Ask Lemmy

Filco Majestouch mechanical keyboard.

I code all day every day. I would burn through a cheap OEM keyboard in a year, and the keys would get stiff and cause massive hand strain.

$200 on one good keyboard. You're set for life.

Sleep Number mattress. Yes it’s gimmicky and expensive, but the ability to adjust softness/firmness according to how my back feels is priceless

iPad. A long time ago when I was an IT drone the boss dropped a 1st gen on our desks and said, “set it up and figure it out, you’ll be supporting it.” 2 weeks later I told my husband he was off the hook for Christmas, I wanted one of these. It’s been my most used entertainment tech since through multiple generations

Complete set of bedsheets in 100% bamboo.

Tempur mattress

Laser hair removal for my full legs, armpits, bikini line and upper lips

Blackout blinds for the bedroom

Raw food subscription for my dog

A $100 brother laser printer (2280dw but it has been discontinued). It's like a printer from an alternative universe where printers aren't evil.

Had it for about 6 years now. Printed thousands of pages and only needed to replace the ink cartridge a few times. Had no issues with 3-rd party cartridges. Surprisingly never required any maintenance.

Other laser printer brands that can probably perform similarly, but I can only vouch for this one.

I do a lot of firewood processing, so the DeWalt battery powered 8 in. chainsaw has been great. Don't need to spin up a big gas saw for little branches.

A more general answer: used cars. My most recent two car purchases were off craigslist and have been great bang for the buck. I see no reason to buy a new car ever again.

A Fumoto oil drain so I can do oil changes myself, my local shops quote me $90, $100 to do oil changes. No more of that ¯_(ツ)_/¯.

A sewing machine, for sure. The amount of clothes I repaired, the amount of creativity I release after buying it makes it absolutely worth it.

65” LG CX OLED. Absolutely gorgeous TV. Beats the theater honestly.

Infrared grill. Zero flare ups ever.

Pellet grill. Effortless smoked meat, etc.

Sony MDR-7506 headphones. Fairly flat and EQable +12dB without distortion. Built like a tank and parts are still accessible. Threw some lamp skin ear pads on and they’re heavenly.

Brother printer. Don’t ask, just buy it. Way better than the rest.

Rotary sprinkler heads. Windproof.

Klein precision driver and bit set. Lifetime warranty and it’s a great bit set. Super useful.

Sonos Arc+sub+surrounds. Expensive but fantastic system. That sub is something else.

AppleTV. Zero ads. Clean interface. Works extremely well.

Mason jars. If you know, you know.

House in 2017

Definitely my iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit. Cost like 70€ but I've repaired dozens of devices with it which otherwise would've gone to waste. Based on that it easily saved me more money than it cost :D

I absolutely love my induction stove. I've been Wanting one forever, can't justify the price to run upgrade my electrical panel and run a 240v line (I have gas now). Finally decided to get a cheap countertop model (duxtop). It's night and day. Holy shit. It boils water faster than I could imagine. It's Hotspot is a little small for a cast iron pan, but works perfectly with steel pans. Gets hot very quick, cools off quick. Way easier to clean. I absolutely love it.

Eventually I'll get a full sized one, but for now, 2 burners is enough.

Battery backup for network equipment. Having your router stay on when the power drops for a few minutes is the best.

Good áss socks, life is too short to wear crappy socks

most recent purchase was a resin 3d printer. Now i can make figurines for my bf and i have something to play with. win win

If you don’t have a cordless vacuum yet, it’s an awesome investment. Got one from Costco that has a smart setting for sucking up pet hair and other detritus that typically lives deep in the carpet. I have no problem vacuuming daily now because it’s so easy to just pick up and go. I’ve also heard people with wood floors say that roomba has made it so they never have to swiffer a day in their lives and that sounds pretty rad.

Adjustable bed platform has also changed my life. Don’t wait until you’re 50, get it whenever you can afford it. I swear to god it’s a game changer.

I love my Kobo! I'm a big night reader and I hate book lights... My Kobo has made it so convenient and I have access to sooo many books. Libby lets me take advantage of my library membership, too!

1. Anbernic RG35XX handheld emulator ($70). So much fun and nostalgia playing the Sega and PS1 games I loved as a kid.

2. Hakko soldering iron ($~120). This plus good solder & flux makes anyone a soldering expert.

3. Electric leaf blower ($150). Clears the deck & patio in 2 minutes vs 30 minutes of sweeping. Also fun for cranking a campfire up to 11.

Vivo brand monitor arms, the simple pole clamp ones. 40 bucks give or take, I've had them for 6+ years and they should last for another 10+ I would think, awesome value.

