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Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?

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281–290 of 592 posts

Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?

#281

Air purifiers and air monitors. It is shocking and disgusting how much dust and particles these air purifiers suck out of the air. The air monitors detect when to open windows for CO2, among other things. My allergies no longer exist. Edit: A few people have asked for recommendations. I recommend the Coway Airmega AP-1512HH for larger spaces and Blueair Blue Pure 411 for smaller spaces. For the air monitor I have the…

Ditto. Coway Airmega 400 for me is slick and has an integrated sensor

Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?

#283

A whole house steam humidifier, if you live in cold climates. That feeling you have getting off a plane in a tropical zone, escaping the winter; you can bring that home. Sinus and allergy issues go down, mucus membranes stay healthy, and skin stops cracking.

Humidity kicks dust mites into hyper breeding mode, so not great if you have a dust mite allergy. I like to keep my home dry.

Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?

#285

There are three, maybe four. The 3, from least to most important, are: 1) My kneeling chair. Between the pandemic and a new job started a few months before, I am at my desk more than ever. I wondered about the ~acute angle between legs and torso in a regular chair, so I borrowed a kneeling chair from a friend. I figured I'd go easy on it/me and use it for just 15 minutes at a time at first. After a quarter hour or so…

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Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?

#286
post #95

A 2560x1440 monitor running at its 1:1 native resolution. The screen real estate improvement over 1080p is substantial. You get so much more vertical space and you can easily fit 4 side by side code windows at 80 chars. At 24" or 25" the PPI is also quite nice for reading text. I wrote up a very big monitor selection guide at https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/how-to-pick-a-good-monitor-fo... , I try to keep it up to dat…

3440x1440 for me. I own 3. Amazing for gaming AND working.

Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?

#287

Herman Miller Aeron (Remastered). It's a hefty price if you look at 'regular' chairs, but once you have had one for a while, you can't go back to anything else. The amount of time you spend in that chair is insane. So, naturally, that, and whatever it takes to get good sleep. Also, a Logitech MX Master 2S, again because I use it all day, every day. They tend to become a bit stiffer over time it seems like, so I've ha…

Aeron: seconded. When I started WFH I was using a cheap Ikea chair, not designed for programmer's hours. My wife insisted I get a much better chair. The Aeron was not cheap, especially shipped, but the difference is night and day.

Three weeks after I got mine, my wife got one for herself :)

Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?

#288
post #242

It's a fairly recent buy so I don't know how much impact it'll have, but I'm quite happy with my new keyboard without numeric keypad (they're also sold as "tenkeyless"). I never use the numpad, so this means my mouse is closer to my body and it's all more ergonomic.

My son has one. I hate typing on his keyboard when he needs my help, especially when I help him doing his math homework. You see I use the numeric keypad a lot on that hence the hate for his "tenkeyless" in that case. But he hates my large keyboard when he needs my computer, so that balances out, hihi. Each to their own I guess

Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?

#289

The switch from a mechanical HDD to a SDD was the biggest gain in performance I've seen from any piece of hardware. I still remember the time when HDDs were the norm and the agony of waiting on loading/accessing something from disk was real.

I cannot agree more. This switch breathed new life into my home ( Windows 10 ) computer. If only i did it with a larger drove though... Im atruggling through my system drive on a 90gb ssd...

this is waaaaaay too small. you can definitely afford something larger now

Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?

#290
post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe tangential, but would most folks be likely to discern the difference vs. a glass French press? Most drip coffeemakers I’ve used are both more expensive and make worse coffee (not to mention harder to clean), so I’ve largely given up on the category, but admittedly haven’t done proper research in quite a while.

I have yet to find a French press without plastic components that contact the brew.

They make metal ones
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