this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2023
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I've got 3 on my list.

  1. BT-PAN Access Point - Kinda ridiculous, but I'd like to have one. I've also found a few BT-PAN-enabled dial-up modems, but I'd have no way to connect those up. Some of those could even be connected to USB printers for wireless printing. Not particularly useful anymore, I just find those devices interesting.
  2. Dot matrix printer - This one isn't even as ridiculous. I really love that sound and how the text they print looks. Sadly, if I am looking for new ones, a basic 9-pin Epson dot matrix is around €200. But the ribbons are cheap as chips. In fact, often even cheaper. Just imagine casually handing out a document printed on dot matrix to someone nowdays.
  3. Nano pocket drone - Something like FQ777-124. Maybe a toy like that is a bit childish, but it still can be fun. In fact I already tried to order this one. From 4 different sellers, twice on AliExpress, twice on Amazon. I never got it :(
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[–] counselwolf@lemmy.dbzer0.com 38 points 1 year ago (14 children)

A 3D Printer, I think I'd enjoy making small "functional" things.

I thought that, too but I mostly make small non-functional things, which is also nice

[–] golli@lemm.ee 12 points 1 year ago

I like the idea, but I fear that I would quickly run out of things to print that I actually need. After then I'd start looking for applications. And the one thing I don't need in my life are more small (or large) plastic things.

[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Fixing and adapting things around the house is what I like most about having a 3d printer.

I'm pretty sure the first printer is now paid for itself by doing that. Just because of things I haven't had to pay to replace. As of this summer I'm up to 3 printers and I can't claim I've paid for all 3.

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[–] z00s@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Me too until I had access to one through work. I've found PLA to be quite brittle and not very useful for anything other than items that sit on a shelf

[–] stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago

A lot of it is just knowing how to design around the limitations. I 3D print practical parts all the time and usually don't have any issues with them. If PLA doesn't work for what you want to print PETG is pretty easy to print as well and is a bit more resilient.

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[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A Flipper Zero. I probably have the components to make something functionally equivalent, but that form factor, all-in-one nature, and simple UI look nice.

I have no need for it, I just want to tinker.

[–] TheButtonJustSpins@infosec.pub 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Same. Also a lockpicking learning set. Just seems fun.

[–] Bye@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago

A cnc laser cutter with enough watts so it could cut thin metal but also acrylic and wood and stuff.

I would love to make rc airplanes, and medieval armor, and fun stuff like that

[–] kubica@kbin.social 22 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It might sound dumb, but I thought for a long time if it was worth to buy a tablet or not. Because I suspected I wouldn't even use it if had it. Then I found a great sale that helped me confirm my suspicion.

[–] PorkTaco@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

I lounge around and browse Lemmy on mine.

[–] room_raccoon@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you don't use it, maybe you could mount it in the kitchen to pull up recipes on. That's what I would do, anyway

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[–] eezeebee@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 year ago (11 children)
  1. A bike. My last one was stolen off my apartment balcony
  2. A kayak. Nowhere to put it though, and the balcony is out of the question thanks to 1.
[–] guyrocket@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago
  1. The best lock for bike and kayak.

;)

[–] Gnorv@feddit.de 5 points 1 year ago

Where do you live? I might have a kayak to sell.

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[–] Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

An electric bike.

Always wanted one. Will never, ever happen though. The thousands of dollars they cost will always be better spent on bills/food/meds/doctors appointments.

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[–] j4k3@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

E-bike. I'm faster than most of them on a road bike, and the limited range would drive me nuts, but I would like to have one for running errands

A hardcore ~$10k Xeon workstation with an Nvidia A100 GPU for AI stuff

[–] paddirn@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

A hidden shelf door, ie β€œMurphy Door”. No practical purpose for this other than maybe privacy/security for my master bedroom. I just think it’d look cool as hell to have a hidden door.

[–] eleefece@kbin.social 11 points 1 year ago (4 children)
  1. A stand mixer, I've always wanted one but don't have the space or the money.
  2. A dreamcast, I foolishly sold the one I had and I miss it a lot.
  3. An iPad just to try Procreate. I've seen videos that make it look like the bees knees and it really catches my attention.
[–] toiletwhole@feddit.de 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have a stand mixer that I acutely never use. It’s decent and almost new.

Maybe I can get it somehow to you.

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[–] wisefoolkp@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My list of tech that I plan to get eventually someday:

  1. A dragon box pyra
  2. A gpd micro pc
  3. Pine phone pro
[–] Cralex@lemmy.one 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

If you work hard, I’ll bet you could have the Pyra in Two Monthsℒ️

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[–] Brkdncr@artemis.camp 11 points 1 year ago

A small construction excavator. I hate having to move dirt and gravel around with a shovel by hand.

A trailer. Would also come in useful for the aforementioned item.

[–] sparklepower@beehaw.org 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

i bought myself a pink lava lamp. it arrives in 2 weeks. i am SO excited to stare mindlessly at it for hours.

