I bought tech at the dollar store and you should too
Vložit
- čas přidán 1. 06. 2024
- Check out Storyblocks at www.storyblocks.com/linustech...
The dollar store has a lot more tech than you might think, but how much of it is actually worth buying there, and how much is just cheap trash?
Discuss on the forum: linustechtips.com/topic/14120...
Buy Cable Zip Ties: geni.us/PziG
Buy Duracell Alkaline Batteries: geni.us/fOP9zJ
Buy Clear Organizer Boxes: geni.us/bX8X
Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group.
Big Clive's 2017 Poundland USB charger analysis: • 2017 Poundland USB cha...
► GET MERCH: lttstore.com
► AFFILIATES, SPONSORS & REFERRALS: lmg.gg/sponsors
► PODCAST GEAR: lmg.gg/podcastgear
► SUPPORT US ON FLOATPLANE: www.floatplane.com/
FOLLOW US ELSEWHERE
---------------------------------------------------
Twitter: / linustech
Facebook: / linustech
Instagram: / linustech
TikTok: / linustech
Twitch: / linustech
MUSIC CREDIT
---------------------------------------------------
Intro: Laszlo - Supernova
Video Link: • [Electro] - Laszlo - S...
iTunes Download Link: itunes.apple.com/us/album/sup...
Artist Link: / laszlomusic
Outro: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High
Video Link: • Sugar High - Approachi...
Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi/UxWkUw
Artist Link: / approachingnirvana
Intro animation by MBarek Abdelwassaa / mbarek_abdel
Monitor And Keyboard by vadimmihalkevich / CC BY 4.0 geni.us/PgGWp
Mechanical RGB Keyboard by BigBrotherECE / CC BY 4.0 geni.us/mj6pHk4
Mouse Gamer free Model By Oscar Creativo / CC BY 4.0 geni.us/Ps3XfE
CHAPTERS
---------------------------------------------------
0:00 Intro
0:38 Batteries
1:33 Headphones
4:34 Bluetooth speaker
6:21 Tools and supplies
10:17 Chargers and power
11:38 USB and HDMI cables
15:15 Battery results and conclusion - Věda a technologie
![Eminem - Houdini [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/22tVWwmTie8/mqdefault.jpg)
This might be a relatively "low-tech" tech video, but I miss videos like these where LTT looks into practical tech products that everyone may use. Anthony is making the channel more relevant here.
Anthony is best girl
@M J Honestly, I am equally happy if they review something more "enthusiast," like GPUs and PC cases, but they have done so many videos irrelevant to consumers just for the meme potential, like upgrading his dad's boat, while also not going through the nitty gritty of actually using the product, that this single video doing both feels like a good return to form.
they dont get a lot for a dollar in america ,i guess the dollar is pretty weak, but dont america add tax on at the checkout so some items might be higher than the listed price ?
@@girlsdrinkfeck
What does a single unit of your currency get you?
@@dafrandle around 40% more than USD
Linus, please give Anthony the company credit card more often. He really enjoyed doing this, and I enjoyed watching.
We need Anthony doing many, many more videos. I think he's my tech soul mate
I agree. I've gotten tired of Linus flexing his insanely expensive tech, this stuff is cooler. Need more budget PC battles too
And let him get some hair implants! Love the guy but his front part of his hair hurts.
He need to explore more gadgets. Something that is useful or things he like. I think he got good taste on gadgets.
Linus? More like Yvonne 😆
Nothing makes me click on the video faster than seeing that Anthony is reviewing stuff. I can't express how much I would love to see more from him, thank you Anthony for being you!
The phrase "heavy duty" has come to mean "extra strong" in common usage, but in this context, it refers to the "duty cycle" of the battery, meaning the percentage of time it's being drained. "Heavy" or "continuous" duty means it's appropriate for devices that are always on. Carbon-zinc batteries are most appropriate for things like clocks, smoke detectors, and other similar low-drain devices. They're only good for supplying a tiny bit of power, continuously, for years on end. If it has a power switch or buttons, carbon-zinc is almost always the wrong choice. Even your TV remote will eat through carbon-zinc batteries in no time, and don't even think about using them in a game controller. I'm struggling to think of anything I put them in other than smoke/carbon monoxide detectors and clocks... Nope, can't think of anything else they're good for.
You can use the carbon zinc batteries in garden water timers, you can get a season out of them and not feel bad about discarding them in the fall. Just check on them periodically to ensure they have the correct time, if the time drifts change the batts.
I'd be cautious of their use in a CO/Smoke Detector though. Some Detectors will include a "Heavy Duty" Battery in the Box... But they often also have specific Battery Models listed in the Manual or on the Device itself. Try and Observe those Recommendations/Requirements.
Actually had a set of Alkaline AA I changed this weekend that was in place for 5 years. Detector still beeped but didn't test properly. This Detector is left unattended for extended periods of time so it's possible if it has/would throw a "low battery" alert it could be missed. Figure a Zinc Carbon Battery would have been the worst for this Application. Maybe less so for an Alarm that is "seen" daily and/or checked at least 1 or 2 times a year...
Haha I almost wrote this up but you did it perfect
What kind of batteries are good for non-continuous use items? Alkaline?
@@gonelucid All of mine beep when their battery gets low, usually in the middle of the night, so I'm comfortable with it. Your mileage may vary.
Regarding cheap/ dollar store tools my motto has always been: Buy it cheap once and if you use it enough to break it buy a decent one :)
That's pretty good advice!
Yep, "buy once cry once" is a thing but it's only worth it if you actually use it. Plenty of stuff gets used infrequently enough that it's better to cheap out. Harbor Freight is my goto for stuff like that.
I have done that and now my motto is: "better cry once when buying, than cry every time you use the cheap tool". I bought a cheap wire cutter and it just don't cut wires... And I cry, every damn time :P ofc this is within reason and I dont buy the most expensive one, just one or two steps above the lowest tier.
Same with bigger tools from harbor freight for me
Yeah good advice
It's great to see how Anthony has came to be so comfortable being in front of the camera. I remember when he first started appearing and you could tell he wasn't very comfortable being on screen. It's awesome to see how much he has grown! Keep up the great work, Anthony! You're doing awesome and I love seeing videos like this from you!
@@dong6839 I can see it! 😎
So, we've been seeing comments like yours for literally years now. At what point do we consider him a true part of LTT? Why do people not say this sort of thing about anyone else from LTT, even though Anthony very clearly isn't the only one who has gotten "better" on camera?
Anthony is MY GOD!
I love how he speaks!
@@awesomeferret because Anthony is the only one in this video? Why do you feel the need to turn everything into a negative? All I did was compliment him and prop him up but you have to come along with your negative BS, and for what? Do you feel better about yourself for being a Debby downer? Take my original comment for what it is, a positive comment about the person in the video, and move along. Stop trying to find reasons to be negative about everything.
My dad bought my siblings and I a couple of Harbor Freight handheld flash lights, the kind you keep in your care just in case, and I'm still amazed at how bright they are for the price he paid.
LED technology is incredibly cheap now and the older incandescent flashlights are completely obsolete at this point.
