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EEVblog #226 – Kindle Touch Review

EEVblog — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:45:34 +0000

Dave reviews the 4th Generation Amazon Kindle Touch Ebook Reader.
See the previous Kindle Non-Touch Review here:

EEVblog #220 – Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet Review & Unboxing

EEVblog — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 22:54:18 +0000

How does Amazon’s new $199 Kindle Fire 7″ tablet stack up?

EEVblog #209 – New Agilent 3000X Oscilloscope Firmware

EEVblog — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:49:17 +0000

Agilent have today released new 2.0 firmware for the 3000X series oscilloscopes.
Dave takes a quick look at the new Arbitrary capability on the function generator, something he complained was lacking in the original review!

EEVblog #189 – iRiver Story HD eBook Reader TEARDOWN

EEVblog — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:06:41 +0000

What’s more fun that reviewing the new iRiver Story HD Wi-Fi eBook Reader? Tearing it down of course!
Dave cracks it open to see what’s inside.
Hi-res photos are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eevblog/sets/72157627127757905/
And Yes, the JTAG pins are there, right under my nose as labeled test points. Left side of the processor. Doh

EEVblog #188 – iRiver Story HD Google Ebook Reader Review

EEVblog — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:02:18 +0000

Dave unboxes and reviews the latest iRiver Story HD Google Ebook Reader and compares it to his Amazon Kindle 3.
How does it stack up?

EEVblog #173 – Gossen Metrahit Energy Multimeter Teardown

EEVblog — Fri, 27 May 2011 01:16:43 +0000

What’s inside Gossen Metrawatt’s Metrahit Energy Multimeter?

EEVblog #170 – Agilent U1272A Multimeter FAIL

EEVblog — Thu, 19 May 2011 02:35:19 +0000

Dave has rotten luck with test gear for review failing.
What’s up with his Agilent U1272A Multimeter?

See a follow-up video from a viewer who posted this:

EEVblog #166 – HP Agilent E3610A Lab Power Supply

EEVblog — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 07:52:06 +0000

Dave takes apart an old HP E3610A to see if it can be modded for 240V operation.

EEVblog #151 – Extech Multimeter Canyon Trip

EEVblog — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 06:40:33 +0000

The Extech EX505 multimeter is IP67 rated, that means immersion in 1m of water for 30 minutes.
Dave only knows one way to test that…

EEVblog #149 – Agilent Infiniivision 3000 X Series Oscilloscope Review

EEVblog — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 04:08:24 +0000

Dave reviews the big brother to the new 2000 series Agilent Infiniivision scope, the 3000 series.
What are the differences?

EEVblog #144 – Agilent 2000 X Series Infiniivision Oscilloscope Teardown

EEVblog — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 08:36:55 +0000

In a WORLD EXCLUSIVE, Dave voids the warranty and takes a peek inside the new Agilent Infiniivision 2000 series oscilloscope that is released TODAY.
What will he find?

EEVblog #108 – Amazon Kindle 3 3G/WiFi Review

EEVblog — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:29:45 +0000

EEVblog #101 – Hacking your own Peltier LAB Thermal Chamber

EEVblog — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:37:57 +0000

EEVblog #99 – $100 Multimeter Shootout – Extech Amprobe BK Precision Ideal UEi Uni-T PART 2of2

EEVblog — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:43:27 +0000

PART 2 of 2
Dave compares six $100 Multimeters:

BK Precision BK2709B
http://www.tequipment.net/BK2709B.html
Extech EX505
http://www.tequipment.net/ExtechEX505.asp
Amprobe 34XR-A
http://www.tequipment.net/Amprobe34XR-A.html
UEi DM391
http://www.tequipment.net/UEiDM391.html
IDEAL 61-342
http://www.tequipment.net/Ideal61-342.asp
UNI-T UT61D
http://www.uni-trend.com/UT61D.html

EEVblog #99 – $100 Multimeter Shootout – Extech Amprobe BK Precision Ideal UEi Uni-T PART 1of2

EEVblog — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:39:19 +0000

PART 1 of 2
Dave compares six $100 Multimeters:

EEVblog #98 – Microsoft InstaLoad Battery Technology – Patent Busting Time?

EEVblog — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 01:40:24 +0000

Microsoft’s new Instaload battery technology allows batteries to be inserted into a product either way around.
Is it one of those brilliant “why didn’t anyone think of that before” moments, or just another silly patent on a really obvious idea?
Is it workable in practice?
Can YOU bust the patent by finding prior art before 2006?

