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Ask HN: What under $100 item would you recommend everyone buy?

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Re: Ask HN: What under $100 item would you recommend everyone buy?

#111

Post by WorldWideWayne »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #71
yesimahuman wrote: post #20

For men: A beard trimmer is one of my favorite cheap buys. Never shave again: http://www.amazon.com/Remington-MB4040-Lithium-Rechargeable-... Beyond that, I'd say the aeropress coffee maker: http://www.amazon.com/Aerobie-AeroPress-Coffee-Espresso-Make...

I have that exact trimmer. It plucks almost as many hairs as it cuts. I keep meaning to write a sardonic review of it but never get around to it.

I use a Gillette Fusion Proglide which is a normal (4-blade) razor that also vibrates. It's the best shave I've ever gotten.

http://www.amazon.com/Gillette-Fusion-Proglide-Power-Razor/d...

Re: Ask HN: What under $100 item would you recommend everyone buy?

#112

Post by stevekemp »

psyklic wrote: post #96
stevekemp wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The aoropress is great, but I do find the price of the paper pretty annoying. I've now switched to one of the many metal-filters, which makes me happier.

The official filters are $2.99 for 350 on Amazon, so 0.85 cents per filter (for up to 4 cups). $2.99 for a year's supply seems pretty reasonable to me.

Your volume is off a fair bit for us. Assuming you don't reuse them my wife and I will make 8-12 cups a day, which means 350 will last for around 35 days. Or basically a month.

Additionally the filters cost £3.99 as "add ons" at Amazon.co.uk, or £6.99 when purchased alone.

So trade-off is clear one metal filter costs the same as two packets of papers.

(Yeah, tried to persuade my wife to recycle, but she preferred the simplicity of pushing out the puck into the bin, so that was a losing battle.)

Re: Ask HN: What under $100 item would you recommend everyone buy?

#113

Post by mattbrewsbytes »

alok-g wrote: post #101
a_bonobo wrote: post #8

An ebook reader. Both the cheapest version of the Kobo and the Kindle cost around USD60-70. I've gone from reading ~10 books per year to reading ~80 books per year, just because I always carry that thing with me since it's so small and light. I also save a ton of money since printed books are so expensive in Australia, and out-of-copyright books are free. The formatting of technical non-fiction books for e-readers ha…

I do a lot of online reading, plus PDFs and books. How easy is it to transfer something to Kindle for reading at the moment of finding it online on a computer? We can take Wikipedia articles and PDFs as examples. (PS: A non-cloud based transfer solution where they cannot track what I am reading is more preferable to me.)

You can literally email the PDF or other formats to a unique address for you and your Kindle after you set up the account. http://www.amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle/email

Re: Ask HN: What under $100 item would you recommend everyone buy?

#114

Post by palidanx »

A digital kitchen scale (something like ) - http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Digital-Kitchen-Sil...

Measuring all of your flour, sugar, etc in grams will improve your baking a 100 fold. (It now assumes your recipes are based in ratios and metric though).

Re: Ask HN: What under $100 item would you recommend everyone buy?

#115

Post by mattbrewsbytes »

ryannevius wrote: post #25

A "dumb phone," and ditch the smartphone.

Or a dumb smart phone. If your phone plan has expired, unlock the device from the carrier and move to a pre-paid carrier. Yes it will cost more per text, call and MB used but it will give you convenience of smart phone with a $10 or $20 month bill instead of $75 or higher with unlimited data distractions.

It made me think about the bandwidth hog the corporate email was too, even for casually checking. So I removed that account from the phone. When I choose I can listen to internet radio or surf the web and if I use too much the annoying balance notification is a good indicator that I should be doing other things.

Re: Ask HN: What under $100 item would you recommend everyone buy?

#116

Post by palidanx »

jasonkester wrote: post #79

Good Kitchen Knives Ideally, a whole block of them, but all you really need is one, and that'll run you less than $100. No more laboriously sawing through an onion with that flimsy dull serrated piece of worthlessness. A good sharp knife should glide right through anything you care to stick between it and the board. Onions, tomatoes (without squishing), probably even your thumb a few times until you learn how to use…

My 2 cents are a 8" or 10" victornix chef knife

http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Fibrox-8-Inch-40520-5-2063-...

My local butcher uses it so much it turns into a boning knife.

Re: Ask HN: What under $100 item would you recommend everyone buy?

#117

Post by lowmagnet »

hsx wrote: post #42
jedrek wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To what end?

Some people find that they're able to get more things done when they don't have the distraction of a smartphone in their lives.

Lacking in discipline/highly distracted, tbh. I have an iPhone 4, which is more than capable. I often go days without checking anything on it.

Then I go into the kitchen at work and see people getting coffee while checking their email. wat.

Re: Ask HN: What under $100 item would you recommend everyone buy?

#119

Post by gesman »

sphildreth wrote: post #85

At least once in your life take the $100 and break it into 5 $20. Then find someone who you appreciate (Police, Fireman, EMT, Preacher, Teacher, etc.) Walk up and give them the $20 and say something simple like "Thanks for what you do, let me buy you lunch". It's an awesome experience to see someone receive unsolicited gratitude.

...or don't break it and use "as is" for someone you appreciate.

Re: Ask HN: What under $100 item would you recommend everyone buy?

#120

Post by gesman »

seferphier wrote: post #22

i would say mechanical keyboard since we spend so much time on the computers. but the great mechanical keyboards are over $100...should be able to get a second hand one for cheap.

I type this on original IBM mechanical keyboard that I got in 1998 when IBM was cleaning their overstocks (I used to work there).

Works like a charm and make noise few people in my office hate :)

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