Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022 • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022

#131

Post by linsomniac » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 8:48 PM UTC

tonster wrote: post #46

Ubiquiti Dream Router and a couple of WiFi 6 Access Points. Excellent WiFi is so underrated and not as common as we might think. It has allowed me to work comfortably in all corners of the house as well as outside when the weather is nice, all without skipping a beat during calls. Highly recommend setting up a proper WiFi network and looking into this more prosumer level hardware which has been rock-solid for me.

I feel really burned by Ubiquiti. I had ~5 cameras with their PoE switch and originally the NVR, which was flaky, and later the CloudKey G2. I was considering replacing my Google wifi 4-node setup with Ubiquiti. I regularly had problems with cameras not coming back up after a power outage or firmware updates. Then at one point a switch update caused a the Google wifi nodes to start being shut off because of loop detection and there was no way to turn it off. Then a year later most of the cameras bricked during one of their firmware updates.

The Google setup has been pretty nice, though sometimes it gets into a weird state where wireless performance goes into the toilet.

I'm currently playing with a Ruckus R620 from ebay, which seems to be some really solid Enterprise gear that you can get for around $250 on ebay, used.

Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022

#132

Post by j_crick » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 8:50 PM UTC

Planar magnetic headphones with large drivers, specifically Audeze LCD-2 with denser foam embouchures (ear pads). They wrap my ears in a very comfortable and isolating way; they are formidable in terms of delivering sound the way I want for the music I like; they are very responsive to EQ, hence tuneable to a lot of ears. And their downside of being heavy surprisingly aligns with pomodoro timings: if my neck is getting tired from headphones then it’s time to have a break.

(Another downdisde: these headphones are “open”, meaning they have no hard enclosed outer shell, so your coworkers will hear what you hear, but if you work from home and/or buy a closed back version then they might work for you.)

As for all the espresso machines comments, I totally get it, but folks, might I suggest you just get an Aeropress and give it a try :)

Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022

#133

Post by linsomniac » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 8:50 PM UTC

alfor wrote: post #48

Powerful computer, good large monitor, quiet wireless mouse and keyboard. We spend so much time in front of a screen, but it’s easy to stay with old tech as it still work and do the same thing, but quality and speed matter. An improvement of a few percent pay for itself many times. Choosing the best with what you work with will push you to also be the best at what you do, it serve as a yardstick to measure your work.

I ended up getting two Dell 30" 4K displays and a monitor stand to mount one above the other, next to my laptops (also stacked), and that's been a pretty nice work setup for the past year. I did have to end up doing two USB-C to HDMI adapters plugged into the laptop to drive them, the docking station can't do dual 4K output (older Dell XPS15, sounds like the next version they made of it does).

Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022

#134

Post by regulation_d » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 8:53 PM UTC

etrautmann wrote: post #111

regulation_d wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can spend more but the coffee doesn’t get better I went down the espresso rabbit hole during covid, as did a good buddy of mine. We both upgraded from setups in the ~$1k range and are experiencing much better results in the cup. Obviously you'll see diminishing returns at some price point, but most of my friends/family agree that a latte from my new setup is noticeably better than one from my old setup.

can you elaborate on your current setup?

for sure!

My grinder is a Weber EG-1. It has really large (80mm) flat burrs. Very forgiving; like I don't have to be dialed in perfectly for the espresso to be very good. It's essentially a cafe quality grinder, but optimized for a single-dose flow.

My machine is an Olympia Cremina, which is a manual lever machine. I've modified it with a pressure profiler to control and track the pressure of the shot I'm pulling. All that manual control is really nice for the kind of coffees I like which are usually naturally-processed light roasts. However, manual levers are not for everyone and have a definite learning curve.

If you're curious about either of those, James Hoffmann has good reviews of them both on YT.

I really enjoy the nerdiness and tactile feedback of the manual lever, but if I didn't want go manual, I'd look at a Decent DE-1.

If I had to shave a bit off that budget, I think I'd go with a Rancilio Silvia Pro X, which is half the cost.

Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022

#135

Post by etrautmann » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 8:53 PM UTC

ajkjk wrote: post #96

LesZedCB wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice! I got into espresso at the start of COVID with a Silvia and really enjoyed it. This year I started roasting my own coffee. I found a hottop 2k used on Craigslist for $600, and now I spend about $10/mo on coffee!

Not a bad idea, although I guess personally I don't mind my coffee budget particularly because it goes to local cafes that I like supporting. I also don't drink all that much (2 cups a day) so it's not much money to support my 'habit'.

2 cups a day at a cafe comes out to over $3k a year? Seems fairly expensive relative to brewing at home, but I take your point about supporting businesses.

Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022

#136

Post by linsomniac » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 8:58 PM UTC

alkonaut wrote: post #117

Huge 900mm induction cooktop. Having lots of space for pans and 400V/16A induction was a real change from my old cooktop.

I went induction cooktop ~5 years ago and would never go back, it's been amazing. It's super fast but also very easy to clean.

Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022

#137

Post by FredPret » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 8:59 PM UTC

For me there are a couple of ~1-1.5k purchases that stand out.

- Apple Watch: I now walk and exercise a LOT more

- Canon mirrorless camera. I now enjoy walking outdoors because I'm taking photos

- M1 - switching from a Windows desktop to a super-snappy macbook removed so many pain points I didn't even know I had. Huge performance, mostly cool to the touch, days-long battery life means that I'm now truly working anywhere, for the first time ever, despite owning laptops for a long time.

Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022

#138

Post by lagrange77 » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:01 PM UTC

robmerki wrote: post #36

I spent ~$2700 on a new mattress. I no longer wake up with hip or lower back pain. My sleeps are an order of magnitude better. I ended up with a Tempurpedic. I spent about 2 hours trying every mattress at the store and bought the one that felt best. There’s probably a million hacks to get that mattress cheaper, but I regret nothing. One of the best purchases I’ve ever made. It also came with 2 “free” memory foam pill…

> memory foam pillows, and my random neck pains are also gone

those gave me my random neck pains in the first place :D

Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022

#139

Post by linsomniac » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:03 PM UTC

pbowyer wrote: post #81

A Festool dust extractor and Mirka sander. Coupled with Abranet, I can now sand indoors virtually dust free. It makes doing DIY so much more pleasant. Expensive but I wish I'd bought them both earlier.

I have a Bosch sander connected to a Dust Deputy setup with shopvac, and I recently found sanding some red oak to be a fairly miserable experience. It just takes so long. I did just get some of those fancy 3M Xtract sanding discs, which seem to be a lot faster, I'm going to have to see how well they do with the next set of sanding. It just took so long for me to get all the parts for my vanity sanded.

This morning I was watching Becky Stern showing off her shop setup, and it included this Festool dust extractor that I liked the look of. May have to look into that ffurther.

Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022

#140

Post by djrockstar1 » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:03 PM UTC

sul4bh wrote: post #97

Water bottle with time markers on it. It gamifies my water drinking habit. I am always eager to beat-the-bottle by trying to catch up to the time markers on the bottle. As a result I am not dehydrated and not perpetually hungry anymore.

You spent $500-2500 on a water bottle?