Literally at work team lead said "We need to connect these two HDMI cables together". Me: My team was amazed.

One of my favorites is a microSD card... card. It's a plastic case with 10 slots for microSD cards, about the thickness of a credit card. A brilliant little bit of lo-tech hi-tech.

Another thing I would add to this list is a magnetic screw bowl. It's not really specifically for computers, but when you're taking apart or building computers or SBCs, having a place where you can't lose a screw is really great. I keep mine on the fridge when I'm not using it.

One of my favourites is a 4 way USB hub with on/off buttons. So that they can be populated and whatever is connected can be switched on or off as desired.

Could have titled this video “Things you didn’t know you needed until now “ I’m getting some of those USBC bungs, brilliant video

We pay so little attention to these type of devices, but when we can't find them.... oh boy 🙂 We need a special mention to Mr Scissors and Stanley, whom we owe a major thanks....

I can hear how proud you are of that encrypted USB Stick it's really wholesome and respectable

As a Helpdesk Tech, a lot of these things are a MUST for anyone doing IT work

My house is FULL of almost 50 years worth of an endless collection of adapters, kludges,, interfaces, obsolete cables, boards, old drives and media, widgets, doohickeys, gizmos, thingies, gimmicks, doodads, whatchamacallits, MacGuffins, thingamabobs, and thingamajiggers. It always at least a full day's journey to find the right ones that still work, matching them to their technology mates, finding their software drivers, and then identifying what they actually still do. The labels are almost always missing or inadequate. The mystery is how you got it down to just so few. It proves though how ubiquitous the many USB devices have become, and how necessary passwords and encryption still are to us and our safety. Before USB came along, I think I spent almost half my life trying to configure serial ports. Once I have finally shuffled off this mortal coil, there will probably be a small fortune to be recovered in precious and valuable metals in all that stuff, not even to mention an archeological trove of ancient data to be translated and parsed for the historical record. Or perhaps just a trip to the landfill dump.

It's not a computing device, but it is an essential part of my computing activities....a cup of tea. Helps me solve so many problems, I can't function without it.☕

Ethernet dongles and portal protectors, SD adapters and GPIO testers, Cable extenders all tied up with strings, These are a few of my favo(u)rite things!

Another useful item is a small box of various computer screw types. You can accidentally lose a screw when working on upgrading or just opening up a laptop or something else ect. So having replacements is handy. And often there are screws already missing from previous work. A mini screwdriver kit is also a requirement, some come with tools to pry apart a laptop. A couple of spare blank USB drives in various sizes are also useful, there are types that have a USB type A port at one end and a USB type C port at the other. There are times when you just need to physically transport files, especially to use retail commercial services easily or to give someone a big file and you can't be bothered mucking around with dropbox - or explaining to someone else how to use it. That's why at least one should be a cheap basic USB that you don't mind giving away. A good (labelled) drive can have a bunch of useful software repair tools on it, including a basic operating system, in order to help with computer issues. A variety of various commonish USB cable types (micro USB, lightning, ect) and a good charger can also come in handy sometimes .... you'll regret it when you need one and you don't have them. "Where's the charger for your external drive? Does it use USB power?" And just to keep your phone (and anyone else's) running, you may be doing a lot of screen time looking up solutions. If you have the space (say in a laptop bag), a _long_ ethernet cable can be a lifesaver so you don't have to sit right next to the modem when the WiFi is playing up. And a surprisingly overlooked item - a good lens cleaner spray and cloth. If you wear glasses it can do double duty and you probably already carry one. And if you are going to be working on fiddly things, a pair of magnifying eyeglasses can save a lot of frustration - unless you're young and short-sighted you may need them, depending on your minimum focal distance. I've had to have a friend hold my mobile phone in front of me with the magnifying app on, to make sure a connector was connected properly. And to find the missing screw that had rolled onto the motherboard. I've since gotten a pair of chemist bought magnifying specs to use for looking closely. And a proper prescription pair of glasses solely for sitting at a screen, with the ideal focus distance set for that. Make sure the frames look completely different, I once tried to go driving with my computer glasses on and was barely out of the driveway when I realised what was wrong. A small plastic case to hold fiddly bits while you're working on something. A small magnet plate is useful for holding screws. A roll of masking tape and a pen can be useful. You can bundle and label cables and use it for holding small items in place. Trying to deal with a tangled mess of cables, you can as a temporary fix label a cable at both ends with the same number and then what its for. You can even find legacy/orphan cables taking up power points that are otherwise needed, which is nice when that happens as you get freed up power points. Remember every time you need a item and don't have it, and then add it to your personal list. All of these are items that at one point I needed and didn't have on me.

