Last year, I took a promotion at work which meant I would be managing a few people and also involved with/overseeing a number of long term projects. As I've learned how to manage people, I've also learned that my previous methods for note taking are insufficient for what I'm doing and I'm losing track of things in my paper notebooks.

My employer has offered to buy me a new laptop but I'm actually pretty satisfied with my current laptop, so I've been doing some research into e-ink tablets which I think will help me stay more organized while also allowing me to take notes by hand (my preference) rather than typing things into a Google doc as I've been doing for my one on one meetings.

I don't have any experience with this technology and no way that I can get any hands on experience before buying something, so I'd love to hear from anyone who has used something like this, and especially if there's anything I need to consider that I haven't thought of.

My use cases:

• note taking / digital organization
• online reading (I run literary magazines and our submissions come in through an online system, and there's no convenient way to download them as pdfs to read offline, so having access to a web browser is important)
• access to Google Drive ideally so I can get to my notes from my desktop or laptop
• it'll be used at my desk or on my couch in full light, so no backlight or front light is not an issue

One of my coworkers has a remarkable tablet but he told me it's been less useful for him than he thought. In my research, this seems to be too limited for my uses.

The Onyx Boox Go 10.3 seems to be what would work best for me but I've also read a lot of warnings about their poor customer service so I'm a bit hesitant.

I recently realized that many of my favorite gadgets are basically "new" versions of old technology.

• I use Sony Xperia 1VII, with a headphone jack, side mounted fingerprint, no screen cutout, stock Android. It's running the latest Snapdragon chip, however, and the camera hardware is better than the current iPhone (doesn't mean the software is better)
• My favorite smartwatch is Pebble Time. My rePebble Time 2 is on the way. I'm currently using a Garmin, but I'm not exactly happy with it.
• My keyboard is a Niz EC84. The default keycap looks like my keyboard in middle school and it is just perfect right out of the box (except I should've got the 45g one). As a Topre clone, it bounces with rubber domes. I don't like mechanical as the tactile point is not right at the very top of the curve. It also supports hardware mouse key and Bluetooth which is useful when you're working with multiple machines. (Sadly no QMK in this layout)
• When I was buying my PC I couldn't find a single good modern case (i.e. with USB C ports in the front panel) that doesn't have any glass like old school PC. Luckily, Fractal North was just released back then and I immediately preordered.
• I suppose the ThinkPad line may fit into this aesthetically, but it's not exactly the same as it was in IBM era. I heard that the Chinese are making new board for the old ThinkPad chassis though.

I feel like this is an underserved market - why can't they just give me the same phone/computer I have but with the latest technological advancements. Sure, it'd be niche and many people will complain at the price, but at least there is a choice.

Does anyone have other favorite new old school tech they wanted to recommend?

Hey all, I'm looking for some recommendations for mp3 players. Specifically though I'm looking for two different recommendations. I have a seventh grader I teach who is really interested in getting started with mp3 files (that she has yet to acquire), so a cheaper device if possible. I, on the other hand, have a solid yet growing collection of FLAC files I would love to listen to not on my phone, so I'm willing to splurge a little more for this. I tried searching tildes for it but couldn't find anything that suit my need. I know about the tangara (I think thats how it is spelled?) but I can't seem to find if I can even buy it anymore :/ Thanks!!!

I've been rocking a Sony Xperia 1 IV for the last 3.5 years or so and, save for some persistent and irritating Bluetooth issues (audio quality drops for no reason) I've really enjoyed it.

However, as of a month or so ago, the Bluetooth issues have graduated to "untenable" level, and considering its age, it's time for a new phone.

I almost entirely use my smartphone for watching YouTube, listening to music, watching videos, and reading books. I don't use it to play games or surf social media at all. Occasionally I'll take photos, but I don't need anything better than "takes decent photos"

My hard requirements:
Not an Apple
MicroSD card

My strong wants:
No back glass
Durable
Headphone jack
Decent audio quality

Does anyone have any recommendations?

I somehow have money I need to spend, more than I ever had, and where else to put them than where I spend most of my awake time. So for the first time ever I've decided to splurge on a PC that isn't a low to medium budget one. For reference, I'm currently on a 10 year old 1070 GPU with a 1080p screen and the rest of my PC is either also 10 years old or at least 5 years old so it truly is time to upgrade.

