Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2023
Someone asked this [0] at the end of last year and I found it really useful for gift ideas. Figured it was worth another go!
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34272687
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34272687
I noticed that sitting in a tightly closed office surrounded by monitors , CO2 was being trapped around me . I started testing with blood oxygen monitor and could reliably predict low blood O2 based on the above symptoms.
tl;dr keep your door and/or windows open and use a fan to circulate air into your desk area. It's very easy to reach high CO2 concentrations in a small room when you are surrounded closely with monitors (flat surfaces)
While I'm writing the comment, it's important to note you will almost certainly notice high CO2 content but you very likely won't notice low O2 content. Think about inhaling a helium from the balloon tank. You know there is very little O2 in it at all, you can even hear how it changes your voice, but you can keep breathing more in and out until you pass out cold and not even "sense" the lack of O2 until seconds before you pass out you start feeling very lightheaded. On the other hand if you breathed in CO2 like that you'd immediately notice and feel awful. This is because the body doesn't detect how much O2 you're taking in it detects how much CO2 you're able to get rid of. All this is to say, if you have low blood O2 levels don't necessarily expect to be aware of it.
The third thing I'll mention, since it seems inevitably someone comes by and reads "CO2" and confuses it with CO (carbon monoxide), is CO and CO2 are different things with different ppm values and different outcomes. It seems inevitably in the conversations CO will kill you in less than an hour at 1000 ppm, with effects from long term exposure possible at far less than that. If you have an appliance that burns fuel to function you really should have CO detectors, even if your state doesn't mandate one. If you don't get a CO2 monitor the worst that'll happen to you is you'll not feel as great (assuming CO2 isn't so bad your problem is actually there isn't enough oxygen left).
It's important to note these two issues (high CO2 and low oxygen) only go together in the most extreme scenarios. CO2 can be impactful long before O2 levels noticeably decrease or start affecting your blood O2 levels. For CO2 to be extremely high (causing headaches, dizziness, and nausea) it only needs to be in concentrations around 0.1% to 0.2%, more often represented as 1,000 to 2,000 ppm due to the low typical concentration of ~420 ppm globally. On the other hand, air is 21% oxygen (by volume) and at 10x the difference of 1%/10,000 ppm less than normal the air is not even considered oxygen deficient yet.
While I'm writing this comment, it's important to note you will almost certainly notice high CO2 content in your environment but you very likely won't notice low O2 content until it's well too late. Think about inhaling a helium from the balloon tank. You know there is very little O2 in it at all, you can even hear how it changes your voice due to the displacement, but you can keep breathing more in and out until you pass out cold and not even "sense" the lack of O2 until seconds before that moment when you feel lightheaded or your vision starts to fade. On the other hand if you breathed in CO2 like that you'd immediately notice and feel absolutely awful. This is because the body doesn't detect how much O2 you're taking in it detects how much CO2 you're able to get rid of. All this is to say, if you have low blood O2 levels don't necessarily expect to be aware of it.
The third thing I'll mention, since it seems to inevitably come up, is "CO2" (carbon dioxide) should not be confused with "CO" (carbon monoxide). CO and CO2 are very different things with different ppm values of concern and different outcomes when they are out of range. CO will kill you in less than an hour at 1000 ppm with effects from long term exposure possible at far less than that. If you have an appliance that burns fuel to function you really should have CO detectors, even if your state/goverment doesn't mandate one. If you don't get a CO2 monitor the worst that'll happen to you is you'll not feel as great (assuming CO2 isn't so bad your problem is actually there isn't enough oxygen left).
I have CO2 measurement working with an old third party 3.3v Arduino clone, and a nice 4-digit 7seg amber display.
I've been using it for a while already and I'm really happy with it.
It's less than $50, it runs FOSS (IronOS) so you own it, and it can be powered by USB or by via a barrel jack so it's ding dang handy.
Nevertheless, I would never have thought that I'd ever own a soldering iron requiring firmware.
