Every 6 months I do an update on the state of my gadgets and what I use.
Computers
HP Dragonfly Elite G3 (2023) – replaces 2020 HP Dragonfly Elite, 2017 Google Pixelbook, 2017 Porsche Design Book One
My old HP Dragonfly Elite had heating issues, so I was finally forced to replace it after almost 3 years of service with.. what else other than another Dragonfly Elite? The G3 has some enhancements, better speakers, a 3:2 display, quieter keyboard and more powerful processor, but loses the convertible hinge.
Alienware m15 Ryzen (2021) – replaces 2020 Alienware m15 R2, 2016 Alienware 15 R3
I’m back to my Alienware m15 Ryzen as my main gaming laptop, the issue of overheating was fixed by having a notebook cooler constantly running with it, but regardless, it’s a very capable gaming machine due to the RTX 3060 GPU and also having a low profile cherry mx mechanical keyboard too!
Macbook Air M2 (2022) – replaces 2020 Macbook Air M1, 2016 Macbook Pro 13
Just overall a very convenient laptop to use. It’s got a smaller footprint than the M1 Macbook Air (almost as small as the HP Dragonfly Elite in fact), weighs only 2.7lbs, increased the RAM to 16GB so its snappier, and has a faster processor and new increased display size 13.6″ and upgraded design to boot.
Custom Lian Li case gaming PC (2021) – replaces 2019 Cyberpower Syber C Xtreme, 2015 Asus ROG G751, 2016 ThinkPad P70
Parts:
Case: Cyberpower Syber C -> Lian Li TU150
Mobo: ASrock Z390M -> Asus ROG Strix B550i -> Asus ROG B760i
CPU: Intel Core i5 9600k -> AMD Ryzen 7 5800X -> Intel Core i7 12700K
GPU: 8GB Zotac RTX 2070 -> 8GB Asus RTX 4060Ti
RAM: 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 -> 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5
Storage: 1TB Intel 660P PCIE + 1TB Samsung 970 Evo PCIE + 3TB Seagate Barracuda Hybrid HDD -> 1TB Crucial P3 Plus M2 + 1TB Samsung 970 EVO M2 + 4TB Sandisk SATA III
PSU: Corsair 600 80 PLUS Gold SFW -> Corsair 850 80 PLUS Gold SFW
CPU Cooler: Zalmann CNPS8900 -> Noctua U12A
Fans: -> Cooler Master Sickle Flow x3
Decided to move to the AMD AM4 chipset to upgrade my performance, going from 6 cores with no hyperthreading on the Intel to a massive 8 cores 16 threads on the Ryzen 7 3800X. This is mainly to speed up things like video editing which I do a lot of. I also added some more storage, changed the CPU cooler to something a bit more high end and changed out the case to be the Lian Li TU150 as I think it’s the perfect balance between portability (aluminum so it only weighs 3.6kg), size (its not the smallest case but it supports a lot of configurations and has good thermals), affordability (only $100 USD), and appearance (very minimalistic). Also looked at ITX cases by FormD, NCase, Cooler Master, NZXT, Fractal Design, BeQuiet, Razer, Corsair, Thermaltake etc but Lian Li had the best balance for me.
Tablets/Phones
Asus Zenfone 10 (2024) – replaces 2022 Galaxy Fold4, 2021 Galaxy Z Fold 2
My Samsung Galaxy Fold4 hinge died, forcing me to buy a new replacement phone. The Zenfone 10 is probably the best ‘small’ phone out there in terms of specs so it’s a no brainer replacement.
Sony Xperia 5 V (2024) – replaces 2023 Xperia 5 IV, 2021 Galaxy Z Flip 3, 2021 Google Pixel 4, 2020 iPhone 12 mini, 2019 iPhone 11 Pro, 2017 Google Pixel 2, 2016 iPhone SE, 2014 Sony Xperia Z3C
My Xperia 5 IV died because of water damage – so I had to replace it with (of course) the newer version, the Xperia 5 V, which actually has a bit better build quality and a better camera, while keeping the great battery life, camera shutter button, stereo speakers, microSd and headphone jack!
