Another RV office setup

[Neal]

We'll see how long this lasts but I'm rethinking my RV computer setup for the future. I love having my mega powerful PC tower with me but I really really really hate the clutter. Granted, my monitors kill the dinette ability for meals with visitors but it's still a mess that is annoying me.

What I'm thinking of trying going forward is going with the new Mac Studio when it comes out presumably this summer (WWDC time frame) with the M4 or later, otherwise a Mac Mini M4. I'll run Windows on VMWare Fusion but about everything I do now can also be done on Mac.

I really want as much of this computer nonsense concealed as possible. I'd go with a gaming laptop like the ASUS Scar 18 or 16 but I despise fan noise. My PC towers are silent (water cooled) as are Mac's.

So we'll see what the next RV trip holds for another computer iteration.

 

[DennisT]

The Apple chips are quite nice.

The M2 pro laptop I bought before retiring has performed quite well.

I looked hard and long at the studio option before going the laptop route. Still have my “trash can” Mac Pro with Xeon processors for video editing.

Just make sure the studio, you can get in the case if desired. The older minis you could and then they redesigned to be sealed so no upgrading memory or hard drive without taking it in.

Parallels works well on them for running Windows or any of the Linux flavors if needed.

There was a bug with Win 11 version for Apple silicone that wouldn’t let it get updated any longer but the Parallels team had a registry fix that got around that. MS is supposed to be doing an update that fixes the issue. I believe it was only a problem with the windows version on the Apple silicone.

 

[Neal]

For the computer geeks and those of us still working, during this last RV trip I got to use the keychron Q3 HE QMK keyboard which is a "hall effect" (magnetic switch) keyboard pictured in post 15 above. I really liked it. I have the Q6 MAX at home which uses different type of keys which I've really liked, however, I got addicted to the HE keys and yeah, I ended up replacing my expensive Q6 MAX with the expensive Q6 HE which I've been using a week now and love these keyboards. Quiet, great feel, high quality.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSGSZGK9?tag=rvf01-20

 

[Neal]

Also of note, my favorite mouse has been the Logitech MX Master 3s even on Mac's as they are ergonomic and quiet click. They just came out with a new mouse, Logitech MX Master 4 which I got, it's super nice, seems to be more precise but feels slightly different so it takes a short getting used to. Has some new features. I like it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FC5SJNQX?tag=rvf01-20