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Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

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Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#321

Post by inconceivable »

modeless wrote: post #249
mikesholiu wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you have a recommended brand/model?

I'm using a SteelSeries Arctis 1 ($69) and I like it overall. Only minor flaws: the battery life is good but not exceptional (magnetic charging helps), the charge port is micro USB (despite the fact that the dongle is USB-C), the wireless range is good but not exceptional, the shape of the dongle is wide and tends to block nearby ports, but the biggest flaw is the power button which you have to hold down for an etern…

you could get a usb extension cable and mount the dongle anywhere.

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#322

Post by EamonnMR »

modeless wrote: post #237

Gaming wireless headphones, not for gaming but for videoconferencing. Bluetooth headphones are universally terrible for videoconferencing because the Bluetooth standard sucks and requires downgrading to telephone audio quality whenever the mic is enabled. Plus terrible latency. Gaming wireless headphones that come with their own dongle completely fix these issues and are perfect for videoconferencing. Someday the Blu…

Seconding the magnetic adapters. I use one to quick switch my keyboard between my work mac and gaming machine.

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#323

Post by dottedmag »

noduerme wrote: post #226
Brajeshwar wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a device that does the opposite -- something to keep your hand cool? It is getting hotter and sweaty in India.

when I lived in Vietnam years ago, my Mac laptop fan broke and there was nowhere to repair it ... there are cooling pads with fans beneath them that you can buy, but my temporary solution was freezing a stack of Wired magazines in the freezer, then putting them under the laptop and changing them every 20 minutes.

This comes with its own set of problems though: I've done something similar and the mechanical stress from difference of temperatures caused the motherboard to crack.

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#325

Post by dottedmag »

entropicgravity wrote: post #267

Mx Ergo (by Logitech) is far and away the best "mouse" for me and probably for you. It only takes about two hours to transfer your motor skills of regular mouse to the Mx Ergo. Because this "thumb ball" mouse only involves your thumb to work the mouse you won't get the full wrist, shoulder and neck pain that you can get from a normal mouse. If you have any kind of arm pain then check this out.

Have you got the precision of the regular mouse with this trackball?

I have tried a number of trackballs, and haven't been able to reach the precision of a regular mouse from any — after a week of usage of each of several trackballs I only got to the convenience/precision of trackpoint or bad touchpad.

Moving in straight lines, predictable directions and moving just a few pixels was the biggest issue.

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#327

Post by aaronbrethorst »

bullen wrote: post #315

- DK2 VR camera so I don't need lights. (infrared) - GV-USB2/Elgato HD60S to capture C64/Amiga1200/Raspberry 4 on Windows my desktop and/or display them on monitors. - Many screens in a compact area (all 4:3/5:4, matte and low res): http://move.rupy.se/file/station.jpg - 40% keyboard for that Raspberry 4 so it fits in front of my HHKB JP: http://move.rupy.se/file/last_computer.png - Recently started using my old "Tab…

Indenting your lines wraps your content in 
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Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#328

Post by prox »

ulrikrasmussen wrote: post #171
hipplec wrote: post #75

I have a heating pad under my keyboard which keeps my hands warm in the winter. Was like $20 on amazon, and I can't even begin to describe how amazing it is, since I was really tired of always having a mug of hot water / tea / coffee to hold and didn't want to keep the heat on my house super high when I could just wear a sweatshirt and be fine except my fingers.

Why have I never thought of this? I get really cold hands in the winter to the point where I have to take very frequent breaks from typing because my fingers freeze up. I'll definitely get one!

What kind of helps since we all needs breaks for the keyboard every hour anyway is to do clasp your hands and bring your arms up above you and do some movements like turning. Alternatively do some lifts with weights as well for more strengthening and extra bloodflow.

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#329

Post by donatj »

Macropad mapped primarily for my email client.

    Row 1: Delete, Archive, Mark Unread and Advance 
    Row 2: Undo, Next, Previous
It’s simple and I know the shortcuts for all of this, but it’s honestly drastically reduced the time spent triaging my email.

Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?

#330

Post by garybake »

modeless wrote: post #237

Gaming wireless headphones, not for gaming but for videoconferencing. Bluetooth headphones are universally terrible for videoconferencing because the Bluetooth standard sucks and requires downgrading to telephone audio quality whenever the mic is enabled. Plus terrible latency. Gaming wireless headphones that come with their own dongle completely fix these issues and are perfect for videoconferencing. Someday the Blu…

Magnetic USB cables are a godsend for young kids with tablets.
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