Purchase it, find it irresistible: These 15 gadgets make our lives betterDecember 20, 2022

Arts reporter Brad Wheeler

The purchase: A classic guitar that took greater than 30 years to search out, once more

Within the early Nineties, I felt prepared to purchase an actual electrical guitar. (Not that I knew an EmMaj9 chord from {an electrical} twine.) Entering into Toronto’s Ring Music, this thirtysomething child met his sweet store.

What caught my eye most was a streaky-greenish hollow-body mannequin that regarded extra like an artwork venture than a musical instrument. It was Fender Coronado Wildwood from the late Sixties. The wooden, I used to be informed, got here from bushes injected with dye years earlier than they had been harvested. The distinctiveness was interesting: I may barely play, however no one else would have a guitar like mine. The $1,200 value was outdoors my finances, although. Greater than that, I felt I wasn’t prepared for that degree of guitar – it was above my station. I settled for one more guitar and have regretted not shopping for that Coronado Wildwood ever since. Sometimes I’d scour the web in search of one, nevertheless it’s a uncommon animal. Three years in the past, when former Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour offered his at public sale for US$100,000, I gave up the hunt.

An e-mail from a good friend popped into my inbox not way back. He had noticed a 1967 Wildwood on the market for $5,000 on the web site of Folkway Music, in Waterloo, Ont. I known as the shop instantly and purchased the guitar – an impulse buy three a long time within the making. It performs like a dream and appears as incredible as I remembered. Although it’s a luxurious so far as toys go, it’s an actual cut price with regards to wiping out remorse.

P.S. The guitar is at the moment within the store for a minor restore. The luthier mentioned it could take a few weeks. I can wait.

Editor Domini Clark

The purchase: A degree-and-shoot Nikon Coolpix P1000 that shoots the celebrities

For many of my travels, my iPhone 14 does an unimaginable job capturing reminiscences. However for 2 varieties of my favorite images – wildlife and night time sky – I would like extra oomph. I’ve discovered it within the Coolpix P1000, Nikon’s super-telephoto digital digital camera. The zoom is a whopping 3,000 mm. What does that imply in apply? On a latest journey to Antarctica, I captured beads of water on a penguin’s particular person feathers from a number of metres away.

Surprisingly, it’s not a DLSR, however only a point-and-shoot, so there’s no altering lenses, which for me is without doubt one of the finest components. And when you can tinker with settings, you can even merely depart it in auto – or use one of many preset scene modes – and nonetheless produce beautiful photos. (It additionally information 4K video and time lapses in 5 completely different speeds.) A tripod is advisable for astrophotography, however the digital camera’s two-way stabilization system (vertical and horizontal) meant I used to be nice with out one even when taking pictures swooping albatross from a transferring ship.

Lastly, there’s no want to go to far-flung locations to take advantage of the P1000: I count on birders would delight on this regardless of the place they reside. Ditto for yard astronomers.

Government editor Angela Pacienza

The purchase: A no-stress wardrobe makeover from stylist Charly Goss

As summer season turned to fall I spotted the thin denims in my closet weren’t going to chop it as I headed again to the workplace. When the pandemic started, I wholeheartedly traded my work attire for joggers. However after two years of leisure put on, I used to be prepared to decorate up once more. But I felt misplaced as I tried to rejoin the world of vogue. A visit to the mall solely made me really feel much more out of contact and, frankly, outdated. How broad are the pants alleged to be? How quick? Tuck or untuck the shirt? As an alternative of feeling stylish, the brand new dishevelled kinds solely made me really feel like Munsch’s Paper Bag Princess. I felt like a frump.

Enter Charly Goss. Her extremely instructive Instagram account and magnificence guides acquired me again on monitor. Goss has a snarky, tell-it-like-it-is, no apologies tone to her recommendation. “Don’t hate me as a result of skinny denims are out” is the vibe. She goals to assist. And that she does!

Along with her Instagram, she sells vogue guides through her web site, charlygoss.com, to guide us misplaced souls on easy methods to costume for each event and season: “Autumn capsule” and “Cool mother” and “Fall work information” to call a number of.

The guides ($68 every or $78/month for all of the guides) come as downloadable PDFs, which straight hyperlink to (Canadian!) retailers. It was the right map to get me again on monitor. Armed with my private stylist, I felt extra comfy and assured in my decisions. So when Goss got here out with vacation present guides, I jumped. For $38 I had dozens of (once more, Canadian) present concepts for each sort of individual, from the bicycle owner and film buff to teen boy and hockey mother.

