I bought a variety of items, so here’s a record of them.
Power bank
Semi-solid-state batteries were commercialised not long ago, so I bought one. Going semi-solid supposedly extends the lifespan enormously compared to lithium-ion and improves safety too. With battery accidents happening one after another these days, it would be nice to have a battery you can trust. That said, whether it really delivers is something you only find out after a few years of use, and if the circuit board dies before then, the battery chemistry is irrelevant anyway. On top of that, it’s fairly pricey and not exactly light either. I bought it for peace of mind, but whether that was the right call is something I can’t tell just yet.
Laptop stand
There’s a feature I need in a laptop stand, and this was the closest model I could find. The base has to be sturdy so I can use the desk to its full width. Without a stand with a wide base like this, you can’t put the laptop at the edge of the desk, so it has to sit in the middle, and then the desk gets cramped.. Would I buy it again, though? Hmm.. If there were a better option I’d go for that, but I just don’t see an alternative.. I suppose I should be glad this one exists at least..
SwitchBot CO2 sensor
I keep a CO2 sensor running at all times, and in case it ever breaks, I tested a model that’s available in Japan. The CO2 measurement itself was fine, but it was hard to connect it behind the stand without a special cable. So I tested several kinds of cable, and ordinary ones wouldn’t do; only a coilable cable and a very cheap, thin cable worked. It’s a bit of a hassle, but Qingping could go under someday, and it’s always good to have a spare ready. Though I do get the feeling that SwitchBot might be a Qingping OEM as well..
Satechi USB-C hub
My Belkin USB-C hub was acting a bit strange.. actually, every other USB-C hub was acting strange too, so I bought a Satechi, the top dog in this industry. But it was the same. What I mean is.. there’s a charging port called the PD port, and with any USB-C hub, charging at 100W makes it heat up and start misbehaving. To fix this properly, I should have been using a Thunderbolt dock rather than a small USB-C hub like this.. Anyway, I solved it by plugging the charger straight into the MacBook. And then the problem went away.. This Satechi ended up being a pointless purchase, but it’s never bad to have a few spares, so it’s no big deal.
Gokujo Funwari toothbrush
This one is an extremely soft style, and it just didn’t suit me. I only found out after trying it, but I’ll have to use it until it wears out, I guess.. From now on I shouldn’t buy something just because it says “gokujo” (supreme) on it.
Anker cables
These are terribly expensive cables compared to AliExpress, but the AliExpress cables I bought a while back have been dying one by one lately, so I just couldn’t be bothered any more and switched to the pricey ones. Sure enough, not a single one of the premium cables I’ve bought so far has failed, so I’m using them with peace of mind.
And while I went with Anker this time, Anker may not be the best. Other brands make plenty of good cables too, and the quality was more or less fine across the board. The reason I use Anker, though, is that they’ve been putting out a wide range of premium cables for a long time. They keep releasing improved editions, version 1, 2, 3 and so on, and that makes me trust them a bit more. It feels like they’re serious about cables, if you know what I mean..
That said, I bought so many cables this time that I’m overflowing with spares.. and the new cables hardly ever break either.. so I don’t think I’ll need to buy any more cables for a good while.
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