- A few weeks ago,
I made a video about
what I think is one of the best desk setups
for your new M1 MacBooks,
including an external display,
laptop stand, keyboard, mouse, et cetera.
Some of the feedback that I received,
was that some of the items were a bit too expensive.
So today,
I wanted to look at some of the more
budget friendly desktop setup items
for your new M1 MacBooks.
Hey, I'm Jerry.
And using a MacBook,
or more specifically the new MacBooks Pro or Air with M1,
as a desktop computer is totally possible.
All it takes is a few things to complete the package.
But you also have different options to mix and match
to get the exact perfect setup for you.
Let's just get started
with one of the first accessories I bought
to use with my M1 MacBook on a desk.
And that is this aluminum stand from SurmountWay.
This was actually in my first video.
But I think for what it is, how sturdy it is,
and the price,
it still fits into the budget category.
The stand is almost solid aluminum
from the base to the plate where the laptop actually sits
and the riser in between.
This is the space gray option,
which you can also get silver.
And there's a number of different companies
that actually sell this exact same stand,
but I'll put a link in the description to this one here.
What's really nice about this stand
is the way that you can adjust every angle of it.
You can adjust the height,
the tilt, the swirl, everything.
So let me just show you real quick.
We stick this MacBook Air on the stand.
You can see that we can adjust the tilt however we want.
We can adjust the height
by loosening this knob here on the side.
And we just loosen it
and then we can raise or lower to whatever makes sense.
And then of course you can swivel it as well.
So it really is a good all around stand.
And at about $40,
I think it's a solid, solid laptop stand.
If you want to spend quite a bit less on a laptop stand,
this one, I'm not even sure what the name is,
but this is an aluminum stand that is very, very basic.
It's got a number of predetermined slots
and you just lift this bar here,
and you can select the angle that you want for your laptop.
You got a piece of rubber on the edge right here
so you can set your laptop on it.
Now it doesn't rise, it doesn't tilt,
except for manually.
And then it doesn't swivel.
But it is a laptop stand that is sturdy,
and at around $12,
I don't think you can get much cheaper than that.
And one benefit to this compared to the other stand
is that it's actually portable.
You can make this completely flat, shove it in a bag
and take it with you
if that's something that you need.
For a cheaper display,
then the $1,200 BenQ PD3220U from my previous video,
I'm using a Samsung UR55 28-inch 4K display.
This display is actually a really good compromise
compared to the BenQ.
It's got two HDMI and one display port
and does not have that USB-C or Thunderbolt port
like the BenQ does,
but the design is really similar.
It's got slim bezels on three of the four sides
which gives it a very clean, modern look.
It's an IPS display,
which means you can view it from like almost 180 degrees.
It's got HDR10 to view HDR content.
It gets up to 300 nits of brightness
which is a bit lower than the BenQ,
but still very usable in almost every environment.
As for color accuracy,
it gets about 90% of the P3 color gamut
compared to 100% on the built-in display in the MacBook Pro
or the BenQ .
Normally the UR55 runs around $350,
but you can usually get it on sale for around $300
or maybe just a little bit less.
There are of course,
a number of cheaper displays out there for less than $300.
But what I like about the Samsung is,
for $300 to $350,
you do get good color representation,
a bright display, and an attractive monitor
and it's much less expensive than the $1,200 BenQ.
Now you might have a hard time finding the UR55 displays.
I got mine at Best Buy and sometimes they're on Amazon,
sometimes they're not.
But if you're looking
for something that's almost the exact same,
I found that there's the ASUS VG289Q for about $329.
And it's almost the exact same as the UR55, spec for spec.
And the design is very similar as well.
It's just black on the bottom instead of gray.
You may have noticed that I was not using the stand
that came with the UR55.
And that's because I found it to be a little bit low
for my liking
and there's no adjustments that you can do
other than a little bit of a tilt.
The MOUNTUP monitor arm actually allows the monitor
to be the perfect height for me.
You can adjust the monitor attached in almost any way
including height, tilt, angle, and even rotation
if you want to go vertical.
At about $30, I found that the MOUNTUP arm
is basically perfect for me,
raising the monitor to just the right height.
Now it may not lift high enough
if you're much over six feet,
but again, at $30, it's a pretty good arm.
In lieu of the Apple Magic Keyboard
which runs around $100,
this Logitech K380 for Mac is a good option.
Size-wise compared to the Apple Magic Keyboard,
it's basically the same.
The buttons are in the same spot
and the keyboard height and widths are very similar as well.
Typing on these round keys
can take just a little bit of getting used to
compared to square keys.
But like I said, they are the same size.
They're just more rounded
than (mumbles) or whatever (mumbles), I don't know.
The keys have just the right amount of travel.
They don't move around. They're not wobbly.
And they feel good.
And actually they sound okay as well.
The keyboard runs for two years off of two AA batteries
and it only runs about $40
compared to the $100 for the Apple Magic Keyboard.
Now, you can find a lot of mice on Amazon
for less than 20 bucks.
And I'm sure that most of them work just fine.
I found that this Microsoft Surface Mobile Mouse
is a great budget, no frills mouse
that always just works well.
I've used this mouse with my surface devices,
my iPad and MacBooks, and it always performs well.
Even my wife uses one with her Surface Go.
