u/petron5000

I’m about to buy a KitchenAid KF4 through Whirlpool Inside Pass. The member price is $899.99 and the current 15% promo stacks, bringing it to $765 before tax.

My other realistic option is:

• KF4 — $765
• KF7 — $952

There’s also a KF6 for $722, but I’m thinking the KF4 makes more sense for me even at $43 more.

My use case:

• Summer: my normal Starbucks order is 4 shots of espresso over ice with cold milk. No cold foam.
• Winter: mostly cappuccinos.
• My wife: mostly lattes.
• I will never switch beans, so the removable/swappable hopper has basically zero value to me.
• I like the KF4's smaller footprint.

The dedicated iced espresso/coffee settings on the KF4 seem like something I’ll actually use, whereas I’m not sure I’d get much value from the KF7’s extra features.

For anyone who has used the KF4 and KF7: is there a reason I should spend the extra $187 for the KF7, or is the KF4 the obvious choice for my use case?

Anything about drink quality, milk drinks, build quality, cleaning, or day-to-day use that I’m overlooking? Also curious how conveniently the KF4 handles multiple espresso shots over ice.

I’ll be in Taipei solo for 3 nights (Dec 17–20) and am choosing between these three hotels:

• Hotel Proverbs Taipei — $965 total
• Shangri-La Far Eastern — $967 total
• Regent Taipei — $1,051 total

This is my first visit to Taipei. I’m mostly interested in food, wandering around interesting neighborhoods, markets, and generally exploring the city. I’m also planning to spend an afternoon/evening in Beitou for the hot springs.

The prices are close enough that I’m more concerned about location and overall experience than saving $50–100.

For a first-time visitor who likes to get out and explore, which location would you choose?

Proverbs looks like it might have the most interesting neighborhood immediately outside the hotel. Regent seems very central and gets consistently good reviews. Shangri-La looks great but seems a little farther from the areas where I’d spend most of my time.

Am I reading the locations correctly? Any strong preference among the three?

Thanks!

I’m heading to Taipei solo for 3 nights (Dec 17–20) and trying to decide between three Amex FHR options to use my $300. Prices below are total for all 3 nights including taxes/fees:

• Hotel Proverbs Taipei — $965
  • $100 F&B credit
• Shangri-La Far Eastern — $967
  • $100 F&B credit
• Regent Taipei — $1,051
  • $150 spa credit

All include the usual FHR benefits (breakfast, 4pm checkout, potential upgrade, etc.). I am Marriott Titanium.

This will be my first time in Taipei. I’m mostly interested in food, exploring the city, and neighborhoods, and I’m planning to spend an afternoon/evening in Beitou for the hot springs. I’ll be traveling solo, so I care more about location, a great breakfast, service, and overall experience than a romantic/couples vibe.

At essentially the same price, Proverbs vs Shangri-La seems like an interesting boutique-vs-full-service choice. Regent is only ~$85 more for the whole stay and comes with the $150 spa credit, which seems pretty compelling.

For people who know Taipei and/or have stayed at these through FHR: which would you choose at these prices?

I’m trying to decide between Hanoi and Taipei for a short solo trip in December and would love opinions from people who’ve done both.

I’m a 46-year-old American guy traveling alone. I’ll be finishing a work trip in Xiamen and can probably leave either Thursday or Friday, so I’ll have roughly 2–3 nights.

I travel internationally a fair amount, including several trips to Japan and China. I’ve never been to Taiwan. I was in Vietnam about 20 years ago, but haven’t been back since, so Hanoi would essentially feel new again.

What I care about:

• Food is probably #1
• Street food/night markets/local neighborhoods
• Walking around and exploring rather than checking off every attraction
• History and culture
• Massage/spa/hot springs would be a plus
• Somewhere that is interesting and enjoyable solo
• I don't drink, so bars/nightlife don't matter
• Busy, chaotic cities don't bother me

Taipei: Night markets, Taiwanese food, Longshan Temple, maybe the National Palace Museum, and Beitou hot springs all sound great. It also seems incredibly easy to navigate, and I like that I could just wander around eating for a couple of days.

Hanoi: The Old Quarter, street food, coffee culture, history, and general chaos sound even more interesting to me. I visited Vietnam 20 years ago, so I'm also curious to see how much it has changed.

Logistics and cost are close enough that I don't really care about either for purposes of the decision.

So forget efficiency: if you were traveling solo and had only 2–3 nights, which city would you actually rather spend them in — Hanoi or Taipei?

Bonus points for specific food, neighborhoods, markets, hot springs/spas, or other things that make one clearly better for a short solo visit.

I currently have an M4 Mac mini (16GB/256GB) and an 11” iPad M2. I also have a 14” MacBook Pro for work (but I work for a public company so I don’t like doing personal stuff on it), which I generally travel with. I travel 50+ nights a year, including 2x trips to Asia.

I’ve realized I strongly prefer macOS to the iPad for actually doing anything. There are things I want to do personally that are awkward/impossible on the iPad (Office, Hubspot, games like TF2/Transport Fever 2, etc.). If I lost access to my work MBP tomorrow, I’d immediately buy myself a MacBook.

So I’m considering selling both the iPad and Mac mini and replacing them with a 13” M5 MacBook Air, 24GB/512GB. Apple refurb has that configuration for $1,359.

At home I use the Mini 4-5 times a week, but I have a 34” monitor, so the Air would basically live docked 99% of the time and replace the Mini. I’d just unplug it when I actually want a personal laptop.

