I've been having thoughts lately of making the switch from full-time laptop user to desktop user.

Over the past 8 years or so I have had two Macbook Pros (15" -> 15" retina, I can give more specifics if you guys really care) as my daily drivers. Now, let me start off by saying that I DO NOT want to turn this into an argument about Mac vs. PC, because that isn't what this is about. Rather, this post is about my thought process as I consider the switch from laptop to desktop.
I am out of school, and as such, I do not need to carry my computer from class to class. That being said, I have really started to think about switching to a desktop computer. My 15" MBPr sits primarily on my desk at home now constantly plugged in, except for the rare occasion where I take it to the kitchen table or somewhere else. My first thought after making the decision to switch was, "hey, why not price out and build a pc!?" and that was my first and favorite solution for a while. I spent hours researching the right parts to fit my budget and needs. I am not a serious gamer; I play League of Legends, Minecraft, and I get rekt at Starcraft some days. I am also a photography enthusiast. I am not a professional, but I take my photos very seriously and that is where I hit a snag... If I made the switch to PC, my entire photo editing workflow and organization would be messed up and I'd basically have to start fresh. So, unfortunately, building a PC and using Windows was out. So what next? A friend of mine has been struggling with an 11" MacBook Air for a few years now (its an awful computer for anything more than Facebook) and he is also switching up to a desktop. His plan is to go for the affordable Mac Mini (as he is also a long-time OS X user) since he already has a gaming keyboard, mouse, and decent monitor. This seemed like a great idea to fit my bill as well except for the specs of the machine... Without a discrete graphics card, I know the mac mini would struggle to push out hectic team fights in LoL and definitely big battles in SC2. Alas, the Mac Mini was out the window too. So now I knew my needs and limitations: I need a discrete graphics card in a mac desktop for a reasonable price. Fun Fact: that is the only time those words have ever been used in the same sentence. The most affordable mac desktop currently on offer from Apple with discrete graphics is the Mac Pro; the multi-thousand dollar turbojet coffee can computer.
This is the point in my venture that I thought I'd be confined to doing everything on a tiny (though EXTREMELY nice to look at) laptop screen on my MBPr. It's how I've done it for years without too much struggle, but I don't want to do it anymore. I'd like a bigger screen, some decent speakers, a nice mouse, and a decent keyboard.
This is the moment I had my, as Jimmy Neutron says, "Brain Blast".
Fun Fact #2: If you hook up a mouse, keyboard, and display to a closed-lid macbook, it behaves JUST like a desktop. It doesn't even turn on the screen. I didn't know that until I tried it out for myself. (I generally avoided the idea because my old macbook would leave the screen on when it was closed and mirror the displays or do other weird stuff).
As I sit here, I am listening to music on two Klipsch bookshelf speakers powered by a Lepai LP-2020A+, pointing and clicking with a Razer Naga 2014, and typing on a Razer Deathstalker. I am having the desktop experience, all while maintaining my same computer.
I think this Laptop as a Desktop idea is the perfect solution to my issue and I am glad I was able to save some money as well.

stick around for pt. 2 where I talk about the monitor that I blatantly left out of my parts list above...

Thanks for reading!