1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,919
get a load of this guy trying to make videos about useful affordable gadgets

2
00:00:04,860 --> 00:00:10,139
he's got no beard and didn't even know

3
00:00:07,919 --> 00:00:14,400
about any of this awesome stuff this video is brought to you by Wicked

4
00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:16,260
cushions and I have no idea how I lived

5
00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:21,660
without any of these handy Tech items under a hundred bucks starting with the

6
00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:23,880
AV Hersey ct3 I'm not even sure how to

7
00:00:21,660 --> 00:00:28,140
describe this thing it's a multimeter it's a power tester basically it tells

8
00:00:26,699 --> 00:00:33,719
you everything you want to know about anything USB just plug it in and you can

9
00:00:31,019 --> 00:00:37,500
monitor voltage and current both what supplied and what's used by whatever

10
00:00:35,700 --> 00:00:42,899
devices you have attached and it can even log that data over time so you can

11
00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:47,399
determine either for individual items or even groups of items the total charge

12
00:00:45,059 --> 00:00:51,899
capacity then there's the second view that shows you positive and negative

13
00:00:49,379 --> 00:00:55,920
voltages on the data lines bus voltage bus current bus power along with

14
00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:59,579
whatever fast charging spec you happen to be currently running which leads us

15
00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:05,040
into some much more interesting capability if we go into this menu here

16
00:01:02,820 --> 00:01:11,640
we can check the reported capabilities of any USBC cable by reading its e-mark

17
00:01:09,659 --> 00:01:17,520
chip you see as part of the USBC standard the e-mark chip is required if

18
00:01:14,700 --> 00:01:22,799
a C2C cable is anything other than a simple USB 2 cable that can handle three

19
00:01:20,100 --> 00:01:27,780
amps this chip lets the devices on either end of the connection know that

20
00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:31,500
the cable can safely handle the power or data speeds that they're trying to

21
00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:36,659
transmit so we just plug in one end of our USBC cable to the ct3 and select the

22
00:01:34,500 --> 00:01:40,680
e-mark reader if the chip is present we get a bunch of information about the

23
00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:46,020
cable if it's not well then we know it's a simple USB 2.0 cable capable of up to

24
00:01:43,500 --> 00:01:49,979
three amps what a Time Saver this is when you're trying to thin the herd

25
00:01:47,340 --> 00:01:54,780
going back to the menu again we can also see what types of charging a particular

26
00:01:52,380 --> 00:02:01,200
device supports it will identify Quick Charge 2 3 and 4 capabilities USBC power

27
00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:05,939
delivery and even dietary charging formats from the likes of Apple Samsung

28
00:02:03,119 --> 00:02:10,020
and others the ct3 can even go beyond that and let you trigger any of your

29
00:02:08,099 --> 00:02:14,459
supported charging protocols for your charger and lock them in say for example

30
00:02:12,660 --> 00:02:18,480
you were worried about reduced battery life time from charging your devices too

31
00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:22,440
quickly and you wanted to force your device to charge at a slower rate well

32
00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:26,459
you can totally do that just be sure you know what your device can accept because

33
00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:30,420
you can absolutely break things within correct settings and you'll need to

34
00:02:28,260 --> 00:02:33,540
remember too to release the charger from your trigger before you use it on

35
00:02:32,099 --> 00:02:38,879
something else we're really just scratching the surface with this thing it's scriptable via Lua so you can write

36
00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:43,620
your own charging routines for LiPO batteries it can pull data from OnePlus

37
00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:48,239
Dash cables and apple Chargers it can test cable resistance it has a built-in

38
00:02:45,780 --> 00:02:53,459
oscilloscope to show you the bus voltage over time and it's expandable with a

39
00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:58,800
load cell so you can do all of these tests and more with a specific load

40
00:02:56,580 --> 00:03:03,000
applied to the device and on top of all that it connects to custom software on a

