u/EnigmaticSpaceCowboy

i’ve moved many times so the setup has always needed to be compact. the philosophy was have a fully functioning sit stand dual monitor setup that only had one cable going down. the build started in 2021 and over the years i’ve slowly upgraded everything.

i went wireless as much as I could to assist this and I’ve got a couple magnet disconnect type c cables with type c - magnet adapters for all the devices (headset, keyboard, mouse, fan) for flexibility. 8bit ultimate controller with the dock wired into the pc.

both monitors are LG, an older 27” 144Hz 1440p IPS I bought used for cheap years ago and a new LG 32” curved 180hz 1440p VA I just upgraded. OLED is great but I’ve been perfectly happy with LG’s VA for a fraction of the price. I don’t really see a real difference between 144 and 180Hz but the deal was good.

system is a z590, i5 11600k, 48GB DDR4 ram (16x2 + 32x2 never had issues baby fuck it), Asus 9070 XT 16Gb, 2x NVMe, 1x SSD for a total of 2.5TB storage. Corsair AIO cooler. Computermaster case. has shrugged off everything i’ve thrown at it. almost everything I do is GPU or RAM intensive so the original mobo/CPU setup has served me perfectly fine with no real end in sight honestly. once ddr5 prices go down I will upgrade the mobo, CPU, RAM, and case to something flagship with an AMD processor, 64GB of DDR5 but at current prices it’s a joke.

both mine and my girlfriend’s systems are running on a 1500w costco special cyberpower UPS to protect our systems.

i decided to scrub windows from my life and run linux once and for all so it’s running fedora (bazzite, gnome). haven’t regretted it one bit, bazzite really changed the game. installs easier than windows, steam is already installed, my GPU worked out of the box (did need driver updates but still), and games just launched. i’ve been modding gta iv to really test what the experience is like and it’s flawless. just as if it was on windows, but with linux filepathing. i’ve had to get into the terminal a few times but nothing like trying to run ubuntu say, 5 years ago. i would say games run more stably than w11 as well.

with the bottles application I was running windows/macOS exclusive Arturia instrument software hooked up to an Arturia midi keyboard and it all synced correctly, first attempt. latency was good enough to play piano without issue.

if these experiences work, frankly there’s no reason to stay on windows unless you need kernel level anticheat for fortnite, COD, etc. and at that point with cross platform these days just play those on console imo.

incredible to see them rockin it at that age!

built this myself out of a thrifted briefcase!

the lighting was perfect

hey y’all. absolutely been loving my ‘18 XTR supercab 5.0. just got new block under warranty and paid it off so figured I’d have a little fun with it. the one thing i absolutely hated is the dinky 4” sync screen .

I love the physical buttons on it like play, pause , and even shuffle with big buttons for changing tracks , volume etc - way better than trying to navigate a screen . but not having apple carplay in 2026 just kinda sucks . i originally bought the bezel / sync3 unit / harness / usb hub to try go factory but ended up with a bad APIM or screen . not 100% sure. instead of leaning into the sunk cost fallacy i scrapped that avenue and went this way and am way happier.

started with a Carpuride w92 wireless apple carplay system. i’m thrilled with it - $150 CAD for a fast UI , it boots up instantly right into wireless apple carplay, and it is the exact width of the actual dash bezel for straight on mounting . it also supports dual bluetooth , so your phone syncs with the truck and the unit, so all steering wheel controls / voice activation works perfectly.

I hated having the big clunky charger dangling and the factory mounting hardware was total junk. rattled , fell, bounced , vibrated, not a great experience . i’ve got this heavy duty magnet mount from mob armor (~$70 CAD) that while expensive is STURDY. even with the one mount it’s basically bolted to my dash until I pry it off. i cheated out on this part and had to pony up for the good stuff - you want the mount to be rigid and with VERY strong magnets. this one you physically have to pry it off with force , it’s awesome .

