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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?

#431

Post by solarmist »

A reverse osmosis water filter and a cheap glass pitcher.

I've found that I'm pretty sensitive to the taste of water (good and bad). I don't mind the water in many places, but it can be very hit or miss. Over the years, the amount of water I would drink tended to change quite a bit from location to location.

Instead, I use a reverse osmosis water filter to get completely neutral water every time I know there isn't anything reducing the amount of water I drink.

It's HUGELY affected the amount of water I drink over soda, milk, tea, etc.

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

#432

Post by sowbug »

zmower wrote: post #332

An ISO stick. Looks like a DVD player to the OS but loads ISO images off a micro SD card. So I have lots of images in a USB stick form factor that are read much faster than a real DVD drive does.

Not sure if this is what you meant, but Ventoy (https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html) turns almost any USB drive into one of these.

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

#433

Post by nonplus »

asciimov wrote: post #410

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…

Obligatory reply about linear (silent) cherry switches existing but mostly here to say I'm glad you found a keyboard you like. I think that's the takeaway I try to give people on input devices. Just get something you like and don't worry about what everyone else likes.

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

#434

Post by bredren »

Cr0s wrote: post #401
bredren wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I am still at the design stage, but I am looking at something like:

- AuraSound AST-2B-4 Pro Bass Shaker Tactile Transducer

- Nobsound Mini Bluetooth 5.0 Power Amplifier

- TalentCell Rechargeable 12V 3000mAh Lithium ion Battery Pack

My biggest concerns are custom mounting of the transducer(s). Not sure where will give the best effect without damaging the chair.

My goal is for it to be wireless, splitting bluetooth audio into channels for AirPods Max and this receiver.

Concern there is I don't know what the latency will be like, or if I'll need to introduce delay into say the headphones channel. I have a few of the Rogue Amoeba tools, including Loopback that I'm planning to bring into the mix if necessary. Another idea is to separate the amp and BT receiver, getting something more professional like the Fiio BTR5.

The MVP should probably just be a wired connection to the chair, so maybe that can prove the mounting and potential first.

That's where I am at. But I have the same concerns as you, I don't want loud I have great headphones, just more immersion and more bass feel.

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

#435

Post by AussieWog93 »

rdtwo wrote: post #138
o_o_O_o_O_O wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a particular whetstone grit you would recommend?

Get a sharpton 1000grit. The cheap king stones are really soft and are kind of a pain to learn on.

I actually have a cheap King stone (the 1000/6000 combo), but parent is right.

1000 grit gets you more than sharp enough for daily use while still being coarse enough to fix up a well-maintained knife in about 20-30 strokes per side.

Higher grits make the knives too sharp, to the point where they're dangerous to handle, especially if you're cooking drunk/tired. (That's not to say I never use it, but it's always for fun at that point).

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

#436

Post by bredren »

It is a bit of a combo, but the Blackmagic eGPU was way underrated and slept on.

I use the standard Blackmagic eGPU. But the Pro, Vega 56, (which was removed from sale) still offers the greatest __Apple supported__ graphics performance available for non-pro macs. IIRC, the most beefcake macbook pros don't beat performance on that Apple-supported eGPU that only runs with Intel machines.

There were many voices saying the dollars per performance weren't there, but they did not take into account the silent design and excellent stability of those products. Nor that there would be such a long wait for any officially supported alternative to get graphics to the Mini.

I started with a 4k but then went up to the XDR Pro Display on the 2018 Mac Mini. It remains a monster setup in a small, near-silent footprint.

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

#437

Post by seanw444 »

sangnoir wrote: post #429
ddek wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I was gonna say "Linux... what?" I have the least issues with any hardware on Linux compared to other systems. Monitors are no exception. And if something doesn't work out of the box, you have options, rather than just being SOL with other systems.

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

#438

Post by Havoc »

vsgzusnex wrote: post #343
parkingrift wrote: post #233

Air 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…

While air purifiers are a great idea I just want to put a warning out there about the current state of air monitors. 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 Wirecu…

>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.

That's partially missing the point of air monitors. In most western countries the risk is less outside smog etc and more what you get up to. Fry some bacon and suddenly you're at 20x the recommended values.

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

#439

Post by peteri »

Aeolun wrote: post #301
peteri wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree with this, I have mine(2x27" 4K) running in the same scaled way and I really miss it when I go back to the office with a crappy three screen 1080p setup.

Can’t get the same monitors for the office? I always try to get the company to pay for me of course, but I have no patience for suboptimal equipment any more, so I’ll buy it myself if I have to.

Last time I asked the answer was no (which is annoying) but that is because IT don't want to support a special setup.

I may try pushing for a monitor refresh again once we go back to the office.

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

#440

Post by dijit »

lucumo wrote: post #252
clarkdave wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried a lot of different monitor setups for productivity - ranging from three 24" 4k displays to a single 49" ultrawide, and ultimately have found the best setup for me is dual 27" 4ks, each running at a "scaled" 2560x1440. MacOS in particular does an excellent job of rendering 2560x1440 to a 4K screen, and the increased DPI over a regular 1440p 27" screen is very noticeable. Another option if you're not a fan o…

> MacOS in particular does an excellent job of rendering 2560x1440 to a 4K screen, and the increased DPI over a regular 1440p 27" screen is very noticeable. MacOS in particular gets amazingly slow when you don't use a 1:1 or 2:1 scaling. I too have have two 27" 4k screens and they made the machine unbearably slow. It got so bad that I now treat them as 1440p screens and let the screens do the scaling. It's not pretty…

My Mac is unusably slow sometimes. I think this is the reason. I will try using native sizes and see if it improves. Thank you for this tip
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