Jump to content

External Peripherals for a laptop.

AllFoe
By AllFoe
in Peripherals
 Share
Posted

So I'll be buying a new laptop soon and I'm planning on buying either a monitor, headset or keyboard to turn it into a full on workstation when I'm at home. So if I were to buy in order of which to prioritize first, which would be the 1st 2nd and 3rd option? If it helps I use my wireless gym earphones for my audio. 

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/1302869-external-peripherals-for-a-laptop/
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

What are the main 'workstation' tasks you plan to do on the new machine, and how big is the laptop's screen? 

Main PC:

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X • Noctua NH-D15 • MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk • 2x8GB G.skill Trident Z Neo 3600MHz CL16 • MSI VENTUS 3X GeForce RTX 3070 OC • Samsung 970 Evo 1TB • Samsung 860 Evo 1TB • Cosair iCUE 465X RGB • Corsair RMx 750W (White)

 

Peripherals/Other:

ASUS VG27AQ • G PRO K/DA • G502 Hero K/DA • G733 K/DA • G840 K/DA • Oculus Quest 2 • Nintendo Switch (Rev. 2)

 

Laptop (Dell XPS 13):

Intel Core i7-1195G7 • Intel Iris Xe Graphics • 16GB LPDDR4x 4267MHz • 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD • 13.4" OLED 3.5K InfinityEdge Display (3456x2160, 400nit, touch). 

 

Got any questions about my system or peripherals? Feel free to tag me (@bellabichon) and I'll be happy to give you my two cents. 

 

PSA: Posting a PCPartPicker list with no explanation isn't helpful for first-time builders :)

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
11 minutes ago, bellabichon said:

What are the main 'workstation' tasks you plan to do on the new machine, and how big is the laptop's screen? 

15.6 inch screen. I mostly do research and editing depending on what my professors give for homework.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

My list of things to knock out would be as follows:

  1.  A good, probably wireless, mouse. Maybe something like an MX Master 2S or 3 (I'd lean towards 3 just because it has USB C instead of MicroUSB).
  2. Secondary monitor of some kind, probably 1440p just because decent IPS panels have gotten dumb cheap.
  3. This one only goes on here to fill in a third point, but a keyboard. I personally probably wouldn't end up wanting one since I'm fine with a halfway decent laptop keeb, but maybe I'm just Built Different™.

Main rig on profile

VAULT - File Server

Spoiler

Intel Core i5 11400 w/ Shadow Rock LP, 2x16GB SP GAMING 3200MHz CL16, ASUS PRIME Z590-A, 2x LSI 9211-8i, Fractal Define 7, 256GB Team MP33, 3x 6TB WD Red Pro (general storage), 5x 8TB WD White Label/Red (Plex) (both arrays in their respective Windows Parity storage spaces), 1TB Teamgroup MP33 (dumping ground) Corsair RM750x, TrueNAS Scale

Sleeper HP Pavilion A6137C

Spoiler

Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.4GHz, 4x8GB G.SKILL Ares 1800MHz CL10, ASUS Z170M-E D3, 128GB Team MP33, 1TB Seagate Barracuda, MSI GTX 970 100ME, EVGA 650G1, Windows 11 Pro

OptiPlex 7040M

Spoiler

Intel Core i7 6700, 2x16GB Mushkin Redline (stuck at 2133MHz CL13), 240GB Corsair MP510, 2TB Seagate Barracuda 2.5", 130w Dell power brick, Windows 11 Pro

Mac Mini (Late 2020)

Spoiler

Apple M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB, macOS Sonoma

Consoles: Steam Deck LCD (512GB), Softmodded 1.4 Xbox w/ 500GB HDD, Xbox 360 Elite 120GB Falcon, XB1X w/2TB MX500, Xbox Series X, PS1 1001, PS2 Slim 70000 w/ FreeMcBoot, PS4 Pro 7015B 1TB, PS5 Digital, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Wii RVL-001 (black)

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
5 minutes ago, flibberdipper said:

My list of things to knock out would be as follows:

  1.  A good, probably wireless, mouse. Maybe something like an MX Master 2S or 3 (I'd lean towards 3 just because it has USB C instead of MicroUSB).
  2. Secondary monitor of some kind, probably 1440p just because decent IPS panels have gotten dumb cheap.
  3. This one only goes on here to fill in a third point, but a keyboard. I personally probably wouldn't end up wanting one since I'm fine with a halfway decent laptop keeb, but maybe I'm just Built Different™.

I already have a mouse. a G502 Hero. So I'll assume asides from that the monitor is your first pick. If its between a keyboard or headset, which would you pick?

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
2 minutes ago, AllFoe said:

I already have a mouse. a G502 Hero. So I'll assume asides from that the monitor is your first pick. If its between a keyboard or headset, which would you pick?

I'd probably end up going for a headset (and since I'm a Steelseries headset shill, probably another Arctis 7 lol) assuming the laptop's keyboard didn't irritate me in some obnoxious fashion.