A Harbor Freight flashlight beats out my old pocket Maglite.
I enjoy this guys presentation enthusiasm. Very likeable guy :)
Definitely the most likeable person at LTT.
He seems like a fun guy to hang around at a bar with your friends
I’m getting a “prime hugger” vibe. =) first time seeing this channel pop up and not gonna lie, kinda disappointed to not see his face in more of the list. Subscribed anyway! Lol.
Yeah all my homies love Anthony
I don't wanna like because it has 69 of them...
Even though the dollar store (pound shop) chargers tend to be low on the current output, they are usually compliant with local safety standards (but not always from some chains). I actually recommend products from big names like Walmart and ASDA because they HAVE to comply with electrical safety standards to protect their name. Definitely don't buy cheap eBay chargers unless you like playing roulette with your gear and personal safety.
The USB cables are OK for slow charging and for chopping up for powering other stuff from USB. Poundland here actually do a higher current USB cable with more copper for a bit more cash.
I'm so happy that you got a shout out! ❤️
BigClive himself here! I feel as the markets of these cheap products gets more competition, they will have to advertise some of the features common in bit higher end products as their selling point. For example Surge Protection, Shielding, Simultaneous Charging etc.
Cooking with bad chargers? I smell a 3 part series coming our way!
Hello.
I work in tech repair on tablets and phones. I can’t tell you how many lightning and USB-C connectors from Walmart, Amazon, and the dollar store no name brand I’ve seen break off in devices.
"These are bad, they sound like absolute ass"...that's why I love videos featuring Anthony, always straight to the point.
Lmao same. He’s honest, fun and never lets a golden opportunity to make us laugh pass.
I was laughing.
I recommend the Crinacle-tuned KZ CRN. Definitely the best-sounding for 35 bucks or less
@@handlemonium I'd throw in the CCA C10, sound good out of the box and AutoEQ makes it even better. With Wavelet on Android it's even usable on the go :)
I fuckin LOL’d at that, was not expecting it from his usual polite demeanor. Hilarious
Hearing Anthony mention big Clive is all I need
Man when you said "Sega battery killer" it instantly brought me back to being 12 years old on a family camping trip. My friend had a game gear and that thing would suck down 6 AA Duracell batteries in just a few hours. Naturally knowing where the batteries were kept and wanting to keep playing Megaman, Streets of Rage 2 and Gunstar heroes I must have poured 36 batteries ez into that machine in the course of a few days. Things did not end well for me.
I had a game gear in 2003 and yes it ate batteries like a obese man at golden corral 😆
Many years ago, a cousin of mine was getting married. They had asked me to photograph their wedding, and I had agreed. I ended up bringing the camera, but the extra batteries were left on the counter at home.
Fortunately, I had my adapter, so I popped across to the dollar store and picked up a pack of cheap batteries. They took three photos before completely dying. I put in the second set I had purchased, took another three photos and the camera died again.
With no regard for my pocketbook, and VERY concerned about making the entire wedding and reception; I ran back across the street and bought them entirely out of their batteries, upgrading to alkaline cells as they were nearly out of the cheapies.
I photographed the entire wedding. Hundreds of photos. I changed out flash cards repeatedly, but a single set of alkaline lasted the rest of the day and most of the evening. I passed out packs of those stupid batteries like cough drops at a flu convention. Still took me more than a year to get rid of them all.
I have NEVER forgotten the lesson of matching the power source to the technology since then.
cheap batteries are only good for tv remotes,any other thing you would need alkaline.
@@bocasuja22 Cheap alkaline is completely fine compared to expensive alkaline though. They're probably the same internally.
@@bocasuja22 yeah, besides a TV remote, or a clock, I don't know why those carbon zinc batteries still exist.
They were out of date when I was a kid in the 80's, and they're even more out of date now.
The only issues I run into with cheap alkalines compared to name brand is that they start to corrode pretty quick. Might be dependent on what you put them in, and I find it happens faster if I don't use the item very often, like remotes and seasonal decorations.
Yeah, carbon zinc "heavy duty" batteries have a disgustingly small amount of energy in them. They're basically meant to serve the niche use-cases of TV remotes and smoke detectors and such... very low-power devices. You could just as easily use proper alkaline batteries in such devices, of course, but it's commonly believed that carbon zinc batteries are less prone to leakage in long-term low-power use-cases.
Anthony gives me such a chill vibe of someone I just wanna hang out with and talk tech. Hes such a nice dude, I really like when he hosts these types of videos!
Agree. I wish Linus would go away. H8 Linus, love Anthony. simple as.
He would probably eat you.
@@allenpope4383 jeez harsh. id argue to make anthony his OWN channel, because linus sorta pioneered this whole channel. just feels morally wrong
If I had a friend like Anthony then my life would be complete.
anthony was awkward as crap at first lol, but he has definitely turned into a great host, and is probably my favorite at this point
You got my attention with the HDMI cable failing the test, especially when you mentioned "shielding".
I have an HDMI cable I bought at Walmart. And I got myself an ONN USB-C hub and an "official" Pine64 "convergence module" for my Pinephone... and my external display kept cutting out whenever the 4G was active. It was finally explained to me that 4G can interfere with HDMI signals. So now I at least know why my video kept cutting out, and what I can maybe do about it.
I bought a CAD$2 usb keyboard from my local dollarstore. It was very low profile, black chassis, and low, but big, yellow keys with large block lettering--perfect for my mom so she could clearly see the symbols. And it was reported to be "water & drink resistant." She loved it so much, that I went and picked up two more as I thought, "how long could a dollarstore keyboard last?"
Well, 10 years later and it's still working great!
I love how it's universally accepted now all these years later that the Game Gear is the benchmark for testing AA batteries, haha!
Insert negative comment about game gear’s price and popularity here
And Crab Rave is the default audio test
It's the Crysis of battery testing
Certified battery killer, produces piles of the dead.
I have a turbo express that would probably kill batteries at a similar rate but i guess those are harder to find.
Hard to not love Anthony. He does a great job in these videos and comes across as very honest and friendly.
yep!
Absolutely. Hard to broach the subject but with his stature he'll be in for a bad time if he doesn't make some serious changes.
100% love that Anthony is part of the LTT crew. very straight shooter and helpful.
Anthony always puts a smile on face. I am currently stuck at home sick, and this was a great video to watch. I'd love to see a video about comparing usb cables.
the magnet on an antenna needs a flexible end then you could actually use it for get screws from small places. And I remember when a 3ft HDMI cable was like $50-$60 each and even a 1.5 ft one was $45.
Wow I remember this too lol Bring memories back
i remember getting the employee discount (cost+10% iirc) and paying $8 for those $60 hdmi cables. It was all mark-up profit.
@@nobody8717 paying wholesale prices for tech :o where did you work (if you're allowed to answer)? because i want lmao
There's one good thing about dollar stores though, I can find some pretty good novels on the shelves for cheap sometimes and a bunch of them would normally cost $10-$20 online but instead cost only $1 in store.
I once found a Destiny art book that retailed for like $60 for $1 at a dollar store. Needless to say, I bought it lol
For novels I just go to Library Genesis
A ton of DVD movies if you like any of them.