41
00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:07,620
PC to give you even more granular control we need to move on but let's

42
00:03:05,519 --> 00:03:13,140
just say it is an amazingly capable device for just seventy dollars and on

43
00:03:11,099 --> 00:03:18,780
that note so is your old pair of headphones if only the ear pads weren't

44
00:03:15,300 --> 00:03:21,000
falling apart that is where these WC

45
00:03:18,780 --> 00:03:24,540
freeze replacement ear pads from Wicked cushions come in the pads that I've got

46
00:03:22,620 --> 00:03:28,620
here are specific to the steel series arctis Nova wireless headset but these

47
00:03:27,060 --> 00:03:33,060
are available for a wide variety of headphones and headsets starting at just

48
00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:37,500
thirty dollars it takes just a few minutes to swap out your worn out less

49
00:03:35,340 --> 00:03:41,640
comfortable or uglier ear pads with Wicked cushions and give your old

50
00:03:39,060 --> 00:03:45,540
headphones a new lease on life our set is a little thicker and a little firmer

51
00:03:43,980 --> 00:03:49,980
than the stock ones using a combination of cooling gel and memory foam with a

52
00:03:47,879 --> 00:03:54,720
breathable Sports fabric slash PU leather cover that noticeably improved

53
00:03:52,019 --> 00:03:58,379
Comfort however that can be a double-edged sword I mean it does solve

54
00:03:57,060 --> 00:04:04,860
a problem that some people have with this particular headset you can see there's an ANC mic that's inside each of

55
00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:08,099
the ear cups that kind of protrudes from the fabric here these can be really

56
00:04:06,659 --> 00:04:11,939
uncomfortable for certain people depending on your ear shape well by

57
00:04:10,260 --> 00:04:16,139
increasing the thickness of the ear cups you no longer feel them however changing

58
00:04:14,519 --> 00:04:20,220
the shape of a pair of headphones can have a negative impact on their

59
00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:23,820
performance thankfully after a quick round of testing from the Labs team we

60
00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:27,780
saw only a minimal impact on the frequency response of our arctis headset

61
00:04:25,620 --> 00:04:31,259
which is good because that was a requirement for us to accept their

62
00:04:29,460 --> 00:04:37,440
sponsorship for this video good job you guys and they look pretty cool too oh

63
00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:39,840
and good job Pine 64. you might know

64
00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:45,720
these guys from their Linux based Pine phone or their hundred dollar Linux

65
00:04:42,180 --> 00:04:48,060
laptops but they also make this the Pine

66
00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:52,139
Sol smart soldering iron you just put the handle and tip together tighten this

67
00:04:49,740 --> 00:04:57,180
little set screw then plug it in and you're ready to go it can be powered

68
00:04:53,940 --> 00:05:01,259
from a 12 to 24 volt Barrel Jack or even

69
00:04:57,180 --> 00:05:03,540
via USBC supporting both USB PD and

70
00:05:01,259 --> 00:05:10,139
Quick Charge 3.0 the Special Sauce here though is its onboard 32-bit risk 5 SOC

71
00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:11,759
that's running iron OS a smart soldering

72
00:05:10,139 --> 00:05:17,940
iron operating system that offers customizable automatic sleep motion wake

73
00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:20,400
temporary power boosting for right as you're touching whatever it is you want

74
00:05:19,259 --> 00:05:24,360
to solder to give you a little a little bit of extra help to get it flowing and

75
00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:28,860
even battery protection if you're running it off of a bank of lipo cells

76
00:05:26,460 --> 00:05:32,880
and that's all in your choice of 31 languages the interface is fairly

77
00:05:31,139 --> 00:05:39,000
straightforward to navigate on the small Auto rotating OLED display cool right

78
00:05:36,539 --> 00:05:43,320
and you can quickly dial in any temperature between 100 and 400 degrees

79
00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:47,759
Celsius and the tip will reach operating temperature in just six seconds going to

