Cringe car crash camera repair over at Linus Tech Tips - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2022, 07:24:36 pm
content: Well, this was seriously painful to watch.For a guy who's in the hole for several $100,000 for his new "testing lab", this doesn't bode well: this was a case of almost no gear and mostly no idea. Hopefully the guy he's hired to run his testing lab (Gary Key, ex-ASUS) will put him right, but it's not clear what his real hands-on technical skills are beyond marketing and vendor management are either.But, to be fair, I am sure that Linus will rack up enough revenue to pay for a dozen new cameras.

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2022, 08:40:36 pm
content: They are in the entertainment business. The cringier it is, the better for engagement. And it clearly worked. I had no idea about this video and whatever Linus is doing, yet you brought it here.

author: TheAmmoniacal
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 17, 2022, 08:46:47 pm
content: For someone who spent >$100,000 for an ATX power supply tester I wish they would get better soldering and reflow equipment.. and some low-melt solder.. I don't know if they do this on purpose for the entertainment or because they want to use "accessible" gear.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2022, 08:52:51 pm
content: Quote from: TheAmmoniacal on September 17, 2022, 08:46:47 pmBeyond Youtube ad revenue, which is probably greater if they make a mess of it, is there any return on investment for that? They're not in the repair business, they're not in the design and manufacturing business.

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2022, 11:24:12 pm
content: Quote from: TheAmmoniacal on September 17, 2022, 08:46:47 pmThat was precisely where I was going with this. The power supply tester thing was another cringe, boasting about how it was a better more modern setup than the power supply manufacturers'. I was left on that occasion with the impression of all the gear, no idea. I have a lot more trust in what Gamers Nexus is doing on that front, and has been doing for some time.I can't help but think Linus's lab gear risks sitting there gathering dust, becoming little more than trophy gear: it will be very dependent on who he hires to make it work: a cheap 21 year old straight out of college is unlikely to be the right fit, you need a wealth of technical experience, an SME, someone who knows a lot more than he does in the field. AIUI the financial justification for his lab expenditure is to provide third party test facilities, but he'll need people who know WTF they're doing, and right now I don't see much evidence of that, although TBF he tends not to put probation employees on video.

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2022, 11:27:52 pm
content: Quote from: Monkeh on September 17, 2022, 08:52:51 pmBut they are in the T&M business... or trying to be.

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2022, 11:41:24 pm
content: Quote from: ataradov on September 17, 2022, 08:40:36 pmIndeed. I'm not sure why I frequently watch his videos, I rarely if ever learn anything new technically, but it is sometimes useful for product awareness.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2022, 05:32:32 am
content: does anyone just get pissed at how small those parts get?I want to shrink ray myself like a lego man and do the job with a OA torchTechnology is just not there yet to solder these parts comfortably.

author: Jackster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2022, 11:02:18 am
content: 100% cringe.They even show them using a camera cage for another one of their A7s cameras.Said cages have accessories to help protect the HDMI port such as a clamp or even a Micro to full-size HDMI block so you don't have to use the Micro port.Not sure what is going on with their camera department. It used to be okay but they have made quite a few mistakes over the past few years.I feel half of it is down to incompetence and the other half is clickbait content worthy which is why we get videos like this.2-3 hour shoot for a main channel daily upload? Pretty cheap...They make enough money to buy even hobby-level rework equipment but still half-assed it. Those connectors would not melt if they used the correct heat and pre-heated under the board.

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2022, 01:42:36 pm
content: I watch LTT mainly for entertainment. Take their execution with a grain of salt. It's all entertainment..Now I must confess I give them the benefit of the doubt.YES the job was total cringe to watch. But how was your first year of SMT soldering? Never smashed some pins on a QFP? Never ripped some pads of the PCB? (was done in a retro console repair video) Never burnt a brown mark in your mat with the hot air gun? Never heated a board for so long at 400C+ till it charcoals? If I would need to weld something together, which I've never done, then I'm sure it's also a pretty shit job.Been there done that. Computer building these days is mostly about plugging in cards and cables, and then clicking a button "benchmark" (gross simplification), so I can't fault them for not having these skills. He is better off hiring a dozen more people to do all those tasks for him.Not everyone is an EE's in electronics world. They may hire some EEs in the lab, but TBH thumbs up to them not bothering ad-hoc for every video they are shooting right now where they can use some EE hands. And thumbs up for trying to repair something and give this camera a 2nd life, even though it now costed them a second mainboard.

