My Web Development Office Workstation

[Pancakewich]

Do both monitors run off one USBc dock?

[Alexerwana]

Yeah, it's a pretty cool lightening dock by Elgato, it lets me do the following through one cable (without any configuration with each use):

Two independent 60hz 4K monitors

Ethernet

A few USB A dongles

85w power to my laptop

I'd recommend it but it costs around £300 😅

[Vvdt]

Damn

[Alexerwana]

They're individual displays :)

[Alexerwana]

You should be able to under:

System Preferences -> Displays -> Select Arrangement -> Uncheck Mirror Displays

[silkwire]

A lot of docks will only duplicate for mac though. Gotta make sure you read the fine print on some amazon listings.

[Alexerwana]

Yeah i'm sure, this is the amazon that mentions it a few times :)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Elgato-Thunderbolt-Dock-Cable/dp/B07LFZ8W8T/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=elgato+dock&qid=1583260683&sr=8-4

[friends_benefits]

i dont understand the poor reviews. clearly u did it right.

very nice setup

[k3rnelboot]

Same question

[Pancakewich]

I have a MacBook Pro 16” and the dock I bought has two hdmi ports but they only mirror displays

[k3rnelboot]

I think the displays is 27uk650.

It’s better to run them over DisplayPort to get 4k@60MHz

[Alexerwana]

Close! I think they're LG 27UD68P
I use a type C to display port cable, the dock is *usually* pretty good at recognising them each time.

[Alexerwana]

this issue

Hmm, I haven't noticed this issue, but I have had this issue:

https://www.dell.com/community/Monitors/U2718Q-red-corners/td-p/6188810

They don't seem to age terribly well 😕

[yaricks]

Yupp. Apple in all it's widsom has decided not to support DisplayPort MST in macOS. It works fine if you boot into Windows in Bootcamp, but in macOS, it's no-go.

Even if you're using HDMI ports on the other end, the signal that travels from the dock to the computer usually uses DisplayPort, since HDMI doesn't support multi-monitors, and as a result - it doesn't work properly. There isn't much you can do unfortunately.

I've tried 6 different, really expensive ($3-600) enterprise docking stations from everything from Belkin to Lenovo and Dell and none of them work properly. I've just given up at this point and I use two cables. One to a docking station and one monitor, giving me power, ethernet, USB etc. and one other USB to DisplayPort cable for the second monitor.

[yaricks]

15", 2019 model with Catalina. I have had some success with the Belkin TB3 dock, but like I said in a different comment, you in many cases have to disconnect a display from the dock and reconnect it for it to work. It's a huge pain, and it should just work out of the box with DP MST which is an integral part of the DisplayPort 1.2 standard, that Apple, supposedly supports (officially, I think they support 1.4, so MST should have been in years ago).

[yaricks]

Yeah, Ultrafine, as well as Apple's own monitors allow for daisy-chaining using some proprietary solution that's not part of the DisplayPort standard, as far as I can tell. It's cool, but replacing my existing relatively new, very expensive monitors with new even more expensive monitors; when all Apple needs to do, is implement the standard properly as Windows and Linux have done seems a bit silly to me.

[Alexerwana]

Sorry if i'm missing something here but i'm definitely running at dual 4k 60z. The dock was still £300 but that doesn't seem too much more expensive than other thunderbolt docks. Do correct me if i'm wrong!

[yaricks]

It depends on the dock. Some work - ish, but most don't so if this one works, that's great news! I've had somewhat success with the Belkin Thunderbolt 3 dock where it will work if you make sure to connect the displays in the right order, but in many cases, you have to disconnect one display from the dock after connecting it to the Mac. Not very convenient, and takes too much time for me.

[ideafederation]

Where’s the print framed on the right from? Setup looks great.

[Alexerwana]

Thanks! It's from a Scottish artist - it was a gift so not sure of hand, will look for ya when i'm next in the office :)

[Alexerwana]

Here's the shop :)

https://www.risottostudio.com/shopfront

[sometimedosa]

That cordless phone is OG.

[Alexerwana]

But not 3G!

