For sustained work, an arrangement with an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse works better than a standalone laptop

I recently cracked the screen on my 13-inch MacBook Pro laptop. I took the laptop to the Apple Store at Conestoga Mall in Waterloo, Ontario. I learned at the Genius Bar, as it is called, that I had likely left some small object, such as the end of a cable, in place when I had closed the laptop. That caused a corner of the screen to crack. In the circumstances (the machine is long out of warranty), it didn’t make sense to have the screen replaced. The better option was to use an external monitor with this laptop. I was very impressed with the advice I received at the Conestoga Apple Store.

I went to a nearby Best Buy. Again, very impressive service. I bought an Asus external monitor and a Kopplen USB-C 7 Ports Multi-function Hub to go with it. I chose the Asus monitor after a quick look at a Consumer Reports article about monitors. I already had an external Apple keyboard I could use. Subsequently, some days later, I bought an Apple keyboard with a Touch ID.

At first I couldn’t figure out how to get my wireless mouse to work with the monitor but a quick look online helped me find a way. I used a USB cable to connect the mouse with the multi-function hub. Suddenly, the mouse was activated and I was ready to use the new arrangement.

It’s much easier, using the external monitor, to read something like a very long Word document. The portability of a laptop is an advantage when mobility is required. However, the larger screen of the monitor, which is set at a better viewing angle than looking down at a laptop on your desk, definitely is a better arrangement for sustained work on the kind of writing project I am currently engaged with. The project involves a biography about a speech therapist from Alberta. The project is going well and the new arrangement with the external monitor is a huge plus.