Don’t care this is a tech channel
@@Wigglez69 this is the comment section on a tech channel. You really opened a comment just to complain. Change you username, you are Grumblez, not wigglez
10:16 nice to see Big Clive being called out!
If you're into electronics, soldering, decorative LED circuits, I cannot recommend his channel highly enough.
Im not, still love me a bit of Big Clive though
Have been a Patreon supporter for a while now. Love the big guy.
That and making fizzy whisky
Or cutting edge culinary reviews!
Clive is wonderful.
Me on my dollar store headphones: They all sound the same... Wait.
Try a lightning cable they don’t tend to last long enough to even notice the issues before they fall apart regardless of source.
Im really glad my new ipad has USB Type-C.
Considering my current type-c cable has had individual wires exposed near the ipad end for 6+ months now including an entire month of heavy duty travel
Yet it still works perfectly. “I wouldn’t use it for data but I’m just using it for power which without double checking i thinks Atleast 40W.
I would love to see some "semi-premium" AliExpress / Amazon brand cables like UGreen and Baseus being tested. I actually have a bunch of these.
I swear by ugreen and ankor products
oh definitely would like to see this too, I actually bought a Ugreen USB-C cable after the original I had for 3 years died.
I avoided Baseus because I saw too many people saying their stuff exploded/melted/caught fire, didn't really have high hopes for Ugreen but it seemed the least worst option.
That's what they want to do with Labs
dude, gearbest named them after league of legends champions. it's hit or miss, I got a c cable that is magnetic but literally half of the head came off with the end bit, the other two kind of works. from amazon I had some good ones just don't roll over them.
I got a UGreen USB C hub and it works perfectly
It was the only affordable one with HDMI, Ethernet and 3 USB ports
I actually really like the look of the screwdriver set. They might not be great quality, but that's entirely fine for those unusual sizes that you'll only use once or twice.
I have a crap set just like that I bought for like 2$ over a decade ago, They feel cheap and look cheap but they have never let me down so far.
Yeah, niche uses where it's not expected to wear out as quickly
Its actually alot better than it looks , its not too hard to ruin the screws on most sunglasses but hard enough to unbolt door locks.
Yes i used the same set of it for both tasks and expected them to fail or break but i do not care if it does. And that's the beauty of cheap tools. Mine even make a squeak when i turn the nut at their end and the box hinge broke after 5 uses.
ive used these in the past they have literally no grip so they just kill your hands from all the pressure
I have a cheap set like that for almost 20 years the box has long gone, but I picked up a real cheap parts organiser and have been kept in thier for a while
Anthony has become one of the most chill yet charasmatic people on this channel. Like, I would want to hang out with Anthony.
Can you please give props to the video editors, they make me laugh so much. Like when he hits the usb cable off the laptop and it says "ouch" in text, or when Linus is talking through the green speaker and when he screams "THIS" and his face grows, it's all these little touches that make me love these videos
When I worked as a flooring installer we always picked up our "expendable" supplies from the Dollarama for paint brushes, cleaning cloths, paint trays, rollers and roller covers, small pails and even paint tint for tinting acrylic caulk. All purchased for the job and disposed of when finished. Many of these type items were virtually the same as you could get at Home Depot, Lowes, Rona, etc. but at a much lesser cost per item. Since the rollers and brushes were used for applying glue it was much easier to dispose after use than to attempt to clean using harsh chemicals. Tech-wise, except for head mounted work lamps and bicycle flashers, I've found that tech is not their strong point but there are many kitchen and hobby items that can come in handy.
Yeah if I'm, painting something and I have to use oil paints I just buy cheap brushes and rollers so I can throw them away when done - the $30 real lambswool roller covers are for water-based paint ONLY.
Definitely agree on the kitchen front! I’ve got so much Dollarama stuff in my cabinets because sometimes the basic stuff is impossible to screw up so you might as well buy the cheap option
Dollarama is great for filling landfills
Just so everyone knows, you can find all of these same high-quality products at a ~300% markup at yr local CVS or Walgreens! 🤗
I've been going to walgreens when I want a quick techy item. No more. After watching this video, I'm going to the dollar store first.
It's weird cause we have like 7 dollar stores here and they all carry different products
I looked the other day and it cost $50 for a audio jack to lighting converter for phones
@@angelic420x5 Wouldn't be surprised if they're all the same item just with different branding.
Yup. More expensive doesn't automatically mean better, buy from reputable electronics shops.
Props to whoever edited the headphone sound examples. I'm at work, listening to this on some Plantronics Blackwire 3210 (standard call center issue style sub $40 headset) and the difference isn't only still noticeable it's night and day for the purpose you were trying to show.
Any Anthony video is a ray of sunshine on anyday. Please let him do anything he wants and just film it as best you can.
As an Ontarioian, I love how I recognize so many of those items. They definitely hit up Dollarama and Dollar Tree. I NEVER trust any electronics, especially anything related to power; either batteries, cables AND ESPECIALLY POWER BRICKS/ADAPTERS!! I've taken apart some of these, and plugging in a $2.00 wall charger into a cheap $1.00 USB into an expensive device like your phone, is just asking for a major fire hazard. They're always going to use the CHEAPEST components and might actually not be a proper design, and might not even follow proper standards and regulations.
Thing about batteries is an alkaline battery is an alkaline battery, and they are legally required to meet a safety standard. Brand, realistically, will not matter with an alkaline battery because a chemical reaction is a chemical reaction. Even cheap brands can't change the laws of physics and chemistry.
It does get different with LI batteries and so on, but legitimately as long as the battery is Alkaline it will realistically not matter.
Is LTT based out of Ontario?
@@jakejutras5420 Far as I know, he started off in B.C. I'd imagine they're still out there.
also watch a lot of name brand at the dollar stores are knock offs and not real, food and other products too.
I know this isn’t the point of your comment, but it seriously distracted me trying and failing to pronounce “Ontarioian” in my head
Anthony: "They make noise but they're all terrible"
My Dad: "Didn't know Anthony knew you and your brothers"
savage
You have a cool dad!
Love this format and host. He’s so great. I can’t believe I’m watching cable test results for cables I couldn’t find if I wanted to, and shouldn’t buy anyway. Definitely puts me off dollar store cables anyway, though.
This has all the workings of a fantastic series, keep it up and great job Anthony!
I worked at a dollar store for like the second half on my college days and i wish I knew of them beforehand. No place is better for snacks,frozen food,small tools,school supplies, cards,even quick earphones replacement if youre like me and constantly break one. Supplies sold on campus are highway robbery and the card business is no better. If you dont care about brand or want save shop there.
Don't buy dollar earphones. Slightly more expensive is probably okay, but I systematically tested every Dollar Tree headphone and every single one had one or both ears cut out within a week or two.
@@discoj7112 Once again i only used them temporarily until i bought a better one somewhere off campus
There are decent headphones fur under 10 €/$, the thing is just finding the usable ones.
But totally agree on school supplies. Even if it's just a pen and some notebook. You'll feel that it isn't the greatest quality, but it will get you through the day. The cheep filing cards are actually my favorite, as I tend to use them as one-use notes.
