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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?

#601

Post by lookdangerous »

convolvatron wrote: post #70
Mengkudulangsat wrote: post #52

I have multiple of these boom arms [1] clamped all around my desk. Great for things that require frequent fiddling (webcams / mics / lighting) https://www.ulanzi.com/collections/desk-set-up/products/viji...

I do the same with 1/4" brass or stainless rod..you can make little clamps to attach them to a desk or an item by drilling and tapping a screw. to attach to the rod, drill a 1/4" hole, and a perpendicular one which you tap. all easily obtainable at a generic hardware store and requiring only a hand drill

Got a picture? Sounds cool

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

#602

Post by mtrimpe »

Tepix wrote: post #565
xupybd wrote: post #154

I use a Kinesis advantage keyboard. It's expensive and ugly but comfortable. I would not go back to another keyboard ever again. Have a look at this review https://www.anandtech.com/show/7125/kinesis-advantage-review...

The keyboardio Model 100 is also worth a look.

As a long time RSI-sufferer that has tried everything I can confirm the KeyboardIO was also very nice... but nothing beats Kinesis Advantage. I think it's the domed arrangement as I did feel the thumb arrangement on the KeyboardIO was superior.

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

#603

Post by gannonburgett »

romanhn wrote: post #38

After working for almost 3 years with a barebones work-from-home setup (standup desk + laptop), I finally invested recently in some equipment to improve upon my crappy laptop camera and a room with little natural light. The difference in my video call quality is night and day. This is what I got: - A key light (Godox ES45) to throw a bunch of bright, natural white light at my face. Attached to the desk and positioned…

Unfortunately the RX100MIII isn’t supported, but the Mark IV and over 30 other Sony cameras work with its [Imaging Edge Webcam utility](https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/app/webcam/en/) so you can use the camera directly as a webcam without the need for a capture card or HDMI cable.

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

#604

Post by vultour »

shortrounddev wrote: post #523
randallsquared wrote: post #503

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use wireless headphones because cords get in my way, but the “step away to make tea” seems like an unlikely use case to me. It isn’t as if you don’t have to see the screen anyway… more than half the time someone is sharing a window and saying things like, “what do we do about THIS?” while waving their pointer over something.

I often do not need to see their screen because I am a vestigial appendage to the meeting

This is where you grab the entire laptop and lie down in bed, only to wake up alone in the meeting an hour later.

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

#605

Post by gcr »

two important things:

- i'm a stickler for input devices. I have a split keyboard and a Wacom tablet in the middle with a little pen stand that's always close by. I keep daypages in beta.tldraw.com, which has excellent pen and touch support. It's super handy.

- a good field mic for video conference calls. I use a Zoom H1 with a fuzzy pop shield and a little stand to minimize microphonics. I'm perceived as quite feminine and it's sometimes hard to speak up, so it's amazing how much more respect I get on conference calls when I have the confidence of excellent sound quality to back me up.

If I could add something to my setup, I'd like to hook up a small trackball that somehow only emits mouse scroll events. That would really help move around PDFs and webpages.

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

#606

Post by laylomo2 »

I use a Japanese keyboard because it comes with additional thumb keys. I use software to remap the thumb keys to additional layers. For example, if I hold thumb+a, the alpha keys under my right hand turn into a numpad. If I tap the thumb key by itself, it turns the keyboard into a mouse.

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

#608

Post by luckystarr »

shortrounddev wrote: post #533
ornornor wrote: post #308

Dual arm monitors to free up lots of space on my desk and more easily hold displays at eye level so I don’t get pain. A split ortho homebrew keyboard (helix) that I can program with qmk so that I have shift esc enter space and special keys on other layers right where I want them. Or a dedicated Ctrl-a key for tmux. It virtually eliminated my pain. The OLED screens are useless though and I retrospect I should just hav…

I tried getting a couple arms for my desk, but they required 8 inches of clearance behind the desk for the monitors to be at a reasonable distance from my face and my desk is backed up to a wall

Just mount the pole off-center, then you can get around the clearance problem somewhat. I only have one monitor mounted centrally, and my laptop to the side on the second arm. The desk is almost flush to the wall at 2cm (~1 inch) and the monitor and laptop are around 15cm (~6 inches) away from the wall.

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

#609

Post by skwee357 »

toyg wrote: post #513

People will love you much more if you use a real microphone. I have a travel-sized one from RØDE; the difference it made, in how people perceive my voice, is massive - I sound like a professional speaker rather than a geek in the basement. This brought significant reputational advantages. I also have an UPS under the desk, keeping up the wifi hub in all circumstances; it has a couple of USB charging ports on the fron…

Hey! Which mic you have from RODE?

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

#610

Post by jon-wood »

modeless wrote: post #350
vjk800 wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been thinking of buying a wireless gaming headset too. How good is the Linux support on the dongles?

Perfect for mine. I think they usually don't need special drivers.

They almost all show up as a standard USB sound card to the OS, sometimes two on particularly fancy ones allowing you to separately balance chat and game, so you should be fine.
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