Tech Purchase Thread
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@Crazy-Horse said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@gt12 said in Tech Purchase Thread:
I’m looking at a soundbar so accepting suggestions.
We recently replaced our tv with this:
Apologies for the annoying brat but its the only one in English.
We were having heaps of trouble with the TV being impossible to see (we are up high with heaps of light) and strangely the projector is better than a TV. The speaker is less than ideal though so I’m looking for a Bluetooth soundbar
I would be interested in suggestions too. I have tried a few times to buy one but I am overwhelmed by all the choices. A bit like when I tried to update my stereo a few years ago. I gave up.
I know people have views on Sonos (a bit like Apple) that they appear expensive and you potentially buy into a whole system but their build and sound quality is excellent as is the user friendliness with set up. You will find better (and worse) but these are no gimmick. Options for different budgets provide different features. If you simply want a speaker then the basic model may suit (but you might get better bang for buck elsewhere) but take a step up and you get something with various 'smart' modes and an ability to tune itself to the room.
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@Kiwiwomble said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@gt12 said in Tech Purchase Thread:
I’m looking at a soundbar so accepting suggestions.
We recently replaced our tv with this:
Apologies for the annoying brat but its the only one in English.
We were having heaps of trouble with the TV being impossible to see (we are up high with heaps of light) and strangely the projector is better than a TV. The speaker is less than ideal though so I’m looking for a Bluetooth soundbar
i also wondered about a projector, considered a short throw projector but chickened out
This essentially functions as one, but gets its power from the light fitting (it is also a light).
The ultra short throws are just a bit too much money for me. This was a third of the price of them and gives us the wall back.
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@gt12 said in Tech Purchase Thread:
That’s useful thanks, where do you reckon is the sweet spot for someone who wants that tuning but isn’t a super audiophile? We are in an apartment so I cant lift the roof either.
Not sure what you mean but if you look at the design of these the basic model is front facing, designed for simple use in a shelf unit or under a TV (not your need I guess)
I have no idea how you deal with a soundbar in a projector space but they are usually designed as either front facing or front and top (with some sound being bounced off the ceiling at angles for an Atmos like effect)
The room tuning on Sonos is like a self tuning Equaliser that will adjust frequencies to avoid an unbalanced sound due to room shape. It sends out sound then analyses it as it bounces back.
Getting back to what I think you are asking you would probably need to place it roughly facing where you sit. If you had a shelf or unit under the projected image that would be ideal. -
@Crucial said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@Crazy-Horse said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@gt12 said in Tech Purchase Thread:
I’m looking at a soundbar so accepting suggestions.
We recently replaced our tv with this:
Apologies for the annoying brat but its the only one in English.
We were having heaps of trouble with the TV being impossible to see (we are up high with heaps of light) and strangely the projector is better than a TV. The speaker is less than ideal though so I’m looking for a Bluetooth soundbar
I would be interested in suggestions too. I have tried a few times to buy one but I am overwhelmed by all the choices. A bit like when I tried to update my stereo a few years ago. I gave up.
I know people have views on Sonos (a bit like Apple) that they appear expensive and you potentially buy into a whole system but their build and sound quality is excellent as is the user friendliness with set up. You will find better (and worse) but these are no gimmick. Options for different budgets provide different features. If you simply want a speaker then the basic model may suit (but you might get better bang for buck elsewhere) but take a step up and you get something with various 'smart' modes and an ability to tune itself to the room.
I have Sonos arc, sub and 2 ones as rear speakers. Used for tv and music. Very happy with it.
If you want a soundbar but not too pricey I suggest Sonos beam.
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@Billy-Tell said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@Crucial said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@Crazy-Horse said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@gt12 said in Tech Purchase Thread:
I’m looking at a soundbar so accepting suggestions.
We recently replaced our tv with this:
Apologies for the annoying brat but its the only one in English.
We were having heaps of trouble with the TV being impossible to see (we are up high with heaps of light) and strangely the projector is better than a TV. The speaker is less than ideal though so I’m looking for a Bluetooth soundbar
I would be interested in suggestions too. I have tried a few times to buy one but I am overwhelmed by all the choices. A bit like when I tried to update my stereo a few years ago. I gave up.