It looks like it's 10-15% more expensive to self-build nowadays so what I'm about to pull the trigger on is a package/prebuilt deal. But I can still pick and choose (some) parts from this store. Here's the specs at the moment:

• GPU: ASUS Radeon RX 9070 XT Prime OC - 16GB GDDR6 RAM

This seems to be the most reasonable buy. The price is about 70% of Nvidia's equivalent in performance while the next stepup, a 5080, is more like 240% as expensive. I however got recommendations to get at least 5080 for good framerates in 4k gaming on high settings. I am currently on 144hz and have gotten used to about 100fps in most games, so ending up with like 50fps would suck.

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

Something I play a lot is WoW, and that is apparently a very CPU heavy game, so this one seems the best choice in terms of performance in that particular game even though I'm reading it's somewhat overkill for most other stuff.

• RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 - 32GB

I practically never multitask so getting only 16GB would have been fine I believe, and opened some room in my budget, however this is a limitation of the package deal and I cannot go lower than 32GB. Besides, this should be futureproof.

• Motherboard: ASUS TUF GAMING B650

• Storage: Kingston NV3 SSD - 1TB

• Case: DUTZO C740 Airflow Wood

• PSU: Corsair RMe Series RM850e (2025) - 850 Watt

Here's a link to the full specs and options to configure.

So.. is 4k a bad idea with this setup? Because I really want to.

I would probably settle for 1440p (widescreen even?) but I'm sure 4k would feel like such a much more massive upgrade. So if this build is not capable of 4k for newer modern highly demanding games, would downscaling in them look disappointing? If anyone has experience with that?

If I end up on 1440p, if anyone has experience with this part, what do movies and such look like? Would a 1080p download look strange and blurry being upscaled? And would a 2160p download look weird being downscaled?

I have also seen some posts about 4k being not worth it on account of just how tightly packed the pixels are - that unless it's a more than 30" screen, it's not even worth it? Any truth to that in you guys' experiences?

Sorry for the long post, but thanks for reading!

Hey everyone,

I’m looking to add some freedom to my mobile device setup and could use some advice from anyone who might be familiar with what I am trying to do.

I am currently using an iPhone, but I generally prefer using android devices. In the past I have regularly switched back and forth between the platforms but it’s a pain to do and (being based in the U.S.) the turning on and off of iMessage tends to confuse the people I communicate with (and confuse their phones on occasion when it fails to acknowledge my number is no longer registered with iMessage). I also just got a Pebble Time 2 and want to use it with android to get the full experience.

Normally I would just make the switch, but I’m hoping I can decouple my setup a bit and get the “best of both worlds.” Due to a recent BOGO deal at T-Mobile, I have an unused line in my family plan that is free. What I would like to do is keep my main phone number tied to the iPhone I have but have it act as a relay for iMessages, calls, and RCS/SMS/MMS messages to my android device that I would carry with me.

Not only would this make switching devices easier in the future, it would allow me to seamlessly go back and forth between iOS and android with almost no disruption whenever I want to.

Here is a simplified list of requirements/questions I need to solve for this setup:

1. How to make and receive calls from my primary phone number on the secondary line (I assume I can setup some kind of call forwarding but that would only cover the receiving of calls)

2. How to send and receive iMessages from my primary phone number on the secondary line

3. How to send and receive RCS/SMS/MMS messages from my primary phone number on the secondary line

Would love to hear this community’s thoughts and advice!

My knowledge here is about a decade out of date so I would like to ask for some advice and recommendations. I am looking less for a specific model to buy and more for personal experiences and general tips on what to look at or good review sites or knowledge bases.

Ideally I'd want a general purpose midsized flat monitor with higher refresh rate.
Mostly what I find are either gamer branded items usually without chain linking or data interface or office ones with 60hz though I'll work around of what is available. The image quality is the important part.

What price ranges and display technologies should I be looking at to get a generally good image without too many compromises?

Both sw and hw.

SW is usually hard to use, offering no meaningful settings or making them hard to get to with meaningful QoL features simply absent. Search in any kind of mainstream product is an absolutely excellent example.

If someone does need something other than the default workflow or encounters any error then that is too bad for them.

