Since I moved out from my old house, I have somewhat become a nomadic ‘hoarder’. Living in a very limited space in my current room isn’t really the biggest concern. The challenge I had was actually to bring over ALL my junks and to fit every single thing in every little corner I could find. Minimalist lifestyle wasn’t even an option. I’ve tried to let go most of my stuff by selling or donating them, but later on, things started to accumulate again. It’s a vicious cycle !! Because of that, I had to resort to being ‘portable’ – that includes my workstation setup.
Proper arrangement is crucial for hoarders like me. Before I buy anything, I need to carefully measure and think of all the possible ways I could save space. My setup changes every now and then depending on my budget and mood. I don’t hoard everything all at once, I saved a hefty amount before I splurged and considered it as a reward for my hard work.
Workstation Setup
I have always liked ‘dark’ stuff. Black is just my color, pretty much my personality and my whole life. At one point in my life, I was all about RGBs stuff, then later I realized those funky and vibrant colors weren’t really my thing. I did try to splash some purple and turquoise color (like this website theme) just to spice up my workstation area, but after a few months, I went back to ‘I am what I am’.
By the end of 2022, I revamped my setup once again in a mixture of panda (black and white), gray and brown. I liked what I’m seeing so far with the darker themes and simpler vibes. I managed to rearrange everything in one place (except for my books, urmm.. more on that next time!).
PC Gaming Setup
For gaming, I played on 3 platforms – PC, Playstation and Nintendo. I’m not interested in the cults of PC gamers VS Console gamers kinda thing because I grew up enjoying all types of gaming.
I used to have a customized desktop PC back in Uni days. There was also a time when I almost built a mini-ITX setup because the small form factor really suited my lifestyle. However, after a tough and heavy consideration and knowing I won’t be grounded in one place, I decided to go with a laptop setup (portable).
I mostly play games casually as my own escape or sometimes with friends, and I’m definitely not a competitive gamer. Before I graduated, I bought my first Acer laptop where I used it for my final year thesis and casual gaming. After I got my first job, I switched to Lenovo, then sold that, and switched to Macbook Pro for several years (I even bootcamp my macbook to play windows-based games).
New silver ROG (left) and Old black ROG (right)
Fast forward to few years later, I sold off my good ol’ Macbook and bought my first ever ‘gaming laptop’ which was the Asus ROG Strix GL553 (with GTX 1050 Ti) back in 2015. This black lappy is my most-favorite and has served me well not only for gaming but also as my WFH laptop during pandemic time. 8 years+ later, I still have the laptop until today and it is still working perfectly fine.
Because I used the old ROG mainly as my work medium, I resorted to another setup for gaming. This was the time when I debated whether to go with the SFF desktop or laptop. Funny enough, in the year 2021, I got myself another ROG laptop which is my current setup as I’m writing this post. I customized this new silver beast and I also love that the exterior doesn’t actually ‘scream’ like a gaming laptop, it has a very minimal chrome color and elegant design. The laptop specs and customization is as below:
Other peripherals that I got to complement the full setup:
- Monitor: Asus TUF 27″, 2560x1440p 170Hz, G-Sync (full specs)
- Chair: Secretlab OMEGA 2020 SoftWeave BLACK³ (specs)
- Keyboard: ROG Falchion NX 65% mechanical (switch: red) (full specs)
- Mouse: Razer Viper Ultimate (full specs)
- Mat: Razer Strider Hybrid Mouse Mat (size: XXL) (specs)
Console Gaming Setup (and others)
I used to heavily play games on mobile too, but I decided to quit mobile gaming a few years ago. For handheld or console gaming, my preferences were always Playstation and Nintendo.
My first ever handheld game was Nintendo Gameboy (no color) and my first console was Playstation 2, both of which were more than 20 years ago. I also have the Playstation 4 (1st gen) and still working fine until today. I bought my first Switch Lite (in coral) back in 2019 but sold it after 2 years.
In between 2019 and 2021, several life incidents happened and I find myself crazily starving for escape from the harsh reality. So then I decided to get the Switch Lite again, but this time in dark gray. Almost towards the end of 2022, I finally got both Switch OLED and Playstation 5 for my Birthday. Nice panda combo!
The console and controllers in monochrome colors brilliantly fit with my present darker theme workstation setup. I configured all 3 platforms (PC, PS5 and Switch) to be connected to the same monitor.
Aside from the above gaming setups, I’ve also always like Apple peripherals since many many years ago. Below is my current system over these recent years:
- Aug-2020: iPhone 11, 256 GB (what I use to capture all my photos and videos)
- Early-2021: iPad Pro 11″ (4th gen, 2020) and Apple Pencil (2nd gen)
- Aug-2021: Magic Keyboard and AirPod (1st gen, 2016)
- Sept-2021: Macbook Air (M1, 2020) and Magic Mouse 2
- Feb-2022: Apple Watch 7 (2021, 41 mm)
- Jun-2022: iPad Mini (6th gen), 256GB
That’s it ! That’s my current setup which I believe will last for another few more years down the road. See ya again in the next post, thank you for reading! 🙂
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