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CSG Guide 2021

Feb 7th, 2021
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  1. ;
  2. ⊱━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━.⋅.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⊰
  3.  
  4. Welcome to the /csg/ guide
  5.  
  6. ⊱━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━.⋅.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⊰
  7.  
  8. Format:
  9. NAME ($ AVG PRICE ):
  10. Product explanation, experience, features, possible mods, . .
  11.  
  12. https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/news/new-form-customs-declaration-low-value-consignments_en
  13. From 1 January 2021 the existing VAT exemption for goods up to 22 € will disappear.
  14. Buy your Chineseshit now, 11/11 discounts won't matter if you're gonna have to pay tax.
  15. Questions? Ask in thread.
  16.  
  17. https://www.avalara.com/vatlive/en/vat-news/eu-ecommerce-package-go-head--german-and-dutch-concerns.html
  18. For the Dutch and Germans it might be delayed???
  19.  
  20. i dont get it. is vat exemption delayed or no? for all euros?
  21.  
  22. ─────────────────────────── ❝ UPDATES ❞ ────────────────────────────
  23.  
  24. ──────────────────────── ❝ Buying from Taobao ❞ ────────────────────────
  25. Taobao, unlike AliExpress, is not meant for dirty gweilo. As such all content on taobao is in Chinese, although occasionally a seller will speak English. Buying through an agent, while not economical with small orders, can save a lot of hassle involved with communication and also offers basic inspection in a Chinese warehouse which is excellent for expensive items. If you do not heed this advice and decide to buy your Chinese shit the hard way, either install the taobao app on your phone, or the aliwangwang program to your PC, as sellers on taobao will often communicate with you before sending out an item, and custom work obviously requires communication. Taobao direct shipping is not the cheapest, but often it is fast. Taobao offers three methods for international shipping, direct air, consolidated air, and consolidated sea. Note that when certain prohibited items are noticed by taobao, you will not be able to send the item and will have to request both a refund of the item and a refund of the shipping costs. This is done separately so don't get Chineseed out of your shipping costs. Taobao also uses Alipay, so anything that requires verification is out for those without Chinese bank. Sellers tend to offer partial refunds through red packets, and this requires a verified Alipay account. There is a company that translates taobao and sells to dirty gweilo, they have their own page on the Chinese version of hatsapp; I just can't remember their name right now.
  26.  
  27. ──────────────────── ❝ Buying from Aliexpress ❞ ───────────────────
  28. Every few threads someone new to buying Chineseshit shares their story about getting Chineseed. Sometimes that can't be helped (yare yare) and buying from any online store always has some leftover risk, however most of the time the guys getting Chineseed didn't do their due diligence. First of all, use your brain. If it's too good to be true, it most likely is a scam. If there are reviews, look at them. Do they seem legit? Are there many people complaining about the same stuff? After buying something, you have a window of time in which you can confirm that you received your order on AliExpress It will tell you when your window closes. If your stuff didn't arrive and it's around a week until the end of this protection period, contact the seller. Most likely they will extend the confirmation time themselves. If it still doesn't arrive or its the wrong product or there are other issues, you have the option to start a dispute. Alternatively you can ask the seller if you can settle it without a dispute. If the seller wants you to wait and does not extend the time window for a dispute, start a dispute right there, you're getting Chineseed. Starting a dispute will involve AliExpress support. Sellers hate this (pretty sure it can lower their shop rankings), so personally I'd say giving them the option to settle outside a dispute is the nice thing to do. If they don't, AliExpress support tends to side with the buyer the first few times you start a dispute. If possible provide photos or info about what is wrong. If you start obviously lying or trying to Chinese the sellers yourself, they will turn against you though, so have some spine and be a decent human being for once. but they'd do the same to you so fuck them. If you behave normally and honestly, AliExpress support tends to be one of the better ones for online marketplaces.PARAGRAPHS
  29.  
  30.  
  31. ≿───────────────────────────────────── ❈ ──────────────────────────────────────≾
  32.  
  33.  
  34. Smartphones
  35.  
  36. K20 Pro ($300)
  37. The best value for money smartphone in this range, has the OnePlus 'Pop-up camera' feature. Screen is very nice but battery life can be short, only lasting about 2 full days worth of semi-frequent use. If you don't like MIUI firmware there's a lot of support for custom ROMs, not much support for its inferior brother the K20 however... Cheapest I could find is 400 on AE, even locally it's 350 - I got one for 250EUR.. <-On Ali? (I did too, but that was on singles day)
  38.  
  39. ^ what phone anon?
  40. ty for adding it in senpai
  41.  
  42. Tablets
  43.  
  44. Jumper EZpad M4 ($150):
  45. Great choice for reading comics. The screen is ideal for manga (7.9", 2K res, 4:3 aspect ratio), it's lightweight and doesn't lag unlike some other cheap tablets I've had. Comes with Android 8.1, not to be confused with any of Jumper's Windows tablets. Doesn't come with Google Play stuff installed. According to the seller it "can't support google", but I have not tried installing it myself. The battery life isn't anything to write home about, but hasn't been an issue in my use.