For a lot of hw products there is little to no meaningful choice alongside absent repair options. The best example is probably smartphones which are excessively thin bricks with a charging port, camera bump, sealed in battery and hard to impossible to change os.

Features decreasing longevity and contributing to waste(plug in for global warming) are simply accepted and even welcomed by end users for bizzare reasons.

For now there are still workarounds depending on how much effort you want to expend with that effort sometimes being truly excessive.

If you have a flash drive, SSD drive (including NVMe drives), (micro)SD card, or some other popular flash memory media die on you, you might be able to get a free replacement, depending on the manufacturer and the product.

I recently RMA'd a SanDisk microsd card that died unexpectedly. When I looked up their warranty, SanDisk has a lifetime warranty on most of their flash memory products. They even provided a return shipping label. Since they no longer make the card that died, they're sending an upgraded, currently available model.

I've also RMA'd two Kingston NVMe drives. Both of them were getting a bit old, but the RMA was accepted, and in these instances I also received the newer version of the product. I did have to pay for return shipping myself, but it was well worth it.

So if you're about to toss that broken flash media in the trash, double check to see if a warranty applies. It's worth the time and potential shipping cost/hassles in many cases.

Does anyone here use a tablet for note taking?

I've always used pen and paper for note taking when working or in/around the house. At one point when phones got bigger I did try moving to notes apps but they never clicked. Something about the glossy screen and the levels of fuss to take a note just didn't work.

I recently found out that there's e-ink tablets which try to emulate real note taking, like the Supernote which runs a custom firmware to make note taking as easy as possible. Or the Boox which is Android based, so it has way more apps, but it's got amazing reviews.

There's quite a lot, I'm curious if anyone here has actually used anything like this and what their thoughts are?
Looking at reviews, I'm drawn to the Supernote. But I'd love to hear some real use cases!

I'm frankly all out of ideas on how to solve an issue, so I'm hoping that the Tildes community might have a suggestion for solving this issue.

I have an 8tb HDD that spins up and is recognized by windows when plugged into a USB HDD dock, but in another machine (also running windows 10) the drive can't be seen (**this is using data connections directly to the motherboard).

There is:

• Nothing mechanically wrong with the drive as it reads/writes on the HDD dock.
• I've tested the drive as an NTFS formatted drive and as unallocated.
• Neither Disk Manager nor the bios sees the drive.
• Multiple SATA cables and Power jacks tested on working drives and the non working drive.

Open to thoughts, prayers or possible solutions.

Thank you!

I'm up for both a new phone and a new laptop, I have an Iphone 8 and a Macbook pro (2020) that was a freebie from an old job.

I wanted a new Iphone, but if I did that, only a Macbook can put music on it and that's half what I use my phone for. I don't really need a new laptop, but all of my other devices are Linux and can't put music on an Iphone. So seems like it's either all or nothing here. Either I switch to Android, or I go buy two expensive Apple products soon.

Iphones have always been great to me, the only reason I need a new phone right now is because Apple refuses to support mine any more. The Macbook though, I had that for only a year before the logic board gave out and bricked it. Is that just something that happens with Macbooks? Are all Apple products actually trash and I've just gotten lucky with both Iphone 4s and Iphone 8 being built for war?

Am I dumb for avoiding Android like the plague? Every Android phone I've ever met is loaded with tons of bloatware and insecure as hell, seems like the Windows of the phone world.

My G502s are starting to exhibit the dreaded double-click problem. Now they're old -- I think one is around 10yrs old, the other 6-7yrs old -- so I've gotten solid use out of both. And G502s are cheap enough these days (like US$35 on Amazon) that it'd be inexpensive to replace them with new G502s.

But I'm still annoyed that this is happening. Plus, this isn't my first time having problems with Logitech gaming peripherals. I've had issues with my G305 wireless mouse (dongle stopped working), and I will never buy Logitech gaming keyboards again since replacement keycaps can't be purchased; gotta buy a whole new keyboard. So yeah, trying to avoid Logitech if possible.

Anyway, I like the G502 because it has multiple buttons, particularly the main thumb button (G6), which I use for PTT on Discord/Teamspeak. I then use the other two thumb buttons (G4/G5) as forward/back in browsers or game bindings (along with G7/G8).

