I needed a USB PSU capable of supplying about 85W @ 20V on three separate ports simultaneously (so 255W total). The UGREEN Nexode 300W GaN “Charger” seemed like a good option, as it would have a decent amount of headroom and has a port labeled “140W”, and two “100W”.

However, IMO it’s pure marketing nonsense. First of all, it’s very particular as to what loads you can place on which ports in combination. The only way it can output its rated 300W is if one of those loads is @ 28V. That’s fine, I guess. They can spec it however they want.

These are the various permitted combinations of loads

However, in my testing while loading it with 250W across 4 ports, it started thermally throttling after about 45 minutes. In other words, shutting ports down to save itself from melting down. IMO if it can’t even provide 250W consistently, it should not be sold with a 300W rating. (The testing was performed at about 24°C [75°F], which I think is reasonable.)

In its defense, it does have active PFC and feels incredibly solid. It seemed to be able to provide 200W consistently. But, I would not recommend it unless they change the markings to 200W total and changed the architechure so 200W could be drawn from any combination of ports up to their individual maximum labeling.

While I was searching for a suitable PSU and settling on the UGREEN, I ran across a listing for a “700W” USB-C PSU. Right off the bat, it seemed like an absurd claim. So I purchased it just to take a look and see how much of a BS device it was. It is total crap as one would expect.

Well, not “total” crap. It was able to provide 360W of output for about as long as the UGREEN was able to provide 250W. And it did either thermally throttle outputs (or begin failing intermittently — I’m not sure which) rather than having a meltdown. That being said, the quality of the output was far worse than the UGREEN’s, and it got significantly hotter. (Peaking at about 107°C in one area.) It was untouchably hot after about an hour of loading. Compare that to the UGREEN throttling closer to a 75°C hotspot, and a 65°C average-ish case temperature. (The UGREEN is likely chock full of thermal compound, whereas the 700W no-name had some sparsely strewn about.)

Oh, and the architechture of the “700W” PSU was such that it was essentially 2 completely independent power supplies from the mains to the outputs. So essentially you could only load it to its actual maximum (~360W) by distributing the load across both.

Links to products featured, but this is (obviously) not sponsored, the links are not affiliated, and I don’t recommend you buy either:

UGREEN: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DBZY57ZF
700W: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMNQMJ9G

REUPLOAD – In the previous version I made the erroneous claim that the PYXIS Monitor couldn’t be used with the BMMSC 4K G2 and a USB hub to allow simultaneous monitoring and recording. The issue was that the monitor uses HDMI over USB-C, not USB-C data. So it will only work with hubs that support USB-C HDMI alt mode, none of which I had. Apologies if this misled anyone; It was definitely not my intent, as I very much wanted the monitor + SSD to be usable! Though a bit embarrassed, ultimately I’m glad I was wrong about it.

Here’s the USB-C hub from the intro that *does* work with an SSD + PYXIS: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DRG9K3BJ (Not affiliated nor sponsored.)

The original video is still available in unlisted mode for posterity, to preserve the comments and etc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cGBQrV702o

The title isn’t clickbait. After messing around with the monitor, the BMMSC 4K G2 and various USB accessories, I found a bog standard USB-C touchscreen monitor from Amazon that provides the same functionality as the PYXIS. To be fair, I tried two other 1080p touchscreens and neither worked, so it’s not universal compatibility.

Here’s the product, but it’s *not* an affiliated link nor am I shilling for the brand (which has a silly name anyhow): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DF1P542S (PeakDo 7 inch Portable Touchscreen etc..)

All that being said, the PYXIS monitor does have a much better look and feel than a cheap alternative, and advantages include a locking USB port, 1/4″ mounting threads on 2 sides, a sunshade, and 3 function buttons on the back that are extremely flexible (you can assign them to do most anything).

IMO if budget isn’t an option and a 5″ monitor is good enough for you, go with the PYXIS. It’ll probably be less pain in the log run. Then again, maybe go with an HDMI or SDI monitor, because the monitor won’t work via a USB hub (I tested 3 of them and none worked, anyways), and if you occupy the BMMSC 4K G2’s single USB-C port with the monitor *you can’t record to external media*.

So you’d either need the PYXIS as well as an HDMI/SDI recorder, or something like a Video Assist 5 or Atomos Ninja to monitor and record.

When used in a studio, I’d think a cameraperson would prefer a monitor larger than 5″.

