Author Topic: Gadget WEEKENDS (Read 1,149,626 times)

app103 · « **Reply #475 on:** February 10, 2019, 11:53 AM »

I recently acquired some stuff, either as gifts or purchased myself...

Since I wore out the left click micro switch on my Logitech G700s, and I don't feel confident enough to replace the switch myself, I upgraded to a Logitech MX Master 2s.

The Flow software is an awesome experience, allowing you to use the same mouse, seamlessly between multiple computers (up to 3) and can copy & paste text, images, and files between them, providing they are all on the same network. It also can copy & paste between a Windows PC and a Mac. That one feature, alone, makes this mouse worth it.

It also has a side scroll wheel, which is great for spreadsheets.

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I also now own a mechanical keyboard, a Corsair K95 RGB Platinum. (Thanks, Dad!)

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Added Bluetooth support to my 11 year old Dell Vostro 410 with this little thing:

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A pair of coffee grinders, for regular & decaf. (Thanks, Dad!) My daughter says I should have labeled them BZZZT and zzzzzz.

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And 6 pairs of these shelves, which are the perfect size for the larger bulk size herbs & spices. I haven't installed them yet, but once I do, I will have the biggest spice rack on the planet.

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And a vintage can opener from the late '70's or early '80's (new in box), that has a built in knife sharpener. It's the grinding wheel type that's powered by the can opener's motor, which you don't see in newer can openers any more. Yes, it gets your knives plenty sharp. I had one just like it, years ago, and always regretted getting rid of it when I moved to an apartment with a much smaller kitchen, opting for one of those crappy space saving cordless ones with the wall mountable charger. Rather than spending the rest of my life regretting it, I finally went ahead and got another one.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #476 on:** February 24, 2019, 01:29 PM »

Finally found my next PC...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

OverclockersUK is selling a gaming PC that costs almost as much as a Tesla Model 3: for $43,000, filthy rich enthusiasts get a tower that is actually two systems in one, comprising three NVIDIA Titan RTX GPUs, a liquid-cooled and overclocked 18C/36T Intel Core i9-7890XE and 8C/8T i9-9700K, 144GB of DDR4 RAM, eight 2TB Samsung SSDs, and a 2000W power supply.

link.

Shades · « **Reply #477 on:** February 25, 2019, 02:28 AM »

Quote from: cranioscopical on February 24, 2019, 01:29 PM

Finally found my next PC...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
OverclockersUK is selling a gaming PC that costs almost as much as a Tesla Model 3: for $43,000, filthy rich enthusiasts get a tower that is actually two systems in one, comprising three NVIDIA Titan RTX GPUs, a liquid-cooled and overclocked 18C/36T Intel Core i9-7890XE and 8C/8T i9-9700K, 144GB of DDR4 RAM, eight 2TB Samsung SSDs, and a 2000W power supply.

link.

Not even one i9 9900K CPU for that "kings ransom"? That price difference won't break the bank for the people wanting to purchase such a computer. Because with that amount of "horsepower" you want to game on it. Half of it already makes for a monster of a workstation for practically any task.

Heavier workloads should be run on purpose-built servers anyway.

mouser · « **Reply #478 on:** May 03, 2019, 12:05 PM »

Got myself a new wireless headset for the computer.

It's a logitech G533:

https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/products/gaming-audio/g533-wireless-gaming-headset.html

purchased from Amazon for about $75 (https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-G533-Wireless-Gaming-Headset-x/dp/B01MXE0FKC)

I like it. It has good range, feels comfortable, has no leather/pleather but fabric instead (this is important because the older pleahter headsets I have had have all disintegrated over time). Nice physical on off switch on the headset, along with a swivel down microphone for chat/gaming.

It is *NOT* bluetooth. I actually have a different bluetooth headset and transmitter for my stereo, and don't have serious complaints about it, but it IS a bit more fussy in terms of connecting between the base and headset whenever you turn it on. For my pc, I wanted something that was easier.

This is a nice small usb stick I just plug in when I want to use the headset and it instantly connects, no muss no fuss. Unplug the usb stick to disconnect.

Overall, I'm quite happy with it.

A couple more neat features: Compact mic folds up out of the way and when it's up it automatically mutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5NEXyyy_ds

UPDATE 5/21/19 - After a few weeks with them I am quite happy. There are some small details you don't realize are important. For example these headsets have an easy to access, clearly visible, on off switch. Another bluetooth headset i have uses one awkward button you push and hold to turn on and off. You'd be surprised at how much more functional and easy the physical on off button is.. Huge usability difference.

Deozaan · « **Reply #479 on:** May 03, 2019, 04:31 PM »

Quote from: mouser on May 03, 2019, 12:05 PM

This is a nice small usb stick I just plug in when I want to use the headset and it instantly connects, no muss no fuss. Unplug the usb stick to disconnect.

