Saturday, April 06, 2024

Steam Deck Inbound!

HAHAHAHAHA!!  Yeah, I'm on a tear this year regarding tech.  The last few months I've bought close to $1K in videography equipment.  Now I also bought a Steam Deck.

Which Steam Deck did I get?  The 1 TB OLED model.  It didn't make sense to get the 512 when the 1 TB was only $100 more...seriously.

It shipped yesterday and is supposed to arrive on 4/9.  What I'm worried about are the UPS workers.  These gaming systems tend to disappear after they ship but before they're delivered, which is extremely sad.  It doesn't help that Valve keeps using exterior packaging that labels the package as a Steam Deck (WTF).  I tried to have the shipment diverted to a UPS store (I heard that this method lessens theft - I guess it does since the onus is on the driver at that point), but UPS states that the shipper (Valve) won't allow delivery to UPS stores (WTF Valve).

There's a chance that I won't receive this unit, which will piss me off, as I've waited 5 days for it to ship AND Valve won't allow me to re-route it.  If it ends up "lost", I'll have to reach out to Valve, who will eventually ship me another one...if that happens, I'm going to insist that they ship to a UPS store and if they can't, I'll ask for a refund.  As well, UPS needs to quit letting this happen (it's a very common thing for their employees to steal these gaming systems).

For now, I'm just waiting for it to ship.  I don't think I need to order any other items for use with the gaming system.  Since it's 1 TB, I don't need a micro SD card right now (eventually, I may want one).  I have ordered a 100W charger as a backup to the OEM one.  I may eventually order a docking station for it.  I may also order a carry case and other accessories - I won't know exactly what I want until I start using the system.

My daughter bought one for her brother last year (a 512 GB LCD unit), then after seeing his, she bought a 512 GB OLED unit.  I saw both of theirs and wanted one, but didn't want to spend the money at the time.  I now have the money.  :)

As always, I'll keep you all up to date on my experience.

Wednesday, April 03, 2024

DJI Osmo Pocket 3 - Extra Accessories are Here!

I stated in the prior post that I'd ordered extra parts for my Osmo Pocket 3.  They arrived today.

I found that I had an error in the order - I ordered two battery handles.  I've decided to keep it instead of returning it.  I can ensure that it is charged so that I can use it to give me extra run time, if that's what I'd need.  I can always sell it later if I decide I don't need it, but I'm sure I can use it.

I've already charged up the battery handles.  

I've also charged up the Mic 2 transmitter and have it linked to the OP3.  I've adjusted it's gain, as well, and configured it's settings in the OP3 menu.  I just have to use it now.  The Mic looks really nice.  At one point, I was going to try to use a different brand of mic but decided to stick with DJI since it would probably work better with the camera than a 3rd party mic setup, plus, the OP3 has built-in receivers that I'm not sure will work with other makes of mic transmitters.

The case is smaller than I'd thought it would be, but it holds most of my things.

The tripod is very nice...it's smaller than the one I've been using, but it's quite as stable, but it should suffice.

The wide angle lense is cool.  I'm not actually sure if I'll ever need it, as I don't see a huge difference in gained angle.

I ordered extra mic wind covers, as well as the mic magnets, but I found that I didn't need them, because DJI includes both of those with the Mic 2.  I'm a bit upset about that, because their product page should state that those come with the Mic.  I'll keep what I have as spares.  Oh yeah, that magnet is STRONG!

The expansion adapter is something that I probably didn't need, but it can probably be used with my GoPro harnesses and other mounting accessories.  At some point, I may use it.  I thought it would offer USB-C port expansion, but it doesn't, which is a shame.

I will attempt to capture some footage over the next few days to test the Mic 2 setup.  I may just record footage as I'm taking my daily walks.

Oh, and I also bought a good SD card, one that's listed on the OP3 product page as recommended specs - I bought the Lexar 256 GB card, which would give me 4+ hours of top spec footage.  I shouldn't need anymore than that, but if I do, I'll buy the 512 GB Lexar card.

Initially, I thought the OP3 would make my GoPro H10 Black redundant, but I still need that for the firearms range.  I have dialed up the recording resolution to 4K @ 60 FPS (watch the camera overheat at the next range visit).