Tech devices you feel like you wasted money on

[K3Nv4]

This thread is dedicated to the devices collecting dust bunnies. I'll admit my love for tech has kind of been shrinking too much of it in my home. But I'll include the top five devices I feel like I could've gone without.

-PS5
I mean Sony, I purchased it when I had the funds although I liked it over 2280 storage upgrades it just collects dust anymore. My SteamDeck gets more usage over my series S as well.
- Xreal Air 2
Although a cool innovative tech I bought these for about $250 during launch. The sides get a bit warm although the huge display is cool and it's a floating screen just haven't touched them in months.
-Anbernic devices
I went down the rabbit hole of buying Chinese clones some would say ewaste devices but I like the form factor of the SP and others. My issue being I got so many devices that can already emulate what they can emulate. Although out of my bunch my favorite is the SP clone model. You know some people spend $100s on mods upgrading original hardware which is cool but there has been little negative feedback about Anbernic. Mostly just the amount of products they drop every other month.
-Desktop PC
Yeah I mean this one may tickle some feathers. I love my PC I'll always upgrade parts when the times right but the truth is the same with other listed devices. I just don't have much of a use for it. If your laptops gets KIA sure it's a great back up form. Some need PCs for jobs or just content with having a desktop PC. I mainly use my desktop for file transfers anymore just because it's so much easier to do certain things on an actual desktop VS a laptop or a gaming portable.
-Storage drives
I was a bit undecided on listing this as it's own list but it is technically tech. I have so many TBs of storage that I just never fill up. I'm not really the type that has to store everything I'm always near a internet connection. I get it if you're traveling alot or want a in home nas. But honestly I just feel like this type of tech can dig a quick hole into being a money pit and easily over spending on space you think you need but actually don't.

Spend money wisely

 

[Viri]

Xbone VCR, even though I got it for like 25 dollars.

 

[sexually_inactive]

Too many game consoles and flash cards.

 

[tech3475]

re: Storage devices

I would highly advise centralising your primary storage rather than scattering it. I made that mistake in the past and now I'm paying for it by having to sort through literal TBs of data and my server has parity protection, so a single drive failure doesn't take everything down, of course I also have separate backups but again centralised.

Also, be careful relying on the internet, things can go wrong such as internet going down, content dissappearing, account hacks, etc.

 

[Technicmaster0]

4 HDD Bay
I got a 4 HDD bay for movies. I even upgraded the cooling solution so that it's less noisy. Sadly, the HDDs don't spin down for standby and I don't need my movie backups running 24/7. My current process is to unmount them via remote desktop and then turn them off, but that's not really convenient. I will replace the bay with another one soonish. I should have gone with another bay that supports standby in the first place.

Amazon fire cube
I've used it a few times, but most of the time it collects dust. The user interface is so centered around amazon prime video it's really inconvenient to use 3rd party apps like kodi. Another major issue I have with it is that it only supports Fat32 external storage which limits the maximum file sizes to 4GB. No HD/UHD rip fits into 4GB of storage. There are so many better streaming boxes available. At least it wasn't very expensive.

Game Cube Controller + Adapter for Switch
Game cube controllers are really bad. They have a very similar layout to modern controllers but lack the convenience. I can't think of a use case where it's better to use a gamecube controller over a XBOX controller. For other retro controllers like the N64 controller or the SEGA Mega Drive pad you at least have some buttons other controllers don't have.

I think that apart from that, I've got good use out of everything I bought or the wrong buys weren't that expensive.

 

[tech3475]

4 HDD Bay
I got a 4 HDD bay for movies. I even upgraded the cooling solution so that it's less noisy. Sadly, the HDDs don't spin down for standby and I don't need my movie backups running 24/7. My current process is to unmount them via remote desktop and then turn them off, but that's not really convenient. I will replace the bay with another one soonish. I should have gone with another bay that supports standby in the first place.

Amazon fire cube
I've used it a few times, but most of the time it collects dust. The user interface is so centered around amazon prime video it's really inconvenient to use 3rd party apps like kodi. Another major issue I have with it is that it only supports Fat32 external storage which limits the maximum file sizes to 4GB. No HD/UHD rip fits into 4GB of storage. There are so many better streaming boxes available. At least it wasn't very expensive.

Game Cube Controller + Adapter for Switch
Game cube controllers are really bad. They have a very similar layout to modern controllers but lack the convenience. I can't think of a use case where it's better to use a gamecube controller over a XBOX controller. For other retro controllers like the N64 controller or the SEGA Mega Drive pad you at least have some buttons other controllers don't have.

