(Part 3) Best products from r/hardware

So...here are a few suggestions at this price range:

Audio Technica ATH-M50x: $120 (Probably the most recommended headphone ever. Somewhat boomy bass at times).
http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50x-Professional-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B00HVLUR86

Ultrasone HFI-580 S-Logic: $132.98 (Tighter bass than the M50x, typical Ultrasone v-curve, and pretty fun).
http://www.amazon.com/Ultrasone-HFI-580-Professional-Closed-back-Headphones/dp/B00101UHS8

Beyerdynamic DT770: $137.58 (Another classic. Built like a tank. Probably the second "brightest" pair of cans on this list next to the Ultrasone 780).
http://www.amazon.com/Beyerdynamic-770-PRO-250-ohms/dp/B0006NL5SM/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1463101103&sr=1-2&keywords=dt+770

AKG K553 Pro: $172.99 (My office cans. These are fairly flat with slightly accentuated bass. Their mids are a bit veiled. They can be had for $120 on Massdrop sometimes and are probably worth closer to that amount than the $170+ they usually go for).

Ultrasone HFI-780 S-Logic: $173.85 (Currently wearing these right now while while listening to Hotel California. These headphones have a strong v-curve and can be fatiguing due to how bright their treble is. However, with the right music, they can be really, really fun).
http://www.amazon.com/Ultrasone-HFI-780-Professional-Closed-back-Headphones/dp/B00101XVH2

Sennheiser Momentum: $188.90 (I've not heard these personally, so I can't give any appropriate opinion).
http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-Momentum-Headphone-Brown/dp/B009QV15DU

Shure SRH840: $189.95 (I've not heard these personally, so I can't give any appropriate opinion. However, in my limited experience, Shure's tend to be flat and cough boring).
http://www.amazon.com/Shure-SRH840-Professional-Monitoring-Headphones/dp/B002DP8IEK

Sony MDR1R: $199.95 (I didn't spend too much time with these as I wasn't very impressed. A few other options I listed above are much more fun or balanced, but I figured I'd put them on the list anyways).
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR1R-Premium-Over-Headphones/dp/B009A6CZ30


I almost always suggest Audio Technica M50x at this price range. That's not because I think they're the most fun or balanced. It's because they're a great entry level headphone for someone that doesn't know exactly what they want from their daily driver. If someone is sure that they like a nice v-curve, I'm not afraid to suggest Ultrasones or Beyerdynamics. I really want to try out the Sennheiser Momentums, but I haven't had the chance yet.

Usually the cable company will rent you a modem and you supply your own router. There are ones that do both, but you need to be sure what you need.

If you need a modem, I have the Zoom 5341J
http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-DOCSIS-Cable-Modem-5341J/dp/B0063K4NN6

It's a great modem, rock solid and fast.

If you need a router and/or wireless, that Asus RT line is great. I'd consider their RT-n16 as the starting point for anyone. There is an RT-n12, but it's very low end. It's only a step or so up from the ancient Linksys WRT54G (released December 2002!)

Ok, so the RT-n16 is a great home router. I'd suggest getting the RT-n56u if you can afford it, it's just all around better and faster. There's a newer model that handles the newest wireless standard, AC. It's a little more expensive but it's something to keep in mind.

I could recommend a 7.1 card, and if you must have a 7.1 sourround headset, this is a fairly swell soundcard it: Asus Xonar DS

Having done as you ask, let me ask something. Do you really need a gimmicky 7.1 Headset? Because that's what it is: a gimmick. The individual drivers in the headset will not only be smaller (and thus lose any quality in bass, and be incredibly tinny in higher trebles), but the incredibly limited space for driver placement (opposed to how with a home theater, you have the entire room to place the speakers for surround) in the headphones, meaning that you'll find it incredibly difficult to actually discern the direction of a given sound in the 3d environment of a game, making the feature ever so slightly pointless.

Infact, in my experience (I've owned both a Turtlebeach 5.1 headset, and a 7.1 Razer Megalodon), even software virtualization techniques (for example, Dolby's Pro Logic software) beat a given 7.1 equipped headset in ability to make clear the direction of a given sound.

As many no doubt will recommend you do in this thread, I must recommend you pick up a quality set of headphones, and this is a good place to start looking for one. Along with that, I'd recommend you get a quality DAC (Digital-to-Analog converter, they function kind of like soundcard, but offer alot of benefits over a sound card, at the price of being outside the computer) such as this.

Of course, it's all subjective, and there's no way for me to convince you of the lovemaking-sounds a high quality set of headphones (with a DAC) can provide, without your experiencing it yourself. Whatever you decide to do, best of luck to you.

> Samsung and LG, both above the price range for anything decent

Maybe it's because I'm from Europe but the prices on them actually drop fairly quick.

