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

I'm not the only person saying this: getting an espresso machine was the biggest QoL improvement from one purchase I've ever had. Although you do have to enjoy and be excited about manually making espresso. For me I specifically wanted to go through the process (grinding, tamping, etc) since being able to vary the result, pick the coffee, etc is part of the enjoyment, so a machine that uses Nespresso pods or the like was never a consideration.

You don't have to spend a lot of money really, but it is recommended to get a standalone grinder rather than a grinder+espresso combo because it means you can upgrade/replace the parts separately. Also most of your budget should go to the grinder, not the espresso machine, since that's the part where money gets quick returns on quality.

I bought a Gaggia Classic Pro machine (~425$), which is perfectly adequate if not the most attractive one, and a Sette 270wi grinder (~450$). They have been completely successful so I have no intention of upgrading.

LesZedCB · 3 years ago

Nice! I got into espresso at the start of COVID with a Silvia and really enjoyed it. This year I started roasting my own coffee. I found a hottop 2k used on Craigslist for $600, and now I spend about $10/mo on coffee!

ajkjk · 3 years ago

Not a bad idea, although I guess personally I don't mind my coffee budget particularly because it goes to local cafes that I like supporting. I also don't drink all that much (2 cups a day) so it's not much money to support my 'habit'.

karakot · 3 years ago

I've been drinking good espresso for many years (locally and freshly roasted beans, good grinder and espresso machine, etc), then moved to aeropress and been sticking with americano for the last year. Now, I'm trying not to drink any coffee for a month to check if it's the reason I'm getting extremely anxious lately.

ajkjk · 3 years ago

I've been down that road but have more or less convinced myself the coffee wasn't the problem. Although I don't drink _all_ that much. Coffee does seem to make it a bit harder to be self-aware, though .. like your energy levels are higher but they leave less time for the kind of boredom that causes you to have thoughts about stuff you've been avoiding thinking about.

gtvwill · 3 years ago

Hell yeah! Congrats on getting into the world of coffee.

Go check out https://gaggiuino.github.io/#/ if your into tinkering.

Your gaggia is about 250 to 300 bucks away from walking all over $3k+ machines. :)

digianarchist · 3 years ago

That’s exactly my setup. I swapped out the pressure valve and added a temperature PID controller. It’s a great unit.

getToTheChopin · 3 years ago

I've got a late 1990s Gaggia which is still going strong (with regular maintenance).

It's a great little machine!

I spent ~$2700 on a new mattress. I no longer wake up with hip or lower back pain. My sleeps are an order of magnitude better.

I ended up with a Tempurpedic. I spent about 2 hours trying every mattress at the store and bought the one that felt best. There’s probably a million hacks to get that mattress cheaper, but I regret nothing. One of the best purchases I’ve ever made. It also came with 2 “free” memory foam pillows, and my random neck pains are also gone.

notacoward · 3 years ago

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.

stronglikedan · 3 years ago

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.

shireboy · 3 years ago

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.

linsomniac · 3 years ago

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.

awillen · 3 years ago

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

lagrange77 · 3 years ago

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

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

notacoward · 3 years ago

Getting the right pillow is a struggle, all right. It has to be just the right depth for me, which is hard to achieve in the first place and harder to maintain even as the pillow and my mattress and my body all age in different ways. It almost seems like truly quantitative pillow personalization is a business opportunity.

robmerki · 3 years ago

lampington · 3 years ago

40" Dell U4021QW UltraSharp Curved Monitor. It's a great monitor, but what really makes it amazing is the built in KVM. My personal machine is a Linux desktop with displayport, but my employer gave me a Mac laptop which I have to use for work - lovely machine, just not my preference.

The keyboard and mouse plug in to the monitor, the Mac plugs into the monitor by USB-C (which changes it, drives the display, and routes the keyboard and mouse there), and the desktop plugs in to the monitor's USB and displayport connections. I can switch the full screen between machines, with keyboard and mouse following, or do picture-in-picture or split screen stuff with the input routing switchable through a reasonably decent on screen menu. It works really well.

thefz · 3 years ago

Amen to that. Before owning a display with built in KVM, I kind of did the same with an button USB switch, but the integration is much more nice.

abakker · 3 years ago

Here's a non-standard answer. I bought a pair of boots/trail hikers that I like a lot. I wore them for about a week and bought 2 more pairs. (total around $600). I alternate the pairs every day so they are always dry, and they stay in the "good" range of broken in and useful about 3x as long. I walk trails with a baby in a backpack or pushing a stroller about 3 miles / day and was in the habit of replacing shoes after 300-400miles, with the last hundred miles being noticeably worse than the first 300. By alternating shoes, it stays comfortable for a lot longer. it doesn't result in longer lasting per-pair life, but does mean I can go longer between getting to the part where it sucks, and can retire individual pairs that go bad sooner. (even identical pairs seems to have dissimilar life spans)

alfor · 3 years ago

Powerful computer, good large monitor, quiet wireless mouse and keyboard.

