Share your HOME WORKING workstation environment - pics

[p1stonhead]

bodhi said:

Folks, I've decided it's probably time to ditch the MFI Desk I'm using at the minute and get something a bit taller - looking to spend up to about 200 quid, probably around 120cm X 80cm, preferably height adjustable with a pine/birch finish if possible and no drawers underneath.

I've found a couple of places that refurbish Herman Miller tables, such as the one below, are they any good? Or am I better off looking elsewhere?

https://www.officeresale.co.uk/refurbished-furnitu...

I just got this one at 160x80. It’s really nice. And sturdy.

Office Hippo Professional Cantilever Office Desk, Wood, White, Silver Frame, 160 x 80 x 73 cm https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01FF72SQ6/ref=cm_sw_r...

I was previously on a 120x49cm IKEA desk which was so small!

[TameRacingDriver]

anxious_ant said:

Great to hear, my plan is to use the 21.5" in portrait mode for Outlook and Teams chat. It's been a few years since I used mis-matched monitors but I seem to remember there were horrible scaling issues.

That is sorted in Office 365 / 2019 onwards.

[theboss]

paulrockliffe said:

One thing Windows doesn't do well is the transition between monitors where you have different pixel densities. The software assumes each pixel is the same size, so where I have two 1080p monitors next to a 4k monitor you can align them correctly in the Display setup, but you can't get the mouse to move across at the right place. Line it up so the transition at the bottom of the 4k monitor is right and it's out at the top etc.

Minor, but a little annoying.

It would be nice if you could enter screen dimensions / pixel densities.

Overall windows doesn't do a bad job of handling different DPI scaling though. I use a 8K screen on 250% flanked by 4K screens at 125%. Windows is fine with this and most apps can be dragged between screens and automatically re-scale. The biggest pain is managing RDP sessions so I tend to keep those to the side screens. Same with screen sharing / presenting.

[Sy1441]

Quite annoying that my MacBook Pro won't output a full res image to my 49" ultrasharp, have to set it up as two separate monitors which means the icon bar and menu bar only show on half the screen.

Other than that I like my setup.

[FlossyThePig]

Wow, this thread has become TLDR!

How many people use their own kit for WFH? The company I work for has supplied all the kit to replicate the setup in the office. For me that is:

• A new laptop;
• Docking station that connects to the laptop using USB C;
• Separate keyboard and mouse, plugged into the docking station;
• Two additional monitors, also plugged into the docking station;
• A headset as I'm hearing impaired, i.e. deaf.

I am fortunate to have a room set aside as a study with plenty of desk space for both my work setup and my iMac.

[Jinx]

FlossyThePig said:

Wow, this thread has become TLDR!

How many people use their own kit for WFH? The company I work for has supplied all the kit to replicate the setup in the office. For me that is:

• A new laptop;
• Docking station that connects to the laptop using USB C;
• Separate keyboard and mouse, plugged into the docking station;
• Two additional monitors, also plugged into the docking station;
• A headset as I'm hearing impaired, i.e. deaf.

I am fortunate to have a room set aside as a study with plenty of desk space for both my work setup and my iMac.

All my own kit. Company was scrabbling around for laptops this time last year as a large number of staff didn't have a PC at home. We still have people working from old training laptops (6 year's old at least) at their kitchen tables or sofas. I don't know how they do it - my back would be agony after a week of it.

[dxg]

I'd be dreaming if I even thought my employer would buy us any IT kit at all. Case in point: we are all required to have a mobile phone for its 2FA login system used at multiple points through the day. Yet, a phone will not be provided.

So, extend that policy onto wider IT kit. Hell, my main machine at work is a hackintosh cobbled together on an Intel NUC...

[mmm-five]

FlossyThePig said:

Wow, this thread has become TLDR!

How many people use their own kit for WFH? The company I work for has supplied all the kit to replicate the setup in the office. For me that is:

• A new laptop;
• Docking station that connects to the laptop using USB C;
• Separate keyboard and mouse, plugged into the docking station;
• Two additional monitors, also plugged into the docking station;
• A headset as I'm hearing impaired, i.e. deaf.

I am fortunate to have a room set aside as a study with plenty of desk space for both my work setup and my iMac.

I had a spare screen, keyboard, headphones, etc. and a decent chair as I already as was regularly working from home for other clients.

