What's the latest gadget or tech that you regret buying?
I honestly regret buying my gaming laptop. I barely use it since I don't have space in my room, so I need to attach it to the TV, every time I need to use, move my series X and unplug it... And I need a wired controller. Then, there's always a pesky update, drivers, stuff... When I'm playing on my X I don't have to worry about any of that, is more of a hassle to use (the laptop).
Ngl I basically bought it because I wanted to play Spiderman and other not available games on Xbox but even like that the regret is there.
I regret ever buying an Arlo home security camera system. Neat idea, poor execution. And fuck subscriptions. I took it all down. I don't miss having creepy-looking cameras in my yard / house. Only put it up because of some very sketchy neighbors we had. And they have gone to prison, so, don't need them any longer.
Glad you mentioned the gaming laptop. I've been thinking about getting one but keep talking myself out of it.
Unrelated but my wife’s parents are also in this situation. Bought cameras because a sketchy neighbour. Fortunately though they’re now going to prison! Hooray!
Same, except I deeply regret getting Vivint home security. Took a year to finally get features I had paid for up front. Massive communication failure between support/billing/tech. Sleezy sales practices. Their hardware must be purchased through a third party credit company. Couldn't transfer my hardware after I moved despite being promised I could. My cameras are sitting on my kitchen counter unplugged because the whole system is a mess. Never ever touch anything Vivint related.
My Flipper Zero. I can force myself to use it and I actually do use the 125khz emulation. But thats it. I feel like I'm wasting it by not hacking with it.
As a side note your gaming laptop wouldnt need to update all the time if it was left on to update. Gaming laptops IMO always suck and desktops are better.
The problem is the space. I can't have it plug all the time and I don't have a desktop
Also I forgot to mention that it forgets my settings on Spiderman and how I settled it with the TV. So many small things that I don't have to worry when I'm using the Xbox
Its because you are unplugging it. Your Xbox only has to worry about displaying to that TV. Your laptop.has to manage when its plugged in or not, and then determine settings based on that. Its why a desktop is generally better for gaming that does not require travel, cause you set it up and leave it, much like your Xbox.
I got a handheld steam cleaner about a year ago, used it a handful of times, and now it takes up space in the cabinet. It did work fantastically on a spot I’d never been able to scrub out, but I wish I’d rented one instead. Fortunately it also got recalled recently (because it can burn people, which sounds like a skill issue but whatever), so I can still get a refund.
I also regret buying a suped-up laptop, big waste of money! But the latest regret is probably the Manscaped Lawn Mower 5.0 electric clippers. For your balls. Idk maybe I'll have to read/work with it more, but it doesn't seem to cut the hair so much as it tugs & pulls the hair. Which is every bit as delightful as it sounds.
Honorary mention, the Fugoo Tough XL Speaker....amazing, booming sound quality in a small package. Expensive. Then that battery life eventually drops like a stone & it's not good for much.
It was one of the cheapest options for the size I wanted at my local Walmart. I never wanted a smart TV but couldn't beat the price.
The amount of issues I've had because it's designed as more of a streaming platform than a TV is infuriating. The constant updates. Ads. The fact that there are no buttons on the TV so if you lose the remote you're fucked.
It's honestly a pain in the ass I just want a normal TV dammit.
They don’t make them any more. Buy good quality retail panels, the kind shops use in their displays. They’re expensive but that’s because they’re not counting on making money off ad revenue or your data.
Buy a good panel and don’t use the smart functionality, never even connect it to the internet. Just hook up a cheap Linux box or pc to it over hdmi and you’re good to go.
Bought a bass guitar, intending to take lessons. First teacher didn't have availability, 2nd didn't work out, the teacher was fine, the front desk people were assholes.
Then I injured my feet and have been stuck in the house unable to do anything. :(
Sounds like the perfect time to practice your bass! Even just following along with Youtube vids can get you a long ways. Hope you get back on your feet (heh) soon!
My switch. It’s been nice and all but my mail account got hacked and some people took all my gaming accounts. All of which I got back except for Minecraft(Microsoft) and Nintendo. And now it’s just a brick. Can’t do shit without the account, you even have to pass like 4 menus trying to get you to log in, when trying to play a game off of a cartridge. I haven’t even gotten an answer from their support except for their stupid automated system.