It's not a fancy mouse, it's basic.
It's got two buttons and a scroll wheel and a scroll button,
but it just works.
M1 Big Sur issues aside,
the Surface Mobile Mouse
has always had a solid Bluetooth connection
which can be a bit flakier on lower end mice.
But for $30, the Surface Mobile Mouse tracks well,
scrolls just fine and travels well.
You can put it in any bag.
And it's a mouse I can trust on a budget.
Now, another great budget item
that's actually in my previous video is this MoKo desk mat.
Here it is.
I brought it over.
This is a really good desk mat for what it is.
It's polyurethane leather.
It's weatherproof, waterproof.
Weatherproof?
Why would you go outside with it? It's waterproof.
It comes in multiple colors that are double-sided.
I like this orange color.
It goes well as a contrast
compared to all of the gray and silver on my desk.
And it runs about $16.
This mat has a really good texture for just about any mouse.
And when you put a keyboard on it,
the keyboard stays where you put it without wobbling around
or moving around,
and the mouse is still free to scroll.
So again, for about $16,
it's a very good mat that will work well on most desks.
And there's a number of colors to choose from.
For a lower cost speaker option,
then they can tell you too,
I found that the Logitech Z207s are a nice buy.
These Z207 speakers
are actually pretty nice.
They're a 10 watt speaker pair
that has Bluetooth and aux input.
They actually look really nice on a desk in my opinion,
they're very simple yet modern.
You have a volume control wheel
that's also the on/off switch.
You have a headphone out,
for plugging headphones directly into the speakers,
and you have a Bluetooth connection button.
On the backside,
you have Aux in to go from a computer or another device
and you have power.
For about $45,
the speakers sound okay, they're not bad.
They're not the worst speakers I've ever had,
but they do get louder than the built-in speakers
on the MacBook Pro or MacBook Air.
And they sound good enough for most online video
or for online streaming music.
There is a cheaper version out there,
that's the Z200, but those don't have any Bluetooth.
The reason I want a Bluetooth on these
is I did not want to keep plugging and unplugging
a 3.5 millimeter headphone connection
into the MacBook,
every time I sat down or docked it to the desk.
I wanted to be able to just connect one cord for power
which we'll get to in just a second,
and be up and running.
Having Bluetooth on these devices
which you can actually connect
to two different Bluetooth devices,
or use the Aux input,
allows for a seamless transition
between docking and undocking
without having cords plugged into both sides of the laptop.
So for connecting power
or other accessories like USB drives,
SSDs, SD cards, or even the UR55 display we talked about,
I have a CalDigit SOHO Dock.
Compared to the CalDigit TS3 Plus Dock,
this SOHO Dock cost just $99.
And one reason that is,
is you have to use power from another power source.
So, most likely the power adapter that came with your laptop
you would plug into the back of this adapter,
connect this with one cord to your laptop
and then you have an additional USB-A port,
a USB-C port and SD cards.
And then of course you can connect your display
via HDMI or display port.
It's just a small compact dock
that you can leave on your desk or take with you,
and it works extremely well.
You can get really fast speeds
through this UHS-II SD card reader,
like over 250 megabytes per second.
And it's just simple one cord connection
from this dock to the laptop to connect everything else.
And the last thing I have on my list of budget items
for the M1 desk setups,
is this Havit monitor light.
In the previous video, I talked about the BenQ screen bar
which runs over $100.
This Havit screen bar light has much of the same benefits.
I didn't know I needed a screen light
until I saw one online and needed to try it.
These things are game changers
for working in a low light room or at night.
They sit on the top of your monitor
and cast a light down and away from your monitor
to light up your workspace or keyboard.
They make seeing what you're doing at night much easier.
And I feel like they help with my eyes strain,
because it's not just the monitor
that's shining light in my direction.
This Havit light has an on/off button on the far right
to turn the screen bar on and off.
And next to it is a multi button
which changes the color temperature and the brightness.
You can change the color temperature by tapping the button
and you can get three different color options.
And then to change the brightness,
you actually have to hold that second button
and you will see it kind of change the brightness.
And you just have to stop it
where it's the brightness that you want.
It's kind of, I guess, step plus light change,
but it's a little tricky
to get the exact brightness that you're looking for.
But once you get the correct color temperature
and brightness that you're looking for,
it will save that into memory,
so turning it on and off, will keep that setting for you.
The BenQ light also has an auto setting
based on ambient light and more color options.
But the Havit is only $30.
And once you have it,
you set it the way you want and you're good to go.
So, these are all of the budget desk items
that I recommend for your new MacBook Air or Pro with M1.
You can actually mix and match them however you want.
You can do an external monitor
with a stand and keyboard and mouse.
Or you can use an external monitor using the laptop keyboard
in front of you.
You can go no external display
and just use the keyboard and mouse on a stand.
Or you can go clamshell mode with a display.
Let me know below, what do you think of these accessories?
Are there even better budget items out there than these?
If you have a good setup that you want to share with me,
I'd love to see it
and you can send it to me on Twitter @JerrySchulze.
If budget is not an issue for you,
and you're looking for upgraded options
for a display and other things,
then you should check out this video right over here.
Hit the thumbs up button if you liked it,
hit Subscribe if you want,
and I'll see you next time.
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