  46.  
  47. Smartwatches/bands
  48.  
  49. Xiaomi Mi Band 4 ($22):
  50. Had the previous version, was quite comfy due to its small size, not the most accurate heart rate sensor but did its job, supported by Gadgetbridge, really good battery life, nice screen.
  51. Note: Could be worth grabbing a spare strap, I had the Mi Band 2 and Mi Band 3 and both had the straps break within a year. If you're upgrading yearly might not be an issue though, You can also get a metal or a leather strap. Lasted for more than 2 years in my case.
  52.  
  53. Any < 25,- NRF52 based china watch:
  54. Same uberhackable hardware as https:/www.pine64.org/pinetime
  55. >4mb of user storage
  56.  
  57. any rootable Chinese bands?
  58.  
  59. Mice
  60.  
  61. "7 button wired gaymer mouse optical LED" sort by orders ($5~):
  62. Had one of these for over two years, holds up surprisingly well, although years of constant usage does take its toll on it. Side buttons are a bit mushy, some come with removable weight and various colors. For about five bucks it's a pretty good deal if you need something on the cheap side, lasted/lasting me for years.
  63.  
  64. Logitech G203 (G102 on Ali) ($20):
  65. Cheap mouse with a great sensor for the price and three extra programmable buttons, the RGB can be turned off if you don't like it. Also supports up to 8000 DPI but anything higher than 1200 is a meme. The G102 was infamous for double clicking after some time, not sure if that's still the case. Well i got one near release before the 8000 dpi fire, firmware update and still works fine ymmv. i bought one for 15<$
  66.  
  67. Ajazz AJ390C ($23):
  68. Model o clone (ironic right ?). Sensor on par with 3360 and 3389. It has the newest ultra light trend (74g) with gaymer lights and the meme cord. The cheapest mouse that will give you the comparable performance to any top tier fps mouse out there. The software comes with Chinese cheats.
  69.  
  70. Microsoft Pro IntelliMouse ($45-70):
  71. While isn't a Chinese brand, this mouse was targeted and marketed at Chinese market and made by them. Awesome sensor, non-gaymer looks, good build quality. Software is a bit cancer (clearly made by Chinese contractors, not Microsoft) but the mouse can be perfectly used without it. You can buy it on Amazon from china (or on the Microsoft store if you're in USA, but they don't ship anywhere else).
  72.  
  73. Keyboards
  74.  
  75. "XD75RE" ortholinear pcb ($40-45):
  76. This is only the pcb, you'll have to buy other parts and build the keyboard yourself. Sellers often put pictures of a finished keyboard, so check descriptions. Form factor 60%. Hot-switchable mech keys, LEDs optional, using one now for almost 2 years now and it's great. Keys customizable up to 15 layers with QMK (https://config.qmk.fm/#/xd75/LAYOUT_ortho_5x15).
  77.  
  78. zu ($35):decide
  79. Solid build quality, no gay RGB (there are variants with RGB though), has lasted me years of shitposting and one of the few with a semi-ISO layout. Anon, this doesn't seem to exist anymore, are other AULAs as good? Horrendous key rollover, wouldn't recommend for gaming.
  80.  
  81. Anne Pro 2 ($70-100):
  82. Eternal meme. Bluetooth, 60% size. Could you put some more info about it? Why is it an eternal meme? Lurk more. based.
  83.  
  84. "mechanical keyboard wired" sort by orders ($25):
  85. OEM design, comes with cherry (think) gatreonr//black clones, had one of these with the blue switches for over two years? Metal top (aluminum?) makes it sold as fuck, literally 0 flex, weight makes it incredibly stable. Got some lighting effects in it, don't care much about it, at least you can adjust the illumination in 3 steps.
  86.  
  87. Durgod taurus k320 ($80-$110):
  88. Cherry switches, TKL layout, nice case and stabilizers. Full size and backlit versions available also. //Added, need info on housing material and font (guessing terminal)
  89.  
  90. GK61 kit (€45):
  91. Cheapest hotswappable keyboard kit available, add your own switches and keycaps, doesn't support QMK. Only GK61X seems to exist now, is it good too? Yeah
  92.  
  93. Zuoya 20 ($45):
  94. Fake cherry switches real rice LED's.
  95.  
  96. 3 GK1 ($40):
  97. Solid build quality (almost feels premium), JX switches, fully backlit (with RGB if you're a loser)
  98.  
  99. ikbc keyboards ($40-100):
  100. Good entry mechkeys. Sane non-gaymer designs, basic choices for switch. Has LED and doubleshot PBT options.
  101.  
  102. Earphones, Earbuds, IEMs
  103.  
  104. Unless you're willing to swap the entire section out every month, only stuff that survived the 'FOTM test', that is, to remain relevant for many months or even years, should be included. The downside is there really isn't any way to tell if something is FOTM or not, it could be the hottest thing this month and completely forgotten the next. Which means it will be a while before a product should be added to the list. For an idea of how quickly some of them may be forgotten check https://crinacle.com/hype-monitor/. Over a hundred reviews can be found on https://www.scarbir.com/truewireless .
