Desk / computer workstation fettling thread

[Time Waster]

I work from home and have a work laptop and a personal laptop all on one desk (120cm x 80cm x 72cm high). Since I have strict work equipment rules I have to effectively run two setups on the same desk. I am also tall and have issues that could be tennis elbow so I am finally deciding to fettle my workstation to be more comfortable and possibly more "ergo". So I thought about setting up a general workstation fettling thread along the lines of the general PC fettling thread where people can post about their attempts at setting up a good computer workstation at home.

My set up due to money restrictions involves nicking my partner's office desk and chair. They are not right for me but a starting point. I am looking at getting blocks under the screw thread feet of the desk to raise it up. The two legs and horizontal bars base to which the screw adjustable feet attach will look funny on 4 to 6 inch blocks but initially it is a cheap testbed for a later, expensive desk option when funds allow. My chair is at its highest and could still be higher but itll have to do until I can afford a kneeling chair or other option.

My work setup has a monitor that has quite a high stand at the highest setting which only just has a top of the monitor below my eyeline (could at most need 2 or 3 inches). I need to get an ergo keyboard and vertical mouse from work to sort that one out I think. Looking at split keys and an evoluent 4 vertical mouse if work approves it. I think that will be ok. There could be a poossibility of getting a work supplied larger screen or even two screens but TBH my desk might not take it. Right now my work monitor matches my personal one nicked from my partner (for now I have it).

My personal setup is also laptop, monitor, keyboard and mouse. I need to get a block to lift the monitor 4 or 5 inches ideally. 4" to match my current work but an extra inch for both work and personal monitors will be better. I have a logitech vertical mouse (mx version) that is pretty good for my hand/wrist I think. I will be getting a standard keyboard for it shortly (my partner has hidden our spare ones). I will get a split keyboard if the work supplied one helps and suits me.

My ultimate aim is to get a decent sit/stand desk that can cope with my 196cm height. I also intend to get a better chair too. My goals is to be able to sit or stand with everything (work and personal) at the right position. So I am kind of mirroring work and personal setups on the same desk. I think I will one day get those stands to hold laptops on their back edge. I think since both laptops are SSD there is no issue with standing them this way.

Any suggestions? What is your home setup? Anything inventive? Since more are working from home and then using their workstation outside of working hours I think it is very important to get things right. Perhaps the experiences and solutions out there could help others in their journey to their perfect setup. Please ignore if of no interest but I think this could be an interesting source of information going forward. Also, review sites on office equipment and furniture for home office seems to be exactly the same for each source. Perhaps real people posting their equipment discoveries might be more relevant too.

 

[vickster]

Most (large) corporates will provide guidelines for home desk set up, ask HR.
I won't give advice as I also have tennis elbow currently (steroid jab has worn off ) so mine is probably rubbish (I know exactly what I should do but habit dictates otherwise ). My main challenge is trying to write and access the keyboard at the same time

 

[si_c]

You need monitor arms - they clamp to the back of your desk and the arms are massively adjustable allowing you to position the monitors exactly where you need them and also has the benefit that it clears a lot of desk space. as there are no stands taking up half the desk.

Edit: I forgot to ask - do you have a docking station that you can use to share the keyboard/mouse/monitor between the laptops?

 

[MontyVeda]

Regarding your chair, you can buy replacement gas lifts for about a tenner that are longer than the one you've got.

 

[fossyant]

My home set up isn't so great at present. I WFH two days a week and it's on the dining table, in the conservatory, and, due to space, I've dropped down to one monitor and the laptop screen. I use two monitors in work, plus the laptop, and did do so at home previously.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Any suggestions? What is your home setup? Anything inventive?

I've had a few setups accross multiple rooms/houses. My biggest tips are:

• Having a dedicated room. Being able to walk out my office and close the door on my work day is essential, I know people to this day 4 years after we went remote who are still working on the kitchen table.
• Have a proper office desk and chair, search online for ex office stuff. £15 for Desk and Drawers
• Use a docking station for laptop - my laptop is permanently closed, and I use 2x full size monitors from the station

Anything inventive - I spent some time with cable ties, wire clips and the like making the giant spaghetti monster of cables reasonably attractive!

