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Topic: Hardware

Best buy of the decade

Summary: An interesting question in the Hardware 2.0 mailbag:"What's the best thing you've bought over the past decade?"

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

An interesting question in the Hardware 2.0 mailbag:

"What's the best thing you've bought over the past decade?"

Good question! Initially I was just going to pick some latest bit of kit that I bought, but I realized that a lot of new kit is only "best" for a short period of time - basically until something smaller, faster, or with greater capacity comes along.

I needed to think a little more and work the question a little longer. Then it struck me. The one "best" thing, out of everything that I've bought over the past decade, is ... *** drum roll please *** ...

My Aeron chair.

Sure, it wasn't cheap, but it's ultra-comfortable, still looks, feels and works like new, and should see me through the next decade.

What's been your best buy of the decade?

Topic: Hardware

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52 comments
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  • My Palm TX

    Yeah, it's a little dated now, but I still prefer it to anything else. At the size of a Pop-Tart, it's the perfect form factor. It's comfortably back-lit; pocket-sized; is a kick-ass eBook reader; plays MP3s; handles my appointments, contacts, and notes; gets me on the web and syncs nicely with my Lotus Notes. It connects to my phone with Bluetooth for convenient dialing and has wi-fi, too. The battery is long-lived, and storage is easily expanded with SDRAM cards.

    I'll probably replace it at some point, but nothing I replace it with will have the same impact. iPhone? Android? Same old same old with a built-in phone. Nothing special there.
    dave.leigh@...
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Best buy of the decade

    My Sonos Music System (Worth every cent!)
    dbest1970
    Reply Vote

  • Hmmmmmm

    It would be a toss-up between the circa 1970 gem of an Ariens Snow thrower I bought for $150 off Craigslist, or the 50 inch Toshiba DLP TV I bought 8?? years ago which has given me equally faithful service.

    (sigh)

    Dunno. Did six driveways with the Ariens on Sunday and then flopped in front of the TV.

    I love 'em both.
    Takalok
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Best buy of the decade

    My Kindle DX, by far!!

    Micromac
    micromac@...
    Reply Vote

  • HP Laserjet 1100 AXI

    My HP Laserjet 1100AXI (printer, copier, scanner). It is ten years old and looks the way it did the day it was new. It got me through my MA and Ph.D. and is still going strong. Only things changed are added memory, new toner, and replaced the sheet feed roller and friction pad once (fixyourownprinter.com). I can't ever see needing another printer unless this one craps out or the parts/toner are discontinued.
    bhaydama
    Reply Vote

  • Glocks in .40 S&W

    Model 22 for competition and model 23 for concealed carry.

    (o:
    Jack-Booted EULA
    Reply Vote

  • HP 5MP, Sig 929 SAS, IOGear KVM, Ready NAS

    Well as may have list there best buys here our mine:

    Actually don't remember when I got my HP 5MP printer but I just replaced it this year (it lasted 10 years!) I have a new HP P2015 with duplex!

    My Sig 929 SAS custom. Did some work for a gun shop then traded a used computer for this custom (Rose handle custom imgraved) pistol

    Sounds crazy but many years ago I determed that the main problem with Windows box's is having to many things on them so after 4 or 5 KVM I got this IOGear DVI switch that has served me for many years (I used 4 computer all day long. My Main Computer that has buisness email and Quickbooks and stuff. My Mac Pro for my Mac customers, a nice Windows XP gaming rig (Don't need to upgrade as I only play 3 games: Halo, Age of Empieres and Command and Conquer) and 4th a Surfing, research computer that I have setup for like 4 boots XP, Vista, 7, Linus.

    And 4th my ReadyNas (now Netgear) It 5 years old and still works without any issues (I did replace all the hard drives about 1 year ago soas to have 2.7TB of NAS
    matt@...
    Reply Vote

    • Second on the 5MP

      I bought it used, and it handled my business
      printing for a couple of years before I ditched it
      when I moved countries.

      My alternate choice is the 2GB Creative Muovo MP3
      player. It's been submerged and even washed in my
      pants, and it still plays just fine (though the
      LCD screen didn't survive).
      daengbo
      Reply Vote

  • dual monitors

    Beyond any question. Dual monitors are a huge productivity improvement.

    My old Dell Latitude D800 ranks second; it lasted five and a half years, and was retired only because I needed more memory (RAM and video) in a laptop. It still runs, but it's hard to find a video driver for it for Windows 7.