80
00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:51,780
sleep when it's idle to save your workspace and any unsuspecting pets or

81
00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:57,419
children who might accidentally come across it at just 25 direct from Pine 64

82
00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:01,740
the pine cell is a must add to your Tech Sac for any on-the-go repairs you might

83
00:05:59,699 --> 00:06:06,300
need to make speaking of which do you have your Tech sack yet check it out at

84
00:06:03,740 --> 00:06:10,560
lttstore.com and check out our next little tool to stuff into it a portable

85
00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:13,800
storage Drive is still one of the most useful things that a tech can carry in

86
00:06:12,539 --> 00:06:19,320
fact you might even have one on your keychain but you might be surprised to

87
00:06:15,900 --> 00:06:21,240
learn how cheaply you can DIY a really

88
00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:26,940
high performance with one these days I am talking two terabytes of speedy 10

89
00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:32,840
gigabit per second storage for less than a hundred dollars all you got to do is

90
00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:35,880
combine a nice 69 NVMe drive with a 16

91
00:06:32,840 --> 00:06:37,740
enclosure and you're ready to go I'm not

92
00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:41,580
gonna pretend you can't get a random two terabyte thumb drive for less money than

93
00:06:39,419 --> 00:06:46,199
this but in spite of the blue connectors that many of those have there is no way

94
00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:52,020
you are getting anywhere near the read and write speeds of this guy and they're

95
00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:54,000
also nowhere near as rugged like man

96
00:06:52,020 --> 00:06:58,680
good luck beating this thing up oh here's another you already have one but

97
00:06:56,100 --> 00:07:02,639
uh this one is better item whether it's for your switch your steam deck or your

98
00:07:00,660 --> 00:07:06,419
laptop you already know how useful a type c dock can be for connecting

99
00:07:04,259 --> 00:07:09,960
multiple devices to a single port and for getting back connectors that

100
00:07:08,340 --> 00:07:15,780
manufacturers have decided you just don't need any more like say for example

101
00:07:12,300 --> 00:07:18,600
USB a ports or additional HDMI ports

102
00:07:15,780 --> 00:07:22,560
well doc cases smart hubs not only look sick but they expand the basic

103
00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:27,479
functionality of a dock with an integrated display when you plug in a

104
00:07:24,539 --> 00:07:31,620
device it shows you the USB standard and maximum speed of whatever you just

105
00:07:29,340 --> 00:07:36,240
plugged in it'll also show you details on USB power delivery and the edit info

106
00:07:34,620 --> 00:07:40,800
for just about any monitor that's connected to the HDMI port but wait

107
00:07:38,099 --> 00:07:45,120
there's more using this button we can view more detailed information about the

108
00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:49,979
HDMI connection as well as manually setting HDMI EQ parameters which can

109
00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:55,139
help improve the connection quality for longer high-speed runs and like the ct3

110
00:07:53,400 --> 00:08:00,780
that we showed off earlier it allows you to manually configure USB power delivery

111
00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:03,479
specifying which PD version to use and

112
00:08:00,780 --> 00:08:07,620
how much of the up to 100 watts of power to reserve for the dock itself which

113
00:08:05,639 --> 00:08:11,160
effectively lets you dial in the exact level of power you want to provide to

114
00:08:09,419 --> 00:08:15,180
the host device the single button interface does take a little getting

115
00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:20,520
used to you have to use a mixture of short long and double clicks to navigate

116
00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:23,580
around the UI but most of the time you're going to be just looking at the

117
00:08:22,199 --> 00:08:28,440
data that's displayed on the main screen not actively tweaking settings now this

118
00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:32,520
is the Explorer Edition of the Smart Hub which lets you get a peek at the

119
00:08:29,879 --> 00:08:37,740
internals and starts at 90 dollars with free usbas a USBC all capable of five

120
00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:41,159
gigabit per second and HDMI port and an additional USBC for up to 100 watts of

