Having gone from an ancient, flaky Hackintosh to a Mac Mini, I lost the huge growth off the side of my UpLift Desk at the office. Yay! But now I don’t have an optical drive or front panel USB ports right next to me, and having the Mini on the desk next to my old surge bar was crowded and cluttered. Problem solved with:
- A StarTech.com 4 Port USB 3.0 Hub (HB30A3A1CST) clutched in an AVLT Power Strip Desk Mount. It’s a tight fit, but it does fit, and puts (3) USB-A and (1) USB-C ports close at hand. The hub comes with a 3' cable that’s basically perfect for this setup. It was one of the few hubs I could find that wasn’t too narrow or didn’t have the ports facing the wrong direction. (I got a “Used - Like New” unit for $28; $58 is a bit too much IMHO.)
- Attached to this is a Creative Labs SoundBlaster Play! 3 USB DAC/Amp that powers the PC38X headset I use for virtual appearances, etc. (I’ve been using the SoundBlaster at the office and another home for ~6 years now. Sounds great, works flawlessly. $20. Do it!) (The Sennheiser headset is relatively new and I like it a lot. Sounds great, comfortable, decent microphone. I just wish they’d had the all-black colorway when I got it; mine has yellow highlights.)
- I couldn’t find a surge bar with enough outlets + USB charging ports for what I wanted (3 USB and at least 5 110V) that would fit in the AVL
T desk mount, so instead I opted for an APC Desk Mount Power Station that slides onto the desk top. It’s not the most secure (minimal clamping force), but it’s tidy and convenient and checked all the right boxes. - LG GP60NB50 USB DVD burner that supports dual layer burning (the only one I could find that expressly did). We still burn and/or receive the occasional disk with large document and/or ESI production, and for $34, it makes sense to have optical disk capability on hand.
- UGREEN 3.5mm right angle braided audio cable, to hook up the Wharfedale DS-2 speakers (3+ years later they still sound incredible).
- Still rocking the Dell U2412M monitor (1920x1200 and matte display for teh win), Keychron C1 keyboard swapped to Boba U4 68 gram switches (all anyone had in stock), a crappy Amazon Basics mouse...
- To tidy everything up:
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Before tidying up the cables etc.
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| After tidying up the cables etc. |
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