Tag Archives: usb

Tested: Usb-Pwr PAK02A-based USB-C PD + Legacy Trigger/Decoy Board

Posted on August 2, 2026 by lui_gough

After my recent misadventures with the WCH CH224K-based HW-443 USB-C PD Trigger Board that simply wouldn’t work properly with USB-C PD but managed to work on legacy fast-charging protocols, I was contacted by a reader with an offer of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Teardown: Lenovo ThinkPad USB 3.0 Pro Dock (DK1522)

Posted on July 28, 2026 by lui_gough

A few years back, I was donated a pair of Lenovo ThinkPad USB 3.0 Pro Docks as they had reached the end of their useful life with an organisation and the person thought I could have some fun with them. … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Quick Review: HW-443 CH224K-based USB-C PD Trigger Board

Posted on July 9, 2026 by lui_gough

When it comes to power supplies, USB-C PD is now so universal that it makes sense to convert many other things to use USB-C PD to benefit from all the low-cost chargers/power supplies and power banks. The most straightforward way … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn’t

Posted on July 9, 2026 by lui_gough

The recent end-of-financial-year sales were rather interesting – I found myself spending a lot more time browsing AliExpress than I did Amazon or eBay this year which is something I wouldn’t have envisioned in the past. I suppose the deals … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Electronics | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Review, Teardown: Epomaker Carbon60 60% DSA Low-Profile Wireless Mechanical Keyboard

Posted on June 29, 2026 by lui_gough

Let’s just say, I’ve been quite productive as of late … as I’ve been reviewing yet another keyboard. Since my last review of the Epomaker TH99 Pro, Epomaker have been generous enough to offer me another review opportunity, this time … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Electronics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review, Teardown: Epomaker TH99 Pro USB/2.4G/BT5.0 Hot-Swap 96% Keyboard w/LCD, Knob & RGB LEDs

Posted on May 5, 2026 by lui_gough

In recent years, computer keyboards have become a major customisable accessory. Given how many hours people spend in front of them, whether being productive at work or at leisure by playing games, keyboards are the major form of input to … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Electronics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Note: USB Charging & Mains Power Sockets on Sydney Trains Intercity Mariyung Fleet

Posted on April 12, 2026 by lui_gough

Hello blog! It’s been a while. At last, I’ve finally returned home after being in London on business (and personal) travel for approximately two weeks. It was quite the trip – rather than a holiday, I turned it into a marathon … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Project: Building an Optical Drive Tower of Power (& Associated Challenges)

Posted on March 15, 2026 by lui_gough

If you’re a bit of an optical media enthusiast like myself, you probably understand that an optical drive isn’t just an optical drive. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses – having more can be advantageous when you have … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Electronics, Tech Flashback | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Review, Teardown: Novoo RG100 GaN 100W Wall Charger (2xUSB-C+1xUSB-A, NCAU100D-123K)

Posted on February 9, 2026 by lui_gough

You can almost never have too many USB-C PD chargers hanging around, now that most products don’t come with one included. As phones and power banks reach higher levels of fast charge and laptops universally rely on USB-C PD, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Tablet | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Review: Imuto 1.5V Li-Ion AA (2400mAh/3600mWh) Battery + Charging Station Set (TF-CD-009LDC)

Posted on December 22, 2025 by lui_gough

After reviewing most of XTAR’s 1.5V Li-Ion AA offerings, I’ve had a few people ask me whether any of the cheaper alternatives are any good, with the most frequent request being to test the imuto TF0CD0998KDC 8 x AA battery … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tested: JXND XJS4056-based Mini-USB Li-Ion/Li-Poly Battery Charger Module

Posted on December 7, 2025 by lui_gough

Many electronic projects benefit from being run from lithium-ion or lithium-polymer batteries. One of the complexities involved in this is the need to charge them. While I’ve seen some crazy people hook up “protected” Li-Poly cells directly to USB 5V … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Samsung 256GB Bar Plus (MUF-256BE4/AM) & USB Type-C Flash Drive (MUF-256DA/AM)

Posted on November 29, 2025 by lui_gough

After my regrettable experimentation with the PNY Turbo Attaché 3, I was fortunate to snag some more Amazon deals which included a Samsung Bar Plus (MUF-256BE4/AM) and Samsung USB Type-C Flash Drive (MUF-256DA/AM), both 256GB imports from the US (hence … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Flash Memory | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Quick Review: PNY Turbo Attaché 3 256GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive (P-FD256TBOP-GE)

Posted on November 25, 2025 by lui_gough

Even in an era of cloud-everything, the humble USB stick still has a role to play. With the recent end-of-year sales events, there’s been a few different deals for such flash memory products. The Samsung Bar Plus is a favourite, … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Flash Memory | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Project: VBUS Fixer (When 5.5V is Just Too Much for Your USB Devices)

Posted on October 29, 2025 by lui_gough

A little while back, I had a bit of a whinge about my Motorola moto g84 which seemingly started putting out 5.5V on its USB-C port when running USB-OTG devices. I thought it was out-of-spec, but I was corrected by … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Electronics, Tablet | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Review: Thermal Master P3 Android/iOS/Windows USB-C Thermal Camera (256×192/25Hz/35mK)

Posted on October 7, 2025 by lui_gough

Thermal cameras are definitely a nifty gadget to have around. Whether you’re doing automotive or electrical power repairs and need to identify hot components, looking for creatures in the dark, improving the energy efficiency of your home by looking for … Continue reading →

Posted in DIY, Electronics, Tablet | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Quick Review: Samsung Bar Plus 512GB USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive (MUF-512BE4/APC)

Posted on September 28, 2025 by lui_gough

A while back, I purchased a Samsung Bar Plus 256GB for cheap thanks to a few promotions. For the most part, it seems to have stayed working, so when a new promotion arrived, I decided to snag the 512GB “titan … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Notes: Motorola moto g84 5G USB OTG Problems – Bad VBUS?

