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TechTranscript
00:00Hey, how's it going? Dave2D here. So, I've been using the same few MacBook accessories for the past little while, for the past like year, year and a half,
00:10and I wanted to see if I could do a little better. I wanted to see if there were like better versions of the ones I've been using,
00:15or just like better products that kind of did the same kind of thing.
00:17Um, so I went to Amazon, checked out the ratings, and just like bought a bunch of stuff, and here are five MacBook upgrades that I was able to come across.
00:26The first one, I know this sounds a little silly, but this is important to me, it's the case.
00:31I think this is something that a lot of people kind of overlook when it comes to laptops.
00:34I use a skin on it, which is great, I mean it looks cool, but it doesn't give a ton of protection.
00:39The case that I've been using in the past is this. It's made by Inateck, it's a great case.
00:43The one thing I don't like about it though is that after a while it starts to pill.
00:47This is actually the third one that I've purchased from them.
00:49Uh, just the material is felt, it's nice, but it actually starts to get fuzzy, and just kind of gross looking, so I replaced it.
00:55I wanted to find something a little bit different, I found this.
00:57This thing's rated 4.5 star on Amazon, and there's two things that I really like about it.
01:02The first one is the inner lining.
01:04It's got this like flap on the inside that protects the edge of your laptop,
01:08so often times if you have a zippered case, you'll put your laptop in, and the zipper will just rub against the case,
01:13because it's just, it's literally right against the metal or plastic zipper, and it'll just rub and rub,
01:17and eventually it can wear down the side of your laptop.
01:20This one has a flap in it, the MacBook tucks underneath, and it just protects it from that zippered edge.
01:24Uh, the other thing I like about it is the actual zipper itself.
01:27It's made by a good company, so zippers are often overlooked when it comes to just cases,
01:31because you can stick some really cheap zippers on these things and get away with it.
01:34This is a YKK zipper, it's like that Japanese brand.
01:37Super popular brand, but it's just like a very durable, well-built case.
01:40I highly recommend this.
01:41Okay, next item is something that I had high hopes for.
01:45So, if you'll remember, the old MacBooks had MagSafe.
01:48It's something that I think a lot of people enjoyed, and something that kind of made MacBooks what they were.
01:52There have been a lot of products that have kind of tried to emulate that or replicate that experience
01:57with some kind of magnetic connection on the USB-C thing.
02:00This was one of them, and I had really high hopes for this.
02:03This video is actually going to be about how this was an awesome upgrade.
02:06I've had this for three weeks now, and it died.
02:09Literally, like, 12 hours ago, this thing died just before I made this video.
02:13So, I no longer recommend any of these.
02:15This is actually the fourth or fifth version, like, some kind of USB-C magnetic thing that I've tried on the MacBook.
02:21They all seem to fail over time.
02:23I've tried the Griffin one, which was bulky and expensive.
02:25I've tried some cheaper ones, some moderately priced ones.
02:28And finally, I tried this one.
02:29It was made by Bassius or something like that.
02:31And, like, come on, man.
02:33I don't know why they can't make these things properly, but the idea of it seems simple, right?
02:37It just seems like it would work, but I've tried so many.
02:40They all don't seem to work.
02:41I don't recommend any of them, unfortunately.
02:43Okay, moving along, we have...
02:45This thing is something you've seen in a lot of my videos.
02:47There's various companies that make this.
02:49The more popular one is Satechi.
02:51I've used that one.
02:52This one's made by QuackQuack or something.
02:54Like, they're all weird names, but they all do the same kind of thing.
02:57It's a USB-C hub that plugs into your computer.
02:59And for the most part, they're pretty good.
03:01There's one issue that occurs with them, though, is that if you use the hub heavily,
03:04like, if you have a media drive connected to this for a video edit, it can get quite hot.
03:07So, I found something that was significantly better.
03:10So, this is made by... It's a brand name one.
03:12It's Kingston.
03:13It's, like, a fancy brand.
03:14It's 80 bucks.
03:16So, these are normally, like, 60 bucks.
03:17It's a little bit more, and it's quite a bit larger.
03:19But the thermal performance on this thing is significantly better.
03:22This thing barely gets warm.
03:23So, if you use a hub heavily, and you kind of need to have your files transferring through these things,
03:27like, non-stop, I highly recommend picking up one of these.
03:30Because relying on this, like, I've had edits that just stop in the middle of it,
03:33because this thing gets too warm.
03:35So, Kingston Nucleum.
03:38That's not a bad name.
03:39Okay.
03:40Moving along.
03:41This thing.
03:42We've seen this a lot in my videos.
03:44I really like this battery.
03:45It's made by Anker.
03:46They have power deliveries.
03:47You can charge laptops and stuff like that.
03:48It's a good battery pack.
03:49But, I found something that's a little bit better.
03:52This is made by a company called Jackery.
03:54And what makes this thing kind of special is that it's got a power outlet built into it.
03:58So, it's got your standard stuff like USB-A, USB-C, and it charges via USB-C.
04:02It's got, like, an indicator or whatever.
04:04But the power outlet allows you to connect your AC adapter to charge this thing significantly faster
04:09than it would be if you're just using power delivery through the USB-C.
04:12So, a regular battery pack will charge MacBooks reasonably fast.
04:15But when you have a power outlet like this, it actually charges it as if it's plugged into the wall.
04:19It's awesome.
04:20So, it's a little bit bigger.
04:21I actually think it's, like, the same kind of weight.
04:23This thing holds 20,000 mAh and change.
04:26This is, like, 26.
04:28Both are good.
04:29But if you need a battery pack that can power your laptop while it's running full tilt,
04:32like if you're doing 3D stuff or video editing on the go,
04:35and you want to be able to just give it extra juice without an outlet, this is your choice.
04:38Okay.
04:39Moving along, we have the cheapest item in this whole video.
04:41It's the $9 USB adapter.
04:43It's made by a company called Nanda or Nunda.
04:45I think it's Nanda.
04:46The one I've used before is this regular standard USB dongle, which is fine.
04:50This one is a lot smaller.
04:52And when it's plugged up to your laptop, it's just a cleaner look.
04:54I much prefer this aesthetic over the whole dongle life thing.
04:57It doesn't have a perfect review.
05:00Like, it's a four-star review on Amazon.
05:02I think a lot of that comes from the older model.
05:04Like, there was a 2016 version of this that was not very reliable and a little bit bigger.
05:08But the new ones, two thumbs up.
05:10Okay.
05:11I looked for an upgrade for the mouse, and there really isn't any.
05:13You've seen this a lot in my videos, like the MX Anywhere 2S.
05:16It's a great mouse.
05:17They have them for like 50, 55 bucks now.
05:20But you can't get anything better, at least in my opinion.
05:22This is seriously a great mouse.
05:24Okay.
05:25That about wraps it up.
05:26These are all, like, little upgrades that I was trying to bring to my MacBook experience a little bit better.
05:30And there you have it.
05:31Some of them, most of them were good.
05:33This one or any of these magnetic cables are terrible.
05:36Okay.
05:37Hope you guys enjoyed this video.
05:38Thumbs if you liked it.
05:39Subs if you loved it.
05:40See you guys next time.