My soldering iron is a hot piece of metal with a plastic handle. It works. What am I missing out on?
Simple soldering irons often don't even have temperature selection. And their predetermined temperature drops significantly when heat is transferred into the soldering pieces.
I can dial the Pinecil very accurately to anywhere between 100° C and 400° C, to provide the optimal temperature for the soldering job and it meticulously maintains that temperature (given the power supply is beefy enough).
Another nice feature is automatic stand-by when the tool isn't used. This preserves the tip, saves energy and lowers the risk of accidentally setting anything on fire. It automatically heats up blazingly fast when I pick it up again.
Generally now grab it first, when a job comes up!
https://products.wera.de/en/ratchets_and_accessories_zyklop_...
Audiophile IEMs: there's a lot of stuff under the 200€ mark that can make your ears feel previously undiscovered levels of joy. And if you're listening to music a lot of time, this is a damn good investment. Truthear and Moondrop have a lot of interesting affordable options.
Acoustic panels: if you play music on speakers a lot, getting your room to sound drier can really make you discover new levels of detail. Just don't buy the cheapest polyuretane ones, as they only cause random dips in mid freqs.
Smart watch/band: Nothing too fancy, just anything that can notify me of stuff so I can keep my phone away and avoid picking it up to read a simple text message.
I'm trying a Rockwell 6C (around $60) with its interchangeable base-plates for different aggressiveness on blade exposure/angle, and just started on a variety pack of blades to see what suits me - so far so good on the experiment, it's at very least not causing any more irritation and produces less waste. Shaving accessories _is_ a ridiculous rabbit hole of hipster consumerism, but doing better-than-default seems like it might be worthwhile.
Right now it's just for face, by my hair is rapidly approaching "Doonesbury's Old Surfer Dude" so the role might expand.
Or full sized cans - Sennheiser HD598 can be found for ~$100 and you get fantastic sound out of basically everything, beating many $400+ bullshit headphones
https://www.amazon.com/_/dp/B01L1IICR2/ - HD599 new, $149
https://www.amazon.es/_/dp/B01L1IICR2/ - HD599 new, €115
https://www.amazon.es/dp/B07Q7S7247 - HD599 new, €101
https://www.ebay.com/itm/296053418289 - HD598 used, $88
You do need a vacuum sealer, but the total investment is less than $150, which you can easily recoup when you find that you don't crave restaurant or takeout food as much as you used to.
No, you don't, zip-top bags with the excess air pushed out by water pressure and sealing after most of the bag is submerged work quite well.
My workflow these days is to buy a bunch of meat from Costco, then repackage it into portions with seasoning and throw it all in the freezer for later. In that case, removing all the air helps not just with buoyancy, but also with freezer burn.
There are no issues in terms of taste or plastic leaching or anything of the sort, though if you're really paranoid you can always use Mason jars or silicon bags.
I was skeptical, I liked my corded headphones fine. Just turns out these sound better and are way more useful for me.
Also, a shout out to my friend who let me try his for 30 minutes since I couldn’t in a store.
Cable management is a bit of mess, but it’s fantastic to be able to switch between personal, work, client and something else computers with the flick of a button (or keyboard shortcut).
I’ve not heard or seen any 8K KVM.
This is the one I use https://www.avaccess.com/products/4ksw21-dm/
I am on conf calls and video chats for several hours per day. These are a product I would pay for until I die.
They do cost more than this product though.
Makes writing a lot more enjoyable for me
I can’t find it on Pilot’s website (hope they haven’t discontinued it), but it’s available on Amazon, etc.
Obligatory caveat: pen enjoyability is pretty subjective. I put a lot of value on stuff like how it feels when I’m writing and a fine line (so I can write tiny in margins, and just because it looks cool IMO), but your mileage may vary substantially.
My brother in law in a general contractor and raved about his new gyroscopic screwdriver a couple years ago. I bought one last month and it's easily the best thing I've bought this year. Under $100 and it's truly a must have. I have the dewalt one, not sure if any other brands make em.
https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DCF682N1-Gyroscopic-Inline-Scr...
