Sick of laptop docks and spaghetti cables, I moved my entire daily workflow to a Windows 11 PC no bigger than a bagel

[Windows Central]

A quiet Geekom mini PC proves a far cleaner solution for my busy desk than a docked laptop with a mess of trailing wires and adapters.

Sick of laptop docks and spaghetti cables, I moved my entire daily workflow to a Windows 11 PC no bigger than a bagel : Read more

 

[Brian Grier]

While I understand your pain in jostling cables, you might want to consider using video switch(es) and USB switches to share your monitor(s) and peripherals with multiple PCs

I have 4 PCs (Orange Pi, Mac Mini (m1), thunderbolt docking station (for my work and personal laptops,) and my gaming PC. These all share two monitors (wqhd and fullhd) a single keyboard, mouse, a webcam along with my development android devices and cameras.

The only cable I ever have to move is the thunderbolt cable between laptops. Then I just press the button on the USB switch to select the computer I want to use. The video switches automatically select the correct input, if I only have one device on (otherwise I have to use a remote to change the video source).

 

[systemBuilder2]

1. $999 for an old CPU (8945hs) is a pretty steep price, please shop around.
2. The 6800h is a RDNA2 6800m iGPU (12cu's) so only esports are playable.
3. I use a $12 asus candybar adapter (aliexpress) so my laptop needs only 1 single USB plug-in.
4. I use a KCEVE 4-way KVM so that my desktop, my laptop, and my Raspberry Pi can all share the same 4K TV screen, keyboard, mouse, and camera, all going in via 1 USB and 1 HDMI port. This is a 4K@60Hz KVM and switching between inputs happens instantly (less than 1 second).
5. MiniPCs are cool, but I'd wait ~2 months until the new Ryzen5 Strix Halo ones come out with 4070 iGPU performance !!

 

[BaritoneGuy]

What about a monitor with a built in dock? I have a 34” ultrawide with a bunch of ports.

One USB C cable to my laptop is all that is needed. I get Ethernet, charging, USB and it is less cables than this solution would need. For this PC you need a power brick, monitor cable, Ethernet, and USB upstream for the ports on the monitor to work.

I have power and Ethernet into the monitor which has good cable management.

 

[TheBeav111]

1. $999 for an old CPU (8945hs) is a pretty steep price, please shop around.
2. The 6800h is a RDNA2 6800m iGPU (12cu's) so only esports are playable.
3. I use a $12 asus candybar adapter (aliexpress) so my laptop needs only 1 single USB plug-in.
4. I use a KCEVE 4-way KVM so that my desktop, my laptop, and my Raspberry Pi can all share the same 4K TV screen, keyboard, mouse, and camera, all going in via 1 USB and 1 HDMI port. This is a 4K@60Hz KVM and switching between inputs happens instantly (less than 1 second).
5. MiniPCs are cool, but I'd wait ~2 months until the new Ryzen5 Strix Halo ones come out with 4070 iGPU performance !!

Only eSports are playable??? What does that mean? If it can play Rimworld or Stellaris I'm happy lol... Aren't most eSports AAA? I'm not into eSports at all but I'm a network engineer and built my first computer in 97...

 

[marorun]

1. $999 for an old CPU (8945hs) is a pretty steep price, please shop around.
2. The 6800h is a RDNA2 6800m iGPU (12cu's) so only esports are playable.
3. I use a $12 asus candybar adapter (aliexpress) so my laptop needs only 1 single USB plug-in.
4. I use a KCEVE 4-way KVM so that my desktop, my laptop, and my Raspberry Pi can all share the same 4K TV screen, keyboard, mouse, and camera, all going in via 1 USB and 1 HDMI port. This is a 4K@60Hz KVM and switching between inputs happens instantly (less than 1 second).
5. MiniPCs are cool, but I'd wait ~2 months until the new Ryzen5 Strix Halo ones come out with 4070 iGPU performance !!

I personally have the beelink SER9 got it at blackfriday deal for 700$.