One thing I find useful with phones, tablets, smaller laptops, etc, is a small USB 3 hub with a built in Ethernet port. As you pointed out, a lot of small devices don't have an ethernet port, and adding one, along with extra USB ports (which they often don't have either) is sooooo useful.

After hearing you say “get it in Chris” I’m never going to be able to watch another of your videos in the same way again lol

I also recommend a USB audio device of some kind. I'm totally blind, and these are extremely useful for getting audio out of systems that don't support it, such as servers or when installing operating systems in cases where the screen reader can't be heard on the default sound device because it lacks drivers. Thank you for this wonderful channel! I look forward to every episode!

I can't express how much I love this sort of technology. Adapters and little cool and convenient pieces of tech.

My group in college called me Marry Poppins because I somehow always would have the cable or adapter you need, I absolutely love to see what others carry around! I would add a compact portable wireless USB keyboard to the list. For testing SBCs, troubleshooting servers, or even media control, having a wireless keyboard you can connect to anything gives you so much freedom.

Things I keep myself strapped with in my tech life: 1. 128gb USB key with Easy2Boot and all my portable OSes and PortableApps/AppImages on it 2. Multitool with screwdrivers 3. Small phillips screwdriver

using those couplers to reduce wear and tear on the main component is a really smart idea

One device I have is a usb power monitor. You can see exactly how much current is being drawn by a device. Seldom used, but very illuminating. When combined with a mains socket power monitor, it goes to illustrate how efficient (or otherwise) your 5v power supplies really are.

Of umpteen USB sticks I have but one with a blinking activity LED which can actually be surprisingly reassuring. "May It be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out."

Really love the USB to SATA cable. Worth mentioning that these don't work with 3.5 inch drives unless they've got an additional power source though.

I'm highly impressed you got the HDMI leads into the coupler without having to turn at least one of them the other way around. I know you can set it up before recording, but i know how sneaky those cables can be if you look away for even a split second

Micro SD to SD adapters. If you have a laptop with one of the nicer SD card slots where you can fully click an SD card into the slot, I personally like leaving an empty adapter in the slot. A flash drive with linux installed on it. Useful for having a portable computing environment with your software and files you can run on any computer. Or for emergency situations. For example, if you only have one computer and the OS drive gets corrupted, you still have an OS you can boot up to fix things. You can make these by launching a linux installer iso in a virtual machine and usb redirecting your flash drive into the vm. You can also format it so that it has a separate data partition that still shows up when you use it like a normal flash drive. You still have to do things such as using disk encryption (flash drives are easy to lose and had to sanitize) disabling time synchronization, disabling os prober, changing the linux partition types to microsoft basic data and enabling the hidden attribute so windows doesn't ask to format them, making sure a copy of the bootloader is saved to the efi removable path, making sure the bootlader plays nice with secure boot, and disable nvram updating for the bootloader. It's a little too much to explain for a quick youtube comment.

NVME to USB A to clone hard drives is my latest favourite. Thanks Chris for your top shelf videos👍

for older equipment: USB to IDE adaptor that usually comes with a universal brick powersupply. There's a SATA version. I would mention my handy dandy side cutters.

Another excellent video. However, given their contributions I’m surprised Mr. Scissors or Stanley the Knife did not make an appearance :-)

you are one of a kind. many talk about software and hardware but no one for these ''humble'', little practical computing ''gadgets''. i didn't even know what a usb ethernet adapter was, until my pc tower's usb main ethernet slot failed and i desperately needed a stable connection for some online academic courses during the pandemic... . most useful upload. thank you!

