How to navigate the ins and outs of ‘Madden NFL 18’ franchise mode

Madden NFL 18 is upon us, which means that eager football fans will soon start their journey in franchise mode. Over the years, EA Sports has gradually added more depth, allowing players to tinker with every aspect of the NFL season. While this has been great for diehard football fans, the level of detail may bog down some of the more casual players. No worries, though — we’ve got you covered: here’s how to become a Madden NFL 18 franchise mode master, along with explanations on playing as a sole player or controlling the team as an owner.

Traditional franchise

You have options for Madden NFL 18 franchise mode, but most players will likely spend the majority of their time in franchise mode within the traditional “Coach” role. You make all of the decisions an NFL head coach makes, and technically “play” as the coach, but when game time comes around, you play Madden as you’re accustomed to — controlling every facet of the in-game experience.

You can either take the helm of a current NFL team or draft a custom team from scratch. If you choose to go the latter route, check out the tips below, otherwise skip to the bottom section for general franchise mode tips.

How to draft a quality team

To build a custom team, simply open a new franchise in the cloud and choose a team. Then, in the “Starting Point” setting, choose Fantasy Draft.

In real life, the NFL Draft has seven rounds. In Madden NFL 18, since you’re filling out an entire active roster, be prepared for a 53-round draft. For the first few rounds, you’ll have a minute and a half to pick a player, but as the rounds pass, your time to make a pick will drop down to 45 seconds.

To build a successful Madden roster, you need to be smart in the draft. So how should you allocate your picks?

For the first few rounds at least, there’s a general formula. With your first round pick, we recommend drafting the highest rated QB available. You have no control over the draft order so your pick could come at the beginning, midway, or at the end of each round. In the second round, go for either an offensive linemen or a defensive linemen. Whichever one of those you don’t select in the second round, you should pick up in the third round. In the fourth round, you should still be able to snag an elite running back. In the fifth, shoot for a cornerback or an elite wide receiver. Whichever you don’t take in the fifth, pick that position up in the sixth.

After the sixth round, we recommend switching back to the offensive and defensive lines for your next two picks. Then, pick up a secondary receiver or a safety, and pick up whichever you didn’t pick in the following round.

Ten rounds in, you should have a solid core. As you draft, you’ll see that each position will have a grade next to it to let you know how you’re doing. From this point on, we recommend filling the remaining positions with the best available players. Thankfully, it’s broken down by both overall player rating and by position to make it easier on you.

As for how many players you should have at each position, follow these rough guidelines, but you can tweak it to taste and player availability. There’s no single, optimal composition. You can check out all current NFL rosters to see variations of the breakdown.

• QB: 2
• Wide Receiver: 6
• Running back: 4
• Tight End: 3
• Offensive linemen (Centers, Guards, Tackles): 9
• Defensive linemen (Tackles, Ends): 9
• Linebacker: 8
• Defensive backs (Cornerbacks, Safeties): 10
• Kicker: 1
• Punter: 1

General franchise tips

Weekly training: Each week before a game, you have the opportunity to train the offense and defense with skills exercises. The game automatically selects a skills training that is beneficial for the upcoming opponent, but you still have choices to make. You can select three focus players who will gain the most experience from the exercise. Generally, up and coming players like rookies or burgeoning stars should be your focus players. You have the option to simulate the training and still receive experience points, but you will receive the greatest reward by actually playing the exercises and achieving a Silver or Gold rank.

Upgrade attributes: After each game, a list of players with available attribute upgrades displays on screen. The game recommends attributes to upgrade, but sometimes you may want to go rogue and choose a different option. Usually we opt for upgrading the player’s lowest attribute value.

Pay attention to goals: To spice things up, players have individual weekly goals which, when reached, dole out bonus experience points. To check your weekly goals, simply click on any player in the team menu and scroll over to “Weekly Goals.” Players also have season and milestone goals, which you can build on throughout the course of the season.

Upgrade roster: In the main franchise mode menu, you can click on “Improve Team” to look at available free agents. This menu will also tell you where your team is weakest positionally. If you don’t see an available free agent you like, you can head over to the Trade Center. From here, you can check out players that are on the trading block — meaning that teams are eager to send them away — or propose a manual trade. Once again, you should pay special attention to your top five position needs on the sidebar. On the flip side, you can also send one of your players to the trading block by navigating to “My Team,” clicking the player, and selecting “Add to Trade Block.” That way you can field offers from opposing teams rather than seeking them out yourself.

Negotiating contracts: As the season wanes, you will gradually be notified that players with expiring deals are up for contract negotiations. If the player is a starter, and an integral part of the team, make the fair offer as noted on the screen (typically you’ll go through a few weeks of negotiations with a player to get the contract/bonus to their liking regardless). But if the player isn’t an important part of your roster and barely ever plays, we recommend waiting until the off-season. You don’t want to tie up future cap space when you don’t know the caliber of players who will be made available at the end of the year.

