Xiaomi roborock. Amazing how much dust it collects and how easily it works unattended.
Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
71–80 of 592 posts
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#72I spent more than I should have for a pair of ErgoDox Infinity keyboards ... they've made a tremendous difference in the health of my hands, wrists and elbows!
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#73I've spent a long time engineering, and adapting my workspace. It's at the point now that going to an office is a horrible experience, compared to my home office. Here's my setup * Ikea Standing desk (I never sit). I know plenty of people who use these for sitting, simply because the height of the desk is finally suited to their specific frame. * As many monitors as will make you happy (to each their own, but I'm hap…
> wired, I hate wireless things, I never want to think about batteries It's funny, I feel exactly the same. When friends have asked me to explain why, I struggle to justify it. It's just a minor feeling of security -- one less thing to maintain. The only piece of hardware I've considered moving to wireless is a headset for gaming with friends, but it hasn't happened thus far. Maybe if the End Times come and my ATH-M5…
To be fair, batteries for Logitech wireless keyboard (K270, non-fancy one, without backlight) last for years. Same for their Marathon mouse. Battery is not the reason to skip these devices. Connectivity might be, I had some interference with multiple sets nearby. But if you're solo they work very reliably.
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#74I really enjoyed getting a mechanical keyboard (Keychron K2), it has a really nice typing experience when compared to membrane keyboards. There's something to the tactile + sound feedback that triggers some emotional response in us, it just feels good. It also improved my posture a lot from writing on a laptop (but for this objective, any keyboard would do the job ofc).
I started getting pains in my fingers and after some time I realised they were caused by the keyboard. I bought a keychron and never had a problem with my fingers again. Really good devices for the price.
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#75A Mac Pro (2019) - I was/am using the 2019 Macbook Pro, but under heavy load (compiling rust/flutter mostly) the machine would get slower and slower as it became more and more heat saturated, and worse, when driving an external monitor the GPU would get hot as well and the whole UI becomes slow.
The mac pro is ~2.5x as fast in compilation but more importantly it doesn't lose responsiveness when the CPU is fully loaded, so I can still browse the web while waiting :D
EDIT: I said 2016 MacBook but it's the 2019 16" (2.3 GHz/8Core/i9) and to be clear, I know the 8-core Mac Pro on paper, has faster clocks, but it's surprising how much of a difference the thermal headroom makes to responsiveness and productivity
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#76In the early 1990's I worked for a communications company and I recall saying that the cell phone was a game changer and that it would be used for more things than the current computer which was the biggest tech item being purchased at the time. Flash forward to 2022 and I am travelling across the world and I noticed that everything one needs to do requires a cell phone app from seeing a menu (QR codes) making reservations, to ordering tickets, ordering an Uber ride, to getting directions, getting on a plane, showing your vaccination status, checking your health vitals, face timing appointments. EVERYTHING! The cell phone became more important and powerful than I ever imagined and the cell phone has still not reached full maturity as a communications device.
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#77If a microplane counts as "hardware", then I can't not bring up my whetstone! Cost all of around $40, is a genuine joy to use, and keeps all of my knives sharper-than-sharp. I started out with a very expensive knife (Wusthof classic 8", around US$150 or so at the time) but nothing to sharpen it with, and this was a mistake. If I could do it again I'd recommend young cooks on a budget start out with a $20 IKEA knife a…
America's Test Kitchen recommends the Victorinox knives for every skill level and budget, including professional chefs. It's just a damn good knife, and it happens to be cheap at around $50. Go with this rather than Ikea if it's in the budget :)
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#78A keyboard where the keys are symmetrical, and allow greater use of the thumb (and allow less usage of the pinky fingers). -- Maybe it's not for everyone, but I wish I'd gotten a keyboard like this years ago.
So like enter in place of caps lock? I genuinely have no idea what you mean by symmetrical keyboard.
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#79A simple Pok3r mechanical keyboard, I think mine has blue Cherry switches. I recently changed to an even cheaper (ca. $40) mechanical tenkeyless. People might flame me for saying this, but it really doesn't matter to which mechanical keyboard you switch when you're used to cheap rubberdome keyboards. Typing is so much better on any of them.
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#80The Logitech G305 mouse for $40 (or any current gen wireless gaming mouse). I don't play game competitively but I have always felt latency with previous gen wireless mice. The recent wireless mice feel like wired to me.
It's quite nice to use a wireless mouse with a large mousepad. A large desk is also a must imo.