I know people have views on Sonos (a bit like Apple) that they appear expensive and you potentially buy into a whole system but their build and sound quality is excellent as is the user friendliness with set up. You will find better (and worse) but these are no gimmick. Options for different budgets provide different features. If you simply want a speaker then the basic model may suit (but you might get better bang for buck elsewhere) but take a step up and you get something with various 'smart' modes and an ability to tune itself to the room.
I have Sonos arc, sub and 2 ones as rear speakers. Used for tv and music. Very happy with it.
If you want a soundbar but not too pricey I suggest Sonos beam.
The Beam 2 is good value, I agree. If you drop the Ray, you'll get nice sound but could probably get an equivalent other brand for less.
There is a Bose priced the same as the Beam which I would guess is just as good in build/sound quality but I like the the TruePlay function (the room acoustic thing talked about above),
Another good function on the Beam is Nightplay which will mean you can watch at lower volumes and have the quiet sounds enhanced but the loud sounds softened. -
@Crucial said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@Billy-Tell said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@Crucial said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@Crazy-Horse said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@gt12 said in Tech Purchase Thread:
I’m looking at a soundbar so accepting suggestions.
We recently replaced our tv with this:
Apologies for the annoying brat but its the only one in English.
We were having heaps of trouble with the TV being impossible to see (we are up high with heaps of light) and strangely the projector is better than a TV. The speaker is less than ideal though so I’m looking for a Bluetooth soundbar
I would be interested in suggestions too. I have tried a few times to buy one but I am overwhelmed by all the choices. A bit like when I tried to update my stereo a few years ago. I gave up.
I know people have views on Sonos (a bit like Apple) that they appear expensive and you potentially buy into a whole system but their build and sound quality is excellent as is the user friendliness with set up. You will find better (and worse) but these are no gimmick. Options for different budgets provide different features. If you simply want a speaker then the basic model may suit (but you might get better bang for buck elsewhere) but take a step up and you get something with various 'smart' modes and an ability to tune itself to the room.
I have Sonos arc, sub and 2 ones as rear speakers. Used for tv and music. Very happy with it.
If you want a soundbar but not too pricey I suggest Sonos beam.
The Beam 2 is good value, I agree. If you drop the Ray, you'll get nice sound but could probably get an equivalent other brand for less.
There is a Bose priced the same as the Beam which I would guess is just as good in build/sound quality but I like the the TruePlay function (the room acoustic thing talked about above),
Another good function on the Beam is Nightplay which will mean you can watch at lower volumes and have the quiet sounds enhanced but the loud sounds softened.I'd have that on all the time, the number of movies you watch that the dialogue is so quiet nek minute your eardrums are gone with an explosion
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@Machpants said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@Crucial said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@Billy-Tell said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@Crucial said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@Crazy-Horse said in Tech Purchase Thread:
@gt12 said in Tech Purchase Thread:
I’m looking at a soundbar so accepting suggestions.
We recently replaced our tv with this:
Apologies for the annoying brat but its the only one in English.
We were having heaps of trouble with the TV being impossible to see (we are up high with heaps of light) and strangely the projector is better than a TV. The speaker is less than ideal though so I’m looking for a Bluetooth soundbar
I would be interested in suggestions too. I have tried a few times to buy one but I am overwhelmed by all the choices. A bit like when I tried to update my stereo a few years ago. I gave up.
I know people have views on Sonos (a bit like Apple) that they appear expensive and you potentially buy into a whole system but their build and sound quality is excellent as is the user friendliness with set up. You will find better (and worse) but these are no gimmick. Options for different budgets provide different features. If you simply want a speaker then the basic model may suit (but you might get better bang for buck elsewhere) but take a step up and you get something with various 'smart' modes and an ability to tune itself to the room.
I have Sonos arc, sub and 2 ones as rear speakers. Used for tv and music. Very happy with it.
If you want a soundbar but not too pricey I suggest Sonos beam.
The Beam 2 is good value, I agree. If you drop the Ray, you'll get nice sound but could probably get an equivalent other brand for less.