Scout players: Throughout each season, you’ll earn scouting points which can be used to unlock grades for players in the upcoming draft class. Make sure to use these as you get them, since they degrade by half if unused from one week to the next. After you “scout” the player, they will receive a draft grade identifying which round they are likely to go in. You can then go ahead and add players that look promising to your draft board.

Post-season draft: After each season, you have four weeks to prepare for the draft. In that time, you will receive more scouting points for filling out your draft board. When the draft rolls around, it will be a traditional seven-round affair. If your draft board is set, you can tell the computer to automatically draft your best available prospect, or you can manually pick players as the draft plays out. Always pay attention to team needs. And if your team is already pretty great, think about trading some of your picks for future drafts. You have the option to sift through trade offers before picking. We were able to flip an early second round pick for an early first round pick in next year’s draft.

Play the Moments: Franchise mode is time consuming but you can make it easier on yourself with Madden NFL 18‘s play style settings. You can either play the whole game (roughly 45 minutes), play only offensive possessions or only defensive possessions, or, our personal favorite — “Play the Moments.” In this setting, you play both offensive and defensive possessions, but only crucial plays — the red zone, third downs, last two minutes of each half. Play the Moments works well, and even though you don’t play the whole game, you still feel in control of your destiny most of the time.

The dedicated player approach

Maybe you just want to control your favorite superstar or create a soon-to-be superstar of your own. You can do this by changing your role from the coach to a player when setting up franchise mode.

If you create your player, you have the option to choose from any defensive player or any ball-dominant offensive position (sorry, no kickers or punters). While you can modify everything down to the type of armbands your created player wears, you have to pick between different pre-made skill sets. For example, you can pick a balanced QB or a mobile QB, or a balanced WR or a speedy wide receiver. At the start, you can’t modify their attributes. Interestingly, you can choose whether your created player was an early pick, a late pick, or went undrafted. Choosing one of the latter two options means your player will have lighter expectations put upon him.

At the start of the season, regardless of whether you created a player or are playing as Tom Brady, you have to set a season goal. If you’re confident in your abilities, up it from the default, but if you’re unsure whether you will reach it, stick with the baseline goal which corresponds to your player’s position.

After setting your goal, there’s not much to it besides going out on the field and performing to the best of your ability. Even though you only control one player after the snap, you still get to pick the plays for your side.

We’ve found that if you want to go the dedicated player route, choosing to play as a running back or wide receiver is the most rewarding on offense. Playing as the QB is far too similar to the actual franchise mode, but without the control of team decisions.

On the defensive side of the ball, playing as either a linebacker or cornerback tends to get you involved in the most exciting plays.

Like traditional franchise mode, weekly trainings are available. These are far more important here because your job is only to make your player the best he can be. As you progress, you’ll gain experience points that can be used to upgrade your player’s stats.

Ownership

To be honest, we don’t think owner mode adds much to the franchise experience at all. By and large, it mirrors the traditional “coach” role as described in detail above. The only real difference is that along with team decisions and on-the-field performance, you get to manage the team’s more tedious finances. If the idea of tinkering with ticket prices, concession stand prices, and renovating stadium bathrooms sounds appealing, this is the mode for you.

Change your role to the owner when setting up your franchise. In the “Manage” section you’ll see a menu for “My Owner.” From here you can do things like check out finances and revenue, make stadium renovations, see how jersey sales are doing, and make changes to your coaching staff.

Here’s the thing about all of these financial decisions: If you play well on the field, fans will fill the seats, jerseys will sell, and your team’s revenue will inevitably go up. So if you choose to be an owner, don’t fret about the small things. Worry about winning. The meta-game financial info isn’t very robust, and any financial woes and fan disappointment that say, the Cleveland Browns have, can be cured by winning games. We turned Cleveland Browns fans from the least happy bunch of football fans to one of the happiest in a single year (with a Super Bowl win). Wins are what matters here. The rest will resolve itself over time.

But if not, you can always move the team if your owner ratings completely plummet. We weren’t able to get our rating low enough to allow us to move the team. And to be honest, we wouldn’t move the Browns … again.

Madden NFL 18 is available now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

We hope our Madden NFL 18 franchise guide was useful. Make sure to check out our offense guide, defense guide, and kick blocking guide for more tips and tricks. Will cover star Tom Brady avoid the Madden curse? Our history of the Madden curse details the ominous odds he faces.

G Suite managers can now control Android Wear devices

G Suite Managers can now administer Android Wear devices for devices using Android Wear 2.0 and later.

As strange as it may sound, a wearable device is a great match in many industries. Being able to see notifications while your hands are full or dirty may sound trivial, but in practice, it makes a smartwatch worth whatever other headaches are involved. Google apparently agrees, because now G Suite managers can manage Android Wear 2.0 devices.

Ausdroid reports that IT managers will be able to use Google’s Mobile Management tool to remotely wipe watches (you know, for all the Privacy Act data you keep synchronized to your watch) and to force employees to use a PIN for unlocking the watch. Managers will also be able to install corporate applications on all the company’s watches.

