[im_chandan]

Other than basic necessities we purchase stuff to make our life better, some meet the expectation,
few exceed the expectation and some get a permanent place on the shelf.

So, BHPian which product did you buy recently which actually helped your life for the better? It need not be expensive.

Here are mine.

1. A normal wired earphone.


I got fed up from charging/ pairing Bluetooth headphones, A simple earphone with mic and 3.5mm jack made my life much easier, just plug it in the laptop and you are ready for a meeting.

https://www.amazon.in/Samsung-Origin...01F262EUU?th=1

2. A Foldable laptop table.


In the recent WFH scenario, sometimes I have to work from Sofa, or from Bed, Found this laptop table really useful.
https://www.amazon.in/OFIXO-Multi-Pu...dp/B08HQL67D6/

3. A Room heater


Due to the pandemic, I shifted to my hometown in the north, In winter temperature goes down to 6-7 degrees, Last month I ordered this hot air blower from amazon, Found it very useful. It takes around one hour to make a room warmer.

https://www.amazon.in/Bajaj-Blow-Hot...09P2LKQ2/?th=1

Looking forward to many such useful know/unknown products.

[GTO]

Quite a unique thread idea . Throwing in my 2 paisa:

Bought the Bosch C7 charger for my cars and it did improve my life by saving me time. I'm in work-from-home mode & have lots of test-drive cars coming & going for Team-BHP reviews. As a result, the running of my own cars is very low. They are used primarily on nights & weekends for social outings, and for road-trip holidays. This caused a big problem as I was continuously facing battery drain issues. It was a chore to take them for a spin "around the block" just to keep the batteries charged. A colossal waste of time.

Androdev's excellent thread planted the idea in my mind and I got two C7s. The Jeep & 530d are now on trickle charging mode, sometimes for 2 weeks at a stretch. No worry of low voltage in the BMW (German cars hate it (Low voltage situations & weak batteries | The bane of German cars)) or starting issues due to a weak battery in the Jeep.

Originally Posted by im_chandan

A normal wired earphone

Me too prefer wired headphones. Better sound quality + no charging worries + way cheaper + I found those small Bluetooth ear pieces too easy to lose. The Bluetooth earbuds were always getting lost on the sofa & bed.

[Ferruccio]

Lovely thread. Would want to see more contributions coming in from the life gurus. Here are my top ones that made life way easier in the period when my family and I contracted Delta and later Omicron -

Sleep Better
In India we do not pay any attention to sleep. Sleep is seen as a necessary evil and naturally our sleep gear reflects it. Lumpy decade old mattresses, pillows that when uncovered have the maps of Westeros drawn in dried sweat and dribbled spittle. We will suffer from backaches and a myriad of problems but we WILLNOT CHANGE. Travelling on work gives me the privilege of staying at really good hotels and I found that despite early flights and 14 hour work days, the night's sleep leaves me well rested. So time to change.

Change I did. Delayed buying a new phone and spent 2 hours trying out a King Size mattress that was just right for my old bones. Negotiated a free memory foam, washable mattress topper and home delivery. In a small, postage stamp sized bedroom a proper king sized mattress leaves no squeeze room. But trust me the 7ft x 7ft mattress is wonderful for my 5'11" 95 kg frame and the little something Missus.

We realized the worth of it in the 20 hours a day asleep when Delta left all of us at home more dead than alive! Guys, skip the new phone and go King Size. Bought super large pillows and a massive body pillow to match. Now trying to get the Missus to ditch the Haryana Handloom cut price bedsheets and switch to high tread count Egyptian Cotton!

Wake Better
A blend of 85% Wagh Bakri chai with 15% Daarjeeling Rs. 1500/kg usually hits the spot. But when you really need to put a tiger in the tank, nothing like a double shot of Espresso Coffee. The fact well prepared, well chosen Arabica will leave your home smelling better than Starbucks is an added bonus. Value solution, travel solution choose and Aeropress. One notch higher choose a Bialetti Moka Pot. But went all the way and imported a DeLonghi Dedica from the US. Needs a massive stepdown box to get it running 110v but one shot of that coffee will wake a dead man. Chuck the Vitamins A to Z that the Docs prescribed the family - it was Chikmanglur Arabica (Panduranga Coffee lights my fire) that got us up on tottering feet!

Charge Up
Ahh the plans we had for the Missus and my 50th. But the best laid plans get rogered by a pandemic. We decided to compensate with a ridonkulous upgrade to the home sound system. We have a 5.1 Infiniti system but the Missus hates the wires and mess that a home theatre makes. So it had to be a simple 2 channel.

After hours of research and having to choose blind (no auditions available) went with a Cambridge Audio CX61 Amp and a pair of QAcoustics 3050i floor standers. The source is my good ole OnePlus 7t and Spotify Premium (I told you, the new phone money was spent on a mattress).Great choice, the neighbours usually WhatsApp me to raise the volume a bit higher so that they can listen in too!

Clean Up
The Missus always hates automation and I am in love with the future. In the last kitchen mod I had insisted on doing the pre-plumbing and wiring for a dishwasher. Just before the lock down started, I put my foot down and got a Bosch Dishwasher and put in an order for a basic Roomba. When the lock down started and my peers were doing the dishes and brooming, I was listening music, sipping coffee. The Missus is finally convinced that I am a visionary (or maybe the Covid has me hallucinating.)

Hope this helps. Pics and links later!

[catchjyoti]

Originally Posted by Ferruccio

Lovely thread. Would want to see more contributions coming in from the life gurus. Here are my top ones that made life way easier in the period when my family and I contracted Delta and later Omicron -

Sleep Better

Wake Better

Charge Up

Clean Up

Hope this helps. Pics and links later!

