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Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

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Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#581

Post by cubefox »

jrootabega wrote: post #574
modeless wrote: post #237

Gaming wireless headphones, not for gaming but for videoconferencing. Bluetooth headphones are universally terrible for videoconferencing because the Bluetooth standard sucks and requires downgrading to telephone audio quality whenever the mic is enabled. Plus terrible latency. Gaming wireless headphones that come with their own dongle completely fix these issues and are perfect for videoconferencing. Someday the Blu…

Headsets with a mic arm that auto-mutes in hardware also have the benefit that you can go to the bathroom, use the kitchen, etc. on mute, but still respond quickly if someone addresses you.

That sounds risky

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#582

Post by jrootabega »

raffraffraff wrote: post #388

Gigantic mouse mat that takes up so much space it covers half of my desk. I play FPS games. But it's soooo nice. The thing is so big my whole keyboard fits on it too.

Same here, but 51% of it is covered with miscellaneous computer junk that I'm too disorganized to find a proper place for!

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#584

Post by greggsy »

denysonique wrote: post #544
Eisenstein wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't use magnetic USB adapters. They run a decent risk of frying your device. The USB-C spec was not designed to have the connection broken in that way. You will have no issues 99% of the time, but you will eventually have that time when your device gets fried. It takes a very precise design and a lot of clever engineering to have a high-current power connector with tiny pins be able to break without having the grou…

A power-only (2 wire) magnetic USB-C cable will be as safe as prior generation magnetic USB cables (it won't be more likely to damage your device)

I’m comfortable using the round two pin charging ones for things that only use the port for charging, not data, like mice, headphones, radios and speakers.

The data ones are almost universally sketchy, as they expose pins (and sensitive internal circuitry) that should absolutely be kept away from the outside world.

There is an emerging range that reduce the exposure somewhat, but I’m still wary.

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#585

Post by jrootabega »

cubefox wrote: post #581
jrootabega wrote: post #574

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Headsets with a mic arm that auto-mutes in hardware also have the benefit that you can go to the bathroom, use the kitchen, etc. on mute, but still respond quickly if someone addresses you.

That sounds risky

Well... I still do a stealth pee + deferred flush in those scenarios.

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#586

Post by wruza »

Mouse:

A metal padded mouse with a “speed” mouse pad. It is so sensitive and easy to move that I can’t go back to a regular one anymore. Also it has rests for a thumb an a pinky. Shaped like this:

  _/—\_
I believe that mine is A4Tech T70 or a very similar. The software allows for linear movement which I also like much more than default acceleration-based.

I clipped the cord to the edge of the table, so it lies like S on the mouse pad and doesn’t scratch itself nor makes a sound.

Display:

Also I have a monitor arm - it frees so much space on the table and allows for easy monitor movement when I need to clear the table and draw on paper.

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#587

Post by unraveller »

pedrovhb wrote: post #580

Oh boy, I found/invented a tweak that I can't live without anymore. I use an MX Ergo trackball, not sure how it'd fare on a mouse, but here are the magic runes: xinput set-prop "libinput Scroll Method Enabled" 0 0 1 xinput set-prop "libinput Button Scrolling Button" 8 Where you'd change 8 to a chosen mouse button and the mouse device id to its appropriate value from `xinput list`. What this does is make it so that as…

X-Mouse for windows lets you do this and it's a godsend for RSI since most mouse manufacturers have a heavy trigger weight on the middle mouse click for some reason. There is also scrollAnywhere browser extension for similar thing.

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#588

Post by hibbelig »

hipplec wrote: post #75

I have a heating pad under my keyboard which keeps my hands warm in the winter. Was like $20 on amazon, and I can't even begin to describe how amazing it is, since I was really tired of always having a mug of hot water / tea / coffee to hold and didn't want to keep the heat on my house super high when I could just wear a sweatshirt and be fine except my fingers.

Could someone provide some link or picture? I struggle with cold hands and I have no idea what to look for :-(

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#589

Post by flir »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #194
hipplec wrote: post #75

I have a heating pad under my keyboard which keeps my hands warm in the winter. Was like $20 on amazon, and I can't even begin to describe how amazing it is, since I was really tired of always having a mug of hot water / tea / coffee to hold and didn't want to keep the heat on my house super high when I could just wear a sweatshirt and be fine except my fingers.

Is there a device that does the opposite -- something to keep your hand cool? It is getting hotter and sweaty in India.

One of those gel wrist rests, with added cooling, would be perfect. Lots of bloodflow just under the surface of the skin there. Would adding Peltier modules be a practical solution?
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