01 · Monitor Picked
Alienware AW3821DW
Dell's 37.5-inch curved ultrawide: 3840×1600 Nano IPS at 144 Hz, G-Sync Ultimate and DisplayHDR 600 — one screen the width of the desk. A 2021 model, since discontinued.
★★★★★ · $900 / one-time Catalog ↳
← Capsules
Plate 1 · On the desk
The desk
What sits on the desk itself — the instruments of the working day, from the camera that faces me to the pen that needs no battery.
15 slots · 13 picked · 2 on approval · The key ↓
Scroll to walk the desk
1 of 4 · On camera
Light is the first of painters. There is no object so foul that intense light will not make beautiful.
The half of the desk that faces out — what you see of me, and what you hear.
Monitor
Alienware AW3821DW
Picked · ★★★★★ · $900 / one-time · Catalog ↳
Dell's 37.5-inch curved ultrawide: 3840×1600 Nano IPS at 144 Hz, G-Sync Ultimate and DisplayHDR 600 — one screen the width of the desk. A 2021 model, since discontinued.
Webcam
Facecam Pro Elgato
Picked · ★★★★☆ · $300 / one-time · Catalog ↳
Elgato's Facecam Pro. Billed as the first 4K60 webcam, with a large Sony sensor and a premium autofocus lens for a decent feed that struggles in low light. Now discontinued.
Document camera
IPEVO V4K Document Camera
On approval · $120 / one-time · Catalog ↳
An 8-megapixel USB document camera on a folding arm: autofocus, 3264 × 2448 stills, Full HD video at up to 30 fps, and a shooting area of about 13.5 × 10 inches. It shows up as a plain USB video device (UVC), so it needs no driver.
Teleprompter
Prompter Elgato
Picked · ★★★★☆ · $300 / one-time · Catalog ↳
Elgato's all-in-one teleprompter — a 9-inch display over your lens so you read scripts, apps, and notes while holding eye contact.
Lighting
Key Lights Elgato
Picked · ★★★★★ · $180 / one-time · Catalog ↳
As just re-discovered, now in earnest, lighting does matter a lot. And some cheap lighting goes a very long way.
Microphone
Wave 3 Elgato
Picked · ★★★★★ · $170 / one-time · Catalog ↳
Elgato's USB condenser mic — onboard DSP, Clipguard distortion protection, and a capacitive tap-to-mute for clean streams and podcasts.
2 of 4 · Under the hands
Man is a Tool-using Animal. … Without Tools he is nothing, with Tools he is all.
Where the work actually happens: a keystroke, a click, a dial, a tap of the foot.
Keyboard
Leopold FC900R
Picked · $150 / one-time · Catalog ↳
Leopold's full-size board in Charcoal Blue, with double-shot PBT keycaps on Cherry MX switches. The link is to the NP900RBT, the plateless Bluetooth model in the same series.
Mouse
Keychron M6
Picked · $75 / one-time · Catalog ↳
Keychron's ergonomic wireless mouse: a PixArt sensor at up to 30,000 DPI and 8,000 Hz polling, 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth or wired, 78–86 g, up to 180 hours on a charge, with a second scroll wheel under the thumb.
Stream controller
Stream Deck Plus Elgato
Picked · ★★★★☆ · $180 / one-time · Catalog ↳
Elgato's control surface — 8 customizable LCD keys, 4 rotary dials, and a touch strip to trigger scenes, mix audio, and fire off app actions.
Foot pedal
Stream Deck Pedal Elgato
Picked · ★★★★★ · $90 / one-time · Catalog ↳
Elgato's three-pedal USB footswitch — hands-free triggers for macros, mute, push-to-talk, and any Stream Deck action.
3 of 4 · On paper
Merchants have their waste book, in which they enter from day to day everything they sell and buy, all jumbled together without order. … This deserves to be imitated by the learned.
Some thinking still wants ink.
Notebook
Maruman Mnemosyne N104 Notebook
Picked · ★★★★★ · $13 / one-time · Catalog ↳
I have two and the paper is just as premium as the most excellent layout.
Pen
LAMY safari Fountain Pen
Picked · ★★★★★ · $30 / one-time · Catalog ↳
Loathsome to admit, but my pen journey has led me to fountain pens. Foppish connotations aside, it is a true pleasure to scrawl notes with a fountain pen.
4 of 4 · For company
I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.
What keeps a long day from feeling like one.
Speakers
Logitech G560
Picked · ★★★★★ · $250 / one-time · Catalog ↳
An ever-so-slightly premium sound solution for somebody who listens to music and plays the occasional game.
Desk companion
M5StackChan AI Desktop Robot
On approval · $99 / one-time · Catalog ↳
A cute lil' open-source AI desktop robot built on the ESP32-S3. On the bench, still evaluating.
Status display
BUSY Bar Flipper Devices
Picked · ★★★★★ · $250 / one-time · Catalog ↳
Flipper's desk status light: a 72×16 RGB LED matrix up front, a small OLED on the back, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth LE and USB-C, Matter for Apple Home and Google Home, and open-source firmware with Python and TypeScript libraries.
Lights out
Fifteen slots on the desk: thirteen held, two on approval.
Every job is held. Nothing joins until it replaces something: one in, one out.
Plate 1 · The desk, from above
Key to the plate
Every job on the desk, in the order the walk takes them. The number is the one on the plate.
On camera
- No. 01 Monitor Alienware AW3821DW ★★★★★ · $900 / one-time
- No. 02 Webcam Facecam Pro Elgato ★★★★☆ · $300 / one-time
- No. 03 Document camera IPEVO V4K Document Camera On approval · $120 / one-time
- No. 04 Teleprompter Prompter Elgato ★★★★☆ · $300 / one-time
- No. 05 Lighting Key Lights Elgato ★★★★★ · $180 / one-time
- No. 06 Microphone Wave 3 Elgato ★★★★★ · $170 / one-time
Under the hands
- No. 07 Keyboard Leopold FC900R $150 / one-time
- No. 08 Mouse Keychron M6 $75 / one-time
- No. 09 Stream controller Stream Deck Plus Elgato ★★★★☆ · $180 / one-time
- No. 10 Foot pedal Stream Deck Pedal Elgato ★★★★★ · $90 / one-time
On paper
- No. 11 Notebook Maruman Mnemosyne N104 Notebook ★★★★★ · $13 / one-time
- No. 12 Pen LAMY safari Fountain Pen ★★★★★ · $30 / one-time
For company
- No. 13 Speakers Logitech G560 ★★★★★ · $250 / one-time
- No. 14 Desk companion M5StackChan AI Desktop Robot On approval · $99 / one-time
- No. 15 Status display BUSY Bar Flipper Devices ★★★★★ · $250 / one-time
15 slots · 13 picked · 2 on approval brianthackston.com/capsules/desk · printed