I ditched my dedicated GPU for integrated graphics and cut my power bill in half
… No additional hardware, resulting in a substantial saving compared to dedicated hardware. …
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Home Assistant just made every infrared device in your house controllable, and you probably already own them
… Integrations from Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Harman, and other product makers aren’t there yet. Community integrations might take a while, but devices with proprietary IR protocols may take longer or never get full support. …
The best new Home Assistant feature in 2026 isn't AI, it's a 433MHz transmitter
… You're not throwing out perfectly functional hardware just because it's not smart. You're making good use of it. With a single 433 MHz transmitter proxy, you can keep your existing hardware operating for another decade. …
I tried Hue Bridge Emulator for my smart bulbs and lights — turns out, I didn’t need it
… But I didn’t want to pay for expensive, extra hardware. …
Valve's Steam Machine delay forced me to DIY, and honestly it's better this way
… The official SteamOS release is a valid option, but right now, official hardware support is pretty limited, so it might not boot on Intel-based PCs or the newest AMD hardware. …
Home Assistant on bare metal works great — until it becomes your entire home's infrastructure
… There's an OS package that runs on just about any hardware that meets the system requirements, and you'll have no trouble hooking up all your smart home devices and other integrations. …
My entire smart home runs on a single Docker container now, and I'm never going back
… This meant that no matter how many times I updated or moved the container, my automations, dashboards, and integrations remained untouched. If my server hardware ever dies, I can grab that one folder and my docker-compose file, and I’m back online on a different machine. …
Windows is still the best OS for gaming, and these 4 things prove it
… This is especially important today because the value proposition of a modern gaming peripheral rarely lives in the hardware alone. …
I automated my lights first, but energy tracking is what actually saved me money
… Related 6 Home Assistant integrations I use to make my smart home smarter If you have a smart home and want to make it even smarter, these Home Assistant integrations will do the trick. …
Samsung TVs just gained native Google Cast, and my Chromecast is officially pointless
Jasmine Mannan Apr 26, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT Jasmine is Software and PC Hardware Author at XDA with years of tech reporting experience ranging from AI chatbots right down to gaming hardware, she's covered just about everything. …