Ask Lemmy

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.

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.

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

I'd say purely based on usage time, my Bose Quiet Comfort headphones. I've had them since 2013 and have gone through a few pairs. My first set got chewed up by my then young now late guide dog. I was unaware you could replace the ear pads, so I bought a whole second pair. My bad. This second pair has lasted until today, though I upgraded to the QC ultra for the built-in bluetooth and use the old wired pair in my ham shack.

I bought them originally for work. I worked in a call center. The crappy plantronics headset they gave me wasn't going to cut it for 8 hours a day, so I looked for something better. Ended up buying the QC's plus an adaptor for a standard Cisco VOIP phone to TRS connectors. Used the QC's plus a cheap lapel mic.

I'd say the name "quiet comfort" says it all. I didn't care about how they sound since they handily beat the cheap earbuds that came with phones at the time as well as that plantronics nightmare from work. What they are is quiet and comfortable. They served me for 8 hours a day over four years.

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"

I can think of a few that I can't decide between:

My IBM Model M that came with my childhood PC was my primary keyboard into my 30s until a coworker sabotaged it (it was a bit loud I suppose). Not technically my purchase, but damn was it solid.

I bought a used 21" Sony Trinitron CRT monitor crazy cheap back in the mid 90s when typical monitors were 14". I felt like a king, that thing never stopped working, but I was pressured to part ways with it two decades later by my wife.

Edit: I'll add on my Beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones. My current pair are 20 years old and I have just replaced the pads a few times as well as some cheap support part (was less than $3 from the manufacturer). These things are basically invincible and they are still my travel headphones as they can take a beating on the road.

• 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.

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".

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

• car

• desktop pc

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

• automatic pencil sharpener

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

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.

Xreal One Pro head-mounted display glasses. They've really changed how I watch TV shows and movies.

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.