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Ask HN: What is your workspace/hardware setup?

11 points by bgar ↗ HN
Similar to a recent Ask HN about software tools you use [1], but I'm interested in hearing what your physical setups are like. Desks/chairs, monitors, peripherals, computers, etc.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6153721

19 comments

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cdvonstinkpot
I have an old spartan desk/chair from the 1960's with a 20" LCD monitor, keyboard, mouse, table lamp, speakers, BlackBerry & coffee that fit on it, but that's about it. The desk set is all wood, & was a gift to graduate students from Syracuse University in the 60's to my late father, who I inherited it from.

Then I have 2x 2 drawer high file cabinets next to each other to my right which makes a small table where I have my small form factor PC, with a laptop on top of it on one. On the other is a wire inbox for paperwork, & 2x external hard drives for backups.

I use the PC for an rdp terminal to rdp into the laptop where I do all my real work, so I can take it with me on the train/plane if I travel & nothing's unavailable on the PC.

Then next to the file cabinets at a 90 degree angle against the wall is a small table with the IP phone, printer/scanner, router, modem, on top & a shredder / trash / power strips below it. It's got 2 drawers to hold things like tape, label maker, printer ink, etc.

schappim
1x Herman Miller Aeron. I couldn't recommend this enough.(I have another one I take from job to job)

1x MBP Retina

2x 27" Apple Displays

1x Wired Keyboard (for number pad)

1x Magic Mouse (great for work, terrible for play)

2x Ikea Gallant Desks (white finish)

thomasmeeks
At Home (Work is same, just aesthetically different)

  Black ikea desk, finely tuned height, otherwise plain
  Steelcase think chair 
  Two 21.5" Dell Monitors, 1920x1080 IPS panels, usually in vertical position
  Kinesis Advantage Keyboard
  Logitech M570 Trackball
  Alienware M14xR2 running Arch Linux
Oculus
Can I ask why Alienware? I always thought they were super overpriced.
phaus
At a much lower cost than an Apple system (which seems to be the standard for many developers) you can get significantly more power, along with a couple of drawbacks that may not matter depending on your situation.

The base model 17" laptop at 1499 includes a Haswell i7, a GTX765M, 8GB of ram, a 750GB HD, and a 1600x900 screen.

For 1399, you can get the 14" with a Haswell i7, a 1080p screen, 16GB Ram (Not sure if you can install 32 in this machine) and an Nvidia 750M (which will be the $2k+ Haswell rMBP's dGPU if it even has one.)

The RAM and HDD can easily be upgraded with 32GB and an SSD.

If the ultimate goal is as much power as possible, even this base model (Without any self-upgrades) is significantly better than a Maxed-out rMBP. In fact, it's significantly better than the next rMBP is going to be as well.

If you step it up to the next level, you get a 17" laptop with a 1080P screen, 16GB RAM, and one of the fastest mobile GPUs available, the GTX770M. It's $1900, but it's important to note that the GPU itself probably costs 500-600 dollars or more, and the i7, over 300.

If you throw in another 16GB Ram ($80) and an SSD ($160 for 240GB), you have a machine that makes the rMBP an embarassment at a much lower price $2140 VS $2799.

Please note that I'm speaking purely in terms of power. There are many other reasons that one might choose the rMBP. For example, I own an Alienware m17x r3 and now that I all of a sudden find myself traveling frequently, I wish I had a MBP instead. The Alienware weighs 10 lbs and it gets about an hour of battery life unless I disable the dGPU. It's also ugly, and it doesn't have a retina quality screen. Yet, if you don't stray to far from a power source, but still want the ability to move from room to room with your system, the Alienware is a great option.

thomasmeeks
Sure thing!

1. Two hard drives (msata & normal laptop drive). It has been handy to get ssd speed and a good size place to store larger files.

2. Two usable video outs. This is surprisingly hard to find in the PC arena. If linux supported optimus properly I'd have three usable video outs. One day!

3. (The big one) The M14xR2 (2012 model) has an aluminum cage inside the laptop. It is very, very sturdy. Coming from an Apple that was one of my big requirements for a pc -- I didn't care about weight & size, but I wanted zero case flex if I lift it by a corner. Alienware does that, a lot of other PC laptops do not. Also has a huge & sturdy dc input. I haven't checked to see if the new model has the same cage, so I'm being specific about what I have.

4. Great keyboard for a laptop.

5. I really like the look of the laptop. I know it is gaudy, but I was getting tired of sleek aluminum.

6. Easy to get into. If I want to change the hard drives in the future, replace the battery, etc. it is all extremely easy to do.

