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Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

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

#871

Airpods Pro. Not traditionally an apple guy so didn't expect to like them, but the guy talked us into them while we were upgrading my wife's phone. Wow. These things are just way better than any other earbuds and so much more convenient and comfortable than headphones. The Bluetooth just works even when switching between my Android and MacBook. The noise cancelling is great as well, way better than my Sennheisers.

They didn't work for me. I'm super sensitive to microphonics. With the Airpod Pros, every step I took sounded like someone banging a drum in my ear. It's not specific to Airpod Pro's, most headphones that plug into my ears I have that problem (though not all). I wouldn't have even tried the Airpod Pros except I figured if anyone was going to get that right it would be Apple. Well, they didn't solve it, I sold them an…

I know this is stupid but use a lower volume?

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

#872
post #30

Kobo Forma. I'm an avid eBook reader so the little things add up. Going from the Kindle to the Forma was a huge upgrade. Font rendering, warm light, larger form factor, and Pocket integration amongst a host of other little niceties make it pretty much a perfect experience for me. https://us.kobobooks.com/products/kobo-forma

I tried the Forma but found the power button was a bit spongy which drove me crazy trying to turn it on and off. Went with the Libra instead and very happy with it.

Kobo's in general are quite good I think. The Pocket integration is also really handy for reading all those Hacker News articles away from the computer. :-)

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

#873
post #807
post #30

Kobo Forma. I'm an avid eBook reader so the little things add up. Going from the Kindle to the Forma was a huge upgrade. Font rendering, warm light, larger form factor, and Pocket integration amongst a host of other little niceties make it pretty much a perfect experience for me. https://us.kobobooks.com/products/kobo-forma

I have bought hundreds of Kindle books. Is there a (legal) way to read them on Kobo?

Actually, you haven't bought any books for your Kindle. You've leased them.

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

#874
post #685

Cold climate mini-split heat pumps * I live in northern New England and used to heat exclusively with wood in the winter time. Very cozy, but hard to maintain a consistent temp throughout the house. The new cold-climate models can operate at 100% capacity down to an ambient temp of -13F outdoors. One in each bedroom, the living area, and home office makes it easy to dial in the optimal temp for the space. No more loa…

What do you use for heating water? I'm tempted to switch to mini-split heat pumps for heating, but I'd also like to have hot water. My house is very small and there's basically no room a big hot water tank.

I have a heat pump (Fujitsu Waterstage) that does central heating via hydronic radiators and can also heat hot water. Annual heating costs are a lot lower than when we had oil based heating. You can also just get hot water heat pumps that are basically heat pumps integrated into a big tank of water.

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

#875
post #865

As it happens, I purchased the only two pieces of technology that I actually like in the past two years. The first is the ReMarkable 2[1]. While imperfect (not open-source, support is atrocious), its utility is so high that it more than makes up for it - it actually behaves like electronic paper , and is better than real paper for my use-cases. The second is a Dactyl-Manuform that a friend built and sold to me. It's…

While not open source it is exceptionally open/hackable (in the good sense)

https://github.com/reHackable

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

#876
Aquos Zero 2: Extremely lightweight larger flagship smartphone. SD855, 120Hz(BFI 240Hz) 6.4" display, 143g.

Latest Zojirushi Mag: Cap rubber parts are now integrated. Of course it's rock solid.

Comfortable floor mat for a car drive sheet: My car is cheap subcompact, so anti-vibration noise floor mat is great than I expected.

Cheap rechargeable sensor LED lights from AliExpress: I put them everywhere on my home.

Oculus Quest 2: fully satisfied upgrade from Q1 after I give up to connect with Facebook

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

#877

A very basic but effective home gym: A barbell and 140kg of bumper plates, Squat/bench stands, bench, slam ball, dumbbells and a small range of kettlebells. The whole thing cost about the equivalent of a year's gym membership but have lasted two years so far and show no sign of wear. Being able to lift something heavy on a regular basis over the last year has been a massive boost for my mental and physical health. Yo…

I got a FitBod subscription on the iPad and paired it with a bench and variable weights. It's been a life-changer.

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

#878
Alienware m15 r3 the thing is a beast and cant forget my office chair with out the other you can’t mix bacon and eggs or apple in a tree. Satisfied and bought at the same time frame of 2 years back. I love the 300 hz on my screen and the cushion on my chair gives my back perfect comfort.

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

#879

Aeropress, coffee maker.

I've been using an aeropress for years now. Makes a good coffee.

I went on a bit of a thing collecting manual brewers. I've got stove top vacuum pots, a french press, a delter press and a couple of coffee siphons (which are awesome because they make you feel like a mad scientist) but for ease of use and cleanup when making a single coffee, the aeropress beats them all.

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

#880

- Pitbull Skull Shaver. I can shave my (partially) bald head without help from others.(You have to do it once in 3-4 days at least, otherwise the shaver doesn’t work well with long hair).

My hairline hasn't got quite to the point where I look in the mirror and say, "Fuggit," and start shaving it, but good to know this is out there for when the time comes.

Looks like you can use it in the shower, too, which is what I'll probably do.

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