Slashdot Mirror
Computer Desks and UPS's?
"I looked into Anthro Desks and Biomorph Desks and decided that they were out of my price range. I finally settled on Ikea's Jerker workstation (no picture available online that I have seen). Some of the things I like about it is that the height is adjustable (granted you have to take the desk apart to change that) and that I can add shelves on the side capable of holding up a 17" monitor.
I have had it a couple of weeks and like it, but wondered what solutions other people found.
In addition, what solution have Slashdot readers come up with for the hundreds of cables that currently reside under and behind computer desks everywhere?
I was also reading the article about quiet PCs and saw the reference to APC UPS's. I have been looking at them, and found that Tripp Lite UPS's tend to be cheaper and work better with the Mac OS. What experiences do Slashdot people have with different UPS's?"
I had exactly the same problem, I needed a large desk to fit more than one machine on, that would also fit into my bedroom.
:)
I got a glass topped table from habitat - I think its called "AcidEtch", I then bought some trestle legs for it - whole lot came to about £250.00 for an 5ft x 2ft glass topped table. It looks gorgeous, has room for 3 machines, as well as enough room for paper etc, and doesn't take up more than its fair share of my bedroom, its almost indestructable as well - the glass is 12mm thick, and weighs a ton!. Also, the trestle legs that go with it (can't remember the name) - are L shaped, and rather skinny - ideal for strapping 4 gang adapaters to
Best of all, as its not designed as a computer desk it can be reused around the rest of the house should I ever get one of those groovy ones from ThinkGeek.
I have a dual-monitor setup; I feel your pain. Although being able to put, say, Maple on one screen and Emacs on the other has done wonders for my workflow (at least, I *feel* more productive ;) I now have less room for those all-important back-of-the-envelope calculations.
:P). Get an n-port KVM to handle your n-1 'other' computers, or run them headless if possible. (Neat point: When you switch computers w/ the KVM, only one monitor will change, so hook it up to your 'secondary' screen (google-search for it, man) because they have ridiculously small footprints. Get a trackball, or better yet one of those little 'mousing pads' (a la laptop); the latter is just amazing for workflow if you put it where you can get your thumb on it w/o leaving home row. Using the pointer becomes almost as efficient as the keyboard. ;) If you go for the trackball option or don't like 'thumbing' the pointer, then see if (like myself) you can comfortably type with the keyboard on your lap (the trick is to lean back and keep the board as close to your knees as possible). Finally, take one or both of your dual heads, a stud-finder (the sonic kind for walls, not some sort of attractive-male GPS locator), some screws, a plank of plywood and some 0.40$ L-supports, and put one/both of the monitors (the smaller one, preferably! Really important that the shelf can bear the load! Do not do this with a 30" monstrosity!) on your wall, and then fiddle your XF86Config to give you a 'tall/narrow' Xinerama rather than 'short/wide' (assuming that you left one monitor on the desk, as I have). Now go and install a cool windowmanager, like Oroborus, and decorate your monitors with whatever stickers/ornaments appeal to you. This makes the workspace *feel* more comfortable and therefore more spacious. Or something.
;)
Space-saving tips and tricks: Get rid of your speakers. Get wall- or ceiling-mounted lighting (preferably halogen track lighting; I don't care what you prefer, halogen track lighting's the best
Then, get some moist towelettes for your friends to clean themselves up with after they've stopped drooling.
- undoware.ca
Would you really let ThinkGeek or anyone else ship you something labled 'Anthro' or 'Biomorphic' ?
You'll have the Minister of Fatherland^H^H^H^H^H^H^HHomeland defence on your ass in an instant.
- undoware.ca
put the shelves "facing" each other
put the door on the shelf at the height you want it and make sure the shelves are strong enough
viola
even brand new desk with shelves
all for under $100 even if you buy the stuff brand new
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
Fine, thank you, and you?
I have been picking up pieces of office furnature that can be connected together. So I have a 60" table for $180. Get two of those and a corner piece, and it should cost you less than $1000, even if you get drawers and shelves for it, and you can put your stuff wherever you want. Works much better than the desks that are suposedly designed for computers.