Fully agree to your mattress suggestion. There is nothing that freshens one up as a good night's sleep. May be a good cup of coffee/tea and some Pranayama in the morning adds to it.

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

[im_chandan]

Originally Posted by Ferruccio

Sleep Better

I couldn't agree more!

Bed and Chair are two places where we spend a significant time of our life.

I always recommend my friends and families to invest good money in a quality mattress and a good ergonomic chair.

IMHO, these two product (Mattress and Chairs) offers better ROI than the latest iPhone.

A few years back I also purchased a good mattress, and an ergonomic chair (Steelcase leap), Both turned out very good investments.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by Ferruccio

The Missus always hates automation and I am in love with the future. In the last kitchen mod I had insisted on doing the pre-plumbing and wiring for a dishwasher. Just before the lock down started, I put my foot down and got a Bosch Dishwasher and put in an order for a basic Roomba. When the lock down started and my peers were doing the dishes and brooming, I was listening music, sipping coffee.

Exactly my situation. I love to automate things and use technology to make life easier. Missus says I am lazy.
Dishwashers, automatic cloth washers, robo-mop, etc made our lives much better and the true worth of these stuff was realised during the lockdown with no maid coming.
A lot of friends had serious challenges in domestic life involving their missus as to whose turn is to do dishes today!

[Newtown]

This has been an excellent buy for me. During the lockdown, my car batteries used to die down every now and again. Street parking meant that trickle chargers were not an option. Initially got a set of jumper cables but its became very tedious to get another car close by and jump it each time.

This starts the battery even if it is flat with the boost function. I have managed to help several stranded cars on the roads as well, using this device. A coupe of times it was on a highway and the families were very relieved and thankful.

[dragonfire]

My 32 inch big screen monitor for the laptop. It increased my productivity many fold and saved my (now) WFH job. Earlier I used to slump in bed with the laptop and often fall asleep in it. Also large screen means more code on the screen, so no scrolling up and down. For people like me with extremely short memory, it's a life saver.



https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadge...ml#post4937747 (Computer monitor recommendations?)

[raksrules]

Not recently but back in 2017, I suffered from carpel tunnel syndrome wherein I would get pain in the thumb and index finger and it was sometimes so bad that at certain angles, I could not hold stuff in hand. This was due to usage of mouse since so many years. Read about using trackball mouse then and instantly ordered the Logitech M570 mouse and it was life changing.

The pain went away in less than a week and now even 4.5 years later, I am still using that mouse (same model, but newer since it broke once). I am so much accustomed to trackball mouse and getting them in India is difficult so I had ordered a backup mouse from US and once I saw listing of the Logitech Ergo M575 on amazon India and insistently ordered it as well. For someone using mouse for 10 hours a day, I just cannot compromise.

[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).

Best Rs 2000 I spent recently. We had people working from home and a modem restart meant that all VPNs had to be logged in again etc. My daughter's classes also were disrupted. None of those problems anymore. Some colleagues also bought on my recommendation and the feedback has been very positive. Thanks Viddy & Jaggu for suggesting it.

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B017NC2IPM/?tag=tbhp0e-21&th=1

[GrandTourer]

Nothing, and I mean nothing comes close when I think of a gadget that has improved my life in the last 2+ years, to this.

This is a deep tissue percussion massage gun:


10 mins with this and all muscle pain from sitting at your desk, working out, playing some sport etc., is gone. Just recently, I was doing some DIY work on the car that had me contorted and back came the back pain (sorry about the pun ). Again a few minutes of this massage gun on my back, and I was back to normal.

I was so taken to this product, I purchased one for my parents, and two other friends. I'm not affiliated to the brand in any way, so won't publish the Amazon link here. You can search for percussion massage gun on any large e-commerce site.

I first came across this in a chiropractor's video and wanted to give it a go. Brilliant thing this is

[Rolling_Stock]

Interesting and resourceful thread.

Two things that come to my mind are;

1. RJ45 Inline Coupler --> Saved me from buying a longer cable.

2. UGREEN Double Nylon Braided QC 3.0 USB Type C to USB-A Right Angle 90 Degree Fast Charging Male Data Cable

The pocket for storing mobile in my Tata Harrier is just good enough to place my 6.7 inch mobile.
However, when I had to connect for Charging or Wired AA, I had to place the mobile at an angle to avoid cable at the connector getting damaged. It was an eye sore for a perfectionist like me.
This is where I found this product, with its 90 deg bend, the mobile sits flat and neat.

Least to forget, I made great use of the WFH package that my wife got last year enabled me to fill my overflowing utility rack.

[aansh singhania]

The gadget ( i am not really sure if it will be termed as a gadget ) that made my life easier was a smart plug. I hate overcharging which affects my device's battery health especially my phone which I would end up charging the whole night. This smart plug has schedules and timers which i have set up and therefore don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to switch off the charging

[CarNerd]

Not exactly recent but this Nova Electric Kettle is helping us to drink warm water each time in recent months:


These Silicone Pot Holders are useful for holding hot utensils:


Another thing which again is not recent is this:

[RJK]

Originally Posted by GrandTourer

Nothing, and I mean nothing comes close when I think of a gadget that has improved my life in the last 2+ years, to this.

This is a deep tissue percussion massage gun:
Attachment 2262408

10 mins with this and all muscle pain from sitting at your desk, working out, playing some sport etc., is gone. Just recently, I was doing some DIY work on the car that had me contorted and back came the back pain (sorry about the pun ). Again a few minutes of this massage gun on my back, and I was back to normal.

I first came across this in a chiropractor's video and wanted to give it a go. Brilliant thing this is

Thanks. Didn't know about it, immediately ordered it after seeing your post