from Hacker News

Tiny Undervalued Hardware Companions (2024)

by zdw on 6/21/25, 2:19 AM with 30 comments

  • by blitzar on 6/21/25, 7:48 AM

    Basicallly angled adaptors for everything.

    Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away my apple magnetic charger was right angled. Unfortunately the technology was forgotten and eventually lost with the passage of time.

  • by EvanAnderson on 6/21/25, 4:28 AM

    Female-to-female RJ45 couplers ("join adapters" as described by the article) have been very handy in my experience. They're cheap enough that I don't mind leaving one now and again. It's so handy to be able to unplug something, splice in my laptop / tap / etc, and quickly return things they way I found them without rerouting the original cable. It's also handy when you don't have a long enough patch cable with you but you do have a couple shorter ones.

  • by epakai on 6/21/25, 4:37 AM

    I love having so many little daptery-doos. My best hack is storing them though. I have a two tier desk, 24" deep main surface, and 10" monitor 'shelf'. I keep a half dozen tiny adhesive drawers under the shelf so they're always at hand.

    One for flash storage + usb dongles, another with every usb adapter + short cables, audio things + usb power meters, pens, and other stuff. It is so nice being able to quickly use almost any device without a scavenger hunt first.

  • by _tom_ on 6/21/25, 6:01 PM

    Organization:

    I got a storage organizer with 24 drawers. One for each type of cable I use. So instead of one big box that I have to hunt through, I have instant, labeled access to all my usb cables, and a few other cables and items.

  • by o11c on 6/21/25, 4:20 AM

    Beware: most USB-to-SATA adapters do not work with HDDs, only SSDs

    One USB A-to-C adapter I particularly like is a cable with adapters tied to each end, so you can use it for any combination of (A or C host) to (C or micro device).

    FM transmitters you have to be slightly careful - they need to get power somehow; think about how that will happen.

  • by citizenpaul on 6/21/25, 4:52 AM

    If you use the various Ethernet adapters make sure you run some speed tests when you get it.. Those cheap dongles/converters ect are notorious for Working but cutting your speed and reliability of the connection.

  • by nicbou on 6/21/25, 7:29 AM

    My current favorite is a 1 meter retractable USB C to C cable. Combined with the smaller GaN charger and the lower power requirement of newer MacBooks, I can pack really light, and that's great for bike and motorcycle travel.

    I also have a set of USB adapters that plug into each other and let me charge anything with the same cable. Again, less stuff to pack.

  • by gavinray on 6/21/25, 4:15 PM

    RE: "Boom Microphone Cable"

    I wanted headphones for FPS games with a good soundstage. Generally, gaming headsets are not known for price-to-quality value.

    After researching, bought Sennheiser HD560S, but I needed a mic.

    V-MODA makes a $20 attachment called a "BoomPro Mic", which uses standard 3.5mm audio jack and gives you not only a mic, but also a volume dial.

    It turns out that having an easily-accessible volume dial is the best thing since sliced bread.

    Can't believe I never got a cable with this feature before, they ought to put them on all headphone audio cables.

  • by wesleyd on 6/21/25, 5:36 PM

    Not tiny, but I have a corner desk, and I mounted big long 16 port power strips under each “wing”: Tripp Lite 16 Outlet Bench &... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000051174

    Roll of very sticky Velcro tape To mount things under desk.

    A “toaster” style sata adapter: I treat it like a tape drive, clunk in a “tape” (sata or spinning disk) to back up to.

  • by quailfarmer on 6/21/25, 6:49 AM

    Add to this list: small portable HDMI/VGA monitor for checking on headless machines.

  • by analog31 on 6/21/25, 12:33 PM

    A couple of my favorites:

    15- and 25-foot power cables to eliminate outlet strips and extension cords in some installations.

    Outlet strips with super long cords -- especially useful for avoiding the need to chain outlet strips in settings where doing so is considered to be a safety violation.

  • by rbanffy on 6/21/25, 2:05 PM

    90 degree rotated RJ-45 male-male connectors would allow very easy RPi-like clusters.

  • by 7speter on 6/22/25, 4:31 AM

    Lightning to usb-c seems interesting… it can turn somewhat late model i devices into full fledge computers on the go, at least iirc, or you can use a nvme in an enclosure as extra storage easily.

    This is assuming you don’t have one of the newer i devices that has a usb c connector, then…

  • by Blackthorn on 6/22/25, 2:32 AM

    People are seriously going to plug $1-$5 USB devices from AliExpress into their computers? Seriously?

    All the endless efforts and dollars spent on cybersecurity is just lol I guess.