I’m not known for the cleanest or most minimal setups.
It’s function over form all the way for me, and I’m someone who needs a LOT of function.
But, what if I truly needed to fit into a smaller space?
Could I make a setup that would work?
If I had a much smaller bedroom growing up, or moved into a dorm, or something?
I sat out to accomplish what would basically be my college gaming, multi-media, and YouTube-ing
setup if I needed to stick to a MUCH smaller space - hooked up all with ONE cable!
Sorta.
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Before we jump in, I do need to disclose a couple things: Most of what you see here was
provided for free for review.
I bought a couple things, but not the majority of the setup.
And the laptop itself is part of a sponsored campaign from Intel.
But this is an individual video with no one seeing it before it goes up or anything like
that.
No one paid to specifically show up in this video.
So with this, I wound up with 3 main objectives I wanted to focus on: Keeping the setup as
small as possible, confining it to my 4 foot by 2 and a half foot b-roll table in my studio.
I also wanted it to be a sit/stand desk setup, as I’ve never used one before.
Lastly, I wanted to take advantage of my first Thunderbolt 3-bearing laptop and try to have
everything connect with just a SINGLE Thunderbolt 3 cable.
Lofty goals, but I think it turned out alright!
And before I get the obligatory comment about it - no, it’s not minimalistic.
I still stuck to my guns and focused on function first.
Plus, for me in this kind of setup, modularity would be important - and you’d want to be
able to keep an eye on cables when raising and lowering the sit/stand surface.
For that, we have the M2B from Flexispot.
This converts your standard desk to a sit-stand setup with a tablet holder and a keyboard
tray.
It can hold up to 35 pounds and was perfect for this scenario.
Getting it onto the table was fun, it was hella difficult to unbox and weighs a ton!
But it doesn’t budge or slide around on the table or anything.
The surface itself is VERY slippery, though, and prone to scratching.
But it’s super sturdy, and very easy to use.
Simply grip the levers on both side and raise and lower, as desired.
It’s easy to move without feeling like it’s going to fall, and let’s you lock it into
just about any position.
It’s no UpDesk, but it’s pretty nice.
Next up is the centerpiece - my EVGA SC15 gaming laptop.
This beauty features an Intel Core i7-7700HQ, an Nvidia GTX 1060, and a GSYNC 120hz 1080p
IPS display.
Perfect for gaming and editing - and if you can handle the weight, it can go with you
to class.
It does get pretty loud, though, to cool all that beefy hardware.
This laptop has a USB Type C Thunderbolt 3 port on it.
Despite the disappointing market of unoriginal “here’s a few USB ports and a LAN port”
Thunderbolt 3 docks at the moment, the idea to make this a “1 cable setup” was born
here.
I hit up CalDigit and got their Thunderbolt Station 3 in.
This little box adds 3 USB 3.1 type A ports, gigabit ethernet, 2 eSATA ports (didn’t
know anyone still used that), Thunderbolt Passthrough and a full-size Displayport hookup,
along with 3.5mm audio in and out jacks.
This will support a 5K monitor, or 4 4K monitors using the Thunderbolt out and Displayport
ports and really expands functionality.
To be honest, though, for my needs I would’ve preferred a couple more USB ports and maybe
a SD reader instead of eSATA, but hey.
So The TS3 Dock runs to wall power to this giant 24-outlet powerbar that serves as my
studio charging station and I began hooking things up to it.
We’ve got my WASD Custom V2 keyboard with MX Blue switches, the ASUS Impresario BluRay
drive and DAC, as well as the Logitech BRIO webcam and the Elgato Stream Deck.
I feel this is a good balance of products to provide a solid multimedia and gaming experience.
A pair of AKG M220 headphones run to the ASUS DAC for high-quality output and 7.1 virtual
surround support.
The suspension band style and soft ear pads are perfect for long gaming or movie watching
sessions via the BluRay drive.
The audio in port of the CalDigit dock is occupied by the Aokeo AK-80 microphone mounted
on a super basic desk arm.
This is Aokeo’s variant on the BM800 microphone and is a 24 dollar condenser microphone to
get some decent vocals for YouTube-ing or streaming.
Much better than the microphone I started YouTube with that cost much more.
It includes a basic windscreen, shock mount, and XLR to 3.5mm cable.
The mic arm is mounted directly to the sit-stand desk so it rises and lowers with the desk
and can be adjusted out of your way as needed.
The BRIO webcam is mounted on a Mactren tripod up above the laptop.
Also mounted is a tiny Aputure AL-M9 LED light that will help light your face to make facecam
look a little better and keep the BRIO at a smooth 60fps.
I have this setup in front of a window, so during the day you could just open the blinds
for some nice facecam lighting, too.
Now, I was going to use the Elgato Cam Link with a cheap action camera via HDMI to set
up the facecam for this.
But neither the Cam Link, my AVerMedia ExtremeCap UVC or my Magewell dongle would work through
this Caldigit dock.
It has more than enough bandwidth, so I’m not sure what the problem is.
Drivers would install but I’d never get more than a black screen unless the devices
were plugged directly into the laptop.
So you could still run that setup for better facecam, but would break the “one cable”
rule here.
I simply ran the Brio with a USB C to C cable into the second Thunderbolt port on the dock
and we were back in business.
The webcam and light are on a cheap Mactrem tripod that can be adjusted to angle at you
based on the sit-stand configuration.
Behind the setup we have a curve ball of an awesome setup piece - the Elgato Green Screen.
Since this setup is focused on being compact and modular, I thought this was a perfect
fit.
The Elgato Green Screen collapses into a low-profile case that can be stored in closets, under
beds or under couches, but extends to a full chroma key backdrop in a matter of seconds.
Perfect for a small space stream setup.
For a mouse, I just have the Logitech MX Anywhere 2S connected via Bluetooth.
This isn’t the best for gaming, but is great for work on the go.
You could introduce a wired gaming mouse for this setup - but that would require a USB
hub on the dock or plugging it into the laptop directly - unless you got a gaming keyboard
with a USB port on it.
That is an option, I guess.
The Elgato Stream Deck provides a great control tool for streaming and recording and the included
stand makes it easy to adjust height based on your sitting or standing position!
Lastly, I also have the original what was supposed to be “limited edition” Razer
metal headphone stand to hold our cans, and my favorite Portal 2 coaster to hold your
favorite beverage.
The obligatory tech YouTuber fake plant adds some color to the left, and I have a basic
Boston Harbor desk lamp with a colored light for some flair.
If you plan on streaming with this setup, you would probably want a second monitor or
tablet or something to monitor Twitch chat.
If this setup was against a wall instead of a window, you could wall-mount a monitor and
run it to the video output on the dock.
That way it’s all there ready to go when you dock the laptop.
Or you could ditch the tripod, put the monitor on the desk, and clamp the webcam to the monitor.
However, I do have to admit that this technically isn’t a “single cable” setup - despite
all of my efforts.
You see, the EVGA SC-15 is a beastly laptop and requires a very hefty power supply.
It does not support charging over USB type C. So while literally everything else plugs
in with the single Thunderbolt 3 cable, running the power brick on its own is still necessary.
However if you have a lighter laptop like the Macbook or similar USB C-charging computers,
the dock will charge the computer as well.
One thing I did like was that even when lowered all the way flush with the desk, there’s
still enough room under the sit-stand desk for all of the power bricks to comfortably
rest out of the way, without dropping them to the floor.
Very nice.
So this is it!
Nothing too flair-y, but a functional and effective setup that my younger self would’ve
been proud of.
Would you use a setup like this?
What would you do differently?
Comment below.
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