But this is a minimalist workstation, and if you're like me and find yourself hunting for horizontal space, and a set of peripherals that you "need" but don't use everyday, then you may want to consider a something like it--especially if your primary is a two monitor setup with a dedicated space for coffee.
I was sitting in a armchair in Staples when I saw it. Black and chrome it beckoned to me. The price was right and it worked with the chair. Since I wanted it delivered the sales guy (a euphemistic honorarium for the person who couldn't answer my questions) got on the store computer and got me 20 bucks off for ordering "online."
At $99 it was already sold, but the 20 bucks off helped my budget because the chair (also discounted) was $239. So let me say this: If you're going to spend money, spend it on the chair. I have no regrets.
All things considered this is very practical setup. Everything you need to work at arms reach. Even better the middle table swings out on castors, and there's a enough clearance for my stuff to fold it back under and reduce the footprint to 4 foot by 2 foot. And that's pretty compact for a station that allows you to draw, scan, print, burn, and compute. For most home offices that would be enough, but network a set up like this with your main workstation and you have an office that can accommodate an assistant and a moderate workload.
Obviously if you're just starting out you'll be shopping for the hardware, so here's a bit of history on my set up.
The IBM ThinkPad T-30 came from BobJohnson, an reseller of off lease laptops. These are corporate models, well built, with quality components. Let me make a comparison. Last year someone I know just had to have one of those wide 17" screen models, and the best her budget would allow was a HP model bought at Circuit City. First, the color was pretty lousy, and I almost ran out of adjustment before it viewed decent. Then the touchpad was erratic and the keyboard would do odd things like close windows or even programs. What surprised me was that much touted video only allowed for an external monitor refresh rate of 60Hz. Well below standard for viewing. In short it had it's problems, not the least of which was the continuing stream of HP advertisements and updates.
In contrast the T-30 I bought from Bob has the distinctive red track point without the touchpad, and a keyboard that is smooth as silk. It's damn near sexy. I did profile the 15.4" TFT screen with a Spyder, and with a minor adjustment it's as good as a CRT monitor. The video will also drive an external CRT monitor as high as 120 Hz at a resolution of 1600x1200, and to 75 Hz at 2048x1536. That's performance. Coupled with a 2.0 Ghz Pentium 4M, 1 Gig or RAM, and a 40 Gig hard drive, it does a good job of handling all of my every day tasks, which also include downloading photos, some light retouching, and organizing.
And the T-30 delivered was less than half the cost of the HP.
But new is better right? You get a warranty and support, right? Well the standard warranty on the HP is long gone, but Bob will continue to repair the T-30 for as long as parts are available for the cost of parts--NO labor charge. Not that I expect the ThinkPad to crash. I still have a 365XD I bought in 1996, and it will boot and run--if you think in this day and age that Pentium 120 can actually do more than walk.
Since I'm a photographer of sorts, and a wide format printer was in my future, I bought the Epson 1280 as it was being discontinued. It produces photo quality prints up to 12" x 18" (on 13 x 19 paper). While it's not the latest and greatest, and wasn't when I bought it, it produces very good prints and is built like a tank. I wouldn't recommend a used one, however, unless it was factory refurbished or from someone you know and trust. The major problem with the 1280 is that it needs to be cleaned occasionally or you'll get banding and ink stains. Today I'd be looking at the Epson Photo 1400, which is far superior, but more expensive to operate.
I bought the Canoscan LiDE 80 a couple of years back. The first one came with curly cues of plastic inside the case with some on the platen. Canon wasn't too keen on dealing with the problem. I mean they couldn't understand what I was talking about. But I had purchased the scanner from NewEgg and they gladly swapped it for a new one, which came clean with no problems. It will scan film negatives at 2400 x 4800 interpolated and that's roughly the same image a 10 megapixel camera will produce. I've found it useful when scanning photos for restoration and enlargement. You can scan at 600 dpi and basically double the size of the photo, but you'll never get the same quality of image as you will when scanning the negative. Today an upgrade would be the HP ScanJet4010 or 4050 with two pass 96 bit color, and twice the resolution. At $130 and $165 respectively, they are about double the cost of my LiDE 80, but for the serious photographer or graphic artist they are a Best Buy.
I haven't bothered to try out the Light Scribe option though the LG Super Multi is the second burner I have with that capability. (There's a Lite On burner in my desktop) What I look for is reliability, and in the case of the Super Multi, portability. It's a nice looking piece, and seems rugged enough for the field, Nero, and it burns DVDs.
I'll admit I haven't used the Aiptek graphics tablet, except to try it out. What I like is that it offers a full letter sized drawing surface, and seems fairly intuitive. Wacom has been the leader in this field, and may well be a better choice for professionals, but for hobbyist on a budget, or a home office it can be a handy tool.
Keep in mind that all but the T30 and the Super Multi were already in use, but the arrangements were pieced together. Now everything is in usable proximity and I like it.
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