We have fitted all of our stuff that has USB-C or micro USB charging/data ports with magnetic couplers. Like those rubber caps (and just as large), but with electrical contacts on them. All our chargers have cables with matching magnetic couplers at the end. All sockets on the devices are now protected from dirt by the couplers and do not wear out from plugging and unplugging. And all chargers can now be used with all devices without hunting for the 'right' cable. The couplers also provide data connections, so I keep one such cable plugged into my laptop. It might not be the best invention since sliced bread, but for me it comes close 😊. And yes, I do have several of the 'handy little things' shown in the video - nice collection, Chris!

Anyone who has built a few computers ends up with most of these items. Cables that change connector types or extend cables are really common IT grab bag items. I still use DVI and even occasionally VGA, so I've got the full menagerie of display conversion cables and dongles. And most of the items in this video are very affordable. I'd love to see a video on your ideal IT crash cart (if you have one). Mine is "lug heavy monitor and full keyboard/mouse around," which isn't ideal, but I don't really have to use it very often.

When the dog bites, When the bee stings, When I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, And then I don't feel so bad. 😁😆

I love these little things that don’t get the press but make things better. The finishing touches for a computing setup. Two places in my area of the USA that have well populated sections with these treasures are Daiso (a Japanese company) and Five Below (a discount store aimed at younger shoppers). Back in the day this would have been the type of thing keeping Radio Shack going.

The fact that I've bought some of these thing before, because i needed them. Is proof they are SUPER useful. I recommend a ventoy USB drive (at least 16GB) ventoy is a software that lets you copy the ISO file directly onto the USB, and then you can boot into the ventoy manager on any PC, and run those ISO's. Very helpful for installing operating systems. Especially many different types

This is some of the best dongle content I've seen in some time.

My favorite is something that combines two of the devices Chris showed off here. It's a USB-C Ethernet adapter with a built-in 3-port USB-A hub. Add in a USB-A to C adapter like the one Chris had attached to his Yubikey and you can use it to gain Ethernet and/or a few extra USB ports on just about any laptop or mobile device.

The usb C caps are brilliant. Just purchased some for my various phones and tablets. Thanks Christopher and hello.

Saw the notification, and went from watching EVS to see this immediately. I know my priorities.

Great episode - you've got me interested in the Yubico security key. A really useful gadget for me is a right angled USB-A adaptor. In my case, I use it on my 3D printer so that the USB drive doesn't stick out, but rather lays flush against the front panel of the printer. This way, the USB stick doesn't get snapped off mid-print when somebody walks past (that happened to me once).

Really practical video Chris! I don't think I have ever seen anyone on UKposts discuss so elegantly these very important things that make computing in any form, easier. I actually have most of the items you mentioned, but I am going to purchase a couple of the encrypted USB drives for password storage, and look into the two-factor security USB device. One of my other go-to pieces of hardware is a Logitech Wireless keyboard and mouse. They both connect using a single USB port. So far, I have found them to work seamlessly on all the computers and single board computers I have tested, no matter what the operating system is. Thanks for all your hard Work Chris! Take Good Care.

Some of my favorites are a 3 port HDMI switch. Cable ties, and several little pouches to keep things organized in.

A useful small computing thing I like is a USB switch. This lets me plug my usb keyboard and mouse and camera and other devices into a hub, and then use the same set of devices for both my laptop and my tower pc and switch the devices between the two computers as needed.

One of my favourite pieces of tech is a 4-port, 2-way USB switch. I connect my keyboard, mouse, webcam and headset, and the switch is connected to my laptop and my desktop. I can swap everything between the two computers by pressing a button. Very handy, since I use my laptop for work stuff (and my desktop for my leisure time).

love to see that you are sooo close to 1 million subscribers. i love the videos and the format that gives me so many old memories. Congregations in advance for being so close to 1 milion subscribers. keep up the good work and keep teaching people about useful computer things.

For me, i use an Orico NVME usb adapter. Had a couple of NVME drives lying around and i've found this useful.

I would be surprised, and disappointed, if no-one mentions Explaining Computers as one of their favourite useful computing things.