Your picture is not OK.
@@UmamiPapi you could say it's the butt of the joke
The missing shielding in the USB cables isn't nearly as much of a problem as the high resistance, which you only briefly mentioned. Thanks to the differential pair signalling, you can most likely transfer data just fine. But did you see the actual values on those?? Over 8 times the max resistance on one conductor, and over 3x on the other conductor. With a total resistance of 3 ohms, this cable would literally lose all 5 volts across the wire alone when charging at 2A. Which obviously means you could never charge anything, ever. Even at a computer's 0.5A limit, you would lose much more than the allowable voltage according to USB spec. So this is why people buy these cables, plug them in, get a charger connected icon and are happy. But then the phone never actually charges.
Thankfully some modern smartphones have a "slow charging" warning. So people know there's a problem. Also, differential signaling for the win. Anyone whos dealt with long runs of RS232 vs RS485 or balanced versus unbalanced audio knows just how much better it is.
@@arthurmoore9488 Mine has a "NOT CHARGING" warning. That happens when the expected charging time is over 1 day.
To be fair to Anthony, the editing might have cut out some of the things he said about it. Anthony is a pretty knowledgeable guy, so I’m sure he talked about it.
You generally need pretty high tier cables for any good performance of cables in that lenght. These long USB cables are usually "scams", even in bigger shops.
They work pretty well for controllers like the DS4.
We need more of these type videos!! This was a good one! :)) Goodjob Anthony!
2:27 I have those same headphones from Dollarama, theyre actually not too bad for the price ($4🇨🇦) but they break incredibly easily. If you put some superglue on the common failure points when theyre still new to keep them together in one piece they last much longer.
The earbud part is designed with planned obsolecense In mind but they sound decent
I worked at an Arby's, and as a gift from the store for being productive we all got Arby's branded ear buds.
I have never used worse earbuds in my life, not only was the sound bad, but it would literally shock my ears.
why give u a raise or bonus when we could cause you injury and discomfort instead!
Arby's: we have the zap!
when marketing has a budget.
Show's how much they really appreciate the effort xD
That's really how most of the branded stuff works out. Even when big brands take to doing some branding they tend to go cheap.
Way back before Playboy took a nose dive they branded a windsurfing board. It got decked out in glittery black and gold, with the trademarked bunny. The sail was black and it sold at a rather high price. Thing is it was made by a company called Sordelli and the model was 340 or 360, can't remember exactly. Thing is this was the cheapest model they made and one of the cheapest on the market at the time. So buying the exact same board from Sordelli you payed less than a quarter of what the Playboy branded model went for. The board sucked no matter if it was in the Sordelli colors or the Playboy black and gold.
When I worked for a large computer company they gave us a Christmas present. It was a watch that at a very quick glance could have been thought to look nice, only it was total crap and you knew it the moment you touched it, or looked at it at any angle other than straight on and from at least ten yards. But they were sooo proud of their expensive present. The box with the company logo was probably more expensive than that watch. I actually kept it just to have a reminder of how crappy they were.
Anthony's the type of guy that walks into a room and his brain has been there for two minutes already. Dude is always ON TOP of his stuff. Absolutely a pleasure to watch.
agreed. gotta love Anthony. the guy is very smart, knowledgeable on so many tech topics, makes great points, and his voice is not terrible for hosting either :)
He needs to get off the Big Macs tho, dudes morbidly obese and his hairs falling out
He’s the guy who make everyone in the room just relaxed. I love the videos he’s in.
@@S-fn3oe he says a few words about it in his intel extreme tech upgrade video.
Anthony, this is certainly one of the best reviews, all categories combined on CZcams and I can confirm most of those reviews (from personal use). I'd like to add one thing. That dollar store chain also has small and also mini ziplock bags. They are in the handicraft section. Same for some small transparent containers with a twist cap.
WARNING: The set of mini screwdrivers is really bad. You should have tested it. The head of the Phillips ones will almost disintegrate if you force just a little.
Dollar store chargers and cables are a great alternative to buying them at a convenience store or truck stop, where you can easily shell out a 20 for the same junk. I have also seen tempered glass screen protectors that have worked out fine at dollar stores. I use to have a Samsung S7 that the custom curved glass wouldn't stick you'd long. But the local Dollar Tree had one that fit well on the flat part or the screen great served me well.
As a tech worker, some of my most useful tools have been dollar store precision screwdrivers. At the prices of our equipment, what I want to strip are the tools not the gear. I have a high quality set that I can baby the screw or bolts out of. I can extract in emergencies too. But I'd rather the tool fail and grab my "big boy" set than spend 3 hours of downtime cause I stripped a screw trying to rush a 2 hour job into an hour
I have that exact set of drivers from the exact same chain of Dollar Store, and I can tell you: hardened steel it is not.
I understand half of that comment
@@LutraLovegood It's Simple - It's better to strip out your Tool than it is to Strip out a Tiny nut. especially working on intracate Machinery. So having crappy steel on your tools is PREFERED vs. having to drill out a stripped screw etc. It's a real pain in the butt. and you could break a 1000$ piece of equipment/phone.
My stripped out laptop screw agrees
Never really had much of an issue with that .. if I strip a screw like that I just use a dremel with a thin cutting disk to turn the screw into a slotted screw. Takes like 3 minutes.
Using a game gear for AA battery testing is brilliant, hilarious and nostalgic all in one
I used my Nomad to test batteries. That is a thirsty chunky boi.
It didn't many sets of batteries before we got the Game Gear rechargeable battery pack. Just the hassle of constantly swapping batteries was enough justification.
Try gameboy or a 3 aaa pack led flashlight at low setting to check batts.
Time to pull out the _Sega Battery Killer_
@@tconiam 38-year-old me wishes that 8-year-old me knew you could just get a generic AC-DC adapter for $15 and plug the damn thing into the wall.
I've had multiple sets of the little metal scredrivers with the turning nut on the end. If you like sandpapering your hand to get at tight screws, recommended. The metal tends to be real soft, however, so they wear down on screws easy.
Great video. I missed this channel but glad to be back to such good video
Anthony should Test "supposedly" Good and Expensive cables. More power to these Kind of Content
I'd love to see some real world specs and demos on Monster cables compared to lower/mid grade ones
That's what LTT Labs is going to be about.
@@laerin7931 They also have a couple videos already testing HDMI and Display Port cables. Better testing, including durability testing should come with Labs and I'm certainly exited about it.
Love this idea
Glad to see Anthony being featured much more. He’s a great personality.
Anthony, Luke, Alex, and Riley are my favourites. They rarely assume and talk out their asses like most reviewers... they admit when they haven't done research and they're providing their feelings instead of facts. I totally respect that.
"Personality", as if you're not watching to appreciate his beautiful bod.
But seriously, he is a very good presenter.
@@linuxgeex jake sucks tho
Anthony!!! I love low cost tech videos. It’s fun finding cheap gems.
I like those USB cables for spare charging cables, don't really care about shielding if only using them for power delivery...