Artwork director Ming Wong

The purchase: Trek FX 1, the right entry degree journey to savour life’s each second

The pandemic turned me right into a bicycle owner, and this was the yr I upgraded from counting on bike shares to purchasing my very own two-wheeler. I needed one thing that might do all of it – commutes to the workplace, longer weekend rides out of town – with out spending hundreds. After testing out a number of at native retailers and evaluating specs on-line, I landed on Trek’s FX 1, the entry-level mannequin from their hybrid line. It’s nothing elite – it has a fundamental vary of gears and is available in a modest silver color, however should you’re like me and have solely ridden on these clunky bikes shares, having one thing light-weight that you just by no means should return to a dock is a gamechanger.

Having moved again house to Vancouver after dwelling and choosing up my biking behavior in Toronto, my new bike has given me new life in my outdated metropolis. My telephone is filled with dreamy sundown pics from rides on the False Creek Seawall and the Stanley Park loop, each firsts for me regardless of rising up right here. Perhaps it’s endorphins, perhaps it’s nostalgia for summer season – however scrolling by way of these images jogs my memory how liberating it’s to get out of my condo (and my head) and simply journey.

Actual property reporter Carolyn Eire

The purchase: A sensible and camera-friendly journey backpack that’s excessive on perform

Adventurous photographers want a strategy to easily transport gear to allow them to concentrate on capturing photos.

Peak Design founder Peter Dering found that tenet when he lugged a pleasant digital camera on a visit world wide. On his return, he launched a Kickstarter marketing campaign, which led to some extremely properly thought out options for carrying cameras, video gear and drones. After researching baggage for an Arctic expedition, I went with a black Peak Design Journey Backpack within the 30L dimension for $299.95. The medium digital camera dice insert for $89.95 comes with modern origami-style dividers for seemingly countless permutations.

The sweetness is within the versatility: Take away the digital camera dice and the ultralight bag is a squishable, expandable backpack for journey or on a regular basis use. The creatives who designed the bag added a padded compartment for a laptop computer or pill, and entry to necessities like sun shades, passport and water bottle. There are additionally considerate particulars corresponding to magnetic closures, theft-deterrent pulls and clips that maintain the dice snugly in place. The backpack straps slide away to create a smooth bundle. The construct high quality is superb, with burly zippers and a weather-resistant shell. Plus, the bag is truthful commerce licensed, carbon impartial and assured for all times.

Function author Ian Brown

The purchase: A KitchenAid stand mixer that has made candy pavlova and reminiscences

Probably the greatest presents I ever obtained was a KitchenAid stand mixer from, surprisingly, my mother-in-law. I rely the Christmas Joanne gave it to us, a long time in the past now, because the date of the primary thawing of our mother-in-law/son-in-law ice jam, the purpose at which she started to consider I wasn’t intending to interrupt her daughter’s coronary heart. You don’t give somebody a 22-pound, 325-watt, $245 (again then) stand mixer except you work they’ll stick round.

It’s a fantastic object. It all the time appears at house, it doesn’t matter what model of kitchen we’ve got had: vintage (or not less than form of artwork deco) in a contemporary kitchen and sleekly up to date in a countrified one. Its stout thickness declares its multifunctional competence: After I began utilizing the KitchenAid I used to be by no means once more daunted by an advanced process. I knew the mixer would a) make the recipe simpler and b) make it take much less time – impatience being the scourge of fine cooking particularly and humanity typically. By now, in any case these years, it’s not a lot a mixer as a form of inanimate coach, urging me to attempt all of the issues I may need been afraid of.

The mixers are available a soothing vary of colors (ours is all-purpose white); it’s quiet and simple to scrub. Better of all, it’s totally dependable, and all the time, all the time, all the time works. There are not any odd-shaped batteries to dislodge and discover and change, no LED lights to mislead you: The mixer is both on or off. There is no such thing as a in-between with this child (although it does include a balloon whisk, a paddle and a dough hook. I added a meat-grinding attachment, which I just lately used to make meatballs). Our mixer has solely 5 speeds. 5, it seems, is all you want: The scary blender-level “liquefy” will not be an possibility. The primary time I ever used it, I made meringue, which turned a pavlova with lemon curd and raspberries and mint, which in flip turned my daughter’s favorite dessert. It stays so to at the present time. What higher present may you ask for?

