So I kind of impulsively bought a Steam Deck OLED this weekend, I hadn’t really done much research and I haven’t really played any games in about 15 years.
Now I have to wait for it to be delivered and, I’m worried this is something I’ll use a few times and forget about it.
What’s something you impulsively bought and fell in love with?
Meta Quest 3. I had been saving for a Valve Index but I was getting impatient. Turns out it was an amazing buy and (for me personally) having an untethered headset was more important than I realized. My computer room is small but my living room has plenty of space. Plus the Steam Link app works so well nowadays I can still play Steam VR games but wirelessly anywhere in my house. Pretty awesome deal for something that costed half the price.
A Casio G-Shock! It’s the only watch I’ll ever need. My Apple Watch has been relegated to being used for workouts only! It’s so nice to not have to worry about smashing my watch against a surface bc clumsiness, not having to charge it bc solar & no notifications of any type!
https://www.casio.com/us/watches/gshock/product.GW-5000U-1/ 🖤🩶🖤🩶🖤
If you sidegrade to a Casio F-91W, there’s a fun open-source project called Sensor Watch that repolaces the PCB to bring some nice features.
My watch can now tell me sunrise/sunset times, run 6 different count down timers, and act as a full dice set for DnD.
Full list of complications: https://www.sensorwatch.net/docs/watchfaces/complication/
Casio G-Shock
Real nostalgia hit with that one, I’ve never really liked wearing a watch, and haven’t really before or since, but for a few years, I was a huge Baby G fan, I had to beg my parents to get me one for my birthday lol
Yep, got 2! And Casios are stupid cheap on eBay. My wife and I are a bit addicted to thrift store watches. She just got me a digital Citizen for $1.99!
Right as Covid quarantimes hit, I found a deal on an old decommissioned Bird electric scooter for like $250. Snapped it up immediately. I have gotten SO MUCH use out of that thing just running out to grab takeout to save on delivery fees. I’ll also use it to commute to work nowadays when I’m too lazy to walk (I am lucky enough to live only a couple miles from my office) and don’t feel like biking. It’s probably paid for itself several times over at this point.
Didn’t know what to get my boomer father for Christmas so I got him an xbox. it’s been great for his mental clarity and for our ability to hang out more since I can’t often make the trip to see him.
Bread maker. A guy I worked with said he loved his and I just bought one with no research. It’s my favorite specialized appliance next to my popcorn machine.
We bought the machine with most functions that could make the smallest breads. Freshly baked bread 2-3 times a week. We fight to get the 1st slices ofthe bread.
Zojirushi bread makers are amazing
And rice makers!
Yes! I also have the rice cooker. Probably the two most used kitchen gadgets I have!
Serious question. What exactly does it do to save time? My wife treats making bread like boiling an egg. Something you can do quickly and easily whenever you need it. So I’m wondering which part of it can be simplified.
It depends entirely on the type of bread. Soda bread/biscuits/etc. can be as simple as mix and bake, but yeast breads usually require multiple steps over the course of a couple of hours. Usually something along the lines of:
- Mix ingredients
- Knead thoroughly for several minutes
- Let rise for ~1 hour
- Press the dough flat again and knead again
- Let rise again
- Bake
- Let cool
The intermittent rise periods are what allows the loaf to expand and gives the center its fluffy texture. It’s not a terribly difficult process, just requires intermittent attention over a fairly long period of time. You may have heard talk about bakers starting their job very early in the morning; people traditionally wanted fresh bread in the morning, and it takes several hours to actually make (even if most of that time is just waiting), so bakers need to start several hours early.
A bread maker turns the long process into basically just “put in all the ingredients and press go”. It still takes a while, but doesn’t require any attention once it’s started. You can also just put the stuff in at night and have it start on a timer so it’s ready in the morning.
A gaming computer that was the most expensive one they had. Beyond a faulty wi-fi adapter, it’s held up incredibly well and I can run pretty much anything on maximum settings and achieve a frame rate of 60 fps or more, even on RPCS3, which is a PS3 emulator that is known for being rather slow on most systems.
I did exactly that, albeit with a 3rd of your hiatus. I want to play it every moment I get - I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Literally the same, what a great impulse purchase.
You’ll love it!
I plan on replacing my laptop with it as well
Espresso machine. I was spending 8 bucks a day on lattes, and now I make them myself and stopped going to the cafe every morning, saving time and money. I also think it’s a fun morning ritual to grind the beans, measure everything, tamp, distribute, steam the milk, etc.
Btw I also impulsively bought a Steam Deck and use it way more than I thought, it’s amazing and you’ll love it!
Espresso machines rock. I got one to cut costs, and I’m really happy with being able to make an Americano in a minute or two.
Aren’t they prohibitively expensive? What’s the ROI timeframe and drink number going to be?
