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Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

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Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#551

Post by sngz »

robotnikman wrote: post #414
trynewideas wrote: post #294

A one-hour shopping session with a personal stylist, at about $175. I desperately wanted to break out of my t-shirt/blue jeans habit, but parsing clothes sizes, trying things on, and getting opinions is equal parts sorcery and torture for me. (I'd tried Stitch Fix and felt like it wanted to reinforce my habits rather than break me out of them.) After sending her details about my problems and the kinds of styles I adm…

Just looked up stitch fix to see what that was since I never heard of it. First results include news stories of the CEO stepping down and laying off 20% of its workforce in the last 24 hours. Ouch.

its not personalized. Funny story. My wife tried it out one time, and we went to meet up with a friend who we haven't seen in 5 years who just came back from working in Japan. The friend and my wife have vastly different body types, hair colors, height and style. Guess who ended up matching exactly in clothing for the night?

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#552

Post by dmcginty »

A few of my favorites:

There's a set of string lights in my apartment that were left installed when I moved in. They look pretty nice and they provide decent illumination in an area that's difficult to light, but I virtually never used them because I needed to plug them into an outlet in order to turn them on. I finally bought a device that goes between the plug and outlet with a cord to a pushbutton switch. I now use the lights daily and I have no idea why it took me 6 years to fix a problem that could be solved for around $10.

A bluetooth OBD2 monitor for my car. It can read engine codes and other diagnostics, and it can clear a lot of check engine warnings. It less than a single visit to a mechanic.

This one is way less general, but I finally bought a treadle feeder for our chickens. There were several bird flu scares over the past year and our old open-tube feeder would attract a ton of wild birds (plus the occasional rat). The treadle feeder requires the chickens to stand on a treadle which opens a cover over their feed, and they learned how to use it pretty quickly. I'm amazed at how effective it's been; we're going through significantly less chicken feed now because the wild birds were eating nearly as much as our chickens were.

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#553

Post by Retric »

hasbot wrote: post #508
holy_diver wrote: post #209

A bidet. We got one with heated water and seats and going to the bathroom feels super luxurious now. Not to mention all the toilet paper we save and increased hygiene.

Reddit loves bidets. Has for years. Based on all the glowing comments, I bought one and installed it. Even after some practice and experimentation, I wasn't clean nor felt clean. Plus, the bidet added numerous crannies for urine spray to accumulate. I went back to wiping and discarded the bidet.

There’s a wide range of how effective they are. Some people are happy with cheap toilet seat attachments but there’s a reason people spend significantly more on expensive toilets.

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#554

Post by foruhar »

I bought a 30x magnifying glass with LED lighting for $16 on Amazon. I didn't know I needed it but I now use it daily.

I find the magnifier super handy to grab for reading tiny print on things like USB chargers. My reading glasses don't help in such cases even if I happen to be wearing them. I have 40x one too put it's more like jeweler's loupe with a very short focal length so less useful on a day to day basis.

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#555

Post by twoWhlsGud »

Prescription sunglasses with photochromic lenses. (Under $200 at Costco if you can find a sunglass frame there that fits you.) Like most people I had written off photochromic lens technology decades ago (too slow to respond to light changes). But the current generation is much better (they've gone through something like eight of them by now) and I do a lot of utility cycling in the Pacific Northwest. And that means that you can go through everything from bright sunlight (OK maybe not bright by most peoples' standards :-) to overcast to darkness in a trip to the grocery store. Having a single pair of glasses that can take me through all of those conditions is surprisingly liberating.

One limitation to be aware of is that the material in the lenses responds to ultraviolet light. Which means that they really only work outdoors. So you're still going to need a separate pair of sunglasses for driving.

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#556

Post by Natsu »

kepler1 wrote: post #463
holy_diver wrote: post #209

A bidet. We got one with heated water and seats and going to the bathroom feels super luxurious now. Not to mention all the toilet paper we save and increased hygiene.

Problem here is getting electrical to your toilet location? I was thinking about that too, but I didn't feel like making the leap to hiring an electrician to install / create a new outlet there.

I use something called a Tushy. It's purely mechanical. Downside is it's not heated, but that's proven fine for me. Took me about 15 minutes to install and I'm no plumber. No leaks, though I did have to check for them during install and tighten things a bit to get it right.

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#557

Post by jonahkagan »

anthomtb wrote: post #433
orm wrote: post #169

Instant Pot. Can be used as a rice cooker, slow cooker, pressure cooker (mostly known for this last use) Though probably not as good for rice specifically as an actual high-end rice cooker, it greatly increased the range of foods I eat. Makes it easy to make nice one pot meals overnight for multiple days, you can make really good broth soups from chickens etc quickly, or slowly if you prefer. If you like to try tough…

InstantPot is fantastic. It is the only way I have made brown rice which matches the quality of my local Thai restaurant.

What's your brown rice approach? I've tried a few diff ones I've found online but none have turned out amazing

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#558

Post by [deleted] »

hughw wrote: post #525

For $99 at Target we bought a mattress warmer with a timer just as the Bomb Cyclone dropped our temps to 10°F. Most effective $99 I've ever spent -- our Texas house cannot stay above 60°F in that weather. Someday the same product will be controlled by a Home API and your phone and BTLE and cost $99/year for the app, but for now it has escaped the relentless march of "progress".

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#559

Post by twoWhlsGud »

foruhar wrote: post #554

I bought a 30x magnifying glass with LED lighting for $16 on Amazon. I didn't know I needed it but I now use it daily. I find the magnifier super handy to grab for reading tiny print on things like USB chargers. My reading glasses don't help in such cases even if I happen to be wearing them. I have 40x one too put it's more like jeweler's loupe with a very short focal length so less useful on a day to day basis.

Sounds useful! In a pinch many cell phones have a macro capability that can substitute for a magnifying lens– something to keep in mind when you don't have a magnifier.

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#560

Post by lawlorino »

stevekemp wrote: post #93

I'm gonna go against the grain here and list non-technical things! I bought some new plants for my home, which makes the place feel a lot nicer. I bought some outdoor-trousers - things that go on top of your jeans - when it is cold they keep me warm, and I can now roll around in the snow without getting wet as a nice bonus. (-10°C here today). That said it was only a couple of weeks ago that I came out of a sauna and…

Hi from another Brit living in Helsinki! In the same spirit as your trousers (toppahousut?) this year I bought myself a pair of Icebug boots for handling the icy footpaths after last winter’s horror show. Best purchase I’ve made this year I think.
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