Administrators will also be able to ensure the OS and all applications running on all corporate watches will be up to date, and users will be prompted to install the Google Apps Device Policy application onto the watch when a corporate account is added to a watch. The new tools and features should be fully rolled out over the next few days.

Do you think your organization would benefit from the new administration tools? Let us know down below!

Learn more about Android Wear!

Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘We Have a Moral Responsibility to Help Grow the Economy’

Tim Cook last Friday visited Austin, Texas, where he announced that Apple’s App Development with Swift curriculum will be offered in over 30 leading community college systems across the United States starting in 2017.

During his visit to Austin, Cook sat down with The New York Times for a breakfast interview where he discussed topics ranging from job creation and diversity to the company’s efforts to introduce coding curriculum in schools and colleges.

Image via The New York Times
On the topic of creating jobs, Cook said that he believes Apple has a “moral responsibility to help grow the economy” and to contribute both to the United States and to the other countries where Apple does business. That’s why the company has worked so hard to introduce initiatives like Swift Playgrounds and coding in schools, in addition to making other investments like the recently announced data center coming to Iowa.

Cook also said he believes that the government has become less functional over time and that businesses have a responsibility to “step up” in areas like job creation.

“The reality is that government, for a long period of time, has for whatever set of reasons become less functional and isn’t working at the speed that it once was. And so it does fall, I think, not just on business but on all other areas of society to step up.”

Apple is focusing heavily on jobs related to apps and coding because it’s an area where the company has already created a thriving job economy. Apple says 150,000 new jobs were created through the App Store last year, with $5 billion paid out to developers. The focus is on community colleges because Cook says “the community college system is much more diverse than four-year schools.”

He went on to say that Apple is aiming to increase the racial, gender, and geographic diversity of people who are learning to code. “Right now, the benefits of tech are too lopsided to certain states,” he said.

During the interview, Cook also commented on Apple’s environmental efforts. Apple’s upcoming data center in Iowa will run fully on renewable energy, as do all of the company’s other U.S. facilities. “We’re running Apple a hundred percent on renewable energy today,” he said.

Cook’s full interview, which covers his thoughts on running for president (“I already have a job”), his coding skills, developers creating Android apps, and more can be read over at The New York Times.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

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What’s on TV: ‘Wonder Woman,’ ‘Narcos’ and ‘Twin Peaks’

Pro football is almost back, but until then we have the debut of college football this weekend. Also arriving is Wonder Woman (via the usual video on-demand outlets), while Baywatch brings The Rock to 4K Blu-ray and the Twin Peaks revival wraps up on Showtime. For gamers we have the first episode of the Life is Strange prequel, as well as some rehashes with ReCore: Definitive Edition and Resident Evil: Revelations. Finally, Netflix focuses on the Cali Cartel in season three of Narcos. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Wonder Woman (VOD)
• Ronin
• Gotham (S3)
• Snapshot
• The Man with Two Brains
• Baywatch (4K)
• Ark: Survival Evolved 1.0 (Xbox One)
• Resident Evil: Revelations (Xbox One, PS4)
• Absolver (Xbox One, PS4)
• ReCore: Definitive Edition (Xbox One)
• Life is Strange: Before the Storm – Episode 1 (XboxOne, PS4)
• Echoes of the Fey: The Fox’s Trail (Xbox One, PS4)

Monday

• WWE Raw, USA, 8 PM
• American Ninja Warrior, NBC, 8 PM
• So You Think You Can Dance, Fox, 8 PM
• Hooten & the Lady, CW, 9 PM
• Preacher, AMC, 9 PM
• American Dad, TBS, 10 PM
• Siesta Key, MTV, 10 PM
• Midnight, Texas, NBC, 10 PM
• To Tell the Truth, ABC, 10 PM
• People of Earth, TBS, 10:30 PM
• Loaded, AMC, 11 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM
• Will, TNT, 11 PM

Tuesday

• Difficult People, Hulu, 3 AM
• Ryan Hamilton: Happy Face, Netflix, 3AM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8 PM
• America’s Got Talent, NBC, 8 PM
• The Fosters, Freeform, 8 PM
• The Challenge MTV, 9 PM
• Animal Kingdom (season finale), TNT, 9 PM
• The Bold Type, Freeform, 9 PM
• Fantomworks, Velocity, 9 PM
• Face Off: Game Face, Syfy, 9 PM
• Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, HBO, 10 PM
• Somewhere Between, ABC, 10 PM
• Shooter, USA, 10 PM
• American Ripper, History, 10 PM
• The Challenge, MTV, 10 PM
• Adam Ruins Everything, TruTV, 10 PM
• The Therapist, Viceland, 10:30 PM
• Dare to Live (series premiere), MTV, 11 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Wednesday

