u/OddOutlandishness602

I got the soundcore a30 special a few weeks ago and have been using them since. They’ve been decent and I’ve enjoyed the smaller frame and more comfortable feel vs my AirPods for music while falling asleep (my main use case along with a bit of noise blocking), but I haven’t really had the experience of forgetting they are there, and often enough I can significantly notice them while side sleeping (move around a lot while sleeping/falling asleep so just a pillow with a cutout doesn’t seem sufficient).

Saw Oslo came out with their new sleepbuds and thought it would be useful to compare and to decide if this product category is worth it for me.

For those of you who have had both, how has the comparison been? How does the v2 compare, especially on the reliability end? I can handle semi reliable connections occasionally especially because I don’t really need them to stay asleep, but have seen all the complaints here, and haven’t run into any issues with the a30s, and have also enjoyed their controls on the earbuds that ozlo lacks. Thanks for your thoughts!

I got the soundcore a30 special a few weeks ago and have been using them since. They’ve been decent and I’ve enjoyed the smaller frame and more comfortable feel vs my AirPods for music while falling asleep (my main use case along with a bit of noise blocking), but I haven’t really had the experience of forgetting they are there, and often enough I can significantly notice them while side sleeping (move around a lot while sleeping/falling asleep so just a pillow with a cutout doesn’t seem sufficient).

Saw Oslo came out with their new sleepbuds and thought it would be useful to compare and to decide if this product category is worth it for me.

For those of you who have had both, how has the comparison been? How does the v2 compare, especially on the reliability end? I can handle semi reliable connections occasionally especially because I don’t really need them to stay asleep, but have seen all the complaints here, and haven’t run into any issues with the a30s, and have also enjoyed their controls on the earbuds that ozlo lacks. Thanks for your thoughts!

I got the soundcore a30s a few weeks ago and have been using them since. They’ve been decent and I’ve enjoyed the smaller frame and more comfortable feel vs my AirPods for music while falling asleep (my main use case along with a bit of noise blocking), but I haven’t really had the experience of forgetting they are there, and often enough I can significantly notice them while side sleeping (move around a lot while sleeping/falling asleep so just a pillow with a cutout doesn’t seem sufficient).

Saw Oslo came out with their new sleepbuds and thought it would be useful to compare and to decide if this product category is worth it for me.

For those of you who have had both, how has the comparison been? How does the v2 compare, especially on the reliability end? I can handle semi reliable connections occasionally especially because I don’t really need them to stay asleep, but have seen all the complaints here, and haven’t run into any issues with the a30s, and have also enjoyed their controls on the earbuds that ozlo lacks. Thanks for your thoughts!

I’m a rising college sophomore looking to replace my Under Armour Hustle 5.0, which is around 29L. It has been a solid, but i wasn’t super intentional with picking it. The laptop sleeve is basically a thin divider, the interior is wearing out, and I don’t like the separate shoe compartment. I’d like something slightly smaller and much better suited to carrying electronics.

Most days I’ll carry:
- 13.6” MacBook Air
- iPad Air in a case
- Water bottle
- One notebook or folder
- Small pouch with chargers and cables

On heavier days I might add another notebook, a book or lab materials, lunch, or a change of clothes. I may occasionally carry a compact keyboard and mouse, but probably not alongside all the other extras.

I’m 5’5”, so I don’t want anything that sits extremely tall or feels huge on me. Most walks (that could be in the rain) are around 10–15 minutes, although 30 minutes is not unusual, so I definitely want at least decent water resistance.

My main priorities are that good rain resistance, proper padding for both devices, comfortable straps, and a moderately structured shape. I want it to hold its shape when lightly packed without being rigid. Around 23–26L seems right. I’d also prefer a couple useful organizer pockets and ideally two bottle pockets, although one is not a dealbreaker.

My current shortlist:
- Aer City Pack Pro 2 24L
- Bellroy Transit Workpack 26L
- Thule Accent 26L
- Able Carry Daily Plus 21L

My preferred budget is around $150, but I could go up to $250 if the difference is genuinely worthwhile.

Has anyone owned or directly compared any of these? I’m especially curious about comfort on a shorter torso, actual rain performance, laptop and tablet protection, and whether the Able Carry feels too limited at 21L. I’ve also seen comments that the Aer can feel boxy and the Bellroy can sit tall, so firsthand thoughts on those would be helpful.

I’m particularly interested in long-term owners: how have the straps, zippers, lining, water resistance and laptop padding held up after a few years?

I’m open to other suggestions too, particularly anything that fits these priorities without being overly outdoorsy or heavy, and a reasonable design for a college student. Thanks!

I’ve gone a little down the backpack rabbit hole and am trying to narrow down a replacement for my Under Armour Hustle 5.0. It’s around 29L and has been a solid college bag, but the laptop sleeve is basically a thin divider, the interior is wearing out, and I don’t use or like the separate shoe compartment.

