It's time for Handy Tech again, where companies send us stuff or I buy it and
then I tell you what I think is
good. With the purchase of a qualifying Intel processor, SSD, or Knuck, you
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the Ultimate System. Click now to learn more. So, let's get this kicked off with
something I've been meaning to buy forever. Looking back at older videos,
you can see me taking the temperature of a notebook with a Ktype probe taped down
to some thermal goop to ensure I'm getting a reasonably accurate reading.
This method worked, but is more timeconuming and certainly messier than
I'd like. Welcome to the new age. I don't know that this particular model is
super amazing or anything, but it's very well reviewed on Amazon. And for a mere
$44, I can now take the temperature of
pretty much anything I can aim it at. It records temperatures from minus60 to 500
degrees C. Has a laser guide so you know
where you're pointing. Uses AAA batteries instead of the for me less
common 9V batteries. And has a distance to spot ratio of 12:1. Meaning the patch
it's measuring is 1 12th the size of the distance you're holding the unit away
from a given surface. It's got some limitations though. It won't take air
temperature solids and liquids only. It doesn't have adjustable emissivity, so
it can read higher or lower depending on the reflective consistency of the
surface. And it doesn't come with any kind of certified calibration or
anything like that. But there are tons of things it could be useful for,
including anything you don't want to damage or contaminate by touching it,
anywhere that's difficult or dangerous to reach, or even taking the temperature
of moving objects with the 1 second delay between the trigger press and
readout. What I use it for is quick and dirty temperature readings on products.
With notebooks, it allows me to find hot spots very quickly. And for things like
graphics cards, it lets us take a look
at Sorry, we're back. And for things like graphics cards, it lets us take a
look at at least the surface temperature of components that aren't normally read
by software. Great for diagnosing problems. Next up, we've got a product
that has generated a ton of confusion over the years because apparently lots
of people didn't know that you can simply buy a dongle for 12 bucks and
connect up to four wireless Xbox 360 controllers to your PC for single or
multiplayer use. I always get people being like, "What controller is that?"
Or like, "OMG, Lionus is gaming on Xbox when a picture or video shows up with a
wireless Xbox controller in it." Nope, not the case. You just plug this bad boy
in, install the driver from the disc or download one and force the install, then
bind it to the controller in the same way that presumably you do it on a
console. I've actually never done it on a console, but uh if you need instructions, you can find them on the
official Microsoft product page. Because every game today is basically a console
port, I find using an Xbox controller is a super easy way to make sure that all
the buttons are bound correctly out of the box. And I've been doing this for years. It's awesome and well worth the
$12, especially if you already have a controller or two lying around. The last
product for today is one that I only bought because I felt like I was forced
to. LG managed to make one of the finest
monitors on the market, the 34UM95 ultrawide 3440x440 21x9 aspect ratio
monitor that I reviewed here with one of the worst monitor stands that I've ever
seen. It only has two height settings and even worse, at the highest fixed
setting, it's still not high enough for me. So, the Sitechi F1 smart monitor
stand looked like a good bet to get the monitor up a little higher and add front
audio extensions and a USB 2 hub to my desk at the same time. From the
pictures, it looked to be wellbuilt, attractive in a minimalist sort of way,
and practical because it allows you to use the space under it for storage
instead of just wasting it. In practice, the platform is solid enough for me.
Although the 22 lb weight rating doesn't seem deserved given the complaints from
27in iMac users. And while it does allow you to store stuff under it, I just
don't find it that nice looking. The picture made it look like it would kind
of match an aluminum finish on the top, but when it arrived, I found that aside
from the attractive aluminum legs, the finish is very cheap and plasticky
feeling. It can be assembled two different ways to either elevate your
display 8 or 10 1/2 cm by either folding out or not folding out the two plastic
tabs. But this mechanism, while once again solid enough for my use, just
didn't inspire that much confidence. My last complaint is that the built-in
four- port USB hub isn't powered. Not even a power jack to give me the option
to buy a 5volt adapter and use one myself. That would have gone a long way
towards making me feel a little better about the purchase. Maybe I'm asking too
much of this one though. It was only 35 bucks and I'm still planning to use it
because at that price I consider it very fair. Um, if I wasn't going to use it, I
wouldn't have featured it in the video. But next time I might use a little bit
more of my less than $100 budget for a monitor stand that we're going to
showcase on the channel here. Maybe something a little bit nicer. Speaking
of showcase, that's the channel, at least here in Canada anyway, where as a
kid I was able to find all the soft core or sorry, what was I talking about? Oh,
right. Uh, Hulu Plus. It offers simple and reliable video streaming service for
your PC, smartphone, TV, or tablet with a wide range of network TV shows,
criterion movies, kids shows, and anime. Hulu Plus has the quantity and variety
to suit a wide range of viewing needs. Personally, I'd be pretty stoked that
starting September, Hulu Plus will feature the entire archive of previous
Self-Park episodes as well as new ones. Yay. Now, I've had a number of our
viewers point out to me that Hulu Plus, like regular Hulu, cost $7.99 a month
and still has ads. Yes, we know the
point of the plus part is that you get
more archived content and the ability to view it across a wider variety of
devices. Maybe that's not compelling enough for you. or maybe it is. Why not
give it a shot? Visit huloopplus.com/Linus and get a twoe
trial of the service so you can decide for yourself. Time for the full
disclosure part of this video, which um I think you guys need to know since
Handytech is kind of straight up recommendations rather than reviews. For
this episode, it's easy. I bought the thermometer and the monitor stand for
work and the generic Xbox dongle to replace my broken official Microsoft
one. Anyway, thanks for watching, guys. Like if you liked, dislike if you
disliked. Leave a comment with other suggestions for future Handytech under
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