"I think promoting the startup mentality is not really about the smaller details about the hardware. It is about giving people challenges and a good collaborati

"I think promoting the startup mentality is not really about the smaller details about the hardware. It is about giving people challenges and a good collaborative place to work. The hardware won't do that on its own." You are right, and my point was not to say the hardware setup is the be-all and end-all. But the scope of my question for HN in this instance was hardware setup. I actually very much disagree with your idea of building your own computer... the time it takes to order all the components, receive it, put it together, tinker with the setup, etc is going to be longer than an hour. And if something breaks/goes wrong with one of the components then it's a nightmare trying to get it fixed. With an iMac (for example) it's just a case of getting AppleCare and then if something goes wrong they come by the office the next day and repair it or replace it. It doesn't matter what is wrong with it, or which part is at fault My team's velocity is important and making sure I can be certain their rigs are stable and can be quickly fixed/repaired is important. (Not every developer likes to put computers together either, some may not have even done it before) I also disagree about the $500 idea - two screens would probably be $500 alone and then conceivably the developer might want to have windows on there, which is an extra $200 now (windows, {shudder}).