Before phone navigation became the default, my Garmin nüvi 1450LMT made a drive to South Carolina much easier. It felt genuinely useful at the time, even if phones have mostly replaced the category.
I bought a HUANUO adjustable monitor stand in 2020 when virtual teaching had me sitting in front of a computer for long stretches. It did the job I needed.
I bought Sony MDRZX110NC noise-cancelling headphones in 2015. They were good headphones for me until years of ordinary use eventually wore them out.
I bought a 1byone amplified HDTV antenna after cutting the cable cord. It was not mind-blowing, but it worked well enough to bring in some local channels.
I bought a Vemont action camera and later an AKASO Brave 4 with YouTube in mind. Both were real purchases, and the honest story is that I barely used them.
I bought an Epiphone Les Paul Special-II in 2018. Its thinner neck ended up mattering to me for a very personal reason: it made F chords easier after my stroke.
I bought the TONOR TC-2030 in 2021 because I did not want the cheapest microphone or an expensive studio setup. I have used it for YouTube, narration, voice recording and Google Meet teaching, and I have been completely satisfied.
A piece on my first UBeesize 67-inch tripod broke when I was mounting a camera. I still liked the design enough to buy the same tripod again—and I remain happy with the replacement.
I replaced a roughly 15-year-old cartridge printer with a Canon G3200 MegaTank in 2025. My adult kids still come home to print things, we have printed cardstock, and I still have not had to refill the ink.
I bought the Carson BugView HU-10 in 2026 for a bug-and-log video idea. After trying it, my immediate thought was that I wish I had owned one when I was teaching fourth- and fifth-grade science.