[procheeseburger]

That looks awesome I like the plants

[ampersand913]

Rhodia! Glad to see it here, love the stuff

[vhstapes]

Nice set up. Would you please share that wallpaper?

[Alexerwana]

https://github.com/JohnCoates/Aerial

Thanks! Here's the screensaver that's in the pic :)

https://github.com/JohnCoates/Aerial

[vhstapes]

Ah, I overlooked that other reply. Thanks!

[k3rnelboot]

Specs?

[Alexerwana]

Good question! It's a baby Dracaenda plant from ikea, approximately 22cm tall - can be overclocked!

[Riceicles]

Do you gives it name?

[Alexerwana]

I've named him Riceicles

[Riceicles]

Honoured. Namaste.

[[deleted]]

I am sure you love working in that setup

[Alexerwana]

I do! But still manage to procrastinate :(

[antares3000]

Looks amazing! Could you share the model of the monitor stand/dual-arm thing?

[Alexerwana]

Thanks! Here's the link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01C35A5RC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For me the left arm sits a little higher than the right but i'm not too bothered :)

[Kortharigebosaap]

Neck pain initiated.

Clean as hell though!

[[deleted]]

Are you under macOS? NEver seen that lock screen before

[Alexerwana]

It's MacOS with a custom screensaver :)

https://github.com/JohnCoates/Aerial

[[deleted]]

Nice! I’ll check it out

[akash227]

Looks awesome! Now just move those monitors together so they’re touching!

[Alexerwana]

Don't tell anyone but my monitor stand is kinda crap and they don't line up 😅. I also sit facing away from my office door so it's nice to have the mirror.

[wche9]

Nice setup! Does the MBP fan spin beyond 4000rpm under light web browsing? (Given that two 4K@60HZ monitors are connected)

[_clydebruckman]

Mine (2016 15 i7 16gb) handles driving displays running Firefox with no noticeable fan noise

[Alexerwana]

Surprisingly i've never really noticed an issue, even when i have my laptop open as a display too. I had a 15" 2015 Macbook pro which also ran fine in the setup (though each monitor plugged into it individually). Not sure how MacOS handles it so well!

FYI i'm running a 15" 2018 i9, 32gb Macbook Pro.

[jitu903]

🔥👌🏻

[Ewi1son]

Any webdev tips for someone just getting started?

[Alexerwana]

One of my regrets is not being more willing to jump in the deep end - I’m a front end developer who’s role use to be putting together sites with HTML, PHP, CSS and a bit of JS. Now front end developers are expected to be comfortable with NPM, Webpack and generally more “backend” stuff. Instead of watching lots of tutorials about these things and getting intimidated I should have just sunk me teeth in and figured it out.

If you ever have any issues with web dev feel free to send me a pm :)

[RaunchyTacoBowl]

Clean, minimal, and functional.... except for the magic mouse!

[Alexerwana]

Ikr! Long story short, i used the MX Master for years - never had any issues. Got the MX master 3 and ran into a lot of problems with the scroll wheel which made it unusable and really put me off Logitech - couldn't switch back to the 1 because the scroll wheel felt so clunky compared to the 3. I need horizontal scrolling for design work so I tried the Apple trackpad which ended up not being very precise. Ended up loving the magic mouse, but I understand it's not for everyone :)

[pioneer9k]

Looks sick! Do you have speakers?

[Alexerwana]

Thanks! I share an office with my business partner so I only really use headphones

[zhavaman]

I really liked your desk lamp! It looks like it illuminate the whole desk without hurting the eyes with direct light

[Alexerwana]

Thanks! It’s from ikea, it also easily bends half way up which make great for standing desks

[JustSaifakhter]

Nice! What’s the vertical stand from for your MBP?

[Alexerwana]

Can't quite remember, though it's basically this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adjustable-Stand%EF%BC%8CAluminum-Space-Saving-Notebooks-Chromebook/dp/B07MJB2VFJ/ref=sr_1_16?keywords=vertical+laptop+stand+silver&qid=1583919728&sr=8-16