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

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

#421

Post by Haegin »

Calamitous wrote: post #408
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?

I'm not the person you asked, but I switched from Kindle to Kobo when I realised I could get ebooks from my library on a Kobo. Now pretty much everything I read is from the library and I've not turned on my Kindle in well over a year.

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

#423

Post by GuB-42 »

pySSK wrote: post #382
Retr0id wrote: post #241

A subwoofer. No matter how high end your headphones, bookshelf speakers, or studio monitors are, they will never be able to punch you in the chest in quite the same way as a decently sized dedicated subwoofer. It's a night-and-day difference for listening to music and watching movies, or even just listening to human voices in youtube videos. Just, be careful not to bother your neighbours with it.

The SubPac for me. Better than a sub, doesn't bother the neighbors, and people often use the term gamechanger with it.

Oh yes, I also have a SubPac, which made me fall in love with tactile transducers aka. bass shakers.

I ended up attaching bass shakers to my chair too. Custom setup with two Reckhorn BS-200i, a cheap TDA7498E amplifier from AliExpress (more than powerful enough, and sound quality doesn't really matter), and EqualizerAPO for the software part. It cost me around $200 and a few hours for the full setup.

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

#424

Post by solarmist »

c54 wrote: post #238

The new GaN transistor power brick charger thingies. Surprisingly small with high power output means no more carrying around a huge laptop power brick. Anker sells them on amazon under the “Nano II” brand

Yes! Being able to have a single small charger that can charge everything from my laptop to my headphone in a single device has simplified my life immensely.

Similarly switching things to USB-c and having a USB charging hub in high traffic areas is huge too.

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

#425

Post by solarmist »

t-3 wrote: post #207

Wireless charger - it doesn't really save time, and I still have a ton of cables everywhere, but it totally eliminates battery anxiety and provides a surprising amount of peace of mind. Obviously, you have to have hardware that's capable of charging wirelessly, but it's becoming more common these days. Also, you never lose your phone anymore. Ebook readers - I've been using them for years, and recent models with flat…

I like the wireless chargers, but until Apple added the MagSafe to ensure your alignment was correct I wouldn't have recommended them to people.

My wife and I had too many times where we'd put our phones on the charger and in the morning realize it hadn't charged.

...not sure how that leads to never losing your phone though? I don't see the connection. How would wireless charging affect that? You still have the hardware you connect to.

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

#426

Post by indiantinker »

Logitech Keys to Go keyboard is my absolute favourite device to type on mobile devices. I thought I won’t use it a ,but I find it quite handy. Most common occasions are : traveling, siting on a park bench, waiting in Metro or Airport.

Most common tasks : Writing long email (i have this bad habit), replying/giving feedback on IM apps, Editing blog posts, Quick note taking, Transferring notes from pocket diary to digital software (Athens in my case)

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

#427

Post by solarmist »

gmays wrote: post #194

Some things for me: - A large water bottle. I don't drink enough water and this has been game changing for me. I first got a 1 gallon (which I never finished) water bottle but learned that .5 gallon is the right size and I always finish it and often refill. I'd say pick one that meets your needs, but I've tested a number and can highly recommend this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094X6N4PG/ It's easy to car…

Yes, I bought a $2 glass pitcher (~2l) from a discount store years ago.

I fill it every morning and love it.

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

#428

Post by ENGNR »

lucumo wrote: post #381
runjake wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t notice the slightest decrease in speed or any benchmark going from native 1440p to 1440p hidpi at 4K. If there is a speed decrease, I can’t notice it on an M1. I’ve seen a lot of people parrot this claim or claim it renders awfully but have yet to experience any evidence. On the contrary, it’s been glorious. Edit: if you do 1440p scaling on a 4K on macOS make damned sure you select “1440p (Hi-DPI)” other you…

Maybe the M1s are better. I have a 2019 MacBook Pro. And two external screens, maybe that makes a difference. It was especially bad after upgrading to Monterey. I don't "parrot" the claim. I've experienced the problem. It's day and night. After installing Monterey I couldn't run MS Teams on the external monitors anymore. It more or less locked up and I couldn't move the window back to the laptop screen. This was repe…

Myself and my cofounder can reproduce the exact same issue every time with each of our MBP 2019 5500’s. Another team member with a 5400 running the exact same dev environment as me has never had the issue, so there’s something funky on that model.

It’s pretty bad the Apple still denies any issue, not being able to use an external monitor at all through covid suuuuucked

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

#429

Post by sangnoir »

ddek wrote: post #303
thebean11 wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new MacBook pros can handle it

Hell, not even the pros. My work laptop is a 2019 i7 MBP, it struggles with my 4k monitor regardless of scaling. I bought the cheapest mac mini last year to see what the M1 fuss was about, and it has no problem with the 4k screen, even with scaling. Other OS's? Windows is passable until you start transitioning in and out of full screen. Linux...

My Windows games run at higher frame rates at 4k under Linux (Proton) than on Windows natively. I only had to set up the scaling once - just like I had to with Mac OS for the same monitor. Linux display issues are greatly exaggerated, IMO.

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

#430

Post by ZeroGravitas »

Kinesis Advantage Pro ergonomic keyboard.

Thumb cluster modifier keys.

Staggered Ortholinear keys.

Split, tented, cupped keywells.

Remappable key assignments.

Basically forcing you to touch type properly.

Those are all individually amazing, but together a revolution.

You can do better key remapping with software or qmk style firmware these days. There's more choice than ever for hardware variations with all or some of these features, but this was my entry point and I'll always be grateful.

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