See the Microsoft Patent here:
http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=hVXGAAAAEBAJ

OR DOWNLOAD THE FULL PDF PATENT HERE: http://www.eevblog.com/files/Microsoft%20Instaload%20Patent%20US7527893.pdf

You can get Dave’s T-Shirt here:
http://www.eevblog.com/store

EEVblog #94 – Near Death Multimeter Experience

EEVblog — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:57:02 +0000

Dave was looking forward to reviewing the new Extech RC200 SMD Tweezer Multimeter, until the damn thing tried to kill him. Now he’s, well, kinda mad!…

The Cryrustek ES51928 DMM Chip: www.cyrustek.com.tw/spec/ES51928.pdf

Product Design FAIL – IDEAL Multimeter – Redux

EEVblog — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 07:51:30 +0000

Is the bad design of the IDEAL multimeter tilting bail really that a-typical? Should you expect to be able to poke the buttons on a multimeter while it’s standing up?
Dave does some comparisons to find out.

EEVblog #91 – $50 Multimeter Shootout – Extech EX330, Amprobe AM220, Elenco, Vichy VC99, GS Pro-50

EEVblog — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:48:28 +0000

Dave compares five $50 Multimeters to see if they are any good, and how they compare.
Download the PDF comparison sheet

Thanks to Evan from Tequipment.net

The Extech EX330:
http://www.tequipment.net/ExtechEX330.asp

The Amprobe AM220:
http://www.tequipment.net/AmprobeAM-220.asp

The Elenco M-2625:
http://www.tequipment.net/ElencoM-2625.html
(Also Jaycar Digitech QM1535)

The Global Specialties Pro-50:
http://www.tequipment.net/GlobalSpecialtiesPRO50.html

The Vichy VC99
http://www.dealexcel.com/old/vc99-3-6-7auto-range-digital-multimeter-with-analog-bar-product-133.html
(Also on Ebay)

EEVblog #81 – Smart Tweezers LCR Meter Review And Teardown

EEVblog — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 12:29:05 +0000

Dave reviews the Canadian Advance Devices Smart Tweezers LCD meter. What will he find? Does it cut the mustard?
Bonus LCR meter tutorial at the end.

EEVblog #78 – Fenix LD01 LED Keychain Flashlight And Victorinox Minichamp Review

EEVblog — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 03:21:19 +0000

Reviews of Dave’s most used everyday tools. The Fenix LD01 flashlight to replace his ARC-AAA Premium, and the Victorinox Minichamp.

EEVblog #67 – Hacking the Princeton Tec EOS LED Headlamp with a Cree XPG

EEVblog — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:58:07 +0000

Dave does a teardown of the Princeton Tec EOS headlamp and mods it with a new Cree XPG LED.
Throw in a quick reverse engineer of the circuit, gratuitous scope shots, torturing a thermistor, a practical demonstration of why you really do need 5 multimeters on your bench, and as usual Dave finds no problems filling up 25 minutes.

EEVblog #66 – Death & Destruction of a Fluke Multimeter

EEVblog — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:55:05 +0000

Dave goes on a several hundred km adventure in order to completely destroy the Fluke 28-II multimeter. Short of blowing it up with explosives, will he succeed, or will it live to measure another day?

EEVblog #64 – Fluke 28 Series II Multimeter Review & Teardown

EEVblog — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:12:43 +0000

Dave checks out the new Fluke rugged 28 Series II Multimeter and compares it with the venerable Fluke 87

Internal photos: TopPCB1, TopPCB2, BottomPCB1, BottomPCB2, InputJacks1, InputJacks2

EEVblog #60 – Fluke 117 Multimeter Review and Teardown

EEVblog — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:43:39 +0000

EEVblog #56 – Agilent U1253A OLED Multimeter Review & Teardown

EEVblog — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:49:01 +0000

Dave reviews the Agilent U1253A OLED Multimeter and compares it with the Fluke 87-V in this epic review. How will it stack up?

Check out Stormbyte’s video response to my review.
Some good points here which I address in #57.

EEVblog #45 – Arduino, PICAXE, and idiot assembler programmers

EEVblog — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:15:03 +0000

Dave checks out what all the fuss is about with the Arduino, contemplates the PICAXE, and cuts loose on die hard assembly language programmers.
All with no more silly 10 minute youtube time limit.

EEVblog #43 – Fluke 233 Multimeter Review

EEVblog — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:59:38 +0000

Dave gets his hands on the first Fluke 233 meter in the country. Gimmick?, or the biggest innovation in multimeters since autoranging?

Aussie customers can buy the Fluke 233 HERE. Use “EEVblog” as the code to get free shipping. And if you register you get 15% off the price of all gear.

Amazingly, even Dave’s wife liked this meter!, is that a good or a bad thing?

EEVblog #39 – PICkit 3 Programmer/Debugger Review

EEVblog — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:56:59 +0000

Dave compares the new PICkit 3 to the old PICkit 2, and, well, he starts to rant uncontrollably about how Microchip may have screwed this up…
And what do MBA managers and dickheads have in common?

UPDATE:
Since this blog has gone to air and made it’s way all around the Microchip HQ, I have received a phone call from none other than the Microchip CEO Steve Sanghi. In a totally unexpected and rare show of honesty from any corporate person, let alone the CEO, he thanked me for the blog and for raising the issues, and appologised for the poor implementation and release of the PICkit3. They took it as serious constructive criticism (as it was intended). He pointed out a few factual errors on my part which was fair enough, but admitted they could have done the PICkit 3 better and most importantly are working to fix the issues (and the bugs) and give customers what they expect of such an upgrade.

