I built myself a small special-purpose keyboard with two parts: the main part is a 5-key board to control music players: play/pause, volume control, next/previous. The second (and more fun) part is a big blue arcade button that locks the screen. I worked for a while for a federally-funded R&D center where we could get in trouble if we left a computer unlocked and having a big blue button that I could slap as I stood up from my desk helped me stay in infosec's good graces. Now that I'm WFH I still enjoy it.
Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?
611–620 of 853 posts
Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?
#612I 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.
I have this same thing except to put my feet on, I can stay nice and warm while the house is at 15C. Nice touch using it as a desk mat as well.
Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?
#613I 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.
Reminds me of this 2010 article: "micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill" https://www.richsoil.com/electric-heat.jsp
Several of you would seem to enjoy a Kotatsu:
Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?
#614Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a small Stream Deck (6 buttons), and although I don't have a lot of inspiration, I found a few really useful use cases: - global mute button (plugin Audio Mute). This is amazing and the most useful action I've setup. - screenshot tool. I'm on a Mac and always forget the combination for opening the capture tool, so a physical button is nice to have - iTerm button. It just opens a terminal, or make it appear if…
> global mute button Is this different than the system mute button next to volume up and down? > iTerm: a "split vertically" button FYI: you can customize your own shortcuts. I use i3 on linux, so I bound my split and movement keys in iterm to be the same as my Linux ones
> Is this different than the system mute button next to volume up and down?
A global mute button for the mic, sorry for the confusion. I don't think there's an easy way to get on on mac.
Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?
#615Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
OP says the dongle is USB-C, and USB-C extension cables don't really exist.
Quoting OSTz on Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/10xj74r/why_d...):
> Direct USB-C to USB-C extensions are explicitly forbidden for safety and performance reasons because they defeat built-in safety mechanisms.
> All USB-C to USB-C cables should support 60W charging, but there are also cables that support 100W and 240W. USB-C chargers and devices identify a cable's capabilities by reading what's known as an electronic marker (e-marker) inside the cable that explicitly reports >60W charging and/or 5Gbps or faster data transfer capabilities. A USB-C charger will first read a cable's e-marker and adjust its power output based on what the connected cable's maximum charging capacity is.
> The problem with extension cables in general is that they don't (and can't) have an e-marker, since by design, normal cables only have one addressable e-marker. Therefore, neither the device nor the charger is aware of the presence of an extension. If your USB-C to USB-C extension only supported 60W, and you connected it to a charger/device combo that could do 100W or more, you could start a fire. This failure is particularly insidious because it can potentially lull the user into a false sense of security; everything might work as expected until they change something, like upgrading the charger, and then it could fail catastrophically.
> Another reason extension cables don't work well is that the signal integrity requirements for USB-C's higher transmission rates are very strict. Believe me when I say that cable makers would make longer cables if they could.
Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?
#616Adjustable keyboard tray, negative-tilt split tenkeyless keyboard, vertical mouse. The height and angle of your arms and wrists is critical to reduce carpal tunnel syndrome.
https://ergo.human.cornell.edu/DEA6510/dea6512k/ergo12tips.h...
Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?
#617I wouldn't have thought they were lesser-known, but I've been surprised how many people don't know about today's cheap portable external monitors. They're essentially laptop panels with a USB-C+HDMI board. $100-$150-ish and easily found in 15.6" and 13-14", 1080p or 2K. All the ones I've tried have 2 USB-C ports, mini-HDMI, and speakers. This all depends on what USB-C ports your machine actually has and the right USB…
Do you have a specific model you can recommend? I searched a brighter one out especially (300 nits), read reviews, etc. Paid 200€. What I got absolutely sucks, definitely not 300 nits, glitches half the time I try to use it, doesn't remember my settings. When I finally got around to return it, I discovered the company no longer exists lol.
The one I use now is branded YGG. I'd link it but someone already swapped out the Amazon listing to a different model.
I think this is very close to what I have: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099DKQS8C/
It claimed 350 nits. Side-by-side with my M1 MBP, I'd say it might be close to that. A lot of them claim HDR but it's some bullshit definition of HDR - definitely not like the MBP's HDR mode.
I think it's a little bit of a crapshoot as to which panel and board you'll get no matter what the branding so somewhere like Amazon with free returns helps. There are a few more premium brands like Viewsonic and Lenovo.
Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?
#618I wouldn't have thought they were lesser-known, but I've been surprised how many people don't know about today's cheap portable external monitors. They're essentially laptop panels with a USB-C+HDMI board. $100-$150-ish and easily found in 15.6" and 13-14", 1080p or 2K. All the ones I've tried have 2 USB-C ports, mini-HDMI, and speakers. This all depends on what USB-C ports your machine actually has and the right USB…
I think the reason why is that not many mainstream manufacturers are creating them. From the top of my head, I only know ASUS.
Viewsonic too. Lenovo has some nice looking ones.
Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?
#619(not all are computer peripherals, but other comments seem wider than initial criteria)
* whiteboard placed on a painting easel next to my desk (when I don't use whiteboard, I can use the easel it to paint acrylic) - about 90x120 cm. I put my tasks for work, but also pick exercises with checkbox to do during the day.
* AKAI mpk mini - when tired of work, can jump over to Ableton like software and relax
* MX Master 3S - ordered kind of accidentally, stayed as solid replacement of previously used Apple Trackpad.
* cutting board as mouse mat: https://www.olfa.net.pl/products/Mata-do-ciecia-CM-A4-RC.htm... If I need to cut something, it's there. As a downside - it might be wearing off my mouse quicker.
* wifi/assistant controlled light bulb behind the monitor. Easily to regulate light around my screen - bright when needed, switched to blue in the evening.
* Varier Variable Balans (bought 2nd hand for 20% of original price) - works nicely with electric-standing desk from Ikea.
Re: Ask HN: What lesser-known accessories do you use with your computer?
#620Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
I've bought a Kinesis Advantage about every three years since 2003 (I think). Still the best keyboard out there despite being USB-A and the lack of bluetooth. I really want to like the Kinesis 360, but the lack of a function key row keeps me from buying one.