Home office / Studio remodel (suggestions encouraged)

[hipnetic]

I recently hijacked this thread because of a recent purchase of a Sony 43" X800E TV (to use as a monitor):
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...2-sony-x720e-works-but.2119195/#post-27176319

...and TobiasT in that thread asked me to post photos of my setup. Rather than post another long-winded reply to that thread, I figured I'd start a new one here...

So here's a short video demonstrating my IKEA kitchen countertop desk (with IKEA Alex storage drawers below) on top of my VIVO electric standing desk. This was taken about a week ago, so you'll see it with my two Dell 25" U2518D monitors (2560x1440) alongside my 2016 MacBook Pro 15:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1nynBbY1bGAhwenm7

...and here's a photo I took at the end of the day today, showing just the Sony 43" X800E (turned off, sorry):

The office is still a work-in-progress...I need to improve the lighting quite a bit. Much of what you see here are brand new toys I've purchased recently. The two laptops are the exception. New toys of note include Google WiFi (which I just set up today as a replacement for my Apple Airport router and then found out that there's a longstanding known issue with WiFi calling), the Amazon Echo Spot (which I bought on impulse when I found out that my Wyze cameras were now supported by Alexa - only to then find out that Wyze broke things - hopefully fixed soon), and the Apple Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2, and Magic Trackpad 2.

I bought the Magic Mouse first...even though I love my MacBook's trackpad, there are a couple of things that still frustrate me (trying to drag/drop things, and some precision work). The Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2 I haven't even started using, really (I just bought them the same day as the Sony TV). The only reason I bought them was to go all-in on the minimalist desktop idea, where I'd shut down my laptop and hide it under the desk. That's an indulgence, as it means I spend more money to get things that are already built into my MacBook (keyboard, trackpad, and webcam, not to mention losing the beautiful MacBook 15 retina display). The Magic Keyboard does give me the upgrades of: nicer key travel depth (IMO), full-size directional keys, physical ESC key, and full numeric keypad. I lose the Touch Bar (which is a cool bit of tech, but I rarely use the functionality), and Touch ID (which shouldn't be a big loss, since I can use Apple Watch unlock - though I find on my 2013 MacBook Pro 13 that it sometimes decides not to work).

So at the end of my workday today I finally paired the Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2 to my work MacBook Pro 15 and then I realized that placement was going to be an issue. Part of me wants to put the trackpad to the left of my keyboard and the mouse to the right of the keyboard, but it feels awkward to use the trackpad with my left hand, and the trackpad is what I use most of the time. Putting the trackpad to the right of the keyboard (and the mouse even farther to the right), feels like too long of a reach (even for the trackpad), especially because of the added width of the keyboard, thanks to its numeric keypad. I could consider replacing the Magic Keyboard with the smaller version, but then I'd lose the full-size directional keys. In the photo, you'll see that I put the trackpad below the keyboard, in a similar orientation that it would be on my MacBook. That feels "right" and will make it easier to adjust to going back-and-forth between using my laptops by themselves and using this setup in my office. But there's a problem there, too: the farthest-back edge of the Magic Trackpad is higher than the front-edge of the keyboard. That's completely unusable as-is, IMO. I think I can probably remedy this by putting something underneath the Magic Keyboard to raise it up so that the front lip sits at (or higher) than the back lip of the trackpad. But as I think through these things, I go back to thinking...why am I spending more money to replace the keyboard, trackpad, webcam, and Retina display of my MacBooks, just so I can have a more "minimalist" desktop? That just seems stupid. So I'm on the fence as to what my next move will be there. I still have about 2 weeks to decide to return the keyboard and trackpad...someone please give me some compelling reasons why I should keep them.

Oh, and I forgot another problem with the "Magic" Keyboard/Trackpad/Mouse for my situation....I have two MacBooks and there's no quick way to swap between having my keyboard/trackpad/mouse control computer 1 versus computer 2, especially if I have both laptops closed and hidden away (if you know of something, let me know).

Edit: I forgot to mention my recently-purchased AudioEngine A2+ speakers (in glossy white). They sound awesome. Of course, the day after I bought them from Crutchfield, they release a new version of them with built-in Bluetooth and dropped the price on the older model. I got Crutchfield to adjust my price, but I'm still debating as to whether I should return them and get the new version.

 

[Mity]

Hey! I'm trying to decide between a Barkaboda table top, which is 74"x25.5", and a traditional 61"x30" table top. Do you find that the distance between your body and the 42" Sony is enough for comfort, meaning that your head doesn't move around too much since the screen is so close?