It play cyberpunk medium settings at 60 fps and many others games at medium to high settings and esport it reach over 100 fps easily.

Still most games I play are on the cloud (GeForce now, boosteroid)

What I love is it small and take no space and it can run the rare games I can't run on the cloud.

It even have frame gen as it based on rdna 3.5 (its the amd ai hx 370 with 16 gpu core radeon 890m) at the price I paid for it it's a great value.

 

[Ben Wilson]

While I understand your pain in jostling cables, you might want to consider using video switch(es) and USB switches to share your monitor(s) and peripherals with multiple PCs

I have 4 PCs (Orange Pi, Mac Mini (m1), thunderbolt docking station (for my work and personal laptops,) and my gaming PC. These all share two monitors (wqhd and fullhd) a single keyboard, mouse, a webcam along with my development android devices and cameras.

The only cable I ever have to move is the thunderbolt cable between laptops. Then I just press the button on the USB switch to select the computer I want to use. The video switches automatically select the correct input, if I only have one device on (otherwise I have to use a remote to change the video source).

You're right about the switch; I have at least one switch for my secondary monitor: a cheap UGREEN 2-to-1 HDMI that feeds a basic 1080p 60Hz screen. KVM switches are tempting, too, but my keyboard and mouse are wireless anyway, so I tend to leave the dongles in one machine and connect cables to the other, which isn't too bad.

Your setup sounds extra cool, though, and something that I'll probably 'graduate' to when I next hit payday.

 

[Ben Wilson]

1. $999 for an old CPU (8945hs) is a pretty steep price, please shop around.
2. The 6800h is a RDNA2 6800m iGPU (12cu's) so only esports are playable.
3. I use a $12 asus candybar adapter (aliexpress) so my laptop needs only 1 single USB plug-in.
4. I use a KCEVE 4-way KVM so that my desktop, my laptop, and my Raspberry Pi can all share the same 4K TV screen, keyboard, mouse, and camera, all going in via 1 USB and 1 HDMI port. This is a 4K@60Hz KVM and switching between inputs happens instantly (less than 1 second).
5. MiniPCs are cool, but I'd wait ~2 months until the new Ryzen5 Strix Halo ones come out with 4070 iGPU performance !!

I agree that Strix Halo is tempting, but one of my biggest reasons for moving away from my desktop is that I didn't want to play games on the work machine. It's not that I don't have any discipline, but it's nice to have games 'separated' from everything else. The mini PC practically only has a browser and a few key apps installed for work, with the rest of the storage space holding Photoshop project files and other bulky backups.

The KVM switch is clever, though. It's probably better for me than a full-blown docking station, especially when the mini PC already has a massive I/O selection. As it stands, I only swap out a cable to my audio mixer and connect a USB-C cable to my keyboard when I switch, but if I can cut that down to a button, that would be awesome.

 

[Ben Wilson]

What about a monitor with a built in dock? I have a 34” ultrawide with a bunch of ports.

One USB C cable to my laptop is all that is needed. I get Ethernet, charging, USB and it is less cables than this solution would need. For this PC you need a power brick, monitor cable, Ethernet, and USB upstream for the ports on the monitor to work.

I have power and Ethernet into the monitor which has good cable management.

Yeah, the Alienware monitor I mentioned in the article has four USB-A ports, which hold my peripheral dongles and a spare cable to connect an Xbox controller. It could be faster, though, and upgrading to a Thunderbolt/USB4 monitor is incredibly tempting. We'll see what discounts happen soon, and I might upgrade!

 

[Ben Wilson]

Only eSports are playable??? What does that mean? If it can play Rimworld or Stellaris I'm happy lol... Aren't most eSports AAA? I'm not into eSports at all but I'm a network engineer and built my first computer in 97...

I thought eSports players dropped all the settings to the minimum? (lol)

Then again, my idea of eSports is still Quake 3 Arena. I'm not down with the kids and their Valorants.