Any good alternatives? Let's say ≤US$80. Preference is wired, but non-BT wireless is fine, too. If wireless, ideally it'd AA/AAA batteries so I can quickly swap rechargeable batteries. Lastly, I'm right-handed.

TIA!

so I need computer speakers that

• are less than 6 inch high
• either the left or right speaker has controls that allow me to
  • increase or decrease the volume
  • have 3.5 mm headphone port [optional]
  • button to power on/off [optional]
• wired, either via 3.5 mm headphone jack or USB-C cable

I've tried looking for it but I am having a damn hard time trying to find something that fits all these.

My keyboard is breathing its last, and my mouse probably isn't far behind, so I plan to replace them. I have a K70 (cherry MX) and some expensive light-up mouse.

When I bought these ~10 years ago, it seemed a truth universally acknowledged that a person who used their desktop computer "seriously" for, oh, video games, must be in want of wired peripherals—and never wireless. Supposedly wireless latency was unbearable and device batteries died quickly.

Is this still true? (Was it ever?)

If not, I'd like to try a wireless mouse and keyboard. Cable management is a hassle. My AirPods have been excellent and I don't miss the tangles of old, so I imagine I wouldn't miss these either.

My computer is a workstation which I use for documents, spreadsheets, and video conferencing. Even as a relatively fast typer, I can't imagine wireless latency would exceed the speed between keystrokes. I occasionally play co-op video games games with friends, but nothing intense.

Is there some other drawback I'm missing?

With CES 2026 coming to a close, I figured that like last year, I should make a thread to see what people are excited (or not excited) for.

I honestly wasn't that excited (see recent state of US economy) but I want to your thoughts!

Previous Topics:

Dell's CES 2026 chat was the most pleasingly un-AI briefing I've had in maybe five years
I didn't post in the thread as I didn't have much to add, the top post by @Oxalis basically sums up my thoughts

Nice to see them be honest about how this isn't really panning out. Everyone wants AI except the consumer.

Clicks Communicator: the ultimate communication companion
Again didn't post in here but I'm glad there is a still a market for niche phone.

For reference, I have next to zero knowledge of building electronics. I've replaced the joysticks on two Nintendo joycons (which I actually found pretty fun), and that's it. I also have no experience with 3D printing or designing specific products.

I am also sick of touch screen keyboards on phones, do not like any of of the phones that do have keys or the Clicks phone case (why is it on the BOTTOM—), and currently have a lot of free time.

So my question to you: how would I go about designing my own slide out case with its own keyboard?

Because that is my ideal solution at this point. And in fact, it turns out someone DID make a 3D printed "slider terminal" this year. Except it's for the Note 10 (I have a Galaxy S9), and seems to be used as a full-fledged replacement for a desktop experience with a trackpad. That's neat and will probably appeal to a lot of people here, but personally, I just need physical keys.

Along with the keyboard used for that terminal, I also found this other tiny keyboard which doesn't have the trackpad and is about the same dimensions as my Galaxy S9. Actually I found that first and was trying to figure out if there were any cases that could store and pop that out. The biggest issue is that it would cover my camera except maybe when it's slid out, but screw it, I want a damn physical keyboard.

I do have access to 3D printers (yay public libraries!) and I'm willing to learn Blender in order to make this thing. I just need advice on where to begin and how to tackle this. In particular, I have no clue how to go about the slide out part. I feel like I should be able to figure out how to make a case that fits the dimensions of my phone and the keyboard fairly easily, but no idea where to begin with researching the sliding component.

Besides that, I also know that I'm not alone here in my frustrations with phone keyboards, so I'm hoping we can pool together ideas on how to do this. As far as I can tell there's not really a "one size fits all" solution that would work for all phones (well, except perhaps a foldable case instead of slide-out), but maybe we can at least share decent starting points for people to design their own. For instance, the slider terminal uses a keyboard that came with a remote, and it would never have occurred to me that could be used for this sort of project. And there are a lot of potential workarounds for the camera placements, so Person A may have an idea that doesn't work well for them, but does work better for Person B than their own original idea.

So yeah. Advice, ideas and general brainstorming are welcome!

Just a passing thought, came up in conversation. I'm not talking about warehouses-full, nor even "retirement savings" quantities, but like, all the RAM you and your friends and family could possibly need for the next 3-4 years.

Pros, cons? Too late? Too volatile? Too ___?