Sam Reyes

I am a civil engineer who writes code on the side, and I have been taking things apart to see how they work since I was a kid. I still want to make my own video game one day.

I buy gadgets for one reason: to find out whether they actually make life easier. I use a drone at work to capture images on site, and at home everything runs through a PC, a Switch and a TV that needed a Chromecast because it was never smart to begin with.

My rule is the three C's: capable, cheap and cool-looking. Looks count, but only after the other two. If something costs more, it needs a reason, and the logo on the box is not one. I once bought a well-known phone for its headphone jack and it gave up after a year of drops. The one that replaced it comes from a brand most people have never heard of, and it is still going.

I buy once and keep things for years. My home theater is past eight and still working, after I repaired it myself. If I get something wrong here, I will fix it and say so at the bottom of the piece.