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Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

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Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#591

Post by agentgt »

I have been recently optimizing some of my wardrobe:

Darn Tough socks! Seriously life is too short to have clammy feet. Yes they are expensive but they last forever.

Carhartt USA made therma lined hoodies are also awesome. I have had one for 17 years and wore it all the time before hoodies became fashionable. To be honest all of their stuff is great for the price if you can get over looking like a construction worker.

Icebreakers shifter pants. The best sweat pants. Speaking of wool.. Duckworth wool has some good properly treated USA sheep. Icebreakers is better but Duckworth is USA made.

Music:

Cambridge Audio DAC magic plus. Expensive but seems to work great.

Cooking:

Lodge Cast Iron Skillets. Once you learn how to cook on cast iron skillets you will replace many pans in your kitchen with them.

Char‑Griller Akorn Kamado Kooker. The best charcoal grill for the money. You can cook everything on it. Pizza, sear steak at 800 degrees and slow cook pulled pork for 18 hours+ on a single load of charcoal.

Thermoworks Thermapen thermometer. The best cooking thermometer you absolutely should buy.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#592

Post by secfirstmd »

dcw303 wrote: post #209

The Casio F-91W Digital wrist watch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F-91W Keeps better time than a Rolex, and is a fraction of the price. Waterproof. Has an alarm, stopwatch, and timer; all things missing from traditional wind ups. Interface is easy to use and discover. The battery last almost forever. Now, if you're asking if it's aesthetically pleasing, that's a different story. But we were talking about design…

They are a brilliant watch. I've hard two of those watches that have covered most of my life.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#593

Post by DonHopkins »

joncalhoun wrote: post #569
i_don_t_know wrote: post #317

The ancient microwave in my first apartment. It had two knobs: one for time, one for power. It's immediately obvious how to cook something for how long, how to add more time, etc. All other microwaves that I've used I had to have someone explain to me what buttons to press in what order to do even the simplest things. And I've never seen anyone use all of those fancy buttons.

All those buttons and not a single one to mute the microwaves beeping noises. It would really be handy when others are sleeping.

Now they have bluetooth and chromecast and webcams, so you can play the beeping noises on the stereo speakers of your home media center, and watch your food cook on your giant flat screen TV.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#594

Post by soylentcola »

FreakyT wrote: post #571
soylentcola wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Just bought a 2011 Sport manual last month. I do mostly city driving and don't typically carry more than one passenger so I was kicking around the idea of a small pickup so I'd have the ability to carry around things like my PA system or camping gear or grab large items at the Depot, etc. instead of renting a pickup/van. The problem is that there don't seem to really be many light pickups made anymore (like the…

Yep, I have a 2012 Fit Sport Manual. The Honda transmission is generally great overall, much easier to shift than my friend's Camaro IMO.

Have you had to replace the coil packs yet? That's the maintenance thing I mentioned having to deal with. Seems to be a common issue and I actually suggested it to my mechanic when I started getting rare, intermittent cylinder misfire codes after a few weeks.

To the mechanic's credit, they didn't want to replace them off the bat because they couldn't reproduce the issue and they had me drive for another week to see if it threw the error code again. Of course it did and when I brought it back the second time they swapped the coils and all has been right since.

It just seemed like a common issue when I searched for the OBD-II code online and I guess I just added another data point.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#595

Post by patrickk »

baby wrote: post #538
rkangel wrote: post #364

Google Chromecast Takes a quite complicated set of things going on (control signals from phone, data signals from internet), and turns them into a seamless intuitive experience. I find the initial setup process particularly excellent. Getting a device with no user input onto a wifi network would normally be a nightmare, but the magic they do with setting up a temporary access point on the device is excellent.

I find myself never using them other than to watch youtube. What do people use it for? Why can't I buy something to just stream my screen? Like the steam link but for everything. Not just steam.

You can drag and drop a local file into a Chrome tab and play it on Chromecast. You can basically stream anything in a Chrome tab, e.g. open an online stream on your laptop and stream it to the Chromecast in full screen, useful for e.g. sports streaming websites or national broadcasters. Useful when you're lazy and don't want to hook up a long HDMI cable to your laptop.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#597

Post by ksec »

Looking at all the replies I realize how everyone seems to have one thing or two that really love and remember. It is a little worrying for me because I dont seems to be perfectly satisfies with any.

The only thing I am perfectly happy with (so far) is Cutlery from MUji.

Everything else are either too big, Air Con, Air Purifier, Dehumidifier, why cant these be combined together? How many boxes and STB do I need hanging out of my TV? Why cant it be ONE. Cooker, Microwave / Oven that is not easy to use or clean. Dyson that is good at suction power but plastic and ugly. Heck Even Kettle, I wanted a Crystal Clear Glass Kettle with a handle that last longer instead of its plastic handle getting greasy and sticky after 3 - 4 years.

May be I am just too picky?

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#598

Post by Aqwis »

nailer wrote: post #326
kampsduac wrote: post #165

I really enjoy my aeropress ( https://aerobie.com/product/aeropress/ ) coffee press. The modern take on a French press, price, and availability on Amazon made me realize anybody can have a great idea, print it in plastic, and sell it to people - arriving two days later. Plus the coffee that comes out is dope.

It's really not a take on a French press. An aero press imparts flavour through forcing water through the grounds, a French press imparts favour trough immersion then you push down to remove the grounds.

I disagree: try comparing pressing immediately after pouring water into the Aeropress versus pouring after waiting for 20-30 seconds or so. (If you press immediately you're going to end up with some really week coffee.) The pressure helps but most of the extraction is due to immersion even in an Aeropress. Most people who use the upside-down Aeropress method seem to let it brew for even longer, up to two minutes.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#599

Post by bungle »

simonpantzare wrote: post #578
bungle wrote: post #504

Fiskars Axes: http://www.fiskars.eu/products/gardening/axes/splitting-axe-... Barbour Jackets: http://www.barbour.com/eu/categories/mens/waxed-jackets/barb... Camper Shoes: https://www.camper.com/en_FI/men/shoes/peu/camper-peu-17665-... Stihl Chainsaws: http://www.stihl.com/STIHL-power-tools-A-great-range/Chainsa... Genelec Speakers: http://www.genelec.com/8351 Desktops: Mac Pro 1st Generation Laptops: Macbook Pro Ph…

Speaking of axes. I can vouch for Gränsfors bruk ( https://www.gransforsbruk.com/en/ ). I grew up in the same, small village and until recently I didn't know that they were known internationally for their craftwork. They are one of few businesses that still thrive in the region, supposedly because they stuck to producing quality goods instead of like most other businesses, switch to mass-production. The masters (it t…

I agree, those look awesome. I have done some hand forging, so I do understand how much effort goes to make those axe heads. They also look stunning beautiful. Great craftmanship. Fiskars' axes on the other hand are pretty awesome in their own right. It's hard to compare handcrafted tools to Fiskars. I would prefer to use Gränsfors, although they are probably too good for me — do I have a right to use such a great tool?! On the other hand, I have little to complain about Fiskars. Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#600

Post by toomanybeersies »

More Knives (http://morakniv.se/en/). They're super ergonomic, really hard wearing, and great steal. And best of all, they're about 1/4 the price of any equivalent blade.

Also, Mercator knives (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_K55K), I carry one every day, and use it most days. Good steel and shape, and super thin so they fit in any pocket.

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