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What desk are you using with your new iMac 27'?

F

frenchtony

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 3, 2013
36
10
London
I'm about to have my brand new iMac Retina 27' (after 15 years on PC), and I'm probably going to take this occasion to buy myself a new desk.

What do you guys recommend ? I'm of course looking for a modern and convenient (think cables hiding) desk that would fit nicely with an iMac.

For example (I would take the large version):
http://www.bluelounge.com/products/studiodesk/
(if someone owns this, any advice? is it any good? )

It should also be noted that I'll have 2 extra 24' screens (probably set up vertically), so I should need a big desk.
 
Good question.

I just bought a riMac (my first apple computer), will get it delivered by Dec 8-12 (hopefully). I knew I would be buying it when it came out, so I wanted a desk that would match the quality of my apple machine. I decided to get a custom made desk from reclaimed yellow-leaf heartwood pine. The heartwood was used by the first settlers that came to Canada and USA out of pines that have grown on this land for 400-500 years. It’s extremely dense, heavy, rot and bug free, and it’s no longer available as all of those trees have been cut down. My carpenter is reclaiming this wood from a 140 year old distillery in northern Canada. I chose the very rustic look, it’s weathered, has saw marks, nail holes, and looks absolutely amazing when sanded, planed and varnished.

If you guys are interested, I can give you his name. He is located in Canada (2h away from Toronto), and is around 5h away from me. I’m picking up the table on Monday (took 3 weeks to make), and I’ll be able to post some pics on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, if anyone is interested. The 6 foot x 32 inches table is running me about $875 all in. A decent price for wood that will never be available again. Super excited, I’ve been waiting for it almost as much as my riMac ;p
 
Funny, I bought a new desk for the iMac too, and went the same route with hardwood. While not reclaimed, I did get the Mennonites in my area to build me a beautiful wooden desk. I'm going for the traditional look. Coincidentally, I'm about 2 hours southwest of Toronto. Lots of great craftsmen around here.

Truthfully, there probably isn't a desk a new iMac wouldn't look great on. :D

Oh, a word of advice I'm glad I followed: For real wood top desks, get yourself a thin sheet of glass cut to the precise dimensions of the desk top and put that on before you put anything else on. Looks clean, and protects the desk. Like it or not, desks are work spaces and they will get crud on them. That glass barrier is awesome, and I know I won't ruin the top of this thing.
 
You need to consider the different ergonomics of a riMac.

To make full use of it you've gotta be closer. If you sit with your eyes 32" away you should have saved yourself some money and bought the non retina Mac.

Of course too close and you've got front-row syndrome.

The retina distance, if you will, for the riMac is 16". That's where in theory a person with 20/20 can start to resolve pixels. At 32" for a regular Mac. Assuming you wanted more detail, the sweet spot is in between. Most folks sit about 24" from their monitors. With the riMac you can consider getting closer. Over time, I found myself leaning in to examing stuff like I'd do with a printed page, so I finally just moved it closer to my eyes and haven't looked back, so to speak.

For me doing this was easy cuz I use a standing desk. So I can stand closer. And I moved it down a bit, with the screen angled up, since again I found it best, for me, when it behaves like I'm reading a big magazine or something.

YMMV, but in the end your relation with that screen is the most important part of choosing a desk.
 
cphowitzer said:
Good question.

I just bought a riMac (my first apple computer), will get it delivered by Dec 8-12 (hopefully). I knew I would be buying it when it came out, so I wanted a desk that would match the quality of my apple machine. I decided to get a custom made desk from reclaimed yellow-leaf heartwood pine. The heartwood was used by the first settlers that came to Canada and USA out of pines that have grown on this land for 400-500 years. It’s extremely dense, heavy, rot and bug free, and it’s no longer available as all of those trees have been cut down. My carpenter is reclaiming this wood from a 140 year old distillery in northern Canada. I chose the very rustic look, it’s weathered, has saw marks, nail holes, and looks absolutely amazing when sanded, planed and varnished.

If you guys are interested, I can give you his name. He is located in Canada (2h away from Toronto), and is around 5h away from me. I’m picking up the table on Monday (took 3 weeks to make), and I’ll be able to post some pics on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, if anyone is interested. The 6 foot x 32 inches table is running me about $875 all in. A decent price for wood that will never be available again. Super excited, I’ve been waiting for it almost as much as my riMac ;p
Click to expand...

