---
title: "Keeping a workstation + terminal device is more feasible for running agents"
date: 2026-05-25
canonical: https://solmaz.io/x/2058943998165930116/
x_url: https://x.com/onusoz/status/2058943998165930116
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

Since last december, this dev setup is more and more viable:

buffed workstation (mac studio, dgx spark, etc.) $3k~5k + weak laptop (macbook air, neo) $600~1.5k + phone (ssh/mosh, foldable?)

you will want to parallelize a lot of work, hence you will need a lot more RAM compared to before (ideal 128)

you will also not want to carry it everywhere if you can and keep it always running---you'll regret if something happens to it, and you'll want it to always be on independent of lid/battery --> workstation at home

you will want to connect to the workstation through your phone, or a relatively weaker laptop

bad news for digital nomads without a permanent home. renting something as strong as an nvidia gb10 workstation costs minimum a few hundred bucks per month, which yearly is at least the cost of the workstation, roughly. bad deal for renting compute

on the other hand, if you are OK with not having a GPU, renting a workstation with 128 GB RAM on Hetzner currently still costs at least $120/mo, looking at https://auction.akua.dev/ --- but you will not be able to run any models on that

it seems that the dominant strategy is to just cash in $3~5k and buy a workstation, before they get even more expensive. I did that back in february when asus was giving out a deal

then just work on your workstation, and close the lid on your laptop without ever being afraid of setting your backpack on fire!

*Quotes a post by @ChadNauseam (https://x.com/ChadNauseam/status/2058682090674323917); its text is omitted here because it is not covered by this site's license.*