show your desk - 2025 edition

Back in 2020 I posted about my desk setup at home.

Recently someone in our #remotees channel at work asked about WFH setups and given quite a few things changed in mine, I thought it's time to post an update.

But first, a picture! (Yes, it's cleaner than usual, how could you tell?!)

desk

It's still the same Flexispot E5B, no change here. After 7 years (I bought mine in 2018) it still works fine. If I'd have to buy a new one, I'd probably get a four-legged one for more stability (they got quite affordable now), but there is no immediate need for that.

chair

It's still the IKEA Volmar. Again, no complaints here.

hardware

Now here we finally have some updates!

laptop

A Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12, Intel Core Ultra 7 165U, 32GB RAM, running Fedora (42 at the moment).

It's connected to a Lenovo ThinkPad Thunderbolt 4 Dock. It just works™.

workstation

It's still the P410, but mostly unused these days.

monitor

An AOC U2790PQU 27" 4K. I'm running it at 150% scaling, which works quite decently these days (no comparison to when I got it).

speakers

As the new monitor didn't want to take the old Dell soundbar, I have upgraded to a pair of Alesis M1Active 330 USB.

They sound good and were not too expensive.

I had to fix the volume control after some time though.

webcam

It's still the Logitech C920 Pro.

microphone

The built in mic of the C920 is really fine, but to do conference-grade talks (and some podcasts 😅), I decided to get something better.

I got a FIFINE K669B, with a nice arm.

It's not a Shure, for sure, but does the job well and Christian was quite satisfied with the results when we recorded the Debian and Foreman specials of Focus on Linux.

keyboard

It's still the ThinkPad Compact USB Keyboard with TrackPoint.

I had to print a few fixes and replacement parts for it, but otherwise it's doing great.

• Replacement feet, because I broke one while cleaning the keyboard.
• USB cable clamp, because it kept falling out and disconnecting.

Seems Lenovo stopped making those, so I really shouldn't break it any further.

mouse

Logitech MX Master 3S. The surface of the old MX Master 2 got very sticky at some point and it had to be replaced.

other

notepad

I'm still terrible at remembering things, so I still write them down in an A5 notepad.

whiteboard

I've also added a (small) whiteboard on the wall right of the desk, mostly used for long term todo lists.

coaster

Turns out Xeon-based coasters are super stable, so it lives on!

yubikey

Yepp, still a thing. Still USB-A because... reasons.

headphones

Still the Bose QC25, by now on the third set of ear cushions, but otherwise working great and the odd 15€ cushion replacement does not justify buying anything newer (which would have the same problem after some time, I guess).

I did add a cheap (~10€) Bluetooth-to-Headphonejack dongle, so I can use them with my phone too (shakes fist at modern phones).

And I do use the headphones more in meetings, as the Alesis speakers fill the room more with sound and thus sometimes produce a bit of an echo.

charger

The Bose need AAA batteries, and so do some other gadgets in the house, so there is a technoline BC 700 charger for AA and AAA on my desk these days.

light

Yepp, I've added an IKEA Tertial and an ALDI "face" light. No, I don't use them much.

KVM switch

I've "built" a KVM switch out of an USB switch, but given I don't use the workstation that often these days, the switch is also mostly unused.