Handy Tech Under $100 Episode 10 - Better than Ever!
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2016-05-06
·
1,829 words · ~9 min read
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handy Tech under 100 where I normally show you guys some cool affordable Tech
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stuff you can buy is going to be a little different this time around all
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the items will be priced at over $100
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and none of them are going to be useful so we're going to kick things off then
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with the Apple watch which I'm just
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kidding it's the usual thing
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Corsair's RMI series power supplies feature premium components for great
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performance with very low noise check out the link in the video description to
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learn more let's jump right into it no
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foreplay the first item for today is the kind of thing that I'd recommend
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ordering now and then putting away in a drawer somewhere for that day when
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you're running around trying to find a freaking notebook power cord and all you
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can find is the full-size PC ones
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adapters like this are available in the $5 range with shipping included if you
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have a Prime account and can adapt from a variety of different Power standards
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with some going as far as to also include a short cord so they can act as
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an extension now I'm aware that you can also just buy a bunch of C5 power cords
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I did but a handful of adapters is lighter and more compact to take with
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you in a tech tool kit where you'll already be carrying a c14 cord or two
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our next item is one that I've wanted to make a video about since I did this
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unboxing of the Razer Oro boros in my
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kitchen back in 2012 and was blown away
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by the Space Age material that they put on the base station so I finally got
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around to getting my hands on some this pack from Material samples shop.com
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includes three A4 size sheets of the material in. 3.5 and8 mm thickness
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depending on what you want to use it for the basic idea is pretty simple you peel
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the adhesive on the one side Stick it to the thing that you want to mount to
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something or hold in place and slap it down the way it works is this material
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is covered in thousands of tiny suction
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cups so the flatter the two maing surfaces are and the more contact area
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they have the better it can be used to mount pictures to Flat relatively glossy
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walls or Windows stick guitar picks to
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your guitar create Di y SEALS or gaskets
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and even hold docks in place much like Razer did with the Oro boros the sky is
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pretty much the limit it is a bit expensive but when it gets dusty and
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cruddy eventually you just wipe it with a damp cloth let it dry out
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and oops it's good to go I love this stuff finally my USB charging Hub
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doesn't need to fall off my nightstand every night dragging my phone down with
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it next up is the U key a two-factor
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authentication device that improves the ease security and convenience of
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managing your online Accounts at least once you go through the gauntlet of
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getting everything configured the UB key itself is pretty straightforward it's a
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thin USB device about half the width of a port with a touch sensitive button and
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an NFC radio for use with NFC enabled Android smartphones but where it gets a
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bit complicated is in the configuration the tools and guides use a lot of
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acronyms and Technical jargon with half a dozen different Windows applications
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for configuring settings and functionality on the UB key site depending on what you're trying to do
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something you may not realize until you've already downloaded it the good
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news is that for my purposes using it as an additional authentication Factor you
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can learn more about multifactor authentication here with last pass and
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using it as a Windows login key is a pretty basic config with everything in
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the personalization tool the one that you want to use pretty much left as
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default and then a quick edit within last pass to get it set up so the
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Achilles heel of the UB key is also its greatest strength though because as
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complicated as it might be for new users it is extraordinarily configurable if
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you want to dive into it so you can make it so the physical key is enough to
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authenticate you can force the user to touch it no fingerprint ID yet
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unfortunately but I'd be surprised if that's not coming and you can force the
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user to have both a UB key and a password but don't worry it has backup
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and restore settings in case you somehow manage to damage it or lose your
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keychain or whatever else for our next
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trick yes this episode of Handy Tech has more than three items we've got the as
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probe excuse me the am probe battery tester it's a simple little Gadget that
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tells you how much life is left if any in your batteries it works with all the
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usual 1.5 volt varieties AAA able a c d
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and with 9 volts as well and while it really doesn't do anything you couldn't
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do on your own with a multimeter it's easier to use and presents the results
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in a way that my sister or my mom could understand and while I might personally
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really wish that it would tell me the actual voltage instead of just good or
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replace I can help you guys out by interpreting it for you replace is in
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the 1.3 Volt range and if the needle bounces off the end you're sitting at
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about 1.6 volts now frankly I don't know
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if this is the best such device on the market but it sure helped me sort the
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batteries in the office into new still good remote control Duty and recycle so
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I consider it a winner especially for the price and finally we've got the Xbox
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One wireless adapter controller dongle this time I am not recommending a cheapo
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thirdparty one they can be a nightmare to find software drivers for and I
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actually had one die last time around and when I ended up replacing it I
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realized well now I've spent so much I could have just bought a first party1
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anyway and besides at this stage in the game Microsoft has the only one that's
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compatible with Xbox One One controllers anyhow it supports up to eight
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controllers now twice as many as before for you know all those PC games that
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support eight-way multiplayer and works with the standard Xbox One controller as
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well as the Fancy Pants Elite controller that Luke reviewed here but it does not
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work with Xbox 360 controllers for that you will still need one of the last
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generation dongles cool device for sure but it does come with some caveats for
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some reason we're not quite sure why Microsoft has decided to use the
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wireless adapter as a way to force users to upgrade to Windows 10 and has refused
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to provide a software driver for Windows 7 or8 or 8.1 users so beware of that
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which I guess concludes handy Tech episode 10 except for my usual
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disclosure section which is pretty simple today because all of the items in
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today's episode were purchased by me from Amazon and material samples
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shop.com for use at home or around the office with no prior contact with any of
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the manufacturers which t in nicely then to my usual reminder that while I
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frankly don't care if you buy any of these items if you guys are shopping at
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Amazon for the holiday season or for any other reason hey check out the guide up
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here for how to change your Amazon bookmark to one with our affiliate code
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so when you do shop there we get a small Kickback it helps us out a lot and you
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know what else helps us out a lot today's sponsor Lisa an Innovative and
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disruptive online mattress company and you might be thinking to yourself okay
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well hold on a second mattresses online it's actually not that crazy they
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describe themselves as kind of like the Tom shoes or Warby Parker for mattresses
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for every 10 mattresses they sell they donate one to a shelter and they've done
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away with all of that awkward mattress showroom experience that we've all
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suffered through at least I have where you're like you're like laying on the
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mattress next to your wife and you're just you're kind of like you're standing
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there watching us this isn't actually how we normally sleep like you know
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normally her head would be on my shoulder or or somewhere else or
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whatever and uh yeah so this feels really weird so they've taken all that
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away if you order it online they ship it for free to your doorstep compressed in
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a box about the size of a mini fridge the mattress comes in all sizes and is
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crafted from three unique foam layers including two of memory foam and two of
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a really cool latex-like foam called AA that helps keep you cool the best part
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is that while the awkward showroom mattress experience kind of sucks at
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least it gives you the opportunity to try it before you commit to spend a
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bunch of money well Lisa's got you covered on that too you have 100 nights
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to try your mattress risk-free and they start at 525 bucks and as I mentioned
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before shipping is free but there's more the first 100 viewers Link in the video
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description to redeem promo code Linus 75 at checkout get 75 bucks off their
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order so check that out all right guys thanks for watching
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if this video sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome get subscribed hit
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that like button or even consider supporting us directly by using our affiliate code to shop at Amazon I think
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I mentioned that already in this video buying a cool shirt like this one which
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we have a proper store now merch dolin tips.com you can actually buy all the
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old designs or the other thing right direct monthly contribution through the
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Forum now that you're done doing all that stuff you're probably wondering what to watch next so click that little
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button in the top right to check out the Channel Super Fun video where the team
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and I ride on those swagway things and just with each other it's pretty
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flipping sick