My Dream Office Setup

I was thinking about how I would set up my home/work office when I have my own place. I know that my work is going to come home with me and I know that I'll want to do some stuff on my own using my work programs. So pretty much I could use my web design stuff all the time.

So what would I need? Well I know that I would get a lot of benefits from a desktop and one that is large and has amazing screen quality. So the obvious choice is an iMac. I am a Mac OS girl through and through. I would probably pick the 21.5 inch screen option because I am a bit of a minimalist.

So then I thought, well if I had the desktop at home, would I need a Macbook? Economically, it doesn't make a lot of sense. So for a personal computer I would choose a Chromebook. Many of you probably don't even know what that is. Some don't think Chromebooks are worth it. I am in love. It's Google's take on the operating system and a number of companies including Samsung, Acer, and HP have come out with computers for it. My favorites come down to two - the HP Pavillion 14 Chromebook and the Chromebook Pixel. These are two very different Chromebooks but both have their pros and cons.

HP Pavillion 14 Chromebook [top right] - website

It comes in at 14 inches for the LED screen which is awesome considering it sells for $329.99 on HP's website. Unfortunately, it is currently out of stock and it's unclear when they'll come back. It comes with 2 GB of memory but is upgradable to 4 GB. Knowing me I would upgrade it because I'd probably need the space. It also has a 16 GB hard drive, not large but honestly for what a Chromebook is meant for it should be enough. Considering you're given free space on Google Drive with the purchase of a Chromebook, it's okay with me if the hardware isn't as suped up. However, you need to be relatively on "the cloud" in order to really function with any Chromebook, so keep it in mind. You're working on a browser based operating system which is unlike anything really out there. So it should take some getting used to.

Weight: 3.96 lbs

Battery Life: Varies based on what articles you read but HP says about 4 hours 15 minutes.

Ports: There is a headphone/microphone port. An HDMI port which is awesome and 3 USB 2.0 ports. For today's technology there should really be the USB 3.0 ports on there.

Chromebook Pixel [bottom right] - website

Now this is a very enticing Chromebook because it was made by Google themselves, and the hardware is very impressive. What isn't is the price which is between $1299 and $1499. There are two versions: one that is wi-fi only and one that is data capable. It is a 12.85 inch screen with an amazing view - pretty much on par with the Retina display MacBook Pros. Not only that, it is TOUCHSCREEN. Yeah you read that right. Not that is seems entirely logical for a laptop, but it's been out there and people do use it. Google is offering 1 terabyte of storage on Google Drive for three years which is an incredible offer. There is a 720p HD web camera, backlit keyboard, and trackpad which mimics the feel of Apple just a bit. It also has a fancy light bar on the top that flashes colors - no real use but looks awesome.

Memory: 4 GB DDR3 RAM

Storage: 1 TB of storage on Google Drive, 32 GB SSD (64 GB on the LTE version)

Weight: 3.35 lbs

Battery: Up to 5 hours

Material: anodized aluminum (versus the macbook air it doesn't wedge in shape)

Ports: 2 USB 2.0 ports, SD card reader, mini display port

LTE: If you buy the LTE version you will get 100 MB/month for 2 years of mobile broadband from Verizon Wireless

My only question is what about being able to travel and work? I can't run the programs I need on a Chromebook, so there is the matter of that. My obvious choice would be a Macbook Pro (13 inch) or the MacBook Air (13 inch). I did a little extra research today and if you're worried that the Air couldn't handle running Adobe Creative Suite - fear not. A lot of people said the programs ran just fine and had no problems whatsoever. They loved it actually! So honestly once my MacBook that I have now craps out I know my next go to is probably going to be the 13 inch MacBook Air.

Like I said - this is all a dream of what my office setup would be like. I don't have the money to do any of it right now but if I get the chance I want to be able to make an office that I'll love and be comfortable working out of :)