You need to be careful about that too, though. I have found that the main flaw with cheap USB cables is they use tiny tiny wires with high resistance. The USB spec says that anything below 4.75 volts is out of spec. And even at 500 mA, most of these cables will drop to 4.5 volts or less. I've seen some that were down around 4 volts. Most devices won't charge at that voltage, even if their status lights indicate they are charging.
@@gizmoguyar Is there a way to test them without spending big $$?
@@charlienyc1 Yes, definitely. You can plug in a phone or some device that you know is capable of high current, high data rate USB. And for $6-$10 you can buy a little USB power meter. It shows the current being drawn, and the voltage. The little power meter is a good indicator of the cable's resistance. And your phone or device plugged in should be able to tell you the data rate it's achieving.
@@gizmoguyar Thanks. I suspect my phone's USB C connector is loose. I have tried cleaning it but only really rely on wireless charging. In the meantime when I try fast charging, it's super sensitive to the cable used. Testing the cables ahead of time would be helpful for trips, etc.
@@charlienyc1 wel withe usb-c fast charging i notice you need A good cable that can deliver the current and the propper power adapter have en Samsung nouw use a Huawei fast charger no fast charging use A Samsung and Radom fast charger from the cheapo stor and it works weard he my old dead Huawei charge fast on the Huawei charge mij new Samsung not 🤔 interesting
My household goes through USB cables constantly. Between my 5, 7, and 8 year old kids, there's also my wife. Regardless of how many times I tell them to take care with the wires, I'll still find them using their devices resting upright on a surface, with the charging cord on the BOTTOM crushed between the device and the surface.
I used to buy higher quality ones, but have since given up.
Never had any problems with that, as long as it's just the device's weight and they're not mashed down with force (which would probably be way more harmful to the port than the cable). Having cables with a good strain-relief that is just the right balance between rigidity and flexibility helps a lot.
I've started using right angle cables in those situations, and have found they last much better as the cable-housing joint is not being stressed as much
@patrickj I did think the same at one point in time. I figured maybe my problem was I was simply getting cords that were too cheap, so I spent more on different kinds of strain relief, braiding, etc... no matter what, after a couple of months I'd see physical separation just after the strain relief, or I'd get "slow charging" errors and it would take 6+ hours to charge a device.
Note, the cords I use on my phones personally are the ones that came with my phone, and have lasted the entire life of my phone (2-3 years).
My current one is coming up on 4 years of use (Samsung Galaxy S9 stock charging cord).
Suggestion: Give them an allowance and have them buy their own charging cables.
Id be more concerned of the device shorting and breaking I remember vividly a long time ago my little sister stepped on a USB port with a USB device attached it was located at the base of the tower on the front and it fried the Entire Computer
What really pains me is that ressources are being used to produce these items and they end up being trash within a few hours or days. The amount of pollution and plastic waste this is causing worldwide is just sad.
That being said....I've bought a set of those 6 in 1 pens on Amazon right away.
Because no one really cares about environment. Just look at what the "eco people" are doing.
They fight plastic - one of the most ecological materials, since its already the product of recycling waste, and on top of that it saved tons of trees by replacing paper.
Add the fact that Australia is recycling plastic to make quite durable building materials and you have the best eco-friendly resource eve.
Byt they fight it because some people prefer to throw their garbage to the ocean, but they don't fight throwing garbage to the ocean, they fight plastic.
Often the difference between waste and a usable product is a tiny improvement.
And all the copper that could have been used in perfectly working and performant equipment! Oh, the pain.
@@hubertnnn There's a reason recycling is last among reduce/reuse/recycle. Reducing use and reusing working products is much more effective and requires less resources than recycling. If we know a million grocery bags and product wrappers are going to end up in the dump (because cities can't afford recycling on the scale that people think it happens) then it's better to either make sure that material is properly biodegradable or doesn't end up in the dump at all until it is totally useless. Reclaiming material is very expensive and difficult and most things that are technically recyclable material cannot be recycled because they are dirty/stained (soda cans and pizza boxes are the classic examples: they would need to be washed and disassembled before they can be recycled and the labor cost of it alone is prohibitively expensive).
It's disgusting tbh, I remember as a kid buying terrible 3 dollor headphones cause why not ya know, within 10 min of trying them one of the sides stopped worked entirely, they sell tens of thousands of that stuff it's horrible
Every video you make is legendary, thanks for yours and your teams valiant efforts! I hope in the future would be possible for you to do Videos more often!
Interesting stuff, thanks for the unusual. I'm always looking at "whatever" in a dollar store when my wife is in getting school supplies etc.
Also, I've had a G502 for years, and picked up the G502 Hero about a year ago to be ready with a "hot swap" when the time comes. Good mouse.
Just a note, "Super Heavy Duty" has always been a grade below Alkaline in terms of battery types. "Heavy Duty" as a grade lower also exists. Heavy Duty and Super Heavy Duty use different chemistry (carbon-zinc instead of manganese dioxide) so Alkaline has always been a lot better for endurance. Thus they're also more expensive as a rule.
Aye, "Super Heavy Duty" is in comparison to regular "Heavy Duty". Several decades ago, the naming actually made sense. After Alkaline came out, the name is likely just kept around for marketing. They are ok for TV remotes, and certain rarely used devices, but a waste in general. I prefer to just get rechargeable, they aren't much more than alkaline, but don't need to worry about buying more.
Ohhh, I wish I'd googled that a long time ago. Only ever bought one big pack of Super Heavy Duty AAA cells that I'm still going through, but as a minor battery-nerd I'm embarassed to have assumed they were superior.
Carbon zinc is good for some things though; like a seldom used remote controls. Because they don't leak, even after decades. That is my experience with them anyway.
“You can get a 100 pack of ties that are tapered, and have an anchor, for less than $10 on Amazon.”
Looks at the 20 cable ties for $15 on the LTT store.
lol. IKR. go figure.. you'd think they'd just buy the best ones and resell at a slight markup. Saving us all time by delivering quality and making themselves a bit of cash. A Fair Trade.
You can get the same for under $2 at HFT. Also a good place for tools but nothing that uses electricity.
They gotta to buy them first, silly. And then print their logo on it... you don't buy stuff for their store for the value, but rather to support them cuz they're amazing :)
I bought a roll of off-brand double-sided velcro at amazon to manage my cables and it was a great choice. The big plus over zip ties is that they can be reopened many times without breaking.
But for zip ties, those 50 for half a buck packs are great. I mean, it's zip ties. They aren't meant to be reused countless times, so if they keep stuff together, they do their job. And the cheap ones can do that just as well as the fancy ones.
I don't know why but that reminded me of Simon (Blaze channel) asking people to NOT buy the stickers in their own channel store because they were too expensive lol
I have a set of those dollar store long neck screwdrivers and they have been my go to 'get destroyed' tool, they've been bent in and out of shape so many times to turn weird screws in odd places but never really breaks!
Anthony, you give such interesting useful information with so much knowledge behind it! I love it! I love your random humor. Also your opinions are legit…from packaging to product quality to price ratio
Have always wondered how cheap cables fare on the cable tester. Now I know! Hope its standard procedure from now on.
