Ask HN: What gadgets you didn’t think of but found you could not leave without?

[jotjotzzz]

There are often gadgets we think are too pricey, or maybe we thought the idea is just too silly to get, or we thought it was useless. But when we got it, found out that it actually changed everything. What was that gadget for you?

For me, there was two.

First is the Google Chromecast. I didn’t think it would all that useful, but this $35 gadget changed the way I watch YouTube, Netflix, HBO Go, downloaded movies, listen to music through my TV!

The other is my Fitbit. Measuring the quality of sleep I get and also my average heart rate and the daily steps I get has been life-changing.

What's yours?

[lucozade]

Might be a stretch to say that it changed everything but my wife getting a Fitbit that displayed calls and texts reduced my frustration levels somewhat. My wife tends to keep her phone in the bottom of her bag and would often miss calls. Hardly ever happens now.

There is an irony here though. I have known my wife for nearly 30 years and for much of the earlier years we lived 100s to 1000s of miles apart. Any form of phone contact needed pre-planning. Textual contact required a stamp. Pretty much frustration free (well from a communication pov anyway).

So Fitbit was technology solving a problem that technology caused in the first place.

[oblib]

Pretty much in the order that I acquired and used them:

MIG wire welder. (this saved weeks of labor building custom cars)

Duct tape. (yeah)

My first Mac computer. (A Mac Plus, it was truly an amazing and sucky computer and I learned an immense amount about computing using it.)

The Suzuki Samurai. (Best little 4x4 ever made.)

Recordable CD-ROM. (My first app ran on a CD-ROM.)

Mac OS X (I coded my very first web app on the very first beta version I could get my paws on.)

Netscape Navigator (It too was an amazing and sucky bit of tech.)

Digital Camera (Everyone should put that on their list.)

Cell Phones.

Handheld GPS with Topo Maps (My first was a Garmin eMap. More than anything these increased my confidence in "bushwhacking off trail in the wilderness by confirming I knew where I was. As a result I was able to go further and now I don't worry or think much about it and go wherever I want using a printed topo map. I still bring a GPS but rarely turn it on.)

Super bright LED headlamp (These made a huge difference in my ability to hike at night.)

Linux. (This (and the price) is why I won't be buying another Mac computer.)

A "Supercat" cook stove for backpacking. I shelved several expensive backpacking stoves when I found this.

Raspberry Pi. (I've learned more about using Linux mucking around with these than I ever thought I would or could. I have one on my desk connected to a USB switch and a monitor so I can switch between it and my Mac for work and I will be bringing one with me on a trip this week to use as a portable desktop PC to keep up with things.)

iPhone.

LED monitors and TVs.

Roku (this has saved me a few thousand bucks since I got one. I was able to ditch Dish and DirectTV after years of expensive and crappy service and DirectTV flat out trying to steal from me.)

[anotheryou]

- An usb-fan: It's quite silent, I can cool my hands and torso and I don't dry out my eyes.

- A 200€ projector. It's all I need to watch on a big "screen" (given the sun has set) and so much better than I expected.

- a battery pack (just so great when you forgot to charge your phone or need to teether internet to your laptop)

- Measuring my room and fine-tuning an equalizer to it (mic + http://www.roomeqwizard.com/ + https://sourceforge.net/projects/equalizerapo/ ) I'm a nerd, ok, but everybody hears the difference. Base becomes dry instead of being mushy.

- a 30€ bluetooth speaker to listen to articles saved to pocket read by Ivona text-to-speach (you need to find some old apk for that) while doing the household or in the park.

- knifes: an opinel for in the bag and a cheap, but professional big knife for the kitchen (you can sharpen both sufficiently on the base of a ceramic plate, if not glazed there)

The rest is as expected: smartphone, headphones, speakers, laptop and chair. Most in the value sweet-spot of the upper middleclass (speakers above, but they also don't age).

I always did a lot of research before I bought any of these. I can name you the exact models if you ask.

[miguelrochefort]

- Instant Pot: I cook almost everything in it.

- Google Chromecast: I use it daily for YouTube, Netflix and Spotify.

- Kinesis Advantage: Typing on any other keyboard drives me insane.

[kzisme → miguelrochefort]

I have an instant pot and have only used it once :(

Any ideas on recipes or good things to make that aren't just soup of some kind?

[miguelrochefort → kzisme]

- Steamed broccoli

- Chili

- Pot roast

- Carnitas

- Chicken stock

- Creme fraiche

- Whole chicken (from frozen)

- Hard boiled eggs

- Mussels

- Ribs

- Rice

- Pulled pork

- Butter chicken

Almost anything that doesn't require dry heat (baking) or a very high heat (steak) can be done in the Instant Pot.

[kzisme → miguelrochefort]

I'll have to look into these!

It seems like a great way to prepare food. I just haven't found something simple enough to start with I suppose.

[PascLeRasc]

Is Amazon Prime a "gadget"? Being able to not think about delivery speed or shipping costs is such a relief for me. I can pretty much order things as I need them instead of having to plan around going to a store or ordering a week+ ahead of time.

[jotjotzzz → PascLeRasc]

That counts! Love it too, and all the other things that come with it like Amazon Music which is actually great!