I've been using Google Reader for the last couple of years to read Hacker News. Reader was a good option in the early days, but today the amount of daily submits makes this "mission" intractable, and the signal to noise ratio makes it less enjoyable.<p>With so many options to choose from (https://spreadsheets1.google.com/ccc?key=tCo5BIN61ciUkDjS2aLqjOA&authkey=CIeUndcL&hl=en&authkey=CIeUndcL#gid=0), what do you use? I may be tempted to create yet another application if someone can point to a good feature missing in the existing set of solutions.
I spend 80% of my time on HN perusing the front page, usually checking comments before the actual articles, and 20% of the time checking the 'new' page.
I read it several different ways.<p>Pressed for time, I use google reader and flip through the backlog rather fast. When not way behind, I check each one, again through google reader, and manage on weekends to often clear the queue.<p>I also check the postings and comments of several of my favorites to see if they have spotted anything interesting that i have missed. I do this when my time is even more limited.<p>If I am able to drain the queue, I check "ask" or "comments".<p>And of course check "threads" to see if there are any replies to my comments.<p>I seldom visit the home page. It seems that whenever I do, I have already seen at least the title.<p>It might be a bad sign that I have such a thorough multi-pronged approach.
I've been using Google Reader since it was first available.<p>I don't know how or why, but over the past 6 months I've actually converted from Google Reader to a combination of HN+Twitter.<p>I think the content is just more relevant and curated this way.
I gave up on on keeping track of the homepage -- there are just too many submissions nowadays.<p>Usually I randomly load the front page a few times a day, and read a story if I find something interesting. If I have some time I take a look at ask, threads and perhaps new. No doubt I'm missing a lot of the interesting stories due to the increasing traffic. Sad, but whatever. I learnt a lot from stories on HN, but during my most productive periods I did not read HN at all.
I go to "threads"* first. I check to see if someone has replied to me since I was last here and if it needs a reply (or at least an upvote). Then I typically hit "comments" next. A good comment is very often what draws me to the discussion page for an article. After that, I check out what's "new". If it's a big yawn, I will check either "ask" or the homepage. Actually, I have been known to scroll down to "lists" and check "most active" before I bother to go to the homepage. I really spend relatively little time on the homepage.<p>* For some bizarre reason, my bookmark has defaulted to <i>someone else's</i> threads page, so I actually start there. Sometimes I read their comments before going to my own threads page, sometimes I don't.