Main rig on profile

VAULT - File Server

Spoiler

Intel Core i5 11400 w/ Shadow Rock LP, 2x16GB SP GAMING 3200MHz CL16, ASUS PRIME Z590-A, 2x LSI 9211-8i, Fractal Define 7, 256GB Team MP33, 3x 6TB WD Red Pro (general storage), 5x 8TB WD White Label/Red (Plex) (both arrays in their respective Windows Parity storage spaces), 1TB Teamgroup MP33 (dumping ground) Corsair RM750x, TrueNAS Scale

Sleeper HP Pavilion A6137C

Spoiler

Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.4GHz, 4x8GB G.SKILL Ares 1800MHz CL10, ASUS Z170M-E D3, 128GB Team MP33, 1TB Seagate Barracuda, MSI GTX 970 100ME, EVGA 650G1, Windows 11 Pro

OptiPlex 7040M

Spoiler

Intel Core i7 6700, 2x16GB Mushkin Redline (stuck at 2133MHz CL13), 240GB Corsair MP510, 2TB Seagate Barracuda 2.5", 130w Dell power brick, Windows 11 Pro

Mac Mini (Late 2020)

Spoiler

Apple M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB, macOS Sonoma

Consoles: Steam Deck LCD (512GB), Softmodded 1.4 Xbox w/ 500GB HDD, Xbox 360 Elite 120GB Falcon, XB1X w/2TB MX500, Xbox Series X, PS1 1001, PS2 Slim 70000 w/ FreeMcBoot, PS4 Pro 7015B 1TB, PS5 Digital, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Wii RVL-001 (black)

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
4 minutes ago, flibberdipper said:

I'd probably end up going for a headset (and since I'm a Steelseries headset shill, probably another Arctis 7 lol) assuming the laptop's keyboard didn't irritate me in some obnoxious fashion.

I'm personally gunning for a Steel Series Arctis Pro + GameDac. Is it necessary? No. Am I trash for premium? Yes. Though not sure on the laptop keyboard, I plan on buying the zephyrus g15 2021 model. The keyboad I want is the Corsair K100 OPX

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
4 minutes ago, AllFoe said:

I'm personally gunning for a Steel Series Arctis Pro + GameDac. Is it necessary? No. Am I trash for premium? Yes. Though not sure on the laptop keyboard, I plan on buying the zephyrus g15 2021 model. The keyboad I want is the Corsair K100 OPX

Honestly the Arctis Pro is likely where I'm gonna end up next, and I'll just end up making my A7's a dedicated PS4 set or something. I'm a s l u t for that stupid little base and the idea of replaceable batteries.

 

Personally wouldn't choose Corsair just because iCUE makes me want to slowly shove a bus through my skull, but I can't deny that my old non-RGB Strafe defied all odds. That and I've had a little bit of time with an older Zephyrus model at Best Buy and liked the keyboard, so you might be fine with it too. Don't think I liked it as much as the XPS15, and absolutely not as much as my trusty Latitude E4310, but still pretty good.

Main rig on profile

VAULT - File Server

Spoiler

Intel Core i5 11400 w/ Shadow Rock LP, 2x16GB SP GAMING 3200MHz CL16, ASUS PRIME Z590-A, 2x LSI 9211-8i, Fractal Define 7, 256GB Team MP33, 3x 6TB WD Red Pro (general storage), 5x 8TB WD White Label/Red (Plex) (both arrays in their respective Windows Parity storage spaces), 1TB Teamgroup MP33 (dumping ground) Corsair RM750x, TrueNAS Scale

Sleeper HP Pavilion A6137C

Spoiler

Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.4GHz, 4x8GB G.SKILL Ares 1800MHz CL10, ASUS Z170M-E D3, 128GB Team MP33, 1TB Seagate Barracuda, MSI GTX 970 100ME, EVGA 650G1, Windows 11 Pro

OptiPlex 7040M

Spoiler

Intel Core i7 6700, 2x16GB Mushkin Redline (stuck at 2133MHz CL13), 240GB Corsair MP510, 2TB Seagate Barracuda 2.5", 130w Dell power brick, Windows 11 Pro

Mac Mini (Late 2020)

Spoiler

Apple M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB, macOS Sonoma

Consoles: Steam Deck LCD (512GB), Softmodded 1.4 Xbox w/ 500GB HDD, Xbox 360 Elite 120GB Falcon, XB1X w/2TB MX500, Xbox Series X, PS1 1001, PS2 Slim 70000 w/ FreeMcBoot, PS4 Pro 7015B 1TB, PS5 Digital, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Wii RVL-001 (black)

Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author
18 minutes ago, flibberdipper said:

Honestly the Arctis Pro is likely where I'm gonna end up next, and I'll just end up making my A7's a dedicated PS4 set or something. I'm a s l u t for that stupid little base and the idea of replaceable batteries.

 

Personally wouldn't choose Corsair just because iCUE makes me want to slowly shove a bus through my skull, but I can't deny that my old non-RGB Strafe defied all odds. That and I've had a little bit of time with an older Zephyrus model at Best Buy and liked the keyboard, so you might be fine with it too. Don't think I liked it as much as the XPS15, and absolutely not as much as my trusty Latitude E4310, but still pretty good.

Oh I've tried the XPS and the keyboard is amazing(Compared to other laptops). Well I guess I'll save the corsair keyboard when I build a rig during med school

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing Peripherals

×