The Evolution of Ezra's Workstation:

It started with a lone laptop..




But it's screen was totally faded, despite being excellent for reading text (i still think it's better than the more contrasty LCDs/CRTs for reading black on white text).

So for photo editing i got a new display...





Totally unergonomic. i got back problems, an unstable hip and various sprains because of this... Imagine facing the big screen and turning sideways to type all the time..



So, in 2008, I slowly redid my workstation.
The components were purchased months apart. Screen --> mini bar --> light --> printer --> PC.

games, work, media, photo editing.

Didnt skimp on aesthetics. Looks matter for me. Stress relief? perhaps..


DESIGN CONCEPTS
I wanted to go with a blue/black/silver theme to contrast with warm lighting. The printer, panel and case all have blue illumination. While the panel and case have silver highlights. I was hoping to get a piano black casing to complement the piano black of the printer and panel, but the Thermaltake piano black case felt really cheap compared to the brushed dark aluminium of the lian li's. The lian li's cost only a little more than the thermaltake so i went for it... Not to mention that it is also much lighter, only 6kg... unlike normal mid tower cases made from rolled steel that regularly pass 10kg.


Skimped on components. The rig was built just last week... but only has a Pentium D inside it... yup, pentium D... not even a core processor. It has (ZZOMG) a whopping 1MB cache and runs at a blazing 1.8Ghz
Still, im really happy with it. Plays bioshock and COD4 smoothly at high settings. (except crysis on medium) at native resolution.
Browsing photos is loads faster on the desktop than on the downright lethargic 4800rpm laptop drive.
MY RIG





I was aiming for something like that


but in the end i still need a printer and enough lighting for reading books at my workstation...


if only i could get it as uncluttered as your desktop. Excellent cable management btw. and the lighting is nice.

This post has been edited by ezralimm: Mar 23 2008, 11:07 AM

It's surprising how fast the prices of laser printers are dropping... I remember just a few years ago i got a big cumbersome laser printer (not multifunction) for well over a thousand dollars.. It prints at half the speed of the SCX4500... that I paid well under RM1k for




The minibar was on special. Got it for something like RM250 new. Impulse buy

So was the casing...


The pics above dont do justice to it... Spent some time snapping pics and playing around in photoshop to come up with this:

Thanks for the compliments!




About RM720... should be a bit cheaper in malaysia.



I paid about RM600 for te PC-A12 (pictured). RM400 is a real steal,... even cheaper than in the states. I'd say grab it cuz it's gonna run out soon.



..but keep in mind that services/utilities/food/COLA in general are relatively expensive in australia as well.

The Purchasing Power Parity, adjusted for differences in cost of living, in first world countries is roughly three times that of developing countries.

So the panel is probably THREE TIMES more affordable if you are working in australia.

I am not working in australia.

Nah, i stand by what i said: It is three times more affordable...

GDP per capita:
Malaysia: 12,754 Australia: 34,943

rump steaks go for about AUD8.99/kg (RM27)
premium steaks are about AUD18.00/kg (RM54 eg. trim rib eye, sirloin etc)

I cant remember the exact price of lamb chops, but i do know they are significantly more expensive in australia (funny, cuz australian lamb chops are cheaper in malaysia) although they are probably three times more affordable to locals earning australian wages than to malaysians buying at malaysian prices.

As for fruits and vegetables, .. well, you could look to paying about RM10 for 4 medium sized peaches. Local watermelons are about RM6 per kg. Papayas are really expensive too. Those large succulent aus mangoes you see in the supermarket typically sell for AUD2.99 each (RM10). Grapes can be quite cheap if there is a surplus in summer, around RM6-7/kg.

Vegetables in general are a few times the price compared to malaysia.

Dont get me started on seafood. Raw or served, it's really really expensive in australia. Period.

Spirits cost about the same price (surprise surprise), although due to stiff competition you may get some bundle deals. A bottle of jack's or bacardi typically costs about RM150*, while a generic bottle of gin may cost you only RM80*.

