My NYC coding setup

A walk through my work-from-home desk and the tech I use every day as a full-time software engineer. Small space, one monitor, nothing exotic.

The gear

• Monitor: a 27 inch Dell UltraSharp, 2560 by 1440 at 60Hz. One fits this space; I’d normally run two.
• Monitor arm: adjustable height, replacing the stand it came with. Takes an inch of desk instead of the whole footprint.
• Laptop: a MacBook Pro, 2.7GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM, 150GB SSD. Bought used four years ago, no speed problems since.
• Laptop stand: a Rain Design stand to lift it a few inches so it works as a second screen, USB hub underneath to hide the wires.
• Keyboard: a full-size Filco Majestouch 2 with Cherry MX Browns, plus one millimeter o-rings to cut the travel and the noise.
• Mouse: a SteelSeries Rival 100 optical, about twenty dollars, with a good sensitivity range.
• Wrist rest and mousepad: both worth having. I’ve been preferring the larger mats that go under the keyboard too.
• Headphones: Sennheiser HD 558 open-backs. Comfortable for long stretches, but they leak sound, so not for an office.
• Amp and DAC: a Schiit stack. The DAC converts the digital signal to analog and the amp drives the headphones.
• Microphone: a Blue Yeti USB mic with a pop filter on a boom arm, swung in for recording and calls and stowed the rest of the time.
• Webcam: a Logitech 1080p, for recording without the whole camera and light rig.
• Desk, chair and lamp: straight from IKEA. I took a circular saw to the desk to shorten it.