If Blackmagic Design added another USB port to the camera, it would solve many problems. Or enable the Video Assists to work with USB for camera menus. IDK, either way it seems like a hole in BMD’s product line that they probably want you to fill with a PYXIS camera (or URSA) rather than making the BMMSC capable of fully competing with those when rigged out.

Part 2 of this video shows one way to add WiFi connectivity to the camera. It’s slightly convoluted in that it uses a WiFi bridge device which essentially passes networking from the wireless network to an Ethernet port. That Ethernet cable can then be connected to a USB-C Ethernet adapter attached to the camera. (There may be other WiFi bridges that have a USB Ethernet adapter built in. IDK, this is the one I found.)

The reason for using a bridge is that you can’t just connect a USB WiFi adapter directly to the camera. There’s no way to configure SSID and password (or etc.) in the camera’s interface. However, the camera does natively recognize a USB Ethernet adapter and will (by default) use DHCP to grab an IP address.

Micro Studio Camera 4K G2 video.

I take a look at the Clicks Keyboard phone case (or, as they call it, the “Precision Typing Instrument”) with a Pixel 9 Pro and a Motorola Razr 2024.

It’s a well-made product, and works without the need to install an app (and the app that is available does *not* require you to create an account for no reason). However, it’s not something I’ll be using, both because I don’t want to switch to a Razr but also because I’m probably overly sentimental about a tactile keyboard. Also, the form factor is cumbersome on a slab phone like the Pixel (and I’d have the same issue when paired with an iPhone).

Note: As usual, this video is not sponsored nor am I associated with Clicks in any way. I purchased these phone cases with my own money for my own purposes.

I got this Sandisk Pro-Dock 4 card reader holder and laptop dock a while back for a bargain, hoping it would be somewhat slapdash in its electronics such that I could “convert” it to be used as a simple USB 3 card reader apparatus. Turns out, it’s so Thunderbolt that Zeus himself is scared.

The engineers at Sandisk (and/or Western Digital) did an absolutely masterful job with this hardware, though the product appears to have been let down by poor software/driver support. It seems to be discontinued now, which is a shame.

In this video, I tear down the thing and check out its components. Relatively high-res photos of the two internal circuit boards:

If you’re looking for a high-power charger/power supply that can also make toast and confections, the SlimQ 330W laptop power supply might be for you! I actually purchased this to use with a Starlink Mini and a USB-C laptop, and it should suffice for that. It seems like a really high quality unit, except that they’re trying to dissipate about 22W of power from this relatively small plastic case (at full load). Though it is around 93% efficient, that extra 7% has to go somewhere.

I laboriously go through the process of unboxing and testing the new-ish Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K G2, or BMMSC G2 as it’s slightly more easily said. It’s kinda a combo of the old BMMSC G1 and the Micro Cinema Camera. Also got two Mini Converters to apply LUTs to both cameras over SDI, also from Blackmagic Design, of course.

In this video I try to test out the Icy Dock ToughArmor M.2 NVMe Mobile Rack for PCIe slots. It supports 2 removable NVMe drives placed in the included sleds, and (almost) fits an x8 or x16 lane PCIe slot that supports bifurcation to get 4 juicy lanes to each of the SSDs. I test it out with Samsung 990 Pro and Western Digital SN850X 4TB drives.

That being said, it turns out that not all bifurcation implementations are created equal, nor are all PCIe slots. Hence the frustrating aspect. Buy it with a generous return policy in place, if you buy it at all.

Just to be 100% clear: This is not sponsored in any way. If you couldn’t tell from the length of the video and the conclusion. But anyways, I paid for it out of pocket and bought it for my own purposes.

Oh yeah, at the very end there’s an update to my video on using the Dell EMC PowerEdge T640 as a backup “server” with 18x 20TB disks.

I take an extensive look at the Ficihp / BQAA (I think they rebranded?) keyboard and monitor combo, and try it with a bunch of different devices and operating systems.

I test out the Unihertz Titan phone on Google Fi to see if it’s worth it as my wife’s new daily driver.

I test out the USB ports on a couple of Addtam power strips, then for good measure I take them apart and lecture everyone about the importance of non-shite power strips. How fun?

I wanted more control over the lighting in my basement “studio”, and decided to invest in a few dimmer/switch packs as well as a USB rack-mount DMX controller.

I fancied buying a couple of USB cables with in-built power meters, as well as a pair of multimeters with interesting aspects. For some reason all the brand names are capitalized in real life; I didn’t do that just for the title. I’m not yelling, I promise.