---
title: Uses
date: 2026-05-12
modified: 2026-05-12
author: Jenxi Seow
seotitle: What I Use | Jenxi Seow
description: The hardware, software, and services I use every day — from my M1 Max Macs to my local AI setup.
cover: @images/jenxi-2025-hero.webp
---


I get asked about my setup enough that it's easier to keep a page for it.

I'm a writer, translator, and builder who splits time between creative work and running a small server in Helsinki. My gear reflects that: mostly Apple, a beefy PC for local AI, and tools that stay out of the way.

## Computers

**MacBook Pro M1 Max** — My mobile machine. Still fast enough in 2026 that I don't feel the need to upgrade. The M1 Max was the chip where Apple finally nailed the performance-per-watt thing, and it shows. I run Cursor, Brave, Bear, and a dozen terminal tabs without the fans ever spinning up.

**Mac mini M1 Max** — Originally bought as a desktop daily driver, now mostly my OpenClaw server and local AI playground. Still the machine I'd reach for if this one stopped being a server.

**Mac mini M4** — The desktop workhorse. Handles the day-to-day while the M1 Max hums away in the corner doing infrastructure things.

**Custom PC with RTX 4090** — Why a gaming PC in a writer's setup? Local AI. ComfyUI, Ollama, running models that don't phone home to anyone. Privacy matters, and sometimes you need more VRAM than Apple gives you without spending a fortune.

**iPhone 15 Pro** — Both my wife and I are on these. We used to upgrade yearly when the pricing made sense, but with recent price changes and RMB/USD forex shifts, we're shifting to a two to three year cycle. The 15 Pro is genuinely good enough — the new features don't justify the cost anymore.

## Desk

**Standing desk** — Went standing because sitting all day writing and coding was wrecking my back.

**Ergohuman 舒躺家 2代 (Gen 2)** — China-market designation for the Ergohuman Elite G2. Picked this over Herman Miller because the ergonomics are comparable at a fraction of the price, and it's designed for Asian body proportions, which fits me better than Western-centric chairs.

**NB H100 monitor arm** — Free up the desk surface. The desk-mounted arm is sturdier than most built-in monitor stands.

## Peripherals

**Keychron Q7 Max** — My first mechanical keyboard after years of looking at them from afar. Wired to the MacBook Pro, Bluetooth to the Mac mini and PC. The Q7 Max has a satisfying weight and the typing feel is buttery — though I'll admit I still love the MacBook's built-in keyboard and trackpad enough to use them most of the time.

**Eweadn S9 Ultra** — Mouse. Good enough that I don't think about it, which is the highest compliment I can give a peripheral.

**Maono PM420** — Microphone. Picked this over the RØDE everyone defaults to because it's good enough for recordings and podcasts without the brand premium.

**AKG K240R (Studio R Pro, red)** — Open-back headphones I've had for years. The open design gives a wider soundstage, which matters when I'm listening to classical and orchestral music — you hear the space between instruments, not just the notes. Light on bass, but that's fine. If I want to feel the bass, I'll use speakers.

## Cameras

**Ricoh GR III** — My everyday camera. Pocketable, fast, excellent for street photography. The kind of camera you actually carry because it doesn't feel like a commitment.

**Leica M8** — The second camera. What does the Leica give that the GR III doesn't? Mostly the experience. Rangefinder shooting forces you to slow down and think about each frame. It's less practical, more intentional.

## Software

**Cursor** — My editor. Forked from VS Code but with AI baked in properly — not bolted on as an afterthought. The inline completions and chat integration make it feel like pair programming with someone who knows your codebase.

→ [Try Cursor with 50% off your first month](https://cursor.com/referral?code=1MNN28GFLDMA)

*Transparency note: that's a referral link. If you subscribe through it, I get a referral fee and you save 50% on your first month. It doesn't cost you anything extra — just a small thank-you from Cursor for the recommendation. Only use it if you were going to subscribe anyway.*

**Claude, Qwen, DeepSeek, Yuanbao, Kimi** — Multiple AI tools, each with strengths. Claude for deep reasoning and long-form writing assistance. Qwen for Chinese-language tasks — it handles nuance better than most. DeepSeek for coding-heavy work. Yuanbao and Kimi for quick lookups and Chinese web context. I don't believe in a single AI. Different models are different tools.

**ComfyUI** — Local image generation. Runs on the RTX 4090. No API keys, no content filters from companies I don't work for. Full control over the pipeline.

**Bear** — My main notes app. 13,000 notes and counting. The tag system and Markdown support make it ideal for long-form writing and research.

**Apple Notes** — The companion to Bear. Quick captures, shared notes with my wife, things that need to sync instantly across devices without thinking about it. Bear is the library; Apple Notes is the notepad.

**Things 3** — Task management. I keep a tight daily MIT list here. The simplicity is the point — it doesn't try to be a project management tool.

**Brave** — Browser. Privacy-first by default, Chromium-compatible so everything just works.

**Figma and Adobe CC** — Design work. Figma for UI and quick mockups, Adobe CC when I need pixel-level control or working with existing design systems.

**Lightroom Classic** — Photo editing. The Classic part matters — I want local control over my photo library, not a cloud-dependent workflow.

**zsh** — Terminal. Default on macOS, but I've made it mine with custom prompts, aliases, and the occasional fzf integration.

## Services

**Cloudflare Pages** — All my sites are Astro SSG hosted on Cloudflare Pages. Free tier does most of what I need, the global CDN means fast loads everywhere, and the zero-config deploys from Git are exactly what a solo builder needs.

**Hetzner CAX11 (Helsinki)** — My little server in Finland. Runs Discourse, Listmonk, Umami, and Traefik. ARM-based, cheap, and more than enough power for my self-hosted stack.

**CraneMail (eu1.workspace.org)** — Email hosting. IMAP and SMTP on a proper European server. Not a big-name provider, but it works and respects privacy.