What piece of technology have you purchased that you absolutely do not use?

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ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,689
2,811
126
I still have brand new HTC Vive I got for Christmas last year sitting in a box the basement. I opened the box to take a look but never used it.

Anova immersion circulator for sous vide cooking. I asked for one for Christmas, the fancy wifi model no less. I've used it twice in the 2 years I've had it.
I used mine little more but not that much. I use mine to warm up leftover frozen BBQ brisket and pulled pork. But I pretty much stopped using it for cooking steaks and meats which is the primary reason I bought Anova. While cooking is pretty much foolproof with Anova, I don't like the texture as much and steaks and other meats taste better if it's cooked from start to finish on the grill. Reverse searing meat using something like a kamado produces better tasting meat than sous vide while giving you the same precise temp control and even cooking. But for 99% of people, Anova would be way easier to use and therefore better. I'm just the other 1%.

Gaming consoles... Have a Ps3, Ps4, PsVita and between the 3 I may have put in 100 hours over 5-6 years.
Stereo... spent ~4000$ or so on my stereo, might have 200-300 hours of use over 20 years.
I'm the same way with gaming consoles. I buy it and try it out for about an hour and never play it. PS4, Wii U, Switch. I probably have less than 10 hours total use on all three consoles combined. I know I won't play it when I buy it but I love the thought of playing it. I guess I remember how much I loved playing video games as a kid and wish I can reconnect to that again. But it never happens. I turn it on for hour after purchase and marvel at the graphics and the technology. Then after an hour, I turn it off because I'm tired and then never turn it on again.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,414
5,270
136
My wife wants me to get one of these so badly and I keep putting her off. I know we'd use it once, then never again. It requires too much forethought and planning :)

Might want to check out the Mellow:

https://www.cookmellow.com/

It's like an Anova, but with a chiller built-in & remote scheduling via smartphone. I've been using mine for a few weeks now. You can basically buy your food, vacuum-seal it up & throw it in the freezer, and then drop it in the Mellow in the morning to cook for dinner. If you're going to be late, you can push the cook time out or just run it for longer. This is the new king of lazy appliances...I can drop in abagged steak, porkchop, chicken breast, veggies, or leftovers & have it ready to eat or sear when I walk in the door. Pretty awesome! Price, not so much, but no other sous vide gadget has an integrated chiller.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,414
5,270
136
I still have brand new HTC Vive I got for Christmas last year sitting in a box the basement. I opened the box to take a look but never used it.

:fearscream:

Plug it in & come play Rise of the Jumbotron with us!
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,414
5,270
136
I used mine little more but not that much. I use mine to warm up leftover frozen BBQ brisket and pulled pork. But I pretty much stopped using it for cooking steaks and meats which is the primary reason I bought Anova. While cooking is pretty much foolproof with Anova, I don't like the texture as much and steaks and other meats taste better if it's cooked from start to finish on the grill. Reverse searing meat using something like a kamado produces better tasting meat than sous vide while giving you the same precise temp control and even cooking. But for 99% of people, Anova would be way easier to use and therefore better. I'm just the other 1%.

The Instant Pot & Anova are amazingly convenient, but I don't think you'll ever be able to beat charcoal or wood-fired food for texture & flavor, especially with things like burgers, steaks, and pulled pork. For me, it's mostly a free-time issue & partly a 'mental weight' issue. I cheat & use a Traeger, which at least gives me smokey flavor in a more convenient, controlled way, but I really like doing charcoal whenever I can. But sometimes I get home late & my brain is fried and having to go out & fire up the charcoal & wait for it is too much to handle lol, so the indoor appliances win out most of the time for me. Of course, there's always the weekends...

Cgga9Mn.gif
 

ctbaars

Golden Member
Nov 4, 2009
1,568
163
106
Does this count?
Denon stereo system. Last used before I had kids. They played with every knob and slider though. All the cones are pressed in. Oh, and the cat had a field day on the speaker covers.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,855
5,727
126
A bunch of mounting accessories for my GoPro. The only one I ever use is the handle that is for snorkeling. I have a chest mount, a head mount, and a long pole and I've never used any of those 3 and had it for like 2 years now.
 

snoopy7548

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2005
8,060
5,057
146
I got the SNES Classic when it came out and I played it twice during the first week. Haven't played it since.
 

clamum

Lifer
Feb 13, 2003
26,255
403
126
I got the SNES Classic when it came out and I played it twice during the first week. Haven't played it since.
I was considering getting the SNES Classic but just knew that I'd play it a couple times and that would be about it. It's so frickin cool though, haha, especially for us who grew up in the 80s/90s.

I guess my contribution is my Wii. I bought it from a friend in 2007 who won it in an auction and didn't really want it. I actually think it's a cool system but haven't played it in like 6-7 years, lol. I installed a mod chip in it back in the day too so I can play burned games. It's fun with a group of friends but I'm basically friendless these days anyway so it sits in plastic bag as it did when I packed it to move downstate in early 2012.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,853
1,048
126
Canon HF100 Vixia camcorder. Used it a ton for the babies/toddlers because back before ~2012, camera phones were lacking in quality especially for video. Now it just sits.
 