So I simply carried on using the Z-Book they provided when I started, along with a old 23" 1440p monitor I had a MacMini plugged in to.

As I'd already provided these items out of my own pocket, I used their COVID WFH 'grant' to buy a new 27" 1440p monitor and help me up the spec on the gaming PC I was building (not hugely, just the next gen CPU/GPU)

[DanL]

FlossyThePig said:

Wow, this thread has become TLDR!

How many people use their own kit for WFH? The company I work for has supplied all the kit to replicate the setup in the office. For me that is:

• A new laptop;
• Docking station that connects to the laptop using USB C;
• Separate keyboard and mouse, plugged into the docking station;
• Two additional monitors, also plugged into the docking station;
• A headset as I'm hearing impaired, i.e. deaf.

I am fortunate to have a room set aside as a study with plenty of desk space for both my work setup and my iMac.

I had most stuff already as I worked from home. I did buy a couple or new screens to replace the existing single screen I had once it became apparent we were going to be doing this for a while!

To be fair, after a couple of months my company did provide screens, chairs, etc. to people who wanted them, but I was already set up by then.

Edited by DanL on Monday 29th March 16:29

[bunchofkeys]

Need to update my home PC, as it's running an i7 4770k and an AMD 290x GPU.
The latter is unable to run the Samsung G9 49" at it's native 5210x1440.

Otherwise, work laptop running the two 27" 4K LG monitors
Samsung G9, which is also used with work (Windows Virtual Desktop)
Bose Companion 5 for music
Logitech MX Keys with the MX3 Master mouse
And my newly delivered Herman Miller Aeron, I've not even taken the socks off the legs. But i did get the additional headrest, it makes leaning back such a pleasure.
Just need an Ikea under desk tray for the cables, that's a bit unsightly.

My WFH office is better than the setup in the actual office.
Hopefully i won't have to go back.

Not my choice of carpets and curtains, i'm in a rental for the moment and this is what i've been given

[anxious_ant]

bunchofkeys said:

Need to update my home PC, as it's running an i7 4770k and an AMD 290x GPU.
The latter is unable to run the Samsung G9 49" at it's native 5210x1440.

Otherwise, work laptop running the two 27" 4K LG monitors
Samsung G9, which is also used with work (Windows Virtual Desktop)
Bose Companion 5 for music
Logitech MX Keys with the MX3 Master mouse
And my newly delivered Herman Miller Aeron, I've not even taken the socks off the legs. But i did get the additional headrest, it makes leaning back such a pleasure.
Just need an Ikea under desk tray for the cables, that's a bit unsightly.

Not my choice of carpets and curtains, i'm in a rental for the moment and this is what i've been given

Lovely setup, wish I have enough space for an L desk but hey ho.

bunchofkeys said:

My WFH office is better than the setup in the actual office.
Hopefully i won't have to go back.

Sames here, and me too! Well, don't mind going back some days but would love to have flexibility of WFH as required.

[rxtx]

bunchofkeys said:

But i did get the additional headrest, it makes leaning back such a pleasure.

Where from please? I'd like one for mine.

[TameRacingDriver]

FlossyThePig said:

Wow, this thread has become TLDR!

How many people use their own kit for WFH? The company I work for has supplied all the kit to replicate the setup in the office. For me that is:

• A new laptop;
• Docking station that connects to the laptop using USB C;
• Separate keyboard and mouse, plugged into the docking station;
• Two additional monitors, also plugged into the docking station;
• A headset as I'm hearing impaired, i.e. deaf.

I am fortunate to have a room set aside as a study with plenty of desk space for both my work setup and my iMac.

My gear is all my own (except the laptop they supplied), it was from my man cave, now its just turned into an office instead.

My own gear is far better than the crap work supply me with, in most cases. To be fair to them, they did give all of us 500 quid to buy office equipment but it did take them rather long than perhaps it should have. Still better than nowt though.

[bunchofkeys]

rxtx said:

bunchofkeys said:

But i did get the additional headrest, it makes leaning back such a pleasure.

Where from please? I'd like one for mine.

Amazon. Do check that you're ordering the correct one though, as there are two versions of the Aeron chair.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Engineered-Now-Original-H...

