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Your job - what hardware do they provide?

B

bulldoze

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 15, 2011
229
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At my latest job I am allocated a desk, which is nice as I can keep my chair setup as I like. I also get 2 x 24 monitors and a thin client where I have a windows 10 (ugh) desktop. I can also login from home through Citrix receiver from my own Macbook if I have to work from home.

My last place gave us all a poor spec HP laptop and a docking station at work with 2 x 22 monitors but hot desking so pot luck what state the chair is in when you sit down.

The time before that though (only 18 months ago) gave me a 1 x 20 monitor and that was it. We informed management that we would all be far more productive with more screens but they were not interested - very odd.

So come on what setups are you guys provided with? - I hear about these mythical places that give starters a new Macbook Pro and double 30inch monitors etc.
 
We have hot desking so no allocated desk, though I usually get to the office at about 7:45am which means 9 times out of 10 I can just sit at the same desk every day.

I have a Lenovo X1 Yoga laptop with Windows 10; at work the desks have big Philips monitors that act as docking stations, you connect the laptop by USB and that gives wired internet and the keyboard.

Some people (managers I think!) have Macs, but we have so many legacy applications that need Internet Explorer that I don't think I could do my job with a Mac.
 
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Lenovo T50 with Win10 (yes, it is very old). But, i work in a lab and requisitioned 2 Mac Minis for specific testing. I use 1 at the office as my daily machine, and one at home when I work remote. I rarely use the Win10 machine, primarily when outlook features like voting or recover from Enterprise Archives are required. Else, it just sits there looking dumb. Virtually everything I need to do can be done (better) on Macs.

Also have several Win7 and Win10 VMs for further testing, and a bunch of Linux and Windows servers. I cringe every time I have to work on Windoze machines, including my Wife's.
 
I have a 2017 5k iMac and a 2017 13" Macbook Pro. My business partner has a 2016 13" MacBook Pro and external monitor. We have Windows 10 on an external drive just for specific testing in Microsoft Edge.

Looking at this now, it doesn't seem to fair to him. . .
 
University professor. Design and creative thinking. I get a studio (amazing space) and a laptop (MacBookPro) and external drives for backups/archives. University-funded competive grants have supplied a large format printer, 30" Cinema Display, and a sewing machine.
 
Tech writer. An hp door stop. I haven’t used it in 9 months. My person 2017 MBP runs windows and all my needed software better than the HP
 
I have two high end 27" BenQ monitors and a maxed out MacBook Air.
I'm a purchasing/logistics/product manager.

We kit people out with what they need. Some people have MacBook Pros, some Mac minis, some Airs and some window boxes. Just depends on your role.
 
I’m a software engineer. My primary work machine is a Dell workstation with dual 24 inch monitors running Ubuntu. A couple years old but still running great. I have an old SATA SSD for compiles.
We have separate “thin clients” to connect to Windows VMs to do stuff like Exchange email and MS Office crap. But that’s not my dev environment. Thank goodness.
 
My offical title is infrastructure specialist, as such I need to manage various servers and backend applications. To do that, I have lovely little cubicle, desk and two computers, single monitors on both of them.
 
As a Manager of Database Systems (both Windows and SAP based) I have an HP desktop (after going through two HP laptops in 3 years), a MacBook Air for travel usage and a big thirty-something inch ultra widescreen monitor in glorious Technicolor.

Got myself an iPad Pro as well for general meeting usage, note taking etc.
 
University English professor. I have a 2015 27” iMac in a private office & and iPad Pro with Apple Pencil. Obviously have a desk, chair, printer, etc. There’s also departmental MacBook Airs and iPad Minis available that are available ad hoc.
 
Composing Manager (Graphic Designer) for a small weekly newspaper (less than 12 people).

I have my own area, which was the composing section of the building when I was hired. Large space, but not an office.

Currently, Mid 2010 MacPro with one 30" ASUS display (primary monitor) and two 22" Samsung monitors. 1 2006 era HP running Windows 10, one PowerMac G5 Dual (mine) next to the Mac Pro. Across the room, one Dell PowerEdge server being used as our backup server, one PowerMac G4 being used as our Applescript server and one PowerMac G4 being used as a print server for our Appletalk printers (so the MacPro can print). Both G4s are being run headless and accessed via VNC.

Lastly, we have a generic brand main server acquired in 2013 that I am responsible for. I am also responsible for IT and maintenance of all computers in the building, a mix of PC and Mac, Windows 7 and Windows 10.

When I was first hired, the computer given to me was a Gateway with an 18" monitor. One of the G4s I just mentioned was used to process Classifieds. In 2005, my boss bought new for me a 1.8Ghz PowerMac G5 which eventually went to my coworker who is now up front and no longer with me in the back.

The MacPro is a refurb acquired in 2013 when the 1.8Ghz G5 died (it's working again because I replaced the logicboard and CPU).

