(Part 3) Best products from r/AskBattlestations

well, generally speaking the more you decide to care about aesthetics, the more money you'll need to be willing to shell out. but honestly, i think you can do the LEDs cheaper than you're expecting.

first, RGB LEDs definitely get up in the 20+ range fast, but if you drop the RGB you can get them way cheaper. if you drop the color you might be able to get them even cheaper! i mean heck, at this point the LED strip is cheaper than the fans you're buying.

not to mention you can definitely take just one of those strips and chop it up into the individual pieces you need if you're willing to do a little wiring, so you would only need to buy one of them. wiring them into the case has the added bonus of meaning you don't necessarily need a remote control to turn them on/off (just unplug them if you want them off), so you dont have to worry about whether the cheaper LED kits come with one or not. i know there are also some LED strip kits designed specifically for things like computer cases that are already broken up into a few different sections for you as well - at a glance i'm not really seeing any on amazon, i'm sure you could find them if you were interested.

case fans definitely aren't the kind of thing you should count on reselling of trading in for much value, but it's always nice to have some extra fans if you're getting into building. before you know it you'll be helping your friend with a build or building a new rig for yourself, or one of your fans will die or something and you'll be happy you have a backup - even if you have a good "lol" at that fan having purple LEDs that dont fit the current theme, it's great to have a functional fan until you can purchase a replacement.

a solid mechanical keyboard is something you can definitely count on being able to trade in for value down the road, but i'm not particularly familiar with either of the boards you're talking about so just do your research before you pull the trigger on one.

• Screens:
  Your laptop appears to have a M5970 /w VGA, HDMI and DisplayPort and Eyefinity support.
  I'd recommend x2 of these IPS screens: Dell u2410. These screens have very good picture quality and their connections fits your laptop prefectly. They are pricy, but IPS provides the best picture quality.
  
  You may also check 2412 and the 2312, however they do not have HDMI.
  
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• Keyboard:
  Mechanical /w Cherry MX blue, or MX Brown if you prefer more silent keys (video comparing sound levels).
  
  Check out brands like DAS, Filco, Leopold, Ducky, wasdkeyboards.com
  
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• To connect your PS3 to a monitor you have two options: use connect laptop to monitor using DisplayPort cable and PS3 to monitor with HDMI OR purchase a HDMI switch. Then, connect HDMI cable from your laptop plus the HDMI from your PS3 into the switch and connect the switch to the screen. You want a active switchr /w it's own power supply. You can also get HDMI switches with remote control. With the switch I linked, adding a TV above your station would not be an issue at all.
  
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• For monitor mounts you got two basic options: wall mount or a desk mount/arm. I can't speak for the wall mount, but I have three of those desk mounts and very happy with the purchase. You have to decide which mount fit you best. They both have their advantages.
  
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  For your laptop you got countless options. Here's my suggestions:
  
  
• Although this does not hide the laptop in any way, I think a laptop stand like this one looks pretty awesome. An advantage with this setup is that you can tie the cables to the mount's arm and thus always be available. You will always know where the cables are, that they are long enough and you can plug them in to your PC even when sitting.
  
  
• If you have a keyboard tray but don't use it, the tray would be an ideal place to hide the laptop. It'd be completely hidden and have almost the same cable management benefits of the mount.
  
  
• Laptop stand. Just to mention it. Cables everywhere, possibly limited moveability due to cable length, terrible cable management.
  
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  Unfortunately I can't help you with iPad or chair, but I would advice against a glass desk. You will have a harder time with cable management and you will always be able to see your cables. If you get a desk such as the Galant series from Ikea, you get more options for cable management (such as trays and cable holes).

Alright, $250 I can work with ;)

You should definitely listen to a few different things to get an idea of what you want as different speakers are designed with different things in mind and that will change the way they sound. I like a flatter setup from my speakers themselves compared to the "smiley eq" most complete systems have. I'm running just a pair of Polk Audio Monitor 30's with a Pyle PTA4 amplifier for my desktop setup. The Monitor 30's are no longer in production but I've heard these are very comparable: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107R150/Polk-Audio-R150.html?tp=186

The Pyle amp can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-PTA4-2x120-Stereo-Amplifier/dp/B003NVN1PY I personally got mine for about $30 on woot.com one day, you may be able to find them cheaper than this, or build out something slightly different. Again I recommend doing a little research. You can also setup with a home theater receiver/amp for your system. That's what I started with and then moved the receiver to my home theater when I actually bought a decent TV and speakers for it (Polk Audio Monitor 70's). A receiver/amp will be more than the Pyle and honestly I think it's a little overpriced but it was a good deal at $30. You just need a 2 channel amp.