I got a relatively inexpensive espresso machine for like $100 with the main downside being it’s not very tall (so putting a mug under it is out). It’s been perfectly fine for like 8 years, though. I’m sure for $500+, I’d get a slightly better espresso but I’ve found buying good coffee beans and grinding them fresh — basically getting the other steps right — makes more of a difference than the machine.
I imagine the expensive machines are more foolproof or consistent or flexible? But it was just me making espresso before work basically every day. It didn’t take long for me to get the timing and stuff down. (I have a De’Longhi one, for the curious, but I don’t necessarily want to steer anyone to that particular brand since it’s been so long. The brand might be owned by some Private Equity firm or something called like “Guangzhou Plastic Manufacturing Concern” and the quality parts were replaced by lead pipes with arsenic in them.)
I got a Breville Dual-Temp for $350 CAD on sale, but you can spend less. You can always spend more if you want, but that’s where I top out.
I’m not sure about ROI. I guess I’ve had it three years, so that’s like $.33/day, but I don’t track what I spend on consumables.
A Moka pot is a cheap and easy way to make espresso. I got mine for less than $5. Of course a fancy espresso machine is going to make higher quality espresso, but for the price you can’t go wrong with a Moka pot
Sounds like you’re doing a lot of steaming!
Nice to both. What do you find yourself playing on your steamdeck?
Aside from smaller titles I’ve e been using it for sea of thieves, monster hunter world, and ffxiv with good results even though that last one took a fair bit of fiddling with. Impressed with it.
Its great for acade-y and mindless games, I’ve been digging Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, Dredge, Balatro, Dave the Diver, and Talos Principle
I freaking love drg survivor game is so fun
Honestly, steam deck lol
It’s an odd form factor that people don’t really have much experience with, hence they don’t really know how useful it’ll be to them. To be fair to myself, I had been holding back on purchasing one until maybe a year after the initial launch, so I think I would personally describe my experience as a leap of faith.
In any case, it turns out to be a great little thing. There’s a lot of games in my backlog that don’t feel “desktop-y,” and therefore I’ve never played them, if that makes sense. But with a handheld form factor, now I have more motivation to go through those games. Emulation on the steam deck has also been great, for a similar reason. And sometimes I just want to be in bed than on my desktop. Or sometimes I’m just on the bus or waiting for something.
I think SteamOS also taught me how usable Linux was, and that’s been pretty instrumental in getting me to minimize my Windows dependence
My wife and I have our own separate ones. It’s such a blast and we also got gog/itch working on them.
Emudeck is fun too.
Are you using a controller friendly front end for gog/itch? I haven’t found anything that’s comfortable for using them
My collection is small enough that I just hook into steam. You can add non steam executables so then you can use your controller. You can even set up mappings. If you find a more all in one setup let me know.
Heroic launcher supports gog
Same, it’s the holy grail of gaming, such a great device that keeps getting better.
This makes me feel so much better! Its kind of one of my thoughts, playing the steam deck in bed, those evenings where you don’t really want to do much but also aren’t fully ready to go to sleep!
You’ve definitely given me some reassurance 🙂
Steam Deck is definitely one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. And I don’t play a ton of games these days.
Spent a few hundred on a nice butterfly knife. I love the thing, it’s my favorite knife.
Well, I wouldn’t call it a strictly impulse purchase, but I did get a steam deck because I was missing gaming and I’m glad I did. I haven’t played in maybe a week or so, but I’ve put a good number of hours into BG3 so far. You’ll enjoy it. I’m glad I got it.
giant OLED television.
While back I randomly got a little over a thousand bucks from the state and I used some of it to buy a PS5 just for Bloodborne and Demon’s Souls but I ended up really loving the adaptive triggers. Motion and gyro controls are kinda lame. I can take or leave rumble/vibration. Adaptive triggers, however, are actually fucking awesome. I want to see it adopted more; maybe it’ll be something most consoles have next gen.
The system itself isn’t bad, either, I guess.
Chefman counter-top water heater. It’s not the worst crime I perpetuate while making tea.
*kettle, honestly forget it’s not a global thing. How much does one set you back? We can get one for like £5 in the uk?
I can’t call this chefman thing a kettle, but that word is used here. It’s more a boil-and-hold urn like you’d see on a meeting-room sideboard with some bakery treats. Like I said, it doesn’t make a great cuppa, but I’m already a heathen before this point anyway. I’ll boil some proper water if the Yorkshire comes out, though.
Amazon basics, stainless steel 1liter, $21
I “splurged” on a cool looking glass one that lights up when in use for $30, during Covid. I was concerned I’d never use it and I really don’t, but one of my teens drinks tea and the other is always up for hot chocolate so it’s gotten plenty of use