Music
Nostalgia Audio Tesseract (2025) – replaces 2022 ThieAudio Monarch MKII, 2021 Noble Audio Khan, 2021 AK Solaris X
After lots of experimentation with different IEMs in the past few months (including the $4500 UM Multiverse Mentors, $3300 Quill Satins and $4200 VE Phonix) I’ve settled on the $3700 Nostalgia Tesseracts as my main IEM of choice now. It has beautiful mids, a very wide soundstage, and decent treble extension and ok bass. I just wish the bass quality could be a little bit better but that’s really my only complain with these.
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX (2024) – replaces 2022 Master & Dynamic MW08, 2021 Nura NuraTrue, 2019 Sony WF-1000XM3
Very good sounding pair of wireless earbuds that I use in tandem with my Bowers&Wilkins PI8 as my main two wireless earbuds now.
Lotoo PAW Gold Touch (2025) – replaces 2025 Astell&Kern SP3000M, 2021 Astell&Kern SE100, 2020 Motorola Razr Fold
After trying a few different high end DAPs including the $1900 Cayin N7, $3000 Astell&Kern SP3000M Copper Nickel and $4100 Luxury&Precision E7, I settled with the former $3200 flagship Lotoo PAW Gold Touch. While the user interface is quite simplistic, it is very fast and responsive and the sound is very dynamic, fun and engaging.
Aperion Verus V5B + Rotel A12 Integrated Amp + REL Tzero Mk3 – replaces 2022 Monitor Audio Bronze 50, 2022 DALI Oberon 1, 2021 PMC DB1 Gold, 2019 Klipsch R-41PM, 2017 Creative SoundblasterX Katana, 2017 Klipsch the Three, Cambridge Audio Solo Preamp, 2022 Leak Stereo 130, 2021 Rotel 1572
I got a really good deal on the Aperion Audio Verus 5B and it’s a well regarded speaker from a lesser known but stellar American audio company so decided to try them out. It has now replaced my combination of the Monitor Audio Bronze 50 + DALI Oberon 1s which I had before.
MartinLogan B10 + Technics C600 (2025) – replaces 2021 Neat Acoustics Ministra + 2024 MartinLogan 30i + 2020 MartinLogan 2i + 2020 MartinLogan Dynamo 400 + 2023 Marantz Cinema 60, 2020 MartinLogan 15i / Marantz NR1510, 2019 LG SL10YG + SPK8, 2018 Sony HT-ST5000, 2020 Marantz NR1510
I decided to simplify and replace my receiver (Marantz Cinema 60) and my center channel (MartinLogan 30i) and surround speakers (MartinLogan 2i) with a stereo amp (Technics C600) and downgrade my bookshelves to MartinLogan B10s (from the $3000 Neat Acoustics Ministra). Overall I think the sound quality is still quite good and I get to save some space and money.
Ruark R1 Deluxe Mark IV – replaces 2017 Yamaha Clock Radio
The Ruark R1 Deluxe replaces my Yamaha Clock Radio/Alarm
Cameras
DJI Pocket 3 (2024) – replaces 2022 DJI Osmo Action 3, 2021 DJI Pocket 2, 2016 Sony HDR-AS300
The Pocket 3 is great, it has a much larger display than the Pocket 2 did and a better camera, and for all cases except for water activities and biking (I still use the Action 3 for that), it’s been my main vlogging camera.
Sony ZV-1 (2020) – replaces Sony A6000, DJI Osmo+
The best camera for Youtube videos and Vlogs, it’s such a good value for the quality as it comes with a lens very similar to the 24mm Zeiss 1.8 prime I had before except this one is a 24-70mm zoom, making this one a great all around camera for everything, especially paired with a Zhiyun M2 for moving stability, plus 4K and HLG (HDR) capability so it’s a strict upgrade over my old Sony and DJI Osmo (with the Zhiyun). Also, the microphone is great, so I don’t need to use a dedicated Sony X/Y mic or my Shures anymore.
