3 ms·

When I'm working, most of the time I'm on my desktop, with a ~5 year old web cam attached to a monitor. For a while, I wondered if software was just making "me"

When I'm working, most of the time I'm on my desktop, with a ~5 year old web cam attached to a monitor. For a while, I wondered if software was just making "me" look good (quality, not my face, ha!) but I had someone do a screen shot. And my $50 web cam is 5x better than basically every Macbook web cam for video chat. And my desktop is a ~2 year old 8-core, 32GB machine. Not a monster but excellent power plus 27" and 32" monitors, and an ergonomic chair, keyboard and mouse. The webcam mic works well, too, even in conjunction with my external speakers. I can game on a laptop (with a decent laptop stand and flat surface for a mouse) but I certainly wouldn't want to do 8 hours of work on it. (Or a laptop on a table/desk, which isn't the right height or a good keyboard setup either...) Long-winded way of saying I agree with you. But I did buy all of my desktop gear - nothing was work supplied.

tomjen3 6y ago
I have a 13 year old Thinkpad with a webcam and an M1 Macbook Air. I have been meaning to compare the recording from their webcams, but I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't that big of a difference. I also have a nice external USB webcam that I normally use, but when you run that through Zoom or Google Meet the quality is degraded tremendously, to the point where I don't think it make sense to upgrade your camera, until you are able to use better video software. As for audio, I tested both the microphone in my external webcam today and a Rode Lavier, and the webcam had a distinct room sound to it, that the Lavier didn't.
draklor40 6y ago
bought mine as well from my pocket. except laptop , nothing was supplied by work. Have to apply for a tax break for all the stuff I bought this year.
AtlasBarfed 6y ago
32" monitor? You know you can get a 43" 4k TV that is half-decent for a monitor for 200-300$? And 8ks are coming... 2000$ for a 65" 8k, but of course the HDMI port support is glacial and grossly overpriced. But a curved 8k 65" for high-dpi will be my next big desktop build.
- neogodless 6y ago
  At the time it was a $400+ monitor refurbished for $170, quite a few years ago. It's only 75hz and after a concussion I'm migrating to all high refresh. So those TVs may not work depending on refresh rate. I find 27" QHD on my desk to be a great size. My eyesight doesn't really benefit significantly from higher resolutions.
- scott00 6y ago
  I thought using a 43" 4k TV as a monitor was a good idea until I actually tried it with the TCL S525. It looked really bad at close range, like this: https://i.rtings.com/assets/pages/li6TPHJm/user-1-large.jpg https://i.rtings.com/assets/pages/li6TPHJm/user-1-large.jpg So if you haven't tried it, beware. If you HAVE tried it, what model is working well for you?
  - AtlasBarfed 6y ago
    I have three. I used one of the original Seikis that came out ($500), then I got a samsung (don't remember the model) and that is probably my favorite, and the same TCL you have. I think the TCL is my least favorite. Rtings does highlight how much difference there is, but even the TVS that are a couple steps up from the TCL are only a couple hundred more, so the cost per unit of screen real estate is still pretty good. I think the 8ks will have such significantly better pixel density (because it's not like I'm going to use an 86" monitor for 8k, rather a 60" and have about 50% more pixel density). Maybe even a 50-55".

tomjen3 6y ago

I have a 13 year old Thinkpad with a webcam and an M1 Macbook Air. I have been meaning to compare the recording from their webcams, but I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't that big of a difference. I also have a nice external USB webcam that I normally use, but when you run that through Zoom or Google Meet the quality is degraded tremendously, to the point where I don't think it make sense to upgrade your camera, until you are able to use better video software. As for audio, I tested both the microphone in my external webcam today and a Rode Lavier, and the webcam had a distinct room sound to it, that the Lavier didn't.

draklor40 6y ago

bought mine as well from my pocket. except laptop , nothing was supplied by work. Have to apply for a tax break for all the stuff I bought this year.

AtlasBarfed 6y ago

32" monitor? You know you can get a 43" 4k TV that is half-decent for a monitor for 200-300$? And 8ks are coming... 2000$ for a 65" 8k, but of course the HDMI port support is glacial and grossly overpriced. But a curved 8k 65" for high-dpi will be my next big desktop build.

neogodless 6y ago
At the time it was a $400+ monitor refurbished for $170, quite a few years ago. It's only 75hz and after a concussion I'm migrating to all high refresh. So those TVs may not work depending on refresh rate. I find 27" QHD on my desk to be a great size. My eyesight doesn't really benefit significantly from higher resolutions.
scott00 6y ago
I thought using a 43" 4k TV as a monitor was a good idea until I actually tried it with the TCL S525. It looked really bad at close range, like this: https://i.rtings.com/assets/pages/li6TPHJm/user-1-large.jpg https://i.rtings.com/assets/pages/li6TPHJm/user-1-large.jpg So if you haven't tried it, beware. If you HAVE tried it, what model is working well for you?
- AtlasBarfed 6y ago
  I have three. I used one of the original Seikis that came out ($500), then I got a samsung (don't remember the model) and that is probably my favorite, and the same TCL you have. I think the TCL is my least favorite. Rtings does highlight how much difference there is, but even the TVS that are a couple steps up from the TCL are only a couple hundred more, so the cost per unit of screen real estate is still pretty good. I think the 8ks will have such significantly better pixel density (because it's not like I'm going to use an 86" monitor for 8k, rather a 60" and have about 50% more pixel density). Maybe even a 50-55".