Germander_Speedwell
Member
Hi Guys, i would really appreciate your input, help and thoughts about a set up for a laptop & docking system for myself.
For some basic background i am disabled and use an electric wheelchair, spend quite a lot of time reclined either in my profiling/hospital style bed or in a riser recliner chair in my lounge but am hoping to create a flexible set up based around a docking station on a desk which can also be accessed from my bed (next to each other) which also allows me to move the laptop away from the docking station to either be used in other locations around my house or when required can be taken with me to stay in nursing homes, hospital, staying with family etc. Having just spent almost 5 weeks in a nursing home last month (Im only in my 30's) it made me realise just how important it was for me to have access to a computer wherever i end up, but that it needs to be more portable than a gaming spec desktop. I have also come to realise how important my computer is to my life and, particularly since covid, that it is often my window to the outside world, my coping strategy, as well as being essential in managing my medical care (which is becoming increasingly reliant on technology), and communicating with and managing my extremely complex care team.
I'm finally at a point where i have an appropriate amount of funds saved up to make this a reality, but i want to do this right and and do it once! It's going to be a long time before i find myself in a position to be able to totally overhaul my kit again so future proofing as much as possible, and ability to upgrade other component's in future is definitely a consideration. At the same time i don't want to waste funds on a computer that is way beyond my needs/ use case. I think i last updated my previous laptop in 2012... to give you an idea of how long it's taken me to get to this point of having some decent funds available.
But now i am ready to buy this new laptop and i am SO excited, but more than a little terrified if i am honest. I have never built a computer before and i want to get this right, i want to learn how to care for my machine properly, what routine maintenance i should be doing etc, how often to get it serviced and if i should do that myself/locally or send it back to PC specialist for that. Unfortunately my Dad who was always the computer man of the family had a severe stroke in 2018 and now has a serious Brain Injury, so my long time advisor is gone and i'm left having to make all the decisions by myself with no guidance for the first time- it's just a tad daunting, so i really do appreciate all the advice you have to give me, and threads you can point me to read regarding maintenance & settings for a gaming laptop. (I have read the recommended threads from the helpful hints thread-thank you!)
Monitor - Will be docking at a desk with a Samsung Odyssey G6 32" QLED Smart Monitor (LS32BG650EUXXU) as my main monitor (1440P and 240Hz) however i hope that one day i will be able to add a second screen to my set up. Currently using a very old 2016 Samsung 24" HD LED Smart TV Monitor (1080P and 60Hz) with my existing desktop on a mounting arm attached to the wall, which then swings out over my bed and over-bed table so i can use my current desktop set up from my bed. I am considering keeping this monitor in place as part of my new set up to give me more flexibility/options on where i am able to sit/lay to use the computer when unwell and enable me to continue docking the laptop on my desk next to the bed, switching between screens depending on how my health allows me to use the computer that day (either sitting upright/lightly reclined at the computer, with the full experience of monitors, peripherals, speakers around me, or more supported/reclined in the bed with a lesser monitor, keyboard and mouse) The intention/hope would be to do the majority of my gaming with the 32" monitor whilst sitting at my desk space.
Peripherals- I fully intend to purchase a laptop water cooling system with the laptop and some kind of dock/stand for it to stand on for good air flow. I have already purchased a Razer Blackwidow V3 Pro keyboard, which is a wireless model, to give me maximum flexibility, i have plans to pair this with other Razer wireless peripherals (just for the sheer joy of razer chroma linking them all up and creating a nice atmosphere) such as a Basilisk V3 pro mouse and Kraken V3 pro headphones as finances allow. For now i have a Logitec MX Master 2S mouse that is more than up to the job.
Uses - The laptop will be a mixture of gaming, internet browsing, and being used to do fairly simple word processing/emails/excel spreadsheets for managing my medical care and complex care package. I store an awful lot of medical documentation and care plans centrally via onedrive and have to keep this updated and distributed to various parties throughout the week and i can see this aspect of file management increasing over time. I have a fairly large amount of photographs that i store and browse, and am hoping that with access to new technology i may start delving in to some creative work with imagine editing, creating graphics, possibly even some basic video editing. No real plans to stream though. But where my core usage really lies is in media consumption, social use and gaming. I am a nightmare for having a ridiculous number of tabs open at once. Gaming wise i am a simulation lover, wanting to play games like the Sims 4 with all packs plus a considerable amount of mods/cc, City Skylines II (!!!), and CS 1 too ofcourse, minecraft and Planet zoo, but i would also like to explore lots more games when i finally have a device capable of decent gaming, like hogwarts legacy, the Two Point series, farm simulator, jurassic park evolution etc- mostly simulation and sandbox play type games, im really not a shooting games type of person.
Budget - I have around £3500 put aside but this is intended to cover the laptop plus as much of the peripherals and accessories as possible. I've already purchased the 32" monitor, Razer keyboard and a sit stand desk, but will need to purchase a decent quality chair & foot/leg support (any recommendations on that front would be appreciated), liquid cooling system, Gold 3yr warranty and 1yr Pixel guarantee. Optional extras like a new mouse/speakers/sound bar/headphones/mouse or desk pad/chroma compatible smart lighting will have to come out of whatever is left over and then be saved for over time if there isn't enough and, as mentioned previously, i am conscious of not over-spec'ing beyond my needs. So i feel that around the £2800 mark is my comfort zone for the laptop build itself.
(continued below...)
