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Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

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Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#151

Post by voltagex_ »

* After breaking numerous glass ones: https://www.amazon.com/Bodum-Columbia-Stainless-Thermal-17-O...

* The USB charger that came with the Nexus 4 - it's only been replaced because I finally got a decent QuickCharge charger.

* A Grundig AM/FM radio with Aux-in, still going strong after 10+ years as a bathroom speaker. One dial broke off. Oops. Still one of the best sounding speakers I have in my house - possibly due to it being wooden

* Yamaha NX-P100 Bluetooth speaker - used to use it for the APT-X capability, now I use it because it supports 3.5mm jacks, and USB sound input. Practically bulletproof although the battery life isn't as good as it was.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#152

Post by blunte »

mudil wrote: post #76

Grado headphones.

My SR-80s have what many reviewers (and I) say is the best sound for anything under $1k (and these were under $100).

That said, they're poorly designed mechanically, and they use lower quality materials - especially the type of plastic. The way the speaker unit attaches to the head piece is just a little pole of metal (textured at the end) stuck into a plastic hole, and the hole can eventually stretch. The result is the speaker unit falling off the headpiece... and there's really no way to fix it. Superglue is a short term solution, and it's hard to get the angle of the can perfect.

My point of saying all this is that the sound engineers did a great, great job, but the product/mechanical design guys - or maybe the production guys after them, ruined it.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#154

Post by btschaegg »

- Lagiole knifes (more optical design / less practicality)

- Victorinox SwissTool (more practical)

- Stabilo Worker Pens (amazingly low friction for a ballpoint pen)

Edit: - Razer: Merkur Dovo Futur Duoclip (Its predecessor was an overdesigned, brittle mess. But this one is great.)

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#155

Post by taneq »

nunez wrote: post #26

Apple MacBooks are the best laptops that I have ever used. Nothing comes close to them. Even my Surface. It's a great device (by far the best Windows laptop/convertible available), but it misses on some details (light bleed on the edges, kickstand doesn't align all the way)

My old Snow Leopard MBP was pretty much perfect in its day. It's long in tooth now but with a new battery and an SSD upgrade would still be well and truly usable as a general web-and-email machine.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#157

Post by kalleboo »

SwellJoe wrote: post #99
pgreenwood wrote: post #87

Almost every bicycle. Our noblest invention.

Agreed. Even a cheapish bike is a miracle of modern engineering, and a great force multiplier even for poor folks or folks too young to drive. I love my bike (a 20 year old Giant mountain bike that I bought to ride to college and have put thousands of miles on since).

I recently had to buy a new bike and for the first time sprung for a new one instead used, and was impressed by the equipment even on the entry-level bike I got. I'm used to bike lamps with those side clip-on dynamos, but these days even the cheapest bikes they sold had automatic light sensing bright LED lamps with hub dynamos where you couldn't even tell the extra resistance. Just feels like magic.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#158

Post by Aeolun »

nodesocket wrote: post #89

My Altec Lansing ACS48 computer speakers. I paid $299 for them in 1999 and to this day they still work flawlessly and beat most every other computer speaker. Audiophiles swear by them, and still buy them in bulk when they can find them. Here's the Amazon reviews: https://www.amazon.com/Altec-Lansing-ACS48-Computer-Speakers...

Ah, I used to have a MIX boombox made by them. Still works, but had to leave it behind when I moved. Best set of speakers I've ever had as well.
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