Can you use it wired with just the power cable? Or do you need 2 USB ports, one for the wireless dongle, and one for the charging cable?

Wireless is nice when you need to get up and move away from your PC, but I use my headset 99%+ of the time while seated at my PC and hate the inevitable connectivity issues that occur with wireless headsets.

ayryq · « **Reply #480 on:** May 03, 2019, 04:55 PM »

Quote from: Deozaan on May 03, 2019, 04:31 PM

Can you use it wired with just the power cable? Or do you need 2 USB ports, one for the wireless dongle, and one for the charging cable?

Wireless is nice when you need to get up and move away from your PC, but I use my headset 99%+ of the time while seated at my PC and hate the inevitable connectivity issues that occur with wireless headsets.

This question was asked at the amazon page as well. Sounds like audio transmission is wireless only; the USB cord is power only. The headset can be used while charging, in which case two USB ports would be used.

mouser · « **Reply #481 on:** May 03, 2019, 05:21 PM »

what ayryq said.
99% of my use is seated at pc as well.. BUT having a cord dangling from your head is no fun. that's what i upgraded from. so i'm glad to be wireless even when i'm seated at my pc. i just have to remember to occasionally charge it.
it uses a standard micro(?) usb cable for charging.

wraith808 · « **Reply #482 on:** May 03, 2019, 07:09 PM »

That's strange... mine only uses one port, whether wired or wireless.

https://smile.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Surround-Headphones-Microphone/dp/B003VANOFY/

That third image shows the dongle; when it's connected for charging, you only use the one cable still and get the sound also. (Note that the prices have gone up a lot seemingly since they're hard to find; I paid nowhere near that price).

I don't use that anymore; since most of mine use is seated at a PC, and I don't need to speak when getting up, I got a good pair of wireless monitors and a separate desktop mic. The stand for my monitors also charges, so I don't have worries about keeping it charged.

Deozaan · « **Reply #483 on:** May 03, 2019, 08:09 PM »

Quote from: wraith808 on May 03, 2019, 07:09 PM

That's strange... mine only uses one port, whether wired or wireless.

https://smile.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Surround-Headphones-Microphone/dp/B003VANOFY/

That third image shows the dongle; when it's connected for charging, you only use the one cable still and get the sound also. (Note that the prices have gone up a lot seemingly since they're hard to find; I paid nowhere near that price).

I don't use that anymore; since most of mine use is seated at a PC, and I don't need to speak when getting up, I got a good pair of wireless monitors and a separate desktop mic. The stand for my monitors also charges, so I don't have worries about keeping it charged.

Ah, I see you have the Logitech G930.

Technically that's still 2 ports. It's just that the charging cable comes with a mini, 1-port USB hub for the dongle.

I also have the Logitech G930 headset. But it frequently disconnects and reconnects, even though the dongle is a mere 2-3 feet away, with an unobstructed line of sight. And every time it does that (which can be every few seconds), it seems to forget that the microphone should be muted while it's in the up position. And the battery has bit the dust, so I'm basically tethered to my desk anyway because it only lasts a minute or two when it's not plugged into the charging cable. And, like mouser said, the pleather earphone covers have been disintegrating for the past couple of years, covering the area around my ears, and my clothes and chair, in tiny black flakes.

For these reasons I've been on the lookout for something different, and I'm hesitant to trust Logitech after every one of my recent purchases (keyboards, mice, headsets) from them has failed (or begun to fail) within only about 2 years.

I'd be interested in seeing links to and/or info about your wireless monitors and desktop mic.

I ended up getting a Bluetooth headset from MonoPrice in February.

It works fine for audio (if you don't mind the seemingly unavoidable audio delay BT always entails), but the microphone doesn't seem to play nice with my system, which to the best of my understanding is on account of it being a Bluetooth device. But in addition to that, I just find it very uncomfortable--painful to wear, even.

So I think the MonoPrice headset was a bust, and I'm usually very pleased with MonoPrice branded things. Maybe that's because I usually stick to just buying cables from them. But these are so bad that I almost never use them.

In the meantime, I've been using the Original Sleep Series CozyPhones when I need only earphones (so I'm on the lookout for a good desktop mic), and I've gone back to using my G930 when I need voice chat.

The CozyPhones are pretty great. As advertised, you can even lay down (and sleep) while wearing them without much discomfort. I think the CozyPhones, paired with a good desktop mic, might be as close to my ideal solution as reality will allow. My only real complaint about them is that because the placement of the earphones is adjustable in the headband, they naturally tend to get pulled toward the back from repeated tugs on the cable. This means they need to be repositioned every so often. At first it was every few days, but as I became aware of the problem and have been more careful not to allow the cable to get tugged so much, it needs adjusting every few weeks (~1.5 months) for me now.

