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Had to pick between a cheaper laptop or a nicer chair last month
I was staring at my credit card bill and realized I could either get that $400 refurbished ThinkPad or a $350 ergonomic chair. I went with the chair because my back was killing me after 10 hour days hunched over a kitchen stool. It actually helped my focus way more than I expected, though now my old laptop crashes when I have more than 3 tabs open. Anyone else regret cheaping out on hardware for comfort?
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aliceharris3mo ago
Oh man, I did the exact same thing last year! I went with a used Herman Miller knockoff and a beat up Dell from 2016. My back was saved but I can't run any modern software without it sounding like a jet engine. You made the right call though, a busted spine means zero productivity regardless of what laptop you have. My advice would be to grab a used desktop tower for like $200 and just remote into it from your old laptop. That way you keep the comfortable setup without the lag. Just make sure you have decent wifi, otherwise you'll trade one headache for another.
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margaretc423mo ago
See, I actually disagree with you there, @aliceharris. A cheap used tower and remote setup adds complexity I don't want to deal with, and a faster laptop (even a basic one) would've made my slow old one way more bearable than a fancy chair does.
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laura_wilson3mo ago
Honestly I've got to push back on that, because a decent chair literally pays for itself in one year of not needing a chiropractor. You can always close a few browser tabs or run older programs on a slow laptop, but you can't un-screw your spine from a cheap folding chair after eight hours. That tower + remote setup is like fifteen minutes of tinkering one time for years of smooth operation, way less hassle than nursing a laptop that's already limping along.
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