Ask Lemmy

Steam Deck, hands down. It rules being able to play PC games in bed with my partner by my side.

Noise cancelling headphones are incredible, using them in a noisy airport eliminated 80% of the discomfort of travelling

My Fairphone 5, because it has allowed me to break free from Google and other big tech companies by letting me install whatever I want on it.

And my good old Thinkpad.

Steam Deck OLED has been pretty great. Also the HTC Vive VR headset, back in 2016.

Not a purchase, but Home Assistant is easily the most enjoyable gadget and piece of tech I've had in years. It's ridiculously flexible and can do just about anything you can imagine.

I've been able to automate dumb devices (like an old top-of-the-line receiver) and give them smart features rather than spending thousands to replace them. Occupancy detection saves energy by changing thermostat settings when people aren't home, and lights come on when we're 60' from the front door after a walk. Multiple leak detectors and a temperature sensor in the fridge let us know when something's wrong before damage occurs. We get notifications when the dryer and washer cycles are complete allowing us to complete the laundry in one day instead of two.

The system is configured to change change interior light brightness and hue based on time of day so at 7PM we have bright room lighting and at 2AM it's very dim. We get immediate notifications of package deliveries with the integrated Frigate NVR and a $15 camera. Firewall settings are dynamically changed so devices that require Internet access only have it when they are actually in use. Integrations exist for VLC, Spotify, Jellyfin, Paperless, Apple, TVs, alarm systems, solar power systems, routers, automobiles, and hundreds of other brands and devices.

Yes, much of the same can be done with connected appliances, lights, and other smart devices using separate apps and control interfaces for everything, but what's different about Home Assistant is it's all integrated and all control and storage can be local. We have no cloud or corporate services involved for any of this. Google, Apple, Amazon and Samsung can't one day decide to pull the plug on things we've already paid for.

The big problem with Home Assistant is there are so many uses you can easily end up spending way too much time tinkering and never get anything else done.

My old casio watch works after a decade of use.

My old kindle just got a new battery but its over 14+ years old.

And my CPAP is probably the thing that does the most work for me.

Framework laptop - they took the best parts of the MacBook, made it repairable and fully support Linux. Priced fairly, with the option to separately purchase RAM and SSD. And they've even provided free replacement parts years after the warranty expired!

I got a hacked SNES mini on eBay that was fully loaded with every ROM from Atari to the 32 bit systems.

My 2012 MacBook Pro is still going strong, still my primary home computer, still does everything I need. Maxed out the memory and upgraded to a SSD hard drive years ago and it runs great.

Portable battery powered bidet.

About a decade ago I bought my first mechanical keyboard -- tenkeyless with cherry mx red switches. The keys still feel like a dream to this day. I like 'em much better than rubber dome switches.

AMD stock apparently 😂😂

As an avid Clone Hero player (Guitar Hero but for PC, essentially) this was such a huge upgrade to me from the Wii guitars I had been using for years.

For me the best tech purchases aren't really the ones that bring me joy. They're the ones that become invisible because they take away points of friction.

So I would say my Brother printer is one. It's been incredibly reliable for more than a decade now.

Switching over to Ubiquiti Unifi access points for wifi has been worth it too. It's a pain to run wires for them, but having a solid signal everywhere in the house in all kinds of weather is just amazing. They've been running for a decade too, though I did just replace one so I can have a 6GHz connection in one room. Not really sure that particular upgrade was actually worth it, but the system as a whole has been so nice. There's just never anything to fix about the wifi anymore. (Well, okay, occasionally there's something to fix with the Internet, but it's usually just "Comcast is down," and we have to wait until they fix it, and sometimes also reboot the modem. The wifi itself is pretty bulletproof.)

So yeah. Tech that works reliably and invisibly for years on end is what I find really valuable. Gadgets can certainly be fun, but great tech is just there in the background making things easier.

My Nintendo 3DS. I don't use it often or regularly but when I do I'm glad I have it.

steamdeck and the skin and cover I bought. ironically the official dock is one of the worst.

My over the ear earbuds, probably. I use them daily, they're good for normal music or videos and they dampen sound and don't fall off so I can drum with them in. It's been a lot of fun just jamming to tunes.

Not a purchase per-se, but Linux - investing time in learning it has paid for itself hundreds of times over. A MacBook Air with apple silicon - it hurts to use anything else. ESP8266s / ESP32s with ESPHome - being able to craft real world solutions with very limited electronics skills is amazing.

