Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

701–710 of 1001 posts

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#701

Post by sharken »

The Samsung HW-Q950T soundbar with it's 9.1.4 channels of awesome sound.

https://www.samsung.com/dk/audio-devices/soundbar/9-1-4-ch-s...

It's far from a perfect product, eARC is broken on many TVs, rear speakers sometime turn off on their own.

But when it works it sounds fantastic. I should also mention the Avforums where owners discuss this rather complex piece of hardware and how to get the most from it, that has been a really nice experience.

And now the Q950A is almost here :) https://www.samsung.com/my/audio-devices/soundbar/q950a-blac...

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#702

Post by busterarm »

cpr wrote: post #615
tomcam wrote: post #37

1999 GMC Savanna passenger van (seats removed) for use as a farm truck. It’s huge inside and easily holds 4x8 sheets of ply. Here in Seattle it gets wet a lot so I never have to worry about transporting or storing in the rain. Has 8 cylinder engine that will last forever and is easyish to maintain. I get an surprising amount of sheepish interest/envy from dudes who had the same idea but who bought pickups (which seld…

I bought a barely-used (2K miles, 35% off (year on lot)) high-roof Sprinter on a whim back in 2017 (was a PGA tour shuttle, apparently) and took out all 3 benches, for a truly wonderfully capacious, full-enclosed hauling and moving machine. We've also used it as a great family country-touring machine with all benches in (8 kids), and the kids have taken it around the country a couple of times with friends. Can't reco…

It's weird to me how Sprinters are everywhere but replacement parts are so damn expensive and hard to come by.

If I get a Mercedes truck though it's going to be a Unimog.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#704

Post by Random_Person »

stakkur wrote: post #344
Random_Person wrote: post #243

Chromebook C423NA - for writing. I intentionally bought the lowest end model I could find at Walmart. I wanted it for a single task - writing - and it's perfect for that. It is terrible at most everything else. Softball glove - my kid has been playing softball and asked me to help work on some of their skills. I'm not into baseball/softball AT ALL, but I've very much enjoyed my time outside passing the ball. It's a v…

I'm at a similar decision point. What software are you using to write on the Chromebook?

Just Google Docs. I made a template for novel writing and copy it when I start something new.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#705

Post by jader201 »

Just wanted to say: this is a great thread, and a great place to hear about products from people that I feel can be trusted, unlike almost any other source.

Would love it if there was a more persistent channel for something like this here, but also fear that would end up being gamed and abused.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#706

Post by patrickdward »

Jakobeha wrote: post #128

Material goods: Ear plugs (silicone). Don't waste your money on noise-cancelling headphones, I have $200 ones and they don't compare to simple ear plugs. If you live in a moderately noisy area and you want peace and quiet, get them. They basically just make everything quiet. 24 from CVS = $10. OpenMove by Aftershokz - Bone-conduction headphones. Perfect for running and just good for listening to music. They work, the…

For sleeping or other extended use at home, wax earplugs like those from Ohropax work well and are more comfortable than other materials.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#707

Post by jerome-jh »

Bought two used Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 shortly before lockdown (by chance) and built most of the projects from http://www.nxtprograms.com/index2.html with the kids. These projects are VERY high quality and fun for kids.

Unfortunately the programming interface for NXT 2.0 is crap and I must admit the NXT bricks saw little use since then.

I also have two Beyerdynamic headphones: one DT 770 Pro 80 Ohms and one DT 990 32 ohms. I use them mainly for meetings (WFH). There are very comfortable and some day I wear them for almost 8 hours. They sound different from each other but both are very clear. The DT 990 is "open" which means I can still hear what is going on in the house, for the days kids are at home too.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#708

Post by patrickdward »

ad404b8a372f2b9 wrote: post #171
Jakobeha wrote: post #128

Material goods: Ear plugs (silicone). Don't waste your money on noise-cancelling headphones, I have $200 ones and they don't compare to simple ear plugs. If you live in a moderately noisy area and you want peace and quiet, get them. They basically just make everything quiet. 24 from CVS = $10. OpenMove by Aftershokz - Bone-conduction headphones. Perfect for running and just good for listening to music. They work, the…

What brand ear plugs do you recommend? I bought some just last week on amazon (some foam ones from Howard Leight) and it was a toss-up which were good and which were bad according to the reviews and descriptions.

Check out the wax ones by Ohropax

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#709

Post by busterarm »

second--shift wrote: post #559
tomcam wrote: post #37

1999 GMC Savanna passenger van (seats removed) for use as a farm truck. It’s huge inside and easily holds 4x8 sheets of ply. Here in Seattle it gets wet a lot so I never have to worry about transporting or storing in the rain. Has 8 cylinder engine that will last forever and is easyish to maintain. I get an surprising amount of sheepish interest/envy from dudes who had the same idea but who bought pickups (which seld…

I always say "the best compact pickup truck these days is a Grand Caravan"

That's what we replaced the GMC Safari with but it really didn't hold up the same and the '12 Grand Caravan fell apart in just a few years.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#710

Post by hawski »

omarhaneef wrote: post #567

Scanning these recommendations, the plurality -- perhaps even the majority -- are ergonomic. You would think everyone is constantly in pain: keyboards, desks, monitors, chairs, shoes, that relieve pain. Even the air filters, robot vacuums, and noise reduction devices reduce some kind of pain. The only non-pain recommendation that comes close is coffee and the apple M1. One strange thing is the contrary recommendation…

From what I remember reading the difference in contusions is visible between barefoot running and proper shoes. I don't remember which had which, but it was like one prevents Achilles tendon from injury and the other from ankle injury. It would depend on the person what would be better. As they say - choose your poison.
Post reply on HN