  105.  
  106. Note:
  107.  
  108. If you're looking for higher-end stuff, Moondrop is a recent name that has shown consistent quality. Most are tuned to the Harman IE target. Like many chifi companies they release products often so check reviews before buying. High end for sure, their cheapest IEM starts at 110, als got cables for 450.
  109. You can buy a bluetooth receiver that can turn your IEMs into basically wireless. I use it for work so I don't bump the jack and fuck it up as has happened many times. You can get them really cheap too and they have OK quality. KZ makes one for their IEMS but I guess it sucks. I bought the SZMDLX from amazon and it has lasted me over a year. Good accessory to have. They're all noisy as shit because Chineses can't into design, be careful if you have sensitive IEMs (which is like most of them).
  110.  
  111.  
  112. Tin HIFI T2 ($32 + cable):
  113. Classic of /hpg/ and /csg/ admired by all, recommended by many, will need a good cable to go with it. A 'Plus' version was recently released with upgraded ergonomics and treble response.
  114.  
  115. Blon BL-03 ($20):
  116. Good value IEMs much like the T2, also with mediocre ergonomics. Fun sound unlike the neutral T2.
  117.  
  118. Tin HIFI T4($90):
  119. "Upgraded" T2s, a bit brighter supposedly, often recommended in its price range.
  120.  
  121. Haylou GT1 Plus/Pro ($22):
  122. The new kid in the block, one of the best sounding TWSs for the price, updated version of the original GT1, now with QCC 3020 chipset and BT5.0
  123.  
  124. KZ ZSN ($15-18):
  125. Good sound for the price, removeable cable make them last longer. Almost all of KZ are tuned similar but these have great built quality. Get the PRO over the regular ZSN if you can.
  126.  
  127. KZ ZS10 Pro ($29-35):
  128. Really good sound with a treble that's a bit hot. Benefits from a better cable. Comes with "QDC" Connectors, which are the ones that stick out on the IEM. They break for some people.
  129.  
  130. Audiosense T800 ($300):
  131. Expensive AF, but good. Must pair with a good DAC that is suitable for it. Doesn't work well without a DAC.
  132. It's just sensitive to impedence changes, no external DAC is necessary, unless your source is shit by design.
  133.  
  134. TRN BT20S ($30):
  135. Add blutooth to any IEMs with .75 & .78 2pin and MMCX, supposedly needs 100dB/mW to avoid hissing
  136.  
  137. Moondrop Starfield ($110):
  138. New meme, some say it's the new T2 in its price bracket, .78 2pin; need a review on this if anyone has one of these. Rather midbassy.
  139.  
  140. Moondrop Blessing 2 ($300):
  141. Current midrange meme. Very good but highs can get a bit hot, may not be suitable for long sessions. Is large and may not fit some people well.
  142.  
  143. ER4 clones ($10 - $70):
  144. The really cheap ones use milled aluminum shells with clone drivers (clone 29869 are as good as real drivers). The fancier ones ($50 - 70) use real 29869 in an acrylic resin shell. They look nicer and usually offer the choice between ER4P, S, or B.
  145.  
  146. Promotional Comply foam tips ($2-5):
  147. Comply tips that are supposed to be bundled with earphones but are sold separately. Usually only available in T400. Unlike Chinese foams Comply tips take more than three seconds to fully expand and thus allows you time to actually put them in your ears. The downside is they alter the sound.
  148.  
  149. Headphones
  150.  
  151. x ($22~):
  152. Semi open, great sound for the price, although the plastic build ain't the best as y'all'd expect at this price point. Gotta be worn with swapped pads, preferably HM5s. SAME AS HD688b
  153.  
  154. Superlux HD660 ($30-40):
  155. Another old meme, inferor Beyerdinamic DT770 clone at quarter the price, you can buy replacement padding for both head and ears
  156.  
  157. Superlux HD668B ($35):
  158. Semi open, bit squeaky plastic, good sound and 2 point headrest, shite pads again // "shite pads" very true, i highly recommend the HM5 pads (extra ~$10 but 400% worth it)
  159.  
  160. SAME AS SR850 (similar as Superlux HD668B):
  161. only the design is the same, the 668b has removable cable and better 56Ω drivers while the sr850 has a fixed cable and 32Ω drivers
  162.  
  163. EVO versions of both Superlux headphones comes with more modern design and velour pads OOB at the cost of a higher price. 3.5mm jack on my headphones got rekd without heavy stress after 4 months though, had to resolder the thing again, so be aware.
  164.  
  165. Oneodio Studio Pro ($35~):
  166. Closed headphones, decent sound quality, pads are memory foam so they are very comfortable. Cheap, comfy, detachable cable, accepts 3.5mm on one side quarter inch on other side. Available with or without microphone. I also got one and one side broke (fixed it with glue) 2~ years in, no sound issues, pads worn out from daily long use and no cleaning care. I am now rocking the new brown/silver version, no issues so far.