I think that apart from that, I've got good use out of everything I bought or the wrong buys weren't that expensive.

4 HDD Bay- which one out of curiosity?

For reference, I currently use a Terramaster D4-300 which does support spindown with my unraid thin client. This doesn't have built in RAID though. Although it's a bit pricey, I got it for £120 on sale.

Fire Cube - I presume it's the 1 or 2, because the current Fire Cube 3 does support NTFS, although one possible way to work around the 4GB limit is to use split RAR files which Kodi last I tried did support.

 

[Technicmaster0]

4 HDD Bay- which one out of curiosity?

For reference, I currently use a Terramaster D4-300 which does support spindown with my unraid thin client. This doesn't have built in RAID though. Although it's a bit pricey, I got it for £120 on sale.

Fire Cube - I presume it's the 1 or 2, because the current Fire Cube 3 does support NTFS, although one possible way to work around the 4GB limit is to use split RAR files which Kodi last I tried did support.

The 4HDD bay is from cenmate. At the moment I think that the next one will be an ICY BOX. But I will keep Terramaster in mind just in case.
Yup it's a firetv from the 2nd generation. Now I got an ugoos am6b+ so I don't really care about the firetv anymore.

 

[Kioku]

The Switch 2 - Aside from it being the newest Nintendo console? It’s literally just the Switch 1, but better. It’s akin to upgrading to the the Series X from a One X. Yeah, the performance is better, but the experience is the same. Same shoddy UI, same store front, etc. My biggest problem with the Switch 2 is that it’s no longer fun to play in tablet/handheld mode because it’s oddly bigger. Not unexpected for it to increase in size, but it doesn’t ever feel right to hold in hands. I kind of regret selling my OLED.

 

[tech3475]

The 4HDD bay is from cenmate. At the moment I think that the next one will be an ICY BOX. But I will keep Terramaster in mind just in case.
Yup it's a firetv from the 2nd generation. Now I got an ugoos am6b+ so I don't really care about the firetv anymore.

I got lucky then, as I nearly bought a cenmate a short while ago.

 

[Skelletonike]

Series X - Was a good system, but microsoft killed it, no point in having one.

VR Headset - Got one a few years ago, I got carsick and barely used it since. It was a waste of nearly 500€.

 

[lightwo]

There are some things I feel like haven't been sound investments, but don't mind having them anyway. I suppose I could mention a few, alongside actual wastes:

• Steam Controller: never truly used it. It is meant to replace mice and keyboards in mouse and keyboard-only games, which I continue to play with my mouse and keyboard. Using it in games with regular controller support sucks. It could be a fantastic investment if custom firmware development continues in the future though, given that it could make a huge difference for FPS games on consoles, where mice and keyboards aren't supported. It's pretty cute and I got it on clearance sale, though!
• Xbox 360 in this decade. Paid online, and looming risk of account/console bans for running CFW is a pretty lame combination compared to the PS3 scene. Otherwise, it's basically the same as its competitor, but more reliable and a bigger adventure to mod.
• Portta YPbPr converter: unsure about that one. Out of 2 units I tried, both had sync artifacts, though they were hard to notice with a lot of movement on screen. What really bothered me were occasional major desyncs which left the screen blank for a good second. The reason I said I'm unsure about it is because nowadays it doesn't seem to happen...? It would be bizarre if it literally became better over time, by itself. It's still better than using composite in any case.
• VPN (used as a proxy): not for everyone. I used it for better anonymity on sites I don't log in to and to seed in peace. Well, public frontends exist for many such sites, and my country doesn't regulate Internet traffic nearly as hard as some other countries, so I haven't had a use for it or used any for a while.

Game Cube Controller + Adapter for Switch
Game cube controllers are really bad. They have a very similar layout to modern controllers but lack the convenience. I can't think of a use case where it's better to use a gamecube controller over a XBOX controller. For other retro controllers like the N64 controller or the SEGA Mega Drive pad you at least have some buttons other controllers don't have.

Yeah, that hurts. Unless you implied something beyond missing buttons ruining the convenience (I don't really see any other issues), I can feel that. I really wish there was a GameCube controller without the lack of buttons or compromises all the other ones are accompanied with. I do love maximising uses for my controllers.

 

[subcon959]

Even as a huge Neo Geo fan, I still regret this stupid thing...

 

[Skv0ra]

Probably my Xperia 5 IV for its shitty snapdragon chip that overheats like crazy and absolute lack of custom roms for it thus, but on the flip side - dedicated, stepped shutter button and robust Sony cam app that remembers your last used lens is a single feature I use way, way too much to want to give up to pinch re-zooming every time.