Check out their video response below!

Any other huge multi-billion dollar corporation probably would have got their lawyers to give me a dressing down, if they cared at all, but Microchip really do care about their products and will happily take constructive criticism seriously at the top level. Such a thing has to be unprecedented surely?
I am absolutely blown away by Microchip’s honesty, and it starts from their CEO down.
Two thumbs up to Steve Sanghi and Microchip!

Issues in my blog pointed out by Microchip are:
1) The auto VDD voltage was removed deliberately due to potential damage to chips if applied incorrectly. (Fair call, but I still don’t like it)
2) The VDD range is not 3V-5.5V, it’s actually 2V-5.5V and range changes with the chip selected. (Yep, I didn’t see this, it is different to the PK2 and buried away)
3) The PK3 is only slower for the chip type I selected (Murphy’s Law), for all others it’s actually faster than the PK2. They are working on speed optimisation for the other ones.
4) Debugging is faster than the PK2 which I didn’t mention at all.
5) Programming to Go feature is now supported (only a week or so before I filmed the blog)
6) They plan on releasing the separate programmer software again (open source)

Microchips response!

EEVblog #35 – Inside the Varta 15 minute NiMH Battery Charger

EEVblog — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:28:40 +0000

Dave cracks open the Varta 15 minute NiMH battery charger, what will he find?

EEVblog #30 – Jaycar Bench Lab Power Supply Review

EEVblog — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:16:01 +0000

Dave checks out an el-cheapo Jaycar lab power supply. What do you get for 150 bucks?

(Something went horribly wrong with the camcorder and the end summary didn’t get recorded, oops. It gets a thumbs sideways. Would have been better if it had better resolution on the adjustments, no overshoot, and a load button)

EEVblog #18 – The Garmin Etrex GPS investigated

EEVblog — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:12:43 +0000

How can a consumer electronics product last on the shelf for more than 10 years? The Garmin Etrex GPS investigated.

EEVblog #15 Part 2 of 2 – Fluke 189/289 Multimeter Review & 87V Comparison

EEVblog — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:43:43 +0000

Fluke 189/289 Multimeter Review & Fluke 87V Comparison

EEVblog #15 Part 1 of 2 – Fluke 189/289 Multimeter Review

EEVblog — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:41:33 +0000

Fluke 189/289 Multimeter Review & Fluke 87 Comparison

EEVblog #12 Part 2 of 2 – Shanghai Special

EEVblog — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 09:49:30 +0000

Shanghai Special – Dodgy USB hubs

EEVblog #10 Part 2 of 2 – Fluke 87V Multimeter review

EEVblog — Sun, 24 May 2009 00:40:08 +0000

Fluke 87-V Multimeter review continued

EEVblog #10 Part 1 of 2 – More cheap Chinese Multimeters

EEVblog — Sun, 24 May 2009 00:38:04 +0000

More on cheap Chinese Multimeters, how a rubber band cost millions of dollars, and the Fluke 87-V Multimeter reviewed.

EEVblog #9 – ThermoChron iButton and Microchip PICkit2

EEVblog — Sun, 17 May 2009 00:10:23 +0000

TI buys Luminary Micro, Maxim/Dallas ThermoChron iButton, Microchip PICkit2

EEVblog #8 Part 2 of 2 – BK Precision 1697 Programmable Lab Power Supply

EEVblog — Sun, 10 May 2009 02:39:18 +0000

Review of the BK Precision 1697 Programmable Lab Power Supply.

EEVblog #6 – Part 2 of 2 – Why cheap Chinese Multimeters suck

EEVblog — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:19:30 +0000

Why cheap Chinese Multimeters suck.

EEVblog #6 – Part 1 of 2 – Meterman 37XR Multimeter Review

EEVblog — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:13:58 +0000

More Analog Microchip, Meterman 37XR Review

EEVblog #5 – Instek Function Generator Review

EEVblog — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:10:30 +0000

Maxim rant, Analog Microchip, Instek Function Gen Review

EEVblog #5 Podcast Video

EEVBlog #2 – Burden Voltage and HP Multimeter Review

EEVblog — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:34:20 +0000

Black Magic, Burden Voltage, FindChips.com, ThisIsANT.com, Retro Review

EEVblog #2 Podcast

Full review of the Rigol DS1052E

EEVblog — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:15:21 +0000

The review of the Rigol in the first EEVblog had to be edited due to time constraints, so here is the full version.

EEVblog #1 – Rigol DS1052E Oscilloscope Reviwed

EEVblog — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 20:47:16 +0000

Dave’s first video blog. Includes – iWoz review, the LT3085, Hacker Spaces, Atmel’s latest, and Rigol’s DS1052E reviewed.

EEVblog #1 Podcast