Guides & field notes

Guides & builds

Practical, honest write-ups: how to run the tools, and real builds from the bench. Every guide links to the gear it uses.

Guides

Guide

Best beginner 3D printer (2026)

The best beginner 3D printer is the one you actually print with instead of tinkering with. Modern machines auto-level, auto-calibrate, and just work — so y

Guide

Best mini PC for a homelab (2026)

You don't need a rack and a power bill to run a homelab. A quiet little mini PC handles Home Assistant, Proxmox, a dozen Docker containers, or a Jellyfin s

Guide

Best smart plugs for Home Assistant, no Wi-Fi or Z-Wave (2026)

If you're asking for smart plugs that aren't Wi-Fi or Z-Wave, you want Zigbee or Thread/Matter — local, no cloud account, and they don't clog your Wi-Fi. H

Guide

Best way to run a local LLM (2026)

Running an AI model on your own machine means no subscription, no rate limits, and no data leaving your network. It's easier than it looks now — here's the

Guide

Best presence sensors for Home Assistant (2026)

Motion sensors turn your lights off while you're still sitting on the couch. Presence sensors don't — they know you're in the room even when you're perfect

Guide

How to dry and store 3D-printing filament (2026)

Half of "my printer is broken" is actually wet filament. Plastic absorbs moisture from the air; when that water hits the hot nozzle it flashes to steam, an

Guide