

Ask HN: What is your workstation setup? - jnar

Hi all, i'm a grad student finally moving into his first real apartment. Since now, my workstation setup was: my laptop. As a result, for the first time since years i will have a proper desk. So, i'm in the exciting moment when you have to organize your own workstation. More importantly, i have a budget!<p>Assuming:
- money isn't an issue (i see this as a long term investment as a high quality working environment will pay back over time) 
- that i plan to keep my old-but-still-awesome laptop
- i hate computers. I love what you can craft with them, but i hate the piece of hardware stealing desk surface. I want to keep as much as possible the desk free so that i can freely write and read on it.<p>So far, this is the set-up i came up with:
- Laptop stand: BookArc
- External Monitor: Dell UltraSharp U2410
- External Keyboard and mouse: Apple stuff.
- Chair: no idea yet. I was thinking an ergonomic chair would be an investment for my back.
- Desk: no idea, i couldn't find any real desk i liked<p>Which piece of forniture and gadget do you suggest to buy? How is your workstation organized? Is there any life-changing purchase you've done recently?<p>PS: I'm a developer and i will work lot of time from home.
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ishbits
Just some suggestions.

Big desk. Something like an Ikea Galant corner unit with extension. I have one
at home, I've been startup that cluster these desks. Better than your usual
Ikea setup.

A good chair. Herman Miller, Steelcase.. Spend $800+. My steelcase cost me
about $900 6 years ago, and it still looks and functions like the day I bought
it.

Consider 1 large monitor vs multiple monitors. Jeff Atwood got me on the
triple monitor things years ago, but am now seriously considering scaling back
to a single 27 or 30". I few friends have gone for duals to a single large and
are better off. Gives you a cleaner looking desk as well.

I'm a remote worker and appreciate having a real desk IP phone, with a quality
call center type headset. Something like Jabra. I'm clearer on conference
calls than the people in head office (or so the other remote workers tell me).

Good headphones if working in an office environment. I wouldn't get something
that shields out too much office nows. But I get spooked easily :) So I'd
suggest an "open" style headphone. Checkout gradolabs.com.

I've stuck with wired keyboard (kinesis advantage - I have RSI issues) and
wired trackball. Back in about 2000 I had the batteries die on a wireless
keyboard and had no spares nearby. That sucked.

About the only other thing I have on my desk is a Fujitsu ScanScap (the
S300M). Invaluable device if you want to convert all your paper stuff to
digital as it arrives.

~~~
thisisdallas
Do you have any suggestions on a real desk IP phone?

~~~
ishbits
Polycom and Aastra from my experience. Well built and great speaker phones.

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neya
In my opinion, the first thing you should consider investing in is........a
good pair of headphones (surprise!). This is assuming you do listen to music
while you work (which I do all the time) and it was 'life-changing' for me :)

With that being said, my suggestions would be:

1) Sony MDR-V6 - costs <$100 (Beware of fakes, buy from a trusted place like
Amazon or somewhere)

2) JBL Tempo Headphones (~$50) (For bass lovers)

3) Pioneer SE-A1000 (Elite sound quality, Open type, so others might be able
to hear what you're listening)

4) Pioneer SE-MJ591 (Top of the line SQ you will find only with $1000+
headphones). Price approx:$199-$300

Cheers :)

~~~
jnar
I didn't even consider headphones! The funny thing is... i do listen to music
all the time as well! It's just that i'm so used to my cheap in-ear earphones
that i didn't think about that. Thanks for suggesting, i'll probably get a JBL
Tempo Headphones as i'm a bass lover ;)

~~~
neya
Great! Pl. Keep us posted :)

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aliukani
At the moment:

1\. Large Monitor -- I wish I had seen this article before I bought the one I
have: [http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/07/the-ips-lcd-
revolut...](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/07/the-ips-lcd-
revolution.html)

2\. Grado sr80i headphones

3\. Laptop

4\. Kitchen chair

5\. IKEA desk

I'm probably going to add a better chair and mechanical keyboard to the mix.

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thisisdallas
Right now this is my set up:

27" Cinema Display

2010 MacBook Pro

5' writing desk

Apple wireless keyboard

MX518 wired mouse

I am trying to sell my MacBook Pro so I can build a new pc but even after do
that only the MBP/PC will change.

My suggestion is to go ahead and buy a nice ergonomic chair if you have the
money.

