My Workspace

I love watching youtube videos about people's workspaces, or photo's even. And last night I was thinking how much I love my setup. So why not show it off. So that's what I'm doing, I made a really crappy photo, you can't even see any of my inspirational material or creative stuff, just the desk, but that's for some other time. Full description after the break.

The desk

Allright, first off, I know the desk is an ugly monster, but I got it for free. It used to be the desk of a banker, it was a huge pain to put back together and an even bigger pain to get it to the second floor of my apartment. I'm planning on painting it, but thats so much work...

The Imac

After 4 years of very tough love, my MacBook Pro died on me. Repairs would have cost me as much as buying a new one, so that's what I was planning to do. I didn't really need a mobile computer anymore so I could spend a lot more on a desktop. This is what I went for:

• Imac 27"
• 2.93 Ghz Intel Quad Core i7
• 8 Gigs of RAM
• ATI Radeon HD 5750 1TB
• 1TB HDD

And I must say man, this thing is the best computer I've ever used or even seen. It does everything I dream of in a computer. I'm a graphic designer, so usinng Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Flash, 3DSM, After Effects ... all at the same time is not a rarity. Plus I like playing movies all the time. Then when it comes to gaming, which I don't do as much as I used to, but it has not a single problem with anny of the games I've played so far. I can play them in OSX, I can play them in Bootcamp or I can play them in a VM. I can even use it as a laptop, no kidding, not in a portable way, but i've set it op for Remote control, which means I can use my Iphone from anywhere to control it, and when I eventually get myself an Ipad, I can use that as a laptop replacement.

Mouse: MX Revolution

It really is to bad Logitech does not sell these anymore. They've replaced it with the Performance Mouse MX, which I use at the office. I'm planning to write a comparison review on these mice but in short, the Revolution is EPIC. I can not use a mouse without frictionless scrolling anymore. Except for the left and right mouse button, it has 6 custom programmable buttons, which I have set differently for every program I use. It is ergonomic design at it's finest, I never get a sore hand, and I spent a lot of time after the computer. If you can still find this epic beast, GET IT! you won't regret it.

Apple wired keyboard

Not much to say about this. There was a wireless included with the Imac, which I gave to my girlfriend, I'm still using my wired one simply for the number keys. Apple is not know for ergonomics but this board does not hurt me at al. It really is easy to type on, I think because the keys are all so leveled, I hardly need to press the keys or lift my fingers to get to the other keys.

Samsung 2243sn 22" LCD display

Nothing special here. I used this as my main display on my Macbook Pro. Now it's used as my secondary display. It has movies on it most of the time or my Photoshop/Illustrator pannels and FTP & Browser testing/debug tools when i'm working.

USB Hub 1: 10 port USB Snake

I got this really cheap, 2$. I mainly use this for power USB peripherals or other hardware that needs USB power, like WII-motes or whatever.

USB Hub 2: Belkin 7 port USB hub

This hub is not visible on the photo, it's hidden behind the screen. This Hub has all my USB Hard drives, also not visible on the photo, hooked up in it.

USB Hub 3: Bynovel 24 port USB hub

Awesome right? A full blown 24 port USB hub. I don't think I will be running out of free USB ports anytime soon.

Ipod Touch 8Gig 1st generation

It doesn't look like it in the picture, but that IS an Ipod. I opened it op to fix the home button. But I ran into some limitations, so I ordered tools to get over them. I hope I can fix it, we'll see. It served me mighty fine so far.

Iphone 3GS 8Gig

This thing, again, is amazing! I choose a 3GS because I realy don't like the design for the Iphone 4, I was considering an Android device, but since all my devices at home are Apple, I figured they would just work great together, and I felt this would not be the case with an Android device. It does everything my I-touch does (or did?) and a lot more. For people who complain about the battery life, stop whining, for now, that will be a necessary evil with these type of phones.

Xbox 360 Wired Controller

A Microsoft product on my desk, and I like it, or even better, I love it. I use this controller for almost any game I play right now. GBA Emulator, PSX Emulator, N64 emulator, Street Fighter 4, Duke Nukem, OnLive, ... you name it. I bought the wired versions because that had the best Mac drivers.

Classic Apple Remote

I don't realy use this that much, but I love the design (and hade the new one). So I keep it around as a collectible.

HP Officejet 6500A

I got this printer from the office. It's pretty cool, it has Wifi, borderless printing, high quality settings, scanning, sharing,... I allways wanted an A3 printer, but I decided not to because I hardly need to print large scale anymore, and digital prints aren't that expensive anymore.

Power Brick for USB Drives

This thing is so handy, you wouldn't believe. I have all my external HDD's hooked up to it. My HDD's are hidden from sight, so all I have to do is use the switches on the power brick to boot them instead of reaching behind my desk.

External USB Drives

I have loads of External USB HDD's, because I believe it's better and cheaper to keep my data on those then to write everything to CD's, DVD's or BluRays. You can't see them on the photo becasue they are hidden behind the printer. Right now I have the following hooked up to my system:

• Iomega 1TB
• Packard Bell 1TB
• WD MyBook 500GB
• WD Elements 1TB
• WD Elements 1TB (yes a second one)

Custom Power Brick

This does not look like something special, but it is. My dad made this for me, it's a wooden block full of power outlets and a cable gutter. I'm planning on pimping it out with a UPS and a main power switch. Ow yeah, and it needs a cool paint job!

Stuff I still need

Allright, I love this setup, but there are a couple of things still missing.

Sound System

The speakers on the Imac are pretty decent speakers. But what I don't like is the place where Apple decided to put the Headphones jack. It's in the back. That means I need to reach behind my machine to plug in some headphones. Luckily there are some great speakersets which have headphone plugs in them.

A decent drawing tablet

I have a cheap one laying around, I hardly use it because it has no advantage over my mouse, it's not even pressure sensitive, so thats on my wish list for sure.

An Ipad

I hardly need to explain why I would want an Ipad, but here are some reasons:

• I want to use it as a third screen.
• as a laptop, remote connection to my Imac over RDP

A Drobo or NAS

It does not really matter how, but I want Harddrive space I can get to from anywhere and is easily upgradable.

Any old or new Apple product

I want to test things, mess with them, break them, and some things I don't want to try on my fancy Imac (like breaking it).