Galaxy S9 (non plus, 64GB) sells for 520€ on german Amazon, S9+ for ~100 more.

I though LG V35 would already drop to decent prices, it's for ~650USD on US Amazon which is not terrible but I expected better (nowhere to be found in EU). G7 costs 447€, again german Amazon (though, for the record, I would not buy it, but it might be an option for someone).

Agreed on Asus and I personally would not touch a Huawei.

I actually agree that there are not that many options with jack and lot of them aren't great, but I though it's worth pointing out that they're there and at least Samsung in my opinion is a good choice.

Mi Mix 3 still looks like a good phone though, not sure why the mild response in this thread.

Hey I asked Reddit for something similar a few weeks back
here.

I ended up choosing the Acer TimelineX 4820TG. It's been a week now.. and while boot-up times aren't the fastest, I'm pretty happy with it once it's up and going. I can play Crysis/GTA IV/NFS Hot Pursuit 2010 easily enough. And stil I get a 6hr battery life on Ubuntu 10.10 with the discrete card turned off.

The ATI 5650 is oodles better than the 310M. And the laptop still is only $799, with 2-day shipping from Amazon.

Edit: It shipped with an i5 480M, not 460M as advertised.
Also, helpful Amazon link.

Well I was able to find out in the youtube comments. lol. Here's a link.

Honestly, I've been to Fry's and never really found one I like for the right price. This one actually looks pretty good; I'm really liking the form factor.

Here you go

This is 95 cents over your budget, but I can vouch for these. The microphone sounds amazing, the sound quality is really good and the surround is a nice add-on.

Definitely!

I own a U2312HM and I love it. Great for gaming and has crisp colours!

Also you can score one for under $200 from Amazon if you live in the U.S.

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-UltraSharp-U2312HM-IPS-Monitor/dp/B005LN1JEC

> Here's a $470 DSLR with a lens and a bunch of pack in crap.
> https://smile.amazon.com/Canon-T6-Digital-Telephoto-Accessory/dp/B01D93Z89W?_encoding=UTF8&keywords=dslr&qid=1499764992&ref_=sr_1_1&s=photo&sr=1-1
> The lens alone is worth ~$100. A phone costs what? $400 for one with a good screen and a good cpu? How much do you think RED will sell this for? Have you seen the prices of their cameras?

You've linked me to Canon's T6 / 1300D, which is the lowest-end SLR on the market, and which comes with a load of generally quite useless accessories. I'm not sure of the point you're trying to make with that. That you can potentially get lots of low-end tat for less money than something which could compare with something high-end but for less money?

> A few points 1) Smart phone has a battery and the camera portion will need its own (dead phone or shit shot count).

Why do you think that? A modern smartphone can withstand a good 6hrs+ of screen time, and operating a lens doesn't require a great deal of energy. As we've seen in Sony's recent Alpha offerings (which are what a potential Red camera/smartphone would be presumably pitched to compete with, not some shitty 1300D), battery life is an issue, but one which is being aggressively targeted. IIRC, the A9 will do around 400 shots on a charge, and Red's offering will presumably be able to do similar from a single battery. This is a trivial point, though.

> 2) Cameras that run android already exist (and no one gives a damn about apps on a camera)
ex. http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxycamera/s4zoom/
a much better thing is a full on open OS for a camera where you can script your shutter

Again, you're showing me what's essentially a toy. We're talking about quality gear, not some low-end smartphone with a gimmicky zoom lens attached to it.

> http://www.magiclantern.fm/

Magic Lantern is great. It's exactly why a Red smartphone/mirrorless hybrid could become something market-leading. It's the benefit of having high-end hardware and an open software environment. The ML team did amazing things within the limitations of some very crude hardware and software - imagine what someone could do with a rich, modern environment. Again, we're talking 3210 vs iPhone here.

> or a camera that straight up runs linux. https://www.apertus.org/axiom

Competition != negation.

> 3) A processor running nothing but the code needed to generate images from a grid of photosensors can be far more efficient than a general purpose processor running a general purpose OS.

Can be. It's extremely foolish to argue that the limitations of old gear necessarily will be an issue for new technology, though.

---

> What brilliant can they make? Give me some specifics.

I think your fundamental problem is that you have no imagination. The potential for a Red hybrid device is enormous. If you can't see it, that's your problem. It's not a reflection of what the product could become.

Wow super necro bump.

> you really want a cheaply made stand and/or VESA adapter?

Lower prices do not mean cheaper build quality. Additionally, higher prices do not necessarily make the build quality of a product better.

> Remember, this isn’t just an iMac stand, this can be rotated, adjusted up and down, and stays at any angle you play pace it, as well as detaching easily with the press of a button.


here’s a very popular monitor mount . It can do all of those things except eject the monitor. And to me, that’s not a big deal. How often are you really undocking your monitor? It’s not a laptop: you won’t be pulling this out of your office every day. It’s nice to have, sure, but not necessary.