  167.  
  168. Takstar pro 82 (€50):
  169. Excellent imaging, comfPhilips SHP9500 y as fuck, adjustable bass slider. Closed back. Apparently newer units (no idea how new, just not a year old?) have improved sound, not as sharp as it used to be (see youtube), anyone can comment on this?
  170.  
  171. Philips SHP9500 ($70):
  172. classic /csg/ meme, can only really be found on Ali nowadays, open back, detachable cable. There's an upgraded version out, SHP9600.
  173.  
  174. Freeboss HF2010 / Takstar HI2050? ($50~) / ISK HF2010 27-31quid ($34-40?):
  175. takstar once branded them, so did ISK (OEM design tho), Beyer DT880 clones in housing at least, semi open back, over at head fi people praise it for it's value, slightly warm, needs research <- are pretty good. Had a pair when they were new. Same shit as the HyperX ones without the gamer tax
  176.  
  177. ISK MHD 9000 ($55):
  178. MX40 look-a-like, good sound for the money, potential candidate, need research
  179.  
  180. ISK MHD 8500 ($40):
  181. comfy, good value, potential candidate, needs research, bright
  182.  
  183. Digital Audio Players and Amplifiers
  184.  
  185. Also check out /iem/ + /pmp/ gen.
  186. iem: wired: https://audiobudget.com/
  187. iem: bluetooth: https://www.scarbir.com/
  188.  
  189. lmao just use your phone
  190.  
  191. if you're spending more than $50 on a DAC just buy a used iPod and flashmod it, ezpz iPods are noisy as shit
  192.  
  193. Cheap AGPTek/Benjie players (<$30):
  194. All based off the same platform, comes in different shape and sizes, but all more or less the same in functionality. Some have bluetooth. Decent battery life despite size, characteristic of ATJ players.
  195.  
  196. Xduoo ii3 ($110~, $90~ banggood):
  197.  
  198. rockbox support
  199.  
  200. Microphones
  201.  
  202. Cheap microphone with good build and sound quality for the price, doesn't require phantom power or anything. I've been using it to call my dad a stupid n***** and he beats me violently™. K668 is the USB variant andK667 is the 3.5mm plug variant.
  203.  
  204. Pop
  205.  
  206. Generic lapel mic ($1-2):<--Its not label you stupid ESL its a lavalier mic aka lapel as in on shirt lapel
  207. The absolute basic cheapest mic you can get, got one of these and it's great, for its price.
  208. Fifine K668/K667 ($20):
  209. ^ Any more info on this? - yes, in the south they call all pop "coke". even if it's pepsi. southerners are r’arted.
  210.  
  211. BM-800 family meme. ($10 and up):
  212.  
  213. I only see them at around 15 dollars
  214.  
  215. ATR-2500 USB or Behringer C1U($):
  216. Both are good cardiod mics that I've owned for years. I've seen both go for 50-99 USD. Just about the best you can get without upgrading to XLR
  217.  
  218.  
  219.  
  220. SSD
  221.  
  222. Kingdian S280 2.5" SSD ($25/$40/$60 120GB/240GB/480GB):
  223. Cheapest SSD with DRAM on Ali, will do the job if your country doesn't have cheap SSDs with DRAM. Avoid the S400 as it's DRAMless.
  224.  
  225. Samsung PM981/PM981a M.2 NVMe SSD ($60/$95/$200 256GB/512GB/1TB):
  226. OEM version of Samsung's 970 EVO with identical performance, PM981a is a newer revision with slightly faster speeds and NVMe 1.3. Cheaper on taobao.
  227.  
  228. SM963($):
  229. Slower enterprise drive with power loss protection (PLP). M.2 22110, longer than the usual drive.
  230.  
  231. Intel S3600/3610/3700/3710($):
  232. Used Intel enterprise drives, HET-MLC with huge endurance. Found in a few different places, common on taobao
  233.  
  234. Old PCI-E SAS RAID controller ($10,-):
  235. +8 old same size SATA disks in RAID 10 configuration.
  236.  
  237. Electronics
  238.  
  239. Miao Miao thermometer MHO-C201 ($8):
  240. Digital thermometer with a nice, high readability e-ink display. <$10. There's also a larger model that doubles as a clock for about twice as much. There's also a new, very small model that uses a LCD display and has bluetooth for $5~, The new model is actually Xiaomi's.
  241.  
  242. LED Digital USB Voltage Charging Test Detector (blue, 3-in-one, $2-4):
  243. Still works well after several uses, with a bright display and accurate readings for amps and volts.
  244.  
  245. There are fancier devices that detects supported PD and proprietary charger modes, but they cost more. Example: Charger-Z testers.
  246.  
  247.  
  248. Custom braided PSU extension cables by shenzen yision electronics (€20):
  249. Comes with cable combs on all cables, seller was happy to help me choose colors. Cheaper than the kits on amazon where you can only choose from their selection
  250.  
