This has been a crazy year. This is the year I realized that I love being out sometimes, even if I am an introvert! I switched my job and started my new position just a week before India went into complete lockdown. I had also started my Masters at Georgia Tech, and effectively was spending most of my awake time with my laptop. The place of work was my comfy bed. After a few weeks of insane poses, my back nudged me to do something about it! Thus the journey began.
The desk and chair
I needed a place to keep my laptop and distance myself from the bed, hence a table and a chair. I hopped on to Amazon, got my mind blown by the prices, and procrastinated for a week. Then I headed over to a local shop and was pleasantly surprised by the pricing. I got a study desk with multiple drawers and cabinets and a comfy chair all in under INR 15,000 (~$200)! One heck of a bargain.
The monitor
Dell P2419H - 24" Full HD LED Monitor
It is a piece of beauty and functionality. The display is crystal clear, bot for work and entertainment. It comes with an adjustable stand, that allows changing the height and the tilt. This allows me the flexibility to use either one display on top of the other, or side by side. It has an elegant design and the thin bezels almost disappear into the background.
The keyboard
Logitech K375s Multi-Device Keyboard
This crazy keyboard connects with both my windows laptops and my iPad. While it is true I have never used it with the iPad, but I just love this possibility. It can switch between 3 devices and supports Windows, Mac, Android, and obviously Linux. The only drawback that I found is the switch off button is at the back of the keyboard and hence hard to access. I love the key press feedback, but if you are expecting something mechanical, then this one is not it.
The mouse
Logitech B170 Wireless Mouse
It is a very basic wireless mouse. Gets the job done as long as you are on one system, but does not allow multidevice support. I have to manually plug in the receiver to the laptop I want to use. Looking for an upgrade next year.
The iPad Pro
That is just for show on the table! I use it for my studies and when I want to be reminded that it takes more than an iPad and an overpriced apple pencil to create digital art. It's a pretty handy entertainment center and reader when on the move.
My laptops
My personal laptop is a Dell Inspiron, with i7 7th gen, 16GB RAM, 4GB Radeon Graphics, 2TB HDD. My system runs Windows 10 by default, but I have set up Kubuntu dual boot. Having a dedicated Linux setup helps with my college projects. The laptop I got from my office is Lenovo with i7 8th Gen, 32 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD.
Here is me with the imaginary teacup. While the laptops are powered by Intel, I am powered by tea!
Upgrades to look forward to
- Another display
- A gaming/streaming chair (I do neither, but they are comfy)
- A mouse that supports multi-device
- A cute desk plant
If you have any suggestions or recommendations, please do share in the comments below!
Wish you all a very Happy New year! Keep hacking, keep learning.
Originally published at https://ones-zeros.royniladri.dev/my-2020-wfh-setup
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