As another counterpoint, virtually every Dell monitor has this “press a button to detach” feature, yet their mounts are a whopping 86.00 new

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Logitech G11, love this keyboard, would definitely get another G-series keyboard, also have the G5 mouse, another great product.

What's the matter with surround/gaming headsets? I'm not much of an audiophile but I like things to sound semi-decent. I have a Plantronics Gamecom 780 headset and I'm really happy with it for gaming audio and communication.

Ok, I'm going to order this motherboard http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004INXLKQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER as I've read in a newegg review that someone was able to fit it into my exact computer and install everything quite easily. Is there anything I should know before I start installing it? I assume I should breadboard it first to make sure it doesn't arrive dead.

There are a couple ways to improve performance, but I think the problem is that it's so expensive to produce, due to the tight tolerances required, that it's really more of a novelty than a competitive product.

Every other cooler in the video is cheaper than the Engine 27

Engine 27

Noctua

Cryorig

Phanteks

Silverstone AR06

 

To improve performance they could;

1. Integrate a vapor chamber into the base of the cooler
   
   
2. Machine a denser fin array onto the spinning fansink
   
   
3. Make the whole cooler, fansink and outer heatsink, taller. Another 10mm wouldn't hurt compatibility with most applications.
   
   All of these modifications are going to increase the price, and may or may not bring it into competitiveness with these less expensive coolers.

Well shucks, there certainly are some great reviews on this "top of the line" hardware.

I mean no offense, but did you perform even a basic assessment of the market before posting these? Both models appear to have serious issues with failure rates when we show nearly 20% of users posting 1-star reviews like this.

I'm still on a Linksys WRT54G-TM w/ custom Tomato firmware and it is a great router, but way behind on today's standards - only "G" speeds (not N) and 100Mbit (vs 1000Mbit).

Still, she's bulletproof, at least. Slow and steady is better than nothing at all when you need it most.

You could do what I have done, get a low end intel NUC.

I stream movies with plex and games with steam without issue. It isn't a requirement but it is highly recommended you have your NUC and PC on ethernet to reduce latency for gaming. Some have said steam has greatly increased wireless support for streaming.

Well hopefully the STX boards will be upgraded to 200 series boards. As far as keeping a CPU like that cool without much noise, this cooler is finally out! https://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Engine-Low-Profile-Cooling-CL-P032-CA06SL/dp/B01MCT9V18/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1483588622&sr=8-3&keywords=thermaltake+cooler

So a Kaby Lake i3 would definitely be doable in an STX 200 board.

Also, why do you need HDMI 2.0? I know you can't do 4k 60fps without 2.0, but a media PC shouldn't need that, right? Media like movies are typically 24fps, so any iGPU on a processor which can output 4k should still work just fine for HTPC purposes despite only running at 30fps, right? It's not like you'll be gaming on a low power HTPC.

What brilliant can they make? Give me some specifics.
Here's a $470 DSLR with a lens and a bunch of pack in crap.
https://smile.amazon.com/Canon-T6-Digital-Telephoto-Accessory/dp/B01D93Z89W?_encoding=UTF8&keywords=dslr&qid=1499764992&ref_=sr_1_1&s=photo&sr=1-1
The lens alone is worth ~$100. A phone costs what? $400 for one with a good screen and a good cpu? How much do you think RED will sell this for? Have you seen the prices of their cameras? A few points

1. Smart phone has a battery and the camera portion will need its own (dead phone or shit shot count).
   
2. Cameras that run android already exist (and no one gives a damn about apps on a camera)
   ex. http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxycamera/s4zoom/
   a much better thing is a full on open OS for a camera where you can script your shutter
   http://www.magiclantern.fm/
   or a camera that straight up runs linux.
   https://www.apertus.org/axiom
   
3. A processor running nothing but the code needed to generate images from a grid of photosensors can be far more efficient than a general purpose processor running a general purpose OS.

If your TV has a USB port then you can use this. https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Wireless-Display-Adapter-P3Q-00001/dp/B01AZC3J3M/

​

I use one and it works pretty well. Windows 10 has built in support for it as well. If you dont have windows 10 then I would do some research. Make sure your desktop has some sort of wireless device as well.

​

I should note that some people report having bad issues with it so your mileage may vary. I do not have any issues however.

I have surround sound speakers that I'm going to use for audio. I decided to buy the Dell U2312HM. My Xbox is currently hooked up to a 32" TV, but I wanted to change my setup around, so if I still feel like doing so, I'll just buy a separate 22-24" TV. The Dell U2312HM is currently $95.94 off on Amazon, so I guess I'd recommend it.

