[Siddarth_Ramani]

Love all the posts. Whenever I am free, I help my mom in chopping vegetables and stuff. As we all know, Onion is one notorious vegetable and it used bring tears in my eyes (bad pun intended). I came across this electric onion chopper on Amazon and boy did it save my life? The product looks something like this.

Now I can have hot pakodas without going through trauma and whenever I see onions, I have this evil smile on my face that says I have finally defeated the unspoken enemy.

[Raghu M]

I think on the contrary, I can tell what gadgets that I have avoided have given me peace of mind. I have not upgraded my phone in the last 5 years. It's a simple Moto G plus which has limited memory and is not super fast. I have deliberately not upgraded as I have no wish to be on the phone for hours together. Office work is taken care by my laptop and I don't see any reason why a phone should be equally good. My current one can handle calls on Zoom. I think that is just fine. We are complicating our lives with the various gadgets that are only making us lazy. I don't think there would be many takers for physical book reading on the forum (most would love Kindle with the advantage it offers). I have not bought a Kindle, I prefer simple book reading on my sofa with legs stretched. I think it gives a lot more pleasure.

[AVIS]

This is my kind of thread! I am a choosy buyer... one who walks into a store (or online), browses many things, and yet not buy anything!
​I also have a blog on analyzing product design.

Here are some that you will definitely appreciate -

Watch: Casio Lineage (LCW-M170TD-7ER): Solar powered, radio controlled watch with a light weight Titanium case



Battery free weight scale: Charge scale by pressing the charging button firmly 2-3 times, kinetic energy is converted to electric power to get your bathroom scale running. I use a different brand, so not sure if the one in link below works as well.

https://www.amazon.in/EAGLE-Battery-...s%2C304&sr=8-6

Rechargeable stove lighter:

https://www.amazon.in/VEHHE-Electric...s%2C282&sr=8-4


Solar wall clock:
Analog wall clock movement tends to break in few years use. It's wasteful to power the large/weighty hands. Reizen wall clock shown below has a large, bold digital display, that's readable from a distance. Display is turned off in the dark, and is solar powered to improve battery life. It's radio controlled, and hence keeps accurate time. The day and date feature is quite useful too.
Not sure if this is available in India.







Inverter LED tube: This, along with the power backup for router posted by saikarthik covers critical power backup needs -

https://www.amazon.in/PHILIPS-Rechar...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

[pseudo_coder]

Originally Posted by Ferruccio

Sleep Better
Guys, skip the new phone and go King Size.

I wonder how size helps in good sleep! Or is this some brand?

[AutoConsultant]

Great thread! I also made good use of the one time reimbursement my company was offering for WFH equipment and got the following :

1. Plush Executive Chair by Workspace by AZAZO - from Pepperfry for 10k

2. Foldable study table - Pepperfry for 3k

Both shown in photos below



3. Deco Mesh Wifi System - Amazon for 5k - solved to need for getting good internet connection on the upper floor without having to get a separate connection



4. Coffee Frother By InstaCuppa - Amazon for 1k - does the job really well by creating a nice and thick coffee mix to use for either hot or cold coffee. We have the one which requires AA batteries, I would recommend getting a rechargeable one

Originally Posted by Eddy

Bought this Wi-Fi router UPS that prevents the modem from restarting in case of a power cut (since the generator takes a few seconds to kick in).
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B017NC2IPM/?tag=tbhp0e-21&th=1

Hey, I got this one in 2019. It worked fine for the first year but the back up time dropped to 20-25 min after 1.5 years of usage. I have replaced it with a full fledged Microtek UPS hoping it gives me better life.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by pseudo_coder

I wonder how size helps in good sleep! Or is this some brand?

Ferruccio mentioned in his post that the matress has "free memory foam". I think this is helping to sleep well.

[Electromotive]

Nice thread.

Here are the things I have found to be well worth the money:

1. Cast iron cookware
Much better than non-stick if you learn how to use and maintain them. Lasts forever and is induction friendly.

2. Separate OTG and Microwave
Much better combo than a convection oven. After my convection microwave committed hara-kiri, I bought a single function microwave and a large-ish OTG. Also the combo turned out to be cheaper than a 30L convection microwave.

3. Packet re-seal clips
More convenient than using rubber bands.


4. Instant water heater
Better than regular geysers, less power usage and safer. Easier to descale too.


5. Tablet / phone with digital stylus
Very very useful. I got a Galaxy note ultra and a surface book with stylus and my productivity has improved. Very convenient for research, taking notes, annotations, jotting down ideas on the move or in the middle of the night etc. Going to ditch the crapple jail next year.

6. Paid cloud hosting for documents
Between Google docs and dropbox/one drive/google drive and the above. You can have all your docs at your fingertips. I use google drive but dropbox is better.

7. Treadmill
Brought one during the pandemic and it has been useful. Now I can run whenever I find time and don't have to breathe in pollutant rich outside air.
Also, no point in buying very expensive ones, I checked out many. Anything with 14Km/hr speed and 100Kg load capacity is good enough.

