The "New Toys" Thread

Received my OnePlus 8T yesterday. My previous phone had to go because:

1- The screen was broken at the top and on the left side from multiple drops.
2- Battery life was getting pretty bad, with the phone sometimes shutting down at 15% battery remaining.
3- It seems like it was no longer receiving security updates from Google.

First impressions, the build feels cheap with the plastic back, I expected better from a 1100 :canadian:$ phone.
The design also doesn't feel premium.

We'll see how it holds up to abuse, and the reasons I got it are not for its look, but for its functionalities.

Pulling the dual-sim tray, there is one slot on each side of the tray, first time I see this solution to this particular problem (let's see how easy it is to add a sim and fitting the tray back without dropping one of the cards). There also appears to be some sort of gasket. So even though it is not IPX rated, there does seem to be some waterproofing going on.

Warp65 charge is pretty cool, regular charging seems slower than my old Essential PH-1 (might just be because of the huuuuuge battery).

This is my first phone with face unlock, and it's pretty cool. I was afraid the in-screen fingerprint reader would be slower and less intuitive than the middle of the back FP reader of the PH1, but in practice it works very well.

It took a few minutes to get used to OxygenOS. It is pretty close to stock Android, I typically prefer the pure Android experience, but I'm willing to give this a try.

I haven't properly tried the camera yet, but the software seems nice, specially the pro mode.

I'll had to this review as I get to know it better.
 
FWIW, One Plus says they build their phones with IP-rated-specs, but don't pay for the actual IP rating, saving money. That's what they say, anyway.
 
Just because I neededwanted a certain tool from Ryobi’s selection doesn’t mean I’m going to buy into a whole new ecosystem. AliExpress battery adapter to the rescue.

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Just because I neededwanted a certain tool from Ryobi’s selection doesn’t mean I’m going to buy into a whole new ecosystem. AliExpress battery adapter to the rescue.

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You swine, now I have to do the same. :D Heard good things about that glue gun.
 
Huh, neat!
never put too much thought into it, but always expected the manufacturers to do some proprietary bullshit DRM kind of stuff to keep this from being a possibility.
 
Huh, neat!
never put too much thought into it, but always expected the manufacturers to do some proprietary bullshit DRM kind of stuff to keep this from being a possibility.
Same. Milwaukee ryobi and Dewalt all do have proprietary technology that let certain tools get more power from certain batteries, so you probably wouldn't be able to get that benefit or use a few of those tools, but it should work for the most common tools.

I have the glue gun. Works pretty good, pretty basic. My favorite aspect is the weighted base from the battery so it stands easily.

They recently just enveiled a new hot glue gun where the batter is in a sort of base station. When you dock the gun, it heats the gun and glue. Then you can remove the more compact gun from the dock, and the warmed-up glue/gun is smaller, lighter. It just doesn't continue heating. It's definitely more designed for people getting it for crafting projects, and great for those who may be don't have the hand or arm strength to hold up the heavy gun with the battery attached (older folks or kids). And clearly, for smaller jobs, since you will have to continually re dock the little gun to reheat it...but still seems pretty cool.
 
They recently just enveiled a new hot glue gun where the batter is in a sort of base station. When you dock the gun, it heats the gun and glue. Then you can remove the more compact gun from the dock, and the warmed-up glue/gun is smaller, lighter. It just doesn't continue heating. It's definitely more designed for people getting it for crafting projects, and great for those who may be don't have the hand or arm strength to hold up the heavy gun with the battery attached (older folks or kids). And clearly, for smaller jobs, since you will have to continually re dock the little gun to reheat it...but still seems pretty cool.
I had a cheap mains powered gun like that, it simply had a base that plugged into the mains with a figure-8 lead, a figure 8 connector moulded into the base and a socket on the gun. You just shoved it on the base and it heated up, or you could plug the lead straight into the gun. Ultimately a cheap gun so it didn't last long.

I'll probably get one of those adapters, I do like Ryobi's version of tools that would be infrequently used like the glue gun or the soldering iron. I don't rate their battery connector though and wouldn't buy something like a drill.
 
