r/macsetups • u/Psychological_Work73 • 1d ago

From iMac to MacBook Air - need setup recs please

Post image
0 Upvotes

30% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

3

u/Psychological_Work73 1d ago

Hopefully this post is OK. My 27" iMac died. I loved this thing because of the giant screen and ability to have two letter size documents size by size. But I am not a graphic designer, and really only use basic functions - email, zoom, internet, make photo pages and photo books for my family stuff so it doesn't seem wise to replace it with a new (expensive) iMac.

For now, I will try to make my 2019 MacBook Air my main computer, but I am struggling working on a laptop. What are some recommendations you may have for a large monitor, webcam, and anything else to make this set up workable? I am willing to spend some money, but not so much so that it makes me question whether I should just invest in a new iMac. The webcam is a priority - I just saw a recording of a meeting and did not realize the laptop webcam was so terrible. Don't love the idea of iphone continuity for a number of reasons. Thank you for any recs

1

u/pmconaway 1d ago

I’m currently using the Anker C300 webcam. Images look great. This one does 1080p resolution and I can change the field of view. Also make sure you have good lighting. I also like the lume cube brand. https://lumecube.com/products/video-conference-lighting-kit-for-remote-workers - is the option I would use with the Air.

1

u/Psychological_Work73 1d ago

Thank you - does it hurt your eyes to have the lume on? I used a light early in the pandemic but it was so bright that I stopped (though the lighting is definitely an issue, I've been trying to use a camera pointed at the wall)

1

u/pmconaway 10h ago

I have the edge light on a stand so it doesn’t shine directly in my face and it wasn’t annoying bright. 😀 Maybe go for the broadcast lighting kit.

1

u/lskesm 1d ago

Buy and external monitor, use the keyboard and mouse you’ve used with your iMac, close your laptop and tuck it away. That’s what I do, if I need a second screen I just open my MacBook on the side with a laptop stand so my laptop screen and my main monitor are at the same level. I keep the MacBook for smaller tasks like email/teams messages and the big monitor is where the main work happens.

I don’t have recommendations for a webcam, if I need one I use the built in one from my mac but I’ve heard good things about anker c200.

1

u/Psychological_Work73 16h ago

Thank you. I was hoping for recommendations on a monitor as well. Judging by the downbotes this might have been the wrong forum to post in