A large, dark deskpad. It marks the area of my desk where only mouse and keyboard are allowed and other detritus is prohibited. Trying to use a mouse while subconsciously shoving junk aside can be done. But it's like coding while you have to pee: you won't be fully in the flow until you fix it (no pun intended). The dark color was unexpectedly useful because it provides a clean and dark but well-lit area for scanning…
Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
341–350 of 592 posts
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#342The list could be very long, but here are a few things which I have started using lately and which have proved more useful than expected: - A dish draining rack: that's very inexpensive and I'm wasting way less time and space than before arranging dishes. - A vertical desktop file sorter: exactly the same thing, but for papers. - Thin, fingerless gloves I can type with: while this has not solved my dry hands problem…
> Monitor and speakers stands: that has bought me a lot of desk real estate. Can you share what speaker stands do you use?
I've spent countless hours weighting the pros and cons of many stand models, and this one checks all the boxes except one (you can only tilt it in one way); no other model I've seen comes close. Also, they feel very solid: I use them with the 10 kg Edifier R2000DB (awesome bookshelf speakers, BTW) and it's not moving at all.
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#343Air 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…
The current summary is that most of them are wildly inaccurate with false positives and you might just be better off checking your outdoor air quality from the EPA using their app.
Would love for someone to provide a better recommendation.
"The Best Home Air Quality Monitor for 2022 | Reviews by Wirecutter" https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-home-air-qua...
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#344A large, dark deskpad. It marks the area of my desk where only mouse and keyboard are allowed and other detritus is prohibited. Trying to use a mouse while subconsciously shoving junk aside can be done. But it's like coding while you have to pee: you won't be fully in the flow until you fix it (no pun intended). The dark color was unexpectedly useful because it provides a clean and dark but well-lit area for scanning…
But are the documents allowed on?
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#345Air 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…
Hm, I'm looking to eradicate smells from my house. Do air purifiers help getting rid of that old-house smell?
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#346Air 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…
Yeah please some specific recs. I bought one and it was useless, yes I did take the plastic off.
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#347A bunch of 1L glass bottles with wide openings so that they're easy to clean in the dishwasher - has reduced the friction to getting enough water in, and I can't remember the last time I felt that type of tiredness that comes from dehydration. BenQ ScreenBar Plus - It's just a light that goes on top of your monitor, but it makes working much more pleasant. There's probably a clone that's cheaper and does the same thi…
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#348Air 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…
Hm, I'm looking to eradicate smells from my house. Do air purifiers help getting rid of that old-house smell?
I have three.
There are a number of past threads where people discuss their enthusiasm for this model. Have a search.
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#349The Apple Watch surprised me in how much awareness of my health it generated - mainly how much and what quality sleep I was getting, but also other general signals. It helped me pay more attention and make some good health improvements. Presumably any other smart watch offers similar benefits.
If you want to stay away from the Apple ecosystem, or just don't like the aesthetics of the Apple Watch, I've found Whoop to be great for tracking sleep quality and activity. There is a monthly fee but it's minimal if you're using the data it collects. Not worth it for something passive, or if you're sedentary outside of work.
There are also some good points raised in the comments. In particular, I like this comment:
> I’m probably biased because I’ve used Polar for 20 years and Whoop for over 4 years now. I like where Polar has got to on their new Vantage products in terms of activity load, sleep, recovery etc. I started using Whoop because I was frustrated with how far behind the curve that Polar were on the V800 and I liked what Whoop were trying to do.
> Fast forward 4 years and Polar results correlate the closest with how I feel and perform and also with other recovery measurements I use e.g. HRV4Training and Elite HRV. I find Whoop the least reliable in terms of accuracy of data and also correlation with how I actually feel. I like the way Whoop presents data but I have little faith in it due to the accuracy of the sensor etc. YMMV.
That said, I like wearing a mechanical watch, and I'm not a huge fan of wearing a smartwatch, so I'd much rather wear something like the Whoop than a Polar Vantage watch or an Apple Watch. So if someone here wants to defend the Whoop and convince me the data is decent enough, I'd love that :)