And remember, $1000 in computing hardware is going to be obselete in a year or two. But $1000 in good desk hardware will last you for years and years.
I have TrippLite UPS, and it's great. Never had an APS one, so I can't comment. The only thing that APS UPS boxes may have is slightly better monitoring capabilities, depending on the model.
Gentoo Sucks
If you are looking for Dirt Cheap, I have exactly what you are looking for. I got this desk from OfficeMax for less than $200. It has just enough room for 2 19" monitors on each side. I it is just big enough to fit my 2 monitors, speakers, tower, and laptop on it. It could squeeze another monitor on it if necessary. And is just small enough to fit in my crowded room. It really doesn't have anything in the way of drawers, but I got what I paid for.
I picked up an attractive, modern looking wall mount bracket from the local furniture/appliance store. Its good enough for up to 27" televisions and holds my other large computer monitor well. The monitors can easily be swiveled in any angle with these mounts.
Mounting the monitors on the wall left my entire desk surface free for papers and books. With the remaining opening in the desk, I shoehorned in two a stout UPS unit with two marine batteries coupled by 6 guage wire. I also included recessed lighting under the desk. If the power ever goes out for a long time, I'll still have lights, room to work, and play on my computer for a day or two.
A coworker recently rebuilt his home office using kitchen and bathroom cabinets, base units, vanities, and counters. They are relatively inexpensive (come on now, you really don't need marble tops and cherry cabinets, do you?), and come in a massive variety of configurations. He even got some full-height pantries to add storage. Personally, I have an okay desk, but I may get some kitchen wall cabinets to add on due to a severe lack of storage space. Hell, I have a good 4 feet above the desk that's unused, might as well put it to use!
While not what most people would think of as classy, I was in teh search for a desk that i could put in at least 2 computers, and maybe still have space for doing my paperwork in the middle...
I was even considering getting a somewhat cheap computer desk for around $200, which would definately crimp my wallet for a while.
But instead, i found the perfect solution, which gave me far more space then any desk that ive seen available...
a quick trip to home depot:
I picked up a 3/4" sheet of pine, 2x6 ft. for $25
Using 2 speakers i had lying around (from an old ent center i obtained, about 30" high) i put the table on top of them, gave it a nice coat of stain..
The result: a good, sturdy desk thats currently holding 2 comps, gives me space for 2 keyboards and associated mice on the table, and i still have a foot or 2 of paper/junk space in between.
all for $30, and less time then it would take to assemble one of the desks you get from most places.
Definately a good idea for the geek on a budget.
My next step, is to build some shelves onto it, to keep my books and assorted periperals..
estimated cost: another $20 or so.
Stop over-analyzing your analizations
Perhaps not the easiest-bought-at-Office-Depot solution, but I've found something that works wonders. An old friend of mine actually did the dirty work on it, and I inherited the thing when he graduated college.
You get a hold of a large piece of thick, bevelled glass (3/4" thick.) As big as you want, but keep in mind this stuff's heavy. Then you get some cinder blocks/bricks/felt on top [so you don't scratch the glass] and you're all set.
Looks dang sharp, it's solid, never shakes, and correctly supported holds a few thousand pounds. The paine of glass was about $150, and the bricks under $1/a piece.
Here's a picture of mine, if you're interested. Good stuff.
if you look into pro audio and recording magazines you will find many desks setup for multiple monitors and extra gear...these usually have places for large speakers as well...
most studios will use 2 monitors...one for the "mixer" one for the track waveform diagrams for editing...
Kenny Sabarese
www.kennysabarese.com
I've got two 'folding tables' one a 36x72 - the other 30x60. About 100-150 bucks for both. A couple of 'mending plates' from Lowes. Screw desks together . More than enough room for two monitors, and if you buy some cable molding and screw underneith it looks very clean.
can be found here. Building the desk yourself is a very enticing option, especially, as I had mentioned in the previous posting, if you add in monitor arms. With the monitor arms, you lift the monitors (or better yet, your LCD panels) up above the working desk surface and free up the space for your paper clutter. If you use good unfinished plywood or solid wood as your desk surface, I'd personally add a few coats of stain and polyurethane, and then top it off with an epoxy surface (you essentially pour on the epoxy) that gives it a glass-like top, much like what you see on nice bar surfaces. The epoxy kit can be purchased from Environmental Technologies Inc..
