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

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

#151

Post by SudoAlex » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:44 PM UTC

Sony ZV-1, Elgato Cam Link 4K, and a few other minor accessories (eg. lighting).

A huge amount of time is spent on video calls these days, and although there are more advanced webcams out there these days - a camera which is geared towards video (the ZV-1 is aimed at vlogging) will produce significantly better video for any calls you're on.

Spending a little bit of time optimising your setup so that you're the one in the call with good quality video/audio is worth it. Get a decent camera, get a good microphone, improve your background lighting.

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

#152

Post by throwaway_au_1 » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:46 PM UTC

JoshGlazebrook wrote: post #17

Honestly a good espresso machine. Obviously it's not the best of the best, I'm not a coffee snob/expert, but spending $800 on a mid-tier breville espresso machine is miles ahead of the $100 espresso machine I tried a couple years ago. It's just so much more convenient to be able to make a decent tasting hot or iced latte at home vs. going to get one. Maybe some day I will really get into espresso and get $3000 machin…

I've had 2 Barista Express units now. They have lasted me about 12-18 months each before something went wrong. In the recent case, I bought a new group head seal and I got about 60 brews before it blew out again. It has been a good intro machine, and it allowed me to go from using auto mode, to manually weighing 18g ground in for 36g output over ~30s (nb. with a $50 external scale) which made getting reliable results so easy. But now.. I really want a Flair 58, but I can't stomach the $800AUD. I'm stuck somewhere between coffee rookie and coffee snob and can't justify it yet.

Would also recommend finding a nice decaf bean if you are one whom caffeine affects easily. Now I can (did) have 3 great coffees a day instead of 1.

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

#153

Post by ajkjk » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:47 PM UTC

etrautmann wrote: post #135

ajkjk wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well I meant two cups a day at home, but yes I would still pay that. Cafes are good and I like them. Way cheaper than drinking at bars, for comparison, also.

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

#154

Post by LesZedCB » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:48 PM UTC

Wonnk13 wrote: post #148

Sooo many folks here geeking out on their > $1k espresso machines and I'm just sitting here with a burr grinder and a pour over setup for coffee. What am I missing by not drinking espresso?

nothing. a hobby. giving a shit about 24% extraction yields. bullshit science.

i have all the stuff. i still make a french press every morning for my partner.

don't get me wrong, i love it. i love pulling a 'god shot' every now and then. i roast my own coffee and that's a fun learning curve. it's a community to engage with.

but it's not better than any other coffee prep. just very technical, and for me that's fun.

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

#155

Post by aynyc » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:48 PM UTC

Wonnk13 wrote: post #148

Sooo many folks here geeking out on their > $1k espresso machines and I'm just sitting here with a burr grinder and a pour over setup for coffee. What am I missing by not drinking espresso?

Same here. I actually used one of the >$1k expresso machines for awhile, it wasn't for me. I enjoy holding a cup of hot coffee reading the news in the morning. Expresso doesn't cut it for me.

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

#156

Post by gtvwill » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:52 PM UTC

Wonnk13 wrote: post #148

Sooo many folks here geeking out on their > $1k espresso machines and I'm just sitting here with a burr grinder and a pour over setup for coffee. What am I missing by not drinking espresso?

Caffeine, flavour. Fang a light roast, fine grind, chase those oils!

Personally tho a vacuum press makes the best mix of flays and extraction density. Just takes a bit long to smash out in the morning if your time pressed.

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

#157

Post by gnicholas » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:52 PM UTC

slt2021 wrote: post #113

I bought OneWheel XR (superseded by GT model) and my quality of life and happiness level increased tenfold. Very good electric mobility device in-around town and on trails https://onewheel.com/products/

What do you wear in terms of safety equipment?

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

#158

Post by sul4bh » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:58 PM UTC

djrockstar1 wrote: post #140

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?

lol my bad. I should read more carefully. I thought I saw $50.

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

#159

Post by slt2021 » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:58 PM UTC

gnicholas wrote: post #157

slt2021 wrote: post #113

I bought OneWheel XR (superseded by GT model) and my quality of life and happiness level increased tenfold. Very good electric mobility device in-around town and on trails https://onewheel.com/products/

What do you wear in terms of safety equipment?

I dont wear any safety gear, because (1) I dont speed, (2) I know and feel my board enough to be safe, (3) monitor battery and dont ride below 10-15%, (4) I can roll/run it out if anything happens.

but newbie riders should at least wear a helmet, and install fangs to protect themselves from nosediving. These are a must, I would say

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

#160

Post by gnicholas » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 9:58 PM UTC

M1 Macbook Air. I've been using a 2017 MBP that heats up easily, especially when plugged to an external monitor (apparently this requires use of the discrete GPU). The new MBA is always cool and the battery life is of course tremendous. I took it on a week-long vacation and charged it twice. It also has more ports (my MBP was a base model because I didn't want a TouchBar), which is very helpful.

I know the new MBPs are more powerful, and they have better connectivity. I'd love to have HDMI and SD slots, to be sure. But picked up my wife's new MBP, I'm happy to make the feature/weight tradeoff (and she's jealous of my featherlight MBA!).