A Festool dust extractor and Mirka sander.
Coupled with Abranet, I can now sand indoors virtually dust free. It makes doing DIY so much more pleasant. Expensive but I wish I'd bought them both earlier.
Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
81–90 of 205 posts
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#82Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#83I bought a Sony A7R IV full frame mirrorless camera for around the top end of that range, though MSRP is higher. Completely worth it (for me) to dive deeper into photography. I absolutely love it, despite the high cost, seemed a worthwhile investment that I use frequently to provide value for myself, friends, and family. Aside from artistic expression, it's useful to create headshots for others, photograph friend's weddings, etc.
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
Out of curiosity, what machine was it and what justifies the price tag?
Not the parent, but I bought a Gaggia Classic espresso machine as well as a great coffee grinder. The difference is night and day between grinding your own beans and making your own espresso (or even pour overs) to prepackaged stuff, not to mention cafes. I honestly haven't tasted a better espresso drink at cafes than at home, since they usually are working with multiple patrons and have to make the drink fast, and t…
You sound like you’ve hit the sweet spot where you pass on coffee out as it better at home.
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#85I really like having a lot of screen real-estate. So, I bought a LG 34WK95U-W, which is a 34" 21:9 monitor with a 5120x2160 resolution. It was about $1100. I also bought a very sturdy monitor arm ($100). The monitor floats above my laptop (the two screens form a squat "T" shape) and I get a lot of screen space and it looks very crisp.
Although for that price you can buy a 65" 8k TV.
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#86I spent a few hundreds dollars lining 2/4 of my office’s walls with tabletops to make one huge L-shaped desk. Lovingly deemed “mega-desk,” it greatly improves my ability to work on multiple and/or large projects. It is also the envy of every WFH person or crafter who enters my house.
pics plz!!!
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#87I'm not the only person saying this: getting an espresso machine was the biggest QoL improvement from one purchase I've ever had. Although you do have to enjoy and be excited about manually making espresso. For me I specifically wanted to go through the process (grinding, tamping, etc) since being able to vary the result, pick the coffee, etc is part of the enjoyment, so a machine that uses Nespresso pods or the like…
Nice! I got into espresso at the start of COVID with a Silvia and really enjoyed it. This year I started roasting my own coffee. I found a hottop 2k used on Craigslist for $600, and now I spend about $10/mo on coffee!
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Out of curiosity, what machine was it and what justifies the price tag?
Not the parent, but I bought a Gaggia Classic espresso machine as well as a great coffee grinder. The difference is night and day between grinding your own beans and making your own espresso (or even pour overs) to prepackaged stuff, not to mention cafes. I honestly haven't tasted a better espresso drink at cafes than at home, since they usually are working with multiple patrons and have to make the drink fast, and t…
I’m looking to upgrade my espresso setup (basic delonghi dedica machine right now). My grinder is really inadequate for espresso grinds and so I mostly just buy small quantities of pre-ground lavazza qualita oro. I’m thinking that in this situation, I’d be better off investing in a good grinder first, and waiting to buy a nicer espresso machine until I feel I can justify a ~$1k outlay. Ideally I’d just splurge and buy both but I can’t quite stomach that.
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#89I'm going to cheat because I actually bought this in late 2021, but: my own ski equipment and a weekday season pass. I used to go maybe two or three times a year with rented equipment, which was a whole production that required extra hours to go rent and return it, and I had to plan ahead. Now I can just decide last minute to head up to the mountain for the day, so last year I went about 15 times, on track for 15-20…
Same! I got mine around March 2022. I've only used it a few times, but it makes me far more likely to actually go skiing and not feel like I've just dropped too much money for a few hours of fun.
yeah, that's a great point. If you have your own gear and season pass, you can just come back down if the snow isn't good or if you just aren't feeling it. If you spent a bunch of money on rentals and day passes, you have to force it, otherwise it feels like you are wasting money.
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#90A Litter Robot 4. Automated litter boxes are easy more expensive than I thought they would be, but you just can't put a price on not having to scoop
You like it? I've been considering it. Any reservations?
I bought one years and years ago (when the 3 was brand new). I wouldn't recommend it, and have transitioned to a non-mechanical litter box. I would have said I liked it for the first nine months or so.
1. The mechanism is fairly finicky. Every 3 or 6 months it would jam, and require some debugging. It's mechanically not as simple as I would hope.
2. My cat developed a UTI, and it was hidden for longer than it should have been because I was not watching the litter box as closely as I would if it required more frequent cleanings.
3. After 16 months it developed a smell that was very hard to clean. I spent a week with it disassembled, washing the many bits and bobs, letting it dry and checking the results. It was broken into more than a dozen small pieces, but a few of the pieces were stubborn. Afterwards, it needed this deep cleaning about every 9-12 months. Traditional litter boxes can be cleaned very easily with hot soap and water. Traditional boxes require more frequent upkeep, but I find the task to be less stressful with very little cognitive load.