I have a 42" LG 43UD79 and an LG 32UN880 that I use vertically. I'm trying to see if this setup will work with the Barkaboda.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I recently hijacked this thread because of a recent purchase of a Sony 43" X800E TV (to use as a monitor):
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...2-sony-x720e-works-but.2119195/#post-27176319

...and TobiasT in that thread asked me to post photos of my setup. Rather than post another long-winded reply to that thread, I figured I'd start a new one here...

So here's a short video demonstrating my IKEA kitchen countertop desk (with IKEA Alex storage drawers below) on top of my VIVO electric standing desk. This was taken about a week ago, so you'll see it with my two Dell 25" U2518D monitors (2560x1440) alongside my 2016 MacBook Pro 15:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1nynBbY1bGAhwenm7

...and here's a photo I took at the end of the day today, showing just the Sony 43" X800E (turned off, sorry):

The office is still a work-in-progress...I need to improve the lighting quite a bit. Much of what you see here are brand new toys I've purchased recently. The two laptops are the exception. New toys of note include Google WiFi (which I just set up today as a replacement for my Apple Airport router and then found out that there's a longstanding known issue with WiFi calling), the Amazon Echo Spot (which I bought on impulse when I found out that my Wyze cameras were now supported by Alexa - only to then find out that Wyze broke things - hopefully fixed soon), and the Apple Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2, and Magic Trackpad 2.

I bought the Magic Mouse first...even though I love my MacBook's trackpad, there are a couple of things that still frustrate me (trying to drag/drop things, and some precision work). The Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2 I haven't even started using, really (I just bought them the same day as the Sony TV). The only reason I bought them was to go all-in on the minimalist desktop idea, where I'd shut down my laptop and hide it under the desk. That's an indulgence, as it means I spend more money to get things that are already built into my MacBook (keyboard, trackpad, and webcam, not to mention losing the beautiful MacBook 15 retina display). The Magic Keyboard does give me the upgrades of: nicer key travel depth (IMO), full-size directional keys, physical ESC key, and full numeric keypad. I lose the Touch Bar (which is a cool bit of tech, but I rarely use the functionality), and Touch ID (which shouldn't be a big loss, since I can use Apple Watch unlock - though I find on my 2013 MacBook Pro 13 that it sometimes decides not to work).

So at the end of my workday today I finally paired the Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2 to my work MacBook Pro 15 and then I realized that placement was going to be an issue. Part of me wants to put the trackpad to the left of my keyboard and the mouse to the right of the keyboard, but it feels awkward to use the trackpad with my left hand, and the trackpad is what I use most of the time. Putting the trackpad to the right of the keyboard (and the mouse even farther to the right), feels like too long of a reach (even for the trackpad), especially because of the added width of the keyboard, thanks to its numeric keypad. I could consider replacing the Magic Keyboard with the smaller version, but then I'd lose the full-size directional keys. In the photo, you'll see that I put the trackpad below the keyboard, in a similar orientation that it would be on my MacBook. That feels "right" and will make it easier to adjust to going back-and-forth between using my laptops by themselves and using this setup in my office. But there's a problem there, too: the farthest-back edge of the Magic Trackpad is higher than the front-edge of the keyboard. That's completely unusable as-is, IMO. I think I can probably remedy this by putting something underneath the Magic Keyboard to raise it up so that the front lip sits at (or higher) than the back lip of the trackpad. But as I think through these things, I go back to thinking...why am I spending more money to replace the keyboard, trackpad, webcam, and Retina display of my MacBooks, just so I can have a more "minimalist" desktop? That just seems stupid. So I'm on the fence as to what my next move will be there. I still have about 2 weeks to decide to return the keyboard and trackpad...someone please give me some compelling reasons why I should keep them.

Oh, and I forgot another problem with the "Magic" Keyboard/Trackpad/Mouse for my situation....I have two MacBooks and there's no quick way to swap between having my keyboard/trackpad/mouse control computer 1 versus computer 2, especially if I have both laptops closed and hidden away (if you know of something, let me know).

Edit: I forgot to mention my recently-purchased AudioEngine A2+ speakers (in glossy white). They sound awesome. Of course, the day after I bought them from Crutchfield, they release a new version of them with built-in Bluetooth and dropped the price on the older model. I got Crutchfield to adjust my price, but I'm still debating as to whether I should return them and get the new version.

I use two keyboards and magic mice. Slate grey for my personal Mac Mini. Silver/white for my work MBP.