  251. ESP32-CAM ($4):
  252.  
  253.  
  254. Flashlights
  255.  
  256. What "specs" are important in a flashlight? Got about 10 lines worth of space, added so far:Body material, lumens, LED type, temp, driver current, battery needed for it, weight) Interface, basically means how you operate it (switch/twist, mode memory, ...), flashlights with "throw" vs normal. What about UV flashlights?
  257.  
  258. Generic 3 LED dynamo Hand Pressing flashlight ($1-3):
  259. Passably bright flashlight powered by squeezing down on it. For how cheap it is it does the job if you don't want to bother with batteries or you're the outdoorsy type. Internal battery holds power surprisingly well after weeks of not using it. Passable build quality, very noisy while generating power.
  260.  
  261. Convoy S2+($):
  262. the only flashlight you'll ever need. Don't buy the batteries off Ali unless you want your house to burn down. Does not have adjustable beam width. Get the SST40 version if you want more oomph. <- will look into it.
  263. I Have bought Panasonic NCR18650B with protection from Ali before. From Global Power Co. LT. Batteries seem Legit (3200mAh). House hasn't burned down since 2016. Try to avoid buying cheap flashlights with included batteries and chargers (they are crap most of the time).
  264.  
  265. My Tiny Dick ($20~):
  266. Same as Convoy S2+ but bigger, so it can be used with 21700 cells. Also it's more powerful. Less accessories and options available than S2+.
  267.  
  268. Convoy S3 ($20~):
  269. Forgot what the differences are with the S2/S2+ since I bought this some time ago, dropped it a couple of times and no damage. Using this frequently. Has different led options (white to yerrow).
  270.  
  271. Tank007 E09($20):
  272. I bought this back in 2017 per the /csg/ infographic. It still works great, with no cosmetic wear even. It apparently uses an old and inefficient LED, mine lasts about 30 mins on highest brightness off a AAA NiMh.
  273.  
  274. Alonefire e17(?) ($5-8):
  275. Bought one a few years back and definitely one of the brightest lights I've ever seen. It has an adjustable lens to focus light. Runs off of 3 AAA or a 18650 battery. Some listings have different options, which i assume is different leds. <- Which ones are the best?
  276.  
  277. Sofirn sp33 ($):
  278. much light, good quality.
  279.  
  280. Nitecore USB ($):
  281. rechargeable keychain flashlights.
  282.  
  283. Archon and Brinyte ($):
  284. Now split into Brinyte and Nitesun. both make quality diving flash lights. Also useful as general purpose lights. Models. I've used for 30+ dives are Archon V10S and Brinyte DIV11. Both are great little lights.
  285.  
  286.  
  287. Watches
  288.  
  289. Can someone add something about the various clones and homages on aliexpress? Questions about those best is looking at what movement they are using, if its Sea-Gull they tend to be of decent quality.
  290. For replica watches recommendations, reviews and links you can go back to reddit /r/ChineseTime/
  291.  
  292. CASIO F91W ($€10/15):
  293. No need to Chinese out on this one, you'll get it for a dollar/euro more locally and not have to worry about if it gets delivered after a month~. This watch is the AKM of watches: cheap, effective, and ugly. To go cheaper is to fail.
  294.  
  295. "French" Watch Strap ($15):
  296. Chinese knock off of Erika's Original Watch straps based on french paratroopers ones. Completely adjustable and more comfy than NATO. They are kind of tricky to find for so reason, but any combination of "Watch Strap" "Nylon" and "French" will probably show them.
  297.  
  298.  
  299. Knives
  300.  
  301. Small Keychain Knives ($1-$2):
  302. Smol mini knives to open your /csg/ packages and tiny enough so you won't be able to kill yourself with them. Useful when you have one of those $1 off $1.01 coupons.
  303.  
  304. Credit card foldable knife ($1-$2):
  305. They are pretty useful at times, but consider them disposable because the thin plastic hinge will eventually break from force. Still, each lasted half a year for me so far. There are ones made with "stainless steel body" which is actually just steel parts strapped onto the same plastic. Also, the hinge is still made from plastic and will break the same way, not really worth the +1$ for it.
  306.  
  307. $15):
  308. Single blade, medium sized knife. Stainless steel. Flips open easily with one hand and came sharp out of the box. The Sanrenmu 7010 is a nice knife. Also check out the Sanrenmu 1555Ti which is identical to the Kershaw Cryo 2 (manufactured by Sanrenmu). Great knives for 10/20$. Can be found on Gearbest i.e.
  309.  
  310.  
  311. Tools
  312.  
  313. Wowstick($30):
  314. Powered screwdriver, is neat little tool, lots of bits and comfortable in the hand //Anon: It's kinda shit because the whole thing is packaged in these weird tubes that take forever to open and close.
  315.  