author: nightfire
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2022, 04:57:22 pm
content: Quote from: Howardlong on September 17, 2022, 11:24:12 pmWell, as previously stated (and being the consensus of this thread so far) LTT is doing a lot for show. To be honest, he probably understood what this targeted audience is, and how to please it.If you want to be a big shot in youtube and elsewhere, you have to be able to rack up numbers of people watching your stuff, and then you can get the additional money with sponsorships, product placement etc.So he has to cater for the masses, which mostly are half-knowledgeable and need some perk for viewing "THIS" channel, otherwise they hop on the next video with a flick of the finger.And in this regard, some super-duper highend equipment lots of serious EEs would wish they had access to, is one key to do so- give the audience the impression that you are that cool guy that has better stuff than parts of the industry- most of the audience also do not want to have some detailed report of a power supply including ripple statistics- they do want to have some show, want to have the impression that some cool guy might eventually discover some lie or wrong promises, and want to see that their favorite brand of PSU is declared a "winner" of some sort of tests.Tests, that in this regard only LTT or a few select labs can do because of the fancy trophy equipment present.simple selling psychology- nothing else. I myself have experienced this in different regards, and in german there is a saying: "Der Wurm muss dem Fisch schmecken, nicht dem Angler" (The worm has to be tasteful to the fish, not the fisherman)

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2022, 08:18:57 pm
content: Quote from: nightfire on September 18, 2022, 04:57:22 pmOh, I like that saying!P.S., you mean “tasty” (lecker), not “tasteful” (gediegen).

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2022, 08:24:30 pm
content: Quote from: Howardlong on September 17, 2022, 11:24:12 pmThe Chroma gear they bought is really popular with the power supply makers in East Asia. When they say the stuff they bought is better, they probably just have the latest models. These aren't things you replace very often, so there is a lot of old stuff still giving perfectly good service in the labs.

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2022, 10:04:22 pm
content: Quote from: coppice on September 18, 2022, 08:24:30 pmI don't disagree. ISTBC, but I thought he said in that video that it was specced up by an acquaintance who works for one of the PC supply OEMs.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2022, 11:06:48 pm
content: Well, Linus is the guy who was repairing things by "reflowing" them with a hot air gun from a hardware store, among other things.Until certain Louis Rossmann took him to task over this, in a fairly viral expletive-laden rant video. It ended up by Linus actually visiting Louis, conceding he had no clue what he was doing there (kudos for that) and that replacing/fixing a BGA chip is a taaad more tricky than what his "guide" with the heatgun suggested.He has (waay) more money than actual technical knowledge/skill, sadly. As said by others, it is a pure clickbaity entertainment produced professionally with a large crew and budget, aimed straight at "gamers" who don't know better and who are the target group for his sponsors. He is a very good businessman milking that particular "influencer marketing" cash cow, though.What Linus produces is a stream of stuff to keep Youtube algorithm happy, nothing more. He actually admitted some time ago that he had some major personal issues because it is a very stressful job after a while - finding material to film, produce the footage, get it edited, published, etc. Plus all the paperwork, sponsors and so on. And this a week after week because bills and salaries have to be paid.He runs a fairly sizeable media production company (https://linusmediagroup.com/our-team- almost 60 people!) to produce the content for his channels (he has several + podcasts, etc.) - and in every episode he is personally involved. I wouldn't want a "life" like that.If you want actually meaningful technical content, go elsewhere.

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2022, 11:13:25 pm
content: Thank you. You saved me posting it. Yeah it was pretty haphazard. I think he knows his limits, but posting a video makes him $$$ (sadly the ONLY metric, apart from “likes” and “subs” anyone seems to care about)

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2022, 12:04:53 am
content: Quote from: Howardlong on September 18, 2022, 10:04:22 pmI think he said someone at Seasonic specified the package LTT bought. The probably took one of their own rigs, and listed the latest model equivalents of what is in it.

author: nightfire
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2022, 01:15:17 am
content: Quote from: eti on September 18, 2022, 11:13:25 pmWell, the amount of money someone makes in his job/profession is one of the many ways to measure success. And it is a fact that to stay on top of the social media machinery/grinder, at some point you have to invest some serious money to get your ducks in row. And if you do not stay on top of the wave you ride, you will go under fairly quickly. There are lots of examples of once-cool channels, that were well regarded some years ago, and where you see that the people there are totally dependant- and do things according to the likes of the actual version of the youtube algorithm.Here it becomes clear, where the customers really are, that drive lots of things: The companies with the advertisement budget. Everything else is only some exchangeable provider of content to get the desired target audience sorted...

