Shanghai Tech WriterTechnical Writing, Technology, Web2.0, Google, Shanghai, China

On my first day of orientation at Googleplex in Mountain View, I got a Lenovo ThinkPad T61. I had a choice between a Mac Pro Book and a Lenovo ThinkPad. I considered a Mac but decided against it because I’m more familiar with the Windows environment.

I think almost everyone at Google has a laptop. Having a laptop really boosts productivity because we can access everything including the Internet wherever we are, whether in meetings, bathrooms, cafeteria, or at home. It’s quite common to have meetings with laptops infront of everyone. Back at our desks, we all have a docking station and a bigger monitor (or two). People have a choice of one 30″ monitor or two 24″ monitors. Engineers have a workstation as well.

In Shanghai, the 30″ monitors are in short supply, so I got two 24″ monitors. Having two monitors really boosts work productivity. I’m part of engineering, so I also have a desktop! Talk about major productivity! I had a choice between a PC, Mac, or Linux. Again, I opted for a Windows PC. In hindsight, I should have gotten a Linux workstation because the product I work with requires a Linux environment.

So this is my productivity setup:

1. Laptop with a docking station hooked up to one of the 24″ monitors.
2. Windows PC hooked up to the other 24″ monitor. 

I was told that I could also request a Linux workstation because it is required for my work, but I’m holding off on that because I don’t need three computers!!! Two is enough! I use the PC mainly to run applications related to the product I work with (such as VMWare and PuTTY). I use the laptop for all documentation-related applications (such as SnagIt and DreamWeaver). This way, I can use one computer/monitor to play with and look at the product that I’m working with while I use the other computer to do the actual documentation-related tasks.