According to Billet themselves, they heard nothing about compensation or payback until about 3 hours after the original GN video went live… Which Billet hadnt even replied to before Linus made his post saying they’ve already made the deal on compensation.
…Yeah that’s enough.
Blatantly, and knowingly, lying (let’s not pretend that wasn’t the intention) about his compensation to billet is too much. No excuses for that.
Also found odd that suddenly they already had things settled.
I mean, it sounds like this was known-ish and Billet had been reaching out to them repeatedly. It is not at all strange that a cock-up of this magnitude would have been solved some time in the two or three weeks since LTX.
Which is why it is even more wild that only the published video got LMG to respond to an industry contact asking for their shit back.
If I was a smaller brand I’d avoid to send shit to LMG now. This was a massive fuck up and would never happen with ASUS or Noctua.
The thing is: You basically can’t. LMG is still a massive tech media outlet with insane reach. If you ignore them then you are actively hurting your company.
And that especially goes for the tiny outlets like Billet where they are already looking at low volume boutique products. I doubt anyone would have expected that LMG would have made what seems like a focused effort to fuck the company over at every step. But even if the outcome had been “Uhm… I guess it works? Not sure why you would want it, but it works” that is MASSIVE advertisement. And the various enthusiasts who do want a product like this will then know it exists and so forth.
People very much overestimate just how little power smaller companies have.
If they fuck you anyway why send the products at all? Better save the money and the company and just keep with smaller YouTubers no?
Because smaller youtubers have almost no reach. Especially because, Dipshit Tech Tips is right: This is not something that anyone should buy. But the custom loop community are delightful sickos who don’t let that stop them. But they are very much a small percentage of any audience.
Getting it to a specialized channel like jaystwocents would increase the number of eyes on it who might ACTUALLY buy one. But folk there likely also are already ride or die with EK or whichever company they like.
And what LMG did is pretty much unheard of. The usual response to this would be, even if it was a mediocre cooler, “In our testing, the thermals were in this range which is comparable to these other products. We would probably go with the AIO or even the stock cooler but, depending on your workload and aesthetics, this could be a good buy”. Rather than “We are too stupid to follow basic instructions, maliciously threw away the card they gave us, and are now going to shit on this company for weeks on end”.
And… the dirty open secret of water cooling is that even AIOs are probably overkill for most consumer builds. That is WHY outlets like j2c tend to do the complete torture tests and then talk about how no gaming workload will ever be anything like that.
I DO think outlets are going to be increasingly wary of working with LMG since one of their recurring bits is “Linus hates company X and rants about it for a month”. But the benefit of having Jake hold it up in front of a camera and maybe convince a few other people they should spend money are still probably going to be worth it.
Like, I am usually a strong supporter of Hanlon’s Razor. But one of the Billet folk must have shat in Linus’s cornflakes at some point. Because everything about this feels like a hit piece. They actively refused to use the GPU that was provided along with the block to test it. They actively butchered the install and compatibility. And then Linus spent multiple WAN shows blatantly shitting on the company. And when they finally were forced to send payment for the block they stole and sold: They didn’t even include the GPU.
The reality is that even if it WAS a mediocre cooler, it would likely perform better than most reasonably priced AIOs with halfway competent building. And from a quick glance: I still have no idea how you would properly install that. But it is a chunk of copper with pipes for liquid. As long as your radiator works, you are going to get REALLY good thermals on both the CPU and GPU.
You know what really sucks? Owning their stuff. I got the screwdriver (it’s pretty nice). I’m drinking from one of the water bottles right now (it’s also pretty nice).
How am I supposed to go on using that shit? I can’t do it in front of anyone who knows. “Oh you like that LTT stuff? You know what they did right?”
All that goodwill flushed because of ego. All that cost, sunk. And the worst part is that this discourages me from buying merch from anyone else again, lest I get burned again someday when it comes out they too are the opposite of the image they portray for money.
I guess there truly is no ethical consumption under capitalism.
Or… just don’t give a fuck and reply with “Bought it before the shennanigans, bro. Not gonna toss it.”
But what will people think? 😱
True answer: They won’t give a fuck
Yeah, I suppose I’m not going to actually give a shit. Still feels bad, man.
I used a Tek Syndicate mug up until a few months ago from way back when Logan was still cool. It was a sweet mug regardless.
That logo rules.
I would dremel the logo off.
Just keep the L to show everyone what you really think about Linus.
You can lightly sand the water bottle and repaint over it.
I’ve been eyeing their screwdriver for a while, but I don’t want to give Linus my money after seeing this… Wanna sell it to me? I don’t care if it has any minor damage from regular use.
Edit: After the whole Madison thing, it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth… Nevermind the screwdriver, I’ll just buy a megapro or something…
What’s so special about their screwdriver? Can I fight off a Dalek invasion with it or something?
I just want it for the strong magnet and the megapro style bit holder.
Unless you absolutely need a magnetized bit holder, the LTT screwdriver is literally a Megapro with “improved” bit storage in the base. And trust me, you don’t actually want a magnetized bit holder. Because that is how you get screws stuck inside. Ferrous screws are a lot less common once you get out of computers/“tech” and you can always get (or magnetize) bits easily.
Bit storage in the base is arguable but I’ve personally never found a need. Either I am powering through an ungodly amount of phillips heads or I am switching my bit so often that it is easier to just have a small baggy or 3d printed holder off to the side. Planning ahead for which bits I want in the handle and then replacing them that way is a lot more effort than grabbing a handful (or using the 3d printed holder) and swapping them that way.
The Project Farm video is ALWAYS referenced and… it is a really good video. That nerd doesn’t miss. But if you actually look at the criteria and how he weighted things, it is a weird hybrid “ratcheting screwdriver” and “automotive screwdriver, but not really” middle ground. And considering what the LMG fanbase has done to other youtubers who crossed Linus, I don’t blame him for skewing the conclusion. Because if you actually care about his videos, it doesn’t matter what his conclusions are. What matters are which tests matter to you and so forth.
Personally? I use an ifixit kit for computer and “tech” work. Build quality is solid, I should not need to tighten anything hard enough to need a strong shaft (hee hee) and a ratchet, and I prefer the mako (?) case since it comes with a cover that lets me organize screws. And for house work I literally use a cheap ass Kobalt that I have a love/hate relationship with. I might grab a wera or a megapro some day but… it isn’t a priority. Because if I am really dealing with THAT many screws? I get them started with my screwdriver and then grab the drill or impact driver to finish it off. That is why the vast majority of high end screwdrivers are geared more toward the automotive field where you can’t maneuver a big ass drill in. Versus assembling furniture or home repair where you very much CAN grab the drill and make your life so much better.
Since I don’t own a car or anything that requires high torque, I really don’t need an automotive grade screwdriver. I keep losing screws because the magnets are not strong enough in the bits I have. 90% of my screwdriver usage are PCs and other tech.
Nothing wrong with the megapro though… I might get that one, though I would prefer getting the strongest magnet I can get my hands on.
Just pretend that your specific money went into the pocket of one of the employees whose fault this isn’t.
Well at least you don’t have the ltt underpants
….uhhhhh
(Lol nah thankfully I never went that far)
I bought a couple of hoodies from them on sale, so I’m in a similar situation. Luckily most of their merch is pretty stealthy so the only people who would recognise them are other ltt viewers. I just hope that Linus can get his head out of his ass and give a proper apology and make things right
Just put a sticker over the logo if you don’t want to sand it
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