My normal carry is:
- 13.6” MacBook Air
- iPad Air in a case
- Water bottle
- One notebook or folder
- Small tech pouch with chargers and cables

On heavier days I might add another notebook, a book or lab materials, lunch, or a change of clothes. Occasionally I may bring a keyboard and mouse, but usually with a lighter version of everything else.

I’m 5’5”, so I’m trying to avoid anything that feels overly tall or huge on my back. Most walks (where I might encounter rain) are 10–15 minutes, but 30 minutes isn’t unusual, so I definitely want solid water resistance.

My main priorities are that good rain resistance, strong laptop and tablet protection, comfortable straps, and a moderately structured shape. I’d like it to hold its shape when lightly packed without being rigid. Somewhere around 23–26L seems ideal, although I’m still considering the smaller Able Carry.

My shortlist:
- Aer City Pack Pro 2 24L
- Bellroy Transit Workpack 26L
- Thule Accent 26L
- Able Carry Daily Plus 21L

I’m leaning toward the Aer, but I’ve seen comments that it can feel boxy or heavy for EDC. The Bellroy looks good but may sit tall, the Thule seems practical but I’m unsure about its rain performance, and the Able Carry gets great comfort reviews but might be too tight on heavier days.

Has anyone owned or directly compared a couple of these? I’d especially appreciate thoughts on shorter-torso fit, comfort when partially loaded, actual rain performance, laptop/iPad protection, and any annoyances that only showed up after using the bag for a while.

My preferred budget is around $150, but I could stretch toward $250 if something is meaningfully better and likely to last. I’m also open to another option that fits this use case, as long as it isn’t overly outdoorsy or heavy.

I’m a rising college sophomore looking to replace my Under Armour Hustle 5.0, which is around 29L. It has been a solid, but i wasn’t super intentional with picking it. The laptop sleeve is basically a thin divider, the interior is wearing out, and I don’t like the separate shoe compartment. I’d like something slightly smaller and much better suited to carrying electronics.

Most days I’ll carry:
- 13.6” MacBook Air
- iPad Air in a case
- Water bottle
- One notebook or folder
- Small pouch with chargers and cables

On heavier days I might add another notebook, a book or lab materials, lunch, or a change of clothes. I may occasionally carry a compact keyboard and mouse, but probably not alongside all the other extras.

I’m 5’5”, so I don’t want anything that sits extremely tall or feels huge on me. Most walks (that could be in the rain) are around 10–15 minutes, although 30 minutes is not unusual, so I definitely want at least decent water resistance.

My main priorities are that good rain resistance, proper padding for both devices, comfortable straps, and a moderately structured shape. I want it to hold its shape when lightly packed without being rigid. Around 23–26L seems right. I’d also prefer a couple useful organizer pockets and ideally two bottle pockets, although one is not a dealbreaker.

My current shortlist:
- Aer City Pack Pro 2 24L
- Bellroy Transit Workpack 26L
- Thule Accent 26L
- Able Carry Daily Plus 21L

My preferred budget is around $150, but I could go up to $250 if the difference is genuinely worthwhile.

Has anyone owned or directly compared any of these? I’m especially curious about comfort on a shorter torso, actual rain performance, laptop and tablet protection, and whether the Able Carry feels too limited at 21L. I’ve also seen comments that the Aer can feel boxy and the Bellroy can sit tall, so firsthand thoughts on those would be helpful.

I’m open to other suggestions too, particularly anything that fits these priorities without being overly outdoorsy or heavy, and a reasonable design for a college student. Thanks!

Looking for probably an SSD to use with Time Machine for backups/deletion protection for my iPad Air (256 GB). Thinking of getting 1 TB worth, but am seeing of course all the options have exploded in price. For my purposes, what’s a good place to get one at, and what are some of the most sensible products? I definitely a can wait a little before purchasing, but just don’t know what makes sense in this space.

I’ve been a longtime user of OpenAI’s tools, but recently have been trying to chat with Gemini a bit more to see how the newer models are and get another models perspective. I’ve been using 3.1 pro, and it’s been pretty decent for logical based tasks. The biggest issue I’m running into is 4o level glaze: it feels like every other prompt it’s telling me how accurate my thoughts are, and even its minimal critiques feel embedded in general sycophanty. Any recommendations, system prompts, etc to avoid this behavior?

People with a bone patellar graft, did kneeling without pain naturally come over time or did you have to do anything specific to achieve it, if you even have? If so, what have you found that works?

If you had something added on like LET just choose the base graft you received. Feel free to elaborate in the comments, curious what people were recommended or even told about before surgery.

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Hi! I just took the CORE test over the past couple days, but am a little confused at the resulting FSIQ and am wondering how it’s calculated. It’s a lot higher than many of the individual indexes, only below one of them, and is above all the other composite scores by a bit. As a STEM college student I also wasn’t sure if the more quantitative tests might be less accurate given I’ve done tons of work with numbers in general before, though didn’t really do anything special here. Quite curious, thanks!