I buy Milwaukee when i want something that I might depend on for work, and then I buy Ryobi for unique tools, or ones I won't use quite as often. In the case of the nail guns, Ryobi were among the first, and were actually better in many ways to some of the earlier ones from the big boys. I've got Ryobi's powered calk gun (great for when you have to empty tube-after-tube-after tube when gluing down sub floor), hot glue gun, nailers, belt sander, inflater, lawn care stuff (string trimmer, hedge trimmer and blower), a hand-helf 3200psi power washer, and an 18GA and 16GA nailer. (23ga is next on my list).

I actually found a Ryobi trim router for $39.99 that was listed as an open box. It's normally $69. I *really* wanted the Milwaukee, but that was $199 and never went on sale, so i bought the Ryobi. I couldn't deny the deal. Even better, when I got it, it was actually even unopened, it's just that the box was beat up. Cool!

The day I got it, though, i found out Home Depot was having a deal where if you buy an on-sale $199 battery kit (and I was planning on pickup up another couple batteries), you get a free tool. So I sold the Ryobi router the day i got it for the exact same price, and then bought the Milwaukee because it has ONE feature the Ryobi didn't. In the end i was planning on spending $200 on batteries, got $250 worth for that $200, and then got the router for free. Then I can also sell the extra battery charger for $10, and I'll have gotten $450 of stuff for $190.
 
Love it when you find great deal on tools.
Makita had a 2x18V lawn mower deal going on last spring. Two 5Ah batteries, a dual charger and the mower itself for €199. The charger alone is like €140 and the batteries €99 each... I live in a flat and still regret not buying the kit for the batteries and charger alone.
 
It's definitely more designed for people getting it for crafting projects, and great for those who may be don't have the hand or arm strength to hold up the heavy gun with the battery attached (older folks or kids).
I like the idea of a heavy battery because it means the gun stays upright when i put it down.

I’ve had a couple of cheap corded Rapid glue guns, they take forever to heat up and the last one I bought lasted about two glue sticks before the trigger mechanism broke. I know I tried to squeeze out too much glue too quickly, but still. This one feels more substantial and actually heats up quicker than the corded ones I’ve used before.
 
You swine, now I have to do the same. :D Heard good things about that glue gun.

After actually getting to use it for a bit, I really like it. Far better than the cheap Rapid guns that come in the starter kit with glue sticks. And it isn't even that expensive. Heats up faster and doesn't drool all over the place when you leave it switched on.
 
Feels like I'm the one keeping this thread alive nowadays :D

I needed a comfortable pair of over-the-ear headphones. Not for listening, but for online meetings. I like my AirPods Pro, but my ears don't like me wearing them for 4 hours straight while in a Zoom call. The battery life also didn't quite cut it.

I went with Jabra, a company I figured would know a thing or two about these things. Jabra Elite 85h to be precise. The first pair I got produced a crackling sound with ANC or passthrough switched on. Google told me this was a common issue, so I went back to the store I bought them from and got a refund which I promptly spent on a pair of Sony XM3's.

While these were awesomely comfortable and sounded great, I found out (while at home, reading the fine print in the manual) that they don't support "calls via computer or mobile apps", only traditional phone calls. And sure enough, I sounded like I was under water when I did a test with the Skype lady. Updating the firmware helped a lot, but I still didn't want to spend that kind of money on something that didn't support the main thing I was going to use them for. So I drove back to the store the next day and changed them, again, for another pair of Jabras. I'm so happy I didn't order online.

The Jabras have awesome battery life and actual tactile buttons for everything, which is nice. They also pair and un-pair with zero hassle when moving between devices. The downside is that my big head could use a tiny bit more adjustment in the headband. I'm wearing them fully extended and it would be nice if I had the option to go slightly bigger.

The Sonys sounded noticeably better and felt like wearing a cloud. There was also some adjustment left in the headband for me. However, they put up a fight every time I wanted to unpair and re-pair, and then there was this beforementioned compatibility issue. Finally, I can't understand the point of having hidden touch/swipe controls on the right can instead of actual buttons you can see and feel.

I also noticed that you sound like crap on the microphone if you're wearing the Jabras the wrong way round. It took me a little while to figure out what was wrong. :p



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I’ve been reading your posts, but since I haven’t really done much in the way of changing stuff, I haven’t really focused much on this aspect.

