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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?

#661

Post by adrian_b »

aspyct wrote: post #643
adrian_b wrote: post #451

After experimenting for many years with many kinds of mice, trackballs, touchpads, trackpoints etc. in the search for the most comfortable graphic pointing device, I have settled to use, instead of a mouse, a small Wacom Intuos graphic tablet (usually with Linux), configured in its "mouse" mode, i.e. with relative coordinates, not with its default absolute coordinates. At least for me, using a stylus has proven to be…

What kind of usage do you do with your pointer? I find that with code editing, it's annoying to pick up / put down the stylus all the time. Have you tried a vertical mouse? That is the best for me: comfortable, yet mouse-y :)

With code editing, I keep the pen between the thumb and the palm while touch typing, which works because the pen is very light, so you can almost forget that you are still holding it.

This allows much faster transitions between typing and pointing than with a mouse.

I have not tried a vertical mouse, but I agree that it is likely to solve most of the comfort problems caused by a classic mouse.

Nevertheless, there is no chance for it to be as fast and accurate as a pen. With the pen I can point to any place on the screen pretty much instantaneously and using a negligible muscular force, due to its lightness.

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

#662

Post by subsequentmask »

voicedYoda wrote: post #641
subsequentmask wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently just got my self an SM7B. I love the thing. I don't do WFH so my work mates won't ever get to hear my wonderful voice on it but oh well, eventually they will! I love it. You do need a beefy interface to power it, I have an Elgato Wave XLR.

I also use an sm7. Love it. Rigged up reaper as my daw, and use and apogee duet. Everyone tells me to start a podcast...

Yeah, I don't do anything fancy with mine, I used to use quite a few VSTs on my other mics to get the sound I want but honestly... the SM7B at its default settings, no low-cut, no other EQs, no compression, etc... it just sounds right on my voice

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

#663

Post by wink »

grungydan wrote: post #651
jrootabega wrote: post #574

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Headsets with a mic arm that auto-mutes in hardware also have the benefit that you can go to the bathroom, use the kitchen, etc. on mute, but still respond quickly if someone addresses you.

Unless it's a Logitech headset, in which case 90% of the time the functionality of the mic-arm-mute breaks at the software level requiring various troubleshooting dances before anyone can hear you again. How they can be such a leader in the peripheral space but still produce absolutely the worst garbage software will never stop being annoying.

Wow, I have a semi-old Sennheiser PC 320 G4ME (with a cable) and the hw mute has never let me down, also I'm pretty sure it's actually in HW, so how would the software fail?

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

#664

Post by Eisenstein »

denysonique wrote: post #544
Eisenstein wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't use magnetic USB adapters. They run a decent risk of frying your device. The USB-C spec was not designed to have the connection broken in that way. You will have no issues 99% of the time, but you will eventually have that time when your device gets fried. It takes a very precise design and a lot of clever engineering to have a high-current power connector with tiny pins be able to break without having the grou…

A power-only (2 wire) magnetic USB-C cable will be as safe as prior generation magnetic USB cables (it won't be more likely to damage your device)

Sure, it will be safe because it won't be able to go above 5V 3.0A (15W) at absolute max since it won't be negotiating PD. Most likely it won't have the proper termination resistors on the CC line and will get a whopping 900mA@5V = 4.5W

* https://i.imgur.com/n3IjcQE.png

I encourage everyone to actually read the USB 3.2/C/PD spec sheets.

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

#665

Post by throwaway743 »

MX Master 3 mouse. Stopped the hand/wrist pain caused by other mice and can use on any surface.

HDMI switch. Switch monitor between machines.

USB switch. Switch peripherals between machines.

Used to use an arduino with a rangefinder and led matrix to notify when coworkers would be behind me. Always had headphones on and usually would get hit with a jump scare from them tapping me or waving hands in front of my face. Also, had a coworker who routinely interrupted throughout the day just to gab and at times I wouldn't take my headphones off. A bit of a cold shoulder but they were excessive with the interruptions

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

#666

Post by cbm-vic-20 »

domrdy wrote: post #229

A Tidbyt: https://tidbyt.com/ It's next to my computer, and I use it for notifications and smaller dashboards: https://github.com/tidbyt/community

Bonus points for a fun promo video:

https://player.vimeo.com/video/521081003

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

#667

Post by butt____hugger »

elkos wrote: post #548
diffeomorphism wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another possibility: if you own any computer and any tablet, they can act as an external screen. That has been around for years before apple sherlocked it.

I do have an Android tablet mostly sitting and a Linux laptop (running KDE) can I do it in a really seemless way?

Only through apps that work as RDP/remote desktop. You can't use native X/wayland screens with Android unless you root it.

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

#668

Post by wingerlang »

eproxus wrote: post #453
wingerlang wrote: post #423

Each one of these has been said, USB switcher, Screen switcher, and foot pedals. I have this combined, a USB + DisplayPort switcher, with a food pedal to change between the two connected laptops. It's great when it works, which it did in my previous HDMI+1080p screen setup. But as I moved to 4K, I had these issues: - The noname HDMI cables I had was not the right version, bought 3 new ones. - The old Apple dongle doe…

I’m looking for exactly something like this. What KVM switcher do you use? Does it support USB-C?

They are both noname but works fine (ignoring the other issues which are separate issues).

The first one I used was this https://www.lazada.co.th/products/2x1-usb-2-hdmi-kvm-hdmi-4k... worked well with the restrictions.

The one I currently use is this one https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i2897492493-s10589620581.h...

I highly recommend buying one with an extended switch (or even a wireless one), even if you don't want to use it as a food pedal, being able to place it anywhere is optimal since otherwise you need all cables and the switch within arms reach, and this makes takes space and looks messy (as was the case with the first one I used).

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

#669

Post by remix2000 »

I have an "unorthodox" audio-oriented "KVM" setup that looks like this:

  {PC; Work laptop; …} → HDMI switcher → HDMI digital sound extractor → {S/PDIF DAC → Speakers; Monitor}
The HDMI switcher is actually just for A/V; I use Barrier for the keyboard and the mouse (well actually not mouse, but a trackball).

Though now that I think of it, I wonder if I could cobble something together with CEC to pass keyboard and mouse inputs through HDMI. In theory, that should be possible by attaching a ESP32 or something like that to the CEC pin on the monitor side…?

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

#670

Post by Mumps »

grungydan wrote: post #651
jrootabega wrote: post #574

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Headsets with a mic arm that auto-mutes in hardware also have the benefit that you can go to the bathroom, use the kitchen, etc. on mute, but still respond quickly if someone addresses you.

Unless it's a Logitech headset, in which case 90% of the time the functionality of the mic-arm-mute breaks at the software level requiring various troubleshooting dances before anyone can hear you again. How they can be such a leader in the peripheral space but still produce absolutely the worst garbage software will never stop being annoying.

I found out, after a full year-and-a-bit that Teams did not respect my Logitech G930 push-to-mute.

How no colleague ever informed me, I can only speculate.

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