Filed under: Desktops, Hardware, Portables, Apple, MacBook, Rig of the Week
Rig of the Day: Zen and the art of a neat desk

None of my desks have every been this neat, even after I cleaned them up to take a picture. Two iPods, a MacBook, a Dell 2405fpw, some phones, a hard drive or two, and a DVD burner. What more can you ask from a Rig of the Day?
P8150097.jpg by arcsbite.
If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We select one image to highlight each day, and crown a Rig of the Week on Sundays.

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Stephen said 9:09AM on 8-31-2006
I see you're using one of the tips shown earlier in TUAW. Stick your magnetic Apple remote onto your MacBook.
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Dan Hegarty said 9:23AM on 8-31-2006
Do I see a little bit of micrsoft on that desk with the XBox 360, traitor.
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lewsmind said 9:32AM on 8-31-2006
The Xbox 360 does use PowerPC chips though.
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Matt said 10:03AM on 8-31-2006
PowerPC? traitor. :)
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jason said 10:21AM on 8-31-2006
those icons are HUGE!!!
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themacguru.com said 10:34AM on 8-31-2006
Does anybody know how I can send and email to Scott McNulty?
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Shoaib said 10:55AM on 8-31-2006
He has a DELL monitor: Thats sheer mutiny!!!
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Daniel D said 11:11AM on 8-31-2006
That range of Dell monitors is good I myself use one like that and they offer much greater value then the apple monitors. Yeah his icons almost poked my eye out. The Xbox 360 is good too.
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Julian Bennett Holmes said 11:13AM on 8-31-2006
You might be able to make a Zener desk without the 3 external hard drives, the 2 iPods, or the 2 phones.
It's still very zen though.
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Oz said 9:34AM on 9-04-2006
Nice!
Out of curiosity: Is that Xbox 360 hooked up to the Dell Monitor? If so, it must be possible to hook one up to a Cinema Display, as they are closely related?
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jason said 11:50AM on 8-31-2006
no its not possible.
dell 2405fpw is lightyears ahead of the apple in terms of add-ons such as you can have a vga, dvi, and componenet video hookup on your same monitor at the same time, and have picture and picture / and picture in picture.
and it has a built in card reader, correct me if im wrong (which i really hope i am, but doubt) but the apple doesnt offer such switching
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David said 11:54AM on 8-31-2006
the Dell monitor has VGA and component inputs that the Xbox 360 can use. Apple's displays only have DVI input, so I don't think you can use one with a Xbox 360
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jason said 12:05PM on 8-31-2006
of course with that said, I cant wait to go with apple displays, it was just impossible in the past (running a custom built pc, and g5, and laptop) i had to buy the dell 2405fpw a long time ago. and could not upgrade to any other size or model--and relagate one machine to using VGA usually my mac)
now that im going to buy a mac pro (when the x1900 ships) i can finally go dual monitor. Ill probly go dual 23's, but I wouldnt mind dual 30's! =)
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Ryan Scott said 2:22PM on 8-31-2006
I don't wanna sound like some kinda hater, but come on, how about investing in an external keyboard? That setup would be very distracting to be at.
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Alan said 2:20PM on 8-31-2006
Hmm cool. I like the vertical monitor arrangement. I'm gonna try this when I get home as I have both a black macbook and the 2405fpw :)
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Fritz Laurel said 2:53PM on 8-31-2006
The Dell monitors are way better than the apples, IMHO. In terms of price, that is. The Apple monitors still beat in image quality, but only slightly, and not enough to warrent an extra $400. As I understand it, the LCD is the same (same manufacturer) and the innards are proprietary.
The Dell 20" widescreen monitor I bought does not have a card reader, but does have 4 inputs (DVI, VGA, s-video, composite video) which can be used with anything that uses those types of interfaces. I have my mac on the DVI, an old PC on the VGA (for web dev backup, complimenting Parallels on my mac), the TiVo on the composite vid and a soon-to-be new xbox 360 on either the s-vid, comp or VGA depending on which provides the best image quality and gameplay. I suspect I'll be removing the PC from the VGA and putting the 360 on that.
Cheers,
FL
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Jason said 3:06PM on 8-31-2006
yuck, play xbox 360 with component, or buy a component video switcher, i have one hooked up on my hdtv, to have additional support for all game systems. xbox 360 without hd isnt so nice. with HD it is soo nice. they have a VGA adaptor for xbox 360, atleast get that.
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Tony said 3:33PM on 8-31-2006
Ditto on the Dell monitor. Having a built-in media card reader is NICE! (Are you listening, Apple? Particularly on the iMac...Nice clean all-in-one with a nice 20" monitor...and an UGLY external media card reader plugged in.)
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arcsbite said 4:29PM on 8-31-2006
Woot!
check me out with the fame!
P.S. I love the Dell, I prefer apple's design, but for less cash I can get more monitor and more inputs from dell which I need to hook up my imac, macbook, 360 and gamecube.
P.S. Bluettoth MM and Keyboard where en route during this photo session
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flibanker said 9:31PM on 8-31-2006
The Zen system of beliefs values balance and symmetry. The speakers are off-center relative to the user. OH SNAP!
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