I don't run a subwoofer on my desktop, I generally don't want to be too loud at my desk and the bookshelf speakers are capable of putting out more than enough bass for me. I run a Polk Audio PSW10 subwoofer on my TV setup. You could hook it in with these no problem and if you want more bass this thing will provide. http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-10-Inch-Powered-Subwoofer/dp/B0002KVQBA/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1413525800&sr=1-1&keywords=polk+audio+subwoofer, the sub will hook straight into the PC so no need to worry about the amp being compatible, you can always add it later.

We're also closing on Christmas/Thanksgiving. I picked up most of my sound equipment during those sales 2 years ago. A pair of Monitor 70's for $150 each, the PSW10 for $80, and a CS10 for $100. Paying attention to slickdeals.com can save you a lot of money if you're willing to wait a little to get setup.

It does cost a good bit more for speakers like this but you get a lot more speaker for your money. I rarely turn my desktop volume higher than 25% and almost never over 50%, I always used to turn my little 2.1 complete system way up trying to get more loudness out of it. It's also generally best to keep your speakers to the same manufacturer and preferably the same speaker line as they're likely designed together so the ranges each covers will complement each other better. That's why I have a ton of Polk and nothing else.

If you're set on a complete system: I hear Klipsch is good but I avoid complete systems ever since I started buying speakers and amps myself and heard how good they sound so I can't really help much with those.

I was going back and forth a few months ago about getting a widescreen or a 4K monitor. I used to have triple 32" 1080p monitors a few years back, but had to down size to one 32" monitor after moving. I spoiled myself for years having three monitors for photo/video editing, designing and gaming. Downsizing to one sucked, and had me eager to get more screen real-estate, but to maintain one monitor. I had a few widescreen monitors picked out and a few 4K monitors just to experience the 4K PC life.

Here was my decision breaking point. I purchased a massive 4K TV for my living room and just had to hook my PC up to it and play some racing simulators/games on it. That's how you know you got the right TV, right? lol But seeing video games in 4K changed me. Not only video games, but my desktop, editing software, web browsing, etc. just looked so unreal and breath taking.

From there, I searched all over for an affordable decent sized 4K monitor, without breaking the bank. My first ever monitors were AOC and I never had any problems with them, even after the years of abuse. I found an 27" AOC 4K monitor that was rather cheap, decent sized AND 4K! Even better? With downsizing to a 27", I am able to have two monitors again, giving me that oh so juicy screen real-estate. And even better plus? These monitors have a very, very thin bezel making dual monitors beautifully seamless. Everything on this monitor is beautiful, crisp, bright, non-glare and perfect for my uses.

This is just my experience with going back and forth with widescreen vs 4K, and I do not mean to step on anyone's toes. Maybe down the road when I have more of a budget to spend on my setup I'll get a 4K ultrawide monitor!

They're not really a gaming thing, but I think most any tech savvy person would appreciate it and could probably find some use for one. Maybe they could set it up to play some simple old school games like pong or something (I haven't actually used one myself, so I'm not sure of their limitations). That sounds like a great idea actually.

Edit: Something like one of these seems like it would be pretty neat.

I just bought the Ergotron LX arm yesterday, it shipped today and says it'll arrive on Monday (yay Amazon Prime). I heard about it from Jeff Atwood in his post on Coding Horror, and I think highly of him and the things he's done, so that was a big influence on my decision.

I expect my U2711 will also arrive Monday; I haven't gotten the shipping notification yet, but I also ordered it last night. I can come back here and let you know how it goes if you haven't yet made your purchase before then (if I forget, remind me by replying to this or with a PM).

But at $125 (USD), this arm had BETTER hold my monitor well or else it's going straight back to Amazon. It's much more than I expected to spend for a monitor arm, and I did see the far cheaper arms out there, but I'm counting on it being the best. It has excellent reviews, so I expect so.

Edit: I am very happy with the Ergotron, it holds up my monitor without problems (it has an adjustable tension, so I just tightened it until the arm no longer sank on its own). I can very easily raise, lower, and move it around. It clamped to the edge of the desk. The materials are thick and have some weight to them so I'm confident it's not going to break or fall apart. Overall I'd recommend it, if it's in your budget!

Biggest question I have is why two desktops?

