My Essential Possessions: Electronics

I've been thinking about documenting my most essential and sentimental possessions. A blog post, some photographs, and/or a video dedicated to my most meaningful things seem like a great way to memorialize the items that had the most effect on me. It'll also serve as a way to minimize my possessions after I have made the documentation so that I can get rid of these things in the future. It's almost like paying tribute to my most important possessions.

I'll start with the first category of things: electronics. While they are not the most sentimental things I own, they are the most important since I use them all the time.

2017 Apple MacBook

2017 Apple MacBook

I bought this MacBook on Craigslist in late 2018 for $1000. My MacBook has 16 GB of RAM and 500 GB of SSD. The 2017 12-inch MacBook is the last version of the MacBook line. Apple decided not to make anymore 12-inch laptops for some reason.

To me, this MacBook is the perfect computer due to its size and weight. It only weighs two pounds! Perfect for traveling. I use this computer every day to browse the internet, read the news, watch YouTube, etc.

The apps I use the most are Brave for internet browsing, OmmWriter for distraction free writing, Pixelmator Pro for photo editing, VS Code for programming, and Microsoft Office for writing documents and creating spreadsheets.

Despite being four years old, this computer is still fast and I have yet to use more than half of the hard drive space. I plan on keeping this computer for another 3 to 4 years until I reach FIRE.

2017 Google Pixel 2

2017 Google Pixel 2

I switched from the Apple iPhone to a Google Pixel 2 back in the fall of 2017. It's one of the best financial and technological decisions I've ever made.

The reason I made the switch was because I wanted to change my phone plan to Google Fi, which is great for international traveling since the phone will work in over 150 countries and the cost will remain the same in most cases.

I ended up not traveling internationally in the past five years and I found Ting Mobile to be an even cheaper plan, though without the international perks, for about $18 per month. I'm happy with both of my decisions and I'm glad that I'm not completely sucked into the Apple ecosystem. 

The Pixel 2 is not officially supported by Google anymore, but I'm hoping to keep this phone until it dies or that there are apps that I need but can't download. So far, it's still running fast. My prediction is that I will get another Pixel phone in about a year or two.

2016 Bose Mini Soundlink

Bose products

I have three Bose products. One is the Bose Mini Soundlink bluetooth speaker that still sounds great after I purchased it in the winter of 2016. The other is a gift to myself after I got my first web developer job. It's the Bose QuietComfort 35 headphone that I bought in the fall of 2016. And lastly, I inherited my parents' old Bose Soundwave radio, though its CD player is broken. I recommend Bose speakers, but not their CD players as they are often mechanically poorly made.

I don't plan on making any more purchases in the audio department. I still have an old Sony CD sound system at my parents' house that I think is better than the Bose Soundwave since it can play CDs, radio, and iPod. Talking about iPod, I still use my iPod Touch from 2009. It's linked to the Bose Mini Soundlink whenever I feel like listening to my favorite songs.

Oral-B electric tooth brush

Oral-B electric tooth brush

After I switched from a regular tooth brush to an electric one about two years ago, I found myself brushing my teeth longer, thus cleaning my teeth even better. The tooth brush cost me around $25 and I buy the refill tooth brush heads in bulk.

LG 49-inch Smart TV

LG 49-inch Smart TV

When I moved into my apartment in 2019, I bought this TV. I don't watch too much of it, but when I do it's mostly on the YouTube app. This TV has Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Pandora, Spotify, and others. But they are useless since I don't have subscriptions.

Roomba 690

Roomba 690

A couple of years ago, I bought my mom this Roomba vacuum cleaner for Christmas. I think she only used it twice. I took it and have been using it ever since. My previous Roomba ran on NiCd batteries and over time the battery didn't hold its charge. This Roomba has a Lithium ion battery and can connect to a smart phone, which is great to see the status of the cleaning job when I'm away from my apartment. I usually start the Roomba right before I leave to go somewhere and by the time I come back the cleaning is done.

These are the most important electronic things I use. I try not to buy too many electronic goods in a short period of time since the old ones will get unused and I will have no place to store them. When I buy electronics I try to purchase the most durable ones at good prices so that they last longer. I also ask myself: do I really need this gadget or is this just a toy. With the electronics that I don't use anymore, such as my Nikon D7500 DSLR camera and lens, I sell them online so that they have a second life to someone else. There's no need to keep old electronics. They take up room and will most likely lose value.

What electronic gadgets do you rely on from a day to day basis?