My employer, Fitch Group, recently announced an annual benefit to purchase home office supplies. Lot's of folks have asked me about my list, so here goes.
Here is what I started with last year!
- WebCam: Logitech C922x Pro Stream Webcam A well placed webcam makes a huge difference. Especially when you have these large monitors below, the laptop camera will never be at the best angle. With a good webcam, you can position it on top of the monitor. And the quality is way better than with the computer's built in cameras.
- 4K Monitor: AOC U2790VQ 27" 4K 3840x2160 UHD Frameless Monitor, IPS, 5ms I purchased a couple of large 4K monitors. I actually don't use my laptop's screen much anymore, and instead use these two big screens.
- Monitor Arms: Fully Jarvis Dual Monitor Mounting Arm - fits up to 32" Computer Displays (Dual, Black) Monitor Arms are a great addition to any desk -- no longer do you have the monitor stands taking up space on your desk, instead, the monitors can be positioned right where you need them.
- Docking Station: Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock Mini W/ Thunderbolt 3 Cable (Thunderbolt Dock for MacOS and Windows USB-C Laptops, Dual 4K @60Hz, 40Gbps Transfer Speeds), Thunderbolt Mini I needed one that could drive 2 4K monitors, and this one has worked great!
- Keyboard: Logitech ERGO K860 Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard A bluetooth keyboard has been great, as there are lots of wires for other accessories on my desk.
- Mouse: Logitech MX Master 3 Advanced Wireless Mouse For most of my life, I've been an "any mouse will work" kind of guy. This one changed that. I even bring it into the office when I have big presentations. One of it's killer features is app-specific behaviors on a couple of the buttons -- buttons on the mouse that mute/unmute voice and camera in Teams/Zoom!
- Mouse Pad: Amazon Basics Gel Computer Mouse Pad with Wrist S... [truncated]
And for this year, I'm looking at a few more things to help the home office set-up:
- USB Microphone: Blue Yeti USB Microphone I've loved my little USB speakrphone, but the speaker is starting to wear out, and I've noticed great audio from those who have this microphone.
- Camera Lights: Logitech Litra Glow Premium LED Streaming Light with TrueSoft My basement has harsh lighting, this should help a lot.
- Laptop Chiller: Targus 17 inch Dual Fan Lap Chill Mat - Soft Neoprene Laptop Cooling Pad, Heat Protection Laptop Cooler, Dual-fan Heat Dispersion My laptop gets warm frequently, this looks like a good solution to cool it down a bit.
- Uninteruptible Power Supply: Amazon Basics Line-Interactive UPS 1000VA 550 Watt Surge Protector Battery Power Backup, 9 Outlets - Black There have been a few power outages in the last year, that always occur at the most inopportune times. And since the computer is a laptop, it carries on just fine, but I always lose the network connection. This UPS will power my home networking gear to keep it up and running in the event of a power outage.
- Portable Monitor: ViewSonic 15.6 Inch 1080p Portable Monitor with IPS Touchscreen, 2 Way Powered 60W USB C, Eye Care, Dual Speakers, Built in Stand with Cover Sometimes, instead of working at my desk, I'm taking advantage of a benefit that allows me to work from another state. Or, I'm facilitating a hybrid meeting in the office, and a second monitor in the meeting room would be helpful to have speaker notes. This will help in all those situations.
With all these USB connections, I needed a new base station:
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