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One clickbait-y article means they are "infamous?"

Wirecutter seems to like them:
https://thewirecutter.com/revi...

Not a "best" recommendation, but a runner-up nod.

between my bluetooth headphones running out of battery

How much music are you listening to that you drain the batteries and can't take a few minutes to recharge? A pair of airpods charges for 3-5 hours of playback in 15 minutes. I'm sure the competitors are similar if you don't like Apple's offering. Heck you can listen with one in while the other charges if you really bear to stop listening for a few minutes. Plus there are bluetooth receivers if you prefer wired headphones for whatever reason.

and having to own 3 extra dongles

What are you doing that requires three different dongles on a routine basis? Not being snide, just genuinely curious. I have one for a headphone jack that I've used precisely once in the last year and a half and I have a lighting to USB for transferring pictures from my SLR camera that I use now and then. But really most things can be done wireless unless you are being obstinate about the method you connect with.

Found it: https://thewirecutter.com/blog...

I got a Steelcase Leap chair probably 7+ years ago for my home office and I like it very much. Less expensive than the Aeron but just as well made, reasonably adjustable and with mesh ventilation. Also, definitely get a standing desk, especially if you live where winter restricts your going outside After a particularly rough winter, I got one from Geek Desk (adding a nice wood top from Ikea) that has worked great for 4+ years (after one fix they provided pronto). (Wirecutter has other suggestions: http://thewirecutter.com/revie... )

http://thewirecutter.com/revie...

really? I'll never trust any review from that website just because of their SSD article. The samsung evo is a TLC SSD that is infamous for it's low reliability and firmware problems, and it's the last SSD I'd ever recommend. The samsung 830,840,850 PRO however deserves first place. The authors should be fired. Also, most people don't need 512GB or more. I've installed hundreds of SSDs for businesses as well as residential and 95% of them use less than 40GB, so I go with 128GB drives. http://thewirecutter.com/revie...

Since your google seems to still be broken.

http://thewirecutter.com/revie...

That's the CalDigit’s Thunderbolt Station 2, StarTech’s Thunderbolt Laptop Station, Elgato’s Thunderbolt 2 Dock, Kanex’s Thunderbolt 2 Express Dock, StarTech’s Thunderbolt 2 Docking Station, and OWC’s Thunderbolt 2 Dock.

6 by my count.

And these guys reviewed 7: http://www.omnicoreagency.com/...

How have you not heard of VIZIO? They're extremely well reviewed, inexpensive and carried by all the major big box stores.

If you've never heard of VIZIO then I'm guessing you haven't shopped for TVs in about 10 years.

I see people with iPhones and feel pity....That said, the products are really awesome.

I think your pity might be misplaced.

not having a single app running full-screen

Like iOS 9 split screen, you mean?

stylus... bigger sizes..

stylus...bigger sizes...

and make them capable of running Linux (OK, maybe that's asking too much).

Yes, it is. Nobody in their right mind would want this.

I had the same problem. And I ended up buying the one recommended here:
http://thewirecutter.com/revie...
Although I was careful do buy the right one, I suspect that I got a fake or something because when I used it for charging 2 devices recently, it didn't seem to work right. But my phone battery also was on it's last leg so I have just got the battery replaced and might need to test it again with 2 devices. :)

But apparently, some of the car chargers that say they can output more watts,can't always do it and they don't always work with the way the phones communicate with the charger, so you have to look at which phone you have.

gesture typing (tracing the words) made me finally decide there was something better *for mobile*

I find I can "type" almost as fast with the Google keyboard by tracing my finger over letters as I can on a keyboard.

It's actually my preferred form of mobile input.

Now get up to the scale where my fingers can actually fit on a keyboard, physical keyboard wins hands down for speed and accuracy.

Bluetooth keyboards. They're easy enough to find.

If you're doing enough typing on your mobile device that you need to type faster, get an actual keyboard.

I've got a case for my Nexus 7 I paid like $30-$40 at Wal Mart (been a while, can't remember how much). It's got a Bluetooth keyboard in it, which you can sync with pretty much anything. I've actually got it paired with a couple of different things because they'll never be in use at the same time.

If you need a physical keyboard, they're cheap enough that you can solve that problem ... apparently Logitech makes a unit you can get for $30 if you look around.

This is a solved problem, and has been for some number of years. A kickstand case to prop it up, and a Bluetooth keyboard turns any tablet into a "convertible" where you can type at properly.

You could do this long before companies started attaching keyboards to tablets. And you can do it a hell of a lot cheaper.

Headphones are not simple, buy-some-raw-parts-and-wire-them-together objects. It takes a lot of engineering to get good results. Beats is a marketing company, not an engineering company. Companies like Beats put the emphasis on making the brand logo the focus of the design, not the performance or durability of the product.

I think that the Beats marketing people realized that their brand name, specifically, Dr Dre, is widely known to the crowd that shops at Walmart. That crowd doesn't know of quality brands like Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, etc., because those brands aren't sold at Walmart. They've never heard quality headphones so they won't know they're not getting quality if they buy Beats. Therefore, the marketing people figured that Dr Dre could put out a headphone (a very low cost product to produce when you simply buy some off the shelf drivers and slap them into ear cups). Prominently display the logo on the phones in bright colors and you have instant marketing success and profits.

For the last 6 months all the daily deal sites on the web have had Beats phones on sale at steep discounts. They can do that because the things are such low cost to make products they still make a good profit even when they cut the price by 70-80%. Now that Apple has bought Beats, they're officially just another piece of iCrap. I wonder if Apple is going to prepend the phones with that stupid "i"... "iBeats" yeah, sounds about right!

Before you buy another pair of Beats (or iBeats), check out this site for better quality alternatives at the same or lower cost: http://thewirecutter.com/revie...

I would say it is the Epson WF 3540. First of all, it has two sided ADF scan - which is damn useful for getting rid of all those bills by scanning them and also very rare for a printer at this price point. Secondly, you can connect a CISS ink system for bulk printing and refillable ink tanks. You will be able to buy non-OEM refillable ink cartridges anyway, plus the fact that all the different colors have different cartridges means that you want be overpaying for just printing a lot of black and white. It has Android and iPhone apps for the usual wireless printing. It has gotten good reviews for its build quality, particularly its scanner head hinges.

If I am spending my own money, I'd be tempted to just get this one:

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-led-lightbulb-philips-ambientled/

I wonder what the differences are? Maybe the $25 one is assembled in China?

steveha