I absolutely love the concept! Unfortunately, I live in the UK, and we don't have that kind of furnitures around here (and not for that price! It seems very cheap for what it is).

I'm more looking for an easily available desk, but I would love to see the pictures of your desk when you have it (with your riMac on top!)
 
AppleInLVX said:
Funny, I bought a new desk for the iMac too, and went the same route with hardwood. While not reclaimed, I did get the Mennonites in my area to build me a beautiful wooden desk. I'm going for the traditional look. Coincidentally, I'm about 2 hours southwest of Toronto. Lots of great craftsmen around here.

Truthfully, there probably isn't a desk a new iMac wouldn't look great on. :D

Oh, a word of advice I'm glad I followed: For real wood top desks, get yourself a thin sheet of glass cut to the precise dimensions of the desk top and put that on before you put anything else on. Looks clean, and protects the desk. Like it or not, desks are work spaces and they will get crud on them. That glass barrier is awesome, and I know I won't ruin the top of this thing.
Click to expand...

Post some pics, I'd love to see it. I'll put mine up when I get it next week!
 
I was going to initially buy a desk but my husband came up with the idea of having both of as the dining room table haha so... yeah, we sit at the dining room table :) (We don't eat in the dining room, it is just there)
 
I'm using an UpDesk and I love it.

I work from home so I use it about 10-14 hours a day and that's why I invested in it.

It's very sturdy for having the 3 monitors and 3 Freedom Arms even at full height of 50 inches.

Gyy50HD.jpg


DJ6EJyn.jpg
 
kendrickhphoto said:
I'm using an UpDesk and I love it.

I work from home so I use it about 10-14 hours a day and that's why I invested in it.

It's very sturdy for having the 3 monitors and 3 Freedom Arms even at full height of 50 inches.
Click to expand...

Very nice! How do you like your Herman Miller Embody Chair? Is it worth the investment?

Thanks,
Bryan
 
Bryan Bowler said:
Very nice! How do you like your Herman Miller Embody Chair? Is it worth the investment?

Thanks,
Bryan
Click to expand...

Thanks! I really like it, I honestly didn't ever think I would spend that much on a chair. Since I was able to get a 100% remote position and can write it off it made it much easier for me. The 12 year warranty makes it an actual investment for me and that is how I viewed it. What made me look into the higher end chair market was the fact that at my previous employer they bought us all Steelcase Leap chairs. I spent about 50/50 at that position in a cheap chair vs the Leap and it was a huge difference.

I ended up buying the Embody without ever sitting in it or even a Herman Miller chair in general. I think just vs the Leap it is an order of magnitude better, in terms of looks, material, support and adjustability.

I can tell you that I spent 16 hours in the chair yesterday because of a major project at work. I normally split my day 40/60 sitting in the morning and standing in the afternoon. I can promise you, I wouldn't have been able to sit for that long without a lot pain in any of the other chairs I've used.
 
I'm planning to buy height adjustable standing/sitting table + high quality monitor arm.

The end result will look something like this:

height_adj_desk_monitor_arm1.jpg
 
Last edited:
I am in the middle of redesigning the entire home office at the moment.

Why not take the chance to do this when you are also at the same time revitalising your technology and the workspace at the same time.

I'm choosing to go with a wall worktop approach, I'm utilising a kitchen worktop in marble and I am going with only a 50cm from the wall desk. The design is for it to be a stretched worspace and enable me to sit comfortably and still maintain a closeness to my screens as I require them.

Once I finish I'll post up some pictures, it looks a right state at the moment.

Failing the above I'll sit In the middle of the room on the floor and use the Imac, retro style as if I was 6 again reading a book at night. May even make a den out of a duvet and a couple of chairs.
 
I'll be happy to get rid of my macbook on my desk and have the iMac with vesa mount replace the Thunderbolt display.
I love my height adjustable Palmberg Crew desk.
I'd love a new chair though, not sure if the Herman Miller Embody chair is the best for me.

I still need to finish my office (finish cabling, lightning, paint, place some display cabinets, etc..)

Lots of work to do

bureau.png
 
Korky said:
Is it wrong to be buying a desk from ikea for the Mac?
Click to expand...