And this thing generates so much torque, I feel kinda worried about twisting my wrist to select the direction.
I bought a dozen of above headphones for sleep, cheap low profile that is very comfortable to sleep in. Lays flat, no hot pressure points. Only issue is they're wired, and josling in bed means every few months I kill one from wrecking their cabling/connector. They had a cheaper discontinued bluetooth version of the buds I was using prior, but battery levels dropped to less than 8 hours and the battery warning (alarm) plays at 200% volume. I see Mee has a few higher end buds with bluetooth adapter for $80+, but they're still wired behind neck format with proprietary connector that would be cost prohibitive replace to frequently, especially if UI sounds still offensively loud.
Wondering if anyone knows a cheap chifi buds with same form factor that can be paired cheap bluetooth adapter that has quiet UI sounds. I've done a few rounds of searching and have came up empty.
Also the manta sleep mask
Toothpaste squeezer (I realize the juice is often not worth the squeeze, but it's fun to squeeze out the last few bits of toothpaste): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SHL6P8V
Egg poacher (no loss of egg content, unlike other poaching methods): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G821F4Q
iPad stand for the kitchen (for following recipes -- works better than scrolling recipe pages on my phone): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091KWQD8B
Surprisingly functional multiseat for windows. Lifetime license 50-100 for 2 seats depending on region. Partner's computer went kaput, and used this + steamlink to turn monitor into another computer. I see people online using this to play two seperate games on different "seats". Was planning to get seperate media centre PC, but this worked so well I ended up using money to upgrade PC components. Yeah, it's Russian software, but there's reddit posts dating back a few years. I can see how software/hardware vendors don't like multiseat since less sales, but I see a lot of sense in pooling budget for one extra powerful system instead of buying multiple compute devices. I wish Windows had native functionality.
Edit: Upon search, I am surprised Aster has been mentioned only one other time, 6 years ago in all of HN. Only 4 pages worth of multiseat comment dating back 13 years.
Multiseat in general is just super niche. I wish it took off more and maybe it would have turned into an officially supported solution.
That's what I thought, but I think compute/cores + gpu power + wireless networking these days makes solid case for multiseat. Instead of buying another media center computer, I have a faster main computer with better CPU + GPU, better home wireless networking to beam that capability anywhere in the house. Previously I already remote desktopped into my main computer via different screens around the house, but now my partner can do it while I'm using said computer as well. The extra money in main computer = I'm gaming at 1440p vs 1080p or rendering with 20+ threads instead of 12, while partner do their low impact media/browsing for less cost. At the point, instead of partner upgrading their PC, it's starting to look sensible to split into 3 seats, 1 for me, 1 for media centre, 1 extra for partner. Perhaps spend a few 100 on dedicated GPU for new seat instead of 1000+ on seperate system.
I recall trying this with Linux and it worked reasonably well.
This company appears to be Russian so they can ignore the legal issues, but it would be bad to use this in a situation where MS might want to enforce their license.
I was always behind an open door during the day until I bought Nuki. Now I am always locked and surprisingly, after only 6mo of usage I am very uncomfortable when autolock is not enabled.
Not needing a key but still having a backup in case it stops working is awesome.
It is expensive though, Nuki without fingerprint reader and dor sensor is less than $200 but with everything price is around $450
Plain URL for the more cautious/suspicious people :)
It says it has a "ceramic blade" that "stays sharp up to 11x longer".
It costs 9.99 CHF per month, hence within the limit of the post, and very much worth it.
That USPS service you posted is already available for free from Swiss Post as well.
Got it on eBay with a coupon for just under EUR 200. Really happy with it so far.
https://www.worx.com/4v-zipsnip-electric-scissors-wx082l.htm...
Govee smart electric (ceramic) space heater:
https://us.govee.com/collections/space-heaters/products/gove...
