Des Johnston - Gadgets

Current Favourite Desktops (& Boards)

Mac mini M2 (2023) An M2 Mac mini - I think I have the Apple (non)capitalizations correct - was too good to resist. "Only" an M2 chip rather than an M2 Pro in this one, but that is plenty fast enough for me. Apple finally made the baseline memory more than 8Gb on the newer, smaller 2024 Mac minis - but not this one.
RPi 5 The latest and geatest ARM chip without the keyboard (or anything else). Raspberry Pi OS still helpfully contains a free up-to-date copy of Mathematica and Raspberry Pi OS 64bit speeds things up a little bit. A 16Gb RAM version has just been added to the roster.
RPi 400 An ARM chip inside a glorified keyboard connected up to everything else via lots of wires for less than a hundred quid - is this 1980? Odd that the mouse appears to be set up for left-handers.
RPi 500 It took a while, but they finally transplanted most of the RPi5 innards into an RPi400 style keyboard. The USB ports have migrated to the correct side for right-handers now. There isn't an NVMe connector on the board, unlike the free standing RPi 5 board, which has annoyed some. There are no complaints from me, it is still fast and cheap.

MacBook Air M4 (2025) It keeps getting better. The M4 chip is faster than previous iterations and the battery life is still infinite. Some extra ££ bought 24Gb of RAM, 1Tb of storage and the rather subtle "sky blue" tint.
ThinkPad X1 (2023, gen11) This one courtesy of my employer in lieu of an office desktop PC. Very enlightened of them, especially considering it is the 32Gb RAM, 1Tb SSD, i7 version running Ubuntu LTS. Not too much is broken by having it "managed" either.
Dell XPS-13 (2021) The XPS-13 model 9305 may be 2021 vintage but it still makes a handy Ubuntu/Windows laptop. It transplants newer generation 9310 innards into the older-style chassis of the XPS-13 9370, although it does manage to put the webcam above the screen.
MacBook Air M1 (2020) With a sensible keyboard and ARM innards. The M1 chip still feels fast and, to a good first approximation, the battery life is infinite.
MacBook Pro 13" (2017) The version without the touchbar (good). Orphaned by macOS 14 Sonoma, but OCLP saves the day.
MacBook Air 11"(2013) Back from the dead with ChromeOS Flex to make a very nice ChromeBook. Everything works except the webcam.

iPad Air (2024) The change in the camera position to landscape means that the Apple Pencil 2 is no longer compatible, so in typical Apple fashion you have to shell out for a more expensive (Apple Pencil) Pro.
Chromebook Duet 11" The third iteration of the IdeaPad Duet Chromebook. Faster again, with a MediaTek Kompanio 838 chip, much better cameras and a clever diagonally hinged kickstand that allows it to stand in either portrait or landscape orientation. As an added bonus, the stylus attaches magnetically now
IdeaPad Duet 3 The second iteration of the IdeaPad Duet Chromebook. It is slightly bigger (5:3, 2000 x 1200, 11-inch screen) and quite a bit faster, c/o a Snapdragon 7c Gen2 CPU, than its predecessor. It seems the orginal USI stylus didn't quite cut it, this now has USI 2 (Universal Stylus Initiative 2) - one stylus to rule them all.
IdeaPad Duet 5 Big brother to the IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook. It has almost the same innards, but sports a larger (16:9, 1920 x 1080, 13.3-inch OLED) screen. Curiously, the stylus technology is still USI (not 2) on this one as the pixel density is lower.
iPad Mini (2021) Out with the Lightning port, in with USB-C. Now on my second Mini, the first got left on a plane into Paris CdG and was last seen (according to Find My) in a second hand phone shop in Tunisia.
iPad Air (2020) See above - USB-C, Apple Pencil 2 etc. Hasn't been left on a plane (yet).

Pixel 9a The daily driver now. It is slightly smaller again than the A54, but the battery life and camera are better and it still has eSIM capability.
Samsung Galaxy A54 5G Superceded by the A55 at time of purchase and consequently something of a bargain. Notionally it is a slight downgrade on my previous POCO F3 daily driver, but it usefully has eSIM capability and is also smaller (good).
Xiaomi Poco F3 More like the orginal Poco F1 than the F2 Pro so it offers performance at a very keen price, especially when bought at a discount.
OnePlus Nord "Pretty much everything you could ask for" according to the advertising blurb, which is pretty much correct.

Garmin GPSMAP 67i It looks like a scaled up version of an old-school feature phone from a few years back, and it has the long battery life to match. It also has Iridium connectivity in case I have to send for the cavalry in a no phone signal zone or want to waste time sending/receiving messages from the middle of nowhere instead of admiring the scenery.

Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro The first watch I have owned that runs WearOS after the previous Xiaomi smartwatch expired in the Senegalese heat. The advertising tagline is "smarter every wear", apparently. Now I can pay for things with it, and install an eSIM if I want to waste even more money.

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