• Steam Deck (I spend 90% of my time gaming on my couch than at my desk)
• Minidisc Players (There was some MD hate in the other thread but community-made software has come a long way)
• Kobo (Freeing myself from Amazon's DRM)
• DAS (Creating my own media collection on Jellyfin)

an ereader (a decent, 3rd party software compatible one, not amazons ewaste)

Dreamcast and CRT PC monitor 🥲

Either my Kobo or my 55" LG OLED.

I've owned a bunch of TVs over the years, starting with a 12" Panasonic "portable" CRT that just about fit on a shelf in my bedroom. But none of them can hold a candle in just how impressive they look to that LG. Even my first LCD, a 32" Sony (which I still have) impressed me to begin with, but ultimately it just became a TV to look at. But I've had this LG for a year and it still blows me away when I watch something that's letterboxed and the black bars are so black that you can't tell where they end and the (extremely thin) bezel begins. And it only cost me £800.

The software updates piss me off though, so I've revoked its internet privileges.

But I don't think a bit of tech has brought me quite as much joy as my Kobo Clara HD still does, some six years after I bought it.

A had a Kindle for a year before, and while it was fine, it annoyed me how much I felt I owed to Amazon with it. Loading books from not-Amazon was a pain in the arse. Calibre could do it, but only certain formats were allowed to have cover art. Then it went tits up, so I replaced it with my Kobo and it was like breathing clean air for the first time in my life.

The Kobo couldn't give a shit where the books came from, it treats them all equally. The battery still lasts for weeks, even after six years, and just a couple of weeks ago I worked out how to sync it with Grimmory, running on my home server, so I don't even need to plug it in to copy books to it anymore. Just upload them to Grimmory, which automatically puts them onto the Kobo shelf, so when it syncs overnight it downloads them. And it has Instapaper built in now, so I can save articles to read on that nice, clear screen.

And all in something that cost me about £90.

Yeah, if you enjoy reading and are on the fence about an e-reader, get a Kobo. The old Clara HD is perfectly good, and probably quite cheap now.

I love my modular synthesizer, although the cost of it is not good value for money so probably can't count as my best tech purchase.

My sim racing rig has the same issue, it's bought me thousands of hours of joy but is prohibitively expensive.

My ergodox mechanical keyboard is a solid contender. The original model, Hand built, cherry MX clears. It's lasted easily 10 years and I hate typing on anything else.

But I think it's probably my headphones. Beyerdynamics DT770 pro's. They sound great, they're super comfy, and not terribly expensive. I've had them for probably 10 years and I see no reason I won't have them till the day I die

Formerly steam deck, now unseated by my AYN Thor. It can play 70-80% of the games the deck can in a package that fits in your pocket.

My breville coffee maker and bratza burr grinder. It makes the best coffee and doesn’t complain.

Also, my dolphin pool cleaning robot. Vacuuming a pool manually is such a hassle. Outsourcing that to a bot is truly amazing.

Anything that buys me back my time.

The most recent, best tech purchase was the Nintendo Switch 2, and not for the reasons you think.

So, this is Denmark. A Switch 2 with Mario Kart World goes for 4000 DKK (€535, $630). With my budget there isn't a chance in hell I could afford that. Even if I could, the Switch 2 simply isn't worth it, especially considering I have a Steam Deck.

So what's the story?

Well, last year a telecommunications company rebranded themselves into "Norlys" ("Northern Lights") and started making some deals to attract costumers. One such deal was a 20% discount on a Switch 2 with Mario Kart World bundled, if you subscribed to their most expensive service. Yeah whatever, that's still 3200 DKK (€428, $504) and then you're stuck paying 300 DKK (€40, $47) every month for six months.

But...

I have a friend who works for Telenor, and he has a friend who works for Norlys, and my friend of a friend called my friend with a real hot insider tip; someone royaly fucked up somewhere, and anyone buying the Switch 2 and the six month subscription lock-in will get it for 99 DKK (€13, $16) and no subscription lock-in!

So yeah, me and my friends all got a Switch 2 and a game for a tiny fraction of the cost.

I have a set of Logitech 2.1 thx computer speakers that are probably close to 20 years old. Never faltered, unbelievable sound quality and has survived 5 or so moves.

This led me to my other joy, a legit home theater setup. I spent too much but I do not regret it. I'm sad because my current space doesn't allow for the full size towers and massive sub, but hopefully I can get them out of storage early next year. I miss having the full blown atmos setup.

Two right now. One is a Kobo e-reader. The other is a bone conduction headset. The latter allows me to ride my bike with my tunes but allows me to hear traffic and other environmental hazards. Very comfortable to wear too.