Then I bought JBL Go 3 and it's a different experience. The speaker is compact, lightweight and has a nice design. Sound quality / loudness is fully sufficient for voice and does a great job for its size for music as well. It's waterproof, now I listen even while showering. The only downside is lack of battery level indicator.
BTW, Audible subscription is a surprisingly good deal. You can have basically any book for $10 (even those which cost $30 on Kindle).
The Alan Watts series also has been amazing. I’ll admit I was reflexively offput by Watts just given his pop culture popularity, but wow he has some incredible ideas shared in a really remarkable way. Well-earned popularity.
"The main focus is Vipassana, where you’re taught to cultivate a quality of mind called “mindfulness,” which is simply a state of clear, non-judgemental, and undistracted attention, moment by moment, to the contents of consciousness."
Another product that improved my life is AirPods, if you’re into the Apple ecosystem they’re worth every penny.
I am in the Apple ecosystem but prefer them to my AirPods Pro.
Would also be nice to have larger versions too.
I've used a couple cheap wireless earbuds all of which were _awful_, and some over-ear TaoTronics headphones that are bluetooth-or-wired which are pretty OK, but I decided to try going up a tier and got a pair of Anker Soundcore Space A40 earbuds on sale for a bit over $50, and their ANC is _fabulous_, their pairing only rarely does something frustrating (they'll remember two different devices, which helps), they're actually reasonably comfortable despite being a larger object supported from the ear, etc.
One thing I realized the first time I had them on a flight is that the _lack_ of a simple way to hook them to a standard 3.5mm source is limiting - it means they can't take over for as many tasks from a wired pair as they otherwise could.
On the topic of headphones for loud environments: I've had mine for several years, but Plugfones (I have their Guardian model) are also a worthy object; earbuds which are also ANSI S3.19-1974 29db NRR hearing protection. Really nice for both noisy environments and working with power tools.
On that note, there seems to be an explosion of "open-ear earbuds" going on right now - just between October and November, the amount of designs on Amazon seems to have doubled. These sit on your ear instead of inside it, and are a ton more comfortable. I couldn't stand normal earbuds and have been sticking to wraparounds, but these open-ear designs work for me.
If they were still being made, I'd get more.
It will never.
Most common faults have well documented repairs. Worst case scenario you can get a new PCB made.
You'd have to physically destroy the enclosure to really lose your hexbright. I don't think anyone makes replacement ones.
But as I understand it, even that is documented, and the source hexagonal prism is common, so at least it's not impossible.
Walking around in the dark outside can actually be really nice. Your eyes adjust and, of course, it's never completely dark (moonlight, starlight, etc).
Torches (flashlights) are fine, but ppl tend to overuse them, in my experience.
All those times you're trying to use a flashlight around the house you probably would be better off using a headlamp. You can also use this as a flashlight too if you're weird like that.
https://www.3m.co.uk/3M/en_GB/p/d/v101190004/
They're light, stylish and work amazing. The world quiets down and it's (way, way) easier to go into the flow.
I was blown away by the sound quality produced by this relatively small speaker. It has very rich bass and other frequencies sound very good too. I often carry it around my apartment and use for things like music, audiobooks, calls (unfortunately the built-in mic isn't that good), etc.
My roommate tosses alot when sleeping and a really heavy blanket keeps her still, which she says helps her get a deeper sleep
https://tacticagear.com/products/m-110-bike-multitool?varian...
http://winsomewood.com/products/89933
it has helped me immensely in the kitchen in the last few months
iPad pdf reader & annotator designed for sheet music. As a “tech” husband helping out a non technical musician wife it’s a game changer
I won't recommend a brand though, while the Philips SmartSleep has nice color and smooth gradients, its so basic it doesn't even have a backup battery
Obligatory noise cancelling headphones. Get a good pair.
Apple OEM chargers. They work so well for fast charging.
Runs all sorts of tasks.
now I wake up with my phone at 100% every time!