Reviews
Speed is rarely the thing you feel.
Most computers sold in the last several years are faster than the people using them. Even a demanding user rarely troubles one. So money spent chasing a quicker machine often buys something real on a benchmark and almost nothing you will notice in daily use.
What you do notice is everything you touch. The keyboard under your hands for eight hours. The monitor your eyes work against all day. The mouse, and the webcam. These are what make a computer pleasant or tiring to work at — and they are usually the parts bought last, and bought cheapest.
That is where I spend first. Not on the box, but on everything that meets my hands and eyes.
What I have reviewed
Hardware
| Item | How long I have used it | Link to review |
|---|---|---|
| Logitech Pebble mouse A quiet, slim Bluetooth mouse for people who live on the keyboard and reach for the mouse now and then. The silent click is the reason to buy it. | Six of them since 2022, across both generations | Read → |
| Monitors — LG, and the Samsung I miss The LG UltraFine 31.5-inch is my daily driver and easy to look at for hours on end. Buy the highest resolution you can afford — it is the specification you feel every day. | LG 31.5-inch is my daily driver, bought June 2024 | Read → |
| Das Keyboard My number one keyboard, and the one I keep coming back to after trying others. Buy once, cry once. | Around ten of them over the years — four on desks in my office right now | Read → |
| Captain O-Ring switch dampeners, blue 40A-R Twelve dollars and half an hour takes the clack out of a clicky keyboard you already own. The cheapest upgrade on this page. | On my Cherry MX Blue boards since February 2023 | Read → |
How I review
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I only review what I use. Bought with my own money, and lived with long enough to have an opinion worth reading. Nothing here was sent to me.
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No paid sponsorships. Nobody pays for a review, a score, or a mention.
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Every place to buy gets listed. Including the ones that pay me nothing. If a thing is sold at four retailers, all four appear.
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Every price carries the date I checked it. Prices move. A price with no date is not information, so I print the date beside it and let you judge how stale it is.
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Affiliate links are marked with a star. A starred link pays me a commission if you buy through it. It costs you nothing extra, and the unstarred link right beside it works exactly as well. Your choice, made with the facts.
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No used gear. Factory refurbished is fair game when it saves you real money and carries a warranty, and it is labeled as such. Somebody else's second-hand listing is not, at any price.