Sennheiser Momentum 3 wired headphones. Used and abused, replaced the cord and ear cups after about 3-4 years for 35 bucks total and they work as well now as they did brand new. Sound is great, they are comfy too.

Sony A6000 camera. Works great, awesome pictures.

IFixit multi-bit screwdriver set with the hard case. Had it for around a decade so far. Nothing broken, nothing worn out. Use it all the time on computers, furniture, electronics, etc. Plan on having it for another 10 years easily.

Steam Deck. Best general purpose gaming handheld out there. Moddable, repairable, high quality, super fun, runs everything I want.

My Prius. Best car I've ever owned. I love it.

• sennheiser hD598 - ~$150, had them for 7 years, rock solid, sound great
• elgato HD60 w chinese HDMI splitter - ~$150 lets me record anything from an HDMI, blur out channel logos, etc
• j mascis sig jazzmaster ~$500 used - best guitar i ever played

1. Kitchenaid! I bake bread every week and it makes it so much faster/easier. Also good for mixing stuff and making fancy whipped creams
2. Double full motion monitor arm. This helps me save desk space and allows me to move my screens around depending on what I'm doing. For example when I play FPS games I move the main one from the left to the center (closer to my face)
3. Battery powered air compressor and jump starter for my car. No need to be stranded waiting for a jump or have keep quarters for low tires.
4. Weber kettle and WSM, very solid grill and smoker. I use em all the time.
5. A good mattress! I bought one made locally in Texas, so comfy

Good headphones is a must for me. The Koss Porta Pro are awesome for a prize of only 30 bucks.

Aftershokz Aeropex bone-conduction headphones. Wear them all day, every day.

A computer. Not necessarily a high end one, but at least a decent one. So much opportunity in such a little machine

Top 4 (couldn't think of 5)

1. Laptop - Microsoft Surface Book 3 - Like a giant ipad with a keyboard and a good cpu, good for programming for me, school, small gaming.
2. Netgear Router and Modem - OP said, are cool and I feel safer without an Xfinity dual modem/router.
3. Music on Bandcamp - Cool way to have digital copies of my favorite music.
4. Apple TV - Finally streaming, I get to choose what I want to watch.

Rowing machine. I use it Monday-Friday before work. Puts me in a good headspace and makes my workday feel less stressful. I’ve lost a bunch of weight also. I like that I can workout hard multiple days in a row without risking injury.

An Anker powerbank 20000mAh. Couldn't for the life of myself go to a time before having it.

One of those "portable AC" units.

My home office gets up to 85° at minimum during the hot summer days. Having a tech come in and fix my entire HVAC setup is too rich for my blood. HOA won't allow window units... Finally caved and got the more expensive "portable" ac system that sit on the floor and have tubes that go out the window.

Room can get down to 73° during those same hot days and I am so happy with it.

• Coffee grinder. Much better coffee at home
• Nintendo Switch. Hundreds of hours of entertainment.
• SwitchBot. $30 or so to remotely push a button for you. I use it to turn on my espresso machine remotely to let it heat up before I go use it.

A rice cooker, and a pair of clip-on earphones that I bought specifically because I like Persona 3, but turned out to be a really good pair.

My 512GB Steam Deck, easily. I've used it almost every day for going on a year now, and the novelty of playing things like Witcher 3, or Mass Effect, or a fully modded Skyrim anywhere I want still hasn't worn off.

I went 6 days a couple weeks ago without power due to a massive storm. After a few days I purchased a small solar panel that has a USB port in it you can plug in anything that needs a charge. Works really good! It’s only 10 watt so charges pretty slowly but when you’re fully cut off from the grid, it’s a life safer. Definitely my most worthy purchase in quite some time.

Guild Wars 2 game for PC. 10.000 hours in (yes, I’m addicted!), and still rocking. Thousands of players, new expansion next month, and the base game plus the 3 first expansions only cost 33€, no subscription fee.

A yubi key for my online accounts. ($45)

A layer 3 POE switch, no more dual wires for power and data ($800)

Stainless steel pan, can cook anything and scrub it hard without worrying about non stick coatings ($75)

Proxmox (free) best hypervisor I've used that's free

Framework computer. Modular and upgradable laptop ($900)

Corded dyson from 20! Years ago. Still sucks, in a good way!

my sleep 8 heading/cooling bed last year. was tired of sleeping crappy, had tried just about everything from supplements to saunas, exhausted all other ideas ... out of desperation decided to throw down for it.

seriously life changing. no matter what temp the room is at the bed is always perfect. takes a while for the auto pilot to learn your likes but when it does ... oh man.

much love for my smart mattress ❤️

I bought a height adjustable office desk specifically for home office, great purchase.