    My HP LaserJet 4000 was a workhorse, but that's from the previous decade.
    diane wilson
    Reply Vote

  • Drobo(2)/DroboShare, hands down!

    Drobo(2)/DroboShare, hands down! I STILL use Win2K and XP (and MS still continues to send out regular security upgrades for BOTH!) as they are bundled with many used laptops and both still function very well for all my needs; but the fact that Drobo and DroboShare work flawlessly with everything on my home network with these older OS's is the best investment I've made this decade. I admit I was leery given some negative comments about the technology and performance -- but my experience over a couple of years with these older OS's has been entirely trouble free and I'm enjoying very simple, tremendously robust, and redundant 4+TB of NAS and streaming video available to every device on my network that allows me to sleep very well at night. I only wish Drobo were a public company because I'd love to invest in them. Only drawback: rather pricey, but worth every cent because it works and is functionally invaluable.
    jordandw
    Reply Vote

    • Synology DS409 for me

      I really love the speed (gigabit) and the installed app suite-- very handy for a home office.
      dband@...
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Best buy of the decade

    ZDNet need some good anti spam software.
    hkindle
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Best buy of the decade

    My 12" Apple PowerBook is a close second to my Best Buy
    of the Decade: Apple PowerMac G4. It is still running 24/7.
    It is maxed out to two Gigs of RAM and the CPU is
    upgraded and overclocked to 1.5 GHz. It could have a dual
    core but I can't justify the expense on my electric
    bill/cycle. This computer has defined stable; both in
    hardware and software. I am only running Mac OS X
    10.4.11 Tiger as it runs older software (even native OS 9
    with a reboot). This computer lives up to my the
    expectations of Apple computers since my SE/30 and
    PowerMac 8600, and exceeds them!

    I almost forgot to mention the eSATA 400 Gig Drive that runs the
    system. This was has been a fun machine to work with. I hope the Mac
    Pro I am waiting for (next edition) will be half the fun.
    tsivonen
    Reply Vote

    • good news

      I phased out this year my mac g4 867Mhz, replacing it by a Mac Pro, Dual 2.8 Quad-cores. A bullit. Can I say the best ever computer I worked on? yes. Any Windows machine feels now like going back to the paleolithic.
      theo_durcan
      Reply Vote

  • Some recent kit will stay for a while...

    I expect to be using my now-18-month-old iMac 24" for several
    more years. It's been far more reliable than any PC I've ever had in my
    life, and it has one thing that I've never had on a computer (of any
    scale) before.

    The luscious 24" 1920 by 1200 beautifully bright display.

    Sure, the 3.06 GHz C2D is nice but no longer bleeding-edge, and the
    external FireWire 800 disks will do nicely until USB 3 gets good and
    stable in another 3-5 years or so, but there's absolutely no substitute
    for display real estate. I've had systems with two 19" monitors before,
    and there was always some quirk or compromise that had to be put up
    with to get all that space. Now, here, I've got 70% of my field of vision
    occupied by the screen, Spaces set up with a nice workflow across
    four virtual monitors, and I'm measurably more productive than I've
    been in the last five years. All for less than the cost of the downtime I
    had in 2008, and I've finally got Windows running the way $DEITY
    intended - in a VM, locked down tighter than (insert tasteless
    comparison here).

    I can definitely understand the OP picking his Aeron; it's all about
    what makes you comfortable enough to be productive.
    Jeff Dickey
    Reply Vote

  • Tivo

    Hands down. It totally changed the way my family watches TV! I'd dump my DVD player, stereo, Wii, and VCR before I'd give up my Tivo.
    bmgoodman
    Reply Vote

    • Agreed 100 percent! [nt]

      nt
      ConradPoitras@...
      Reply Vote

  • Why is this douchebag not blocked already?

    Can't wait to enter my credit card info on this halfwit's web site!
    Ralph Wells
    Reply Vote

  • My bosch reciprocating saw

    That bad boy cuts through anything. Demolition is the best part of renovation.
    Ralph Wells
    Reply Vote

  • Defnitely the DVR...

    I'm not sure there's even a close second. Maybe my 73 degree Feel wedge would be a distant second...they can't take the teeth out of my flopadopolous.
    jasonp@...
    Reply Vote
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