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2022, 02:44:09 am
content: WHere is the power supply tester? What is wrong with buying a chroma???

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2022, 02:31:30 pm
content: Quote from: janoc on September 18, 2022, 11:06:48 pmYes, largely agree - Linus does stuff which is 20% OK technical reviews and 80% entertainment. But he's built quite a business out of it so he's doing something right - even if itisonly keeping the YT algorithm farm happy.What Linus most certainlyisn'tis any good at actual electronics, in fact I'm not sure anyone on his crew has much knowledge at that level.Someone mentioned Gamer's Nexus - yes but (sorry Steve) I can't listen to his voice for very long.

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2022, 07:33:43 pm
content: Well I get the impression that the people at GamersNexus has similar personnel. People that like tinkering with computers and tech, but need to learn new skills and 'the trade' on the job to push their channel forwards into new directions (like PSU testing).Because let's be realistic.. if you're a design engineer that knows all the tricks in the book.. what incentives do you need to start working on reviews for a YT channel? People that assimilate all the details have other things to do (probably more design lol). I've only seen very very few engineers that have gone journalists (such as here on EEVblog), and even if they have done, they kind of get to the long rambly content that's not really tech-mainstream purely because it contains all those details. GamersNexus is more on that rambly side, but they are quite thorough. Other review channels like HardwareUnboxed are also quite lengthy, where it's focus is on completeness (e.g. benchmarking 25 games isn't needed to establish the mean, but it's nice to see the outliers) rather than short summarized punch lines. I doubt LTT"s lab will ever get to the same level of detail, mainly because LTT also has a clear focus on entertaining the masses.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2022, 09:16:55 pm
content: Quote from: TheAmmoniacal on September 17, 2022, 08:46:47 pm858D is perfectly adequate tool to replace a HDMI connector once a year. But yeah at some point they should consider better equipment.As for low melt solder, he may not know about it. Or, there is also the fact its not going to not be as strong as lead solder. So might not last as long.Quote from: janoc on September 18, 2022, 11:06:48 pmWhy is that sad? He has tons of knowledge and skills, SMD soldering is just not one those.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2022, 08:01:37 am
content: Quote from: thm_w on September 19, 2022, 09:16:55 pmBut you don't use it for the final join, just for desoldering. Though leaded solder is "low melt" compared with lead-free.

author: AVGresponding
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2022, 08:59:19 am
content: Seems to me a lot of his issues would have been avoided by just having the board securely held while he worked on it, and by using a bit of kapton tape to hold the socket in place while he soldered it on.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2022, 02:23:12 pm
content: Alex is quite diplomatic, and all the better for it.

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2022, 02:36:57 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on September 19, 2022, 02:44:09 amI don't think anyone's suggesting otherwise, the point is that blowing that kind of money on equipment seems more thana little frivolous if you don't have someone who knows what they're doing to drive it. If I may be so bold, there is a substantial disconnect between the amount he blows on equipment compared to the bright young things he has a tendency to hire.The recent exception would seem to be Gary Keys, I am sure he didn't come cheap, but as far as I can tell, he's a marketing guy, unlikely to have in-depth technical experience. As I mentioned earlier, perhaps there are others more suitable who've already been hired but are on probation who don't get to have their faces on video.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2022, 08:56:27 pm
content: Ok, but you could also say that that kind of equipment is essential in a work place to have any kind of semblance of through put and efficiency, so long there is a professional around. I guess people are saying there is no professional around to use it. I just feel like some times people don't understand how much dedicated machinery cuts down on the work place bull-shit that comes up. The only caviet is that its not great for fostering learning, since its highly integrated and streamlined. If you cut down on setup things come out on time. Sometimes even if you lose a little precision/ideality, having results fast means you can identify a useful trend by testing that could be investigated in depth by a more 'traditional' setup.I do agree that his work crew might have better long term success if they figure out how to do it with the basic tools because that will offer some education.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2022, 09:01:29 pm
content: Quote from: grumpydoc on September 20, 2022, 08:01:37 amI don't really see it helping massively here, as its a through hole connector. Which means you'd have to get the low melt down into the pins.For fully SMD ICs it definitely helps, when you don't/can't use hot air.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2022, 10:38:02 pm
content: Quote from: thm_w on September 19, 2022, 09:16:55 pmWe were talkingtechnicalskills, related computers and EE stuff. Nobody disputes his business acumen, for example - I certainly can't run a 60 person media company myself.

