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Under $100: - Ember mug - Why: lets me drink tea because I hate cold tea. Bleck. Under $1000: - 49" ultra-wide monitor to replace my dual monitor - Why
by madamelic 2y ago
Under $100:
- Ember mug
- Why: lets me drink tea because I hate cold tea. Bleck.
Under $1000:
- 49" ultra-wide monitor to replace my dual monitor
- Why: I use i3-wm. It works fantastically on it.
- 5.1 Soundbar for computer
- Why: I don't have to wear headphones constantly and also sound quality is so much better
- Mount 50" TV above my desk
- Why: Allows others to hang out in my office with me while I work / play games. Additionally, it allows me to turn something on without interrupting my monitor space.
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Breaking the rules:
Over $1000:
- EightSleep
- Why: Huge huge huge change in sleep quality plus it's really nice to be able to choose whether to get into a crisp, cold bed or a warm, toasty bed. The Autopilot stuff is interesting and does seem to work to keep you asleep but sometimes it can cause you to wake up especially in the transitional periods of the year (spring and fall).
- damidekronik 2y agoWhich 49" do you have? I am looking to improve my setup and wouldn't mind some suggestions.
- madamelic 2y agohttps://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=43305 https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=43305 I guess _technically_ it's right at $1000 but you'll really struggle to find any big monitor for under $1000.
- snapplebobapple 2y agoThey last a long time too. Mine is approaching 15 years old and still going strong
- red-iron-pine 2y agohah shout out to monoprice. used to go there to buy cheap CATA6 cables
- ashconnor 2y agoI used to use a soundbar for my computer but the only way to control volume was 1. With the Bose remote that came with it 2. Bluetooth.
- mikestew 2y agoI see that the cheapest Ember is now $130. My first-gen is about six years old, and the battery is about shot. I hesitate to drop another $150-ish on a new mug, but OTOH, is consistently hot coffee worth $25/year? Yeah, it probably is to me, so I'm going to have to suck it up soon.
- madamelic 2y agoOh, I wasn't even aware they were that much. I could've sworn they were like $70 - $90 last I saw. That sucks.
- jareds 2y agoI'm pretty sure the one I got was $99 but that was a black Friday deal on amazon.
- mikestew 2y agoIm pretty sure they used to be less money, as I don’t think I’d pay $130 sight-unseen. But now that I have one…
- azundo 2y agoThey're often much cheaper at Costco if that's an option and you don't care about a specific color. They are a complete game changer though, especially if you're a new parent.
- mikestew 2y agoThanks for the tip, I’m seeing them for $99 right now. Any color you want, assuming you want stainless steel.
- dotmanish 2y agodifferent sizes. The black-10oz is still $91 at Amazon right now. Price goes upwards for other colors and other size (14oz).
- pammf 2y ago
- chrisweekly 2y ago(also breaking rules to concur) EightSleep mattress cover is a GAME-CHANGER. Precise control over preferred temp, and detailed/accurate logging of sleep metrics == way better sleep, and knowledge of its relative quality (metrics for which let me measure the impact of different variables).
- SentientOctopus 2y agoNever heard of them, temperature control sounds amazing. How is this product from a privacy perspective? Is the data kept local or is it some cloud service that tracks all metrics?
- Dansvidania 2y agoNot sure about the privacy but afaik you can’t use the thing without the app and being connected to the internet. That was a dealbreaker for me
- SentientOctopus 2y agoThanks, that's exactly what I wanted to know!
- askvictor 2y agoIs it _that_ much better than a wifi-controlled two-zone electric blanket?
- chrisweekly 2y agoI've never tried a cooling electric blanket. My wife has struggled w insomnia for a long time, and the eightsleep tracking was almost as much a draw as the cooling.
- askvictor 2y agoThis does cooling too? OK, I didn't realise that. I can see how that might be useful
- foresto 2y ago> 5.1 Soundbar 5.1 typically means surround sound, but a sound bar (as I know it) sits in front of the listener. How does yours do both?
- idontwantthis 2y agoThey use feedback microphones to tune the output to bounce off of the walls. Or at least that’s what they claim.
- o11c 2y agoI imagine most soundbars cheat since consumer protection is dead, but they're still better (and more convenient) than two simple speakers.
- DarmokJalad1701 2y ago> - EightSleep I would agree. Except that now they seem to make it so that it is pretty pointless without a subscription. Kind of sucks that you have to pay $15/month to actually use the product after paying close to $2000 for the product. I still use mine only because I was grandfathered in to be able to set temperature set-points without a subscription. If I were to need another one, I would look for an option without a subscription.
- madamelic 2y agoYeah, am getting a little worried about that. I am kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop because the company has been nothing but amazing when it comes to their support. It has sprung a leak three times, about once every 18 months, and they've always replaced it with no additional payment. I have a feeling next time it's going to involve a lot of cash being exchanged and I'll be faced with a choice. --- The subscription thing is very much a bummer. I hadn't figured out why they weren't shaking me down for it until I also put together the grandfathered in thing. It is extremely distasteful to have a required (?) subscription on a product that is this expensive. I don't entirely get how spending $2k - $5k on a bed system (not a mattress!) isn't enough. Just pure fuckin' greed if I am being honest. I get they need to make money and their product isn't a monthly or yearly re-purchase but it's just short-sighted. Like let's be real honest here: their product almost certainly doesn't cost anywhere near $5k in materials. The margins on their product are likely already completely stupid. My guess-timate would be maybe $500 in parts. It's literally just a pump that heats or cools water that is app-controlled... not exactly anything crazy. If you look at something like Withings sleep tracker, it's $130 so even the fancy pants sleep tracking stuff isn't some crazy tech even if we take Withings' margins as the actual price.
- k4rli 2y agoThat's just insane. And it's not a subscription you can ever stop paying unless you get rid of the 5000EUR bed itself. Absolutely a dealbreaker. What if they increase the fee to 30EUR a month? Or 50EUR a month? That's guaranteed to happen once main product sales start slowing down and investors still want their quarterly gains.
- freefaler 2y agoFor hot drinks (teas, coffee & etc) I prefer a simple 0.7l thermos and small chinese teacup. Put the hot stuff in the thermos it will stay hot for at least 6 hours, put a bit of the hot stuff in the cup, since it's small it will get to a comfortable level of hotness in 30 seconds. Drink it slowly and refill. | Works in the park/library too and you only heat the water once and don't need electricity to keep it hot!
- skizm 2y agoIs there anything similar to 8sleep that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles and doesn’t require an app? I don’t care about any of the tracking or alarms or whatever else besides the temp control.
- covercash 2y agoYes, sleep.me. I had their Ooler and recently upgraded to the Dock Pro.
- idontwantthis 2y agoWas the upgrade worth it?
- covercash 2y agoA cheaper alternative to EightSleep is Sleep.Me… same concept with a heated/cooled water circulator + mattress pad, and they have an “autopilot” add on. I just manually set my temp schedules based on the season since I don’t like subscriptions for stuff like that, and I don’t want my sleep data on their servers.
- fellowniusmonk 2y agoI've purchased two ember mugs over the years and end up not using them, a thin double walled glass mug paired with an always on water boiler has been amazing. A kettle is great in Europe because they boil so fast but in the US a boiler is the way to go.