Linux at home
The thing I found best to handle the mess of cables is the twisty ties used for loaves of bread.
If you buy a box of trash bags you get about 30 of 'em. Works alot better than tie wraps because you don't have to cut them and risk nicking the wires. The velcro things are way too expensive.
I hope that someday we will be able to put away our fears and prejudices and just laugh at people. - Jack Handey
I have two computers and each has a Back Ups Pro 500 USB. I had upgraded the motherboard of one of the machines, but for some reason, the software could not detect the UPS's USB connection. I emailed APC about the problem. The tech asked me to try several things to get it working again with no success. Within three emails I had an RMA number for a new UPS. The new unit worked fine. Why is this a good reason to buy APC? The unit in question was out of warranty and I had informed them of that fact.
They cost about $39 at staples.
can't get easier than that.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
You can buy cheap 2 drawer file cabinets from any discount store for about $20. Kitchen countertop is avaliable from home improvement stores and is quite inexpensive if purchased in standard colors and lengths. I think that I got a 6' section for about $25 last year. this arrangement supports my 19" monitor, printer and stereo just fine. If you need space for another monitor you would probably want to get an 8 or 10 foot section. Overall, it's really a cheap way to get a desk and you probably needed a few file cabinets anyway.
I don't want free as in beer. I just want free beer.
I'm a nuts and bolts kinda guy. So if you are one of those folks who insists on buying a "monitor support stand" in colors matching your decor, you're not going to like my ideas. If, on the other hand, like me, you're using a couple of old copies of the "Computer Shopper" to support your monitor, read on....
First, try Office Depo/Max. They sell folding tables for around US$50. 4', 5', 6', and 8', with the 5/6/8' ones 2.5' wide. These are convenient, cheap, easily installed, correctly braced, easily stored/transported when necessary, etc. Just mix and match. I've got 3 in my current office/lab/gameroom, forming a U shaped desk about 19' in total length.
Drawback: Position yourself properly or your knees will hit the supports. (But that's true with anything.)
Alternatively, there's the old trick of a thick material (0.75" to 1" plywood, thick glass, solid doors, etc) spread across 2 supports (file cabinets, bookshelves, bricks, etc).
Behind the tables, install some ordinary (read: cheap) bookshelves. The top shelves will still be useful overtop the monitors. Leave some space behind the monitors so the CRT (if you are still using CRTs) can stick back into that space.
Over at Home Depo, and similar mega-hardware stores, they sell heavy-duty snap-together plastic shelving. Presumably intended to store things like paint cans in garages or other wet areas... These things are amazingly solid. They can support a great deal of weight. They consist of 2.5" thick 3'x1.5' plastic shelves with an open-rib design, held up by four 1.625" diameter cylindric supports. About 5 feet tall overall, but you can leave shelves off. I leave out the 2nd (up from the bottom) and top shelf off, and place it on top of my Office Depo folding table. Then put the computers and monitors on top of the bottom shelf. Bottom shelf keeps supports stable and locked in place. The open rib design provides for extra ventilation under everything, and it's a good place to stash wires out-of-the-way.
The two top shelves provide extra storage. Along with another place to run wires up and out of the way...
Like the wires for my stereo. I don't believe in spending a fortune on computer speakers. For less money, I've found I can get a better deal buying a decent bookshelf stereo, with all the features that entails: IR-remote-control, AM/FM radio, tape, cd, amplifier, and a darn fine set of speakers... Naturally, I pick one that has an AUX input, and wire my soundcard into it...
As the shelves are open-rib, I can run the wires straight up, and put my stereo on the shelf above my monitor. A few rat belts later, and I've got my speakers hanging below the shelf, attached to the ribs, and aimed straight at me.
APC vs no-name UPS's. Curious factiod: Every store I visited sold a different no-name brand of UPS. Very cheaply. No two stores, unless they were the same mega-chain, sold the same no-name brand. But every store also had APC...