Posted on September 20, 2025 by lui_gough

While I love technology, I also like optimisation, so when it comes to my daily driver phone, it’s not going to be a flagship device. At the moment, I’m running a Motorola moto g84 5G based around a mainstream Qualcomm … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Telecommunications | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Project: U3SplitV1 – Breaking Apart a USB 3.x Host Port (for Desperate Times!)

Posted on September 4, 2025 by lui_gough

I’ve been using a rather chunky laptop as a desktop replacement for a while, but one of the annoying limitations comes down to the number of USB ports available. There are four USB-A ports and two USB-C ports, while generous … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Electronics | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Review, Teardown: Novoo RG68 USB-C (x2)+USB-A 67W GaN Wall Charger

Posted on August 24, 2025 by lui_gough

A while ago, my Zendure 4-port charger that was running my home-server managed to cook itself to death, I quickly pressed my Anker PowerPort III 65W charger into service. But this left me short of a charger, so it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Tablet | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Quick Review: Orico 25PW1-C3 2.5″ USB-C 5Gbit/s Hard Drive Enclosure

Posted on August 22, 2025 by lui_gough

What happens when I run out of 2.5″ SATA to USB 3.0 enclosures to stuff old spare hard drives and SSDs into? I buy some more. But instead of buying more of the same, it was time to insist on better … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

PSA: Validate Your Storage! JMicron JMS583 + KIOXIA BG4 Series SSD Issue?

Posted on August 17, 2025 by lui_gough

After recently purchasing a refurbished Dell Latitude 5420 and upgrading its internals, it liberated a 256GB KIOXIA BG4-series SSD (KBG40ZNS256G) 2230-size M.2 NVMe SSD that’s somewhat worn but still very serviceable. Rather than let it go to waste, I threw … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, DIY, Electronics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

Tips: Using 5.25″ Optical Drives on Modern Computers

Posted on April 13, 2025 by lui_gough

For the majority of people, when faced with needing to deal with a CD/DVD or BluRay, they might just resort to a slimline USB external drive. While these are relatively plentiful and somewhat inexpensive especially for DVD-capable drives, they’ve never … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Electronics, Tech Flashback | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

RoadTest Review: Power Integrations RDR-928 60W USB-C PD 3.0 Power Supply Reference Design

Posted on February 27, 2025 by lui_gough

Whether you know it or not, there’s a good chance you’re not far from a Power Integrations-based USB-C charger. This RDR-928 reference design integrates their InnoSwitch4-CZ series controller with ClampZero and MinE-CAP technologies to maximise efficiency and reduce footprint. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Quick Review: JisuLife Handheld Fan Life9 (5000mAh)

Posted on December 22, 2024 by lui_gough

It’s still summer, which means it’s still sweltering, so it’s time to try another piece of cool tech. While the JisuLife Handheld Fan Life5 Plus seemed decent value, it was still a mostly traditional sort of brushless DC fan. That … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: XTAR VX4 Visible Mixer Universal Smart Battery Charger

Posted on December 4, 2024 by lui_gough

If you’ve been looking around my site, you might have realised that I do love rechargeable batteries. Good batteries are the cornerstone of our ever-portable life and for saving the planet. But as we all know, part of the hassle … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Quick Review: Samsung C&T ITFIT Portable Neck Cooler (ITFITF13WE)

Posted on December 2, 2024 by lui_gough

Given that Sydney has just sweltered through a multi-day severe heatwave, I thought it was time to review another cool piece of technology. This one is a bit late to the blog – after all, it was gifted to me … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Review: JisuLife Handheld Fan Life5 Plus (FA43)

Posted on November 4, 2024 by lui_gough

Summer’s just around the corner and with the temperature already breaking into the mid-30s (degrees Celsius that is), keeping cool is definitely something that I’ll be trying to do. I’ve previously bought some rather inexpensive rechargeable battery-operated fans which are … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Travel | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Review: Thermal Master P2 USB-C Thermal Camera (256×192/25Hz/40mK)

Posted on October 15, 2024 by lui_gough

Around a month ago, I was approached by a representative from Thermal Master with the opportunity to review their P2 USB-C thermal camera designed for use with Android smartphones. This particular camera has the distinction of being the world’s second-smallest … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Photography, Tablet | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Quick Look: Pioneer BDR-X13JBK USB3.2 Gen1 External BD/DVD/CD Writer (16x/16x/48x)

Posted on October 1, 2024 by lui_gough

It would seem that the optical disc may not be long for this world. Many computers have shipped without optical drives for years with users choosing to back up their ever-growing data libraries on hard disks, solid-state drives or cloud … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Quick Review, Tested: Toocki 100W USB-C to USB-C Display Cable

Posted on September 22, 2024 by lui_gough

I recently tested an Essager USB-C “Digital Display OTG Adapter” which was essentially a USB-C wattmeter pass-through plug that could turn any regular cable into one with a power consumption display. This was a rather inexpensive product, unlike cables with … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Electronics, Tablet | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment