Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022

Going to +1 the "adjustable dumbell" purchase.

Technically mine was over 10 years ago, but its amazing to think how many more times I've "gone to the gym" (lifted) just because the full weight rack was right in my home.

Generally speaking, if there's something you don't particularly enjoy but want to do more of for some reason (health, aesthetic, etc.) then I always advocate for spending money to lower the barrier of entry.

I met someone recently who had their life likely saved by one of these. I guess they had a collision that launched them off some height of an overpass. They were still messed up of course, but survived and are well now. I'm inspired to consider one for my 2023 riding.

delivering pizzas for Uncle Enzos?

the helen rosner effect :D

This is only true if your plan supports deferrals, right?

Had after-tax deferrals available through a Fidelity plan at an employer once, it was great being able to roll that over into an IRA. Hopefully I'll have it again soon - it's an underrated perk for sure.

mind expanding more on "per company you work for". w2 employment?

> Did you know that you can save ~$62,000 per year per company you work for, tax free (or deferred)?

Do you happen to have a link or pointers?

    Elective deferrals up to 100% of compensation (“earned income” in the case of a self-employed individual) up to the annual contribution limit:
        $22,500 in 2023 ($20,500 in 2022; $19,500 in 2020 and 2021), or $30,000 in 2023 ($27,000 in 2022; $26,000 in 2020 and 2021) if age 50 or over; plus
    Employer nonelective contributions up to:
        25% of compensation as defined by the plan, or
        for self-employed individuals, see discussion below

You have my attention. Can you please give more details about tax savings?

You have to expand on your last point please!

But now your bike doesn’t work if it s not charged?

I had not considered that this kind of technology would exist. Very cool.

In a similar vein, years ago I decided to upgrade my soldering iron and it made soldering so much less of a pain that I ended up getting way more into electronics, simply because I didn't have to force myself through the normal frustration to getting a simple thing done. My takeaway in general was that once you're sure you're into something, upgrading your tools can really smooth the edges which can feed back into you doing it more.

At the bottom end of this effect, I first learned bass on an Ibanez sr400 (cheapest being the sr300 at the time) and couldn't do anything I wanted. Years later I tried a 2nd hand Squier JazzBass vintage edition and was shocked how easy everything was (even though the neck was thicker than the ibanez). Revived my passion for many years after that.

A good instrument (not necessarily expensive) is indeed important.

pics plz!!!

I did something similar. Ikea tabletops for the desk surface and back, two legs I found on Amazon to support the very ends, and a bunch of brackets from the local hardware store.

Biggest bonus was being able to set the height of the desktop to fit my short legs. Having a desk top at 26" looks somewhat comical, but now I can sit with my feet flat on the floor, knees at right angles, thighs resting on the seat, elbows and forearms resting on the armrest and hands resting on the desktop/peripherals. Nothing bent at an odd angle and no pressure points. The difference has been way more than expected.

Second best part is having a big L shaped desk with nothing to bang my knees on from one end to the other.

Well that's not feasible for me, but I have been meaning to upgrade to a larger desk (I'm still on the first one I ever owned - the cheapest one from Ikea). You've inspired me to do it. Just ordered a new one.

Out of curiosity, what machine was it and what justifies the price tag?

> You can spend more but the coffee doesn’t get better - you just get more automation.

Not always. I was going to restore a Faema E61 and discovered that the basic model is almost identical to the original. Parts are interchangeable. It’s manual, it’s beautiful and it’s expensive.

https://www.faema.com/int-en/product/E61

> You can spend more but the coffee doesn’t get better

I went down the espresso rabbit hole during covid, as did a good buddy of mine. We both upgraded from setups in the ~$1k range and are experiencing much better results in the cup. Obviously you'll see diminishing returns at some price point, but most of my friends/family agree that a latte from my new setup is noticeably better than one from my old setup.

Yeah, I got a powerful escooter and have really enjoyed it. It's fun zipping through town, and it makes it much faster to get to some places since I can go through parks/campuses no problem.

A couple safety tips though, for anyone considering an escooter versus ebike. On an escooter, the wheels have a very small diameter, which means that they are much less stable when you go over bumps. If you're going 15 MPH it's not a huge deal, but if you're going much faster than that things can get dicey.

On an escooter, the thrust that pulls you is coming from your hands (not seat/feet), and that's where the throttle is. As a result, if you hit a bump or divot, your hand will often end up jerking on the accelerator by accident. This can cause problems. As I have ridden more, I've learned to try to only have my hand on the throttle when I'm on obviously clear pavement, and disengage when going over any sort of bump or pavement transition. It makes things much safer.

If I had to do it again, I might get an ebike. They're much more expensive, and I'd feel like it's lazy to choose that instead of my regular bike to go most places. But it might be safer than an escooter (though the latter is more fun IMO!).

OneWheel feels more like snowboarding/surfing, EUC feels perhaps closer to skiing?

You should post in this thread then: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34272687

100%.

If you are even vaguely into fixing things, a degree of patience will save you a lot of money.

I’ve got an addiction to Mazzer grinders. Second hand they are cheap and the more beat up the better as it reduces the price and they are basically bulletproof. I pull them down, respray and add any parts I want.

Ex cafe equipment is cheaper as people don’t want large grinders. The Super Jolly hits a good spot between size, quality and price.

I like the Major and Robur - air cooled too. Overheating with 6-8 coffee a day will never happen, but the ventilation slots look so good!

If you do get upgraditis at any point, I'd definitely consider swapping that priority. I think, I'd rather use high-end grinder with a mid-tier machine than the other way around.

Buy a gaggia, mod it or pay someone to mod it.

https://gaggiuino.github.io/#/

Spent a few months fixated on coffee machines. Went deep. Gaggiuino give you equivalent machine value of $3k machine for under $1k aud.

Coffee is ripe for disruption on a hardware end of town. So much over priced 30-50 year old tech w/ at most a pid or Arduino/esp level of grunt computer behind it. It's absurd.

I've had 2 Barista Express units now. They have lasted me about 12-18 months each before something went wrong. In the recent case, I bought a new group head seal and I got about 60 brews before it blew out again. It has been a good intro machine, and it allowed me to go from using auto mode, to manually weighing 18g ground in for 36g output over ~30s (nb. with a $50 external scale) which made getting reliable results so easy. But now.. I really want a Flair 58, but I can't stomach the $800AUD. I'm stuck somewhere between coffee rookie and coffee snob and can't justify it yet.

Would also recommend finding a nice decaf bean if you are one whom caffeine affects easily. Now I can (did) have 3 great coffees a day instead of 1.

You like it? I've been considering it. Any reservations?

I've been using the "Omega Paw" box for years. You don't scoop. You just roll it upside down (one side is rounded for this) and when you right it, everything solid is in a long cup, which gets dumped into a garbage bag.

More work than the Litter Robot, but a lot cheaper.

The combination I've found so far is this:

litter box: a deep stainless steel full hotel pan (like you see in a food serving line)

Litter Genie (and generic inserts)

location: in my bathroom where I frequent enough that I can pretty much scoop after each time my cat uses the litter.

Right now I'm experimenting with a handheld cordless vacuum cleaner to pick up litter.

Pura Max owner here, we have had it for 2 months and it has quite simply changed our life: no more scooping nor smell.

Instead we now need to empty the container weekly (pull bag out, close bag, replace bag) and cleaning the machine monthly.

All parts are made of a sturdy plastic and can be disassembled them nicely to clean them, without any electronics in the parts in contact with the cats.

Pricy but well worth it

Nice! I made this move a few years ago as well, $ well spent. Now there's no stressing of getting to the mountain first chair and being able to enjoy just a few hours out there. Helps that my in-laws have a place in the ski town though... :)

Same! I got mine around March 2022. I've only used it a few times, but it makes me far more likely to actually go skiing and not feel like I've just dropped too much money for a few hours of fun.

Any suggestions for a good brand?

You can put that product here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34272687

I’ve been afraid to move on from my 2015 MBP for the reasons you stated. Good to hear they’re getting back on track

Seconding the Steam Deck - it's surprising how many games work well on it, and as a hobbyist game developer, it's great to run my own games on it. The fact that it makes a perfectly acceptable Linux desktop with zero tinkering blows my mind too.

Plus one on Deck. Fantastic product even though I was skeptical from the start. I’ve finished multiple games on it while on vacation that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

I bought the cheapest steam deck and a 512GB SD card.

Turns out I use my steam deck for watching movies and as a portable linux handheld. I do play some games, but it's such a great form factor for a small beefy, uh, pocketop?

What's smaller than a laptop, larger than a handheld? Is that a pocket-top?

You don't need to emulate Chrono Trigger unless you want to play the SNES version (fair enough if you do). The Steam version itself is fine nowadays. Same with a lot of Final Fantasy games. Obviously, emulating is cheaper due to not buying the games, which tend to be expensive.

Are you in the US? I've had a hard time finding ones that will fit the ones in my victorian home water-based radiator system in US.

A bit unrelated, but I've been a runner my whole life and have been injured the past few months from plantar fasciitis.

Curious if you have any recommendations there.

Would you recommend a casual runner (more jogger, really) take the plunge to invest in something like this? I never get seriously injured anymore, since I just take it easy nowadays, but I do get the typical aches and pains. Although, those are usually easy enough to ignore.

Seconded on a quality mattress. I acquired a new luxury Puffy hybrid from my parents, who bought it but didn't like it. I sleep better than I can remember, and don't wake up with random aches and pains. It's life changing, coming from a series of budget mattresses.

7-8 years ago I got one of those Leesa online mattresses, based on checking out all the different mattresses, it seemed to be the one that was closest to a latex-like experience without being latex priced. My wife was still having some pain so we ended up putting a ~3" latex topper on it. It's been a great mattress. I'll agree that a mattress that is comfortable is a worthy investment.

> memory foam pillows, and my random neck pains are also gone

those gave me my random neck pains in the first place :D

I second this suggestion. I also spent years on crappy cheap mattresses, until I was traveling monthly and noticed that (at least after the first night) I slept better just about anywhere else than at home. So I bought a Tuft&Needle Mint, which has been pretty good. Then over the Christmas holiday I let my brother use my bed and I slept down on a crappy fold-out loveseat in the basement for a week. Much to my surprise (and a bit of deja vu) I found I was sleeping better than usual. Apparently I now need something even firmer than the Mint, so I have a Helix Twilight on order as my 2022 Christmas present to myself. I've also spent a fair bit of money on good pillows, good curtains, etc. because getting a good night's sleep is huge and increasingly hard to get at my age. Nobody I've known has ever seemed to regret getting a good mattress.

Oh yeah, 100% agree this is the clear-cut best answer. If you can only upgrade one big thing, make it your mattress.

I did similar but had worse outcome. Thought my shoulder pain was due to 10 year old mattress. Tried them all, got Tempurpedic thinking "30 day guarantee" would be worth trying. 30 days passed and we both felt it too hard, but not so terrible we wanted the hassle of returning and picking another. Didn't fix my shoulder - that was unrelated. Still have insomnia.

We also bought a Miele canister vacuum in 2022. We moved to a larger apartment, so I thought we should have something better suited to the job. It is fantastic and vacuuming is a joy. So much nicer than the terribly heavy Dyson we have with laser and whatnot (though the Dyson is ok for quick kitchen vacuuming).

I am literally researching now for a home network upgrade. Been running Dr-wrt on a linksys for years and WiFi is starting to get super unreliable. Can you say more about your ubiquiti experience?

I am looking at ubiquiti, meraki go, and aruba instant but am open to ideas.

I feel really burned by Ubiquiti. I had ~5 cameras with their PoE switch and originally the NVR, which was flaky, and later the CloudKey G2. I was considering replacing my Google wifi 4-node setup with Ubiquiti. I regularly had problems with cameras not coming back up after a power outage or firmware updates. Then at one point a switch update caused a the Google wifi nodes to start being shut off because of loop detection and there was no way to turn it off. Then a year later most of the cameras bricked during one of their firmware updates.

The Google setup has been pretty nice, though sometimes it gets into a weird state where wireless performance goes into the toilet.

I'm currently playing with a Ruckus R620 from ebay, which seems to be some really solid Enterprise gear that you can get for around $250 on ebay, used.

Same here, the UDM Pro [1] and any of their U6 WiFi APs [2] are great. I went the extra mile and wired up each room with 2-3 ports, so had to get one of their PoE switches because you quickly run out port space on the UDM.

[1] https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-unifi-os-cons...

[2] https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-wireless

Does it still require cloud account?