What’s On Your Desk, Dominic Preston?

Not each of The Verge’s unit unrecorded successful nan US. For example, news editor Dominic Preston is based successful London and is, arsenic he says, “responsible for keeping our news sum ticking complete successful UK mornings earlier nan US squad comes online.” He besides curates our caller Verge Daily newsletter and covers Android phones, particularly each nan models that don’t motorboat successful nan US. 

And extracurricular of work? “I’m a spot of a nutrient obsessive,” he says, “and tally a newsletter called Braise wherever I reappraisal London restaurants and cookbooks, and occasionally effort my ain manus astatine look writing. That intends I walk astir of my free clip cooking, eating, aliases reasoning astir food, and truthful besides a decent magnitude of clip successful nan gym trying to dress up for that.” 

Where is your workspace located?

This is an agency that I stock pinch my partner successful our level successful London. It utilized to beryllium a 2nd bedroom, but now we’ve kitted it retired pinch 2 desks and a sofa furniture for nan occasional times we really person guests to stay. My partner is simply a PhD student, truthful her moving hours are a spot unpredictable, and divided betwixt present and schoolhouse — which intends that 90 percent of nan clip I’ve sewage nan agency to myself.

Could you show america astir your desk(s)?

We some person opinionated desks. Mine is an Autonomous SmartDesk 2 that’s physics and automatic, hers an aged pneumatic exemplary by Bakker Elkhuizen that they don’t make anymore, which annoys her because it requires a spot of effort to displacement up and down. They’re some dressed up pinch self-healing cutting mats, which are still occasionally utilized for arts and crafts (or arsenic nan backdrop for my product photos) but mostly double arsenic elephantine rodent mats.

You person some a chair and a stepping station. What are they, and really good do they activity for you?

The chair is simply a secondhand Herman Miller. It really utilized to beryllium my partner’s, while I sat successful a large Duelhawk Jet Black PU gaming chair (also nary longer available), until we each realized we preferred nan other’s spot and swapped. I’m aged enough, and sore enough, to beryllium consenting to put a small successful nan chair I’ll beryllium utilizing each time anyway.

The stepping pad is simply a pretty inexpensive 1 from Mobvoi. I really bought it instantly aft reference a piece by my workfellow Victoria Song connected a different Mobvoi model, and pursuing her proposal I’ve made nary effort to touch its smart features aliases way my workouts; truthful acold it’s served maine well. I conscionable usage it arsenic slow arsenic it goes, and effort to walk arsenic overmuch of each greeting stepping connected it arsenic imaginable — connected a bully time I’ll rack up 2 aliases 3 hours of dependable stepping time; connected a bad time I’ll support putting it disconnected until nan java hits and ne'er rather get going. Either way, I fto myself beryllium down for nan afternoon, which is much apt to beryllium concentrated penning clip — I find it difficult to do thing excessively imaginative aliases analyzable while stepping astatine nan aforesaid time.

(I know, I know, my cablegram guidance isn’t great. I thin to beryllium very tidy, but cables are 1 of nan fewer things I perfectly don’t person nan patience to organize. Sadly, having a opinionated table really lays bare those sins, truthful I whitethorn person to unit myself to get amended astir it.)

Here’s nan agelong one: show america astir nan various tech devices you’re using. 

My existent setup is somewhat awkwardly trapped betwixt my activity and individual computers, though I person immoderate plans successful nan useful to amended it.

My activity instrumentality is an M2 MacBook Air, which lives propped up connected a Ugreen laptop stand. It’s connected to nan show connected nan right, a inexpensive 24-inch QHD Philips model that I bought successful 2020. 

The confusing portion of my setup is that 2nd monitor, an embarrassingly aged Acer one. That’s because I’ve besides sewage a desktop PC that I usage extracurricular of work, and that connects to some monitors. At nan extremity of nan activity time I tin flip nan MacBook shut, and my individual setup is bully to go. It’s each unnecessarily cluttered, though, particularly since nan MacBook can’t support some outer monitors astatine once, truthful this year’s large upgrade will astir apt beryllium a 32-inch 4K show to switch nan brace of them. I’ll happily return immoderate recommendations from nan comments!

My keyboard is nan Logitech MX Keys S, which I love. I’m arsenic overmuch of a sucker for a bully mechanical committee arsenic nan adjacent guy, but I emotion low-profile, full-size keyboards, and bully mechanical options successful that abstraction are fewer and acold between. I utilized to usage a Hexgears Venture, but I ran it into nan crushed eventually, and this has served maine good since.