I've always bought cheap headphones/ear buds my entire life. After a while I started buying nicer ear buds that were usually around $30 or so and was impressed with the sound quality. I saw some WH-1000XM3's on sale once and decided to buy them for my wife. She has that ailment where she's physically affected by loud noises and the noise canceling sounded like they could help her. I turned them on and first thing I noticed was how shitty the "power on" voice sounded. I didn't even use them to listen to music but I tested out the noise canceling and was impressed. Decided to get me a pair of WH-1000XM4's that were on sale and wow the "power on" voice was so much clearer. Got myself a tidal account with lossless audio and holy shit, I don't know how I listened to those cheap earbuds and headphones for so long. These babies are by far my favorite piece of tech I own and I'm spoiled. I literally live in them. They're on my head all day everyday, I most of the time dont even listen to music, just use the noise canceling. I'm probably addicted to the noise canceling honestly, because when I take them off I just want them back on. I work in a machinery shop with lots of low hums, and when you put these on it's just blissful silence. They're seriously just the most amazing headphones. Sony is also totally amazing with their warranty. Probably the easiest and fastest customer service I've ever dealt with. I'm pretty sure they didn't even ask for a receipt or anything like that, they just wanted my address and the s/n on the headset....that's never happened to me before. After going through like 7 pairs of $30 buds I thought I just need to get me a quality pair and pay for a 4 year extended warranty and that's exactly what I did. Couldn't be happier, best headphones ever imo. Noise canceling is really that good.
The XM3 is a fantastic pair of earbuds at (now) a very respectable price. The XM4 is a huge cost premium for (subjectively) better audio quality and definitely better design. The noise canceling is also certainly better on the XM4, but that doesn't mean the XM3 is not good. Just wanted to chime in and give my thoughts. Glad you're happy with your XM4s! But in my opinion, they aren't worth the huge premium (double the price) for the modest improvements. Hope this helps somebody out there!
If anyone's after some good over-ear monitoring headphones, a brand that a good musician friend of mine turned me onto is "iSK". Many of their models look a little odd, but the sound is actually very impressive and build quality comfort is decent too. My favourite are the MDH 8500 for about 40 USD on AliExpress and a little more on eBay.
They sound really good - as good as some pro AKGs and better than any beats I've ever tried. They also look pretty darn nice too, and quite unique with their copper-like metal finish. The breakaway cable is a nice touch and lets you swap for one with an in-line microphone, and the pads are a standard size if you want to replace the brown faux leather.
XM3 is nice already but I'm still really looking into upgrading to XM4
also a nice cheap pair of earbuds I swear by are the NICEHCK DB1s
Not too happy with the mic on the XM3 though. Read it's a bluetooth limitation :/ But happy with the NC and sound.
@ryanthlam If you have money to spend, it's definitely an upgrade in every way. Key though is that you've got the money to spend, they're quite pricey. I had them for a hot minute but returned them because they wouldn't stay in my ears the way the XM3 do. Looks like Linus just did a review on some new Sonys that I'm quite interested in, the ones with the open backs. Think that just got uploaded yesterday or today.
I just found your channel, subbed! You have a very calming voice and presentation.
Anthony is one of my favorite people on LTT!! We need more of him!
@4:51 - My wife has this speaker - legit. After the first charge, I needed to take it apart and secure the USB charging port. It was poorly heat-staked in place. She loves it because it hangs in the shower.
I find that's the biggest problem with those kinds of cheap items, is the solder fails almost immediately
10:34 I'm a mechanic and I often have to diagnose not working cigarette lighters/radios because those cheap adapters will short out and blow fuses. A LOT of places will charge you "diag" to find and replace the fuse. We do not where i work on a quick diag, but i always tell people its worth the extra money for a reputable brand like Anker (IMO) rather than blowing a fuse and risking being charged $100+ to replace a blown fuse because you cheaped out on an adapter. Especially because I WILL charge diag on repeat offenses. aka customers will remove the charger making it hard to find the fault blowing the fuse causing multiple comebacks until I force them to show me all their adapters they use. Doing that will net you a diag fee. This is because MOST cars have many more things than just the cigarrete lighters on the same fuse. Radios, clocks, dash lights, interior lights, sunroof motors, cigarette lighters, automatic mirrors, etc. will often share the same circuit.
My family think those dollar store cigarette usb chargers broke my mom and my brother's iPhone 5. It cant charge anymore and we it is also because they used a lightning cable that is a hair thinker than a original one so the port is loose asf so the fake one could only charge their phone.
Adaptors do not blow fuses, but people poking around and shorting contacts do. It has nothing to do with cheapness, and everything to do with stupidity and lack of basic literacy. On the other hand, on most cars replacing a blown fuse is easy. You could find diagrams on net.
@@aleksazunjic9672 nope It's almost impossible to blow a fuse with a proper charger from a proper brand. Stupidity is buying Chinese garbage
I used to work at an auto parts store. Was always frustrating when people would buy fuses because of things like that, then expect me to go find the blown fuse and replace it. Have to give the whole spiel about how im not legally allowed to do that, I can only do certain things like batteries and wipers and such, keep saying over and over that i cannot do it, get yelled at and do a return on the fuses, etc etc etc.
@@aleksazunjic9672 im sorry but thats just not right they can internally fail just like any other electrical component. And yeah most of the time its easy but you have way too much faith in someones abilities if you think theyll A. figure out the cause of it not working and B. actually fix it.
also, how do you think i verify the cause of the short? a multimeter reading no resistance across the power nipple and ground slides on an adapter or just putting a fuse in and blowing it with their adapter. sooooooooo.......... yeah no thats just wrong bud
I am new to the channel, but I really like this guy. He has a very friendly, conversational style that is really fun while also engaging. High Charisma score. Subscribed!
Great video, don't buy too much tech stuff from the Dollar stores other then cheap-o batteries and the occasional USB cord when needed. I was super happy to see that when sharing prices that you included the Cnd amounts with the US, that was a nice addition for this fellow Canuck.
this is actually perfect. since i work at dollarama i can now recommend items better and help people. and its really fun on what comes to us. we've had to black out logos from like Walmart. but then again it just depends on what they want to send us.
That one year where we kept getting in boxes of Xbox and Gamecube games 👌
@@snookers5123 At my 99 Cent store a few years ago, we got all the old Burger King Xbox 360 games lol.
@@snookers5123 oh yea. Although all we had left for quite some time was destiny 2 for xbox one. Like years. 😂
I love seeing the lower end materials reviewed! Please do more! With everything getting more expensive, finding ways to save without sacrificing too much is a must :)
Your insane this garbage is not worth it, Ever. Never buy this trash your throwing money away smh
It's trash. If you want to try it, go spend the $1-4. It doesn't warrant a whole video to let you know you're making a bad decision.
@@littlejackalo5326 Sure it does. If I forget something on travel, knowing ways I can cheap out on temporary technology is a good thing to have. That was a big part of the talking points here.
Great video guys, much appreciated keep these up. Very entertaining 👏
I wanna see more cable testing, that's something I always second guess when shopping. Big brands and even cheap ones on Amazon always make crazy claims.
