Handy Tech Under $100 – Fixing Apple's Bad Design
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2019-05-06
·
1,233 words · ~6 min read
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handicap under 100 welcome back to handy tech
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under 100 where whether you're a mac or a pc or a pioneer from 200 years ago
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who's still alive somehow we've got something for you and we've also got a
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sponsor volta
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this first one feels totally sci-fi but then at the same time i'm like i'm kind
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of surprised that you don't just see it everywhere
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this is the beam authentic and it's
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basically a wearable diff
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this smart button connects to a slightly
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confusing companion app that lets you create upload and share images that you
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can then beam ah there you go right to your lapel you
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can show a single image a gif or create a slideshow and you can attach the
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button with the included magnets or a good old-fashioned pin
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battery life it varies so it ranges from 4
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to 24 hours depending on your content so
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mostly white images take much more power and mostly black ones take much less
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also your brightness settings and whether you're displaying pictures or
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gifs affect battery life too now sadly the beam typically retails for
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a preposterous 120 dollars but you can
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get 25 bucks off by choosing white instead of the presumably more popular
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black which makes it just barely eligible for this series
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there's also another brand called pins collective that's ten dollars cheaper
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but we haven't tried those and the screen to body ratio looks slightly
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worse next up we've got the volta xl now you
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may remember the voltage charging cable from a previous handy tech but they came
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back to sponsor this video because they've got a new cable that's
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compatible with all usbc power delivery devices for fast charging which is like
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faster than regular charging or as i call it slow charging the more powerful
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volta xl can push up to 87 watts so that's enough to charge a macbook pro
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through its usb type-c magnetic tips that are even stronger than before and
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like before you simply plug the tip into your device
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this end of the device and leave it there snapping the magnetic cable on
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when it's time to charge the lower power volta which has also
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been redesigned and is available for non-fast charging devices has tips for
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all sorts of ports but while they plan to release lightning port compatible
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tips for the volta xl in the future that's contingent on their indiegogo
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campaign going well so check it out at the link below and to get cheaper
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shipping at an early bird 35 dollar price
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next also for 35 dollars we've got a trip down nostalgia lane for anyone born
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between 1975 and the year 2000. just
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kidding it's dysentery everyone's favorite settler simulator
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oregon trail is now a convenient handheld game
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it's the same old trail you remember that is unless your elementary school
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had uh apple machines in its computer lab in which case the hunting is super
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different complete with 8-bit sound the ability to save your game and of course
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measles you thought i was going to say snake bite didn't you
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well i might have but i didn't want this joke to die of exhaustion
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the blocky form factor is comfortable for adult-sized hands but i do really
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wish that they had made the screen bigger especially since they've clearly
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got the space for it but i don't know i mean hey at least it comes with
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batteries so i'm recommending that you go out and get yourself one of these at
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a grueling pace
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next up how do i turn the volume now there we go
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you can bring your Windows 10 desktop pc to the 21st century with these nifty
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Windows hello peripherals i've got two here from different brands the first is
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a usb fingerprint reader from pqi for 30
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bucks there is zero installation for this thing you just plug it into an
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available usb port head to your Windows sign-in options and add your fingerprint
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you can add up to 10 fingerprint ids and
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then each id can have multiple prints
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stored so it's good for the whole family it's fido certified it's got built-in
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breadth sensing and it can be used to log into password managers like lastpass
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and npas sticking it in your tower's front io lets you unlock the machine in
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a tenth of a second at least if your hands are dry
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um if your hands are wet then it's probably better to have this one
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facial recognition damn it
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it's better to have this one this facial recognition camera from mouse is twice
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the price but your machine will also be unlocked before your butt hits the chair
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and you can use it as a crummy webcam my main gripe with this thing is just that
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the weight of the cable can kind of pull the camera off kilter but your mileage
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may vary on that one finally for the mac people out there
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one more thing this beautiful usbc hub from satechi is
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designed for Thunderbolt 3 equipped imacs and imac pros that aren't broken
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and it installs effortlessly into the vents on the bottom of the screen lord
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knows those vents had to do something and it sure isn't cooling me
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now finally you don't have to use the old
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reach-around technique every time you want to plug something in
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though you do still have to use two hands to keep the whole machine from
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sliding because i guess a you know rubber piece on the bottom of the
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aluminum stand was too much to ask for
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the hob offers sd and microsd ports
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three usb 3.0 ports and one usb type-c
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port but be aware that the hub is unpowered
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so we don't recommend charging your phone or especially high draw devices
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like tablets through it but the usb spec does include a minimum level of power
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delivery and we were able to plug in three led backlit keyboards
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simultaneously so you shouldn't have to worry too much about power management
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compared to older usb 2 hubs also bonus
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points satechi for doing such a dang good job with the color matching
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now for the transparency bit of this video we reached out to beam authentic
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for their smart pin and we bought everything else you see in this video
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from amazon with our own money except for
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the volta xl cable since this edition of handy tech was sponsored by volta the
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new volta xl is super durable and hard to tangle and it even has that cool otg
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feature so you can use one phone to charge another one be sure to check them
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out in the link below so thanks for watching guys if you
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disliked you can do that button if you do that button wow
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or like or get subscribed or consider checking out where to buy the stuff we
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featured at the links below also down there is our merch store which has cool shirts
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that's awkward and uh
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