The "New Toys" Thread

[leviathan]

All the Lightning cables I've collected over the years and use all over the place are going to be obsolete fairly shortly, so I went to the Ugreen store and clicked some buttons. This is a 65 watt charger with a pair of Type-C ports and a Type-A. Really neat.

View attachment 3570344

I also bought a handful of 1 and 2 meter C-C cables and a pair of A to C for the car and other places where I can't get rid of the Type-A port, but everyone knows what a cable looks like.

Now all I need is a decently sized Type-C power bank to replace my old Anker and that should be it.

I got the same thing recently from Anker, a 65W 2x USB-C + 1x USB-A (it's the model 735).

Has shown itself extremely useful already - I now only pack the thing + 1x USB-C to Lightning, 1x USB-C to USB-C, 1x Watch charger and 1x USB-A to all-the-things (C, micro and Lightning in one) cables, and it's enough to charge all my things (phone, watch, laptop, etc) anywhere. So much better than juggling multiple power bricks.

 

[Matt2000]

I can't remember the last time I used a lightning cable, I'm hoping that I won't need to change much as I use wireless charging in almost all situations and have USB-C adapters for my magnetic cables too. Yes, those are still working and I'll keep using one on a new phone, at least to keep the port free of rubbish.

Coming today is an iFi iDefender+, a ground loop eliminator.

I'm a bit cynical about this but I'm hoping it helps reduce the GPU noise on my JDS Labs Element II. The USB cable already has a ferrite core on it but that apparently isn't enough, I get some noise when running Topaz software in the background and I got lots of noise when Just Cause 4 was running. That's probably the fault of Just Cause 4 though...

 

[eizbaer]

I got the same thing recently from Anker, a 65W 2x USB-C + 1x USB-A (it's the model 735).

Ordered. Checked the actual size of the thing and DAMN.

Coming today is an iFi iDefender+, a ground loop eliminator.

… now I sorta understand. Mostly. Ish. Yes.

Well, as we discovered in the random thoughts tech edition, I also am a sucker for titanium…


… and to go along with it a 3-in-1 MagSafe charging thing, since one of my most used cables seems to be giving up the ghost.

Picking up at the store because delivery somehow happens in mid October? Seems s bunch of people ordered those. Actually not bad because that way I can take an in person look at the new nike sports bands. I actually like the recycling-speckled look, but am not 100% sold on the color combinations. Why does the black band come with ever-so-slightly-green accents for crying out loud? Will see if the blue convinces me - orange accents might go well with the Watch after all. Also yes, Nike band with the ultra. Nike band best band for anyone that does any actual exercise - fight me!

edit: that anker charging brick is surprisingly heavy... did not expect that. also the magsafe charging thing I got is... weird? because both the magsafe and the apple watch thing are white, despite the unit itself being black. and it didn't show on the product pictures anywhere, because they all had devices on them. mhm. I don't really mind, but I was surprised. also it works, so I'm ok with it.

 

[eizbaer]

Ordered. Checked the actual size of the thing and DAMN.

aaaand I also got another 521, which is the dual usb-c 40W equivalent... and which I find even more impressively small (since its body is basically that exact 1/3 smaller than the 65 W unit. this one is also, just like the larger one, surprisingly heavy! which ain't bad, actually makes them feel more substantial and solid (much more so than the ancient 100 W 1c+4a unit I still have, which, while not light, feels a little cheap/flimsy in comparison).

 

[Matt2000]

I'd guess the delay in orders is to accommodate iPhone 15 orders, my phone is due to be delivered at the beginning of October.

I ultimately ordered the 15 Pro in blue titanium, I have a case and Spigen screen protector ready.

 

[eizbaer]

I'd guess the delay in orders is to accommodate iPhone 15 orders, my phone is due to be delivered at the beginning of October.

how do you mean?
to clarify my earlier post: I can pickup my watch at the store on friday morning (ordered 13th). when I looked at it first, right after they announcement (12th), the home delivery also still showed friday 22nd as delivery date. only the next day when I ended up ordering (13th), had it moved into october and if I were to order now (20th), it'd be another week or two later than what I saw as delivery date last week.

 

[Matt2000]

how do you mean?
to clarify my earlier post: I can pickup my watch at the store on friday morning (ordered 13th). when I looked at it first, right after they announcement (12th), the home delivery also still showed friday 22nd as delivery date. only the next day when I ended up ordering (13th), had it moved into october and if I were to order now (20th), it'd be another week or two later than what I saw as delivery date last week.

I'd guess Apple just don't think watches are as important as phones, so have pushed the dates back to allow them to concentrate on iPhone orders that they consider to be a priority. The more pre-orders for iPhones, the more watches and other accessories will get pushed back.

That's just a guess though, could be back ordered from the manufacturer or something else. I think it'll be worth the wait.

 

[Adunaphel]

2 of these:

So now my living room sun shade and office shutters can be controlled by my HomeAssistant.

 

[eizbaer]

Neat, I recently got an NSPanel to run an ESPHome thing off of... but it's just lying around on my desk collecting dust for the moment. will probably take another half year before I get around to it... and then I still have to find somewhere to put it.

 

[Adunaphel]

The NSPanel is on my list of things to get later this year, as a multifunctional light switch for the living room.

 

[Eye-Q]

Since the screen on my Hammerhead Karoo 1 delaminates on the edges: a pretty much new looking Hammerhead Karoo 2. They sell it for 399$ on their website, german online shops have it for 250-260 Euros, I bought one with an additional "custom color kit" (really only some moulded plastic) in white for 180 Euros used. Especially the "custom color kit" is extremely overpriced - they already have the tooling for the standard piece in black, they only inject it with differently colored plastic and it costs 39$? For me that's a ripoff...