• Big Brother, CBS, 8 PM
• Lucha Underground, El Rey, 8 PM
• Vixen: The Movie, CW, 8 PM
• Suits, USA, 9 PM
• Salvation, CBS, 9 PM
• Marlon, NBC, 9 & 9:30 PM
• Sinner, USA, 10 PM
• I’m Sorry, TruTV, 10 PM
• Snowfall FX, 10 PM
• The Auto Firm with Alex Vega, Velocity, 10 PM
• Blood Drive, Syfy, 10 PM
• Younger, TV Land, 10 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM
• MTV Undressed, MTV, 11 & 11:30 PM

Thursday

• Big Brother, CBS, 9 PM
• F*ck That’s Delicious, Viceland, 9:30 PM
• Zoo, CBS, 10 PM
• The Mist, Spike TV, 10 PM
• The Night Shift (season finale), NBC, 10 PM
• Queen of the South (season finale), USA, 10 PM
• The Guest Book, TBS, 10:30 PM
• What Would Diplo Do? (season finale), Viceland, 10 PM
• Nuts + Bolts, Viceland, 10:30 PM
• The Chris Gethard Show, TruTV, 11 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Friday

• Narcos (S3), Netflix, 3 AM
• Resurface, Netflix, 3 AM
• Final Fantasy XIV Dad of Light (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• Little Evil, Netflix, 3 AM
• Lego Elves: Secrets of Elvendale, Netflix, 3 AM
• Killjoys (season finale), Syfy, 8 PM
• Masters of Illusion, CW, 8 PM
• Diana, 7 Days, NBC, 8 PM
• Whitney. Can I Be Me?, Showtime, 9 PM
• Room 104, HBO, 11:30 PM

Saturday

• College football: FSU vs. Alabama, ABC, 8 PM
• Candy Crush (season finale), CBS, 8 PM
• Wild West (season finale), BBC America, 9 PM

Sunday

• College football: Texas A&M vs. UCLA, 7 PM
• College football: WVU vs. VT, 7:30PM
• Twin Peaks (series finale), Showtime, 8 PM
• Top Gear America, BBC America, 8 PM
• Big Brother, CBS, 8 PM
• Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN, 8 PM
• Power (season finale), Starz, 9 PM
• Get Shorty, Epix, 10 PM
• Unsung Hollywood (Season premiere), TV One, 10 PM
• Ballers, HBO, 10PM
• $100,000 Pyramid, ABC, 10 PM
• The Strain, FX, 10 PM
• Survivor’s Remorse, Starz, 10 PM
• Insecure, HBO, 10:30 PM
• Talking with Chris Hardwick, AMC, 11 PM

Apple Now Handling Support for Beddit Sleep Tracker Following Acquisition

Following its May acquisition of sleep tracking product Beddit, Apple has taken over all support for the device.

The Beddit support site, which previously provided customers with a Beddit customer support email address to use, now includes a link that directs customers to instead contact Apple support for any issues. It’s not entirely clear when the change was made, but it was noticed today by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

Beddit, purchased by Apple earlier this year for an undisclosed sum, is a $150 sleep monitoring system that pairs a pliable under-sheet sleep sensor with an app that’s designed to help users analyze and improve their sleeping habits.

The Beddit Sleep Tracker uses ballistocardiography (BCG) to measure the mechanical activity of the heart, lungs, and other body functions, a non-invasive monitoring technology that’s similar to the light-based photoplethysmography the Apple Watch uses to monitor heart rate.

With BCG, when the heart beats, it measures the mechanical impulse generated by the acceleration of the blood through the circulatory system, providing a wealth of data about the body. Beddit tracks metrics like sleep time, sleep efficiency, heart rate, respiration rate, movement, snoring, room temperature, and room humidity.

Since acquiring Beddit, Apple has continued selling the Beddit hardware and is collecting sleep-related data from users. It’s not yet clear what Apple plans to do with the Beddit sleep technology, but some possibilities include advancing sleep research for efforts like HealthKit and CareKit to implementing more advanced health tracking and sleep monitoring functionality into the Apple Watch or other future wearable devices.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook Sells Over $43M in Apple Stock

Apple CEO Tim Cook today sold more than $43 million worth of Apple stock, according to documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cook sold 268,623 shares at prices ranging from $159.27 to $161.43, earning more than $43 million, all of which is held in a trust.

Cook sold the stock after 560,000 RSUs vested on August 24, 2017. 280,000 of the restricted stock units he received were time based, while another 280,000 were performance based.

A restricted stock unit (aka RSU) is compensation valued in terms of a company’s stock, but the stock is not issued at the time of the grant. Instead, the recipient receives the stock at a later date, a method generally used to make sure employees stay with a company for a set period of time.

While Cook was originally set to receive 1,000,000 RSUs awarded over a 10-year period in two lump sums (the 1,000,000 share number was prior to Apple’s 2014 7-1 stock split — it’s now 7,000,000), a 2013 amendment modified how his stock is awarded, shifting it from a time-based system to a performance-based system with the RSUs doled out over a 10-year period from 2011 to 2021.

