• Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    edit-2
    7 days ago

    Smart soldering irons have been around a while, so yes. It is now like a PC and specs matter a little.

    One advantage smart irons have is being able to give you a readout of the exact temp of the tip of your soldering iron, something a traditional iron cannot do.

    It also needs chips and sensors to do things like auto-off when it is set down.

    So the quality and speed of chips affects performance.

    • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      7 days ago

      Sounds like marketing foo.

      I have a 10+ year old Weller station with digital temp adjustment, and I don’t recall it having a cpu and ram.

      • XTL@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        7 days ago

        don’t recall it having a cpu

        So, what’s updating the display? Power supply imps?

      • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        7 days ago

        If it has digital temperature control then it has something resembling a CPU and memory. If it’s analog then it’s probably just not that accurate and will drift over time without manual calibration.

        I have a pinecil and direct heat soldering irons blow away non direct heat irons like your weller (and I think this ifixit one). Once you switch you never want to go back. Which is really disappointing because I don’t think this new ifix it one is.

      • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        7 days ago

        digital temp adjustment

        Digital temp adjustment is different than a sensor that tells you the exact temp at the tip.

        Pretty sure any 10+ year old unit is just setting a temp, not telling you the actual temp through a measurement.