INTRO Welcome to my first installment of 5 awesome
tech-related items under 50 dollars - “Nifty Under Fifty.”
VIdeos in this series will feature 5 products - tech related or gadgets themselves - that
cost under 50 dollars and I think are really useful for their price.
Prices will fluctuate, but all items should have a base price under 50 dollars, and all
product links will be in the description below, be sure to check them out.
For more videos like this, and upcoming ones such as my first theoretical PC build video,
and a review of an amazing card reader workflow, hit that subscribe button and stay tuned to
the channel for more videos!
Without further ado, let’s jump into the list…
NUMBER 5 At number 5, we have the 1 by one USB 3.0
4-port hub.
This is a pretty standard USB 3.0 hub, but it’s very portable and has a very slick
look.
It has a very nice, silvery aluminum-looking frame and a clean, white cable - which makes
it great for hooking up to a Mac, but will look nice in any computer setup as well.
It’s got 2 adjacent USB 3.0 ports on both sides of the hub, with a subtle 1byOne logo
on the top, and a power indication LED on one of the port sides.
The hub is about 3 inches in length and is super light and easy to throw in your pocket
or a travel bag.
In the box, this hub also comes with an adhesive velcro strip so that you can secure it anywhere
you need.
Coming in at about 12 dollars, I definitely recommend this hub to anyone looking to expand
their USB 3.0 availability - it’s going to be extremely helpful during our time at
TheGameCon 2015.
NUMBER 4 Next up, we have the AmoVee acrylic headphone
stand.
I have a lot of headphones and headsets, and I’ve been searching for better headphone
stands for a long time.
I have the big hefty metal Razer one, but I wanted something easier to move around and
more safe for padded headphone bands.
Recommended to me by Ed from TechSource, the AmoVee headphone stands are super light, super
clean looking - with no branding; just a curved plastic, and they get the job done right.
It’s a really simple concept - a single piece of acrylic - but that’s what makes
it great, and super cheap.
The clear version currently costs $11.50, and the black one costs $12.80 - I ordered
both.
Without any branding, they fit in any setup, and they make it easy to store my headphones
out of the way.
NUMBER 3 At number 3, we’re getting closer to that
$50 price point with the Monoprice HDX-401TA 4 by 1 HDMI switcher.
As someone who always runs multiple monitors, multiple game consoles, etc. into a game capture
setup, I’m no stranger to HDMI switchers and splitters.
This one, however, quickly replaced all of my others and has drastically improved the
flexibility on my setup.
This model does function very well as a 4-input, 1 output HDMI switch that takes DC power,
but it also sends an extra copy of the audio out via Toslink Optical connection, Coaxial
digital line, and a stereo 3.5mm jack!
This means I can hook all of my game consoles up to this switcher, then run the toslink
optical connection to the base for my SteelSeries H Wireless headset and listen to game sound
for all consoles without constantly switching cables.
I also have the flexibility to hook up standard 3.5mm headphones and run the coaxial connection
to my surround sound receiver.
Running at about $44, this HDMI switcher helps tame an otherwise insane setup.
It even comes with a very useful remote with input selection, switching between 2 channel
and 5.1 channel audio, and muting the audio.
NUMBER 2 Next is a product that I was sent for review
and I absolutely fell in love with - the Carbonic XXL desk mat from XTracPads.
This is a desk mat that will cover a length of 36 inches of your desk and a depth of 13
inches.
It features a very nice and slick carbon fiber pattern, and has overlocking stitched edges
to make sure they won’t fray like every mousepad I’ve ever used has.
The surface is very soft and smooth, removing a lot of friction from your mouse and allowing
for very quick and precise movements.
Plus, it provides a nice, comfortable surface for your hands and keyboard.
Normally I’m constantly moving my mousepad around and still moving my mouse off of it,
but with the Carbonic XXL desk mat, this has not been a problem.
The bottom of the mat also contains open cell “sure grip” rubber backing, which prevents
it from ever sliding around on your desk.
NUMBER 1 Lastly, but certainly not leastly is the Thermaltake
Black-X…
Blax…
- I have no clue how they would want you to say it - Duet 5G hard drive docking station.
This one is a USB 3.0 model, but I believe they have thunderbolt-compatible versions,
as well.
This station allows you to connect up to 2 hard drives or SSDs via SATA connection to
your computer externally for super fast file transfers over USB 3.0.
This is extremely useful when I need to transfer large video files between my editing workstations,
or when I’m making permanent backups onto our storage drives.
It features a black, brushed plastic look with power and hard drive activity LEDs on
the power buttons, eject buttons for both slots, and a wall power brick.
The device also came with two rubber sleeves for your drives - one for a SSD and one for
a hard drive.
I would have much preferred two hard drive sleeves, since hard drives are the only ones
with exposed PCBs - whereas SSDs tend to be fully enclosed and safe - and I personally
won’t be using SSDs in it any time soon, but that’s just me.
Overall the device is extremely useful in my setup, and I’m thankful to have invested
in it.
One minor annoyance that may affect some, is that it seems whenever you eject one drive,
it temporarily disconnects both drives - so if you’re hot-swapping drives a bunch, you’ll
want to make sure any active file transfers are finished before ejecting one.
However, coming in at about 42 dollars, it was worth the price for me.
CONCLUSION That wraps up my first list of 5 nifty items
under 50 dollars.
I hope I’ve recommended something that appeals to your interests.
Be sure to leave a like on the video if you enjoyed it, and comment down below if you’d
wanna see more videos like this.
This is new for me, so I value your feedback.
Thanks so much for watching.
As always, stay subscribed to the channel for more awesome tech videos, and I’ll see
you next time.