Cook received one lump sum of 700,000 RSUs in 2016, and will receive another 700,000 in 2021. The remaining 5,600,000 RSUs are awarded based on Apple’s performance compared to other companies in the S&P 500.

If Apple’s total shareholder return is within the top third of the best performing companies in the S&P 500, Cook receives all 560,000 RSUs in a given year. If the company’s performance is in the middle third, Cook’s award is reduced by 25 percent, and if Apple happens to fall in the bottom third, Cook’s award is reduced by 50 percent.

As Apple performed well this year, Cook received all 560,000 shares in 2017. In addition to the stock Cook sold, Apple also sold 291,377 shares worth $46 million on Cook’s behalf to settle his tax liability for the RSUs.

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3D-scanning project will document the skeletons of 20,000 vertebrates

Why it matters to you

Whether you’re a researcher or an interested amateur, this massive online catalog will be a goldmine to explore.

When it comes to projects involving 3D scanning objects to create virtual catalogs, few projects could hope to match up in ambition to a new collaborative initiative called OpenVertebrate. Officially launching at the start of September, and supported by a $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, OpenVertebrate will seek to CT scan the skeletons and insides of more than 20,000 types of vertebrate over the next four years.

“Believe it or not, the genesis was Twitter,” Adam Summers, a University of Washington researcher working on the project, told Digital Trends. “[Florida Museum of Natural History herpetologist] Dave Blackburn and I had both been posting images from our CT scanning on Twitter, and we were both very happy with the response. We got in touch with each other because we both had big ambitions: He to scan all the frogs and me to scan the fishes. He discovered an NSF program that might fund us and spearheaded the multi-institution proposal that resulted in this funded grant.”

From there, the project grew to include 14 different institutions, all of which will help with the compiling process. All of the vertebrate samples are ones already preserved in U.S. museum collections. Samples will be selected based on quality, then transported to one of six scanning facilities around the country. The scanning takes place using various scanners, ranging from microCT tools for tiny samples through much bigger 6-foot scanners for the larger animals.

“We are focusing on alcohol-preserved specimens,” Edward Stanley, another researcher on the project, told us. “We first take them out of their storage containers, place them in an airtight, sealed bag so they do not dry out, then place them in the CT machine, where they are X-rayed thousands of times in a 360 rotation. A computer then uses these 2D X-rays to work out where the high- and low-density parts of the specimen are, and builds a 3D-density map, which is then sliced up into tomograms, or serial sections. From these sections, we can reconstruct 3D models of internal and external anatomical features.”

As great a research tool as this will be, the really exciting part of the project is the fact that the results will be freely available to everyone.

“Not only will scientists and researchers be able to access these data, but educators, students, and the general public will have free and online access to these data and resulting 3D models for research, education, and non-commercial uses,” Blackburn told us. “All of us, whether you’re six or 86, will be able to see inside some of the rarest, most charismatic, and strangest animals in the world.”

For more security, Google wants to make sure you own ‘Certified Android devices’

Why it matters to you

Have your Android device certified to help ensure that it is not plagued by spyware.

On Monday, Google took to its Indian blog to introduce an additional way for users to make sure their Android devices are safe and secure.  The company is now branding its tablets and smartphones as “Certified Android devices” with the Google Play Protect logo included on the packaging.

With an open-source platform, it can be tough to keep up with the pace of more than 2 billion active devices around the world. In order to make sure users have a secure and stable experience via their Android devices, Google now provides certification — similar to seal of approval.

By working with manufacturers across the globe, the company runs hundreds of compatibility tests to check that the devices adhere to the Android security and permissions model. The same tests also verify the Google apps already pre-installed — such as YouTube, Maps, Gmail, Chrome, and Google Search — are authentic and apps from the Play Store work smoothly.

These same certified devices also come with Google Play Protect already included. The security platform — which has already been available to Android users — provides protection against malware, privacy hacks, and more. Other features include automatic virus scanning along with Find My Device in order to keep it safe from any type of occurrence.

Within the last few months, Google discovered Android spyware on two separate occasions —  one known as Lipizzan and the other named Chrysaor. Once installed, it would allow hackers to spy on personal information such as text messages, emails, voice calls, and even keys you typed on your device.

No apps with Chrysaor were discovered on the Play Store, but Lipizzan had a different outcome. Google found the spyware was distributed through the Play Store within “backup” apps that seemed harmless. Once installed, Lipizzan would then begin to send data from the device to a command and control center.

Since then, Google Play Protect has removed the spyware from any infected devices and blocked its installation on new ones. But the company still urges users to make sure to opt in for the extra security. Certifying these devices will help to make sure all of your information is automatically protected the minute you purchase your Android.

When shopping for an Android tablet or smartphone, you will be able to see whether it is certified or not by simply looking for the Google Play Protect logo on the box. You can also check the list of Android’s partners who ship certified phones and tablets.

