Favorite Gadgets of 2019

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Apache

I was a child the last time I used a bathtub. I much prefer showering. It is faster which leaves more time for reading.

The shower is for washing, the tub is for relaxing (or sore muscles). Hence the opportunity to read.

[teija]

My hubby bought himself a fun "repro" retro style Casio calculator watch earlier this year for $25 from Walmart. It was purely a nostalgia thing though because he uses his Fitbit as a watch every day! Still, I am always excited to see things being "made again" - even if they are not as good in quality as the originals. It is the thought that counts, right?

Last month I got a nice deal on a hardly-used Kobo Clara HD and am LOVING it so far! Just have to figure out if I am ready to part with any of my other remaining eInk devices as I can't really justify having more than about 2 around. Hubby loves the spare 2nd Gen Paperwhite still, and I have to admit I still turn to mine when I want to read something from the many titles I have amassed on the Amazon ecosystem.

Best electronics purchase this year was my hubby's Fitbit Charge 3. It was an upgrade to the Alta that he started with last November (which I inherited) and thanks to both, he has stayed on-track for a minimum of 10,000 steps per day for just over a year now, and with a weight loss so far of over 75 lbs! I honestly thought those things were just a "gimmick" but hey, if they are what he needed for motivation (he is VERY much a data/numbers person) then I am not going to complain!

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The shower is for washing, the tub is for relaxing (or sore muscles). Hence the opportunity to read.

Except that holding anything, whether a glass or an ereader, requires muscle use, hence not relaxing.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Except that holding anything, whether a glass or an ereader, requires muscle use, hence not relaxing.

Oh, come on...

Hope you don't watch movies to relax. Holding open your eyes requires muscle use.

I hope you don't breathe when relaxing. Breathing requires muscle use.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Oh, come on...

Hope you don't watch movies to relax. Holding open your eyes requires muscle use.

I hope you don't breathe when relaxing. Breathing requires muscle use.

Mock if you will (and it seems you must), but when I have a bath, I am too tired to hold anything, and have all four limbs submerged.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Victoria

I bought the newest kindle last spring just so I could read in the tub during summer heat w/ humidity waves. It’s been the only way too cool off the last few years, and I resented the interruptions to reading. It’s been great, and is my favourite gadget of 2019.

Same. The tub's a lifesaver when the AC's broken. I used to have to ziploc my PW3. The PW4 is much easier.

It's too cold right now so haven't tried the Libra in the tub just yet.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Edventon

1 TB?! Why do you need this volume of storage on iPad?

Why drive a car that does 120 MPH when the speed limit is 70? More capability is always good. At the very minimum, more room for music, movies, podcast and audiobooks. Yea, ebooks don't take up all that much room.

[Apache]

The cheapest Quartz watch will always be more accurate than the most expensive mechanical watch. Also, the down side to any solar powered watch is replacing the capacitor when it stops holding a charge. Yes it happens to more solar watches than most people realize. Depending on the manufacturer of the watch and the person replacing said capacitor, the cost can run 25 to 100 times more than the cost of a battery. It is also more involved to change out a capacitor compared to a battery.
Apache

[Apache]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Oh, come on...

Hope you don't watch movies to relax. Holding open your eyes requires muscle use.

I hope you don't breathe when relaxing. Breathing requires muscle use.

Everybody has different ways to relax. My favorite way to relax is a heavy workout. Yes I know it is counter intuitive.
Apache

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Apache

The cheapest Quartz watch will always be more accurate than the most expensive mechanical watch. Also, the down side to any solar powered watch is replacing the capacitor when it stops holding a charge. Yes it happens to more solar watches than most people realize. Depending on the manufacturer of the watch and the person replacing said capacitor, the cost can run 25 to 100 times more than the cost of a battery. It is also more involved to change out a capacitor compared to a battery.
Apache

Do you have a lot of replaced rechargeables that failed from old age rather than inadequate care (e.g. letting run completely empty)?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

640K ought to be enough for anybody.

I was at Costco yesterday to get a portable HD. They had them in either 2T and 5T for under $70.
I remember my first 40M Seagate (MFM) costing me $450 (sale price) and thinking I had TONS of space for my MSDOS files

Later, a 100M Zip disk for backups was the cats Meow! (I recently bulk erased those and binned them as almost nothing (programs) fits that size).
How times change, in 2017 I was building out system racks with 22 Petabytes of storage EACH SERVER

[Strether]

I'm not sure that a new computer is a "gadget," but let's say it is. Bought a new iMac with a SSD and it boots up in 32 seconds, including typing my password, which is a revelation. My old one I normally put to sleep at night because it took so long to boot up.

Bought a Kobo Forma which I like and which has become my go-to reader, despite a couple of aggravations. It has a propensity to freeze which requires that you hold down the on/off button for a long time and that button is really poorly designed. Other aggravation is that it isn't easy to find an author's books because the Forma sorts some authors by last name and some by first, even though they're all side-loaded from Calibre and are all Kepub.

Jim

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by theducks

I was at Costco yesterday to get a portable HD. They had them in either 2T and 5T for under $70.
I remember my first 40M Seagate (MFM) costing me $450 (sale price) and thinking I had TONS of space for my MSDOS files

Now that you mention it, need to buy new portable drives.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Do you have a lot of replaced rechargeables that failed from old age rather than inadequate care (e.g. letting run completely empty)?

I find that most people do not know that they own a solar style watch. They come in all the time wanting to replace the battery because the watch has stopped. I had one just 30 minutes ago. And people who wear a solar watch with long sleeves have trouble keeping them charged.
Apache

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Apache

The cheapest Quartz watch will always be more accurate than the most expensive mechanical watch. Also, the down side to any solar powered watch is replacing the capacitor when it stops holding a charge. Yes it happens to more solar watches than most people realize. Depending on the manufacturer of the watch and the person replacing said capacitor, the cost can run 25 to 100 times more than the cost of a battery. It is also more involved to change out a capacitor compared to a battery.
Apache

I forgot to mention that I upgraded my Apple Watch this year. I used an Apple Watch for several years now. I still have a Casio pathfinder watch that is solar powered and syncs time (though I do have to have it on my wrist when I go to bed for the sync to work). It still works fine. I've worn watches most of my life, ever since I was a little kid, so it's hard to imagine not wearing a watch. It's been a long time since I wore an analog watch.