The rodent is besides Logitech, though it isn’t my accustomed one. I picked up this MX Anywhere 3S a while backmost to usage erstwhile I’m walking to waste and acquisition shows and merchandise launches, and usually person nan larger MX Master 3S connected my desk. Sadly nan near fastener connected that has fixed up nan ghost, and I’m holding disconnected connected replacing it successful nan hopes that nan long-rumored MX Master 4 is astir to launch.

Continuing nan Logitech taxable (I’m conscionable now realizing rather really overmuch of my table setup was built by them), I person an aged Z337 2.1 speaker system that conscionable hardly fits connected nan table correct now (another logic I request to move to a azygous monitor), and a Brio 500 webcam that I mostly for illustration for really easy it is to flip nan built-in privateness shutter.

Everything connects up done an Anker Prime USB hub that’s almost surely much powerful than I request it to be, but has tons of front-facing USB ports for charging my array of phones, helped by a Xiaomi 50W wireless charging stand, which made much consciousness erstwhile I was utilizing a Xiaomi 14 Ultra arsenic my main phone, but is somewhat wasted now — different phones don’t deed that max charging speed.

I thin to person a rotating formed of phones floating astir my desk, though this is comparatively tidy for maine — connected messy days I tin person up to 5 aliases six handsets taking up space. Beyond nan Vivo X200 Ultra I utilized to return these photos, you tin spot nan Fairphone 6 and Huawei Pura X, nan 2 phones I’ve astir precocious been testing for reviews. 

Tell america astir your camera collection.

I decided I wanted to effort retired movie photography backmost successful 2019, because I was spending a batch much clip penning astir cameras arsenic portion of my telephone reviews and utilizing cameras arsenic portion of my job. I figured movie would beryllium a bully measurement to make myself study much astir nan halfway principles. 

I picked up this Canon EF connected eBay. It’s a ’70s SLR pinch a metallic body, which intends it’s dense but is built for illustration a vessel — I fishy it will outlast me. It came pinch a Canon 50mm lens, and I’ve gradually picked up a fewer inexpensive options to spell pinch it: a 28mm wide-angle, a 35-70mm for erstwhile I want flexibility, and a 70-210mm telephoto I bought specifically for a safari successful Kenya a mates years back. I ever show myself I’ll bargain better-quality lenses erstwhile I’m a bully capable photographer to get nan astir retired of them, but I’ll astir apt conscionable person to wound nan slug eventually.

The microphone surviving alongside them each is nan Rode NT-USB, which I usage for podcasts and videos, though I’d for illustration to get a roar limb for it truthful I tin shop it astir nan desk.

You’ve sewage a batch of toys and games connected those shelves! How agelong person you been collecting them?

This is simply a really motley assortment of things I’ve collected complete nan years — immoderate bought, immoderate gifted, immoderate acquired from an aged agency clearout. There’s much dotted astir nan remainder of my apartment, though my woman is connected an (understandable) ngo to ore it each successful nan office.

Do you person immoderate favorites?

I’m an absolute Alien obsessive, and I really person 2 full-size facehuggers, 1 plushie and 1 vinyl, which I adore. There’s besides a (sadly not full-size) powerfulness loader from Aliens, which I can’t get capable of. Elsewhere successful nan flat I person a fewer original ’90s Street Sharks and Small Soldiers action figures, which are still waiting for nan correct support to show them on.

The committee crippled postulation is mini but steadily growing. I’ve been playing a batch of Gloomhaven complete nan past twelvemonth aliases so, though Betrayal astatine House connected nan Hill is astir apt nan crippled that gets surgery retired astir often. I’ve besides sewage a patient postulation of D&D 5e and Alien RPG sourcebooks — I tin powerfully urge nan latter, and that’s not conscionable nan fanboy successful maine speaking!

Okay, show america astir that beautiful cat.

That’s Noodle, 1 of our 2 cats (the different is Loaf, and yes, of people they person an Instagram account).

She’s really a caller summation to my desk. We’ve had nan cats for a mates of years, but successful nan past fewer months Noodle has decided she really wants to bent retired pinch maine while I work, and will happily dishonesty down connected my keyboard to do so. We group her up pinch a small broad furniture instead, which she now sleeps successful astir half nan day, though she still isn’t supra a keyboard nap erstwhile nan temper strikes. The biggest astonishment to maine is that she doesn’t look to mind nan opinionated table going up aliases down while she’s connected it, which I expected would origin a spot of panic.

Photographs by Dominic Preston / The Verge