How glamping went from a joke to an industry, and how to give it a try

What is glamping, anyway? When people first started tossing around the term “glamping” roughly a decade ago, it mostly made fun of high-income travelers spending money to camp with their luxuries. The word — a portmanteau of glamor and camping — called up images of those who refused to rough it without daily access to technology, entertainment, soft beds, and accessible cuisine — even if it required going to ridiculous extremes.

But then things changed. Several factors shifted glamping from the meme that it was to a far more widespread, significant part of the camping industry:

• Incomes rose following the recession and more people had the ability to spend extra money on their camping trip.
• Social media encouraged the use of technology while camping—with a focus on areas with internet availability.
• Technology evolved toward smaller, more portable devices that made glamping easier and less costly.
• Luxury camping became more about the location and less about the means of camping itself. Glamping earned respectability if the focus was on a unique spot that few people had access to.

By 2017, glamping evolved into a serious trend — a way of taking a vacation in nature combined with the luxury of a fine hotel (and preferably flanked by excellent views as part of the package). Here’s what you need to know about the modern glamping trip.

Glamping locations

Modern glamping places a ton of importance on the spot you choose to “camp” at. This transformed glamping from a purely DIY pastime into a search for special, isolated lodgings which bring you closer to nature while providing accommodations as good or better than your own home. While this may stretch the definition of glamping, it’s led to everything from glamper Kickstarters to resorts that actually have glamping in their name. Popular glamper destinations include:

• Yurts: These aren’t your granddad’s tiny wood yurts but rather large, spacious yurts designed with a minimalistic approach. They feature full beds, furniture, plenty of light and air, and all the amenities you’d ever need. It’s the closest accommodation to actual tent camping and allows glampers to get further into nature.
• Treehouses: A wave of eco-friendly treehouses sprung up across the world recently, including plenty within the United States. It’s a fun, innovative idea that provides a different perspective and adds a little adventure to surprisingly traditional resort amenities — which is exactly what most glampers look for.
• Pods: Pods are like modern, often portable, yurts. They’re typically metal or plastic bubbles designed to have a minimalistic impact on the environment when possible, and can be placed in wilder locations than most resorts would allow. Entire hotels, like White Pod, have made a business model out of offering isolated pods to travelers looking for a different experience.
• Large campgrounds: Of course, some people still prefer bringing their own technology to traditional campgrounds. The key is that glampers tend to need a lot of room, so the average camping space may not be sufficient.

Glamping tents and trailers

For traditional glamping, you still need a tent — but it shouldn’t be anything close to ordinary. For the real experience, you need either a luxury tent or a fully equipped trailer. Trailers are largely self-explanatory, though it’s worth mentioning there’s a growing trend of renovating older trailers with more luxurious features to make them fit for glamping.

When it comes to tents, only the best will do. Two important trends to point out here are teepee variations and double tents. A teepee style tent is exactly what it sounds like — the extra room makes these tents ideal for more room and amenities, without compromising all the rough aspects of camping. The double tent, meanwhile, isolates the living space as much as possible so nothing from the outdoors makes its way inside and used on its own or as part of a larger setup. Some double tents are even designed to sit on top of your truck for better protection.

Glamping technology

For a DIY approach to glamping, you need the right tech — and that means bringing along many of your current beloved mobile devices. With today’s tablets and smartphones, there’s no need to haul along a TV or gaming console, which makes glamping far easier. However, there are a number of additional technologies capable of helping out.

• Portable chargers: Portable chargers carry necessary ports for mobile devices and electronics. Powerful versions are a must for a good glamping experience. Extended trips benefit greatly from solar-charged models you can leave out in the sun to renew over time.
• Bluetooth speakers: Music, radio, movie sound — Bluetooth speakers do it all, average around 12-15 hours of battery life, and have plenty of durable models that can survive any camping experience.
• Inflatable everything: Sure, an inflatable mattress is important but don’t stop there. Bring along an inflatable sofa to relax on, or pick your favorite couch, chair and bubble tent for a fully inflatable glamping package.
• Meal kits: Glamp in style with a dedicated camping dinnerware set designed for camping, or bring along a portable outdoor oven range to create the kind of meal you really want. Hey, you can even pack a whole kitchen if you want.
• Pressure showers: If there’s one thing glampers miss from home, it’s the on-demand shower. That’s tricky to replicate with a water heater and plumbing but you can get extremely close with pressurized camp showers — these include everything from bags with nozzles to full shower tents and yes, portable water heater ensembles.
• Advanced lighting: Most portable LED lights, including strings like Luminoodle, work well for camping purposes but if you want a dedicated LED light, you should try LED camping lanterns.

The best ultrawide monitors you can buy

Sometimes you need a little extra screen real-estate, and the typical 16:9 monitor won’t do. Whether you’re a creative professional who needs a massive curved display, or a gamer looking for the most immersive experience you can possibly get outside of VR, there’s probably an ultrawide monitor for you. Be careful though, ultrawides are dangerous – once you try one, you’ll be spoiled for all other monitors. Even the sharpest, clearest 16:9 monitor will seem insubstantial and inadequate by comparison. So, who makes the best ultrawide monitors on the market? Well, let’s have a look.