Getting ANY hardware upgrades is a matter of delicate timing and asking when the boss is in a good mood or prepared to honor the request. This is a small family run business so I have to deal with whatever I can get when I can.
 
Desktop with two monitors and a laptop for home use. That’s about it....it’s all that’s needed.
 
Off the shelf parts built PC: Core2Duo, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, 21" monitor and Win7. I've been using this machine for the past 12 years. The boss keeps calling for an upgrade, but the cheap ass accountant (that's me:p) keeps saying "if it ain't broke..."
As the in house IT guy as well, it would mean we would have to upgrade the server as well, since we're still running a Win 2003 server. That's a boatload of upgrading that would be damn disruptive. I'm working on migrating to Windows 2016 within the next year, so we ain't gonna be SOL if things break.
 
I'm not even lying, but I don't think I've ever really paid attention to it. It's a compact form factor desktop with 2 24" monitors running Windows 7. I have no idea what processor, how much RAM, etc. They're not going to replace it or upgrade it anytime soon so it doesn't really matter what it is or isn't, I guess. It does its job just fine.
 
Work in accounting and our IT dept just switched most of the office over to Lenovo Thinkpad T460s last year. Our dept specifically has dual monitors. I think their 20".
 
14” Lenovo Thinkpad T450s with two 20” monitors and docking station in my office, though I can basically use any computer in the hospital, most of which are HP. I also have an iPad Air WiFi from work (I think, it’s been sitting in my drawer for years as it’s less usesul for “medical reference” than my iPhone or a PC)... especially considering our limited WiFi and Cell or our campus.

A year or so ago we got a new electronic health record program and they had to replace all the 17-19” 4:3 screens around the hospital with 23-24” high res screens because the new software just shows so much info. My 20 inch screeens have 1600x900 resolution, which is sufficient but it would be nice to go bigger.

When converting to the new software they offered me a new 13” HP ProBook but I turned it down. The T450s is a good size and I trust Thinkpads over HP. The Thinkpads definitely have a better build quality.
 
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I have a very small business... but it is all Mac so far... except for our spare extra monitors. Those are 27" (I think) HPs. We have iPhones, iPads (mine is an iPad Pro with a pencil), iMacs, and I have a MacBook Pro:). I also have my AirPods for calls while driving. Oh, I also have a small portable scanner I use for client paperwork when I am in the field.
 
When I joined I was given two 24" HP monitors, a Thinkpad w530 and a dock. Battery is dead and it is mostly use for Outlook and to vnc onto Linux machines for actual work anyways. And I just take my personal iPad for meetings.
 
We provide HP units with SSD main drives that were put in a few years into running the majority of them. We'll probably look at upgrading in 2-3 years. In either case, going with HP, Dell or Apple, we're looking at replacing anywhere from 150-300 computers. The old saying "measure twice, cut once" holds true. Estimate current and future needs, purchase once.

Apart from my office computer, I rock a newer MBP. Really good machine, could do with more power and memory.
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A.Goldberg said:
When converting to the new software they offered me a new 13” HP ProBook but I turned it down. The T450s is a good size and I trust Thinkpads over HP. The Thinkpads definitely have a better build quality.
Click to expand...
Yeah the only HP laptops I trust are their premium products and the EliteBook workstations which are built very well. I've never come across a ProBook that wasn't in tatters, even a year in. Are Toughbooks a thing in the medical industry? I've seen them in television shows, but I don't believe they're used in the real world?

I had one of the earlier Envys and that was good, but the quality was so-so with consumers. One of my favorite laptops was a nice i7 Samsung. I like the EliteBooks because you can get a high end i7 processor not available in lower tiers, with a discreet GPU and more RAM. Of course, you can now get them with Xeon processors. If laptops are docked, they tend to last a long time. It's the battery that will go out before anything else.
 
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Zenithal said:
Are Toughbooks a thing in the medical industry?
Click to expand...

Yes, they’re still around. My hospital doesn’t use them but others do- though it’s now usually toughbook tablet PCs more often than not. They should call them tough tablets. They’re pretty much only used on the floor though.
 
A.Goldberg said:
Yes, they’re still around. My hospital doesn’t use them but others do- though it’s now usually toughbook tablet PCs more often than not. They should call them tough tablets. They’re pretty much only used on the floor though.
Click to expand...
Poor creatures. Saving lives and not enough money for tables to sit at?













I had to.
 
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Zenithal said:
Poor creatures. Saving lives and not enough money for tables to sit at?













I had to.
Click to expand...
More like not enough time to sit :p

A lot of them are on mobile carts things with a docking station. They can then be removed to bring them into the patients rooms and then brought back out. They’re also found on some mobile equipment. Some nurses and docs have their own. I feel like they’re becoming less common as the cost of PC go down and computers are placed in more and more places.
 
Outside of the gear we are issued, and depending on your unit, you may get a phone (iPhone or Android, you get to pick), but no computers. You might get a take home car. But yeah, not so much with any type of computer hardware.
 
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