# device reviews

this is for notes on various devices i have used over time, most
because enshittification robbed us of any organic notes

googling for something you will just get advertisements or stupid
opinions

like I just check what xah lee thinks, cause I might disagree with
him, but at least it is organic

so, these are human written notes. noting here my favourites, and least
favourites and anything in between that I either am using or recall
using

## digital audio players

### [s1 mp3 player](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S1_MP3_player) (~2005-2008) - ?

my first mp3 player, forgot the exact brand, but now I know this was
an [s1 mp3 player](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S1_MP3_player) like all budget mp3 players in late 2000s

it was exciting and fun but i was a child, so cannot judge. it had
whooping 2 gigabytes of storage and supported mp3s. fun times.

### [sansa clip+](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SanDisk_portable_media_players#Sansa_Clip+) (~2014-2015, 2023-2026) - ~$40

probably the best portable music player ever made. compact,
unpretentious, just works sorta deal. nice sounding DAC, very smooth
sort of warm sound (not scientific, just guessing lol)

supports rockbox, battery decays really slowly, but it does at some
point. my current one, which was bought used (the one from 2014 i lost
quite quickly regrettably) still can do multiple days of usage
completely fine.

sd card support is also pretty good, it glitched out once, but it was
due to a buggy Rockbox version

sound quality is very good, nothing really to complain about, the only
complaint is that there is nothing to replace it and people are slowly
learning about it which raises the price which sucks

mine has a small issue where backlight stops working but bending it a
bit diagonally fixes it which is nice

but i see slowly that dap people are figuring out new things, so maybe
when mine dies i'll get something sensible

2026 update:

it died... i tried to fix it but its a mess to fix and i messed it up

i am considering going back, but for now just will go for suboptimal solutions

### [iPod Mini 2nd Gen, Nano 3rd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod) - ~2021 - free,$30

i tried these out of curiosity. very sterile DAC, probably great
reproduction but needing to fight with either Apple/iPod related
software makes it way too much of a faff for me. but they do look good
and it feels very cool to mod an ipod mini. gave it to my ex

### Famue BF01 - (2025) - $50

i bought this one out of curiosity as i am both into e-ink and mp3
players

sadly, its not very good. fascinatingly, it has same type of chipset
(action semiconductor) as ancient s1s, just a modern version

very jittery sound (i mean it sounds okay if you are not sensitive),
bluetooth, but the ui is very slow, and eink screen is also not very
good

tag support is still on the level of original s1s, so it takes bunch
of tag data and just messes it up with splitting it at 10 character
point

just not really worth anyones time, but made me appreciate clip+ more

## Snowsky Echo Mini - (2026
## phones

here I am only mentioning these which had some meaning to me, I
generally hate smart/phones and the fact they are part of our daily
life

i had some other more boring androids in between, but really these
things have no personality so nothing worth writing about

### [SPV C500](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Typhoon) - (~2010)

had bubbles game - very cool


### [Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Ericsson_Live_with_Walkman) - ~(2014)

my first smartphone, remember it very fondly, but nothing really
interesting to say about it, just early smartphone coolness

### [Nokia N9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Ericsson_Live_with_Walkman) - ~(2015)

Strangely enough I got into getting strange phones very early. Nokia
N9 was an awesome device that we still see marks of today. MeeGo was a
nice Linux based OS, and had terminal and everything.

### bunch of dumbphones - ~(2017-2020)

I quit smartphones when I started university. Before the analog
fashion, hence I probably messed up, but messing up is my nature

All were pretty much S1 equivalent

the only exceptions were KaiOS Nokias, but I am going to be open -
KaiOS was one of the worst phone OSs ever created and was half-assed
from the start. absolute waste of time. i hate unresponsive UIs.

### [Unihertz Jelly 2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unihertz_Jelly_series) - (2021-2025) - $160

very cool tiny smartphone, it was very tiny, and allowed me to
integrate into society without getting enmeshed into bullshit

everyone treated it as conversation piece but it was very nice and
allowed me to keep stuff

so why do i not use it now. no software support. none whatsoever. even
hackers do not really care about it. sadly people who are into
minimalist phones buy like 6 phones every year. addiction replaces
addiction. i just don't like phones man

### [iPhone SE 3rd gen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_SE_(3rd_generation))  - (2025-now) - $140

after disappointments of Jelly 2 i have decided to step onto the dark
side.

apple is a shifty company that will do anything to take your money.
it's really fascinating to step into that ecosystem

but it's a well polished phone with extremely short battery,
especially after newest iOS upgrade. it's a great device for keeping
your government spyware as it is pure spyware and shows how open you
are to spyware. do not plug it in anywhere besides power banks.

i hope this is my last phone. hope is always good.

it was exciting to have a normal phone for like 2 months, but since it
is just a liability with it discharging, but GPS works real well

## laptops/pcs

### [toshiba satellite ~490cdt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_Satellite_Pro_400_series) - 2005-2006

my first laptop, it did run heroes of might and magic 2. a lot of fun,
i programmed pascal on it. god were computers fun when you were a
child