Wine can be very cheap if there is a surplus BAD vintage. (take note of the word "BAD"). RM24 for 4 liters of wine is the cheapest i've ever seen. Tastes like crap and the guys at the halls even put it in the common room cuz they couldnt stand it... and guess what, nobody touched that stuff, it's vile..

Reasonable wines are around AUD20 (RM60) per bottle, although you may get lucky with a AUD12-18 dollar bottle of wine as well...

So i guess it's quite cheap to get wasted if you are willing to tolerate cheap wines ("goon").


I dont drink beer, but i do know a typical premium lager is around RM10 per bottle/stubby.




*std 700ml bottles.

This post has been edited by ezralimm: Mar 24 2008, 09:53 AM

Are you sure?

Typical 1 on 1 replacements are only done if you return a product within a week of purchase. That's how it is for PC components at least...

Even if you buy a rice cooker you can return it and get full money back as long as it's within a week.

Legally shops dont have to make 1 on 1 replacements unless the product was defective when purchased.

So how bout products that go bad after awhile?

While most dealers offer to bear RMA costs, after 1 year i dont think they are obliged to do so. Hence you may have to deal with the company directly.

My friend has a CM external HDD die on him within a month... outside the one week return/replace window.

They had to send it back to the factory for servicing (or replacement?). Anyway, he was lucky as the dealer's warranty extended for a year to cover RMA costs so he didnt have to pay for shipping/logistics. Still they had to send it away and he probably wouldnt be seeing it for awhile.

I know my Samsung 226BW comes with a 1 year warranty from the dealer (they would bear any costs involved in getting it fixed/replaced, incl shipping and handling). If i had 2 bright pixels, or 3 or more dead pixels when i received (first purchased) my panel, the would have to make a 1 on 1 replacement.

This post has been edited by ezralimm: Mar 24 2008, 04:05 PM

One mini ATX, one full sized tower and two monitors aint exactly "low profile"





@limchee

yeah

Ditch the white keyboard... get any black keyboard.

Alizee is married

That is a very artistic shot IMO. Well done.

Photography is about the photographer. Not the camera. Alot of ppl think that better cameras will make their pics nicer.

Look at my blog. You wont be able to tell the difference between pictures taken with a 20 year old (no batteries) manual film camera, the pictures taken with a cameraphone, and pics taken witha DSLR.

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Added on April 4, 2008, 7:33 pm


Overkill


seriously

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Added on April 4, 2008, 7:36 pmwhat kind of work justifies vertically mounted monitors?

This post has been edited by ezralimm: Apr 4 2008, 07:36 PM

Austin....


Seriously... overkill for the amount of space.


IMO, Ditch one desk. Get a proper table to put all your stuff with an ergonomic layout.

... floppy


not very ergonomic though.


I notice how some people have huge monitors but the distance from the keyboard to screen is too close.

I typically sit about 1.5 arm's length away from my monitor. i find that comfortable.



skydriver, instead of spending on multiple consumer grade speakers, why not spend on one good quality set of sound monitors and a decent amp?

THen spend a little more to pad up your room nicely if you really are into music and sound.

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Added on April 10, 2008, 7:53 ambtw, floppy, where did you get your moshi celesta's?

It's one freakin awesome keyboard. If it's anything like the thinkpad keyboard in terms of response, i will definitely get it in the future.

Should go well with my current setup.

"-.- i think i hve a brushed metal fetish. Lian Li case (black/silver brushed aluminium), W880 phone (black brushed metal front), Samsung NV15 (black anodized).



However, i do think the price is a bit steep... considering for not too much more i could get a dinovo edge... which is wireless and is better as a media center controller with it's mousepad.

This post has been edited by ezralimm: Apr 10 2008, 07:53 AM

seriously...

change

your

signature picture


please...

I like your's most of all.

Most ppl here have desktops that are just waaay too cluttered with not enough freeplay area for the mouse.



Nice looking sound monitors. What are they? Do you hv a dedicated DAC/Amp to go with it?