 

[eizbaer]

Especially the "custom color kit" is extremely overpriced - they already have the tooling for the standard piece in black, they only inject it with differently colored plastic and it costs 39$? For me that's a ripoff...

Eh, honestly that’s pretty much in line with what I’d expect from a niche niche product like this. Very small actual production run, thus comparably large overhead… looking at the 399 msrp those 39€ id say is nearly reasonable. Sure, 19 would new a more accurate representation of the cost involved (including margins and overhead and bla bla), but overpriced to me would be 50+.

ANYWAY! When they basically officially reduced the price to 250€ I was really expecting a Karoo 3 - but somehow that hasn’t arrived yet. Strange. On the other hand, I’m not sure they’d actually need new hardware. The unit should be plenty powerful enough from a processing standpoint, right? Any real differentiation nowadays happens through software anyway, if you discount the Garmin solar shenanigans (which I’d consider basically worthless).

 

[Eye-Q]

The unit should be plenty powerful enough from a processing standpoint, right?

Hammerhead states "1.1 GHz Quadcore with 2 GB of RAM". That said, the clockspeeds haven't been the main key for processing power for a long time. It's basically a smartphone without microphone and camera and in a different case - it has Android (Version 8 though so comparatively ancient) and a SIM card slot so you could shove a data SIM in there to connect to the Internet without the need of a WiFi Hotspot from your actual smartphone.

Any real differentiation nowadays happens through software anyway, if you discount the Garmin solar shenanigans (which I’d consider basically worthless).

Yup. Hammerhead releases software updates every two to four weeks, and they have been consistent in the last almost four years I've had my Karoo 1.

 

[DanRoM]

Their version numbers make me twitch...

 

[eizbaer]

Their version numbers make me twitch...

Now you made me check and wtf is this versioning I don’t even…

ELEMNT ROAM WC35-16333 - 19 September, 2023

the Minor jumps up in random increments, the Major (wc35) also sometimes increments (by two?) but not necessarily in line with major feature changes or releases or anything. Doesn’t make ANY sense to me at all…
Like… what happened here???

ELEMNT ROAM WC35-15943 - 9 May, 2023
[…]
ELEMNT ROAM WC31-15943 - 2 May, 2023

That seems consistent though, if the major changes the minor stays? Also it goes 19 - 31 - 35? Wha?

 

[Adunaphel]

Some more smart home stuffs arrived:

Sonoff MiniR4 smart relay for my outdoor light, and a Sonoff NSPanel and M5 for my living room.

The hardware to flash the NSPanel and M5 with ESPHome

Cheap-ass FTDI USB to TTY adapter (Yes, that is mini-USB, in 2023...)

The result of the flashy flashies:

Home Assistant home screen (nothing more to show yet due to not having configured the rest yet)

Also, some jamming equipment arrived:

The old HP printer needed new toners, and due to HP being HP, a new set of toners for that one would be more expensive than a new printer, and would offer fewer prints than the toners that ship with most Brother units. Had my eye on this MFC, which then turned out to be discounted €90 for a single day (€235 instead of €325), making it a no-brainer. And as a bonus, I can now send faxes! if I had a working phone line....

 

[Matt2000]

MFC-L3770CDW? Interesting, I need new toners for my LaserJet M252DW and yeah they're expensive but I didn't think buying a replacement was going to be cost effective. The replacement M255DW is actually in the Amazon sale today but only comes with 700 page sample toners.

I was going to but the high-yield 2300 page toners that would most likely last 6 or 7 years, that's £300+ for the set.

 

[Adunaphel]

Almost, I got the 3750. The toners that come with it should last 4000 pages, and a full set is a tad over €150 for originals.

 

[Perc]

I also had a HP color laser multifunction machine. I came to the same conclusion - toner is prohibitively expensive. I tried the knockoff toner route with less than satisfying results. I too ended up replacing it with a Brother, only I went with a black and white one instead. MFC-L2750DW.

I like many things about it. The "software package" for Mac is just a tiny little file that contains nothing more than a link to the Mac App Store where the scanning software is hosted and you really only need that if you want to scan photos and the like. And if you are like me and only ever use the scanner to turn paper into PDF, it can upload them straight to Dropbox and Google Drive. As for print drivers, there's no need. At least not on MacOS.

If I were to complain about something, it's that the silly fax is front and center on the main menu while the cloud scanning stuff is hidden away. I wonder which feature is used more often these days.

 

[Matt2000]

Almost, I got the 3750. The toners that come with it should last 4000 pages, and a full set is a tad over €150 for originals.

That's a great deal. Doesn't seem to be as good in the UK unfortunately. Not sure I could bring myself to junk it when it's never skipped a beat though.

I also had a HP color laser multifunction machine. I came to the same conclusion - toner is prohibitively expensive. I tried the knockoff toner route with less than satisfying results. I too ended up replacing it with a Brother, only I went with a black and white one instead. MFC-L2750DW.

I like many things about it. The "software package" for Mac is just a tiny little file that contains nothing more than a link to the Mac App Store where the scanning software is hosted and you really only need that if you want to scan photos and the like. And if you are like me and only ever use the scanner to turn paper into PDF, it can upload them straight to Dropbox and Google Drive. As for print drivers, there's no need. At least not on MacOS.

If I were to complain about something, it's that the silly fax is front and center on the main menu while the cloud scanning stuff is hidden away. I wonder which feature is used more often these days.

Yeah I'm not going for third party replacement toners, I had too many bad experiences with inkjet printers with 'compatible' inks. I'm hoping that the high yield toners will give me a decent saving, honestly I print so little that there's a genuine risk of the toner outliving the printer. The HP has been faultless and fits on the little table, so it can stay a bit longer.