Stuff I use
I have always been fascinated by the section on people's personal websites that list out what hardware and software they use. The most beautifully designed and detailed personal website has to belong to Paul Stamatiou, and I have spent more time than I can care to admit on UseThis, or on websites like The Sweet Setup.
Computing Hardware
- Monitor: Dell Ultrasharp 32 4K. While Dell isn't the most exciting company out there, I've found their Ultrasharp-series monitors to be excellent value for money. They're colour-calibrated, look good from a variety of angles and usually have plenty of connectivity options. One thing I particularly like is that they have the ability to easily switch between multiple inputs, so I can use share a single monitor connected to both my work laptop and my gaming computer.
- Monitor Arm: Humanscale M 8.1. I've never liked the default stands that monitors come with, so a few years ago, I splurged a bit on a nice monitor arm - and it's been great. It allows a huge amount of mobility, both vertical and horizontal.
- Mouse: MX Master. The MX Master was a bit of a revelation. It's a large mouse and it's an unusal shape. It's also chonkier than I expected to be comfortable using, but after a few days of using it, it feels great. In theory the programmable buttons offer a lot; in practice, I haven't really used them. What I do use a lot though is the ability to switch between multiple devices. An easy-to-access button on the base allows me to switch between using it on my laptop, gaming computer and iPad easily and quickly.
- Keyboard: Keychron K8. It's been nearly a decade of using a mechanical keyboard, and now I can't live without them. For the longest time, I used a Filco - specifically the Ninja Tenkeyless. I loved that keyboard - it's built like a tank and feels great. The only reason I started looking around for a new one is because I wanted to have a desk free of wires, so I started hunting around for a wireless mechanical keyboard. There weren't a lot of options available, and Keychron kept coming up. After a disasterous week where I tried out their K3 (and hated how flimsy it was), I've settled on the Keychron K8 and quite like it. Keychron has also opened a store in Bangalore, which is great, since you can try their keyboards out. The K8 has been my daily driver for the last couple of years, and it's a good, relatively inexpensive workhorse - so much so that they've become the standard mechanical keyboard at work.
- Work Computer: 2022 M2 Macbook Air. While the M-series processors are now old news, when they were first launched and I used one, it was night and day versus the Intel chips they replaced. Any M-series machine can do everything I throw at it, and has great battery life to boot. John Gruber calls it the "ideal everyperson computer" and I agree with him wholeheartedly about that.
- Audio: Airpods Pro and Klipsch THX 2.1, Audio: HyperX Cloud - closed back headphones + mic for gaming
Desk and Chair
- Desk: Haworth HAT Elements. With standing desks I've found that cheaper brands end up having a lot of "wobble" when desks are in their standing position. I've bought a number of them over the years, and so far, Haworth offers the best price/performance ratio.
- Chair: Haworth Aloha Easy. Is it great? Not really. Do I have complaints? No. Do I want to get a Steelcase Leap or Gesture? Yes.
Gaming Computer
#ToDo