  316. Xiaomi | wiha screwdriver set($20):
  317. Good quality, sufficient selection of bits. <- I got these when they were a fresh csg meme and it's indestructible, all bits are rusted to shit but the magnets still work like new <- I managed to crack my magnet. A drop of hot glue fixed it tho <- Best /csg/ purchase. The case has made these outlast any shitty hardware store screwdriver set.
  318. This thing has tons of fakes so be wary.
  319.  
  320. Generic S2 steel screwdriver set($10):
  321. Cheaper and often has more bits than the above. Durable enough, had mine since 2017 and nothing broke yet. The bits may be slightly imprecise.
  322.  
  323. BAKON 950D Portable Soldering station: (€25~/$30):
  324. It has temperature control and takes T13 tips which are more expensive than T12 tips. There might be a better iron out there, this one has served me better than the single temperature Irons that are rated in Watts. The temperature control is the main selling point, use it for console mods and prototyping.
  325.  
  326. T12 soldering stations($30):
  327. Specifically the microcontroller-driven version. There are many types out there, the KSGER one is often recommended. You can get one as a kit or assembled, with or without an integrated power supply. T12s come in various types: there are STM32 based stations with OLED displays, simpler LED seven-segment displays, ones with internal power supplies that are potentially lethal due to bad grounding, ones with no internal power supply,ones with plastic cases instead of metal, several different wands+tips... need to settle on a specific model <-In this case provide a link to a good one, too many are lacking in specifics // Aright, think I found one without a PSU in it, will put in quite the explanatory text next to to it
  328. Be careful, many are not grounded. If you don't want to mod it yourself, better buy a grounded one.
  329. POST IT REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
  330. The Quicko is good too.
  331.  
  332. UNI-T UT136B Multimeter: (€20/25):
  333. A good autoranging multimeter for real low cheap! It does Hertz and capacitance as well as all the usual functions (volts, resistance, amps, diodes and continuity)
  334.  
  335. ANENG AN8008/8009 ($20):
  336. Popular among chinese meters, great performance and features for ~$20. The 8009 adds temperature measurement. <-Think I have one of these or a very similar one, a bit difficult to find on Ali due to OEM design, checking on it soon
  337. The DMM chip these things run on are somewhat hackable, with some work you can enable serial output for example.
  338. Anengs are actually Zotek rebrands.
  339. Cheaper but not quite as good: AN8002/Zotek ZT102
  340.  
  341. Miniware TS100 soldering iron($):
  342. This one has been a huge meme in the FPV drone community for years and is still easily as good as a $150 hakko microsoldering statifron. Needs an external 12-to-24v power supply from a laptop or similar. Firmware can be fucked with. Can be adapted to use real Hakko T12 tips and the 'antibacterial sleeve' grip. Can increase ergonomics with 3D printed grips and a silicone cable (made from a tattoo machine's power cable, $8 on ebay) <- You can buy a USB-C 65W GAN charger and an adapter for this.
  343. https://github.com/Ralim/ts100 <- Non-Chinese firmware for the TS100 and TS80. Installation only needs an USB Cable, no programming probe required.
  344.  
  345. Clothing
  346.  
  347. go to r/fashionreps on reddit for advice on how to purchase clothes from china. always involves purchasing from taobao so definitely more involved than aliexpress. on the surface it looks like it's filled with just hypebeast clothes but you can find some good non branded stuff as well...... also probably never buy pants from taobao / Chinese sites as well because sizing tends to be shitty amp, which is common advice in r/fashionreps
  348. ^I've been involved in /r/fashionreps for years and I would recommend only buying branded clothes on Taobao that would be too expensive otherwise. The cheaper prices of non-branded/basic clothes is negated by the high shipping costs; especially during the pandemic. If you need basics just grab them at Target/Walmart/Costco etc, the quality is better than most of the stuff you will find on Taobao.
  349.  
  350. General wisdom is to keep Chinese shit away from the body since there's a high chance that stuff produced for the domestic market has zero regulations that make sure that there's no allergenic or heavy metal containing dies on stuff
  351. ^This is stupid, most of your clothes are made in China anyway, plus you probably have Chinese electronics in contact with your body constantly anyway. Also you can wash things out of clothes... I bet you don't put your keyboard or phone in the washing machine when you buy it, clothes dont have heavy metal in them idiot <- they do if its a dragonforce shirt
  352. ^ trust this negro.
  353.  
  354. If you wanna go for it anyways, swimwear seems like a safe bet since you only wear that for short times and in diluting water anyways
  355. always wash your stuff multiple times before wearing it and at first without other, good stuff, shit will leak dye like a motherfucker
  356. There's shitloads of skimpy swimwear available that will cost a lot of money from "good" manufacturer. On aliexpress you can get OK quality starting at $3, but that low is quite the gamble. $5-10 seems like the sweet spot
  357. careful with the sizing. Mostly, you gotta size up, but sometimes it fits as it should, sometimes you even have to size down. Look at the reviews!
  358. If it's a totally weird cut, that looks like it's really hard to properly fit on the body, it likely won't fit as intendedGeneric "original cashmere" socks (1.5$/pair):
  359.  
