Why this site exists
Most technology coverage is a fire hose of "just announced." Considered Gear is the opposite: we live with things for months, track what they cost, and then tell you what we'd actually do.
What we cover, and in what order
Three things, and they build on each other:
- Local AI — Run real AI on a box in your own house — no monthly bill, no company reading your chats. What it costs, what it can do, and what to buy.
- Maker — 3D printers, small electronics, single-board computers, the tools on the bench. The stuff that turns an idea into a thing you can hold.
- Home Automation — Lights, sensors, locks and voice that keep working when the internet does not — because the brains live in your house.
The thread running through all of it: technology you own and control, that keeps working when the internet doesn't, explained so anyone can follow.
How the reviews work
Everything we score was bought with our own money or sent for review (always said so in the piece) and run at home for real. Every product also lives in a database that tracks its price history and normalises its specs — that's what keeps the buying guides current instead of going stale six months after they're published.
Every review says where the thing disappoints and who should buy something else instead. That candor is the point.
Who writes it
Considered Gear is written by Jim Shannon and operated by Simplfico LLC. It grew out of a home lab that got out of hand — machines running local AI models, a workshop, and a house full of sensors that answer to a server in the basement rather than someone else's cloud.
How it pays for itself
Some links are affiliate links — the full disclosure is here. It never changes what gets recommended. Rankings are set from testing and data before any link goes in.