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2022, 08:17:45 am
content: He was an IT guy, now he is a tech journalist.What's "skill"? Is that engineering or technician level capabilities? I doubt he has any EE "skills", and probably more than enough IT skills to strike common sense in what his team does. Then again he also leans a lot on his team to test products and write scripts that he can (proof)read on camera.Nonetheless, if that's all cringe-worthy.. the cringe-worthy thing for me is that this thread is called a "car crash camera"

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2022, 12:13:07 pm
content: Quote from: hans on September 24, 2022, 08:17:45 amFor me, what's cringe worthy is someone thinking that regards a thread with "car crash camera" in its title is cringe worthy. ;-)/recurse

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2022, 01:53:40 pm
content: Well, it wasn't a car crash camera? That was a different video.Or maybe I miss the irony/sarcasm/cynicism.But honestly, I don't care. Just wanted to make the point that not one person can master every skill, as I sense a bit of elitism in trying to bring someone down for being unable to solder a mini HDMI connector, and then bitching how it's just a YT-cash-grab channel that has no skilled personnel.(If you're a Lious Rossman, you would invite LTT over to show how it should be repaired, instead.)I think this goes completely against trusting on auto-didactic and reflection skills for a job. Nobody is going to properly prepared for any job from purely it's education or track record. Sure it can help speed up the process, but so far it seems like they are taking their bloody time to get into (10+ months now). I think it's a similar situation as with GamersNexus, where it's 8 months since they've brought in that fan tester unit, but it's basically led to zero review content so far.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2022, 02:19:05 pm
content: Quote from: hans on September 24, 2022, 01:53:40 pmCar crashitemrepair.

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2022, 02:40:46 pm
content: Quote from: hans on September 24, 2022, 01:53:40 pmNo, it was a "car crash camera repair".QuoteNot for doing component level repair, no, and they don't have any "skilled personnel" for that either, nor do they have the tools. That didn't stop Linus trying to convince the audience at the start that it could all be done with approx $150 or so of tools & consumables (timestamp 3m00s).QuoteSorry, I'm lost!

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2022, 02:47:42 pm
content: I’m pretty sure Howard means “a car crash [massive fail] of a repair of a camera” == really awful attempt at repairing a camera.Quote from: Howardlong on September 24, 2022, 02:40:46 pmRepeating the wording that’s confusing people doesn’t help them understand it.

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2022, 03:10:11 pm
content: Ah now I get it. Something that's perhaps lost in translation as non-native speaker. Or even more likely the SRF of my brain is slightly deviate from others. No worries :-)Regarding his display of skills vs the sales pitch, yes I agree. 4$ worth of parts and some tools! "I need this to work to get a video out of it". The different kinds of stress of a YouTuber

author: Someone
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2022, 11:23:09 pm
content: Quote from: hans on September 24, 2022, 03:10:11 pmNewspapers (and some people) seem to like making these inscrutable headlines that can be read n different (and misleading) ways. Its a "thing" and a quick way to filter out content that doesn't have much substance behind it, otherwise a plain headline would be inviting enough.It was un-parseable for me too, despite being an English native.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2022, 11:30:25 pm
content: Strange! I got it.Clearly, it was cringe-worthy and the question then was if it was a car crash camera (no - in that case it would be a dashcam) or car crash OF a camera repair. Since this isn't the Daily Wail it seemed to obviously be the latter.I can see it might well fox someone who isn't au fait with English idioms. And perhaps copy editors.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 25, 2022, 12:27:30 pm
content: As a native English speaker, I had to look at it twice. The issue is that it’s ambiguous, and the unintended alternative interpretation is also plausible, since dashcams (cameras designed to film driving in cars, and which often use accelerometers to automatically save footage when a crash is detected) exist. Only once you’ve read beyond the headline can you conclusively rule out it being a video of Linus repairing a dashcam.The other thing is the way the word “cringe” was used. In the past few years, novel usage of that word as an adjective meaning “cringeworthy” and a noun meaning “cringeworthiness” has become popular: “ is really cringe”. (And it’s often hard to figure out whether it’s an adjective or noun.)To my ear, that sounds really strange: I’d call those “cringeworthy” and “cringeworthy things”, respectively.Also, “car crash” to mean “disaster” is more common in UK English, whereas in US English, we more commonly would call it a “train wreck”. So depending on one’s background, it might be less obvious what’s meant.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 25, 2022, 01:31:32 pm
content: Love to see a train wreck camera repair. Maybe even a working one.