So, a hosting provider which I used to rent vps‘ses at, got hacked and leaked data(Adress,name,payment method,phone numbers). A lot. And then from there… my email provider is old and cheap. No 2fa nessecary and the password was old and simple. Additionally while the gaming accounts were gone, my PayPal n banking have been untouched.
But also …
I also bought a new Chinese keyboard a few months ago and I can’t get rid of the small and probably unjust fear that there might be a keylogger in there.
Would fit the timeline though.
It depends what you're using it for. If you aren't using it to track your sports activity, it is not that useful. Maybe the notifications are useful. I really enjoy tracking my steps and knowing if I should be more active. I use gadgetbridge, so that my data stays on my phone.
VR headset. I mean, I don't fully regret it yet, as I might someday find a VR game that I actually want to play, am able to play in the small space I have, and that doesn't make me nauseous within 15 minutes.
Color eink tablet. The technology is impressive, but really not ready yet. I'd stick with b&w eink, or if you really need color, just go with a conventional tablet.
The current best color eink tech (Kaleido 3) has a handful of limitations, but the big one is how the screen is naturally darker than conventional eink devices you may be familiar with. High contrast and natural light readability are usually the best things about eink, but the darkness of Kaleido 3 screens, caused by the dual layers (one for black pixels, one for color), makes backlighting necessary in a lot more lighting situations, whereas you could probably read a conventional eink device by candlelight, just as you could with a book.
All these devices have backlights because they need them, but by turning it on you lose most of the benefits of having eink in the first place. At that point it's like using a standard tablet, except the color depth is only 4096, so imagine the worst tablet screen you've ever seen... and this just looks far worse.
Same. I bought it when WiFi 6 first came out and had it customized with the faster WiFi, and I loaded up on memory and Windows Pro so I could run VMs. But hyper-v couldn’t handle the networking so VMs never got the fast network, and was generally enough hassle that VMs never went anywhere. Then even new the battery only lasted an hour. So if I use it to game, I need to start with hours of updates, it’s not even portable: wired power, wired controller, wired headset. wtf?
Who even has time for gaming? I game like once a month, plus use the laptop for TurboTax once a year. Why do I even have it? Why am I still suffering with Windows?
Instead of that frustrating detour with Hyper-V, I should have spent the time building out my Raspberry Pi cluster and set up a server
I got a Lenovo Thinkpad detachable thinking it would have good Linux support. My hope was to make it my new general purpose laptop, like my old Surface was before it broke.
But I bought it online, and didn't realize how small the screen and keyboard would actually be. And the volume keys don't work in Linux, so I can't use it as a tablet.
I burned through 3 in four years, even after modding with a 120mm fan, all within the warranty window (s). Went out of pocket above the return and bought a charger with a build for airflow and an actual fan (IP22 30a).
For my DC - DC charger I'm going to go with another manufacturer after finding out the new models are sealed like the IP67 and they get even hotter.
Bullshit that people have to mod what is considered a premium product to keep them from cooking themselves.
Bad idea to buy a gaming laptop when you already had a Series X. I upgraded from my Xbox One to a laptop instead since it was only about $300 more for a quality laptop. I know the "but a desktop is better!!!" line, but I do not have the space for a desktop + monitor.
Also, why do you think you need a wired controller? I currently use a wired-only 3rd party Xbox controller because I hate batteries but in the past I could use my normal Xbox controller wirelessly just fine.
Blame Sony for making Spiderman it's exclusive plus not making ps5 available in 2020.
I'm pretty sure you need a pairing thingy isn't? Otherwise you could use a Xbox controller on a PS5 and I don't feel like buying it for a laptop that I barely use.
You'll need to check the specs of your laptop to be sure, but most laptops nowadays have a bluetooth receiver built in. All you need to do is pair your xbox controller to it (and it's natively supported in Windows) and you're good to go.
Not really what you were asking for but you can probably just get a really long HDMI cord or something. I'm guessing they sell HDMI switch's that would make it painless even if your tv only has one port.
Not a true regret, but I probably could have waited to get a Meta Quest 2 rig.
I really enjoy VR, there just isn't a ton of good content available for it yet. I own about 10 games but find myself doing the free stuff on Meta (like concerts and mini-games) more than anything else.
I like STeam deck. But, the screen is too small and I have lots of battery problem with it and lots of RMA. So, i need to sell it and switch to new item
Sonos speakers. They work well for streaming except not from YouTube, I don't have Spotify premium, most of my music is local and Sonos and Linux is not a good combination. I'm not a fan of the Windows application either, but at least that works.