I have a fishing tackle box full of "very useful small computing things." I have a lot of other stuff in there as well such as spare SSDs, notebook wifi cards, spare PCI slot covers, a few small screwdrivers, legacy cables and port adapters and so on. You never know what you're going to need when working on computers!

Keychain USB adapters have have saved me and people around me very often. USBC-lightning, USBC-Micro, USBC-miniB are the 3 big ones. I've used the lightning adapter a LOT. Also USB C headphone adapters.... surprisingly usefull.

Saw this alert for EC so it means my wife and kids can jog on for a while…. Mr Christopher is the best thing about a Sunday!!! 🎉

On the first point of protecting USB ports from dust, I have found that older computers over time require some muscle to get the USB stick to insert and show. That could well be from dust getting in. I had never thought of covering them. Good show!

Part 2 of this one, please! Very interesting suggestions in the comments! And very useful episode and idea!

The one thing I have yet to see is something a friend proposed about 20 years ago. He thought it would be a great idea to have a raid usb drive comprised of multiple SD cards in a small box with a raid controller and usb interface. This provides high availability and performance in a small package. Today you could probably make one from a PI or smaller computer.

I always like to keep those Micro SD card SD adapters around, They are so useful to have.

Today I learned about the Datashur encrypted drives. Definitely going to check them out; there's a model that takes a Micro-SD card for the storage medium and that looks very interesting.

I think I have most of those things laying around. Thanks Chris. I did see a couple of things that I didn't know I needed!

I didn't think I would get much out of a video like this. I just find that each person I talk to has their own likes and dislikes, some go extreme and buy a version that cost $100 while I being more frugal seem to aim at the $10 option in every case. But after watching it you always do incredible and so this was a very fun video to watch. Thank you for doing what you do!

My favorite computing thing is my pair of digital calipers! Being able to measure small things in metric and imperial is so satisfying! I use it in product reviews all the time!

As a side note, it would be a good idea to regularly clean the keys of anything you use to enter a password or code. Dirty keys are the ones not used for the code, and don't have faded print. Ones used for the code don't get as dirty and sometimes the lettering wears off, narrowing the possible guesses down considerably.

I use a splitter for the microphone/audio jack on my laptop because they are combined and I wanted to use separate speakers and mike. Also I have a usb to sound interface - only a couple bucks but I needed another sound card to use for ham radio stuff. The other things I use are usb to serial port adapters, and a usb to bluetooth transmitter receiver with audio jack, and of course usb hubs.

I never thought about dust covers for USB-C ports. Thanks for bringing those up!

A very useful item to buy in bulk are UTP caps. You can put them on the end of any network cables that aren't in use and they'll protect the plastic latches from getting snapped off.

I simply like the channel. Every time I come to visit the channel, I find something new.

Re Sata-USB adapters: Missing from your presentation are the adapters for running mechanical drives from a USB port. They provide the higher voltages needed by a mechanical drive. Not everyone wants everything to be SSD when there's so many mechanical drives wanting new homes. Thanks!

The rubber plugs for USB c ports have recently become essential for me since my son's iPad's USB c port started getting bunged up with crud from his school bag - essential to keep the port from becoming useless!

I'm getting one of the Yubikey devices based on this video. Thanks for covering this in a video!!!

Battery jumpers for cars are nice, I know it's not a "power bank" but the ability to jump your car and charge your USB in one! Shawanda is a good brand used in automotive.

1) A small motherboard speaker to go beep when a computer POSTs - I bought a pack of 5 many years ago. 2) a power on/off switch for the motherboard header to avoid the fiddly shorting of the pins with a screwdriver 3) An ethernet cable continuity tester 4) A switchable multi port USB hub so you can turn individual USB ports on and off 5) Various cases with compartments for organising various types of "very useful small computing things' - it's not useful if you can't find it !!!

