Ask Lemmy

Roland AE-30 (wind synth). It's great to get back to playing "saxophone," as well as use it in my MIDI setup to control other synths. Added bonus: it's small enough to pack just about anywhere, and I can practice anywhere, anytime with headphones. Even just running scales is chill, meditative time, especially during stressful workdays.

Strix Halo laptop.

After a little over a year with a Framework 16, which I had multiple problems with (garbage build quality and tolerances, multiple USB A and C expansion modules all utterly unreliable in any slot), I sold it and instead got an HP ZBook Ultra G1A. Really feeling vindicated getting a laptop with 64gb of 8000mt/s RAM last year given the RAMpocalypse.

Still wasn't cheap but the thing is insanely powerful for its size, especially the GPU which is crazy good for "integrated"

JBL Charge 2 and 2015 13" MacBook Pro.

Kind of my desktop PC as well but it's almost 20 years old already and the case is the only original component on it so I'm not sure if it counts as the same PC anymore.

• Dyson V8 vacuum cleaner

• Garmin Instinct 2X watch

• JBL flip 5 bt speakers These are just all round great products

• Tesla model 3 is the one that has brought me most joy. It has taken me all over the nordics for the last four years without any trouble.

My ebook reader. In the German speaking area, there are even some DRM free ebooks available that I can buy.

Bought a refurbished Thinkpad T480s a year ago. It got me back into Linux on the desktop which brought a lot of joy into my computing life.

• car

• desktop pc

• drawing tablet for said pc (bought in 2010 and still going strong)

• automatic pencil sharpener

Probably either my steam deck or hearing aids.

Like I could go on a rant about how much better hearing aids are these days than when I started wearing them 20 years or so ago. They were annoying pains in the ass back then and now they work better, sound better, and are significantly less inconvenient. And i don't have to ask my wife to speak up as often.

So far, my phone, a Google Pixel 6a bought and promptly Graphenified 4.5 years ago that is still going strong. Not perfect but it does it job

Steam Deck is a close second, it has rotated between being my primary/secondary gaming device and even my primary desktop for varying amounts of time, and it served every single role well. All while being dirt-cheap for the specs it have

Work Focused Answer (no joy, just relief)

I think that, for the majority of my IT career of ~30 years, it has got to be Thinkpads. First IBM and then Lenovo. If you pick the correct model, you get a solid workhorse with a fantastic warranty/service plan and amazing Linux support if you need it.

More recently, it has to be the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7x Gen 1 (not the Gen 2). In my firm we spend ungodly amount of hours on calls and the Nova 7x is extremely comfortable, it has superb built in background noise suppression, a fully retractable mic, a mechanical mute button and, most importantly, the Gen 1 supports three separate modes of connectivity (four if you count the dongle.toggle switch). The Gen 1's three connection modes are Bluetooth, 3.5mm wired, and 2.4 ghz wireless (via usb-c dongle). The 2.4ghz dongle can switch between PC and Xbox. Linux users who have trouble with the input/output mix while on wireless can use a standard 4 pole 3.5mm cord to connect the headset without issue. I have mine connected via wire to my linux main, 2.4ghz to my client compatibility Windows system, and Bluetooth to my phone.

NOTE: The Razer Barracuda X is also triple input, but the mic does not retract and I have not tested to see if it has built in background noise suppression/voice isolation like the SteelSeries do.

EDIT: With the Nova 7 Gen 2, SteelSeries removed the 3.5mm port.

I bought a Lily58 DIY kit a couple years ago. I don't think I could ever go back to using a full keyboard. It's just so comfortable. My shoulders aren't tense anymore. My hands aren't bent out anymore. I'm not scrunched up like a ball when I type. Then switching layouts to Colemak-DH was another plus. The two things combined really helped my body relax in front of a PC.