8. DIY air purifier
Made a few using car air filters and a 6 inch exhaust fan mounted inside a custom made plywood box. Cheap and just as efficient as over priced commercial units. Also added programmable timers to run the units in set intervals.

9. Power meter
Like kill-a-watt. Helps measure power usage. Useful toy to have.

[Piyush_DT]

Most of us have to take calls for whole day during WFH. Using headphones and headset is really not comfortable after some time. We also should not use headphones for longer time. Hence, I got below Jabra portable speaker. It has helped me significantly as you dont have to use headphones everytime and you dont feel tired and exhausted after longer calls. The sound is clear and it also has noise cancelling feature. It also has USB to connect to the laptop so that you don't worry about charging it. It integrates with Teams so that you can use physical keys to mute/unmute and to manage the volume.

If you have your own room you should definitely get it. I would highly recommend this in your WFH setup.

[NiInJa]

Can think of three right now:
1. Fitness band: Brought a cheap fastrack one simply to track my steps and HR, its light weight, can barely feel on my wrist and can withstand abuse from my toddler. Helps me motivate with daily summary of how much I walked, especially after gaining some weight and my resting HR being above normal for a couple of months during covid recovery.
Although I realized later that there are better ones in market, I don't regret buying this one as its accuracy is spot on.

2. Spigen mobile covers: Every parent having 3-5 year old kids should cover their phones with these Spigen covers. Both me and my wife have to deal with my kid throwing the phones around and so far there hasn't been a single scratch on either one. They are bit expensive but sure saves the headache of repairing or even using a broken phone!

3. Small Bluetooth speaker from Sony: Really ups the experience of watching movies or webseries on a phone or tab. They are not too loud, but have enough bass and treble to feel those rumbling sounds in a movie or hear some musical notes that are otherwise not audible through phone speakers.

[RavSam]

Originally Posted by catchjyoti

Fully agree to your mattress suggestion....My king sized mattress has also turned ten years old. May be it is time to make a change.

Same! Took the plunge and bought Full Latex Mattress even when entire family was against it. One sound sleep later, the criticisers are now converts! Amazing thing about Latex mattress is it seems to remain at normal temperature be it hot or cold outside. I'm loving it.

[Ferruccio]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

Ferruccio mentioned in his post that the matress has "free memory foam". I think this is helping to sleep well.

Haha, yes the free memory foam topper helps. Why the King Size helps better sleep is this - Now the mattress is 7' x 7'. I'm 5'11" and pretty broad (read overweight) plus some inches for the pillow head clearance. Also, I tend to wander around the mattress in my sleep. The larger size ensures I am mostly contained within the bed with no overhangs on most nights

Originally Posted by Electromotive

Nice thread.

2. Separate OTG and Microwave
Much better combo than a convection oven. After my convection microwave committed hara-kiri, I bought a single function microwave and a large-ish OTG. Also the combo turned out to be cheaper than a 30L convection microwave.

3. Packet re-seal clips
More convenient than using rubber bands.
Attachment 2262670

Separate OTG and Microwave: Yes, great idea. Gonna get a separate OTG. Got a new microwave but avoided convection because of the ridiculous prices.

Packet re-seal clips: These are a heaven send from IKEA. Have been buying them for years now. Saw somewhere now available as flip-top wide-mouth bottle type also. if anyone knows where they are available, the bottle type, do link please.

Originally Posted by Raghu M

I don't think there would be many takers for physical book reading on the forum (most would love Kindle with the advantage it offers). I have not bought a Kindle, I prefer simple book reading on my sofa with legs stretched. I think it gives a lot more pleasure.

Au contrarie, as much as I'd love a hard-bound physical book, I do not have the space in my tiny home for all these books. My books read and unread are the first to catch the eye of the Missus when I complain about her profligacy. My Kindle is light, easy to hold, easy to carry and travel with, allows me to get free downloads from sites like Project Gutenberg, is backlit so I can read without bothering the Missus at night. But the biggest advantage is after a whole day's laptop time and cellphone scrolling it is easy on my tired eyes. Indian editions of most books are of pathetic quality to reduce prices and make it available to wider readership.

[Jangra]

Excellent thread. Being on a twenty second month of work from home, first thing came to mind is this

[omzworld]

The 3 items that genuinely helped me get through pandemic period lot saner:
1 https://www.lg.com/in/washing-machines/lg-FHD1057STB
Anyone in Bangalore would understand the effort of drying clothes amidst 8 months of rain, especially the apartment dwellers. Here just throw 3 days laundry in and out comes out all warm and dry like dream.
2 https://www.benq.com/en-us/projector...r/ht2050a.html
Even with no dedicated HT room, watching everything in 100 inch is magical
3 Roborock S6: trusted maid who never gives up

[Electromotive]

Originally Posted by Ferruccio

if anyone knows where they are available, the bottle type, do link please.

Here you go:

Plastic Food Bag Sealing Clips With Cap
Type 1
Type 2
Type 3

[Satish Pari]

My JBL earbuds have really helped me in this pandemic. Below are the reasons.

1. Good battery backup - long enough for my daily walks
2. Moving around when watching a movie on my laptop
3. Works perfectly during my online sessions