### noname 266 mhz pentium 2 pc - 2006-2007

it could run tony hawk pro skater 3 badly and an early MAME emulator

### noname pcs/built ones - 2007-2012

pure guessing here, were okay pcs, i just played games and modded
games there and enjoyed the lovely days of windows xp and windows 7

### netbooks - 2012-2014

for some reason last of the pcs died and i moved to a netbook. still
had a fun time

### Lenovo Thinkpad X220 - 2014-2017,2023-now (sporadically) - ~$100

god, what an epic laptop

probably the most epic laptop of all time

it never dies (besides the one that died)

my first real linux device (besides a compal laptop that had terrible
ATI drivers)

same as sansa clip+ i wish they just kept making this one and update
the motherboard.

the only case of me downgrading the laptop and now it is my poland
laptop

honestly, don't buy it so you don't raise the prices

but god, is it a nice machine, nice keyboard, awful dac, truly a
machine's machine

### Lenovo Thinkpad X230 - 2017-2022 - $120
it just thinkpad x220 2 but worse

i destroyed one of the screws opening it up so often

may it rest in pieces

### Dell optiplex 7040 - 2020-2023 - $160

my first usff pc, and honestly, great computer. matter of fact, i am
writing this on a machine that has same cpu at this one

the disk controller died in 2023 so maybe not that great

### Lenovo ThinkCentre m700 tiny (2023-now) - $20

bought an empty unit with no motherboard

put in innards from dell optiplex, saving money and keeping my setup working

it also just works

annoying bit is the m.2 slot which is NOT nvme. very infuriating, but
hey

this thing works and eats up all the dust

### Lenovo Thinkpad X13 gen 2 (2025-now) - $120

Just a disappointing machine. It works, but after X220 it is just a
sad sad sad machine.

I really do not see any serious computing done on laptops until somebody
figures out to do 2012 level of manufacturing.

## e-readers

### kindle paperwhite gen 7/iii - 2016-2025 - gifted

one of the best gifts i ever got - given it to dad

jailbroken and installed koreader in 2020, only missing thing was buttons really

very good battery, and after jailbreaking, very good software

pretty much perfect

### kobo elipsa 2e - 2025-now - $300

decided to upgrade for reading philosophy, still sadly missing pageturn buttons

but being able to do notes using added pen is very nice, and i still want to
test more advanced features, but that will be done in due time

not sure still if i would recommend it over paper books though

~~

couple of months later - just completely missed the point - it just died over the time, i think
the device itself fine, but its too large and like tablets - it just landed in
that empty field between reading books and e-readers

### kindle 5 - 2026-now - $10

decided to go back by downgrading - great decision

has buttons and i really dislike touchscreens nothing beats not having a
touchscreen

why everything has a touchscreen now

(i know its cause they are cheap)

i will pay extra for something with good buttons

not as great koreader support but does the job

## peripherals

just here keeping notes of things which I either use now, or were of
memory,
### monitors

#### [nec multisync ea244WMi](https://www.sharpdisplays.eu/p/datasheet/en/datasheet/rp/ea244wmi.xhtml) - 2015-now - $80

very good monitor, been using it for past 10 years its very good 10/10

### speakers + earphones + headphones

#### [Presonus Eris E3.5](https://www.presonus.com/products/eris-35-2nd-gen-pair) - 2024-now

before getting this one i was using retro stereos towers, and frankly,
these work pretty much at same quality with much less bulk, so i am
happy

of course they are not as good as one technica set i've had, but i do
not have space for such bulk in my life

#### [Venture Electronics Monk](https://www.veclan.com/engappliance_sel_one?eng_ApplianceVo.eac_id=4) - 2015-now - $10

I have used a lot more expensive ones, but these pretty much beat
anything in terms of 'just werks'. They are very light, good enough
for me.

I think the best electronics are always these which are impossible to
really upgrade

### keyboards, mice, trackballs

#### [Filco Majestouch 2](https://www.keyboardco.com/keyboard/uk-filco-majestouch-2-nkr-tactile-action-keyboard.asp) - 2021-now - $110

I know some people nerd out on keyboards extremely. I used some very
nerdy keyboards (at friends places, not mine), and frankly, once again - this one is good enough
for me. It seems to be a tank, and pretty much resists most daily
damage.

But keep note, I do not even recall what switch type do I have

#### [Microsoft Pro Intellimouse](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Intellimouse-Pro-Black-Shadow/dp/B07T4Q1RH7?th=1) - 2024-now - $40

Frankly, this mouse has replaced and has been more reliable than all
of my previous pointing devices.

My previous pointing devices (to put them quickly):
- Logitech M100 - seems to have dropped in quality that it survives maybe half a year now
- Kensington Orbit - no middle click - what's the point
- Kensington Expert - very expensive, but scroll wheel died after 2-3 years of usage
- CST Pc-Trac - got the original made in the US one, it was too slow and frankly it felt cargo cultish to use
- some gaming mice - I cannot believe anything it treats this seriously