121
00:08:39,599 --> 00:08:46,200
power delivery and for an additional 10 there's a pro version that swaps out one

122
00:08:44,039 --> 00:08:51,420
of the USB a ports for gigabit Ethernet or for fifty dollars less than this one

123
00:08:49,140 --> 00:08:55,380
you could just get a similar dock from ugreen that has all the same

124
00:08:52,980 --> 00:08:58,320
connectivity but doesn't have a screen I mean look I didn't say any of this stuff

125
00:08:56,940 --> 00:09:02,700
was essential I just said that it was handy now just because our last video in

126
00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:08,459
this series is old enough to start kindergarten in the fall doesn't mean that we've forgotten the most important

127
00:09:05,940 --> 00:09:13,080
part the full disclosure section these handy Tech videos are much more of a hey

128
00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:16,800
you should think about buying this thing compared to our normal videos so we want

129
00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:20,459
to make sure we're transparent about how we choose the items and how we acquired

130
00:09:18,660 --> 00:09:23,820
them Wicked cushions sponsored this video and sent us half a dozen sets of

131
00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:27,720
cushions for this steel series headset our writer Jordan who gets paid the same

132
00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:31,320
regardless has been wearing these things for a couple of weeks and gave them a

133
00:09:29,399 --> 00:09:35,160
thumbs up that's good enough for me the pencil soldering iron was recommended by

134
00:09:33,540 --> 00:09:38,279
several of our staff and it turned out we had actually already purchased one

135
00:09:36,540 --> 00:09:41,880
for a different video so we snuck It Off the Shelf to show you guys today the ct3

136
00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:45,420
power meter has been kicking around our writer's room for long enough that we're

137
00:09:43,500 --> 00:09:48,540
honestly actually not sure whether we bought it or it was sent to us by the

138
00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:51,779
manufacturer it's so cool though I'm surprised we haven't shown it off before

139
00:09:49,980 --> 00:09:55,200
and given the features it offers we're probably going to buy even more of them

140
00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:58,560
and the NVMe drive and enclosure were purchased from Amazon for this video and

141
00:09:57,060 --> 00:10:03,000
finally both versions of the doc case explore were sent to us by doc case for

142
00:10:00,660 --> 00:10:06,420
an unrelated video and we just liked them so we included them here just like

143
00:10:04,740 --> 00:10:09,660
we also included this Segway to our sponsor Wicked cushions Wicked cushions

144
00:10:08,279 --> 00:10:14,700
want to bring you the best replacement ear pads on the planet their WC freeze

145
00:10:12,660 --> 00:10:19,320
cooling ear pads use two pieces of cooling gel one under the PU leather on

146
00:10:17,220 --> 00:10:22,980
the inside of the ear cup and one under the breathable Sports fabric on the face

147
00:10:21,420 --> 00:10:27,000
of the pads to help keep your ears cooler for longer if they eventually get

148
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:30,240
too warm or you accidentally leave them sitting in front of a hot PC exhaust all

149
00:10:28,860 --> 00:10:33,660
you need to do is pop them in the fridge for a couple minutes to reactivate the

150
00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:39,779
cooling gel Wicked cushions are available for more than a dozen headphone manufacturers and in a variety

151
00:10:36,899 --> 00:10:43,440
of patterns from simple black to these 90s style ones that are perfect for

152
00:10:41,519 --> 00:10:46,620
watching Saved by the Bell reruns Wicked cushions are a great way to Breathe new

153
00:10:44,820 --> 00:10:50,279
life into Old headphones or improve comfort and add Flair to your new ones

154
00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:54,180
use the link and coupon code in the description for 15 off your order if you

155
00:10:52,740 --> 00:10:57,420
liked this video we've got a whole series of Handy Tech videos and we're

156
00:10:55,980 --> 00:10:59,959
going to link the latest one here for you to check out