Summarising the Best WFH Setup
Basically the BB I am joining in July told us we'll be working from home for the foreseeable future, meaning I have to get a rona rig. Know I am a bit late to the party, and a couple of posts already cover this, but this is what I am planning to buy based on what I read on WSO and extra research (context: I am moving to the U.K. and I currently own a bad Mac and an old desktop so I need to buy something new):
Laptop [if they don't provide me with one]: ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8 - £1279.99
Keyboard: Razer Ornata V2 - £99.99
Mouse: MX Master 3 - £99.99
Screen (x2): LG UltraGear 24" 144hz 1920x1080 - £159.99
Docking Station [will ask the bank if they can provide me with this]: Zmuipng USB Dock - £46.99
Chair: Martunis Hadwin Office Chair - £67.99
Desk: Ikea Bekant - £150
Printer (very unlikely I'll need one): HP LaserJet Pro M15w - £77.70
Total: £1991.93 (£2000)
What am I missing? Do you guys recommend switching any of these for something else?
I am not a keyboard guru, but my brother got me the Razer Huntsman Elite for Christmas and the keyboard is great. Not sure how much of a stickler you are, but the purple clicky switches might be more to your liking.
Regarding the monitor, if you don't already have 144hz i wouldnt deem that as necessary. I like having super small bezels on my screens, and they're a bit large on that LG you posted. Granted, I'm currently using one of the ultrawide LG monitors, i love it.
I got the Thinkpad E14 back in august. Love it so far. It has the Ryzen 5 in it, highly recommend going with AMD instead of Intel if you are able.
Regarding the desk, you should try picking up a used standing desk. I don't have one for my WFH set up, but will be getting one in the future. They're great - had it back in the office.
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Thanks mate, super useful. Will take your advice on the standing desk 👌🏼 didn’t understand your comment on the monitors - should I or should I not get a 144 ?
If you gotta ask, dont get the 144hz. Not necessary for non-gaming!
I've had an Asus monitor like this one for several years and like it. Notice how small the bezels are, so putting them side by side will be nice. Go for two if these if you have the budget (using a docking station as you know)
https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VP229HE-Adaptive-Sync-Frameless-Mountable/d…
Also you can see my convo below about the loud clicky purple switches on the Razer Huntsman. Check out Razer's BlackWidow with the yellow switches (much quieter)
https://www.razer.com/gaming-keyboards/Razer-BlackWidow-V3/RZ03-0354190…
Ultra wide screens are awesome, just got mine and love it
Yea they are a beast. I wouldn't mind ponying up for a 4k resolution though... nothing like a crisp screen
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Better than dual monitors? Isn’t it annoying that you always have to deal with window size - with dual monitors doing it automatically?
Standing desk if you can afford it (options on amazon for like ~200 usd)
If you don't already have a laptop then that's fine but if you have a laptop you can use for the rare instances you'll travel then I'd suggest you buy / build a PC (144hz monitors suggests you dabble in gaming and the PC will be leaps and bounds better, even at a similar price point)
I suggest monitor mounts (vevo and others go for ~100 or less on amazon for dual mounts). The base and stands get REALLY annoying on a relatively small desk
do some homework on keyboard. I went with a mechanical one that is significantly more quiet than it's peers since the last thing I want is to be firing off a machine gun while on a zoom call with clicky ass switches
Not sure if built into the laptop but if it's going to be off to the side on a weird angle would suggest a cheap webcam / mic for zoom.
What keyboard did you end up getting? Have you been happy with it?
I got the "Havit - HV KB390L"
I like it. It was cheap (relative to the insane prices some other mechanical keyboard go for - I've seen over $150) and also relatively quiet (as quiet as a mechanical keyboard will get).
Don't get me wrong I still go on mute when typing but in the instances I forgot or am shooting a quick email it's not noticeable.
Don’t think building or buying a PC is worth it at all atm. I think by the end of the year I’ll be back at the office, and basically will go to waste (love video games but after doing 90h weeks who wants to be on the pc for a second longer?)
I don’t know how monitor mounts work though. Are they compatible with any screen? can i just remove my monitor's bases?
. This websites app is so trash, the number of repeated replies is ridiculous..