My Photos library is only ~115GB and is in iCloud with Download Originals enabled. I currently keep it on a 1TB external drive because the Mini only has 256GB, but with the 512GB Air I’d probably move Photos back to the internal SSD and use the external drive for backup/overflow.

I tend to keep Macs 3-5 years.
Am I missing a downside here?

Would you consolidate the Mini + iPad into the 13” Air, or keep the separate desktop/tablet setup?

And is 24GB/512GB the right configuration for that long an ownership period?

I’m a private seller shipping an electric boat motor via UPS Ground within the contiguous U.S.

It has a non-removable 36V, 1085 Wh lithium-ion battery installed. I have the original packaging.

Can I ship this with a regular UPS account, or do I need a hazmat account or special approval?
Can I take it to a UPS Customer Center, and what labels or paperwork are required?

If anyone has done something similar, I’d appreciate any advice. Thanks!

I've finally dialed in serving cold brew from a 2.5-gallon Cornelius keg. I keep it in a kegerator and use CO₂ only to push the coffee (not carbonate it), and I'm really happy with that setup.

Now I'm trying to optimize the brewing process.

Right now I brew in a 5-gallon bucket with a filter bag, then transfer everything into the keg. It works, but it's messy, and the bucket feels oversized for what I'm making.

My goal is simply to end up with 2.5 gallons of finished cold brew in the keg. I'm open to either brewing it at ready-to-drink strength or making about a gallon of concentrate and diluting it with water in the keg if that's an easier or cleaner workflow.

I'm considering:

• A Toddy Commercial
• An 8- or 12-quart Cambro with a filter bag
• Brewing about a gallon of concentrate and diluting it in the keg
• Something else entirely

For those of you kegging cold brew, what setup have you found works best? I'm optimizing for:

• Low mess
• Easy cleanup
• Consistent results
• Efficient workflow

I'd love to hear what you've settled on after trying different methods.

Out of warranty.

They won't power on at all. I've tried three different USB-C chargers and three different USB-C cables with no luck.

Sonos support walked me through troubleshooting and ultimately offered me a 30% discount on a replacement, but no repair option. Can't hard reset because they won't power on.

Has anyone brought a completely dead pair back to life, or are they e-waste at this point?

I think I've reached an awkward spot in my travel bag lineup, and I'm curious how others have solved it.

I own a Synik 30, an Aeronaut 45, and a Tri-Star (which I'm selling).

I also have a Briggs & Riley 22" spinner that I love and an Evernote Triangle that I've owned forever.

Most of my travel these days is 2–3 night work trips from Nashville to LA, Seattle, NYC, Chicago, and Houston where I need to go to customer offices and our corporate offices.

A Briggs & Riley spinner plus a Synik 30 is way more space than I need for a 2–3 night trip.

The Synik 30 by itself is too small because I like to bring one pair of dress shoes and one pair of sneakers.

The Aeronaut 45 feels too big for these trips, and I don't really want to carry it into a customer office.

The Tri-Star was supposed to solve this problem when I bought it seven years ago, but I've don't like the layout. I've realized I much prefer one large main compartment with packing cubes over multiple divided compartments.

My typical loadout is pretty standard: three days of clothes (in cubes), toiletries, a 14" MacBook Pro, an 11" iPad, Sony headphones, chargers, and occasionally a Switch.

On my last trip I traveled with the Aeronaut 45 and the Evernote Triangle. It actually worked reasonably well, but I wound up packing the Triangle inside the A45 while walking through the airport, then pulling it back out on the plane. It worked, but it felt a little awkward.

So now I'm wondering if what I'm really want is a single backpack in the 35–40L range that can handle a 2–3 night work trip, and still feel appropriate to carry into a customer office.

Is the Bixi that answer? Responses seem mixed. I ordered a Bellroy Transit Travel Pro to see if it fills that gap, but before I take the tags off I figured I'd ask here.

For those of you who've been through this evolution, what ended up working? Is there a Tom Bihn bag I'm overlooking, or is this just one of those cases where I need to cheat on TB?

I'm trying to narrow down my next one-bag travel backpack and could use some advice from people who have actually lived with these bags.

My EDC is a Tom Bihn Synik 30. I really like the organization and build quality, but I've found it just isn't quite big enough for my typical 2-3 day business trips. The biggest issue is fitting a second pair of shoes without playing Tetris every time I pack. I have a Briggs + Riley Spinner, but the backpack and Spinner is too much for my 2-3 day trips.

I also have a TB Tri-Star, and I've realized it's just not for me. I don't like the divided compartment layout and much prefer one large main compartment that I can organize with packing cubes and pouches.

Right now I'm leaning toward either the ULA Dragonfly Ultra 36L or the Tortuga Travel Backpack Pro 34L.

My priorities are:

• 2-3 day business travel
• Professional enough for customer meetings
• One-bag carry-on only
• MacBook Pro 14 + iPad
• Packing cubes instead of built-in organization
• Comfortable enough to carry through airports and into hotels
• I don't hike with my travel bag, but I do walk a fair amount

For anyone who has owned or traveled with both, which would you choose and why?

Is there another bag in the 34-36L range that I'm overlooking?

Thank you very much. I think I'll just get off earlier :)

I'm supposed to fly BNA-ORD-HND tomorrow (6/17) in Polaris. Weather advisory in ORD.

Is changing to connect in SFO and get to HND 2 hours earlier a no-brainer? I picked the 787 and longer time in Polaris, but I don't really know what the weather holds...

What would you do?

I’d love to get 8+ hours of sleep!

View Poll

I'm feeling under the weather and would love to trade for either Saturday or Sunday.

2 seats. They are really good.

Row 12 | Row D

LMK!