We spend so much time in front of a screen, but it’s easy to stay with old tech as it still work and do the same thing, but quality and speed matter. An improvement of a few percent pay for itself many times.

Choosing the best with what you work with will push you to also be the best at what you do, it serve as a yardstick to measure your work.

samspenc · 3 years ago

Same here, my best investment last year was upgrading from a 2017 i7 laptop (with no GPU), to a 2022 desktop with a GeForce RTX 3080 GPU and my productivity difference is like night and day, wish I had upgraded sooner.

I ended up getting two Dell 30" 4K displays and a monitor stand to mount one above the other, next to my laptops (also stacked), and that's been a pretty nice work setup for the past year. I did have to end up doing two USB-C to HDMI adapters plugged into the laptop to drive them, the docking station can't do dual 4K output (older Dell XPS15, sounds like the next version they made of it does).

torbica · 3 years ago

>quiet wireless mouse and keyboard

Which models did you buy? I am looking over 2 months now with unlimited budget and have no luck.

Keyboard:

* standard US layout

* should be really quiet for my night sessions

* available in EU

Mouse:

* big size

* standard 3 buttons and wheel

* quiet clicking and scrolling

I have currently Microsoft Sculpt Keyboard (still working but worn out) and Logitech M330 (too small).

I just bought this and I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner.

The dept of the key is a bit too much (I am used to the mac keyboard) but both the keyboard and mouse it’s really quiet and smooth.

The mouse is quite small but has ergonomic shape.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B089KV4YYX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_...

des1nderlase · 3 years ago

Some of the hobbies

Some of the basic (power)tools, drill, driver, saws, clamps. It's increadible how cheaply you can start a woodworking, metalworking fabrication projects. Trick is to dedicate some time and have a big enough garage/basement/room. For woodworking dust is the largest limiting factor in having fun for hobby shop. For metal, its the fumes, smell. Getting into machining, with lathe/mill requires a bit more space/dedication but is suprisingly clean(er), so people have done it even in their apartments.

Also for folks in the apartment, a 3D printer (full frame based ones that could be upgraded over time) and/or laser engraver-cutter (one of the latest diode 20-30w range) assuming you can ventilate the fumes, would get you and your kids endless fun.

Other than the above, for me personally, getting a good bicycle (a cyclo-cross-road type) with good all weather gear allowed me to ride anytime, anywhere and really use free time to the max (a honest recommendation, don't bother with performanse spec and weight too much, get a wider tire bike that can go anywhere with a widest range of gears, it's so much more rewarding). No other activity you can burn calories for 3-5 hours straight, and it helps away from a screen.

SauciestGNU · 3 years ago

Big cyclist here and I fully agree with the cyclocross (now frequently called "gravel bikes") suggestion. It's versatile, can get me around in Michigan winters, and it's really fun. Great way to get/stay fit and reduce car dependency.

jerkstate · 3 years ago

I'm going to cheat because I actually bought this in late 2021, but: my own ski equipment and a weekday season pass. I used to go maybe two or three times a year with rented equipment, which was a whole production that required extra hours to go rent and return it, and I had to plan ahead. Now I can just decide last minute to head up to the mountain for the day, so last year I went about 15 times, on track for 15-20 times this year. It's great exercise and tons of fun.

c2kc · 3 years ago

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... :)

tibbon · 3 years ago

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.

yeah, that's a great point. If you have your own gear and season pass, you can just come back down if the snow isn't good or if you just aren't feeling it. If you spent a bunch of money on rentals and day passes, you have to force it, otherwise it feels like you are wasting money.

sul4bh · 3 years ago

Any suggestions for a good brand?

I bought the boots from a local ski shop, after trying on several brands I landed on the Dalbello Panterra, which I like a lot, but everyone has different feet. I've learned my lesson not to buy footwear online over and over again :)

If you wear eyeglasses, Revision Optical Snowhawk are the best integrated glasses + goggles I've used so far (but I'd be willing to believe that there are better ones out there - plus they are a PITA to order)

omershapira · 3 years ago

A professional-grade musical instrument caused me to want to get better at craft, and increased my reward curve in a way previous instruments had not. In my case it was a Fender Johnny Marr Jaguar ($1900 nowadays).

Graziano_M · 3 years ago

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.

agumonkey · 3 years ago

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.