I haven't watched that particular video, but I would exercise caution with his videos. He can often exercise some rather strong opinions due to: (1) he's right, (2) he misunderstands the product or a feature but claims it's an issue, or (3) some arbitrary reason based upon the name printed on the product. And (2) is often coupled with (3). This caution is probably advised on many electronics videos, especially from old heads because their American made or Japanese made gear from 30 years ago is better, which is often unhelpful because that gear isn't available anymore and is subjective anyway. Or entry level gear is compared to their $1,000+ soldering iron or $5,000+ oscilloscope.
I have been doing a lot of research lately for some entry level gear that will last and suit my needs without breaking the bank, and it's very difficult to sort through inaccuracies and biases against certain gear.
He can often exercise some rather strong opinions due to: (1) he's right, (2) he misunderstands the product or a feature but claims it's an issue, or (3) some arbitrary reason based upon the name printed on the product.
That's fair, although I would say the same is true for most (if not all) people commenting on this topic! Myself included as far as that goes. I am, for example, a fan of Hakko kit (I use a Hakko soldering station as well as the aforementioned FR-301 desoldering gun) and am an unabashed Rigol fanboi when it comes to test equipment. Rigol made my oscilloscope, bench multimeter, lab power supply, programmable load, signal generator, and spectrum analyzer. Outside of Rigol I'm also a fanboi for old HPAK (HP/Agilent/Keysight) kit. I have an HPAK logic analyzer, modulation domain analyzer, frequency counter, and dynamic signal analyzer. And I'm still lusting after an HP 3458a one of these days.
That said, I try to avoid falling into complete fanboy'ism when recommending stuff to others. There are lots of good brands out there for most things!
I have been doing a lot of research lately for some entry level gear that will last and suit my needs without breaking the bank, and it's very difficult to sort through inaccuracies and biases against certain gear.
No doubt. For me, the pattern I fell into is reflected in what I wrote above: I buy mostly Rigol kit for anything I buy new. And that's because Rigol strikes me as a good compromise between cost, quality / functionality, and "hackability."
And then for more specialized / niche stuff, if I can find a used HPAK instrument for a good price on Ebay or whatever, I'll go with that. So far I feel like that strategy has allowed me to get my lab kitted out fairly nicely, without breaking the bank. But I'm sure even my lab would seem extravagant to somebody, especially the prototypical "starving college student".
Luke Gorrie, for example, has an article here: https://github.com/lukego/soldering