There’s 3 things that really stand out for me that I would say made a massive difference to my life:

  1. Cordless screw driver. Bought the day after building a flat pack bed with a crappy screw.driver that just shredded my hand. Thought it was frivolous at the time, but I’ve used it so much since. It’s light, small enough to fit in my pocket and good for 90% of DIY tasks.

  2. Tassimo coffee machine. Bought it 9 years ago, use it every day. Nice quick easy coffee. What’s not to like.

  3. My first DSLR camera. It was a Nikon D50 back in 2005/6 and it sparked my interest in photography to this day. It gave me a hobby I can take lots of places and do it alone or with others. I never loved the D50 camera itself, but I did get some really nice shots with it

  • Crashumbc@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    1. Rescue dog - I saved hers and she saved mine.

    2. College Education - paying to finish my 4 year degree, life changing

    3. 40mhz AMD PC processor /w motherboard. replacement for a christmas gift but it solidified my love of computers and computing. Which lead to my college degree and career.

  • wargreymon2023@sopuli.xyz
    0·
    9 months ago

    1. inline skates - it is gift from god, period.

    2. Supersonic cleaner - it can clean anything, it is simply amazing.

    3. Lumix GX80, a M43 camera - it has everything right, the grip, the compactness, easy menu, the mechanical switches…etc on top of that, inexpensive. It allows me to carry it as if it is an action camera.

    • okamiueru@lemmy.world
      0·
      9 months ago

      I tried searching for supersonic cleaner. Is it the same thing as an ultrasonic cleaner? Can I ask what kind of things you clean with it?

  • GlennicusM@beehaw.org
    0·
    9 months ago

    1. 2002 Honda CRV I got nearly a year ago, been a fixer upper, but otherwise in fantastic condition for the price I bought it at.

    2. Some iFixIt toolkit I bought off of Amazon, has come in real handy for many different things.

    3. An acoustic guitar (Fender Dreadnought) I got at guitar center for nearly 200 bucks I think? Specifically wanted metallic strings, and it certainly has that. The high E string breaks a lot if I change tuning too often, but otherwise sounds fantastic and feels great to play.

  • n3m37h@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    9 months ago

    3d Printer - I print lots of useful thing for work (brew beer).

    Espresso maker that I use as a single cup coffee maker (no pods all steel).

    eBike - makes me want to bike instead of drive my car around

  • UnpopularCrow@lemmy.world
    0·
    9 months ago

    I bought a 97 Ford Taurus off a friend for $800 back in 2008. Her dad thought it was on its last legs at 155k miles so he wanted to sell it. I drove it for four years. It was running fine until someone blasted it out in front of my girlfriend’s house and drove off. At the time it had 206k miles. 50k miles for $800 was certainly one of my best purchases.

    • moistclump@lemmy.world
      0·
      9 months ago

      All my cars have been sub-$5k rust buckets or on their last legs.

      $600 - 1993 Honda civic

      $1300 - 1994 Volkswagen Golf

      $3000 - 2003 Mazda 3

      $1000 - 2007 ford escape

      $2000 - 2012 Kia Rio

      $3000 - 1994 Chevrolet s10

      $4000 - 2009 Volkswagen rabbit

      $4000 - 2009 Toyota Yaris

      Almost all of them sold for what I bought it for. Im mechanically inept so probably could have kept them longer if I was good at that.

      Good purchases, some adventures, but cheap cars that work out and are in that sweet spot of not dead but still cheap are great.

  • SomeBoyo@feddit.de
    0·
    9 months ago
    • usb kvm. Had to often switch my usb devices between my PC and laptop.
    • external wifi antenna. Useful for when my laptop’s antenna is not enough.
    • electric screwdriver. Saves a lot of time.
  • Vanth@reddthat.comEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    Back when eBay still had plenty of individuals selling instead of just storefronts for counterfeit crap, I bought a really nice road bicycle, gently used, for about 10% it’s original cost. I have put thousands of miles on it.

    A wok. I cook half my meals in it and it cleans up so easily.

    A password vault. I sprung for paid-tier Bitwarden so I have vault sharing and emergency access that gives me a lot of peace of mind while traveling.