Main Computer collection
Lian Li Custom Desktop (2021) – AMD Ryzen 5800X, 32GB RAM, 5TB SSD+HDD, Geforce RTX 2070, 20lbs – main gaming pc
HP Dragonfly Elite G3 (2023) – Intel Core i7 1265U, 16GB, 256GB SSD, 2.4lbs – main portable laptop
Apple Macbook Air M2 (2020) – Apple M2, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 2.7lbs – secondary portable laptop
Alienware m15 Ryzen – AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Geforce 3060, 5.5lbs – main gaming laptop
Asus Zenbook Pro Duo – Core i7 12700H, 16GB, 1TB SSD, Geforce RTX 3050 Ti, 4.6lbs – secondary gaming laptop
Main Phone collection
Asus Zenfone 10, Snapdragon SM8550, 8GB RAM, 128GB Flash, Android 13, 50MP F/1.9 – main phone
Sony Xperia 5 V, Snapdragon SM8550, 8GB RAM, 128GB Flash, Android 12, 48MP F/1.9 – secondary phone
Other devices
Video game systems: PS3, PS4 Pro, PS5, Nvidia Shield Pro, Cybiko Xtreme, Nokia Ngage, PS Vita, New Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nvidia Shield Portable, Razer Edge, GPD Win 4, Steam Deck OLED, AyaNeo Air Pro, Lenovo Legion Go, GPD Win Mini, Anbernic RG40XXV, Playdate, Kinhank Super Console X5 Pro, Asus ROG Ally, Cybiko Xtreme, OpenPandora
UMPCs: GPD Micro 2, Toshiba Libretto W100, Vulcan Flipstart, Sony Vaio UX280, Sharp Netwalker, Fujitsu UH900, Fujitsu U820, Samsung Q1, GPD Pocket 3, Kingjim Portabook
Backup Laptops: ThinkPad TP25 (Win 7), ThinkPad X240 (Win 7), Thinkpad X61 (Win XP), Dell Latitude D600 (Win 98), Panasonic SV1, Fujitsu U939X
Watches: Nomos Tetra 406 (dress/casual), Junghans Meister Calendar (everyday), Farer Burbridge Moonphase (dress/everyday), Oris GMT (travel), Pebble Time Steel, Casio DataBank, Motorola Moto 360 3rd gen, Seiko Presage SPB399 (dress/everyday), Hamilton Ventura Elvis80 Skeleton (everyday), Citizen Star Wars, Bulova Computron
Tablets: iPad Pro 10.5, Sony Tablet P, iPad Air, Lenovo Flex 20
PMPs: iPod Nano, MS Zune HD, Creative Zen vision m, Archos 7, Hiby RS6, Lotoo PAW Gold Touch, iPod Video, Philips PMC, Creative Zen, Hifiman HM901s, Cowon Plenue S, Sony Walkman WM1A, Cayin N8, Moondrop MIAD01, Onix XM2, Onix XM5, Snowsky Disc
Flip Phones: Motorola Razr Fold 2024, Motorola Razr 2020
Vertical Sliders: Nokia N95
Horizontal Sliders: Nokia N900, Sony Xperia Play, TMobile Sidekick 3, Planet Computers Cosmo Communicator
Unique form factor: HTC Universal, Nokia E90, Palm phone, Blackberry Key2, Neptune Pine, Unihertz Titan Pocket, LG Wing, Motorola V70, Nokia E70, HTC Advantage 7500, Toshiba Portege G910, Samsung Exclaim
PDAs: Sharp Zaurus, Sony UX50, Zipit Z2, HP iPAQ 210, HP Jornada 720, Casio BE300, Psion 5MX, Sony Mylo 2, Nokia N810, MS KinTwo
Unique OS: Amazon Fire Phone (FireOS), ZTE Open C (FirefoxOS), Samsung Z1 (TizenOS), iPhone 12 Mini (iOS), HP Pre 3 (WebOS), Blackberry Passport (BB 10 OS), HP Elite X3 (Win 10), Palm Treo 650 (PalmOS), Sony Xperia XA2 (Sailfish X), FxTec Pro1X (Ubuntu Touch), Essential Phone (LineageOS), BlackBerry Porsche P9981, BlackBerry Torch (BB OS)