  360. Are absolutely not original cashmere, they are 100% some form of cotton, but are really comfy, cheap and perfect for sitting on the pc in the winter. Not made for wearing in shoes though. They have a slightly annoying seam at the toes, but make up for it for being so warm.
  361.  
  362. bought a non non biyori shirt and it's comfy
  363.  
  364.  
  365. Cases
  366.  
  367. SGPC and Jonsbo ($):
  368. SGPC and Jonsbo cases are available easily on AliExpress, along with ADT-link risers and the occasional Thermalright coolers like the popular AXP90. Far wider varieties exist on taobao, with purchases going through an agent. Examples being Warhead Design, Sunmilo, Mechnical Master. Taobao cases have a large range o9utf price and quality. From bent aluminum sheets and acrylic seen on SGPC's cases, to cases made almost entirely through CNC and tempered glass side panels from Deng. Enhance's Flex PSUs, especially 7660B, are practically mandatory for cases that use the form factor. Case specific cables are also available from a variety of vendors. For maximum cable availablity, Corsair SF series should be chosen for SFX PSU
  369.  
  370. K39 Case ($60):
  371. If you want to go for the smol build but don't want to pay the SFF case tax.
  372.  
  373.  
  374. Computer Components
  375.  
  376. Xeon E5-1650V2 ($80):
  377. has 6 cores, 12 threads. Can be overclocked pretty well. You can use really cheap server ecc memory. Get a quad channel 32gb 1866mhz kit for $40. I recommend getting the HUANANZHI X79 board off Ali too unless you can find one locally for cheap. Video covering whole thing: https://youtu.be/PIR0jIS1kzE
  378.  
  379. x99 ($):
  380. X79 is a long dead meme, x99 is the meme now grandpa. https://xeon-e5450.ru/ is the best resource for all things aliexpress xeons (If you can read russian lol). The only xeon I would actually consider buying is the e5 2678v3, haswell 12c/18t (12c/18t are you high?) [18t lmao] for 80 euro, compatible with cheap me ecc ddr3 ram with certain mother
  381.  
  382. Adapted Intel coffelake laptop CPU ($70-300):
  383. Laptop CPUs adapted to socket 1151. Many have high boost clocks, available in 4/6/8 cores. Some are ES CPUs which can be overclocked with certain boards (5GHz is apparently possible). Needs more research.
  384.  
  385. Thermalright FS140 ($50):
  386. Twin tower cooler, performance in some tests came close to a D15. Apparently China exclusive however.
  387.  
  388. Snowman 120mm PWM Fans ($7):
  389. A decent and cheap case fan with a 4pin PWM connector, you can buy the 3-pack for $15. It can go down to ~650RPM so it's fairly quiet as well.(How does this stack up to arctic fans which are also dirt cheap and works really well?)Dunno i don't have Arctic fans and the ones on Ali are like $3 more
  390.  
  391. Snowman CPU Coolers ($12-$25):
  392. Good cooler on a budget if you want something better than stock, price depends of the fan(s) size (120mm/90mm), amount of heatpipes (2/4/6) and number of fans (1/2/3). The 120mm versions use the fan mentioned above. These cheap coolers are apparently all AVC rebrands.
  393.  
  394. For those looking for Nidec's Gentle Typhoon and (((Noiseblocker)))'s eLoops fans, Scythe sell rebrands of the fans on their official tmall store.
  395.  
  396. Wifi
  397.  
  398. AC1200 USB sticks($):
  399. on Ebay work just fine. ??
  400. For internal upgrades, check whether you need mPCIE or m.2 (there are different keys for m.2). For m.2 Intel's AX200 is cheap, Wifi 6 and BT5.0. There exist converters and unofficial mPCIE AX200 cards, some are of questionable quality. For Hackintosh specific wifi cards check relevant guides.
  401.  
  402. Popular MT76 routers like newifi or xiaomi ($10-40):
  403. Has openwrt ports and HW NAT acceleration. I remember the MT7621A being meme for a while, some anon reviewed it as well and said it's great for the price, like $35 or so. It's still meme now, best option for cheap routers outside of china. (Warning! Some come with locked bootloaders these days!)
  404.  
  405. Xiaomi AX3600 ($85~):
  406. Probably the most affordable high-end AX router. Runs on a IPQ8071. There's a Redmi version of this for $60, but it has some downgrades (no 3rd radio, weaker FEMs).
  407.  
  408. Redmi AX5 ($40):
  409. Wifi6 for $40. An update will allow you to mesh these units.
  410.  
  411.  
  412. Fountain Pens
  413.  
  414. For non-hobbyists: Muji pens are also often mentioned in /csg/. Muji pens are inexpensive but not Chinese, still /csg/ in spirit imo.
  415.  
  416. Wing Sung 698($):
  417. Piston fill pen that looks like a TWSBI diamond 580. Comes with either EF, F, or M nib with solid or transparent colors. Some say it is higher quality than the TWSBI it is copying.
  418.  