I can't speak to the room layout since you need those doors. However, If your monitors have the ability and you use both gaming machines yourself, I personally would do the following:

• Move both desktops to a location off the desk top. Say, on the far left side. We're going to be scooting you slightly to the right anyway so there's no problem. You can put one outside the desk leg and one inside if they fit that way. You could even stack them if you think the Corsair can take it. Either way, I suggest putting the laptop on top of them like you do now
  
• Install Synergy+ or a related free software to use one keyboard/mouse for all three machines if you can install it on your work laptop. That lets you get rid of one keyboard/mouse and you can potentially keep your laptop plugged in to your system all the time depending on your monitors. However, the one on the far right looks like an Asus VE247h or similar and it has three inputs. You're only using HDMI and you can use an HDMI to DVI adapter to use another. Then you have input control at your fingertips.
  
• Go triple-monitor. Put your 27" in the middle and the two 24"s on the sides. You have the space for it. This leaves your right hand side (writing side) for arm support or handwritten notes. Yes, I see that paper pad and tablet there.
  
• Wire up whatever combination of the computers to monitors you can. For example, monitors 1 and 2 go to gaming computer 1 and laptop and monitor 3 is always on desktop 2. That or some combination thereof, depending on your laptop's capability (psst: you can use a USB to HDMI video card to extend if you need or want it. I use 2 of them for my work laptop for 4 total screens. There are USB to other output adapters too)
  
• Ideally, get arms for your monitors. That'll get them off your desk, give you room for your mouse/keyboard/speakers, and enable you to hide cables easier. I have these and they work pretty well if you don't move your monitors much.
  
• Now cables and peripherals. Use either double sided tape or screws to mount your power strips under your desk at the back. Same with the Arris. You don't need those on your table. Sinice you're an Ikea guy, grab some cable baskets and put them under there too. That lets you run your extra cables out of sight.

I use this chair:

http://www.amazon.com/Seatflex-Swivel-Chair-Headrest-Black/dp/B000RNIE44/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422124511&sr=8-2&keywords=seatflex+chair

I bought it years ago and it's still just as comfortable as day 1 even after multiple hours per day of use. Bungee chairs are pretty comfortable and breathable overall, but you have to find one that has the perfect amount of flexibility so it isn't like sitting on a rock, nor does it sag. In the future, if I ever want to splurge and buy a new chair, I'm going to buy a really nice one, probably over $1,000. But before that price point I would get this chair.

I have heard some good things about these chairs as well, but nothing from personal experience:

http://www.needforseatusa.com/

Not sure what else to say on them :/

E: Just looked up the chair you're looking at, and I think I had one of those 2 years ago, or something very similar. I used it in place of my bungee chair for a couple weeks but didn't like it as much so I sold it and stuck with my older chair. They are nice chairs though, lots of options and positions, good quality too, but I just preferred my old chair to it.

Things I've found super useful:

1. Cable management. I'm sure you have it down, but it's worth mentioning.
   
   
2. Headphone holder. This little device is perfect to mount on your desk. I use it everyday, and it keeps my headphones from ending up on the floor.
   
   
3. Add an outlet to your desk. I drilled a hole to mount your typical house outlet onto my desk top. You can get a variety of different outlets, such as 3 prong + USB, or just 4 usb jacks like me, for charging phones and stuff. I bought a 3 prong extension cord, cut the female end off, split the cables, and wired it to the receptacle inside of a blue electrical box from underneath. Very little electronic knowledge needed.
   
   
4. Add a cup holder. Similar to the headphone holder, it sits off the side of the desk. But useful if you're clumsy like me.
   
   
5. Upgrade your surge protector to a power conditioner. Power conditioner is a surge protector, plus it shows your breakers current volt output. It will usually sit around 117 to 119, But if you're like me and live in the downtown urban area, it will sometimes dipped down to 112, which means I should start conserving power. Power dipping down for me, usually occurs on hot days, when everyone in the city has an A.C. on, and the grid is being used heavily.

(I like the grills, as long as you can make the rest of your setup as aggressive as your PC)

I have included links to each product below the description for you to use.

For what l would recommend, it depends on your desk. Don't go with a glass desk, go with an IKEA Malm in white.
MALM DESK

You won't be getting a corner/L desk that is also standing. Plus standing desks are extremely expensive.

Then get RGB LEDs to go behind your desk and set them in blue for some aggressive looking accents.
LEDs (there are better ones)

For keyboards, go with the Corsair K65 Lux. It's compact design will keep your footprint on your desk down
K65 LUX

And if we are going with corsair stuff, I use the M65 Pro RGB. I love it a lot, it's a great mouse
M65 Pro

Use an extended mousepad, they are better
one example here

The Hyperx Stingers are cheap with great quality and a mic. They are amazing for the $50 price point.
Stingers

The BOSE Companion 2s are great speakers, but with a pricy. Recommend for casual use, not music production
Bose Companion 2s

I can't recommend any chair. Your chair needs might be different than mine, it depends on the person.