[–] Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

lava lamps scare the shit out of me.. every one I've had has blown up. No I didnt futz with them or use the wrong wattage light bulb or anything.

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[–] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Thermal Camera.

They're just so cool. Super useful for checking the effectiveness of stuff like insulation or heat sinks, and can be used to find hot spots you didn't know existed.

I just have trouble justifying dropping $300 on something I would only get maybe an hour max of usefulness from before it sits in a box for years.

[–] Poogona@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I got to use a thermal cam for research out in the desert for a summer photographing rattlesnake ambush sites, it was awesome.

(From what we could tell the snakes in fact did not use thermal cues for their ambush sites, just their eyes. But I got to play with a thermal cam)

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[–] TheMightyCanuck@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Steamdeck. My laptop is outdated and having hardware issue; I also can't justify buying a decent PC tower. I have consoles but I miss a lot of the PC only games like the wargame series and HOI4.

[–] cynar@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I've a deck and it's an amazing bit of kit. Valve hit it out of the park with it. I've found very little it can't run, and the controls are excellent. The fact it has a full Linux desktop available and lets you play around with things is just icing on the cake.

[–] legion@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

A cheap hot tub in the living room.

A pasta roller attachment for my mixer. Pasta is crazy easy to make and I think I can do that more often with the right tools

[–] circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

As a retro computing enthusiast, I have a lot of systems with little practical value.

Fun level through the roof though.

[–] CetaceanNeeded@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

There is someone selling a bucyrus cable hoe (think antique excavator) not far from me but the price they want is outrageous.

[–] megane_kun@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago (7 children)

A (mechanical) typewriter. I have a cork board next to my desk and I've fancied replacing my handwritten cheat sheets and notes with typewritten ones. There's just something about typewritten stuff that makes it "official" to me.

A scooter/bike (electric would be fine). Never learned how to ride one, but I'd love to just take it for a ride up/down quiet mountain roads. Sure, I'd need to ride for a long time to reach somewhere quiet, but I feel that it'd be worth it.

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[–] datendefekt@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Ever since my father passed I've got his old motorcycle standing around. So first thing would be a driver's license for motorcycling. But I'm already taking classes so that's that. And the biggest lesson is what a money sink this hobby can be.

Then I'll need a motorcycle - either get the old thing working again or get a new one. Or why not both? Because the old one's 30 years old and doesn't have ABS.

And the third thing would be a Bambu Lab P1 3d printer. I don't need the speed but damn do they look good.

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[–] jmp242@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 year ago

I suppose a newer supertelephoto lens for my camera. I don't use it enough to actively look for it, but if someone got me an RF 100-500 as a present I wouldn't say no. Or even a EF Tamron 150-600 G2.

A side by side ATV kind of thingy for going out on the trails in our woods.

[–] BallShapedMan@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I've thought about a racing drone. I kept with the drone racing league for a while on YouTube and thought that would be a lot of fun.

I even priced out some options (not cheap), but haven't pulled the trigger.

[–] Karmmah@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you're new to FPV flying and unsure I can recommend getting the controller first and practicing in a simulator. it will save you a lot of money since your first crashes won't cost anything.

[–] BallShapedMan@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Lol that's a good call. Would the headset/VR make sense too? I know nothing other than the Internet people make it look easy.

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[–] BlueKey@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

A Teletype
I just like the sound and the oldschool vibe of these machines.
But the 'realistic' aspect shrinks as they are hard to get.

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[–] CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yeah one of those little drones is definitely on my list. Also one of those big wide curvy computer monitors. I don't even know what I'd do with it, I just think they're neat lol

Edit: Oh yeah, also one of those giant Wacom tablets.

[–] QubaXR@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Unless you're into a wide stroke gestural drawing, large Wacoms may be unnecessary for you. My illustrator wife just sold hers in favor of an iPad with Procreate and Astropad.

Wacom pen displays have great screens and pens, but are unwieldy, loud (fans tend to break, too), finicky and run on weird drivers that may or may not just mess up your day.

Really bad experience for a product costing multiple thousands of dollars.

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[–] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

A lock picking set, just to play and see if I can do it

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[–] HipHoboHarold@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

A mini pc for emulation. I've been following the emulation scene for years, particularly for Android over the last 5-6 years. I ride the bus to and from work, so it's always been nice to have them. For home, I have a Rasobery Pi 3B. It's nice. But it is a little outdated, and would like a boost in power. Thought about getting the RP5 if it ever comes out.

However, some companies are now starting to really go all in on mini PCs. For more modern PC gaming, it's not gonna get you the greatest experience. And I have a gaming PC right now. But I find that I prefer to run my emulators sitting on the couch. And now a lot of these minis are able to emulate up to PS3 and 360. Or at least as well as the emulators can work. However, for a model running the specs I want, I'm currently looking at anywhere from $700-900. So it might be a bit longer till I can afford one. Maybe with tax money if nothing else comes up.

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