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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?

#651

Post by contingencies »

fergie wrote: post #481

Ortleib panniers ( https://www.google.com/search?q=ortlieb+panniers ): * Are actually waterproof * Don't have lots of unnecessary compartments and pockets * Lift on and off really securely, yet really easily * Can be wiped clean * Super durable * Light * Can be worn as shoulder bag, or carried as a tote * No zips, yet can be completely sealed

I third that. Have before and since owned others, and truly regret selling them (due to moving). Pricey, but valuable. Most recent trip: 6 days upper Yangtse, camping, for Chinese New Year. Amazing.

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

#652

Post by tech2 »

pidg wrote: post #494

I love my Pro-ject RPM 1 turntable. It's such a simple design - stripped back to the bare bones of what's needed to play records. http://www.project-audio.com/main.php?prod=rpm13

I was looking at the Pro-ject Carbon a while back but couldn't quite stretch to the price, beautiful bits of kit.

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

#653

Post by Steel_Phoenix »

joshvm wrote: post #487
jwolfhn wrote: post #141

Any Kindle model with e-ink. The utiluty and simplicity of design of these devices has enabled me to read almost every night before going to bed for the past 6ish years without loosing my place or holding the weight of a book (finally read War and Peace).

Except for some bizarre restrictions on functionality. You can drag and drop books onto the Kindle like a thumb drive (awesome!), but there isn't support for folders (not awesome!). If you want to organise huge quantities of books into collections which is, after all, the point of the Kindle, you have to do it manually on the device. Or you use Calibre, but I feel like that's a negative point because most consumers w…

Right now, the only thing stopping me from buying the Kindle Oasis is that it has auto rotate that can't be turned off.

I read in all sorts of odd positions and have the odd habit of turning books 90 degrees and reading bottom to top. I started because it seemed to help reduce the eye strain of looking left and right all day, and then found I actually preferred it.

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

#654

Post by iwintermute »

dbg31415 wrote: post #69

Just about anything Razer. Razer Taipan & Razer BlackWidow are wonderful. Totally reliable, precise, and pleasantly tactile. I've had a few Razer mice over the years and the earlier ones had a rubberize finish that would wear off eventually... had my Taipan for 4 years or so and it still feels like it's brand new. Trackpads will work in a pinch, but after you get used to a high-DPI mouse it's hard to use anything els…

I have blackwidow - the Razer drivers/soft is a buggy mess. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Plus new models use worse switches.

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

#655

Post by flyinghamster »

FreakyT wrote: post #27

Another odd one, but my Honda Fit 2nd Generation. So many things about that car are so well thought-out, and even more expensive/luxurious cars miss things that the Fit designers included. Some examples: - Cup holder on the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel. As a left-handed person, this is amazing. - Window power remains on after turning off the car as long as doors haven't been opened, allowing you to clo…

We have a winner! I bought one in 2010, and I've loved it. The only nitpicks I have are: 1) weak front stabilizer control links that don't stand up well to Illinois potholes, 2) no long mode or refresh mode seat settings (you need the first- or third-generation model for those), and 3) top gear (manual transmission) is too short - 3500 RPM at 70 MPH.

But for all that, it's amazingly roomy inside, good on gas, fun to drive even if it won't win races, and just a great car in general. Controls are well laid out, entry and exit are easy, four full-sized adults can sit comfortably in it, the engine is a gem, and when the rear seats are folded down it can handle a lot of cargo.

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

#656

Post by artimaeis »

quanticle wrote: post #238
artimaeis wrote: post #78

Seiko 5 automatic watch - Simple, timeless, affordable. It's just a great watch and it always will be. rOtring 600 mechanical pencil - the feel of this pencil is unlike any other writing implement I've found. It's a legend. My new goal is to find a fountain pen that I can enjoy as much as I enjoy this. Though I fear that will be a notably more expensive purchase. Yamaha Custom Series Bb trumpet - before becoming a de…

>Though I fear that will be a notably more expensive purchase. Not necessarily. There are quite a number of good pens in the sub-$100 range. I personally recommend the Pilot Metropolitan or the Lamy Safari. Both are less (much less) than $100, and can either fit ink cartridges or converters.

I love my Metropolitan! And based on all the feedback from this thread I'll soon be ordering a Lamy Safari as well.

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

#657

Post by osullivj »

the_duke wrote: post #457
mdip wrote: post #374

It took me about a second to think of Dixon Ticonderoga pencils. These are the perfect nexus of good and cheap. These things have the critical features one looks for in a writing instrument, my favorite of which is that I can put it in my electric pencil sharpener and the lead never snaps just prior to the point at which it becomes sharp. And these guys finally figured out something useful to do with that pink, rubbe…

I've never seen someone that excited about pencils. Might this be satire? ;)

Oh no. Folk can get really obsessive about stationary. I have to have Mitsubishi Uniball [1] myself.

[1] https://www.penaddict.com/top-5-pens/

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

#658

Post by iwintermute »

iwintermute wrote: post #654
dbg31415 wrote: post #69

Just about anything Razer. Razer Taipan & Razer BlackWidow are wonderful. Totally reliable, precise, and pleasantly tactile. I've had a few Razer mice over the years and the earlier ones had a rubberize finish that would wear off eventually... had my Taipan for 4 years or so and it still feels like it's brand new. Trackpads will work in a pinch, but after you get used to a high-DPI mouse it's hard to use anything els…

I have blackwidow - the Razer drivers/soft is a buggy mess. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Plus new models use worse switches.

as for alternatives - the second keyboard (I use in office) is Filco Majestouch 2 (tenkeyless) - great one. The only gripe - I decided to go with brown switches, but I actually prefer blue ones (as in Razer model).

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

#659

Post by sizzzzlerz »

I'm going to go real old school and suggest the slide rule. While there is a short learning curve, once you've mastered a few simple rules, using one is a breeze and if you keep the slide lubricated and don't abuse it, it will perform it's function reliably and accurately for decades. I have a Pickett, it's now 40 years old but works like new, but just about any brand will offer the same performance.

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

#660

Post by VLM »

My steel backplate original IBM Model M keyboard in use continuously from when it was new until today. I can't figure out any way to improve it.

Logitech trackman wheel from a decade or two ago, perfect to have a desk with 3 or 4 machines on. Must have thousands of hours of FPS and minecraft on it, feels new, feels perfect.

The original Radio Shack wire wrapping tool, you could pay up to 100x more for something less reliable or slower or harder to use but I built entire 8-bit microcomputers with mine. The wire stripper which is perfect for 30 gauge wire wrap wire stores inside the tool. You could pay more for something faster but less reliable or whatever bad engineering tradeoff, but somehow this cheap tool had the perfect engineering tradeoffs.

The hyper orthogonal PDP-11 assembly language instruction set. Essentially you wrote C in assembly. That and the 6809/68hc11 general family are the only two architectures I ever miss programming in assembly, everything else is perfectly doable but a chore.

I grew up with a surplus Tektronix 531 oscope, the kind with pluggable chassis. There's just something about tools designed by engineers specifically for engineers where everything just feels perfect and everything just worked. If it weren't for weighing a hundred pounds and drawing half a kilowatt every oscope would be a Tektronix 531.

Somehow I did electronics for over 30 years before buying a top of the line digital Hakko soldering station. I was so dumb, I should have invested in something of that quality level decades ago. Its perfectly repeatably capable of anything; after some flux cleaning I've had people ask if I own a wave soldering machine given a couple hundred perfect and identical joints on a board. Its weightless in my hand, perfect heating, ESD proof, and a joy to use. It cannot be improved.

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