Editor Adrian Lee

The purchase: EQ3 Marcel Raise mattress, a milestone buy made for adult-ing

For practically 15 years, throughout a number of properties, I slept on the identical plywood mattress body from IKEA – not out of any actual devotion, I informed myself, however as a result of I didn’t need to should spend cash upgrading it. These beds are most likely not meant to final that lengthy, although, and about six years in the past, the slats supporting the mattress began shifting off the body, in order that once I rolled to my left (and typically simply randomly), the mattress would turn out to be a sinkhole in the course of the night time. Nonetheless, I insisted all by way of my 20s and into my early 30s that it remained serviceable sufficient. To my nice disgrace, I stored insisting this even after my now-fiancéee moved in, and she or he made an unlimited ask of me: please can we get a not-broken mattress? However it was solely collapsing on my aspect, I mentioned, and I had a way for contorting myself into mattress just-so to keep away from slat-slipping – so we’re good, proper?

However I’m getting married subsequent yr; it’s time to put away one’s infantile issues. So this summer season, we purchased the EQ3 Marcel Raise mattress, which has critical storage beneath (essential in our tiny apartment), features a solid-feeling lift-up mechanism, and is fabricated from sturdier composite wooden – and naturally, I sprung for the deluxe bolstered slats. What a luxurious, it seems, to sleep on a mattress that gained’t sink within the night time – and now, I can cling to this one previous its expiry date, too!

Editor Caora McKenna

The purchase: A Tiger non-stick rice cooker as a result of rice deserves to be greater than meh

In my home rising up, rice was made within the microwave. It was mediocre. In maturity, mediocrity adopted me till just lately. My miracle of a rice cooker got here into my life once I was struggling to make wholesome meals. It makes gentle, fluffy, completely crispy-on-the-bottom rice each time. I eyeball the water to rice ratio, get distracted and depart it for hours – the rice remains to be good. Plus, there’s a tray for steaming. I’ve steamed every part: candy potatoes, carrots, kale, even pot stickers. With some butter and soy sauce, my wholesome one-pot dinner is prepared in lower than half-hour.

Reporter Carrie Tait

The purchase: A Dyson hairdryer, and the value is price it when your hair stresses you out

5 hundred {dollars} is a silly amount of cash for a hair dryer. Who – WHO?! – would spend 5 hundred freaking {dollars} on a hair dryer?

I’ve lengthy, thick hair – a burden, I swear. It takes eternally to dry. Then I purchased the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer. It ninja chopped my drying time, makes my hair all shiny and gentle, and the styling lasts for days. Contact it – contact my hair. See how gentle and easy it’s? That’s the Dyson hair dryer. Need salon blowouts at house? Get the Dyson hair dryer. Flyaways? Dyson has an attachment for that. Curly hair? YouTube tells me the Dyson diffuser is superb. And the factor is so light-weight and its matte end looks like a mixture of velvet and silk. Right here, maintain it. See? Superb, isn’t it!

It stays silly costly. I’m a bit embarrassed to confess my hair dryer prices about as a lot as a set of winter tires. However I’m a Dyson evangelical now. If you happen to can afford it, purchase it. It’s going to change your life.

Reporter Patrick White

The purchase: A bass guitar that added a heartbeat to darkish days

Throughout the darkness of one other COVID winter, a neighbourhood good friend informed me he was in a dad-band that wanted a bassist. “I play bass,” I lied. I hadn’t touched a bass because the late Twentieth-century, once I’d botched The Lion Sleeps Tonight whereas accompanying our high-school choir, my first and final efficiency. I withheld that info. The pandemic made me unhappy, and common dad-band jams in an unheated storage appeared like a potential antidote. However it raised an issue: I didn’t personal a bass.

I hurried to the closest guitar store, Lil’ Demon, and purchased the Mannequin-T of bass guitars, a fundamental, all-black $225 Squier P-Bass. Greater than the rest I’ve blown cash on this yr, it has slain the gloom of contemporary instances. Regardless of -20 C temperatures and my janky method, that easy Squier stayed in tune as we jammed, laughed and shivered in that little storage, changing into tighter as a band and nearer as pals. By fall we had been taking part in laneway events and even curriculum night time at our children’ faculty. When my clanky quarter-notes are barely maintaining with the beat, my worries disappear. I may improve the Squier, however why mess with such good medication?

Columnist Marsha Lederman

The purchase: AirPods as a result of it’s by no means too late to lastly perceive what all of the fuss is about

For years, I resisted. Why drop oodles of money on AirPods when my (a number of pairs of) wired earbuds work completely properly?

They may change your life, a good friend suggested, as I texted her from the electronics retailer, with a present card burning a gap in my pocket.

I’m a sucker for a life-changer. The gradual cooker, the air fryer – these are going to vary our lives, I declare, justifying the acquisition as I slap down my debit card. Whereas every has been useful, none can actually declare that life-altering descriptor.