To deal with the power cable I got a lil frisky . I bought a male USB A to flush mount type c female extension to bring the stereo’s USB port up to the dash tray. From there, I bought a 1’ 90 degree angle type c cable and most importantly - a magnet disconnect type c adapter with articulation. So , with both the power cable and mounting of the unit being magnetic (and reasonably strong at that - even major potholes it won’t budge whatsoever) it is very easy to quickly attach and detach to put away into the glovebox . the cable is attached to the unit to avoid wear and tear on the type c port with the small magnet being all that’s left in the dash after stowaway. very subtle , nothing visible for someone to bust a window for.

for my phone charging , I bought an amazon basics qi2.2 magsafe wireless charger and ran the cable through the saddle blanket seat cover to the USB port on the back of the bench seat. this way there are no cables going between the bench seat and the dash for a clean look. placing it in the phone cubby just made sense , I used 3M clear double sided automotive tape that while $$$ holds up to rough surfaces and the broad temp ranges in car interiors (especially here in canada). the magsafe portion basically bolts by phone to the seat, so it doesn’t even budge while driving.

Lastly , I got a little ugreen type c 12v charger and a long type c cable for if another device needs to be charged in the car , with a small magnetic cable management clip on the dash to keep it contained and not flying all over the place.

overall i’m absolutely thrilled with this setup. the portable units have gotten VERY good in recent years and with a little elbow grease and ingenuity feels even more premium than some factory options. not to mention this was very cheap, $150 unit , $70 magnet mount , $20 type c flush port , $12 2x ISB cables , $18 magnet disconnect adapters , $17 magsafe charger , $15 12v charger , $15 USB cables for that. Roughly $300 total? and i’ve got wireless apple carplay, wireless charging , everything is magnet mounted and feels incredible , i keep full functionality of my trucks’ integrated systems , no cables anywhere basically , and I get to keep my CD player / big buttons for easy access .

sure , she isn’t a platinum trim but i’m tellin ya, this is sweet!

Equipment: Toshiba 32AF45, og xbox , panasonic PVR-8554k, 2x Toshiba DVR620KU’s .

The OG xbox and top Toshiba are plugged into the TV, Toshiba DVR with component . TV output goes to the Panasonic VCR, which is exclusively for recording anything on the TV to tape .

Second toshiba is a spare, currently unplugged .

The purpose of the cart is to be a complete retro media station that can roll around the apartment. I do a lot of recording stuff onto VHS tapes and ripping my DVDs, so having a dedicated vcr hooked up to the tv output is great. between that and the xbox i’ve got most content covered. i’ve got a ps3 i’ll throw in sometimes to get media off a thumb drive onto physical media.

did you guys know the ps3 is one of the best devices for analog support? it plays modern video formats off a thumb drive, can connect to the internet , and it supports native RCA 4:3 output.

last console to get put in will be a homebrew’d wii to cover the rest of the bases and bring in gamecube support.

it’s nice having a big piece of tech that is totally

Equipment: Toshiba 32AF45, og xbox , panasonic PVR-8554k, 2x Toshiba DVR620KU’s .

The OG xbox and top Toshiba are plugged into the TV, Toshiba DVR with component . TV output goes to the Panasonic VCR, which is exclusively for recording anything on the TV to tape .

Second toshiba is a spare, currently unplugged .

The purpose of the cart is to be a complete retro media station that can roll around the apartment. I do a lot of recording stuff onto VHS tapes and ripping my DVDs, so having a dedicated vcr hooked up to the tv output is great. between that and the xbox i’ve got most content covered. i’ve got a ps3 i’ll throw in sometimes to get media off a thumb drive onto physical media.

did you guys know the ps3 is one of the best devices for analog support? it plays modern video formats off a thumb drive, can connect to the internet , and it supports native RCA 4:3 output.

last console to get put in will be a homebrew’d wii to cover the rest of the bases and bring in gamecube support.

it’s nice having a big piece of tech that is totally detached from the rest of the world.

dw summers are going on soon, up here in edmonton we usually get snow until now !

‘18 XTR 4x4 with the 5.0 - i’ve got warranty yall don’t stress. supercab w/ bench seat - i wanted a proper truck.

current “mods” are saddle blanket seat covers , magnaflow 11239 muffler , bed cover , airbags, and remote start.

planned mods are a two tone white vinyl stripe across the sides , replacing the 4” sync with sync 3, fluid film undercoating, and bed lining the peeling chrome running boards. gonna keep the factory rake, goal is to make it an “old school cool” muscle truck.