. For the less common categories, Micro Center is likely one of the very few physical retail stores to carry them. For example, in the US, it's not easy to buy a Raspberry Pi without doing so online. However, Micro Center has them, along with tons of add-ons, kits, and STEM-related tools to use with one. Likewise, if your laptop battery dies and you need an immediate replacement, you'll probably need to order online and wait for it to be shipped. At Micro Center, though, there's a whole wall of batteries you can run in and grab and be back up and running in no time. Need the proper tools to do that repair? Micro Center has them, too. Don't want to do the repair yourself? The service center is the first thing you see when you walk into the store, and it has an open-air design, so you can see the technicians doing their jobs. All of this makes Micro Center convenient, but what really makes it a joyous experience is the physicality of it all. I love being able to touch tech before I buy it C. Scott Brown / Android Authority When I was doing my most recent gaming PC build, I knew I wanted a new case. I have limited space in my small house, though, so it needed to fit within precise dimensions. Of course, I also wanted it to look cool and provide the necessary features. During this process, I did all this research — and the final purchase — online, and the first time I actually saw the case in person was when it arrived at my home. This works, but is certainly far from ideal. At Micro Center, though, I could have seen and touched the case before purchasing it. What's more, I could have compared the case to my current one to see the difference in size while also comparing it to cases from other brands. Given that very few physical retailers sell PC cases, Micro Center is one of the only places I could have gone to experience this. Micro Center knows the value of being able to see and touch something before buying it. That's just one example, but there are literally dozens more. Where else can you go to clack on a dozen different keyboards from multiple manufacturers to figure out which one feels and sounds the best? Where else can you pick from over a thousand filament colors to get the precise look you want for your next 3D printing project? Where else can you compare 50 laptops to one another, touch twenty desk microphones, hold dozens of Android phones, and even sit in a racing sim rig to see what that feels like? You can do all of this and more at Micro Center. Ultimately, the only real problem I have with Micro Center is that it's not everywhere. The company has opened three stores in the past year, which is a lot, but it still seems like a tiny portion of Americans have one within a two-hour drive. After all, the company has been around for nearly 50 years, and this is only its twenty-ninth store! I can only hope that this new Santa Clara location bolsters the company's success, and it continues expanding to more areas. For myself, though, I'm already dreaming about my next tech purchase happening in person while I chat with a fellow tech geek about it. I've missed those days.
Business Journals
30-05-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Popular tech chain returns to Silicon Valley after 13-year hiatus
Columbus Ohio-based technology store Micro Center opened a new Silicon Valley location in Santa Clara, 12 years after it departed the area. Neal Waters
