[tinybear1]

- A New Model M keyboard from Unicomp. I was initially skeptical of spending >$100 on a keyboard but those doubts quickly evaporated, typing on this keyboard is true bliss. Every keystroke has excellent auditory and tactical feedback.

- Uniball Jetstream: One of the best pens that I have used, extremely smooth and smudge resistant.

- A Kindle, renting books through Overdrive saves a physical trip to the library and makes reading books so much easier. I also downloaded the kindle app on my phone, which syncs the book position and helps ease the habit of checking social media in my down time.

Personally I find these to be my favorite purchases because they improve what I was already doing each day (typing, writing, and reading). Mundane workflows like essay writing is far more enjoyable when there is a good pen in the drafting stage, and a good keyboard to type on.

[drewzero1]

I've been a fountain pen user for years but in the last few years have found gel pens to be a good compromise for their relative reliability. The Uniball Signo 207/307 gives a clean line without much pressure, on par with some of my favorite fountain pens, plus I've been impressed with the waterproofness of the ink. (My overall favorite has to be the Parker 21, if only they didn't crack so easily!)

I'll have had my Kindle for ten years this fall and I still don't use it as much as I'd hoped or expected, but it's always been extremely handy to read a bunch of books from Project Gutenberg on vacation. My favorite part is definitely the screen, unlike most others I can read on it for hours without getting a headache.

[satyanash]

> Uniball Signo 207/307

The signos are pretty good pens. I especially love the flow as it compares to Fountain, but the stroke width could be a bit less.

[drewzero1]

They seem to be harder to find, but I much prefer the 0.5mm signos over the 0.7mm when I can get them. Anything larger than 0.7 just swallows my small handwriting.

[mellosouls]

I've had a Kindle (the proper one I mean, not the "Kindle" Fire) since early days and its been genuinely life-transforming.

[favadi]

I still use my Kindle paper white from 2013 daily. The battery life is pretty bad now, but otherwise, I'm very happy with it and see no reason to update.

[influx]

FWIW, Amazon will trade in your old Kindle, give you a credit and a discount on a new one: https://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Trade-In/b?ie=UTF8&node=108250...

[tinybear1]

I also have a relatively old kindle(the voyage) replacing the battery is easier than newer models due to the lack of waterproofing. It only took me a few minutes to do, I really recommend it as batteries are cheap and my battery life woes are now gone.

[godfreyantonell]

Unicomp makes some great keyboards. Think I'll splurge and get myself another one.

[jiscariot]

As long as we are talking pens, I'll throw in a recommendation for buying a 12 pack of Skilcraft U.S. Government ballpoint pens and spreading them throughout your home and workspace.

They are designed to US mil spec to write a mile continuously from temps ranging from -40 to 160F, and are manufactured by the blind/non-profits helping the blind.

[tksmith151]

On a related note for pens, we recently tested through a series of numerous thin-tipped gel pens and found that the Pilot Juice Up 0.3 had the smoothest writing and best combination of ink visibility and lack of smearing (due to later water damage).