Might get cooked here because it’s an apple product but I bought AirPod max 2’s and I initially hated them for the first day or so. I recently flew over 8 hours with them and god damn are the incredible. The noise cancellation is top notch, I couldn’t hear anything on the plane or in the airport. I wear them for hours at home in transparency mode and I really enjoy listening to music with them. I also use a MacBook for work and iPhone for personal use so the ability to switch devices so easily is a nice touch as well.

Kinesis Advantage360 Pro

Why? Because it saves my wrists but the real reason is because it makes me feel smarter. The same way using neovim makes me feel smarter. I use vim btw.

Sorry I know I’m not special for using neovim on a Advatage360, but also you gotta try it. Guaranteed to make you feel smarter

Switching to macOS as my daily driver years ago. Seeing the enshittification of Windows in the last ten years has been pretty breathtaking.

Side note, switching to Linux (hell yeah CachyOS!) for gaming has been a pretty rewarding endeavor. It has plenty of pitfalls, but I work in tech, and that's half the fun. The other half was that I re-imaged my Windows 10 gaming PC to be a CachyOS gaming PC, for free, and CachyOS wasn't all like "your hardware is too old, create e-waste and buy a new one with a Copilot button on it".

The Dirtywave M8 handheld music tracker. It’s a studio in your pocket. It looks like a goth Game Boy, using only 8 keys to create entire songs. It has multiple synth engines, a sampler, built in limiter, compressor, and effects, an amazing sequencer, and it just sounds awesome. It can be an audio interface, it can control other hardware synths, and you can use it anywhere.

Once you learn the basic controls and navigation, the user interface is easy and consistent. I suck at making music, but I can do it so fast on the M8 because it’s always with me and I can grab random chunks of downtime to work on songs instead of wasting time doomscrolling on Lemmy.

….wait

Samsung QD-OLED
Playstation 5
intel iMac
Garmin 955 Forerunner
Asioma Mx-2 power meter pedals

This year I'm going to get an Acura Integra A-Spec Tech, reviews on it are stellar. Replacing a 12 year old Civic .

I am on the fence about getting a Switch 2. Never got a Switch because it wasn't 4K and the games seemed meh.

128GB RAM, and a 2TB SSD, mid 2025.

My first iPhone, the 6s. I'm sure if I still had it, it would still be kicking ass. After that I got the SE 2, the 13 Pro, and now the 16 Pro Max. I do like having USB-C, but the SE 2 and 13 Pro were unnecessary.

So, an iPhone — but you really have to be careful. Some of them are bested by the next one. A few of them are good to run for a decade or so.

Not dumping on Android. I went through a few of them before I switched, and I liked the Galaxy S3. The others were all trash. I have a Galaxy S10 and I love it. I think these days it really doesn't matter what you have as long as it has USB-C (for universal charging) and it's decent or recent. The S10 will run for ten years. A lower-end Galaxy from a few years more recent would probably be fine, too. And that's the thing with iPhone — none of them are bad, per se, they're all flagship quality, they just have different compromises. Some Android phones are straight up duds. If you're fairly tech savvy, this isn't an issue. So, if you don't like Apple, get a Galaxy S26, it should last you a long time. If you do, the iPhone 17 is the best deal in tech. It should last you at least a decade if you don't suffer from FOMO.

MacBook Air. I've gone through a few Wintel laptops. None of them are good. No laptops are great for gaming, so you might as well get the MacBook. For a desktop, it's a harder decision because no Macs are reallly good for gaming; even if you spend a few grand on a Studio, it's only gonna be mediocre for gaming and you have fewer choices. Spend less on a decent gaming PC and have a better time. If you don't care about gaming, it's an easier decision.

Garmin running watch. Never liked running but am a list checker and analyst; seeing my inactivity or progress drive me to be more consistent and active. I'm massively healthier and happier as a result. Also first one lasted 10 years, 1-week battery life. Just bought a replacement last year(face was scuffed up after 10 years but was still running like a champ). No idea why other watches have such crap battery life without offering more features than Garmin but it's brought me joy, mental and physical health.

My Framework 13.