We’ve gathered the best of the best in the ultrawide monitor market and run them through a barrage of tests to determine their fitness to display your games, your movies, or even your workspace.

Our pick

Why should you buy this: You want a monitor with the sensibility and size of a small luxury yacht.

Our Score

The best

Samsung CF791

With a reasonable price, stunning display, and understated, premium design, the Samsung CF791 is easily the best ultrawide monitor on the ma…

$949.99 from Amazon

$949.99 from Samsung

Who’s it for: Gamers, professionals, and everyone in between.

How much will it cost: From $850 to $1000

Why we picked the Samsung CF791:

First and foremost, this monitor is a striking piece of hardware. The design is understated, effortless and professional. The frame and stand all seem to melt away when you’re seated before that massive curved display. Colors saturate your vision from all angles, and the monitor is all-encompassing.

The CF791 offers stunning picture quality, with rich inky blacks, vivid and lifelike colors — right out of the box. Without any tinkering, it hits a stellar 940:1 contrast ratio, which puts it well ahead of similarly priced competitors.

This level of quality on a standard 16:9 display would be outstanding. The fact that it’s on a massive 21:9 display with a deep curve makes it truly a sight to behold. Video content is rich and fluid thanks to the monitor’s 100Hz refresh rate, and AMD’s FreeSync. For a look at the difference between FreeSync and Nvidia’s G-Sync, check out our guide.

In addition to the stunning display, it has a simple and professional exterior design which makes it a bit of a chameleon. It would be just as comfortable beside a flashy gaming PC decked out in LEDs as it would in an office beside a dusty old workstation.

The Samsung CF791 doesn’t need a flashy exterior design because its size, clarity, and resolution make it a showstopper all on its own.

Our full review

The best gaming ultra-wide

Why should you buy this: This monitor’s 200Hz refresh rate is wonderfully excessive.

Our Score

The best gaming ultra-wide

Acer Predator Z35

The Acer Predator Z35’s 200Hz refresh rate and massive curved display deliver an unparalleled gaming experience.

$980.47 from Amazon

$980.47 from Walmart

Who’s it for: Gamers, or anyone else who needs a monitor that can render 200 frames per second without breaking a sweat.

How much will it cost: Around $700

Why we picked the Acer Predator Z35:

Ultra-wide monitors look great, and they can provide an immersive gaming experience, but there’s more to a gaming monitor than size and curvature. No matter how big and gorgeous they are, no matter how bright and vivid, there’s one specific that must be up to par. Refresh rate.

So how does Acer’s ultra-wide measure up to other gaming monitors in a more traditional form factor? Well, it doesn’t. It obliterates them. The Acer Predator brings a massive 200Hz refresh rate to bear on an equally massive 35-inch 1080p display, and the result couldn’t be more satisfying. By allowing games to hit 200FPS without screen tearing, the Predator’s refresh rate delivers best-in-class performance. The result is buttery-smooth gameplay.

That said, the display’s 2,560 x 1,080 resolution is a little low by today’s standards. It translates about 80 pixels per inch, which is a little less than a 1080p, 24-inch monitor. However, the resolution does mesh well with the refresh rate. High framerates are less likely at high resolutions.

Despite its high price tag, the Predator is a very good choice for a long-term investment. The Acer Predator Z35 is compatible with Nvidia’s G-Sync, which makes the most of the monitor’s impressive refresh rate, serving up frames as quick as your PC can render them.

Our full review

The best professional ultra-wide

Why should you buy this: You need a massive workspace and pitch-perfect color accuracy.

Our Score

The best professional ultra-wide

Dell UltraSharp U3415W

A stellar contrast ratio, deep blacks, vivid colors, and a massive viewing area make the Dell U3415W a superb choice for creative profession

$722.00 from Amazon

$0.00 from

Who’s it for: Professionals looking for extra space, without sacrificing color accuracy.

How much will it cost: Starts at $620

Why we picked the Dell U3415W:

As you can probably gather from our coverage so far, ultra-wide monitors look spectacular. The technology has matured over the last couple years as resolution and pixel density have gone up, while prices have gone down. Sometimes, though, you need more than a great looking monitor. Sometimes you need a monitor that looks, well, perfect.

Creative professionals like photographers, graphic artists, and film editors need near-perfect color accuracy. Professional monitors need to resolve colors with a degree of precision that might go unnoticed in movies or games. They need to replicate real-world tones and hues with as little variation as possible.

That’s where the Dell U3415W comes in. With near-perfect color accuracy, 3,440 x 1,440 resolution, a best-in-class contrast ratio of 730:1 at 75 percent brightness, and a display panel capable of reproducing 100 percent of the sRGB spectrum, this ultra-wide monitor delivers a unique viewing experience that is well suited to professional graphic design or photo editing.