[offspring86]

I recently completed my home office. Having spent the first 5 months of lockdown working at my dining room table I decided it would be smart to use my second bedroom/bike room/dumping ground. Work were kind enough to provide the desk and chair I wanted. From August until the beginning of March this was my setup:




The monitors (which didn't match) were the ones I had on my desk at the office. The TV was going spare after I had replaced it with a new one; I figured I could have it on in the background while working. I reality it was only switched on a handful of times.

In January I decided I wanted to turn this space into something much nicer so set about investing my own money. I built a PC, replaced one of the work monitors so that they both matched (out of my own pocket) and mounted them both on a height adjustable dual monitor stand. Both the PC and laptop (work or personal) are plugged into the monitors. Both machines share the wireless keyboard and a webcam, which are plugged into a powered USB switch. I have 2 wireless mice as I use a trackball when working and a normal mouse when using my personal machine. I wanted there to be minimal cables so spent quite a bit of time on the cable management. This is how it now sits:




Working here (and playing) is a much more enjoyable experience now. There are a couple of small additions I'll be making over the next few months, but I would say it's 99% complete.

[RizzoTheRat]

FlossyThePig said:

Wow, this thread has become TLDR!

How many people use their own kit for WFH? The company I work for has supplied all the kit to replicate the setup in the office. For me that is:

• A new laptop;
• Docking station that connects to the laptop using USB C;
• Separate keyboard and mouse, plugged into the docking station;
• Two additional monitors, also plugged into the docking station;
• A headset as I'm hearing impaired, i.e. deaf.

I am fortunate to have a room set aside as a study with plenty of desk space for both my work setup and my iMac.

I already had a work laptop and my own decent monitor and a spare HDMI cable and mouse at home, I have borrowed a decent chair from work though. However I've probably only worked from home 2 or 3 days in the last couple of months, I'm trying to make sure I do the occasional day at home to justify keeping the chair

[bodhi]

So after much pissing around with Amazon, I finally have a new desk on the way, should be here at the weekend. Originally went for the Office Hippo one suggested, but the delivery date kept shifting, so cancelled it and ordered the below:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RestRelax-Ergonomic-Compu...

I was going to get some strip lights to put round it, but looks like the desk already has those, so my thoughts have turned to power. The room I'm in wasn;t particularly well provisioned with sockets, so I am in the uneviable position of having to run everything off 1 socket. I currently have:

1 x PC - 450W
1 x Laptop - 45W
1 x HP Microserver G8 - 200W
2 x Dell 23inch Monitor - 40W
4 x Mobile Devices - 100W
1 x BT Speaker - 20W
1 x NetGear 5 Port Switch - 30W?

So probably around 800W in total. Currently using a surge protected 10 Way Adapter, but was thinking about getting something a little more convenient - say one with USB plugs to save myself a few adapters - was thinking of the below:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Extension-NTONPOWER-Super...

Does anyone use anything similar or have any other recommendations?

[xeny]

I think you're a bit pessimistic with some of the those power figures unless you're going to be running the PC and Microserver hard all the time, in which case room cooling will be an issue. Monitors OTOH could be more than 20W each, especially if they're older.

Netgear lists the GS 105 at 12V .5A, so a maximum of 6W.

I've got something similar to https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08Z48GPCN which lives on the desk behind a monitor and saves on desk space compared to a strip, but which is better probably depends on personal preference/room layout.

[QuartzDad]

This thread is costing me a fortune, had happily been using mismatched 27" and 24" monitors for ages.

Now have two 32" 4K screens plus a dual monitor arm. Then started to read up on refresh rates and have a Thunderbolt 3 docking station on the way to replace my old USB one, plus Displayport cables and a slew of cable management stuff.

[bodhi]

xeny said:

I think you're a bit pessimistic with some of the those power figures unless you're going to be running the PC and Microserver hard all the time, in which case room cooling will be an issue. Monitors OTOH could be more than 20W each, especially if they're older.

Netgear lists the GS 105 at 12V .5A, so a maximum of 6W.

I've got something similar to https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08Z48GPCN which lives on the desk behind a monitor and saves on desk space compared to a strip, but which is better probably depends on personal preference/room layout.

Ah cheers, had used maximum power draw for each part to leave a bit of headroom - sounds like I don't have too much to worry about considering most of these extensions quote 2500W+ maximum.

Ended up with the below, looked a similar idea but supports Quickcharge on the USB Ports, should be arriving with the desk tomorrow:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B089SFSMBB/ref...