What's the best gadget you ever bought?

[Jeffreykip]

Gadget I use every day is a slightly nicer looking carabiner key ring. I am forever cliping my car and house keys on and off one another. Totally unauspicious object I love.
Also, the Leatherman mini with fold out scissors. I love my leatherman, but in reality I use the keychain sized mini much more. It has fold out scissors and a screwdriver: that’s 90% of the tools I use. Clipped to. y keys with the anbove gadget.

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by Jeffreykip

Gadget I use every day is a slightly nicer looking carabiner key ring.

I have one of these, a gift from a US colleague of my dad in a distant past (and a curse to my mom and now my partner because it does damage my wool pullovers):



(Happily surprised to see they're still making them!)

[JackC1]

Air fryer. We've gone thru 2 already; each lasting only a year. This last one is about 3 years old: https://www.amazon.com/Ninja-Multi-P...07SCGY2H6?th=1

Saves time and money since it replaces our oven in almost all situations. Also makes the food taste better than oven.

[A Scot in Otley]

Originally Posted by Mr. Paul

I'd love to be able to say it was those X Ray glasses ordered from the back of a late 60s comic book.

By jove, that takes me back. In the mid 60s, in the UK, I was an avid buyer of DC and Marvel comics (Oh, how I wish I'd kept them all pristine and hoarded them - they'd be worth a packet nowadays). I used to see the ads for things that were unobtainable in the UK and no idea how to write my UK address (what the hell was a zip code? - we didn't even have post codes back then . X-ray glasses - they would've been great. I think what you had to do was pull a face at people as you looked at them to freak them out!

[LiveMusic]

Originally Posted by Rolph

I was ruining my health with processed foods and take out, (recently empty nester), so I bought a Brava Oven.............Bravo!!!

Never heard of it. Read up a little on it. What do you like so much about it?

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

Krupps coffee grinder that I bought sometime in 1984. Had it so long that the whirling beans have worn away the plastic inside of the lid. Used to grind coffee approximately 14,400 times. And counting...

Maybe back then they were still true to their reputation from WW2 and that's why your grinder is still going strong! I have a Krups T8 coffeemaker that was bought in 2018 IIRC, after a long search for an electric version of the traditional on-stove Italian coffee brewer. That is more or less what the T8 is, and the coffee does taste better than what I a regular drip model gives with the water we have (and grinds we buy). But it's truly a gadget; part of the steel mechanism around the press lever rusted away within the warranty period (a true shame given their reputation) and this summer the heating element short-circuited. Cost me only 19€ (plus 60km) to have repaired but I didn't expect a lifetime of a 4x cheaper machine in a 100+€ one!

Originally Posted by JackC1

Air fryer.

For a second I thought you were referring to one of those (supposedly) oil-less fryers for making fries. How is this thing different from a regular electric oven other than in size?

So many kitchen appliances I'd love to have but don't have the space for!

[raysachs]

It’s an awfully easy and obvious answer, but I’m going with the smartphone. I remember somewhere about 20 years ago owning a cell phone, an MP3 player, a “palm pilot” organizer, a camera, a Kindle, etc. and it was patently obvious that all of these functions were gonna be incorporated into one pocket sized device and it wasn’t gonna take long. And then soon they were. I bought a blackberry back in maybe 2005 and then by 2011 I had an iPhone, which was all of those things. And I’ve stayed in the Apple ecosystem since, because they’ve always just worked well for me. And the current iPhones really are just about everything I’d ever want in one device. The cameras keep getting better and better, as does nearly every other function. They really are “the world in your pocket, at your fingertips”. They’re so ubiquitous now and seemingly just one of life’s necessities, that we don’t even really think of them as “gadgets” anymore, but they really are the ultimate gadget and if we take a couple steps back and think about it, they’re really pretty miraculous. They have major downsides too - every great sword has two edges and social media has clearly done at least as much harm as good. But that’s not the technology’s fault - we just haven’t adapted to having sooo much information easily available. Yet, and maybe we never will. But on balance, I wouldn’t want to go back to pre-smartphone days. They’re just so dang handy for so many things.

