Cambridge Desk Setup 2020

Hey friends and welcome back to the channel. If you're new here, mine name's Ray and I'm a second-year physics student at Cambridge and in this video I'll taking you through a tour of my university desk setup for this year. As always, timestamps will be linked in the description below so do check those out during or after the video.

So the first thing is the desk itself. It's 190x56 cm and was provided by the university. It's been here for at least decade so looks somewhat worn out after being used by previous students but I don't mind. It has 8 spacious drawers which is really good for storing snacks, papers, and stuff in general. I usually store my phone in one of these drawers when I want to be working.

Next up is the chair. It is a standard office chair, also provided by the university. I do like it because it reaches the optimal height for typing which makes the experience both more comfortable and enjoyable.

And then the most important part of the desk is the laptop. It is a `Dell Inspiron 15" 7000 Series` which I bought last year for £700. The specifications are on the screen now for anyone interested. The laptop is mounted on a generic stand which brings the laptop's display to a similar height as the monitor. I have found it to be great for reducing the strain on my neck that comes with looking down too often.

And with the laptop, I bought a monitor too. This is the `Dell 24" InfinityEdge Monitor`. It was £120 and was much cheaper than usual because I bought it with a laptop and during a sale. Across both the laptop and monitor, I think I saved about £215. It has been fantastic for watching lectures on a bigger display, coding, being on Zoom calls, and even for planning videos like these. And since buying a mouse is essential for a second monitor so you can move the cursor

rapidly between the two displays, I bought the `Logitech MX Master 3` which is usually £99 but was 25% off for students (check on the Logitech website). I decided to buy this because it feels more ergonomic and has helped me reduce the Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) that I had with my previous basic and less comfortable mouse. It sits on top of SteelSeries mouse pad which matches the mouse quite nicely.

Next to the mouse is the keyboard. This is the `Logitech MX Wireless Keyboard` which is usually £99 but is £10 extra with the palm rest. I never thought I needed a palm rest but decided to buy it anyways because I thought it's always good to try something new every now and then. The typing experience has been really enjoyable with the palm rest. Nowadays, I actually look forward to doing more typing on my computer just so I can just the palm rest - whether it be writing, coding, or texting. I think that spending a small amount of extra money on something that can even improve your experience of an activity you almost everyday is well worth it in the long run. As for the keyboard, I have had it for over 6 weeks now and I really like the backlighting and how it looks great the `MX Master 3` mouse. The battery lasts a really long time and I haven't had to charge it yet which is great, especially given that the backlighting is on whenever I type - which is usually several hours a day. When I decide to eat at my desk or do work on my iPad then I end up put my keyboard and palm rest under the laptop itself which is gives me a bit more space as the desk itself isn't very wide.

And next up is my iPad Pro 2018 with Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard. The Apple Pencil is great because I can share my screen and work through problems with my supervisors watch it over Zoom. I do my supervision work both on paper and on my iPad but I primarily use my iPad for working through lecture handouts, writing, making thumbnails and general iPad stuff.

And, I like to keep my Kindle on my desk sometimes to remind myself to read more often rather than mindlessly scrolling on my phone. I find reading more to be fulfilling which means that if I want to procrastinate spending 20 minutes reading a book isn't going to make me feel bad but spending 20 minutes on my phone will. Next up are my paper trays.

I bought these because my paper sheets were generally disorganised and I would often lose sheets. I decided to have 3 layers for `To Do`, `Doing` and `Done`. This is quite useful for when doing problems on papers and wanting to keep track of what I'm currently working on.

And that’s basically it, thank you for watching and I’ll catch you in the next video.