  • nivenkos@lemmy.world
    0·
    9 months ago

    Kindle - all the books, all the time.

    Sony WH1000-XM3 (I guess newer models are still good) - excellent noise cancelling, perfect for flights

    Steam Deck - play almost any games, anywhere, and with a full desktop mode too.

    In the past I’d have put the Acer Aspire One, I loved the netbook form factor, now I use either the Vivobook or Steam Deck like that.

    The Aeropress is also great for quick, simple coffee.

    • souperk@reddthat.com
      0·
      9 months ago

      I guess newer models are still good

      Nope. The WF1000-XM4 have battery drain issues, and there is at least one explosion recorded…

      Edit: To everyone saying they have XM4 or XM5 and see no issues, congratulations you are one of the lucky few. Just google “XM4 battery drain” and you will learn the Sony had to issue so many refunds they introduced new processes…

      PS Boycott Sony until they address the issues. It’s not okay for major producer to release a product with such a major flow and then look the other way.

      • Blizzard@lemmy.zipEnglish
        0·
        9 months ago

        Got XM5 and the battery seems endless. Noice cancelling great, sound quality too, comfortable. The only con is the fact they are not suitable for conferencing at work via Teams etc. - you either can’t hear what you’re saying or can hear youself with an annoying delay.

      • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
        0·
        9 months ago

        Had the XM-4, battery life was shit and I will now never ever buy another set of headphones without physical buttons. They were truly dreadful when you put them round your neck

        Changed for Bose QC45 and will never buy Sony again

          • Mr_Blott@lemmy.world
            0·
            9 months ago

            A bit too bass-heavy, but far more comfortable. The Sonys had slightly better noise cancelling, I have to admit, but the touch sensitive ear cups is a fucking stupid idea

    • a4ng3l@lemmy.world
      0·
      9 months ago

      Haaaa yeah the kindle. Both loved and hated in my case. Love the form factor, allowing me to indulge in new books. Hate it because I don’t get new physical books anymore. Not that I have any room left for books; that’s the reason I bought the kindle in the first place…

      • nivenkos@lemmy.world
        0·
        9 months ago

        Yeah, it’s a shame for passing on books I guess - like my dad had loads of books by Hugh Cook, an obscure fantasy / sci-fi author, and they’re out of print completely now.

        At least in the future digitisation should stop that completely though.

    • AlternateRoute@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      My daughter got the steam deck and she does use it mobile however it has eclipsed the switch as our go to living room family/party/multiplayer console. Family library sharing works very seamlessly in steam.

      I am regularly impressed how well PC titles run on it regardless of if they windows running under proton or Linux optimized.

      There are also an impressive number of titles that have native or at minimum controller support to the point the onscreen prompts all show the correct buttons. We have a number of Xbox controllers now for up to 4 player multiplayer.

      We regularly hook it up to hotel TVs when traveling as well.

  • Fizz@lemmy.nz
    0·
    9 months ago

    Boring answrs but… A computer. It’s the 2nd most expensive thing I own and it’s provided me thousands and thousands of hours of entertainment and use as tool.

    A car. The most expensive thing I’ve brought and very useful. I’ve been able do a lot more with my time and get into many new hobbies.

    Power rack. 3rd most expensive. Having a power rack in my garage allows me to safely lift heavy by myself which is awesome.

    Bonus cheap thing. Screw driver set. Allowed me to fix many things around my house and easily saved me 10x the cost.

  • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 months ago

    DeLonghi Magnifica espresso machine about 12 years ago. The counter on my first one is at 30k+ shots. I bought another used one several years ago for the cabin, it has over 20k shots on it.

    Pretty BIFL for a little fully automatic coffee robot. I’ll be sad when they both pack it in.

    • ours@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      Those chairs are pricey but damn if they aren’t high quality and comfortable.

      I was so happy to have a nice home office setup for COVID lockdown and generally for gaming.

  • 🦄🦄🦄@feddit.de
    0·
    9 months ago

    1. My vasectomy. Hands down the best ease-of-mind investment ever

    2. My computer. Easy choice, I use it daily, sometimesmore than 8 hours

    3. Good, high quality spices