Cables are the biggest scam.
@@misterhat5823 I agree 100%, I didn't know a device for testing cables like this even existed.
I bought 4-5 different brands of USB-C cables that advertised as delivering power before finding one that actually delivered power to my PS5 controller. More wire testing would be greatly appreciated!
@@juicee5106 I haven't ran into that yet with my PS5 since I still have the original cable, but for the PS4 it was a nightmare I only had like two cables the whole time I owned it that actually worked.
Really, REALLY dig the premise of this video. Would love to have more of these, and the benefit of your team's experience and perspective on where extremely limited budgets can still find functional, "good enough" tech and hardware.
so glad my initial reaction to the 6-in-1 pen tool was in line with Anthony’s overall review of it. it’s pretty awesome 😂
Fun video, especially enjoyed the unexpected wins on the earbuds after the devastating results on all the other equipment!
USB/SD storage media and keyb/mouse peripherals might be the sort of thing you'd run into a dollar store for too if you're caught in a pinch away from home?
Please be careful with charging cables, my mother-in-law just had a similar looking one from the dollar store that burst into flames. Luckily she caught it before the house burned down.
I always buy OEM
Monoprice/PrimeCales (if in Canada) should be good.
😬😬😬
Caught it? Like, grabbed a burning cable?
@@Roshan_420 lmao, i hope you don't have an iPhone then. you'd be blowing $100 bucks on cables every 6 months, and that's on top of the house fire costs
In australia those exact precision drivers are everywhere, same case and all since i was a kid, i bought a set over 15 years ago and still have most of them in my toolbox
the amount of times more expensive sets have taken damage where the hardened tips on these cheap ones are insanely hard aswell as having the slot for a wrench bar, saved my repairs more times than i can count (cars, phones and computers)
use them as wedges and pry tools, to punch a hole, as a small chisel, they have always been a welcome spot in my tool collection despite the price and lack of reusable container
Great Video Anthony 👌 enjoyed all of it
4:46 Fun fact about those dollar store USB cables (the little short ones that come with a speaker or battery pack), more than likely have no data connection.
I discovered this after an hour of beating my head against a wall trying to program an esp32 only to use a normal cable and have it work. So I decided to sacrifice the dollar store cable to find out what was wrong and, lo-and-behold, only 2 wires.
Yeah it's mostly to save on the production costs a little bit
That is actually a feature on some USB cables. Want to plug your phone in and know the device on the other end will not try to rip files off it? Want to let someone charge their phone off your laptop and know a compromised phone won't try to attack your computer? Or even just avoid a dodgy USB data connection you don't need crater your USB drivers due to repeated dropout? Power-only cables are the way to go.
Obviously, you need to trust the devices in question at least enough to know they won't drop pulses of several kV on the power line, like the device-killer USB "thumb drives", but that is not usually the concern.
By specification, power-only cables cannot have the USB logo on them, instead they have a lightning bolt "charge" symbol on them (which is different from *thunderbolt*, which has an arrow at one end).
Also, those weird shaped AAA holders for the flashlight? Those are pretty much the same size as a 18650 cell, and if you're mindful of overdischarging (the one I have will cut off around 3V, but we're talking dollar store equipment) and have one of those and an external charger laying around, you can get some nice rechargeable battery life out of it.
After looking at the price tag of that cable tester, they definitely wanna use it ALOT. So I will be looking forward to seeing more use of it. But damn... 15k for that thing....
Managerials fitted our shop with a DDR bench test instrument. Along with full sets of interposers (plastic adapters) for all sorts of DDR2, DDR3, DDR4 RAM types. Incredibly comprehensive and accurate.
$20k(-ish) plus about $2k for each interposer set. Stupidly overkill for the work we do.
And wonderfully half-obsolete just a few years later. Not rated for anything faster than DDR4-2400.
@@pwnmeisterage ddr4-2400??? I bought 3200Mhz ram because it's was best deal, not even because it was fast
FIFTEEN GRAND?!
He rocks at this! I've watched some of his more intimidating tech vids, but this was the most approachable tech review on YT. Give him a raise!
I watched this video with vortex brand headphones, and it sounds amazing.
Six hours for the Game Gear was actually impressive, back in the day I remember we had some four hours tops on a good day. My old gameboy on the contrary, would last two weeks with some duracells.
100% as back in the day with the Game Gear even with brand name Alkaline batteries like Energizer, Everready, Radioshack, or Duracells if you made 4 hours you got damn lucky. I had split parents(they divorced when I was 2), and one year for my birthday my mother ordered me the official SEGA branded battery pack with AC adapter, and my dad got me the the DOCS battery pack that came with a DOCS AC Adapter as they both got tired of buying me batteries for my Game Gear, and even with those battery packs you were lucky to get 6 -7 hours when they were new(by the time I got done with them both about a year 1/2 later, or so I was getting 30 mins to 2 hours max on a good day due to them both being Nicad rechargeable), so when I was at home I stayed on the AC charger, and in the car on the official SEGA Cig 12v Charger I eventually got after saving some allowance money.
So IMHO any kid who complains their phone only last barely a day to 2 days with heavy usage, or their power hungry Switch/Switch Lite only last 4 - 9 hours with graphics we could only dream about should be thankful we have such good battery tech these days, as they have no idea what we through with batteries, and bulky power adapters back in the day.
My favorite dollarstore tech is the JVC gumi earbuds, they've always lasted two years each and only cost like 6$ .
-- 6$ for two years pays itself back a thousandfold if you ask me, especially since they're nothing like the tinny-metalic dollarstore crap that always fail at the microphone-button thingy
But really, if earbuds are so mission critical that you can't afford to break them then don't roll them up. Just leave them strewn across the table until you need them again... Or play your audio out loud and learn to cope without headphones
You can also 3D print or make something to wind them around to make sure you don't overstrain them.
Those are my favorite, been using them for over ten years (different pairs of course). All I need is something to listen to, nothing fancy.
So you're saying you'd spend 6 thousand dollars every 2 years for headphones
Although totally true and i got similar headphones (10€) but better quality i assume, BUT we should really start to include (E)-Waste into our thinking!
If you're talking about the HA-F160s, I get through a pair every 3 months, but I do use them almost every day. I like the fit in the ear
Cheap screwdriver's tips are usually not/poorly hardened. So after minimal use it will start to wear and then will start stripping. Since most screws non-Canadian are Philips garbage they will strip extremely quick. You don't need to go really expensive but don't go Dollar tree lol. Loved the video.
I bought earbuds from the dollar store once, I find your best option is to buy 3 or 4 (different kinds), because it's REALLY hit and miss you can expect 1 out of 4 to be even usable. One of them even shocked me (uh PHYSICALLY) constantly. the one that DID work was right up there with the Amazon Select Essentials I have, pretty good for 1.25... even if it costed me 5 bucks xD.
That Bluetooth speaker sold at Home Depot as the "Sound Splash" for about $5. I picked it up because I figured I could always return it if it absolutely sucked. It is in fact very waterproof, and while obviously not amazing, works well in the shower. Good controls for volume and skipping songs, too. Pretty good battery life, even.
