Being the only Windows user in a mostly Mac environment, my toolset is a bit different than the rest of the team at GreenMellen. Beyond my Windows devices, I’m also a bit of a gadget guy, so I have a lot of fun little toys to play with. Here’s a quick look at what I use.
Desktop
I have very similar desktops at home and at the studio. Both are running Windows 7 with three monitors and both are now on solid state drives, which are lower capacity and more expensive but really fast. The computer at home is a Dell (with many upgrades since I bought it), and the studio computer I built by hand (with the help of Jason Cyr). Here’s a pic of the machine at the studio:
Laptop
I also have a laptop that I carry around, primarily for meetings. It’s a Samsung Series 9 from 2013, and it does a nice job. Acceptable speed, matte screen, and excellent battery life.
Phone
I’ve been an Android user for about four years now, and my current device is a Motorola Droid Maxx. This post summarizes why I chose it, and those reasons still hold up today. I’ve been playing with the layout of the icons on my home screen, and here’s my latest organization.
Tablet
Being an Android guy, I have an Android tablet. Specifically, the Nexus 10. It’s a fast, sharp, 10″ tablet, with not a lot of bells and whistles. It seems that some better ones will be coming out soon, but for now it’s still one of the best you can find.
Watch
I had a Pebble device on my wrist for a while, and it was great, but I’ve since moved on to Android Wear (via the LG G Watch) and I’m not looking back. This post from a few weeks ago digs into why I like the watch so well.
SpaceNavigator
The SpaceNavigator is a “3D mouse”, often used for exploring Google Earth. Here a post I wrote last year on Google Earth Blog that explains more about it.
LEAP Motion
I picked up a LEAP Motion device last year and it’s really neat, but it’s really not very practical — I haven’t even turned it on in months. Hopefully they can get the software up to speed to make it useful, but I’m not seeing much value in it right now. Here is a short video of me using the LEAP to control Google Earth:
What tools do you use to make things happen in your daily life?
