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by causi 529 days ago
Wow that is some massively overpriced crap right there. Forty dollars for a USB continuity tester with a basic plastic case that only does type-C cables. Meanwhile you can get one, with acrylic case, that does types A, B, C, Micro, and Micro 3.0 for $17 off Amazon or $11 off Aliexpress.

https://www.amazon.com/Treedix-Tester-Checker-Acrylic-Chargi...
3 comments
Tharre 529 days ago
It's not just a continuity tester like the one you linked from amazon though. The Kickstarter page is light on details, but it can at the very least communicate with active cables to determine amperage and data speeds.

Add to that a microcontroller, screen and software and the price doesn't look unreasonable to me, especially for a small project like this.

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causi 528 days ago
I didn't comment on the kickstarter product. I commented on the forty dollar continuity tester.
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Gigachad 529 days ago
That isn't doing a fraction of the same feature set. The one above is able to read the cables emarker tags to tell you the cables described feature set, OEM, version number/etc. And it also tests actually pushing 40Gbit data and 240w power to verify the emarkers are correct.

There are also cases where there can be active electronics in the cable where pins can seem disconnected by a continuity tester but they are actually connected to a chip inside the cable.

Also as an aside, it should be possible to just plug a cable in, and have your OS tell you what kind of cable it is and it's specs. The USB controller has access to this info but there is no standard way to pass it up to the OS like you have with other USB info. Apparently Chromebooks do have controllers which expose this so they can tell you when both the laptop and charger support faster charging but the cable is limited.

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Tempest1981 529 days ago
Not sure I would highlight that "acrylic case" as a selling point... it's just a flat lid, with plastic standoffs... which you need to assemble yourself. No sides or even bottom.

This is what I was expecting when you said acrylic case: https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-4-case/

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causi 523 days ago
You're correct, but I felt the need to mention it as the OP's one is just a bare circuit board unless you pay extra for a similar acrylic frame.
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