For some basic background i am disabled and use an electric wheelchair, spend quite a lot of time reclined either in my profiling/hospital style bed or in a riser recliner chair in my lounge but am hoping to create a flexible set up based around a docking station on a desk which can also be accessed from my bed (next to each other) which also allows me to move the laptop away from the docking station to either be used in other locations around my house or when required can be taken with me to stay in nursing homes, hospital, staying with family etc. Having just spent almost 5 weeks in a nursing home last month (Im only in my 30's) it made me realise just how important it was for me to have access to a computer wherever i end up, but that it needs to be more portable than a gaming spec desktop. I have also come to realise how important my computer is to my life and, particularly since covid, that it is often my window to the outside world, my coping strategy, as well as being essential in managing my medical care (which is becoming increasingly reliant on technology), and communicating with and managing my extremely complex care team.
I'm finally at a point where i have an appropriate amount of funds saved up to make this a reality, but i want to do this right and and do it once! It's going to be a long time before i find myself in a position to be able to totally overhaul my kit again so future proofing as much as possible, and ability to upgrade other component's in future is definitely a consideration. At the same time i don't want to waste funds on a computer that is way beyond my needs/ use case. I think i last updated my previous laptop in 2012... to give you an idea of how long it's taken me to get to this point of having some decent funds available.
But now i am ready to buy this new laptop and i am SO excited, but more than a little terrified if i am honest. I have never built a computer before and i want to get this right, i want to learn how to care for my machine properly, what routine maintenance i should be doing etc, how often to get it serviced and if i should do that myself/locally or send it back to PC specialist for that. Unfortunately my Dad who was always the computer man of the family had a severe stroke in 2018 and now has a serious Brain Injury, so my long time advisor is gone and i'm left having to make all the decisions by myself with no guidance for the first time- it's just a tad daunting, so i really do appreciate all the advice you have to give me, and threads you can point me to read regarding maintenance & settings for a gaming laptop. (I have read the recommended threads from the helpful hints thread-thank you!)
Monitor - Will be docking at a desk with a Samsung Odyssey G6 32" QLED Smart Monitor (LS32BG650EUXXU) as my main monitor (1440P and 240Hz) however i hope that one day i will be able to add a second screen to my set up. Currently using a very old 2016 Samsung 24" HD LED Smart TV Monitor (1080P and 60Hz) with my existing desktop on a mounting arm attached to the wall, which then swings out over my bed and over-bed table so i can use my current desktop set up from my bed. I am considering keeping this monitor in place as part of my new set up to give me more flexibility/options on where i am able to sit/lay to use the computer when unwell and enable me to continue docking the laptop on my desk next to the bed, switching between screens depending on how my health allows me to use the computer that day (either sitting upright/lightly reclined at the computer, with the full experience of monitors, peripherals, speakers around me, or more supported/reclined in the bed with a lesser monitor, keyboard and mouse) The intention/hope would be to do the majority of my gaming with the 32" monitor whilst sitting at my desk space.
Peripherals- I fully intend to purchase a laptop water cooling system with the laptop and some kind of dock/stand for it to stand on for good air flow. I have already purchased a Razer Blackwidow V3 Pro keyboard, which is a wireless model, to give me maximum flexibility, i have plans to pair this with other Razer wireless peripherals (just for the sheer joy of razer chroma linking them all up and creating a nice atmosphere) such as a Basilisk V3 pro mouse and Kraken V3 pro headphones as finances allow. For now i have a Logitec MX Master 2S mouse that is more than up to the job.
Uses - The laptop will be a mixture of gaming, internet browsing, and being used to do fairly simple word processing/emails/excel spreadsheets for managing my medical care and complex care package. I store an awful lot of medical documentation and care plans centrally via onedrive and have to keep this updated and distributed to various parties throughout the week and i can see this aspect of file management increasing over time. I have a fairly large amount of photographs that i store and browse, and am hoping that with access to new technology i may start delving in to some creative work with imagine editing, creating graphics, possibly even some basic video editing. No real plans to stream though. But where my core usage really lies is in media consumption, social use and gaming. I am a nightmare for having a ridiculous number of tabs open at once. Gaming wise i am a simulation lover, wanting to play games like the Sims 4 with all packs plus a considerable amount of mods/cc, City Skylines II (!!!), and CS 1 too ofcourse, minecraft and Planet zoo, but i would also like to explore lots more games when i finally have a device capable of decent gaming, like hogwarts legacy, the Two Point series, farm simulator, jurassic park evolution etc- mostly simulation and sandbox play type games, im really not a shooting games type of person.
Budget - I have around £3500 put aside but this is intended to cover the laptop plus as much of the peripherals and accessories as possible. I've already purchased the 32" monitor, Razer keyboard and a sit stand desk, but will need to purchase a decent quality chair & foot/leg support (any recommendations on that front would be appreciated), liquid cooling system, Gold 3yr warranty and 1yr Pixel guarantee. Optional extras like a new mouse/speakers/sound bar/headphones/mouse or desk pad/chroma compatible smart lighting will have to come out of whatever is left over and then be saved for over time if there isn't enough and, as mentioned previously, i am conscious of not over-spec'ing beyond my needs. So i feel that around the £2800 mark is my comfort zone for the laptop build itself.
(continued below...)
I really do appreciate all the help and advice you have for me as im finding the process a little daunting and could do with some reassurance that my build is decent and capable of doing what i want it to do, without it being ridiculously excessive. I'm the first to admit that my computer knowledge has fallen by the wayside over the last 15yrs or so, but it is something i am really keen to work on and learn about as much as i can going forwards! 
