Covering the biggest show of the year - Our gear for CES 2017
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2017-05-06
·
1,462 words · ~7 min read
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Every freaking year we just about kill
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ourselves making over 50 videos in a
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span of like five days at CES.
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This year we will do the same, but damn
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it, we're going to do it smaller, lighter, better, and much, much more
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stylishly.
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First up are the tweaks we're making to editing. Obviously, I got everyone Razer
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Blades, whose quad core Core i7 CPUs, 16
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gigs of RAM, and desktop GTX 1060 graphics will cut through our editing
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timelines, pun intended, like expensive knives
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through butter. But it's me. I cheaped
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out and got the 512 gig version. So what
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do this is? Where the Angel PKT external
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USB 3 drive comes in. They sent us the 1
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TBTE version, which is a great size for onthe-go editing. Thanks to sustained
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read speeds in excess of 300 megabytes per second. Timeline performance is
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excellent with our standard CFO 1080p files, and it even handles RED 8K RAW
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playback pretty darn well. Physically, I
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can't help but marvel at the size, too. It's head and shoulders smaller than all
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the other portable drive solutions we've used in previous years. And there are
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some other clever things as well. Trim is supported on Windows or Mac, and the
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type-C connector on the drive is recessed to protect the cable from any
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unnecessary strain, which is comforting since a dead portable drive during an
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event like CES would be devastating.
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Drive-to drive transfer speeds were tested at around 250 megabytes per
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second, which combined with the easily swappable included USBA or C cables
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means that sharing footage between our editors can be done without any dongles.
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Speaking of dongles though, since they seem to be the way of the future at this
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point, we settled on these juiced systems bizubs.
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As great as the Razer Blade is, we're still missing a few things in the IO
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department to truly make our lives as effortless as possible. The Biz Hub has
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an extra HDMI 1.4 out, three USB 3.0
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ports, full-size Ethernet, and the SD
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and micro SD card readers we so desperately need. It's driverless, so
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you just plug it in and you're good to go. and I've been really happy with the
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one that I bought a couple months ago and they generously offered to send them
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for the rest of the team. You might be thinking carrying a dongle sucks and
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Lionus, there are lots of laptops with all that IO built in. And that's true,
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but a 14-in blade and a dongle versus
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the laptops that we brought with us last year to CES, there's no contest. Now,
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let's talk about the rigs. Not PC rigs, camera rigs. What's the point of better
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editing flexibility and I/IO if we don't have better footage to work with? Here
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are a couple of updates that we've made to our rigs. So, our A7S II cameras,
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whose compact size and stellar low light performance makes them ideal for show
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coverage, where booth lighting is anything but consistent, will be
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equipped with new battery banks from Ankor that increase their life between
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charges from about 45 minutes to over 3
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hours with a little clamp on the camera.
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We also finally got tired of the static and pops in our wireless audio and moved
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to Electroix's wireless system. We still
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plan to use wired hammer microphones for our hosts. But having a reliable
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wireless backup in case our host wants to conduct an interview or needs an
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extra hand to pick something up without risking dropping it. Well, we'll have
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that now. They cost us $8,000
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for two kits, which is more than many top YouTubers spend on camera and lights
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combined, but we haven't had a single audio issue since we started using them.
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So, money well spent.
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Also, new this year, shooters will be able to choose between a tripod and
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handheld, a monopod, a shoulder rig, or
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a Chinese knockoff version of the easy rig that we bought on eBay. Shooting
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with a tripod gives you rock steady shots like we would have while working
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in the office while also allowing you to set the tripod down and quickly go
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handheld at any given moment. The main disadvantages of a tripod for shows like
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CES is that it requires a much larger footprint to use and when you find
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yourself in a tight space or a crowded room, it becomes cumbersome quickly.
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It's also much heavier to bring around and takes longer to adjust your height
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versus Brandon's preferred method of shooting at shows, the monopod. Monopods
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take less space while also giving you a similar steadiness compared to a tripod,
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but they allow height adjustments with just one latch at a time. Where the
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monopod has its quirks is in the consistency of getting smooth pans and
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tilts as well as static shots since you
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only have one point of contact with the ground. Additionally, setting a monopod
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down is typically not recommended since they are prone to well tip tip typically
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tipping over. Shoulder rigs can be a comfortable way
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of doing handheld for an extended period of time, also allowing you to move
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between shots quite quickly. But the disadvantage is that the movement of
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shoulder rigs is not as steady as a monopod or a tripod. And they can get
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much more tiring on your arms and back walking around all day on the show
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floor. So meet our newest addition to
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the stable of stabilization products. We
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use our knockoff version of the Easy
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Rig. This oh so excellent fashion
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statement is composed of what is essentially a frame backpack that
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terminates into a metal support that hooks onto the top handle of basically
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any camera rig. This transfers most of the weight from your shoulders and neck
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to your hips, making shooting handheld a
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much more ergonomic and less tiring experience while also making you look
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like the second biggest camera dork on the planet. first biggest. That's an
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honor that's reserved for Brandon who added bungeeed and gear tied Kongfrog
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clips to make putting the camera on and off the Easy Rig much simpler. So, you
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have the option to set the camera down quickly when you're not rolling. The
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main disadvantage with the Easy Rig is that footsteps are more easily
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transferred into movement, so the operator will need to be careful of his
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or her footwork to get the most out of the system. Our last piece of gear was
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generously provided by Logitech. As much as we love our big headphones for here
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in the studio, when you're traveling and when you need the utmost in noise
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isolation on a crowded show floor to monitor audio, nothing beats a good pair
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of in-ear monitors. That is where the Ultimate Ears 900S comes in. These are
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excellent IM with a relatively neutral sound signature. And in the box, they
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come with a wide variety of ear tips for nearly any ear shape. All of this while
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being relatively lightweight and very easy to carry around with an included
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hard and soft bag for carrying. The
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headphones themselves have a braided cable and are fairly comfortable with a
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good resistance to falling out while moving around. And the cable can be
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switched out if anything were to happen to your connector. So, we won't be left
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hanging if anything snags our im. What a
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punny video. The Zone Balance gaming chair from
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Tesoro is a racing style design chair
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composed of a steel frame with polyurethane faux leather. I'm sure
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there's some padding in there somewhere, too. The high back rest is said on their
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website to provide full spinal column support as opposed to full spinal
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question mark support like it would if your spine was in the shape of a
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question mark. It has a steel base with the class 4 hydraulic p class 4 pistons
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to adjust the seat height and comes with head and lumbar support cushions. You
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can check it out at the link in the video description. So, thanks for
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watching guys. If you dislike this video, hit that button. But if you liked
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it, hit the like button. Get subscribed. Maybe consider checking out where to buy
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the stuff we featured at Amazon in the video description. Also, link down there
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is our merch store, our community forum, and not down there, but up there other
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videos of ours that you can watch. I promise they'll be good.