-Ray

[Skarsaune]

+1 on cell phones, as far as technology gadgets. Camera, video camera, Internet browser, calculator, flashlight.... does anyone actually use one to take calls any more? GarageBand, included free with Iphones, has more capability as a multitrack recorder than the Tascam I had back in the day.....

and +1 on Leathermans. Mine's a Sidekick, every day carry for the last 10+ years. When we got married, my wife wasn't sure if I'd wear a wedding ring every day, but she knew I'd have a Leatherman with me....so she got one engraved for me.

[Jamolay]

Cell phones…

The best and worst thing to happen to us [emoji849]

[SLJ710]

agree with leatherman, I have one of the original, when there was only one model.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by TBman

We have two of these. One lives in the garage, the other in the kitchen.

Saves our backs a bit.

We have a few of those "grabbers" around the house, too, Barry. Very useful, especially for my wife, who is fairly short.

I think the most used gadget I ever bought was my Boy Scout knife, which I still have and still use daily.

- Glenn

[Rolph]

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

Never heard of it. Read up a little on it. What do you like so much about it?

It cooks complete meals in about 30 min, prep to finish. Cooks all types of foods simultaneously, so vegetables w/ protein comes out perfect. My father in law is a famous chef, he said my Brava lamb chops were superior to his! Easy to clean.........watch one of the videos. It cooks using light instead of radiant heat. Good luck. It has a smart window with 10,000 recipes, and you can watch the food cook on your phone if you want.

[Rolph]

Originally Posted by raysachs

It’s an awfully easy and obvious answer, but I’m going with the smartphone. I remember somewhere about 20 years ago owning a cell phone, an MP3 player, a “palm pilot” organizer, a camera, a Kindle, etc. and it was patently obvious that all of these functions were gonna be incorporated into one pocket sized device and it wasn’t gonna take long. And then soon they were. I bought a blackberry back in maybe 2005 and then by 2011 I had an iPhone, which was all of those things. And I’ve stayed in the Apple ecosystem since, because they’ve always just worked well for me. And the current iPhones really are just about everything I’d ever want in one device. The cameras keep getting better and better, as does nearly every other function. They really are “the world in your pocket, at your fingertips”. They’re so ubiquitous now and seemingly just one of life’s necessities, that we don’t even really think of them as “gadgets” anymore, but they really are the ultimate gadget and if we take a couple steps back and think about it, they’re really pretty miraculous. They have major downsides too - every great sword has two edges and social media has clearly done at least as much harm as good. But that’s not the technology’s fault - we just haven’t adapted to having sooo much information easily available. Yet, and maybe we never will. But on balance, I wouldn’t want to go back to pre-smartphone days. They’re just so dang handy for so many things.

-Ray

I'm amazed at what my 7 y/o smartphone can accomplish. I think they are the scourge of modern society and should be banned from all schools.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Rolph

I'm amazed at what my 7 y/o smartphone can accomplish. I think they are the scourge of modern society and should be banned from all schools.

Why are you against something so important for those with learning plus other disabilities, the homeless, and working poor? The phones are even more important in countries with poor infrastructure.

At 7 years old you need to be mindful of security updates. Especially so with some Android phones.

[doctone]

Originally Posted by DCCougar

THIS is the BEST invention EVER!!! That jar lid too tight, can't get it open? Pffft! Not anymore! Designed to fit any size jar, bottle cap, milk bottle, ANYTHING! With this it's a cinch to open anything! Gadget of the century! Only 15 bucks at Amazon. Not affiliated!

Aww... thank you! I just last-minute ordered the other ("twisting") model from OXO for my mum, who has developed trouble opening jars due to arthritis. I appreciate your idea very much! <3