Considering that they sell one of those, I’m going to assume they’ve heard of it. ;)

Those look pretty cool.

But I'm confused about the marketing around the cpu/ram, etc. Does that really matter for a soldering iron? (Serious question, not being snarky).

I get they're using that tech to make it adjustible/smart, but it's a soldering iron, not a pocket computer.

Is there some way those specs genuinely matter? Or is it just to say "we're using the latest tech to provide controls"?

This

you’ll need to grab the FixHub Power Station, the company’s new 55Wh battery pack.

Why bother with that when I can use my personal power bank that uses standard easily swappable/replaceable 18650 batteries? (remember those?)

Have they not heard of the TS100 or the Pinecil?

Of course they have.

An iFixit co-founder has been responding to questions over on Hacker News:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41521919

I love my Pinecil V2. It was cheaper than my 40W entry level Weller station and heats up way faster. I run it off my Anker USB power supply and also my Anker USB power bank. The power bank only outputs 30 or 40 watts though so I might upgrade that in the future. High wattage power banks are expensive though :/

You're probably adding $25-35 to that for a USB-C power supply that can handle it, but yes, it's cheaper than this. $50-75 if you want it battery powered.

But yeah, I'm not sure what iFixit is bringing to the market that's better than what exists.

It’s a multi-use battery.

The battery can be used to charge whatever you want. A phone, laptop, headphones, or anything else with USB. Also, the battery is user replaceable and the product repair diagrams are posted online.

IMHO, it looks like they’re practicing what they preach, and it’s all designed for longevity and right to repair.

That is pricey... However, as someone who has an ifixit toolkit that contains just about every shape and size of screwdriver bit ever imaginable (and several that defy explanation), it has been the most useful tool I have ever purchased. I can't even count how many times I've used it.

And the quality is outstanding.

I'll gladly pay a premium for something that will be "buy it for life" or at least last decades. Phones and computers have inherent obsolescence, but most tools don't. I don't buy chinesium tools, I buy reputed European, American, or Japanese tools, the lifetime stuff.

Soldering stations that are fixed to an outlet are also expensive. It's not a cheap tool kit. If it is cheap, it's a garbage iron that will likely do the job but you will struggle.

I'm trying to buy one for work and every station worth considering is easily over 200 dollars US.

Does it matter if the products last longer than an apple product and can likely be repaired?

Build a 18650 battery bank and plug in a pinecil or ts100. A solder iron with a 18650 would be heavy and uncomfortable for soldering.

I haven't done the math, how much runtime could you get out of a single 18650? They're pretty stout, but it seems like they'd be a bit underpowered.

Milwaukee 12v batteries are 3 cells (I think they're a little smaller than 18650), and you can run through a battery pretty quick (I believe they're 1.5AH). Though I don't know how efficient their heating design is.

Temperature is measured in Farads.
Very non-standard

I bought my soldering station with air solderer and iron solderer for about 40$ from AliExpress, the ones with IR bottom heater cost around 90-100$

It does not have an internal battery but can use any battery pack that can do 100W output.

I pre-ordered this for a few reasons. One, my experience with butane irons was very different than yours I guess. I hated how long they took and how finicky they were. Then I had to find a safe place to put it while it cooled. This has a cap that can handle the high temp with no issue.

When I need a portable iron it's to do small quick soldering with long waits in between. This seems perfect for that.

I believe this is one of those Google "F it I am going to make this protocol my own way without anyone else's input" which results in security concerns and also Mozilla prioritizes it being a browser more.

Searching serial looks like this is still the case. There are security and privacy concerns over it.

https://mozilla.github.io/standards-positions/

Good news, I guess?

https://github.com/kuba2k2/firefox-webserial

I've only used it to do some esp32 stuff with homeassistant, but it does work.

I've been using a Pinecil which is USB-C powered. It heats up in seconds and the temp can be adjusted easily. The big plus to me is how small it is. It's so much easier to handle than a standard iron, and the tips are push-in and can be locked with a screw so they're easy to swap.