96Firebird

Diamond Member
Nov 8, 2010
5,711
316
126
My Roomba. It doesn't do so well downstairs, since it is all open and it will get lost/stuck easily. Plus, my dog freaks out when he sees it. I pretty much only use it upstairs when I can close it into a single room and let it do its thing...

Also, my Xbox One. Bought it winter last year, but barely use it anymore. Maybe I'll pick it up again since winter is here.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
69,022
26,904
136
Canon HF100 Vixia camcorder. Used it a ton for the babies/toddlers because back before ~2012, camera phones were lacking in quality especially for video. Now it just sits.
I almost bought that very camcorder but I couldn't convince myself that I'd use it enough to justify the cost.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,853
1,048
126
I almost bought that very camcorder but I couldn't convince myself that I'd use it enough to justify the cost.

Also before the camcorder I got a Canon Rebel XSi DSLR and a nice lens. Same usage/reasons. They never used to do video so that's why we got the camcorder too. Now it also just sits. We have a pocket-size mirrorless Sony RX100 also because the DSLR was too big for regular outings. And now that mostly sits because it's too inconvenient to take out of its case and flip it on every time we want a pic. Pic quality is certainly better than modern camera phones though - but how many do we actually print? And transferring files over is a bigger pain than a smartphone. Over $1k no longer used right there - dang kids are expensive.

iPad Pro 10.5 inch 512 GB
I still use the original Ipad at bedside for Plex/Netflix.

My Roomba. It doesn't do so well downstairs, since it is all open and it will get lost/stuck easily. Plus, my dog freaks out when he sees it. I pretty much only use it upstairs when I can close it into a single room and let it do its thing...
It's running as we speak. We also have a very open 1st floor and I just use the virtual walls to block off the den and kitchen and do those separately. My kid has bad dust allergies so it's ideal since I don't want to manually run a vacuum all the time.
 
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IBMJunkman

Senior member
May 7, 2015
642
194
116
Kickstarter campaign for an Ethernet to Lightning connector. Used it just to see that it works. Now collecting dust.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
69,022
26,904
136
We have a pocket-size mirrorless Sony RX100 also which mostly sits because it's too inconvenient to take out of its case and flip it on every time we want a pic. Pic quality is certainly better than modern camera phones though - but how many do we actually print? Over $1k no longer used right there - dang kids are expensive.
I have an RX100 at work and love it. Being able to use the camera one handed saves a lot of time juggling with the notebook* and GPS. I thinking about getting one for home use as the pic quality is really good and it's small and light enough for hiking.


* real notebook with paper and pen
 

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,689
2,811
126
Might want to check out the Mellow:

https://www.cookmellow.com/

It's like an Anova, but with a chiller built-in & remote scheduling via smartphone. I've been using mine for a few weeks now. You can basically buy your food, vacuum-seal it up & throw it in the freezer, and then drop it in the Mellow in the morning to cook for dinner. If you're going to be late, you can push the cook time out or just run it for longer. This is the new king of lazy appliances...I can drop in abagged steak, porkchop, chicken breast, veggies, or leftovers & have it ready to eat or sear when I walk in the door. Pretty awesome! Price, not so much, but no other sous vide gadget has an integrated chiller.
That's pretty cool. The chiller idea is brilliant and what would make it useful for busy working people. I don't have the need yet I still want this.
 

JM Aggie08

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2006
8,156
789
136
Chromecast dongle. We have native Chromecast with our TV running AndroidTV which is fantastic -- the TV automatically jumps to casting without any intervention. The standalone Chromecast just feels...clunky. Maybe it's the TV it's on, but I don't want to switch inputs every time I want to cast something.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
I cant really think of anything. I dont buy it if I'm not gonna use it. Suppose I could use my Canon a lot more. But its kinda big to just carry around and for some reason even though every human being on Planet Earth is fucking obsessed with taking pointless photos on their smartphones, if you carry around a big ass SLR you get strange looks even when you arent shooting.

I can think of one toy I didnt buy that I use every day. The Roku XS a secret santa bought me years ago. Which means sometimes exchanging presents is better than spoiling yourself.
 

Zeze

Lifer
Mar 4, 2011
11,112
1,022
126
Cheap portable bluetooth speakers: I got couple of these from my company for free and Christmas gift swap... these cheap $20-25 ones are about the size of a soap box and sound awful (cloudy). I can just put my phone on speaker mode and that is almost just as loud but with clearer sound. Anyone want em?
 

bradly1101

Diamond Member
May 5, 2013
4,689
294
126
www.bradlygsmith.org
The Instant Pot & Anova are amazingly convenient, but I don't think you'll ever be able to beat charcoal or wood-fired food for texture & flavor, especially with things like burgers, steaks, and pulled pork. For me, it's mostly a free-time issue & partly a 'mental weight' issue. I cheat & use a Traeger, which at least gives me smokey flavor in a more convenient, controlled way, but I really like doing charcoal whenever I can. But sometimes I get home late & my brain is fried and having to go out & fire up the charcoal & wait for it is too much to handle lol, so the indoor appliances win out most of the time for me. Of course, there's always the weekends...

Cgga9Mn.gif
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