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Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

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Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#301

Post by enobrev »

sumedh wrote: post #242
enobrev wrote: post #201

Headphones: While Working at My Desk: Bose Noise Cancelling 700. Life-changing for me. While Working with Powertools: The ISOTunes SafeMax. Absolutely excellent for protecting my ears and they sound great when playing music through them. Slippers: Gecko-Man. The arch-support was very necessary. Turns out spending an entire year in regular slippers was bad for my feet. Bread Book: "Flour Water Salt Yeast". I've baked…

> Chair: Herman Miller Has anyone done a blind test between a genuine Herman Miller and a knock off or another similar chair. I suspect people say its good just because of the brand name.

I've used quite a few office chairs over the years - mostly in the $200-$300 range, and before I decided to buy the Embody, I went to the Design In Reach store to try it out. I'm 6'6", so making sure I could actually fit in the thing was essential. I tried out the Embody and the Aaron and a few others.

It is legitimately a high-quality chair. I've had mine for three years now and it's absolutely solid. By this time with other chairs I'm generally starting to shop around again due to discomfort, or pieces falling off, or the hydraulics not working as well, or squeaks and creaks.

When it arrived there was no need to put it together. It just rolled out of the box fully assembled. The arm rests and back still adjust as smoothly as the day it arrived. No squeaks or creaks. And that warranty is hard to beat.

I'm not one to chase brands, by a long shot. But HM absolutely nailed it with this chair (imo).

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#302

Post by nunez »

bunana wrote: post #278

Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy rice cooker. So far I've only had it for ~2 months, but I really enjoy it. Although rice is a big part of my diet, I didn't know a "high-end" rice cooker existed until I wanted to upgrade the tiny 3-cup Imusa cooker I've had through college. I suppose I'll have to see if the thing stands the test of time (the reviews suggest it should!), but for now, the consistency and quality it provides has m…

Rice cookers save SO MUCH TIME and produce perfect rice every time!

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#303

Post by eknkc »

Robot Vacuum (Roborock S6): I always thought they were some gimmick. No. Should have bought one much earlier.

M1 MBA: I ditched Apple hardware a year ago after their pretty crappy macbook pro lines. This thing is great and the hype is real.

OneWheel: Always wanted to try. It is extremely fun but I’m too old to recover broken bones fast so I got rid of it.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#304

Post by atatatat »

skrtskrt wrote: post #259
silicon2401 wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> cast iron skillet Personally I think these are a waste of money unless you live in a house. Trying to season one of these smoked up our apartment for hours. Apparently we didn't do it right because it's still sticky even with oil, but there's no way we're going through the headache again until we have a house.

I am about to move into a new-construction apartment in California which means no gas stove. Ditched my cast iron in anticipation because the one I have has a rough bottom that would definitely scratch up the glass cook top of the electric stove. Since I ditched the cast iron, honestly haven't seen much of a difference in how well I can cook things using a regular nonstick pan - my main use is cooking/frying up chick…

> would definitely scratch up the glass cook top of the electric stove.

I'm imagining the size of your phone case right now.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#305

Post by johnvaluk »

tomlagier wrote: post #231
silicon2401 wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> cast iron skillet Personally I think these are a waste of money unless you live in a house. Trying to season one of these smoked up our apartment for hours. Apparently we didn't do it right because it's still sticky even with oil, but there's no way we're going through the headache again until we have a house.

You can just use it like a normal, heavy duty pan. The difference in use and flavor between seasoned and unseasoned is pretty minor, IMO. The real advantage is that they're so cheap relative to their utility. They heat evenly and stand up to incredible abuse at a fraction of the cost of a normal pan.

Note that seasoning cast iron has nothing to do with flavor. It refers to the coating that develops after seasons of use. The primary benefit is that it prevents rust. A very nice side effect is that food tends to stick to it less. Seasoning is best accomplished in a controlled environment, but it's also fine to just start using it (with oil) and lightly clean without soap after use. Eventually, it might start to develop a useful coating in key areas.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#306

Post by dragosmocrii »

bambax wrote: post #54

- Arturia Keystep 37, excellent MIDI keyboard with many features - Bafang 750W motor to transform a regular bike into an electric one - Panasonic Lumix Gx80, small M43 camera with interchangeable lenses; super cheap now because it's already 4 years old, and still great; the basic lens that usually come with it is crap, go for either the Olympus 17mm 2.8 (used only, about $100-150) or the 1.8 (around $400 new)

A friend converted his 26" bike with the Bafang 1KW motor, and that thing is a beast. Definitely not street legal, as it can reach speeds of 80km/h, but a lot of fun

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#307

Post by m4tthumphrey »

Peloton bike+ - I got suckered into the hype but 84 rides in 9 weeks and it truly does live up to it

Garmin Fenix 5 - Ok this was actually 4 years ago but still it was first to mind

Hive heating - Again, 6 years ago, but my partner and I use this all the time through the colder months. Being able to control the heating from your phone when you're an hour away from home is delightful

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#309

Post by ricardobayes »

nunez wrote: post #282

The AirPods Max have been incredible for music and Zoom calls. The Tesla Model 3 is an amazing car that completely ruins all other cars for me. I can't imagine driving anything else right now. The MacBook Air M1 really does live up to the hype. You can do all-day Zooms on this thing and still have battery to spare. This was impossible on my Intel MacBook Pro. The Air is also insanely fast. It's literally the perfect…

Solid picks but I just can't justify 650€ for headphones that are arguably worse than a midrange Sennheiser. If you want to enjoy lossless audio just grab a HD58X for 160 bucks (re-run of the mighty Sennheiser HD580 from 1995).

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#310

Post by User23 »

Jakobeha wrote: post #128

Material goods: Ear plugs (silicone). Don't waste your money on noise-cancelling headphones, I have $200 ones and they don't compare to simple ear plugs. If you live in a moderately noisy area and you want peace and quiet, get them. They basically just make everything quiet. 24 from CVS = $10. OpenMove by Aftershokz - Bone-conduction headphones. Perfect for running and just good for listening to music. They work, the…

A pleasant property of the cast iron skillet is that I can preheat it to an exact temperature in the oven. To make popcorn I drop some ghee in it and put it in and set the preheat to 450. The second the oven comes to temperature I pull it out, put it on medium high add the corn and cover and shake occasionally. Usually have from zero to at most five unpopped kernels this way.

The preheat in the oven trick is good for steaks too.

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