APC was the only common brand. APC has been around for a long time. I'll bet my dollars that they will still be around when I have a problem... Or when I need new batteries... I'll also bank on an APC UPS to do its job, no matter what. On the other hand, they are a lot more expensive.
It's a choice. I prefer to pay my money up front. If the UPS has problems, I'm going to have problems... Good o'l Duquesne Light, my electric company, has short-term (less than 30 seconds) blackouts on a regular basis... With longer 3-10 hour blackouts still somewhat more frequently than I would like. I bought my first APC unit before I bought my tele-commuting computer. I still don't understand how people get uptimes of 180 days with linux. I think they must own generators...
A few things you may not have considered:
Rat belts. Buy a ton of these. Use them everywhere. They're cheap. Neatness counts. It will make things much easier to deal with for years to come...
Office Depo/Max sells labelers. These things print, quite nicely, onto adhesive tape. They are also extremely inexpensive.
Label everything. All the cords. All the wires. Everything. It's a small bit of effort, and the payoff is worth it all when something falls out. Or when you have a blackout, and you are trying to plug the monitor into the UPS to shut things down...
Plug computers, switches, hubs, etc into the UPS. Put anything non-critical (monitors, stereo, etc) on non-UPS power. This lets your UPS last considerably longer during a blackout. And, when you need to power one of these devices during a blackout, you can just plug it in and spend your limited battery reserves more wisely.
Install a Hepa-air-filtration unit. Replace the carbon-filter every 3-6 months. This will remove a lot of dust and debris that would normally accumulate inside your computers...
Don't skimp on your chair! The desk, workspace, whatever. That's fine to skimp on. But your chair better be ergonomic, or you are going to be in pain... It's worth it to sink some serious (over US$100, perhaps over US$200) money into a decent chair!
Wire power and ethernet in before *ANYTHING* else. Buy inexpensive power strips -- lots of them. Home Depo sells their low-end strips for around US$3. Screw-mount them on plywood out in front, vertically, where they are easily reachable. Risking electrocution, scrabbling behind all sorts of junk, trying to remember whether a power strip is UPS or non-UPS, unable to see what you are plugging into and doing it all by "touch" is strictly for the birds... Go to one of these mega-hardware stores, choose some nice-looking plywood, have them cut it up for you (typically free if you are buying the wood), buy some mounting hardware, and install the power layout before you touch your computers...
I easily broke US$200 on my power layout. (27 power strips (*), extension cords, etc.) But it was worth every penny. It may seem foolish, spending a fortune on power layout, and skimping on the furniture. But believe me, this is one area you don't want to skimp on... Furniture is about appearances. Power distribution is about utility: Convenient access and avoiding electrocution/fire hazards.
(*) I have 9 primary computers, assorted secondaries, plus support infrastructure. Yes, I do have more computing power than the lab I work in over at the university... Yes, I had to split it across multiple circuit breakers...
I finally settled on Ikea's Jerker workstation
:-)
Just the thing for the average computer-pr0n viewer.. it includes a special shelf to hold the box of tissues and bottle of lube, and a salad bar-style, er, "sneeze guard" to go over the keyboard. Choose from four delightful colors, or buy one "naked" and stain it yourself!
Back on topic, I too have a computer desk from IKEA. I just waltzed in there and bought the desk with the largest surface area they offered, which was about 63.0" x 29.5". Screwed a couple of the cableways they sell to the underside, and I was in business. I carefully set up all my hardware to minimize the number of cords on the floor, and I've been computing away on it since 1994. I wish it were a little sturdier, though, it needs support in the middle or it bows. Of course, that's with a Power Mac, 17" & 14" monitors and a big old SCSI scanner on it.
~Philly
It's surprisingly sturdy, which is more than you can say for a lot of the stuff Ikea sells... I have a 19" Monitor and my FongKai603 case on the upper of the two shelves, with keyboard, mouse, and etc. on the work surface. Since you can add on more shelves vertically, too, I have a topmost shelf with my scanner and printer... With the Jerker, you can really customize things to the point that you have a nice work cockpit or pod with things arranged all around you...