One more suggestion: paint one wall to match the color of the LEDs. It will make your room look/feel better.

Is it this monitor? It looks fantastic but it seems to cost much more over here in the UK right now than the US but hopefully the price will drop down at some point, I'm loving how great the low bezel looks and it's a pretty good price for a monitor with 1ms reponse time.

>Is it possible to use multiple mice on one machine

Yes. I've done so many times (but they will all control the same cursor, unless you want to set up some VM voodoo)

>Is it possible to use one of those touch screen monitors along with multiple normal monitors

I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work, but if you want to test it out, see if a computer shop that sells touchscreen laptops or all-in-ones would be willing to attach a second (non-touch) monitor to the laptop/all-in-one, then you can see what the experience is like. I would assume that touching anywhere on the touchscreen would bring the cursor to that monitor, but that's just an educated guess.

>Is a setup like this even possible

Yes. Very possible. Some notes I'd like to add:

> one section for say, sound (with audio equipment, studio monitors, mic, etc), and another for art (with a tablet or possibly a touch screen monitor) and another section for everything, which could be used for programming, gaming, or just general use.

I feel like all of this could be done with a normal-sized desk.

• Studio Monitors -- wall-mount or floor mount these
  
• Audio Equipment -- I have no idea (as a non-audio-nerd) what this would entail, so no clue for how to minimize the amount of real-estate it would take up
  
• Mic -- Either get a boom mic which can be mounted off of your monitor, or have it to one side of the keyboard (left side if you're right-handed)
  
• Touch-screen monitor -- Buy a wall-mount or clamp-on desk mount. Then you have room to shove your keyboard under it if you aren't using the kb
  
• Tablet -- Use this wherever is comfortable. You can move the keyboard back as mentioned above to give more room
  
  Everything else:
  
  
• Normal set-up -- Keyboard + mouse + mousepad. If you don't use numpad or arrow keys, you could get away with a smaller 60% keyboard (shoutout to /r/mechanicalkeyboards)
  
  That's my two cents' worth, at least.

I'd suggest getting the PC on the floor or an under desk holder. And I'd also suggest arms to get those monitors up off the desk. I also built my own keyboard tray, it saved me a lot of room on the desktop by moving my keyboard and mouse off of it. You really only need the keyboard tray rails like these http://www.amazon.com/Metal-Ball-bearing-Keyboard-Slide/dp/B000KQ5E82 a sturdy piece of wood for that.

Good luck! I've been looking for the same, albeit for 27" screens, and have had a lot of difficulty.

http://www.amazon.com/Mount--Freestanding-Widescreen-Monitors-Horizontal/dp/B00FQU7CPU/ref=sr_1_4?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1426095142&sr=1-4&keywords=3+arm+monitor+mount

http://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Monitor-Standing-Supports-002-0020/dp/B006JG9RQ2/ref=sr_1_5?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1426095142&sr=1-5&keywords=3+arm+monitor+mount

The last link I just found myself, and might give that a shot. Currently using a dual arm mount and the third screen on a book.

Edit: Looking again, I don't think that last mount will work for what I am aiming to achieve. This is for a primarily flight sim setup and the left and right monitors are at about a 40° angle to the center. I have yet to find a mount that I can achieve that with.

Edit two: Maybe if I put wood blocks between the vesa mount and the L & R monitors, I might be able to get the angle I want. Hm. Does anyone else have suggestions?

Take a look at this one from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078WH4YBH/ref=twister_B01J4A6KT6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 . This particular one is 48 inches but can be cut with a hacksaw cause it's hard plastic if you need it shorter. I linked to a Beige one that might blend in nice with the Bamboo top. They also have a Black or White one too.

Is your desk big enough for three monitors? If so, just get a 1x12x(however long you want) board from Lowe's and a keyboard slider and do it yourself.

Also, are you sure you need a full sized keyboard? There are really only two reasons: ip addresses and calculations. You could talk probably get away with an 80% and maybe a separate keypad.

I have one of these at home: http://www.amazon.com/Mount-It-Freestanding-Monitor-Widescreen-Monitors/dp/B00FQU7CPU

I have the 2 monitor version at the office.

Both work very well and I have had no issues. The Trip stand has been at home for well over 1.5 years without any problems. You even have the option with these stands to drill through the desk and bolt it down.