Recommend Must-Have Accesories

Thermal Interface Material, often used interchangeably with thermal paste. Technically, it applies to any interface material like pads as well.

When your laptop fan is not running under light load, it is still additional noise, my M6700 is completely quiet when I'm browsing the web, the fans are off and it's an all SSD laptop so there isn't even HDD noise hence the reason not to get a cooler. I don't need one anyways, my CPU and GPU are running below unsafe temps by a fair margin.

 

As am mine. Then again I've only rendered a scant amount of media on the 6700 so far. Once I turn up the heat, I will put it on the cooler if only to raise it off the desk which can absorb and retain a lot of heat.

Speaking of raising, that's the configuration I have when at home. I simply place my laptop on the cooler (which remains on the desk along side my wireless keyboard), and plug it in.

The laptop's keyboard is good but none can match the control and durability of a full size external keyboard. If nothing else, I can be more heavy-handed with my typing style. I still don't have a dock yet.

 

@Apollo13; tijo; OtherSongs
Updated first post

May you tell me where there's discussions about mouse and mousepad?
Added hdd case to list

 

This thread convinced me to dig out my seldom used (too small for my hand) Logitech M305 mouse.

I discovered that my Logitech M305 mouse has better/smoother/finer movement, on both my laptops, than my Microsoft 4000 mice.

I then ordered a used wireless Logitech M510 mouse (via ebay, which turned up to be non-functional, and which I'll return), and a new wireless Logitech G700 (via Amazon) which is my best wireless mouse so far, but also my most expensive by far.

So given one step at a time, next step is to get a refund or replacement of the bad Logitech M510, which costs roughly 1/3 the price of the Logitech G700, and find out if I like it at all.

So far the only one that I really like is the expensive Logitech G700.

 

The gentle but firm nudge


My 'must haves' for a laptop are pretty few and far between since I only use'em on the move - i.e. they're not my primary machines for deskbound work, so they don't have to pull double duty. For example I have a number of Elitebook docking stations with HP ZR2740W's attached, and Apple Thunderbolt displays that my Macbook Pro's are hooked up to, but both are basically used as glorified chargers / software update stations - I do almost nothing on them while stationary.

This may well be about to change in a big way, at least that's what I'm aiming for - I'm putting more emphasis on having fewer different machines I sit in front of, and moving more of my horsepower to my own cloud.

Right now though, my laptop / portable preferred accessories:

AUDIO
Audio interface: RME Babyface - used for all the field recordings I do, plus occasionally as a high quality playback unit (I usually use my phones to listen to music). I don't usually use additional DACs/etc beyond this - most laptop sound is decent enough for a casual listen these days, and even if I want something higher quality the likes of the Fiios/Nuforces/etc aren't IMO worth the bother.
Headphones: Air/Long rail travel = JH Audio JH13. Commutes: Westone 4.
IF I need to attach headphones onto a docked setup - it's very, very rare - it's usually a Sony MDR-7520, my standard monitoring phones.


TOOLS
In terms of tech-related general purpose tools, I have a UPD (Universal Prodding Device, i.e. a bent paperclip) and a Leatherman Skeletool CX.


STANDS/DOCKS/ETC
As mentioned above, although I may not use them much I usually buy a dock if offered - which in the case of my retina Macbooks means the Thunderbolt Display, and the Advanced Dock (Both Dell & HP), usually with either the Dell U2713 or the HP ZR2740 monitors - but in a couple of Windows 8 cases, either the Acer T232HL bmidz or the Viewsonic TD2340 (I also have Dell touch monitors but right now they're used exclusively with desktops). I don't have much time for the generic USB docks since they don't do power and (worthwhile) video - I want one-cable/one-click (or inconveniently in the case of Apples, two-cable but that's my only option) docking. I also buy stands, like the Dell E-View (only works with Dell docks, same with the HP equivalent) or the Lenovo Essential Stand (which is universal). I also have a couple of Balmuda Floater stands for the Apple notebooks left, but since Macs never worked that well in lid-closed configurations I never really used them. My Macbook Pro's perch on either the Lenovo stands or the Just Mobile Xtand Pro when not being used.


HID
Again, not being deskbound I tend to scatter random keyboard and mice amongst docking setups - mostly Topre Realforce keyboards (but also the odd Filco Majestouch, and with Apples the standard wired keyboard) allied to Microsoft or Logitech wireless mice - old and new, whatever I'm not really using. I'm not actually a huge fan of either keyboard, it's just that I bought a lot of them and I might as well use them. My most-used desktops have short-throw dome keyboards like the Microsoft Sidewinder, which I think are better than any of these Cherry mechanicals and Topre capacitives.

The only HIDS I actually take mobile are the Microsoft Arc Touch (the only mouse to fit in low-profile pockets when I'm traveling light) and the Microsoft Wedge Mouse / Keyboard.


STORAGE
I don't actually have any data residing permanently on my notebooks - it's all pulled from my private cloud now, so nothing to backup on each unit. I do use Acronis to image specific models of machines so I can recover machines from repair easily (I use CCC on the Mac). I also carry the inevitable memory sticks, though since I have a habit of losing them they're only ever used for transporting trivial data around. I used to carry an Ironkey (which did kind of solve the losing it bit, but it was actually quite a hassle to use) and also a biometric USB key (which had a machine-independent Citrix client onboard) but I've since adopted other forms of two/three-factor authentication.


BAGS
As the Resident NBR Bag Lady, I have more bags than probably any of your spouses / girlfriends / SO's etc. In fact, I probably have more shoes than them... and I'm a straight male. Or a butch lesbian in the body of a man. Or just a vain, shallow man. who knows.
Anyhoo, bags. I have many, ranging from custom sleeves by Fabrixcases.com, the non-laptop-specific general purpose like the Hermes Etrivière II, to modular bags like the Acronym 3A-5TSR, skirting across more traditional ones like the Swaine Adeney Brigg Paternoster, the contemporary classics like the Bill Amberg Rocket, semi-casual like the Delvaux Baudrier GM, the urban camper like the Mission Workshop Sanction / Arkiv / others, the "Yes, I also occasionally pack my sidearm with my laptop" like the Peli-Storm iM2370, the "bespoke from sketch" bags from Calder Originals, and many, many others.