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You will want a printer to check work against markups. It definitely reduced my number of mistakes early on in my career
Yeah I get you. Just always felt it to be kind of prehistoric if you know what I mean. Don’t remember the last time I printed out something, especially if it’s just a draft to be out in the trash immediately. Does it help that much?
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It’s a gaming/racing seat for me. I can work forever on this. Huge confidence boost too. And get compliments on Zoom call and people asking me if I am into cars hehe
^ This,
A solid Herman Miller or Steelcase chair will pay dividends down the line in terms of work sustainability.
I recently purchased a used Steelcase Leap V2 for ~400 and 4-6 hour work stretches with no breaks are a breeze.
Do NOT sleep on the chair comments. If you're on a budget there are very valid alternatives to a Herman Miller but otherwise get a Hermie. I got one used for 50% of list price and I can sit in it for literally 14 hours straight (incl. bathroom breaks) without any issues whatsoever. can't say the same for any other chair I've worked in.
Almost every bank and major company has some type of partnership / employee discount rate with them. My company's employees get 50-60% off. Still not cheap but makes it much more affordable.
Annoying part is you have to go through a bunch of verification to prove you're an employee, but otherwise it's great.
Unless you are wedded to 144hz then fuck 1080p, go higher resolution. If you have space then a 4K 43 tv is great but you need to sit at least a metre away from it. Otherwise the 28-34” 4K monitors are the dogs bollocks.
get the cheapest monitor that fits the spec, any more is over kill for work
in fact most of your equipment is over kill for work, esp if you’re in IBD. I use a tablet and a 43” tv, also have 3x 1080p monitors in another location, all in spent about 1.2k. Works fine for quant work, most stuff is virtual environment anyway. I don’t game on this set up though.
Think I’ll prefer working with two monitors to a huge screen. Feels kind of weird
Nice pack for 2000 pounds. But if I were in your place, I'd get another printer. There are plenty of Brother or Samsung models for reasonable prices which are better from the economical perspective. For example, Samsung Xpress SL printer uses toner instead of ink, so that's why I've been using it for 2 years already.
The huge advantage is that it uses toner like https://www.mrdepot.ca/products/samsung-sl-m2885fw-toner and not ink. That automatically means good quality of the print and fast speed of printing. But if you don't work much with paper, I doubt that you need a printer at all.
My friend spent almost 1000 pounds to get the graphics card that he wanted. Thank you, miners!
Wow, this laptop for almost £3000 should rock. And in general, nice setup for almost every type of work.
I build I very serious Rona rig myself so I have a lot to say but will summarize haha.
Keyboard: Favorites Leopold / Ducky
Mouse: I think you can save money here and get a nice Logitech
Monitor: invest here and get a 34 in or duel monitor. Trust me. I prefer 34.
Pc - I have a custom pc so can’t really speak much on prebuilt. I tried using a Mac for a while but highly advise against this if possible as it’s very unfriendly to excel
This one +1 for Ultrawide. Changed my life.
This one +1 for Ultrawide. Changed my life.
My current WFH setups are as follow.
Monitor: 34 inch Ultrawide 2K Gigabyte someone on here recommended me this (life changing from 3-2 monitors)
Keyboard: Logitech G915 Brown switch (fucking great to type on shorter switch register distanc) GROUNDBREAKING FOR KEYBOARDS
Mouse: G502 wired. Wireless it’s a hassle to charge. But for keyboard is good since I need to move around the house.
Laptop: Macbook 2015 leisure and lightwork. Can use it on the monitor too.
PC: Still not used to Windows functions yet so I sometimes use the Mac to Monitor.
Ryzen 5800X
32GB Corsair Vengeance
Aorus 3070 for DAT GAMEPLAY
Crucial P1 1TB SSD (gonna double soon for my NFT collection)
Packed in a NZXT H1. With some Artic cooling and beQuiet low profiles
Mousepad Logitech G205 or something
650W PSU EVGA Gold
Headset for zoom is also a Logitech G Pro. Mic Blue Snowball.
Already have living room speaker for sound. Sonos.
Printer HP InkJet for docs and funny memes.
Corporate let me knocked this out of the ball park for budget because we are at a tech company lol.
OP here.
Getting a ThinkPad T14s instead, better specs and cheaper than the X1. Might go for the 34” instead of dual monitor setup.
+1. have had for a few months and thing's a beast. X1C does have its pros imo but specs wise T14s beats it out
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