In the PC arena I could have gotten the same specs for a lower price, but on a less durable laptop. MSI, for example, was also in the running, but reviews mentioned a lot of case flex. I'd like this one to last a couple more years, and I believe case flex has a lot to do with sudden laptop death syndrome.

hashtree
Steelcase leap chair, corner desk with about 20 feet of organizational desk wrapping around room, a few bookshelves of books, reference level cans, topped out Mac Mini with two 27 inch thunderbolt displays, topped out MacBook Air for going portable, and a 42u rack of servers for processing for those times when a guy needs several hundred gigs of ram/ECUs worth of proc power.

A Mac Mini and MacBook Air combo gives you MBP specs on the mini with more portability via the Air for less than a higher end MBP. Also, get a good rep on your Amazon seller account and you can have the latest and greatest for a few hundred per refresh. Apple gear one generation behind holds value well.

balac
What modal mac mini are you using? I have a 2012 i7 one with the HD4000 graphics card, I also use a 27 inch monitor and find it to be a little laggy. Are you using a SSD?
hashtree
Late 2012 with 2.6GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and Intel 4000 with 768 RAM. I don't experience any lag on 2d. I never use 3d.
balac
Thanks. I've got the same processor but the default 4GB RAM and 1TB 5400 drive. I think I may need to upgrade them...
arh68
> and a 42u rack of servers for processing for those times when a guy needs several hundred gigs of ram/ECUs worth of proc power

What on earth? Where do you stick that thing, in the garage?

bdcravens
MBP Retina 15" maxed out, sits on mStand

27" Thunderbolt monitor

Bose QC 15 headphones

Magic Mouse, wired Apple keyboard

cheap WalMart office chair - was given as a gift when I was coming back from being down and out, so it's sentimental, but needs replacing

2 4'X5' whiteboards

4 drawer file cabinet

large old desk that my wife got for $25 when she was working at JC Penney (they were getting rid of it) - not fancy, but about 6'x6' L shape with about 3' deep of desktop space in each direction

pushkargaikwad
Well I work from home (a single room) so nothing fancy like others but this is how it looks http://i.imgur.com/Aop0Xit.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/rCQdzfe.jpg. Couple of tables and a chair. for some reason, I like to keep things simple and seems comfortable working on a single laptop and doing all work from it. The third table I uses for reading books.

The laptops I uses are Sony vaio and Dell XPS which I bought in 2009, still going strong but I think I should retire it now and invest on better hardware.

keefe
toshiba laptop, big ass samsung monitor, logitech wave mouse and keyboard... I need a new chair, monitor swingarm, headphones but really what matters is the mouse and keyboard, I really love this keyboard it's the first keyboard since my old clacker that I really "clicked" with
digipaper
6 Year old Dell laptop running Windows 8/Ubuntu.

I was looking into a Macbook Pro but can't afford it.

cruisemaniac
Work issued Dell laptop. Dont have one of my own.

A simple wall mounted desk and a chair.

For the little bit of freelancing that I'm starting to do, and the paltry pennies I make from content writing, yeah, this works!

I dont have a machine of my own and hope that pretty soon, someone will ask me to write a lot and let me earn enough to buy myself a macbook air.

csixty4
When I'm not out at a coffee shop or working from the waterfront, my setup consists of:

Ikea Linnmon/Alex[1] desk setup

30" high drafting stool

Monoprice monitor arm[2]

11" MacBook Air i5

27" IPS display[3]

USB hub to "dock" the Air with a USB sound card & two hard drives (one for Time Machine)

Magic Trackpad & generic Apple BT keyboard clone I don't mind beating the crap out of when I type.

Crappy Altec Lansing desktop speakers

iPad for podcasts & testing

Two cat beds for my "co-workers"

[1]: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S09932691/

[2]: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id...

[3]: http://www.microcenter.com/product/384780/EQ276W_27-Inch_IPS...

ereckers
This is how the cheap guys do it:

Dell Vostro 3750 (Laptop) + Samsung SyncMaster P2770

Dell Dimension E510 (Desktop) + Dell 22" Monitor

Tie the 2 computers together w/ Mouse Without Borders for 3 Monitor Setup

Logitech Wireless Mouse

Logitech Keyboard

Sony MDR-V6 Studio Headphones

Seagate 4TB External Drive

Seagate 1TB External Drive

Ikea Office Table (like a Galant w/ wood top)

ITALMODERN Bradley High Back Bungie Office Chair (highly recommended)

Old Table found on the street to my left