This bike multitool. When not biking, it kinda doubles as a fidget toy for me.
https://tacticagear.com/products/m-110-bike-multitool?varian...
Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2023
41–50 of 208 posts
Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2023
#42A subscription to Waking Up: wakingup.com
His approach to meditation is just so much better than any other I’ve found. It’s actually in inquiry into your mind instead of just “look now you’re calm!”
The Alan Watts series also has been amazing. I’ll admit I was reflexively offput by Watts just given his pop culture popularity, but wow he has some incredible ideas shared in a really remarkable way. Well-earned popularity.
Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2023
#43Canon selfy CP1500 (photo printer). For the colors, the lamination and the software. It's significantly better than competitors' (I use it to match colors when oil painting and Im picky like an engineer). My guess is that competitors have the same HW tech ("4pass thermic sublimation") but not the software and/or color sensors thing.
I've got a Selphy too, they're really good, kind of curious why they don't use black as an additional colour though (maybe it wouldn't make much difference?).
Would also be nice to have larger versions too.
Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2023
#44A KVM switch with HDMI and USB, makes switching from personal and work computer so much easier
Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2023
#45A natural daylight alarm clock made my mornings a lot more tolerable (I'm up at 5am)
I won't recommend a brand though, while the Philips SmartSleep has nice color and smooth gradients, its so basic it doesn't even have a backup battery
Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2023
#46Noise canceling wireless earbuds. I’ve had both a Jabra and a Beats… very happy with both. Nice for blocking out noise. No messy cables, can use with any device… I was skeptical, I liked my corded headphones fine. Just turns out these sound better and are way more useful for me.
I've had noise canceling headphones for a while now, and I love using them in flights, but somehow I could never get to use it all the time to focus like some of my friends do. I am definitely not an expert in this area, and I have no evidence to argue for this, but somehow it feels like actively producing sounds to cancel out the noise and blasting it into your ear all day (i.e., when noise cancellation is on) can't…
Theoretically the sounds they produce cancel out the noise before either sound wave reaches your ear. I know some people experience some discomfort due to pressure changes, but the volume of the noise cancellation shouldn't be an issue by itself.
Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2023
#47A Steelcase Leap V2, $150 (and 90 minute round trip pickup) using Facebook Marketplace. I probably got a little bit lucky, but it is definitely worth checking for things like this.
Also, a shout out to my friend who let me try his for 30 minutes since I couldn’t in a store.
Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2023
#48Hands down my choice is the Pinecil soldering iron: https://pine64.com/product/pinecil-smart-mini-portable-solde... It's less than $50, it runs FOSS (IronOS) so you own it, and it can be powered by USB or by via a barrel jack so it's ding dang handy.
Why does a soldering iron need an OS? I read the product page and I think I’m still missing something.
Most likely a RTOS, not a real OS.
Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2023
#49CO2 Monitor to let me know when I need to let some new air into my office. Mine is a TFA Dostmann 31.5009, but any model with an NDIR sensor should be fine, there are many choices around 70-150 EUR.
CO2 poisoning is very common. It leads to fatigue, headaches/migranes and concentration issues. Most people don't recognize it and try to cope with caffeine & pain killers. I noticed that sitting in a tightly closed office surrounded by monitors , CO2 was being trapped around me . I started testing with blood oxygen monitor and could reliably predict low blood O2 based on the above symptoms. tl;dr keep your door and/…
Keeping door and windows open while it's very cold or very hot outside can lead to extremely high heating/air conditioning bills. Meanwhile, high quality energy recovery ventilators that can exchange air with the outside without ruining your insulation tend to be a lot more than $200.
Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2023
#50This box cutter tool, which is https://a.co/d/aOxoVOp . It makes opening packages so much easier. It doesn’t have a blade, so it’s much safer to use than scissors or a knife.
> https://a.co/d/aOxoVOp
Plain URL for the more cautious/suspicious people :)