That said, their newer models appear to be more form-fitting and may have taken care of that issue.

wraith808 · « **Reply #484 on:** May 03, 2019, 08:34 PM »

Quote from: Deozaan on May 03, 2019, 08:09 PM

Technically that's still 2 ports. It's just that the charging cable comes with a mini, 1-port USB hub for the dongle.

Quote from: Deozaan on May 03, 2019, 08:09 PM

I also have the Logitech G930 headset. But it frequently disconnects and reconnects, even though the dongle is a mere 2-3 feet away, with an unobstructed line of sight. And every time it does that (which can be every few seconds), it seems to forget that the microphone should be muted while it's in the up position. And the battery has bit the dust, so I'm basically tethered to my desk anyway because it only lasts a minute or two when it's not plugged into the charging cable. And, like mouser said, the pleather earphone covers have been disintegrating for the past couple of years, covering the area around my ears, and my clothes and chair, in tiny black flakes.

I've never had that problem with disconnects. I also replaced the cover- they have replacements on amazon really cheap as I found out, that work even better than the included padding. The only reason that I changed was because of the fact that I wanted better fidelity for my headset. I do miss the shortcuts on the headphones though, but the tradeoff is more than worth it.

I currently have the Sennheiser RS 185 RF Wireless Headphone System and a Blue Yeti. The headphones are good enough to roam the entire house with the added benefit that I don't have to remember to mute when I walk away as the mic doesn't travel with me. But it's good enough to be heard in my whole office even when I'm at one of my other computers or the whiteboard.

Deozaan · « **Reply #485 on:** May 03, 2019, 09:20 PM »

Quote from: wraith808 on May 03, 2019, 08:34 PM

I currently have the Sennheiser RS 185 RF Wireless Headphone System and a Blue Yeti. The headphones are good enough to roam the entire house with the added benefit that I don't have to remember to mute when I walk away as the mic doesn't travel with me. But it's good enough to be heard in my whole office even when I'm at one of my other computers or the whiteboard.

Wow, those look very nice! I wish I had $500 to spend on headphones and a microphone.

Maybe I'll go for one of the lower model Blue microphones, such as the Snowball iCE and just use my CozyPhones. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Shades · « **Reply #486 on:** May 04, 2019, 03:33 AM »

Got myself this headphone. Sorry, the info doesn't change to English when I select it.

Anyway, you can use it with bluetooth but also by 3.5' jack. You can even put in a MicroSD for music and if you leave the cable for the 3.5 jack dangling, it is used as antenna for the build in FM radio receiver.
Besides all this, it sounds great and the over ear muffs do a very good job of cancelling out ambient noise. Has a microphone built in as well and mutes with one button tap. Paid 35 USD for it and did not regret it for one minute.

wraith808 · « **Reply #487 on:** May 04, 2019, 03:52 AM »

Quote from: Deozaan on May 03, 2019, 09:20 PM

Quote from: wraith808 on May 03, 2019, 08:34 PM
I currently have the Sennheiser RS 185 RF Wireless Headphone System and a Blue Yeti. The headphones are good enough to roam the entire house with the added benefit that I don't have to remember to mute when I walk away as the mic doesn't travel with me. But it's good enough to be heard in my whole office even when I'm at one of my other computers or the whiteboard.

Wow, those look very nice! I wish I had $500 to spend on headphones and a microphone.

Maybe I'll go for one of the lower model Blue microphones, such as the Snowball iCE and just use my CozyPhones. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Keep them on camelcamel or something. I paid a little over $180 for the headphones after waiting for a while and $120 for the mic.

4wd · « **Reply #488 on:** July 27, 2019, 03:19 PM »

Received my new Raspberry Pi 4B 4GB recently:

As well as a new "case" for my RasPi3B+ (which dropped its operating temperature to about 32°C):

Waiting on a version for the RasPi4B to arrive.

Deozaan · « **Reply #489 on:** July 27, 2019, 05:37 PM »

Quote from: Deozaan on May 03, 2019, 09:20 PM

Maybe I'll go for one of the lower model Blue microphones, such as the Snowball iCE and just use my CozyPhones. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

I ended up getting the Blue Snowball iCE (in Black).

It's a lot larger than I thought it would be from the photos. Eyeballing it with a ruler next to it, I'd say it's around 3.75-4 inches (~9.5-10 cm) in diameter, or about the size of a softball. Plus it comes with a stand that raises it up another ~3.75 inches, making it just under 8 inches tall. I intended to put it in front of my 2 monitors, right in the center where the two bezels are. But it's so large and so tall that it occludes more of my view than I thought it would and hampers my workflow.

Other than that, it seems to work well enough for basic VoIP and other voice chat for gaming. I haven't thoroughly tested it with anything where audio quality is super important (recorded videos with voice). I did a couple really quick tests using Audacity and OBS and the audio seemed fairly quiet to me in those recordings. But they were both recorded with the Snowball iCE about 2-3 feet away from me, rather than just a few inches from my mouth which seems to be the intended location for this microphone.