My favorite cable is *Ugreen Type-C to 3.5mm audio jack.* And this cable *has my favorite tip,* to convert information from Type-C to audio for the audio jack this cable has an integrated audio interface in it, you can also see this cable's audio interface every time you connect it to a computer as separate from the other audio interfaces you have. And this tip with this cable saved me, one time that i was helping on a presentation and for some reason the presentation's laptop integrated audio interface (Realtek) wasn't working, so i used this cable's 3.5mm audio jack output and this cable's integrated audio interface and presentation was saved. 😊

Thanks much. This is the most useful tech related video of 2024 so far.

A very nifty collection of small computing things. Many thanks.

Love your videos. Been watching for years at this point and always look forward to Sunday for the next upload!

This was a very useful and insightful video. Thank you for that. What I find indispensable is a combination of three small-ish devices: a KVM switch with USB and DisplayPort, a USB hub, and a 'docking station'. The KVM switch has connectors for USB-A keyboard, USB-A mouse, a USB-A hub, and DisplayPort. These connect to your peripherals. On the other side, a single USB cable goes to your computing device. One of those is my main PC, and the other one is the docking station. This docking station can connect a bunch of devices (USB-A, USB-C, Ethernet, DisplayPort, etc), plus a USB-C power supply. Then, a single cable goes to the USB-C/ThunderBolt port of my work laptop. This means that, when I'm working from home, I simply have to stick that USB-C cable into my laptop, and press the button on the remote control of the KVM switch. The KVM switch itself is hidden behind the monitor. But you can connect anything to that USB-C cable, and if I connect my (Samsung) phone or tablet, I get the full desktop experience with mouse, keyboard, and large screen.

Have a few of these, super handy things I keep in a case in case I need to use.

Having a cd/dvd drive is about the best component I have.

Keep sharing your WISDOM! Thank you

I'm a big fan of the rubber covers, whether it's type a, type c, hdmi, display port, or otherwise, if it doesn't have a plug in it all the time, it deserves a cover. My absolute favourite computing thing is probably a usb3 type a to M.2 NVMe adapter in the form factor resembling a slightly longer and wider than normal flash drive. Having recently upgraded the 2280 NVMe SSD in my computer, i had a 500GB drive that was still reasonably fast (gen 3 i think) so i threw it into a nifty little enclosure and oh boy is it fast! I frequently use it as a ventoy drive as it only takes a few seconds to drop a new Linux distro or Windows ISO onto it and it reads the installation media often faster than the drive it's being installed to. It's a massive time saver, although I do want to build another one with a 2TB drive in it, just for moving copious amounts of data from one device to another very quickly. Edit: another gem i picked up recently was an active display port to HDMI adapter, although i should have probably gone along the route with a female DP and a male HDMI so i could more conveniently plug it into the back of my monitor on the end of one of the many DP cables i have laying around the house that have never actually been used. Oh well, now i know for next time i go shopping i guess...

datAshur Encrypted USB drive is amazing!

Thanks for this. I have several of the items you discussed, but some of the others have made their way to either my cart or a list on A..zon. One device I have from the transitional days from PATA to SATA is a small board that plugs into a SATA drive and adapts it for use in older computers. Not as useful these days, but it was a lifesaver at the time. Today, I would likely use a PATA to CF Card adapter and call it a day for an old computer.

@4:23 -- USB -> SATA adapter. For a few dollars more, you can get one that supports 3.5" mechanical drives, because for those drives, you need an external power source, which you get with the slightly more expansive USB -> SATA adapters. And you do not have to use the included power supply, if you are using a 2.5" drive. It will work the same as the one in your video. But if you need to connect a 3.5" mechanical drive to a USB port, then you will be able to do that, too, with the ones that include the (optional) power adapter. If you are traveling, then that would be one more thing (the power brick) to carry around. But you do not need to carry around the power brick, if you have no intention of using the adapter with a 3.5" mechanical drive. Of course, I keep my adapter and it power brick together, because once separated, it is like trying to find that missing sock. I also put a label on the power brick, so that if it does ever turn up and I have no idea what it is for, the label will clear up that mystery. I would like to find a USB -> (68 pin) SCSI adapter. I have searched high and low. They simply do not exist. I have several old SCSI drives (68 pin, 15K RPM) that I would like to erase, before selling or dumping. It seems that I will need to purchase a PCIe adapter for SCSI drives. I am having trouble finding that, too. Argh! @5:30 -- Ethernet everywhere. For a few dollars more, you can get one that doubles as a hub. So you get the Ethernet connectivity, just as you demonstrated in this video, without losing a USB port (because the adapter will have 2 or 3 of its own USB ports).

