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Comment by zxcvgm | Hacker News Reader

Not an apples-to-apples comparison, but I just wanted to see the price positioning for this screwdriver. It goes for $69.99 [0] and Megapro ratcheting screwdrivers (which they mentioned in their video) goes from ~$50 to $59.99, depending on what bits it comes with.

[0] https://www.lttstore.com/products/screwdriver

[1] https://megaprotools.com/collections/ratcheting-drivers

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"The ratchet is based on Megapro's long-standing & reliable design, but has been significantly modified to suit our needs. We reversed the ratchet direction (right for clockwise, left for anti-clockwise), adjusted the spring for lighter back-force which allows you to ratchet-drive even very small screws, and optimized for smoothness and quiet function. It's rated for operation of up to 220 inch-pounds of force."

optimized for an extra $10.00

> optimized for an extra $10.00

Megapro may have larger economies of scale and therefore lower costs, or Megapro may have already paid off / amortized the cost of development and so felt its margins were already without having that included in the price anymore.

That’s not how a business sets prices. It charges as much as consumers are willing to pay.

If more people are willing to buy the product for a lower price and due to better economies of scale / amortized cost of development the margins also improve then of course they may lower the price.

Tell that to Arizona Iced Tea. Not all companies are garbage.

Friendly reminder that LTT sells *all* of its desk pads and water bottles for the same price, no matter the size.

A company using basic ecomomic principles is garbage?

So LTT overcharging for it's smaller water bottles vs big is good? But if a company were to discount small water bottles, and raise the price of bigger, they are garbage?

wow.

Why in the world do small screws need nearly 20 ft-lbs of force? That's a level where I'd be breaking out a much larger torque wrench. I'd be shocked if the kind of small machine screws in a PC can even withstand that force.

They don't. The screwdriver isn't meant for that.

Point is "adjusted the spring for lighter back-force" would normally mean the max torque you can use is reduced (because the spring slips). They state the max torque you can use to indicate the effect of the trade-off.

The fact that you think that the max torque is still way more than is needed, is probably why they advertise this. The fact that max torque is way higher than needed means they did not trade off too much max torque to reduce the back-force.

Because if somebody uses their $50 screwdriver to disassemble office furniture they don't want it to break.

"Instantaneous breaking force" or whatever it is can get pretty high, especially if the screw has been there for awhile, or there's any oxidation, etc.

Starting with the right driver (with a perfect tip that fits snugly) will reduce the chance of camout and can help remove them, but even then it can be a tricky situation at times.

I personally find that having a really long screw driver helps - I can get more torque without slipping.

High torques on small fasteners are common in electrical and hydraulic applications. But yeah, zero reason for huge amounts of torque in a computer case.

High torque on the mounting screws of some CPU coolers can significantly help thermal performance.

That's understating the difference - Megapro sell for significantly less than that in practice - pricing here in Canada is in the 30 CAD$ range from tool stores, depending on bit selection. The LTT driver is 3-4x the price once shipping and currency conversion is factored in.

[0] https://www.kmstools.com/megapro-ratcheting-multi-bit-screwd...

For some reason Megapro charges significantly more when ordering directly and last I looked I wasn't able to find them on Amazon.

I was able to find the same screwdrivers for almost 50% less at the local Altex (Texas electronics store). Looks like this ratcheting one is 42.95: https://altex.com/collections/screwdrivers/products/megapro-...

Many manufacturers don't like direct sales, and if they offer them they're basically offering "warranty stock" for sale.

They much prefer selling to distribution.

Megapro is also made in “North America” (I assume Canada but would love to hear from someone in the know). So you’d be supporting the “local” American economy, if that matters to you.

Or Mexico?

Would be great if it’s Mexico too. A healthy economy in any of the three N.A. nations is good for all of them. Neighbors have an outsize influence on each other.

Probably not Greenland.

In the video they claim Megapro is 20 minutes away from LTT's offices - so that'd be Canada, yeah. Unless that's just a satellite office for Megapro instead of the headquarters.

I got an iFixit Mako set for less than 60 or 70 USD on a Black Friday sale a couple of years ago. Should I get this screwdriver instead, or is the Mako set suffice? AFAICT the Mako set is better bang for the buck, but I don't know the pros and cons of this LTT screwdriver.

You can't really get it instead, you already have the other. Does it do what you want at a quality point you require? Is that worth selling at a heavy loss (eBay suggests £30 for a quick sale)? Are they even comparable products? The Mako looks like an ⅛" driver for small and odd security bits.

A smooth low-backlash ratchet is the USP. Conscious decisions about materials. I can't speak to your requirements.

Other people can buy the iFixit Mako [1] set instead of this screwdriver though. Perhaps not for the same price I did (I got the Pro Tech Toolkit on sale instead which contained the Mako set). It also includes Torx which the LTT one lacks.

I ended up buying the LTT one to reduce clutter with a bunch of my current 'normal' screwdrivers, but the end price was about 110 EUR with tax and S&H. Which is rather expensive if you ask me.

[1] https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Pro-Tech-Toolkit/IF145-30...

kind of a shame that even though they're based in Canada, if I were to buy one from either company I'd have to pay USD to get it shipped 1 hour away in the same metro area. $10 USD for local shipping apparently

They did explain their reasoning behind this during WAN a few weeks ago.

In short, they are trying to make shipping price more fair for the average customer (including those oversea, or in remote regions) by making shipping a bit more expensive where it is cheaper.

Charging people nearby a bit extra allows them to offset some of those costs.

They provided a few examples of backpacks shipping to remote regions in Canada (I forgot the name, sorry) custom upwards of hundreds of dollars, but they capped shipping price to 50/60$ for every customer.

Very happy to hear that (I live in Europe), but obviously you're probably not a fan of the idea as much as I am hahaha

I also live in Europe and I'd love to buy their merch but the shipping and customs costs add up immensely so there's no way I'm buying anything from them.

Yeah, but if backpacks ever become available without backorder I might make a single big order next year, who knows!

That actually sounds in line with what Canada Post would charge.

I had to ship a laptop from me on Vancouver Island to my employer in Vancouver and it cost ~$50.

Shipping in the states is cheap. Shipping in Canada, even very short distances, is not.

Use netparcel. It has changed how I view shipping locally within the country and I do it more often now.

It's not cheap but it does not seem to be too bad of a value...

YouTuber's merch is generally meant to be a way of supporting a show you like, so once you factor that in, I'm happy with the price

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