For $5, it was a total winner to me.
I've got the similar one sold at Dollarama for $4 and its a great little shower speaker.
I've taken it apart and it seems resistant enough except if water is sprayed into the speaker grill, or into the microphone hole on the bottom button. Impressed for the $4 it cost. People complaining it sounded like garbage may have had it connected to call and not media audio. I wonder how the included USB cable compared to the standalone ones, even if it was likely also garbage.
@@andythekitsune I bought a speaker similar off of amazon for $15, all the reviews on it were similar to yours, stating that it sounded not bad for the money. I personally thought it sounded like fucking garbage and I would never recommend that to anyone. My recommendation would just be any blue tooth speaker in the 50 to $100 range and put it on your counter, if you want a shower speaker.
A benefit of the tactile buttons is that since they click you can at least be sure that you clicked the button.
Just looked it up and it appears they're having a clearance sale on them with the current price at $2.97 which doesn't sound too bad, there's also mention of them acting as FM radios but I have no idea how well that function works.
Here are a couple of pieces of dollar store tech that I've always loved:
1. Earpiece FM radios. They generally look like an old-fashioned hearing aid--and some have a wire + ear bud for the second ear, but they work pretty well and jump between stations with a press fo the scan button. They are great for a sports bar so that patrons can listen to a particular tv's audio through an FM transmitter without disturbing other customers.
2. LED Fairy Lights. This is a string of tiny LEDs on stiff wire that are attached to a battery box--2 AA batteries--with a switch. As they are fairly dim and just *sip* power, they are perfect for when you just need a bit of light for a long time. (I put one set on the head of our bed so that when one of us goes to bed, the light can be turned on so that the other can have enough light to see by without disturbing the one sleeping.) You can even get them with a cork-shaped 3xLR44 battery to turn a wine bottle into a light.
I love Anthony, he’s always funny and in a great mood!
Love it! More of this please
Something I used to buy all the from the dollar store time back when my phone had headphones was a headphone splitter, not to split the sound though. I had a mophie case at the time (which had a tiny hole for the headphone jack on my phone) and the little headphone jack extender thing it came with broke every time I ordered one, and the longest lasting solution was actually the dollar store splitter.
And before anyone asks, the hole in the case was too small for most jacks to fit in, the dollar store one was the only thing that I found to fit. I was also a broke student so nice Bluetooth headphones were out of my price range (only reason I snagged the mophie for cheap was cuz they mislabeled the price at Best Buy hehehehe)
We've all picked up cheap Chinesium headphones and cables at a dollar store.
Most of the time the cheap dollar store junk works well enough. For a while. It always somehow ends up breaking or failing, maybe within hours of plugging it in, maybe after weeks of heavy use.
But sometimes it actually damages the things you plug into. Repairing a dead USB port on your computer or replacing a smartphone with a bad port which can't recharge power or play audio anymore will cost more than a dollar. This admittedly seems to happen rarely, probably more often when plugging cheap junky cables into cheap junky devices (which also fail to meet electrical standards, etc).
You get what you pay for.
Imagine finding a gpu in this lot
Oh my
It’s just a usb fan taped to a t-85
In order to stay competitive Dollar General decided to start selling GPU’s lol
Gt210 used... :D
256MB of VRAM, no heatsink or heat dissipation of any kind lmao
I love the cable tester content! And Anthony!
Being in Canada with Dollarama.
My best buys there are from around 5 years ago.
Cordless optical mouse for $5 that I still use.
A keychain sized retractable mouse for $4,thing is great for when I need it about 5 times a year at work.
HDMI and and optical cables for my TV's and audio equipment, probably $3 and use them all the time.
$2 earbuds can be hit and miss, but good in a pinch.
My fav were $5 bluetooth noise canceling collapsible headphones, best I've ever had. Only lasted 3 years before the glue holding everything inside gave way. Couldn't repair it cause you had to break them to open them up.
You can get some pretty amazing stuff at Dollarama, but it all depends what they can get their hands on at times. If I see something I like and it works, I go back and buy extra. Cause it may never again.
I laughed so hard at the cable failures. I work IT at a hospital we have a small bundle of really high quality USB and assorted video cables stashed for testing and other important use cases. After we got raided multiple times from people needing charging cable and the like we got tired of spending hundreds of dollars to replace them. Literally went to a dollar tree bought their current stock of USB cables , chargers, and HDMI. Then found some cheap video cables online. Made a wall of of these thing at the front of our office just so next time someone comes looking they will leave our expensive stuff alone. We know they are cheap and would not dare use them for our work but it's a laugh to see someone get excited over a cheap USB cable that looks like a coffee cup😆
haha that's a great solution :D
This IT story doesn't give me great faith in hospitals, lol.
Especially since I work as a BMET. We can barely even touch a screwdriver to a box of medical machinery without signing logs, documentation, and quality-control (liability-control) checklists.
Brilliant! But what demon steals hospital supplies?
@@pwnmeisterage The cheap cable wall is never used for anything important mostly for people who want to charge their phones or steal cables to hook up TV's and such at home. We have strict rules about what we use with actually hospital equipment and the spare cables cost a lot. Angers us so badly when we spend 40 on a display cable for our x-ray display and someone comes by and takes it so they can hook up the crappy monitor to their Walmart laptop
@@eemoogee160 Well, some doctors and nurses, for a start...but it's usually visitors.
Dollarstore 2 part epoxy. I've used it for dozens of purposes including high end wood furniture projects. At the price, it's a fantastic little tool
Yep. Use it all the time. 1\7th of the cost of "gorilla" epoxy, and performs pretty much the same. I wish they had epoxy putty.
@@shane250 agreed!
Also agree. It's really good
Yep I use some of that epoxy too repair my glass pipe lol 420 bro
And CA glue. Four mini tubes for a buck.
More content like that would be awesome, Anthony is a great guy
🤔I didn't understand what is the meaning of lack of shielding in cables??? 12:00
what is it do? and how Anthony saw the cable is lack of it?
p.s: if there is a video explaining in simple way more about how to know if cables are good or not, I would happy to see it.
The old Dollar Store flash lights (pre-2015 or so) used to be quite good, having three LED lights and being entirely metal. They were actually about the same quality as similar ones sold at hardware stores at the fraction of the price. I still have a half dozen lying around the house today. Unfortunately, their quality has dropped dramatically in recent years.
the ones they sell here in the US at Dollar Tree only put out a few lumens. They are the tiny plastic ones you can get in like a million colors. sad they are so crap but there are better ones at places like Dollar General and Family Dollar. there you can get decent flashlights you can toss in glove box or a purse or car or whatever for an emergency.
@@nitroxylictv Yeah, the ones Dollar Store sells now are awful.
@@nitroxylictv the dollar tree I worked at from 2018-2021 frequently had the 3 led ones and the same kind Anthony had. Must be the size of the store getting different shipments and stuff.
@@nitroxylictv I love that you have all these different big chains offering products for a dollar. 'murica!
I started working at dollar store recently and some things are amazing! What you get for $15 online, you can get for $4 for the same quality (just don't trust the audio & chargers)