Ya, the author makes this sound revolutionary, but small irons that can be powered by battery have been around for years.

Check out the TS80P or Pinecil. Small, for portability/easy handling, heat from cold to 360C in ~12 seconds, have fine tips available, run on open source ironos, are relatively cheap (30-$80 USD), and can be powered by a USBC wall adapter or battery bank that supports PD or QC3.

They’ve been the darling of RC/quad copter enthusiasts who constantly need to do solder repair jobs in the field.

I have both. I use mine for “maker board” stuff, which would probably be considered the same basic category iFixIt, and have been extremely impressed.

Dood…

FALKOR.

That adorable pooch is the only hope we have of stopping the nothing.

If I can offer an alternate perspective…

By making such concrete plans you may be ceding too much “control” to someone who you don’t yet know will have the same reliance on solid planning or respect for other’s time as you do.

So, if that’s the case, what can you do about it?

Plan differently.

Plan a one hour “date with yourself” that also works for you + a date.

Example: Make a plan to meet at a coffee shop or cheap bistro near a park… but bring a book/kindle/podcast/homework, or whatever you’d otherwise do on your own.

If they show, cool, you now have topics to discuss. If things are going well, continue over a walk in the park.

If they flake, cool, you’ve now got a solid hour to do something you enjoy, in a (hopefully) interesting place, and you’ve done it for cheap… Maybe take yourself on a walk in the park. :)

Hope that helps a bit.

Granted. They are immediately more endearing than any pet anyone has ever had… But by 3 years of age they are more delicious than any food anyone has ever eaten.

…that will now reflect the information United has compiled on individual travelers, like where they live and destinations they’ve traveled to.

I, for one, can’t wait to have my personal info proudly displayed to whatever randos they seat next to me! /s

I ran into the same with the “D1 Mini”. The few cases available were expensive for what they were and not a great fit for my needs.

If you have access to a 3D printer, there are some pretty good models on thingiverse and printables. But YMMV depending on which board you’re using.

Another possiblity… I wanted to permanently put one in my car, so having some basic protection with the least amount of bulk was important. I ended up buying some shrink tube large enough to go around the entire board (IIRC it was 40mm, 2:1 shrink ratio), got everything wired up, slid the tubing over and shrunk it down. Could probably “double wrap” for more complete coverage. Again, this is board dependent and worked well for the D1 since it doesn’t have pre-soldered pins.

Cheers!

You’re right about the shield being the most capable box out there and, IMHO, worth splurging on.

On the other extreme, if you’re in the U.S., the Walmart “Onn TV 4K” streaming box is only $20. It should have all the stuff you listed and will be way more responsive than the anemic HW the TV makers use. Note: The remote feels a bit chinsy but it has a lots of buttons (many can be remapped with apps available in the Play store).

“Middle” option might be a “Chromecast with Google TV”. More than 2x what the Onn box costs but the build quality is noticably better.