Noise-Cancelling Headphones...

not to mention any specific ones, just the general concept of it...

Everything sounds better, more immersive...

Also blocks out family arguments to varying degress of success depending on how much you spend on headphones...

Oh yea btw the first time I watched interstellar was on a cheap android phone with LCD 720p display using the phone speakers... 👀

On the other side of it, Bluetooth Speakers

Can sort of change the atmoshere of a room, feel slightly less "depressing"

Number 2 is an electric vehicle.

Number 1 is a non-smart TV

Honorable mention; The Apple Watch SE 2 I bought for my wife so she stops thinking she's going tachy or having a heart attack 9 times a year. Considering the cost of an average ER trip, and the hit to my sanity when these things only happen at like 3 AM, I'll gladly upgrade her to the pro version or whatever when the SE kicks the bucket.

Yamaha Reface CS. A remake of 70s analog synthesizer. Even if I don't make music professionaly, I enjoy playing melodies I've learned, fooling around with sound, and every time I catch a sight of it, it sparks joy in me. I own it for more than 2 years.

Also it's fairly cheap for synthesizer, 370 euro, but definitely it's not a toy, but rather a full blown instrument.

My favorite tech buy is a good 3D printer.

The ability to imagine something, model it in 3D, and then send it to a box and have it “magically” become real via 3D printing will never not amaze me or stop being cool.

Plenty of other useful tech toys like a jellyfin PC or a 3D scanner, but the printer is the thing I enjoy the most.

Macbook Air probably (Apple silicon)

Apart from the repairability it’s just THE perfect laptop

A few years ago, I used my meager seniority award at work ($100 for ten years! Yay...?) to get a Monoprice Select Mini 3D printer. That set off a journey that has been a lot of fun. I'm using a Sovol SV08 now, but the Mini was a great gateway printer at that time.

my lg g2, best phone i had. still using it as a daily driver after more than a decade

recently a used panasonic cf-rz6, extremely lightweight/tiny machine and runs linux perfectly

A portable power supply.

Enjoy the looks of envy when the people fighting over an outlet notice you're plugged into your tiny, little power supply.

• Not a purchased by me, but the mechanical watch my grandfather gave to me some 40+ years ago. It was his watch, and was already used when he gave it to me, but it still works great today.
• A good stack of quality paper (don't get me started on watercolor paper).
• The humble pencil, B2 or B4. This may sound like a joke but despite its age and it being so low-tech the pencil is still an unrivaled piece of technology that even Apple can only try to mimic with its expensive Apple Pencil.
• My most recent purchase, and a lot more 'high' tech than the pencil: a pocket Sony voice recorder, from the 90s. It uses standard AA batteries (that will last for weeks if not months), it needs no monthly subscription, and no online access, it fully respects my privacy, there is no ads in it, it uses MP3 and can record on either its internal memory or use SD cards, and it... works great with Linux. I love it.

I'm having a hard time defining "best", so I'll put out a few categories:

• Most used: my rooted Samsung Galaxy S23, which I use for listening to HiFi music (Tidal + Android USB Audio Player + AudioQuest DrangFly Cobalt DAC + Sennheiser IE 900).
• Most fun tinkering with: used Lenovo ThinPad T480, on which I swapped out the storage, RAM and wireless network module {1TB, 32GB, WiFi 6e}. I also learned Arch Linux and some C programming on it.
• Bringing it with me everywhere and is not my phone: my rooted Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ and my Deltaco WK90b keyboard, a form factor which they have stopped making, which is bonkers. I bring these two to local coffee shops and libraries and learn coding on Termux.
• Having own the longest: my sound mixer Notepad 8fx by Soundcraft, 42 inch 4K Philips TV and Adam A5X studio monitors. The studio monitors, I have had for more than ten years. The mixer and TV, for about seven. This is my media setup for consuming video and audio. I play video on the above mentioned Lenovo laptop, streamed from my Linux ISO torrenting rig and audio I mostly play from my vinyl player. This also used to be me karaoke setup when I still had a Nintendo Switch and when I still was happy.

My Moza direct drive wheel, pedals, shifter, handbrake and multi-function stalk. They have transformed my sim driving experience. And hate Meta all you like, but my Quest2 has likewise made sim driving all the more awesome. I'm looking forward to the Steam Frame, though, so I can ditch Meta altogether.

Also adding a vote for the Steam Deck. Outside of sim driving, it's been my primary gaming device since I got it.