  419. ($):
  420. vacumatic fill, comes with EF or F nib in brown with solid/transparent section, black with solid/transparent section, or blue which seems to be a new color choice that has a piston fill instead of vacumatic.
  421.  
  422. Wing Sung 601-Parker 51 clone($):
  423. older versions (2018) have bladders like the original Parker pen, but new ones have a push button piston fill. Comes in many colors, including transparent, military green, wine red, dove grey, lake blue, black. EF or F nib choice zu
  424.  
  425. Moonman M600S-Parker Duofold clone($):
  426. comes in a few colors like Teal, Starry Blue, Checkerboard, Brown, Camo, Some purplish color. Uses a converter and is not eyedropperable. EF or F nib choices, but the F nib is on the broad side of fine, almost a medium.
  427.  
  428. Moonman Wancai Mini-Pocket Eyedropper($):
  429. Pen in a couple different colors, foggy smog color or clear. Great pocket pen because it is really small and when the cap is screwed onto the back it is a good size pen.
  430.  
  431. Brass Iraurita Kaweco Sport clone- Generic no name pen($):
  432. Pen with a pretty broad medium "genius point nib." The converter that comes with it sucks but it works with any Jinhao/Hero/Baoer converter.
  433.  
  434.  
  435. Misc
  436.  
  437. JDRead:
  438. The question eternal of the Chinese e-reader (at least until Xiaomi launches one) Maybe a little expensive BUT this one runs android 4.4 and has a 300pp screen, so you can install whatever the hell you want to read your shit and other useful things, plus I suck Bezo's cock. Handles Epub, Mobi and AZW just fine. Same with PDF but if you are reading some technical books you probably need a n***** screen. Apparently this is JD's ereader, maybe check if it can be bought from JD directly. I wonder if they realized they put Dread in their product name.
  439.  
  440. Xiaomi had one out for months already. 6" 212ppi display, 16GB. $85 in china.
  441.  
  442. Gamesir G3w ($15-$20):
  443. Controller for your video gaymes, works on PC, Android devices AND the PS3! (Don't have a PS4 to test it sorry) good build quality, gay leds and auto shoot settings. What else do you need?
  444. Do the needful sir.
  445.  
  446. 8bitdo SN30 Pro($35-45):
  447. Modernized snes gamepad with analog sticks and triggers, will also work on switch. Has issues with design, most notably the dpad may scrape the casing.
  448.  
  449. USB cables by UGREEN or Baseus, top tier meme brands that are durable and will work. Some other brands: Choetech
  450.  
  451. NB F80 Monitor Arm ($30-35): (What about the F100A, its supposed to have better weight support and similar price (It's just bigger I think))+
  452. Pretty good monitor arm. Listing says that it supports 17-27" monitors up to 9kg, holds fine on my Samsung 32" JG50 (C32JG50QQI), no issues after a year of usage.
  453.  
  454. 6F22 Battery($6-8, typical Crone):
  455. Using it with my Noyafa NF-300 cable tester. Holds up to 2-3 weeks of usage.
  456. https://pad.disroot.org/p/Gfkz-WqB1MGKzN2Vt4OU
  457.  
  458. Noyafa NF300 ($60-70, may be redundant, since I can't find many listings on Ali):
  459. The BEST Chinese cable tester. Requires some setup at first, but this thing helped me A LOT of times. Maybe not as good as some stuff from Fluke, but wire tracer alone is better than most of the stuff at the same price category. NF308 IS SHIT, DO NOT BUY!
  460.  
  461.  
  462. Some non-/g/ related stuff
  463.  
  464. 1/2 Inch Brass Rocker Sprinkler ($4):
  465. BTFOs every other sprinkler I've had in terms of distance and coverage. Needs a spike base from local hardware store.
  466.  
  467. 1/2 Inch butterfly sprayers ($1):
  468. Great for smaller lawns and gardens. Blc64ue plastic ones($3):
  469. Watertight pill bottle that's shaped like a bowling pin.
  470.  
  471. EDC Capsule Knife ($2):
  472. Open packages, cut pills, key cars with the added benefit of not getting arrested by pulling out a knife without a license.
  473.  
  474. EDC Toothpick ($2):
  475. Extremely sharp, wouldn't recommend for use on teeth. Great for self-defense if you're a nogunz cuck.
  476.  
  477. Melamine Sponges ($5/100):
  478. Get stains out of pretty much anything. Don't use on an acrylic bath.
  479.  
  480. Handheld Egg Cutter ($3):
  481. Egg/mushroom/etc cutter with actual blades instead of the shitty wire that bends or breaks after a few uses. Probably won't cause cancer.
  482.  
  483. Stainless steel bench scraper ($3):
  484. Extremely versatile tool in the kitchen. Much thinner than namebrand ones.
  485.  
  486. Manicure block ($1.50/5):
  487. Get
  488. XYj Kitchen knife set (~25$/set of 3):
  489. Decent quality, often cheaper around 11.11. Great kitchen knives for the price.
  490.  
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