What are some of the best purchases of your life?

erik111189@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 574 points –

For me it has to be:

  1. Helix mattress ($1,217). Sleep is great.
  2. Home gym power cage & weights (~$1,000). Look good, feel good, get strong.
  3. Netgear Nighthawk AXE7800 ($339). No more random, annoying internet disconnects/slowness.
  4. Books ($0 @ library)
    • "Ultralearning" - Scott Young (how to learn efficiently)
    • "Enlightenment Now" - Steven Pinker (the world overall is improving)
    • "The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing" - Taylor Larimore (how to invest)
  5. PS5 ($500). So many great games like witcher 3, god of war, spiderman.

I'm searching for some more deep value purchases. Give me what you've got.

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Purple mattress. Don't remember what I paid but it was discounted because it was open box. Best sleep I've ever had and no waking up to back pain. I even bought a Purple pillow and rarely have neck pain.

Raspberry Pi. I got one before prices shot up. If I didn't have one already I'd go with one of the cheapest alternatives. I haven't done anything super crazy like a doorbell cam or magic mirror but it's been a ton of fun.

Similarity to the Pi my favorite laptop purchase has gotta be my Acer Aspire One netbook. It's noticeably slower than any other device I have but I'll still use it because I just love the form factor. Super light and easy to use anywhere and unlike a tablet it's got a built-in keyboard, several ports, and runs Docker (seems like it's possible on Android but very laborious).

We have a traditional mattress with Purple pillows. First few nights were weird but they're awesome once you get used to them.

What do you do with your pi? I bought one awhile ago to act as a streaming box for my non-smart TV, but for some reason I can't get the Widevine for DRM to work anymore so I'm not doing anything with it now.

Things I have done with my Pi(s) --

  1. AirplayPi so I can airplay to my non-Apple speakers.
  2. OctoPi so I can interact with my 3D printer via the local network.
  3. Kodi media player
  4. HomeAssistant hub
  5. PiHole network-wide adblocker
  6. I put Tailscale on an older Pi and plugged it in on my parents' network, so I have remote access to help them with their router or whatever.
  7. RetroPi - classic game emulator. Plays just about everything prior to PS2 generation stuff.

I mainly use it for Pi-Hole, Torrents, Bastion host, and VPN (access from outside the home). I have a beefier server too but I guess I enjoy the novelty of a tiny server. Not using GPIO except for a fan but I guess I'll get a display for it someday.

Oooh I still have my AAO lying around in a drawer somewhere... What kind of stuff do you use it for? It was the device that introduced me to Linux, back then. Never used Windows again, ever since.

I use it just like a normal laptop. It's slow but it's not that noticable using a CLI. AntiX has done a great job revitalizing it (used Lubuntu before but it got way too slow). I would also recommend WattOS.