There is a Bose priced the same as the Beam which I would guess is just as good in build/sound quality but I like the the TruePlay function (the room acoustic thing talked about above),
Another good function on the Beam is Nightplay which will mean you can watch at lower volumes and have the quiet sounds enhanced but the loud sounds softened.I'd have that on all the time, the number of movies you watch that the dialogue is so quiet nek minute your eardrums are gone with an explosion
They also have a function to enhance dialouge without dulling the big noises if you so wish. Then you could be deaf in both ears
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Question:
Is a phone like a Samsung Galaxy A54 or a Google Pixel 7 going to be fast enough to last for 3 years? Both have only 8GB RAM, and moderately fast chipsets.
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@Tim said in Tech Purchase Thread:
Question:
Is a phone like a Samsung Galaxy A54 or a Google Pixel 7 going to be fast enough to last for 3 years? Both have only 8GB RAM, and moderately fast chipsets.
I'd expect so - I only replaced my phones every two years, and that was solely because I was given them. Otherwise I'd expect I'd have stayed with my Pixel 4.
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@antipodean Thanks!
OnePlus Nord 3 5G will be in stores soon, so might get one of those.
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I've had the Google Home / Nest / Mesh Wifi for just over 3 years now, and as a first step into Mesh, it was good.
The interface is fairly simple, allowing me to set up timers on the kids wifi (the purpose of which is now almost redundant as they're both late teens now and will just burn mobile data if they're up past their bedtime
) and it does what is says on the box. Has the advantage of the 2 nodes being Google home speakers as wellHowever, the simple interface can also be fucking infuriating when I actually need to look under the hood (traffic detail, logs, detailed configuration, ARP tables and routing etc).
I also picked up a few months back that it isn't full point-to-point relay on the wifi signal - it actuallly requires the router (master) to sit between the two nodes.
It is also starting to behave a bit shit when it comes to speed. I've noticed this more and more since I upgraded to a 500/50 connection (we got fibre at long fucking last). e.g. service to my PC via Ethernet will occasionally be a bit crap for web browsing, loading sites slower than I'd anticipated.
I put this down to routing issues and maybe some double-NAT problems with the router. Speaking of which, current topology below. It is set up this way so everything is on the same subnet which is easier for having wifi devices (wife's work laptop) talk to things like the printer and NAS.
So, what's the ask? Basically to replace the Google Wifi with something else. There are a range of options out there, and last time I looked the tp-link Deco got a bit of love here. Additionally there is Wifi 6 out there now.
Has anything changed in this regard? Anyone tried newer stuff like Netgear Orbi?
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We are currently doing an internal refit at home. The sparky suggested upgrading the network while there are holes in the ceiling and walls. We will probably upgrade the modem, install a switch and a bunch of ethernet points, along with a mesh system in the ceiling. I hope CF Jr appreciates the effort when he's gaming
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I'm invested in unifi and couldn't recommend it more for someone with a clue who wants prosumer functionality. I also run Pi-hole on two RPis.
UDM Pro -> Switch -> APs
So that provides the mesh functionality for home wifi. The console is good (and gets better with each iteration) but if you're comfortable with CLI, the functionality can be expanded to do what you want. So I run a couple of networks; home, IoT and guest (which includes work).
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In the end, I looked at the options and decided to go with the extender that complements my existing RSP-supplied router. It is a Chinese brand called ZTE and the attractiveness was the $100 price point, supposedly easy configuration, and .... well that's about it.
ZTE ZXHN H1600 modem/router
ZTE H3601 extenderThe support guys said to just hook it up using WPS but after about a dozen tries at that - various config attempts and I stopped before we got to "just factory reset everything" because fuck that for a game of skittles.
Anyway I hooked up the extender via its WAN port to the router via my office ethernet, and it decided to play nice and just pass on the network settings.
After that everything was seamless and I'm getting full throughput of my 500/50 plan across the entire house and yard, as well as seeing meaningful data like network Topology and ARP etc. Also no danger of double-NAT because the modem is in charge of the lot.
Wifi 6 fucking rocks. Google was topping out at 300mbps ("N" protocol, basically) but this is the shit.
No it doesn't have parental controls but I don't have young kids so meh.
I can probably buy another one to fill in any gaps, but really at this point I'd be wasting $100.
Anyone want a Google Home Wifi?
