Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

401–410 of 592 posts

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

#401

Post by Cr0s »

bredren wrote: post #355
Cr0s wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bothering other people bit is what i feel is mostly stopping me from using anything but a headset. I do have experience with subwoofers and there is a certain joy when they hit you, but the thought of the whole neighbourhood hearing my excellent taste in music bothers me somewhat.

Have you looked into bass shakers? They are popular in home theatre enthusiast and driving / flight simulator crowds. Still niche, but can provide the sensation of heavy bass with near silent sound. I have a project integrating a wireless shaker system into the Herman Miller embody.

Damn, I completely forgot about those. Any recommendations?

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

#402

Post by owenversteeg »

Someone here mentioned a flashlight, so I'll mention what's by far the best headlamp I've ever bought, and I've tried a lot - the Nitecore NU25. Red LEDs, white LEDs, high-CRI LED, and it weighs under an ounce (although the headband adds 0.7 oz or so.)

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

#403

Post by palmeida »

j4yav wrote: post #67

The 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.

Recommendations for apps to track sleep ? Preferably without subscription but just a one time payment. Petty Apple does not provide a sleep tracking app.

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

#404

Post by leobg »

logicalmonster wrote: post #125

Open ear headphones that use what they describe as bone conduction technology really added some value to my life. It's tough to go running in normal headphones because you can't hear danger (cars, animals, people, etc) but it's a lot easier to push yourself with some good background music. This gives the best of both worlds.

Any type of these that’s good for listening to audiobooks in bed? I find in ear headphones to be easily uncomfortable when you’re lying on your side.

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

#405

Post by Cr0s »

BuckRogers wrote: post #399
Cr0s wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read your monitor selection guide and one thing that stood out to me was the distance you need to have from you monitor. Completely overlooked that one when I made my first upgrade to a larger monitor and it definitely lowered my use of that monitor. Sometimes i found myself using my second, older monitor more since the distance was more comfortable.

Which sizes were used there? I prefer 24” by a wide margin. Whatever resolution I have to accept at that size I will. I find myself moving my head around and moving my eyes around the screen too much with 27”+.

I cannot remember of the top of my head what the size was, but the problem was that it was around an arms length away from me and I had to move my head/eyes too much when using it. After that, checking how much space i have for my desktop became something I was much more conscious about. Before that it was just: this new monitor me like, me buy.

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

#406

Post by thewebcount »

fortran77 wrote: post #196

I remember when my husband brought a TiVo 1.0 to the house and hooked it up. This was 1999. I didn't understand why I'd need one. Within a few days, I couldn't live without it. I could pause Live TV, and watch shows when I wanted to. I can't imagine any other way. When I see my 88 year old mother watching "live" TV, I get frustrated. The second piece of hardware that was a "game changer" was a Toto Neorest toilet. No…

I was going to say this same thing about the TiVo and then later AppleTV. I thought the TiVo looked cool, but I was like, “eh, I have a VCR. It’s good enough.” But doing stuff to live TV was incredible. And being able to find things by searching with an interface instead of looking things up in TV Guide or whatever, was also great. Instead of thinking, “I wonder what’s on at 7:30 tonight?” it became, “I wonder if anyone’s showing StarGate this week.” It was a world of difference.

Downloading commercial-free shows on the original AppleTV was also awesome, and then once streaming started, there was no going back for me.

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

#407

Post by solarmist »

yokto wrote: post #251

My ZSA Moonlander keyboard [1]. When I bought it, I was just looking for a sleeker and more ergonomic keyboard with a split design, but the ability to easily reconfigure every key on the layout brought a new meaning to the word "ergonomic" for me. It means that when a particular motion or shortcut that I frequently use is puts too much strain on my hands, I can simply change the layout to make the keys more natural t…

This seems like a low-profile version of the ultimate hacking keyboard.

https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/

I'd be interested to see a comparison between the UHK, Moonlander, and Dygma Rise. They all seem to be converging on the same design principles.

I agree, though; having a good split keyboard has been a requirement for me since I first got the original MSFT natural keyboard.

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

#408

Post by Calamitous »

drakonka wrote: post #160

* An ereader (Kindle, now Kobo) * Stadler Form George air washer. Not a full on humidifier, but does help keep humidity up in my dry bedroom. Also judging by the state of the water during my weekly cleaning it really does help to "clean" the air somewhat. * More recently, a high quality drying rack (inspired by the drying rack article linked here a few weeks ago). Helps me keep humidity up in my apartment and prevent…

I’m curious why you switched from kindle to kobo? I’ve used a few kindles over the years, what does the kobo offer that’s better?

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

#409

Post by MarkusWandel »

Years ago of course, but the original Core 2 Duo CPU (a Desktop E6300 in my case). Fast, power efficient and came with a nearly silent CPU cooler. Being able to assemble a (then) fast deskside machine that you could hardly hear was radical.

Even earlier, the Canon EOS 300D "Digital Rebel" SLR. Single-handedly restored the joy in photography after a detour through early, limited digital cameras.

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

#410

Post by asciimov »

A tiling window manager. I settled on dwm. It helps me utilize more of my monitor. Gone are the days of overlaying windows, everything is front and center, and on it's own virtual desktop.

A non-mechanical keyboard. I moved off of cherry style switches, and went with a topre clone. For me, the cherry mechanism makes too much noise when keys return back up. For me it was high pitched noise. A much more thocky keyboard actually keeps me from having noise induced headaches on heavy typing days.

Blue light reduction apps on phones, tablets, and monitor and blue light reduction coating on glasses. This removed a ton of eyestrain. Yes, my phone and iPad now have a reddish brown hue to them, but most of the time, I don't care. I hardly notice it anymore unless I use my partners device.

A color accurate monitor (with a good reader/blue light reduction mode). Having a monitor that wasn't close to having correct colors, even across the panel was maddening. Old LCD monitors are the worst. I don't need color correctness all the time, so the monitor needs a good mode to turn down the blueness. Having a setting in the monitor makes it a breeze to switch back and forth as needed.

Post reply on HN