What's your indie hacker computer setup?
Hey all,
So I'm just curious as to machines you folks are running for hacking on your side projects.
I've currently got a 2015 27 inch iMac which I use for checking emails and general tasks and a high-end Dell XPS 15 for my main work station (coupled with a couple of monitors and a mechanical keyboard) running Ubuntu 18.04. It would be cool to see what everyone else is working with?!
I have a pretty unique setup. I built a hackintosh that dual boots as a gaming pc. It allows me to have a fast setup for work and video editing. A quick restart and it's my gaming setup.
Specs:
Nice setup! Love the keyboard! Thinking about getting a monitor mount soon; think I'm going to go with a triple monitor mount so my focal mount doesn't have bezel.
lol was not aware of the term 'hackintosh'. I use my mac for work and the bootcamp windows part to play valorant/ow :)
Same idea but a little different. A hackintosh is building a computer with custom parts and tweaking macOS to run on unsupported hardware. It allowed me to get a mac for around $4k that would normally be $10k+ if I bought a Mac Pro with similar specs.
I also play a lot of OW 😄
ahhh yeah realized that after i saw your PC...lol...hackintosh..cool!
nice! i'd get your gamertag but i quit ow awhile back...may get back into it if valorant gets repetitive
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For those doing browser-based projects or building simple web tools, a mid-tier setup with decent RAM and a reliable SSD works fine. One example is tools like a CPS Test, which don’t require heavy resources but are a great use case for lightweight development environments.
I have 2015 MBP for most of my development with a connected 4k monitor. For rust development, I require a linux machine to build programs. I use an assembled i7,32GB RAM, 500GB NVME with Ubuntu which is connected from my mac through Vscode(remote development). Not a great fan of mechanical keyboard. I have a $20 MS keyboard. :)
I was thinking about going for a new MBP but you get less for your money and my employer will only allow a $2500 machine budget; with a mac, that's not much :D
True. And, I have an office mac which is a new 16 inch MBP. There is a little performance boost compared to 2015 (at least that how I feel).
I do most of my work on a custom PC build from 2015 which is Windows 10 on Intel i7-4790K/32GB RAM/1TB SSD with a triple 28" 4K monitor setup. It's a bit old but still plenty fast for my work.
When I'm traveling, I use a 15" Surface Laptop 3.
While I have a slight preference for Windows 10 over macOS, I also use an old 2015 MacBook Pro because I want to make sure I understand the viewpoint of Mac users. That laptop was in my opinion the best laptop ever made in the history of laptops... before Apple decided it was a good idea to remove all the ports. I miss the good ol' days.
My hardware is old and weary. 😑
• Refurbished 2011 Mac Mini, with Logitech K750 Solar Keyboard w/ Numpad and Apple Magic TrackPad (v1)
• 2013 MacBook Air with Apple Magic Keyboard (v2) and Apple Magic TrackPad (v2)
• Dual Acer 20" S201HL Monitors 😔
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My daily driver is an ASUS Chromebox 3, a Chrome OS desktop computer with an i7 processor, 16 GB RAM, and 256 GB storage.
Kyle @god, I have an XPS 15 too. What size monitors do you have setup? Now that I realize I'm more stuck to my home office, I've been thinking of adding a third monitor if it was doable.
Just got a new Dell XPS 15 7950 (2019 model though) i7 32gb version delivered this morning, so currently setting that up. I’ve currently got a dell 27inch and acer 22 inch. I’ve got a dell dock that I got with my laptop for the office so it has multiple display ports. Annoyingly there are not two of the same ports - but you can run 3 monitors with different cables. You might be able to use the hdmi port on the laptop too if you get/have a dock - I did try but couldn’t get it working. I need another cable to setup three monitors but might wait until I’ve got a triple monitor vesa mount so it’s easier and cleaner.
Sick. I have to look into the dock.
XPS 15 9560 from 2017, i7, 16GB - Used mostly for web design and graphics (Adobe software), and it seems I can never have enough screen real estate :) My second monitor 22" is embarrassingly OLD (2007), but running a 72 DPI monitor is good for some of the pixel work I do with icons and small graphics. Thanks for the tips on the dell dock.
I just have an ASUS laptop, 8 gigs of ram, 1TB HDD, Geforce 1050(4GB) and I got a cheap mouse.
I bought it because I wanted to have something to game on too 😅
A cheap packard bell laptop and the kitchen chair
2013 15 inch mbp base spec with 16gb of ram. Definitely needs an upgrade but i'm holding off as long as i can, wanna see what the Arm mbp's will be like. + some old asus external monitor; full-size apple wired keyboard and a logitech mx master.
I was using a 13inch Razer Blade with Win10 + WSL2 for all dev related tasks until a couple months ago when I upgraded to a Macbook Pro 16 (8 cores, 32GB RAM).
At home, I have a pretty basic 1080p display and a logitech K380 keyboard and MX anywhere mouse, both pretty portable. I just need to buy a decent laptop stand to have a more comfy setup for when I travel.
I’ve got a standard designer Mac setup. 27in iMac with Apple keyboard and a high end mouse. I have another custom PC in the closet collecting dust along with a mechanical keyboard. Forget the specs on that one but it was top of the line a year ago.
Switched from MBP to Thinkpad X280 i7 last year. Been loving this laptop.
Being location-independent, I typically work at cafes and such. It helps that my Thinkpad is super portable.
When the covid season started, I got a 15" external portable display. It's touchscreen with battery. Kinda like Microsoft surface without CPU. Works great with my Logitech K380 Bluetooth keyboard and Anywhere MX Mouse.
I also recently got a laptop standing desk riser. This allows me to turn the dining table into a standing work desk.
To summarize, my setup is Thinkpad + 15" external portable display + standing desk riser.
Self-built Windows 10 machine, Ryzen 3700X, 32GB, an 512GB NVME drive and a 3TB spinning disk, 32" Samsung display, mechanical keyboard (plus a new one on the way), and a 50-foot ethernet cable to the router so I don't have to deal with wifi. I develop in WSL2, mostly Ubuntu 20.04, using VS Code Remote.
MSI gs63VR. Thinking about upgrading or getting a desktop.
I do everything on a 2015 MacBook Pro. 13", 3.1 GHz i7, 16 GB RAM
Will be getting a new one as soon as my project funds can cover it because my battery is fried and it's slowing down.
I dream of the day I can run everything with a tablet (which will most likely be an iPad because I'm an Apple junkie)
Was a multiple monitors fan before I quit to pursue the hustle full time. Now I've been away from it so long I don't think I need it anymore
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