[PC Hardware General] garwynn:
Hello everyone!

I didn't know where to really put this and the forums are still one of the places I feel most comfortable on the web.

In 2019 we did a far better job of covering more new PC hardware components than the previous year. Some of our reviews took longer than expected, but I stand behind my findings. Late in the year some personal matters required that I put the brakes on releasing new reviews. We ended the year with more reviews than before, but we still start 2020 with several reviews in the pipeline that were not completed last year.

In the past year we've taken your feedback. We understand not everyone is happy when a review doesn't come out the same day as the product releases. For those outlets this is their primary coverage. We work with what we can, and I'm very thankful that XDA continues to support the coverage as something beyond its primary coverage of Android and Android devices.. I do believe that our tests and reviews are both useful and necessary, no matter when they go live. Our continued focus on Linux serves an audience that even now still has very few in-depth reviews globally. Investigating situations that may be missed not only provides answers for questions that may be unanswered, but as I found out recently those lessons can still give answers years later.

I'm also very thankful for the XDA leadership and Portal team in their support and flexibility to continue this coverage while I am still dealing with some very serious personal matters. I wish at some point that I could explain just what is going on and how debilitating that can be at times. I suspect those who have gone through similar situations would understand. The only thing I can say is to please always take care of those around you. This goes beyond friends and family - think of the people you work or go to school with. How about the person you run into every morning? Everyone has their own life and not everyone may be having an easy go at it. Sometimes the hardest thing for us is to reach out for help. For others, that hardest thing may be offering help to others.

Try to help others when you can. When you need help, ask. You may find support in places you never expected. If you think something is going on that they may not be able to talk about, at least reach out and see if they may need help. Offer to be an ear or to even listen. They may not be able to tell you what's going on. They may not be able to take that assistance. But sometimes just knowing that there is support may do more than you see at the time. Donate not just to the big causes, think about how you can help others in your community. We're all trying to make our way through that journey that we call life.

I expect to resume writing again soon. Reviews where the tests have already been completed will be first up. Then we'll start with the reviews of components already here and ready to go into the test bench. I'm also looking into the possibility of resuming videos - something I stopped when I relocated in 2018. Most of the "behind the scenes" changes required for me to resume that was addressed last year. My biggest concern is honestly creating enough of a finished space so I don't have to set up and tear down between videos.

We've got even more planned for 2020 than we did the year before, so hope you'll stick around and continue reading our foray into something more than Android on XDA!