However these AirPods? Life-changing. Really.

These wi-fi wonders make listening far much less cumbersome and finally extra pleasant. So I’m not simply listening extra, I’m doing extra: strolling, cleansing, organizing, gardening. Once I’m tuned into one thing just like the podcast SmartLess or Matthew Perry’s Pals, Lovers and the Massive Horrible Factor audiobook, the time I spend tackling chores goes by rapidly, and I’ve incentive to maintain going. So extra laundry will get folded, extra dishes washed, extra steps logged onto my Fitbit.

Certain I may hear at house on a speaker, however there’s one thing concerning the headphone expertise that makes the content material extra highly effective. I like having Jason Bateman crack jokes straight into my ear.

The AirPods are extra motivation than the rest I’ve tried with regards to home tasks or getting my steps in. One thing to think about as we head into the New 12 months’s decision zone.

Editor Sarah Efron

The purchase: A stand-alone hammock that simply wants a breeze and your free time

After years of hammock envy, I lastly discovered an answer. My small metropolis yard doesn’t have the ample house – or the sturdy bushes – required for a standard hammock setup. Vivere, a Guelph, Ont.-based firm, sells hammocks with compact stands which can be easy and fast to arrange – no instruments or bushes required. The stand could be simply taken down should you want house for different actions and within the winter, you’ll be able to retailer the components in its carrying case. The end result: yard bliss. I now have a particular spot to learn and snooze and take in the solar’s rays – it’s like being on trip at house. (P.S. It’s also possible to store for them at rona.ca and lowes.ca).

Columnist Cathal Kelly

The purchase: A dough scraper. For $10 or much less, you’ll really feel smarter within the kitchen

You realize that factor in cooking exhibits the place the chef turns the sting of a blade and scoops a diced onion neatly right into a pan? Yeah, you’ll be able to’t try this. Diana Henry can. However not you. What you do is drop a thousand onion bits onto the ground. You’ll be reunited with them years from now while you get round to cleansing beneath the oven.

What you want is a dough scraper. Plastic miracles that assist you to transfer elements round a kitchen with out crop-dusting the linoleum. Three for 10 bucks, and a boon for the averagely hand-eye coordinated.

Reporter Dave McGinn

The purchase: LuggageHero, an app that allows you to lighten your load when you’re on the highway

If you happen to’ve ever been caught dragging your baggage round – maybe you’ve landed at your vacation spot however can’t test in to your Airbnb for a number of hours – know that there’s a strategy to unburden your self. LuggageHero is an app that connects vacationers to licensed places – retailers, motels, and so forth. – the place they’ll retailer their baggage from an hour as much as a number of days, with costs starting from US$0.95 an hour to US$6.05 a day. The service presents greater than 800 storage places in 125 cities world wide, so chances are high you could find someplace to place your suitcase away safely and begin having fun with your journey sans baggage.

Editor Rajeshni Naidu-Ghelani

The purchase: A Tesla. For this working mother of three, it’s made pick-ups, drop-offs and every part in between simpler

I can’t say I’ve ever actually been into automobiles.

That modified this yr. We purchased a Telsa Mannequin Y. Now I can’t think about wanting to purchase a fuel-driven automobile once more. It wasn’t an apparent alternative due to the upfront value. And, one triggered by a collection of occasions together with having a 3rd youngster and needing a automobile backseat large enough to carry a automobile seat, booster and comfortably match the oldest youngster.

We additionally drive rather a lot.

The most important profit, in fact, is the cash we’ve saved on fuel. I’ve began driving downtown twice every week to work and it’s a one-hour commute throughout rush hour. It prices me simply greater than $100 a month to cost my automobile at house, the identical quantity I spent filling premium fuel in my SUV per week earlier than inflation spiked.

Different perks: As an electrical automobile driver, I’m allowed to drive alone within the carpool lane. That’s reduce down how lengthy I spend on the highway and the time it takes to select up three youngsters from two colleges after work. Security options and alerts like self-driving are invaluable for a drained mother of a toddler, who refuses to sleep by way of the night time. Earlier than self-driving, I used to have to go away the youngsters in the home alone whereas I moved the automobile out of the storage, as a result of it’s parked in opposition to a wall and doesn’t enable me to buckle the youngest into his automobile seat. Due to the Tesla, I can again the automobile out onto the driveway from my telephone whereas ready with my youngsters on the porch after which buckle them in.

For sure, I speak about my automobile on a regular basis now.

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