Displays: LG C9 OLED TV (main TV), LG 27LQ625S (bedroom TV), Alienware AW2725DF (gaming monitor), LG 29WK600 (ultrawide work monitor), Gaems Sentinel Pro XP (portable monitor), Meta Quest 3 (VR), Viture Pro (video glasses)
Cameras: DJI Osmo Pocket 3, DJI Osmo Action 3, Sony ZV-1, DJI Mini 2
Headphones: Final VR3000 (earphone), Nostalgia Tesseract (IEM), Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX (wireless earbuds), Bowers&Wilkins Pi8 (wireless earbuds), Shure KSE1200 (electrostatic IEMs), Razer Anzu (smart glasses), Dan Clark Noire X (closed back), Beyerdynamic MX330 Pro (gaming), TSMR Halo (IEM), FLC Shirasawa (IEM), FLC Xiao Lingyun (IEM), Sennheiser IE900 (IEM)
Speakers: Aperion Verus 5B (desktop bookshelf), KEF LSX II (bedroom speakers), REL Tzero Mk3 (desktop sub), MartinLogan B10 (living room), MartinLogan Dynamo 400 (living room sub), Klipsch the Three w/ Google Assistant (living room), Ruark Audio R1 mk4 (alarm), Google Nest Hub Max (picture frame/assistant), Fender/Teufel Rockster Go 2 (portable), Neat Acoustics Ministra (living room), MartinLogan 30i (living room)
Misc Audio Electronics: Rotel A12 (desktop), Technics C600 (living room amp / cd player), UA Volt 276 (recording interface), Cayin RU7 (dongle DAC), xDuoo XA-10 (desktop amp)
Microphones: Shure SM58 (dynamic), Audio-Technica AT2020 (condenser), Rode PodMicUSB (USB), DJI Mic 2 (wireless), DJI Mic
Storage: 1x Synology DS420j, 1x Synology DS220+, 1x Synology DS412+, 2x Synology DS416j, 1x Synology DS418j, 2x Synology DS416slim, 1x Synology DS419slim, 3x Patriot Memory USB sticks, 3x Lexar memory USB sticks, 1x Porsche Design LaCIE external HDD, 3x Toshiba Canvio external HDD
Keyboards: Roccat Vulcan 121 (desktop), Corsair K70 Pro (desktop), KeyChron Q1 Pro (work)
Mice: Logitech MX Anywhere 2S (work/travel), Corsair Nightsword (desktop), Razer Deathadder V3 (backup), Logitech G502 X (backup)
Controllers: Nvidia Shield controller (Shield), Nintendo Switch Joycons (Switch), Nintendo Switch Pro Controller (Switch), Sony PS3 Controller x2 (PS3), Sony PS4 controller x2 (PS4), Sony PS5 controller x2 (PS5), Sony PS4 controller (PSTV), Razer Wolverine Ultimate (PC), Hori Fighting Commander (Nvidia Shield, Switch), Hori Arcade Pro Stick (PC, Switch), Hori Split Pad Compact (Switch), 8Bitdo controller (backup)
Guitar Amps: Milkman the Amp + Vox BC108 (main), Fishman Loudbox Micro (acoustic / karaoke), Positive Grid Spark Mini (travel), Vox Mini5 (travel)
Guitars: Fender Stratocaster w/Rumpelstiltskin pickups (secondary electric), Martin OMJM (main acoustic), Duesenberg Alliance Joe Walsh (main electric), Yamaha Revstar Professional w/ TV Jones Zoomtron pickups (secondary electric), Lava ME Air (travel acoustic/electric), Boho Moonshine (travel)
Pedals: Boss TU3W (tuner), MXR Timmy (overdrive), Snouse Blackbox 2 (overdrive), Tubesteader Lightkeeper (Boost/OD), Xotic Compressor (Compressor), Boss RC5 (Looper), Hermida EPH3(delay)
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