Not at all. I'll continue to use my large Galant system desk when my new riMac arrives next month. Looks like Ikea has replaced them with the new Bekant system. Here's my current one.
picture.php
 
cphowitzer said:
Post some pics, I'd love to see it. I'll put mine up when I get it next week!
Click to expand...

I'll do that. Gimme to the weekend though, with everything dark by the time I get home, taking pictures of my dark desk in my dark little office in the dark yields poor results. :)
 
My cheap ikea desk waiting on the new iMac... I needed a desk on wheels since it is in a dual purpose room (guest/study)
 

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kendrickhphoto said:
Thanks! I really like it, I honestly didn't ever think I would spend that much on a chair. Since I was able to get a 100% remote position and can write it off it made it much easier for me. The 12 year warranty makes it an actual investment for me and that is how I viewed it. What made me look into the higher end chair market was the fact that at my previous employer they bought us all Steelcase Leap chairs. I spent about 50/50 at that position in a cheap chair vs the Leap and it was a huge difference.

I ended up buying the Embody without ever sitting in it or even a Herman Miller chair in general. I think just vs the Leap it is an order of magnitude better, in terms of looks, material, support and adjustability.

I can tell you that I spent 16 hours in the chair yesterday because of a major project at work. I normally split my day 40/60 sitting in the morning and standing in the afternoon. I can promise you, I wouldn't have been able to sit for that long without a lot pain in any of the other chairs I've used.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate it! I've been long overdue for a new chair and I think I'm going to have to find a Herman Miller dealer/showroom where I can try them out. I'm not bold enough to order one sight unseen.

I've heard so many positive things from people that have tried them and it sounds like your experience is the same.

Bryan
 
kendrickhphoto

What desktop speakers are you using. They really look neat on your desk and how would you rate them.
 
Bryan Bowler said:
Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate it! I've been long overdue for a new chair and I think I'm going to have to find a Herman Miller dealer/showroom where I can try them out. I'm not bold enough to order one sight unseen.

I've heard so many positive things from people that have tried them and it sounds like your experience is the same.

Bryan
Click to expand...

No problem, it's definitely hard to buy something sight unseen. I bought mine from Smart Furniture for that reason, they have a 45 day return period with no restocking fee and they pay for return shipping.

I bought the chair from this link - Herman Miller Embody

They also have a name your price, which I took advantage, and they instantly approve up to 10% which works out to $130 off on my chair. I ended up buying one that they had in stock so I didn't have to wait for it to be built.

45-Day Simply Smart Returns: you don't like what you bought? No big deal. You let us know you want to return something, we arrange it, and we refund you when we receive the product back at our warehouse. It really is that easy. Here's how the policy breaks down:


Orders under $2,000 can be returned to us for a full refund. We cover the cost of return shipping and you get back all of your money.*
Orders $2,000 and over can be returned, but we'll deduct an 18% return processing fee from your refund.** We'll arrange the return shipping and will refund the order amount (minus 18%) when we receive the product from you.

A few conditions to be eligible for a refund:

You need to have the original packaging
The product has to be in new and unused condition
You need to return the products to us within 45 days of delivery
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----------
TFL167 said:
kendrickhphoto

What desktop speakers are you using. They really look neat on your desk and how would you rate them.
Click to expand...

Thanks! They are the Nocs - NS2 Air Monitors

I like them but they aren't being made anymore. That being said they do have their issues with AirPlay but not enough to make me consider anything else. I found them from a seller on Amazon for $100 brand new so I couldn't pass it up. That is also why they are orange, that definitely wouldn't have been my first choice in color.

I honestly would recommend going with the Audioengine A2+. They are the same size and I've heard them side by side against mine and they sound exactly the same to me.

The only thing that they don't offer is AirPlay built in but most people can live without that. I do like not having to have the speakers plugged into my computer though.
 
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zertox said:
I'll be happy to get rid of my macbook on my desk and have the iMac with vesa mount replace the Thunderbolt display.
I love my height adjustable Palmberg Crew desk.
I'd love a new chair though, not sure if the Herman Miller Embody chair is the best for me.
Click to expand...

My chair recommendation.....

Lifeform Chairs

As someone with back issues, this has been a great choice.
 
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