I think today I will take my Ryzen pc and blast out any dust. It’s a year and a month old now and with the pandemic has seen a lot of use. I also removed one of the dust filters because the graphics cars fans were running faster because they were restricted.
 
[headphone stuffs]

Somehow I didn't get around to chiming in... I haven't done as much research & testing, but just grabbed a pair of (returned, thus 20% off) Beyerdynamic Lagoon ANC headphones after reading like 4 or 5 reviews beforehand. First and foremost I wanted something to listen to music with in the office, when I got them back in February or something, but they work rather well for conference calls as well. I'm happy with them and haven't had any complaints about my voice quality either. Battery life is honestly ridiculous, where I'm confused the bloody things keep greeting me with "Battery 80%" on startup day after day... first world problems :D
 
Yeah, there's obviously more room for battery than in a tiny "true wireless" earbud. The Airpods live in my jacket pocket though, and will still see a lot of use.

I like how the Jabras automatically switch to a special "phone mode" when you're on a call, with a configurable amount of passthrough from outside. ANC is great and all but it feels weird to not hear your own voice when you're talking. The Sonys didn't have this either.
 
Haha yeah that feature is really nice - beyerdynamic patched that in with a new firmware update last month. Even with the ANC off the earcups isolated so well I was always half shouting... much better now!

What annoys me still is the multi collection handling. It’s supposed to prioritize calls over media but when I have laptop and iPhone connected it’ll nonetheless cut out randomly every few minutes and then tell me I’m connected to the laptop (as before you stupid thing, now I lost like 5 sec). Doesn’t make any sense... workaround: disconnect phone ?‍♂️
 
As posted in the Random Thoughts [Tech Edition] thread a couple weeks back, I was thinking of getting a 18V cordless drill/driver for some time now. The only driver I have is a decade+ old 3.6V Mac Allister, which still amazes me by working on rather well despite being this old and used to build an absolutely stupid amount of Ikea furniture over the years. It's completely useless for drilling though, since it's very slow and the speed is not controllable (on/off only), and the torque output isn't great either for anything above ~M4 fasteners.

So I went on the internet and found this:

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The choice might have been slightly influenced by MCM and Aging Wheels/UnderDunn, but I've heard good things about Ryobi from all sorts of sources, and it seemed a decent enough pick, especially for the price. I got the kit above (R18PD3-215GZ - combo hammer drill/driver, 2x 1.5 Ah batteries and the "slow" charger) for 75 GBP, or just under 90€ after conversion. The deal was on Amazon in the UK, but shipping was reasonable and I wasn't in a terrible hurry, so I decided to go for it.

Of course, as I've been made aware, it came with a UK plug on the charger - and against my hopes no, the charger cable is not detachable with a standard plug or anything. So I had to invest a whopping 2€ more into a fitting black adapter that will probably never get used with anything else. Still, the total is alright - this kit usually goes for 130€ or more, so I am happy.

One downside it that the thing is rather heavy, more so than some other 18V drivers I've used before, despite the smaller-ish capacity batteries. I suspect the percussion/hammer drill mechanism and two-speed gearbox are to blame - the thing is trying (and succeeding at) being three tools at once, there's going to be some penalty. I can totally live with the weight, so it's not an issue, just something I noticed.

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Compared to the old Mac Allister driver. I'll keep that one around as long as its built-in single lithium cell holds any useful charge, it's handy for smaller fasteners and tight spaces. But power- and versatility-wise, it of course doesn't even begin to compare.

Also while waiting on the Ryobi to cross the Channel and get here, I've stumbled across something rather stupid on first sight:

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For 15€, it was worth getting, even if only for a joke. I actually hate scrubbing surfaces (bathroom, kitchen sink, etc.) by hand with a passion - and as it turns out, it's much quicker and arguably more fun to do with a power drill at hand. So the drill even gets a legitimate household use, and is not just a toy I'll use to hang up the occasional shelf and build Ikea cupboards at the parents' house with :p
 
I have that rotary brush set. It hasn't made the bathroom any cleaner but maybe that's because it's been sitting in my closet...
 
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