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-UltraSharp-U2312HM-IPS-Monitor/dp/B005LN1JEC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347132329&sr=8-1&keywords=Dell+U2312HM

I'm buying this in a few weeks, looks like a pretty sweet deal.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZUXX10

Linksys E3200 - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004T9RR7C/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details

People rip on Cisco and Linksys sometimes, especially after a poor generation last time (I think), but they have come back. I had a WRT56G - http://kinmel.com.np/product_images/i/053/WRT54gl__86638.jpg

Those were amazing. The new ones are okay too, but idk if they could live up to their older brother.

I bought an E3200 and I can say it works fantastic and it works just as good or better than my WRT54G while even providing a large Wireless N signal which is not easy to get on some routers.

You don't need an E4200. Netgear makes some okay stuff as well but I never tried their stuff yet. I tried out a D-Link DIR-825 from January to last week of Feb. It has been nothing but trouble.

Can't port forward worth crap, cuts out the internet sometimes, needs to be restarted manually by unplugging it sometimes, the admin interface is slow and makes you wait on each save to the settings.

It even will block some IP addresses for no reason! It blocked my feather's work network connection for who knows why, blocked my friend's mumble server for a while till I forced it to allow it, and I guess demilitarizing a computer means nothing to it.

Here is a cheap keyboard that you can buy Amazon and it is well rated, its simple and i imagine if you treat it decently it should last a while.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-920-002478-Keyboard-K120/dp/B003ELVLKU/ref=dp_cp_ob_e_title_1

As for a monitor I need more details than simple and good, ie: budget, size requirements/limitations, required connections, etc.

Yes.

1. Buy DOCSIS 3.0 if your cable company supports it
   
   
2. Buy one with a minimum of a 100Mbps ethernet port - 1Gbps is better.
   
   
3. You will lose connection a lot less frequently with a quality self-purchased modem (as long as the physical cable in your house isn't crap)
   
   
4. I have had phenomenal luck with Motorola Surfboard modems over the past 10 years or so (before that, back in the beginning of DOCSIS 2.0 days, Surfboards were absolute cack).
   
   This one right here is a beast:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Arris-Motorola-SB6121-SURFboard-DOCSIS/dp/B004XC6GJ0

I love my iFixIt set. I use it daily and it has held up better than any tools I've ever owned. Should have about every bit you need for the majority of electronics.
http://www.amazon.com/iFixit-54-Bit-Driver-Kit/dp/B008KOTNVA/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369484973&sr=8-1&keywords=ifixit

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Laptop-R9-NBC-ADAS/dp/B0009WPSEC

and

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Notebook-Cooler-USB-Powered/dp/B0000BVYTV/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1279929658&sr=1-1

first one is great and second is good.

I've used a Netgear N900 with 3 roommates in an apartment in close proximity to numerous other routers for the past 6 months. It is the most badass router I've ever bought.

2 people play WoW, 3 people play DOTA2, and various other games are played. AFAIK bastards are always torrenting shit, but I use QoS. We have an HTPC and a server, stream movies/anime off of it via wireless (1080p FLACs). 3 tablets, 3 smartphones. In total checking just now there are 13 registered devices.

0 fucks given by the N900, no power cycles in 6 fuckin' months (that's my personal record on routers). I like to open up wireless checker on my tablet and laugh at the puny signals from my neighbors as my router's signal peak dwarfs the other routers in the viscinity, like Manute towering over Mugsy.

> You paid more than double what I would have paid for it ~3 years ago.

1. That would be amazing, considering that the chip launched a little bit under 2 years ago (February 2014), although the NUC launched before you could buy the chip (Q4 2013).
   
   
2. How exactly did you intend to buy a $132 chip (release price) for under $60 before launch (nevermind the other parts).
   
   If you want something more recent, here is last year's version of that one at $133.

I have a Logitech G11 and absolutely love it. I've had it for about 3 years now and haven't had any problems with it.

> So when you see Europeans whine about phone prices in their countries, it's perfectly fair to point out that it's their own doing for insisting on such "regulation".

|Product|German price in EUR| ..in USD without VAT^(a)|US price in USD|Which is higher|
|:-|-:|-:|:-|:-|
| Samsung Galaxy S9 64GB|532.99|515.70|664.97|US price is higher
| Samsung Galaxy Note 9 128GB|852.90|825.23|999.99|US price is higher

a. German VAT = 19%, EUR / USD = 1.1514

in USD without VAT = Eur price / 1.19 * 1.1514

I got this stand from Amazon. Not super thrilled with it but it does work better than the stock stand.

It's also worth mentioning that the VESA mount on the monitor are very, very shallow (i.e. you can screw the securing screws in more than a few centimeters so I had to use a bunch of washers as spacers).

Audio-Technica ATH-AD900

Shure SRH840

There are several other good cans in your price range, but these two should probably fit your needs quite well...

Here you go. Works like a charm and will eliminate any noise from interference in the case.


Behringer UCA202