Our editors’ desk setups, part 8: Martin’s got a standing desk, but never stands

A narrow, attic room serves as my home office. Besides my setup, the room has three other desks. On one of them, there’s my Brother multi-function printer. Behind my workstation, there’s another with my retro gaming PC build. Last year, I actually worked on that computer using Windows 98 for a whole week. The final desk is positioned right next to my workstation. It’s equipped with powerful gaming hardware (i7-12700K, RTX 3080 etc.) Not only that, but it’s also my wife’s workspace.

If you want to find out more about my retro back-up workstation, check out this article I wrote on it:

To make sure there’s still room to breathe, I chose desks that weren’t too large. The plus side of this? There’s very little space for clutter at my workspace. Though I have to admit, you can barely see the tabletop at my retro workstation right now. My workspace doesn’t normally look as tidy as it does in the header image. The only reason it’s so neat right now is that I recently installed a new monitor.

What’s on my standing desk (where I never stand)

My new monitor is an AOC Agon Pro (AG344UXM) with a mini-LED IPS panel. I’m happy with it so far, but I had to turn off local dimming for SDR content. It was enabled by default, causing the picture to flicker unpleasantly. At 34 inches, the monitor’s actually too close to my face. It’d be better if the tabletop were ten centimetres lower. However, since I practically always split my screen when I’m working, only focusing on one side, it’s fine for the time being.

My desk is a L33T Tournament Pro V2 (currently unavailable). I reviewed it almost four years ago, and it’s been on permanent loan from the manufacturer ever since. The gaming desk is relatively compact, and the height can be adjusted at the touch of a button. In fact, it’s almost too compact. It also has a huge, black, water-repellent mouse pad.

I’ve had my Keychron K4 for two and a half years. I’d never dream of giving the keyboard up – I’m super happy with it. And I feel the same about the wooden palm rest in front of it. Mind you, it’s lost some of its colour in a few places.

The mouse is less important to me than the keyboard. That’s not to say I don’t have standards when it comes to mice. It’s just that the one I got from work is good enough.

These glasses have been peering at me from behind my keyboard for a few months now. They remind me to keep a good distance away from the screen.

What’s more, I can blink each eye independently of the other by pulling the white strings on the glasses. It’s great.

I have a Logitech 720p webcam so that my team can see and hear me at our daily meetings. Another piece of kit I received from my employer. I personally would’ve gone for a 1080p model, but frankly, I prefer not appearing in sharp focus. To make sure I personally can see clearly, I always have a cloth handy for cleaning my glasses. I’ve grown fond of my Swiss Federal Railways cloth, as I did my apprenticeship there more than 20 years back.

I’ve positioned my webcam on the right-hand speaker of my 2.1 audio system. Which, by the way, sounds incredible. If I feel like it, I can turn up the bass to what feels like an infinite level. The speakers are also from Logitech. Since I enjoy being able to feel music through the subwoofer, I rarely use headphones.

Regardless of where I’m working, my number one priority is having a notepad to hand. Some thoughts are easier to internalise if I write them down on paper. I also like handwritten to-do lists and lists of ideas for future articles.

On the left, I have my «reward corner». The mushroom makes the same noise as the ones in Super Mario, lighting up whenever I press it. If I feel like taking a mental break from everything, I have Zelda set up and ready to play.

My chair of choice – and why I only ever sit when working

Working standing up is a good thing in itself. It’s something I’ve repeatedly resolved to do at various stages of my career. But much like New Year’s resolutions, I’ll do it for a few days or weeks before eventually forgetting about it and abandoning it completely.

Fortunately, my gaming chair suits me and my back perfectly. That’s why I don’t have any back problems, despite always sitting at work.

To be clear, the Recaro Exo Platinum chair doesn’t actually belong to me. It, too, is on permanent loan from the manufacturer. I’d also be able to get a Giroflex office chair from work if I wanted one. Giroflex chairs tend to be just as comfortable as the Recaro. They offer good lumbar support and are also more suited to people without a lanky build like mine. I, on the other hand, am staying true to the Recaro, which I consider to be just as good (besides the price).

My PC and its half-a-decade-old case

My work PC is a slightly outdated former gaming PC that I’ve upgraded multiple times. Last year, I fitted it with a new board and processor, both of which I bought second-hand. It also contains an Intel Core i5-10600K CPU, 32 gigabytes of RAM and a graphics card from late 2019 (an Nvidia Geforce GTX 1660 Super).

If you want to find out which adjustments I made to my PC rig before upgrading the processor, you can read about it in the next linked article.

Why I don’t use my workstation for PC games

Technically, my PC’s good enough to play less demanding games in good quality. Even so, I hardly ever use the graphics card for gaming. It supports my Photoshop efforts and is especially helpful with HDR video conversion of films.

The reason I swap my desk setup for another one after work is so that I can switch off from the working day. If I stay at the same desk, I find it difficult to do that. So if I’m surfing the net after work, I use my laptop or phone while sitting on the sofa or balcony. If I want to play games, I prefer using my PlayStation 5 and my 85-inch TV. If I’m playing a game that’s only available for PC, I game on my wife’s when she’s done using it.

---

You can read previously published editions of our Desk Setups series here: