Tools of my trade, part 1

So I've been (properly) freelancing for just over a month and thought it'd be nice to write a post on the hardware and software I'm using currently to make things happen.

This might be quite an exhaustive list of 'bits and bobs' but they're not all from within the last 30 days or so. My 'tools' have been gather over the last 3 years of 'doing web properly'. This would explain why there's so many testing devices. This is the first post, just quickly discussing the hardware I use daily.

the hardware

my office space

I've got quite a bit of hardware which I've collected and/or purchased over the last 12 months or so. Here's a full and (slightly) detailed list.

MacBook Air

So my main machine is a late 2011 13" Macbook Air. It's the stock model so there's only 4GB of RAM and a 128GB hard disk. I did have a Macbook Pro but that (really) hurt my back if I ever took it with me in my bag. The Air is so light I have to check sometimes to see if I've got it.

Griffin Laptop Stand

Bringing the air up around 5 inches making it that little closer to eye level for the casual glance.

Time Capsule

I've got a 2TB Apple Time Capsule for backing up my Air, set once and forgotten. So far, touch wood, I've not had to use it. But I'm sure there'll be a day.

23" Monitor

I'm generally at my desk when I'm working so my laptop is connected to a 23" Dell Ultrasharp monitor. It's pretty good and all those extra pixels really help day in, day out. I've also got the 'sound bar' speaker system that screws onto the monitor too. Not the greatest sound in the world but after a few tweaks of the EQ in iTunes it's pretty good.

Apple Wired Keyboard, Magic Mouse & Mobee Magic Mouse Charger

I really miss a numpad, I've used the wireless keyboard before and of course the Air doesn't have a numpad but I'm finding it really useful for doing "all that maths" with responsive web design.
Although I've got a trackpad on my Air I find that I still need to have 'a mouse' when I'm working in a 'desktop' scenario. The Magic Mouse is perfect for me for this. It's a bit weighty with two batteries installed and batteries cost a lot.
I've installed the Mobee rechargeable battery to it. Makes the mouse that little bit lighter too as it only feels like there's one AA (LR6) battery inside.

Blue Snowball USB Mic

I don't really like talking to people. Needs must when the devil drives and I've found that using this mic for Skype is perfect. It's so close to the speakers in my setup just proving that the cardioid pattern is so tight there's no feedback at all.

USB Charger / Display

I've got several devices that I test with (I'll blog about those too, soon) that need charging. I've found this little Belkin Valet USB charging 'table'. It allows you to charger 4 phones (not iPads unfortunately) and has space for 3 phones on it's surface. This works great as I've got a dock for my iPhone that connects to it. So that's a 'droid 2.2, 2.3 a WP7 phon and a iPhone all in front of me 'at the ready'.