For these two reasons (it being too big and too far away) I'm now looking into getting an adjustable boom for it. I've got my eye on this boom:

But then, as I understand, having the microphone only a couple inches away from your face causes plosives to become a big problem for audio quality. Therefore I've also got my eye on this pop filter to help with that:

But because I'm not doing anything regularly where high quality audio is required, I'm not in a rush to pick these accessories up. So it may be a few months or longer before I actually get them.

Deozaan · « **Reply #490 on:** July 27, 2019, 05:44 PM »

Quote from: 4wd on July 27, 2019, 03:19 PM

Received my new Raspberry Pi 4B 4GB recently:

As well as a new "case" for my RasPi3B+ (which dropped its operating temperature to about 32°C):

Out of curiosity, what are you using your RPis for?

mouser · « **Reply #491 on:** July 27, 2019, 05:59 PM »

Are you going to be starting a podcast, deo?

Deozaan · « **Reply #492 on:** July 27, 2019, 08:16 PM »

Quote from: mouser on July 27, 2019, 05:59 PM

Are you going to be starting a podcast, deo?

I'm under no delusions that people want to see my face or hear my voice.

But I have, in the past, on occasion recorded tutorial videos or even a Let's Play. And all of my previous videos suffered due to very low audio from my microphone.

mouser · « **Reply #493 on:** July 27, 2019, 08:36 PM »

Quote

And all of my previous videos suffered due to very low audio from my microphone.

warning: i had a snowball microphone in the past; it was very good quality but one of its quirks was recording in very low volume, so i needed to increase volume in post production.

4wd · « **Reply #494 on:** July 27, 2019, 10:56 PM »

Quote from: Deozaan on July 27, 2019, 05:44 PM

Quote from: 4wd on July 27, 2019, 03:19 PM
Received my new Raspberry Pi 4B 4GB recently:

As well as a new "case" for my RasPi3B+ (which dropped its operating temperature to about 32°C):

Out of curiosity, what are you using your RPis for?

BitTorrent, Usenet, FTP, video stream recording, BBC iPlayer recording, local TV catchup recording, media server for Alexa, anything else I can think of.

Probably retire the 1B and 2B, just split tasks between the 3B, 3B+, and 4B.

Deozaan · « **Reply #495 on:** July 28, 2019, 03:03 AM »

Quote from: mouser on July 27, 2019, 08:36 PM

Quote
And all of my previous videos suffered due to very low audio from my microphone.

warning: i had a snowball microphone in the past; it was very good quality but one of its quirks was recording in very low volume, so i needed to increase volume in post production.

To clarify, I was talking about videos recorded with a different microphone.

Interestingly, I've been on voice chat while using the Snowball iCE and people on the other end of the internet have asked me about sounds they heard that were coming from someone in the next room over from me, so it seems like it is capable of picking up noises and speech very well from more than a few feet away. That said, my short tests with Audacity and OBS gave me quieter volumes than I would have liked. But I didn't test it thoroughly enough to know if there was just some kind of misconfiguration on my part or what.

Either way, I'm hoping that having the Snowball iCE on an adjustable boom that I can position a few inches from my face will help with picking up my voice loudly enough.

mouser · « **Reply #496 on:** August 19, 2019, 05:02 AM »

I picked up this awesome $21 bike "computer" gadget for my bike last week; nicely shows speed, and lots of information in a nice way:

[attach]

wraith808 · « **Reply #497 on:** August 19, 2019, 03:08 PM »

Quote from: mouser on August 19, 2019, 05:02 AM

I picked up this awesome $21 bike "computer" gadget for my bike last week; nicely shows speed, and lots of information in a nice way:

[attach]

mouser · « **Reply #498 on:** August 22, 2019, 07:02 PM »

Forgot to reply to this!

I have a 2017 Giant Roam 2. It's a hybrid bike -- so a bit like a mountain bike but with less aggressive tires so suitable for reasonable amounts of road riding, and not heavy trails.

So far I'm really liking it, and gadgeting it up like mad (rear cargo carrier, lights, etc.). The seat was too small for me so I've swapped that out.

The only thing I'm still adjusting to is the flat mountain bike handlebars.. They felt ok until I tried a friends nice cruiser touring upright handlebars which felt like heaven taking a relaxed cruise.. For longer rides I'm sure I'd appreciate my bike more but for leisurely cruise, I'm envious of the relaxed nice high upright handlebars...

app103 · « **Reply #499 on:** August 25, 2019, 12:52 PM »

Quote from: mouser on August 19, 2019, 05:02 AM

I picked up this awesome $21 bike "computer" gadget for my bike last week; nicely shows speed, and lots of information in a nice way:

[attach]