I have a 2.5gB version of the ethernet connector you have , has pulled my bum out of the fire a few times , I often find it performs better than even the onboard ethernet as well , I have used it MANY times. one of my favourite go to data transfer /cloning solutions is my toaster, I picked one up years ago on a boxing day sale at a local computer store (think I paid around $40 for it) , it can do SATA and IDE, have used it to migrate many devices from spinning rust to SSD

Those little things that you never think of until you don't have them, then you pull your hair out trying to figure out what to do without them.... A video that is both obvious and genius at the same time. Obvious because everybody has these and it would make a good video....genius because they're so in front of your face you don't even see him any longer and never think of them!! Awesome job on coming up with a unusual video topic....I thoroughly enjoyed it, thanky!!

Some of mine: 1. An excellent Debian 12 system for when my Windows 10 machines give up. 2. A powered SATA HDD/SSD dock with 2 slots for drive cloning or copying. Has come in handy when installing new drives in media server.

Unfortunately, _most_ of the dust plugs seem to come only in black. I've found it useful to have odds and ends in bright colours so they aren't lost as easily, and it makes identifying them quicker.

I think anyone who works with protoboards and microcontrollers has made one (or a few) of those useful LED checkers. My favourite ones use two single-pin connectors instead of a block. A little less convenient but a little more versatile. I put some heatshrink onto them so they look more finished.

I like the editing style of the second delayed transitions.

Quite a useful collection of gizmoes you have got there. The thing I have found the most useful is a wi-fi extender with an Ethernet socket. Plug in the extender and connect the an Ethernet lead to any computer without WiFi! Thanks for uploading.

I really felt Mr Barnatt's frustration at poor Wifi.

Your video names are great the USB-IF should hire you to simplify their mess of naming conventions

Thank you for calling out the diff between poor Wi-Fi and poor Internet!! (From a Wi-Fi professional/CWNE)

Hey! It must be 14:00 on a Sunday!

A "mouse jiggler" will allow you to keep your computer from going to screensaver. Very useful!

Those little rubber USB-C plugs are a godsend if you live in the tropics like I do.

Very useful & informative video as usual 👍🏻

Thx for posting.

Nice one Chris, thanks for the tour. Some of my important items are: Lanyards to stop me losing important USB sticks; Small screwdrivers and other tools for getting stuff apart; Stout pieces of wire or repurposed paperclips for manually opening optical drive trays.

An Ethernet to usb adaptor plus a 3 mtr Ethernet cable has got me out of many a hole with no available WiFi. A usb 3 card adaptor with SD, Micro SD, m2 slots etc comes in handy. I strip down old broken laptop/PC components & collect standoffs, screws, nuts, switches & cables, you could be in the middle of a project & you just never know? A good set of tools, taps & dies (M2 -M4) great for making bespoke standoffs. Thanks Chris your video has given me more ideas to add to my collection :)

Nice video, thanks. I travel a lot, and prefer using a mouse over a trackpad. I bring a thin mousepad made by 3M and have found it indispensible, especially when I only have a rough surface to work on.

My USB - SATA has a 12v barrel jack so it works with 3.5 inch drives too

As someone who began his computer career in the 1980s, I'm old enough to remember when every device had its own proprietary port, or perhaps a serial or parallel port if you were lucky. Every one of these devices (except for the HDMI coupler and GPIO tester, of course) plugs into a USB port. Not only are they physically far smaller than devices were back in the day, they're compatible with nearly *everything* you can physically plug them into! USB really is a miracle.

USB to Bluetooth adapter. To the computer it's a USB soundcard; the adapter handles the Bluetooth protocol on it's own. Very useful for systems that cannot do Bluetooth otherwise.

My older bro, very nice video but please... isolate atleast one of these led legs, it can save you some money in the future ❤