Dell has also thrown in a few extras, like a versatile on-screen menu system, multiple USB ports, and an highly adjustable stand – something that’s not always guaranteed, even on expensive ultra-wide monitors. Taken together, these traits make it a clear pick for creative professionals.

Our full review

The best budget ultra-wide

Why should you buy this: You need that extra real estate, and you don’t mind a few eccentricities.

The best budget ultra-wide

LG 29UM68-P

If you need a 21:9 workspace, without the usual bells and whistles, the LG 29UM68-P is the best you can get under $300.

$300.25 from Amazon.com

Who’s it for: Students, or professionals on a budget.

How much will it cost: $250

Why we picked the LG 29UM68-P:

As stunning as gaming on an ultra-wide monitor can be, one of the best uses for all that extra space is, unsurprisingly, work. A monitor with a 21:9 aspect ratio makes for an excellent, luxuriant workspace, offering up enough screen real-estate for three or more windows to co-exist side-by-side. Games will look great, but so will spreadsheets.

If you’re shopping for your home office or your office-office, you probably don’t want to go all-out for an $800 ultra-wide that’s just going to spend most of its time rendering word processors and spreadsheets. The LG 29UM68-P is probably not the best choice if you want an ultra-high-fidelity movie watching experience, but if you need a reliable, well-rounded ultra-wide for less than $300, look no further.

As with any budget option, the LG 29UM68-P is not without its drawbacks. It only supports a 60Hz to 75Hz refresh rate range, and its 2,560 x 1,080 resolution can look a little stretched on such a big screen. But those downsides are easily excused by the price.

It’s even decent to look at when turned off, as this humble LG offers thin display bezels and an attractive curved stand. This is the budget model in the ultra-wide world, but most people won’t know that unless you tell them.

The best ultra-wide for showing off

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Why should you buy this: You have deep pockets and a penchant for extravagant tech.

Our Score

The best ultra-wide for showing off

Dell Ultrasharp U3818DW

It doesn’t come cheap, but Dell’s spectacular U3818W is the final word in super-sized monitors.

$958.34 from Amazon.com

Who’s it for: Monster battlestation owners and media moguls.

How much will it cost: $1,170

Why we picked the Dell Ultrasharp U3818DW:

Most of the ultra-wide screens we spend time with are 34 inches, but the Dell Ultrasharp U3818W is almost in a class of its own, with a 38 inch diagonal and 3,840 x 1,600 resolution. It’s massively expensive, with a $1,170 suggested retail price, but makes up for it with, well, sheer size.

It’s one of the biggest monitors we’ve reviewed in the Digital Trends office by a fair margin, and tied for the absolute largest — with the equally enormous LG 38UC99. During our testing, it drew the attention of every coworker who walked by the test lab. Many even stopped in for a quick game of Overwatch, or to check out a 4K trailer.

The U3818W doesn’t compromise where it counts, either. Designed for professional use, the U3818W features absolutely impeccable color accuracy, hitting an average color error of .97 after calibration. That means colors are perfectly reproduced, as far as the naked eye is concerned.

If you can afford it, the Ultrasharp U3818W is one of the most impressive monitors you’ll ever set eyes on, and it’s sure to give your gaming rig or media machine an extra pop that even a 4K monitor can’t provide.

How we test

Reviewing monitors can be tricky. Unlike other types of hardware, it’s hard to convey how well a monitor performs with raw statistics alone. Everyone’s going to see a monitor a little differently, so we do our best to conduct objective testing to bring out the best in each monitor that comes through the Digital Trends offices.

When we test monitors, we leave no stone unturned. From physical stability to color reproduction, we run these monitors through a battery of tests to make sure they live up to manufacturer promises and customer expectations. Right out of the box, we test color accuracy, contrast ratio, and brightness with a professional-grade colorimeter, and follow that up with a run through some very dark and very bright games to get a look at how things look in motion.

To find out more, check out our guide to calibrating your monitor. The tools and techniques we use in that guide or the basis for what we use to test and calibrate monitors that we receive.

Is now a good time to buy?

If you’d have asked that question last year, the answer would have been a resounding negative. Ultra-Wide monitors are more expensive than their traditional 16:9 cousins, as they’re bigger, and less common. But if you compare last year’s prices to those you can find today, you’ll see that some of the best, most impressive ultra-wide monitors are currently available for a fraction of their original asking prices.

In fact, if you look through the reviews we have on file for the monitors in this list you’ll notice that the MSRP for each of them is well more than current asking prices. Some are available online for about half what they were just a year ago.

Market pressure and cheaper components have made for an incredibly inviting buyers’ market when it comes to ultra-wide monitors. So, yes, now is a great time to buy an ultra-wide 21:9 monitor, particularly considering we’re nearing the end of the year, and as we all know there are a couple high-profile nationwide-sales just on the horizon. You might see these already-low prices plunge even lower by the holiday season.

Update 8-28-2017: Added the Dell U3818W, updated pricing.