T3’s solid-as-steel multi-tool unscrews more tech tighties
Q What’s the best tech screwdriver?
A Guru’s oldest and most Canadian enemy, Linus off of YouTube behemoth Linus Tech Tips, would have you believe it is his ratcheting LTT Screwdriver, with the bits hidden in a fancy pop-out compartment in the handle. Through gritted teeth GaGu will admit that it is a nice screwdriver – but at $105 (around £83) factoring in shipping, plus the emotional cost of a month’s wait for it to hit UK shores from the great white north, it’s probably not the wisest purchase if you’re watching the pennies.
You could also go for an iFixit toolkit, a smaller option with more bells and whistles, but that’s about the same price, again from North American stock. The idea of getting a single screwdriver imported from another continent feels like madness, however good it might be. Instead, Guru would go for a generic precision screwdriver kit from Amazon, which will cost about £15 and come from a six-letter Chinese non-brand like Yinsan. These were imported in bulk, which GaGu supposes makes it more okay.
The idea of getting a screwdriver imported from another continent feels like madness, however good it might be
Yes, it may be the sort of thing that confirms the Sam Vimes ‘Boots’ theory of socioeconomic unfairness. There’s every chance a tough screw will completely mash one of its tips up on the first turn, requiring you to buy numerous new screwdrivers over what would have been the lifetime of a high-end option. But, well, shut up. Guru has one. Guru uses it all the time. And somehow, Guru has not yet lost or destroyed any of the bits, which is more than he can say for the items he has unwisely disassembled with it.
Q Do I need to be rich to have an ultrawide monitor?
A The inevitable march of progress means democracy has now come to the ultra-wide world. Plenty of manufacturers – from the likes of AOC and MSI all the way up to Samsung – have begun putting out 34-inch 21:9 monitors that do not break the bank. But there is, as is tradition, a caveat: that £280 wide boy is likely to sport a VA (vertical alignment) panel. That’s not terrible, particularly considering modern VA advancements that make them far less smeary than their historic counterparts, but you’d be a lot happier living the speedy crispy contrasty world of IPS (in-plane switching). Don’t argue. You just would.
Problem is, IPS demands more investment. The cheapest QHD model Guru could find with his customary five minutes of googling was the snappily-named LG 34WN780P, which hovers around £500 but can be found slightly cheaper if you shop around. GaGu is positive that that’s a fine screen for work, but it has a 5ms respons
