Friday, May 27, 2016

My Favorite Older Tech that last


Living in a fast pace world there’s so many new things coming out every day and we try to keep up by having the latest tech on our side but this not always possible for all of us tech lovers out there as we can’t always afford it or sometimes the newest just isn’t always the best. 

It is true that the life cycle of our consumer items has greatly shrunk these past decades, but there are some manufacturers that still produce durable and reliable products that are 2 - 3 years old and still solid. 

The Pros :

  • No surprises, they’ve proven to be reliable and durable
  • They are way more affordable then the latest version
  • They are affordable for most of them especially used or refurbished

Cons :

  • Not all can be for professional/commercial use
  • Not the latest, but the title is pretty clear about that
In this series I will go through some of the Tech I own and have given me satisfaction so far : 

1. Apple iPad mini retina  2, 32GB Wifi


This device is just amazing in performance as long as used as it was initially meant for : consuming media . The 8’ Retina display is plenty for surfing the web, watching youtube, catching up on email, news, etc.. It is very portable (even fits in my jacket pocket) and with a good battery life. I’ve had this for nearly 3 years now and it’s brilliant. The iPad mini 4 is available as well but the only advantage from this one would be the finger print sensor which I can live without.

Price : 319 $





2. Apple iPhone 5S, 32GB


Though you do have your iPhone 6 & 6S with better performance, the iPhone 5S is a great smart phone and can be bought for a decent price now. It’s got a retina screen, supports the latest iOS 9 update and therefore you get the same apple experience with maybe a 0.5s lag (but you can surely live with that!. It’s design is still trending as Apple’s latest iPhone SE has the exact same external look.


Price : 272 $



3. Samsung S6 Edge  

This has come as a surprise to me as I really don’t like Android devices, as the environment is just way too overloaded for my taste. This phone has a slick design (hard to differentiate from the new S7) and is very quick with a QuadHD display and great camera, it’s currently my backup phone for work as it manages well email attachments (though Apple has made progress in that department) and file transfers.



Price : 519 $




4. Bose Mini Soundlink 


The wireless Portable Speaker is just my favorite of it’s kind. Being often on the move, this is a must for music fans but not only. I found many uses for work during video conferences or for personal development when I’m catching up with my audio books under the shower or in my bedroom. It has great battery life as I don’t recall picking it up uncharged thanks to the charging dock included. With it’s all metal build, the device has a premium look and feel for what think is a reasonable. I would recommend getting the cover as well. 

Price : 179 $




5. Raspberry Pi 2B


This one maybe a bit tooo much on the geeky side but I use it solely as an SSH server for remote access to my home network and computers on a secured connection. As most of the devices I have at home are connected this is a great mean for me to interact with my home LAN when needed without having to setup a VPN. I often work on my desktop and forget to save the file on my dropbox or such, or when some one at home needs tech support. There’s a new version out Pi 3 for the same price of 39 $ US and is a better deal with 1GB of RAM. 

Price : 39 $



6. Blue Yeti USB Microphone


This mic is recognized as excellent value and deliver professional grade sound. It’s very solid (and heavy as well) with a full metal build but also a many controls directly on the mic (gain, headphone volume, different patterns and mute). At 105 USD, this is a very decent price to pay if you want to take your sound quality up a few notches.



Price : 129 $










7. Jaybird 2X Bluetooth earbuds


This is my everyday pair of earbuds I carry around to use with my phone (as it has an integrated mic) and listening to music. It provide amazing sound and is great for working out (being sweat proof) and fits perfectly in place. it provides different size foam and silicone buds (but go with  foam for comfort). It last with me easily throughout the day without the need to recharge and are relatively affordable for this category and quality of build. At about a 100 USD now instead of 179, they're a steal!


Price : 103 $









8. Audio Technica M50 Headphones 



These headphone I use when working on my desktop or for any type of recording. They are extremely comfortable for long hours of use, durable and survived the human tornado that is my little toddler. Prices at under 150$ they are better than most headphones over 300$ and I owned top range Bose headphones with noise cancellation.


Price : 125 $



9. Macbook Pro 2013 with 15” Retina Display



This has been my companion for work, audio, video and photo editing for the past 3 years now. Though it only has 8 GB of RAM, I run my virtual machines smoothly on it and offers a decent speed all around. I do wish it was slightly lighter but you are getting a great Apple product. The screen is impeccable with retina display and offers enough ports and outputs to plug in all your accessories without the need of any adaptors. As Apple is not charging much more for the newer versions I 


Price : 980 $ (used)





10. Time Capsule 2012  with 1 TB storage


Backing up your data on a regular basis is a must if you rely like me on your computer on a daily basis, but the process of schedule the task regularly is just not convenient and this is where the time capsule is amazing. With the Time Capsule software offers automated backups as soon as you’re in your wifi network. It serves also as an access point, easy to setup with the airport utility and  
extremely reliable (I never had to reboot it). It’s also expandable thanks to the usb port you can add an additional hard drive if needed and has 3 Gigabyte Ethernet ports.
Price : 74 $ (used)






11. Logitech Performance MX Mouse 


Though I have a track pad for my iMac, I never thought I’d miss having a mouse until I’ve tried this one. It is a lot more resting for the arm and offers me great comfort. I thought I would miss the multi gestures and multi finger controls on the track pad but this mouse had many configurable buttons to make up for these and the scroll wheel is just amazing. It may seem like a luxury to pay 60$ for a mouse but it was definitely worth it for me.


Price : 62 $









12. GoPro Hero 4 Black Edition 

Though this is not quite an old piece of tech, it’s been out for nearly 2 years now but is still the best of it’s kind. It films in 4K (but I use the 1080p 60 fps in most cases) is incredibly resistant and offers great quality images and videos. The only down side is the battery life as in high resolution, you can film about 30min therefore make sure you have at least 3 batteries to make sure you can enjoy this when going out. The Gopro 4 offers also tons of accessories for filming in any conditions and positions being the market leader, the 3rd party kits work fine (exception being the battery). 




Price : 499 $










13. Google Chromecast 


The Chromecast is the best device on the market for enjoying your media on a TV set while being highly portable. Though many other devices offer the same functionality they often come with a power adaptor while the Chromecast plugs straight into your TVs USB port making it easy to setup anywhere on the go. I use it for work as well whenI need to make presentations. The newest device doesn’t offer much more in my opinion besides colors and the possibility for connecting it to the rear of a wall mounted TV set. But since they are the same price, I would recommend  getting the newer version.

Price : 35 $







So that’s my lineup of best tech, I hope this will come in useful. I know there are many other pieces of tech out there but these are definitely my favorite and I use on a regular basis. You will find below an amazon public list with all these items. :

http://amzn.com/w/198HKTX813EGA


Please comment as I would love to have you feedback!!!!



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