Hacker News Reader

> wired, I hate wireless things, I never want to think about batteries

It's funny, I feel exactly the same. When friends have asked me to explain why, I struggle to justify it. It's just a minor feeling of security -- one less thing to maintain.

The only piece of hardware I've considered moving to wireless is a headset for gaming with friends, but it hasn't happened thus far. Maybe if the End Times come and my ATH-M50x stop working.

To be fair, batteries for Logitech wireless keyboard (K270, non-fancy one, without backlight) last for years. Same for their Marathon mouse. Battery is not the reason to skip these devices. Connectivity might be, I had some interference with multiple sets nearby. But if you're solo they work very reliably.

> I struggle to justify it

My keyboard is never further away from my machine than the length of the cable, so I see absolutely no reason to complicate things by adding batteries to the equation.

Wires also double as safety tethers for angry people who like to throw their mouse/keyboard.

Yes, I have intentionally purchased wired stuff for others with this in mind. Yes, they needed to get their shit together and they did.

My M50x's sit quietly awaiting the short spots where I use them for intense focus work.

There's two things I've made wireless on my desk: mouse and headphones.

I use trackballs, and the sheer donveni of being able to shift and adjust without worrying about a lead is mind boggling.

As for the headset: if you can swing it, pick up either the Arctis 7+ or Arctis 9 from Steelseries.

I have the 9 and absolutely make use of the split between normal audio and chat audio during calls. There is a quality of life improvement from my being able to walk in circles while I hear conversations go in circles.

+1 for Ikea standing desk. I'm using it sitting but now I know which exact height suits me. Btw. I only recently found out that in my case chair's armrests should be above the table. When they're below I quickly develop forearm pain from table's edge, except if table has round edges. And these are very rare around here, edges are usually sharp.

Ikea's other non-standing desks are also often adjustable, but with tools. So not good if you want to experiment with height, but if you know your preference they have better price/quality ratio.

> As many monitors as will make you happy

I really like this approach! Some people want more, some people want less. There is no universal right answer! But monitors are so relativity inexpensive (when compared to their potential performance/quality-of-life increase) that if you work on a computer a significant part of they day, they are a no-brainer for optimization!

> Wacom One tablet - Now I can draw on digital whiteboards in Zoom, or even on shared websites and it's significantly better than the mouse experience.

Except there's no scroll wheel to zoom in/out. Which makes it difficult to use in programs like Inkscape and KiCAD.

Does anybody have a good alternative (external scrollwheel perhaps?)

The last time I used a Wacom pad, you could use pinch actions with your fingers to not only zoom in and out, but rotate and scroll. It differentiated between finger and pen actions quite cleanly.

> * Kinesys Freestyle 2 keyboard (wired, I hate wireless things, I never want to think about batteries)

I very much second that choice in keyboard, I had the freestyle 2, and now I also have the new mechanical version of it. I have really long arms, seemingly and most keyboards, even ergonomic split ones mean I either have to push my elbows together, or angle my wrists weirdly, or sit really far away.

With the Kinesis Freestyle, I can just arrange the halves wherever it feels right for them to be. And I tend to move them around relative to each other over the day, which apparently is a good thing, since it causes me to hold my wrists and elbows differently across the day, just like a dynamic sitting or standing posture.

+1 to having physical whiteboards around. They're super handy. I have three permanently mounted to the wall and a small magnetic one that I keep on my fridge.

There are a lot of devices that supports both wired and wireless.

I think it's a correct direction.

I can use my keyboard during Linux installations in wired and in wireless mode I can switch between notebook and 2 Android devices with shortcut