λ ryan. himmelwright. net

Uses

A wooden computer desk with a monitor, keyboard, speakers and other items going on it
My Desk Setup

I love seeing what tech people use, and immediately check out others’ /uses pages. Here’s mine :) .

To take a look at my past setups, in my /Uses Archive.

Hardware

14" M4 Pro MacBook Pro

My daily driver computer. I use it for all my computing needs, which includes maintaining this website and programming projects.

iPad Mini (7th Generation)

As much as I loved using e-ink tablet, I wanted to condense them into a smaller reader device I could also scribble on. Eventually, I ended up on the iPad Mini. I love it. It’s the ideal iPad size for me.

iPhone 15

I use this for normal phone use: communication, browsing, listening to podcasts, controlling smart home stuff, and as my only camera.

Apple Watch Series 7

My watch. I use it mostly for fitness tracking and reading the weather. I check the time on it occasionally when I remember it can do that too.

Periphery

A mind map linking of everything connected to the computer
The connection diagram for my computer.

Apple Studio Display

My home office monitor. It’s on a movable VESA ~arm~ stand on my desk. I use it at the native 2x scaling, so 2560x1440. It’s expensive, but I got it refurbished from Apple, and don’t regret it at all. It’s the best monitor I’ve ever owned.

CalDigit TS4 Dock

This is another purchase I put off for a long time due to the cost. However, once I started using a more modular setup, my cobbled USB docks started giving me problems. So, I decided to finally bite the bullet on the CalDigit when I saw a discount price. I love it. It does exactly what it needs to and is solid. The TS4 turn my laptop into a full desktop setup with one cable.

Two external hard drives connected:

ZSA Voyager Keyboard

My main keyboard is currently the ZSA Voyager, a high quality, split, ortholinear keyboard. I got the black version, with the blank keycaps, and Choc Pro Red switches.

Related Posts

Logitech Ergo Trackball

I’ve used trackballs for years, as normal mice quickly give me wrist/elbow pain. Despite being worried about switching to a thumb ball, this one has been great. It can connect to two devices, so I have it paired with both my work and personal computers, and I toggle between them.

Apple Magic Trackpad I find having a trackpad to be very useful when scrolling around and using gestures in the OS. I've had this trackpad not only for my Macs, but also used it on my Linux computers. It's expensive but great and should last a long time.
AudioEngine A2+ Speakers

Small speakers I’ve had for years. Sound good, and don’t take up too much space. I also have the stands that aim them up at me, but currently am using them on tripod mounts.

Blue Yeti Microphone Not the best microphone around, but I've had it for years, it gets the job done, and sounds better than my headphone mics.

Portable Setup

Two images, each with a laptop and a small or larger screen above it
I can use either my 16" portable monitor or my iPad mini as a second display for using a magnetic tripod mount I cobbled together, for my portable setup.

16" UPERFECT OLDED Portable Monitor

I have a portable monitor that I can use with my MacBook or other usb-c devices. This helps extend my small screen size when I need it. It also has a similar PPI and is the correct size to fit in portrait orientation as a perfect extension next to my Studio Display.

Sony WH-1000xm4 Headphones My go-to headphones when I need to focus. They have both noise-cancelling and transparency modes, so I can select if I want to filter everything out, or allows my environment noise in a bit when working.

Servers/Other PCs

Minisforum hx99g

A mini computer I use to occasionally play games on. It’s a computer I can use if I need semi-portable power, on Window or Linux.

Product Page

M2 Mac Mini

The always-on home and backup server for the house. It’s hooked up to SSD storage that contains Time Machine backups, our Photo library, and other data that is synced to Backblaze. It also hosts Plex and Homebridge.

MeLE Mini PC Quieter 4C An always-on, low-powered, and silent Linux PC. I use this to host our home podman containers, and anything else I want to run on an actual Linux server at home.

Furniture

Sit/Stand Desk

I took an IKEA GERTON (61x29 1/2") Beech Wood Tabletop and placed it on some no-name brand of electronic Sit/Stand desk legs I got off Amazon years back. It’s great.

Foldable Floor Desk I have a collapsible bamboo floor desk that I often work at. Sometimes, I even move the studio display to it to use as my large display space, and my standing desk for just the laptop. I like mixing up my setups to provide more variety for both my brain and body.
Herman Miller Embody Chair

After years of trying a bunch of cheaper office chairs, I finally caved and bought an Embody (using a discount through work). It’s one of the few chairs that doesn’t destroy my hips. It was expensive, but I figure I won’t really have to think about replacing it for it’s 12 year warranty period. So far, that’s been the case.

Autonomous ErgoStool

I can stand, or sit in my nice chair, but sometimes I like to do something in-between the two. So I have a wobble stool that I can sit on or lean against.