I use an Evoluent vertical mouse BTW Its brilliant if work doesn't approve one, buy it anyway!

You need monitor arms - they clamp to the back of your desk and the arms are massively adjustable allowing you to position the monitors exactly where you need them and also has the benefit that it clears a lot of desk space. as there are no stands taking up half the desk.

Edit: I forgot to ask - do you have a docking station that you can use to share the keyboard/mouse/monitor between the laptops?

I might look at docking arms. My current monitors take up a lot of real estate on my desk, having them floating would be great.

 

[alicat]

Following this thread with interest. I would like to improve my working space at home.

 

[Dadam]

I WFH 3-4 days a week and have a setup in my loft.

Desk: electric sit/stand desk from Amazon. At 6'3" this is fantastic for getting the desk to the right height for me seated, even if I didn't use the stand function. There was a black Friday deal so got it for <£100. The main drawback is the tabletop is in 4 pieces and bolts together using brackets, however the whole thing is really solid once assembled. The joins can be annoying but I addressed that by adding a large felt desk mat which covers them. The height adjustment is smooth and fairly quiet and has 4 programmable settings so changing from sit to stand is a button push and takes about 15-20 seconds.

Screens: one large monitor (34" ultrawide curved screen) on a height adjustable stand. Screen has USB-C input that also provides power to the laptop so I only need to plug in one cable. It also supports my personal windows laptop and macbook when needed. Also use the laptop screen as a side screen with it on an adjustable monitor arm/stand clamped to the desk so it's at the correct height. This is also useful as I can have it closer to me without interfering with the mouse space as it's floating above the desk.
As there wasn't quite enough height on the monitor's adjustable stand, I made a shelf to stand it on. Just a piece of old particleboard office shelving with 4 blocks of wood. But it is also useful as the mouse and KB can slide away underneath if I want to use paper and pen (remember that?!)

Keyboard and mouse are Logitech bluetooth items (link) with multiple device connectivity; they can pair to 3 separate devices and switch between them at the click of a button. USB-C and bluetooth drastically reduce cable clutter.

Chair: I had a cheap gaming chair for the last few years, which was OK but not wonderful for comfort and the PU leather is sticky in hot weather. I've recently upgraded to an ergonomic office chair with a mesh back, it's much more comfortable for me but this is a deeply personal thing. A chair might be the most comfortable in the world for one person and uncomfortable for the next.

 

[Seevio]

If using a home office setup for any length of time a decent desk is pretty important. One of the most important things is the depth of the desk. So called office desks aimed at the the consumer market tend to not be so deep; 60cm appears to be standard. Desks for actual offices tend to start at 80cm deep. It is worth checking out 2nd hand desks as these are often available and even commercial grade items will be reasonably priced.

 

[Alex321]

I normally WFH three days a week, in the oiffice two (until I recover enough from my broken arm to at least drive, it is all 5 days a week WFH).

I have a work laptop (which goes with me to the office when I am in), and a work supplied monitor, which matc hes the one I use in the office for size. My home (Desktop) computer also plugs into the same monitor, so I only need the one on my desk. My eyeline is about 2/3 of the way up the monitor from the bottom. When working, the laptop built in screen is a secondary screen.

The desk is from the Anton range from IKEA (no longer made), with a pull out keyboard drawer that is the perfect height for me with the chair arms at their lowest and the seat at a comfortable height. The desk is 75cm deep by 2m wide.

My chair is a proper commercial level office chair, bought for peanuts from a previous employer when the office was closing, and which I have been using every day I'm at home since April 2014. It is still going strong, much better than most of the retail offerings.

 

[vickster]

I use a refurb (like new) Herman Miller Mirra chair bought 4 years ago during pandemic (as recommended on this forum IIRC) from a company called Corporate spec, cost me £330,now only a little more at £350 (but can get 10% off if sign up for first order)
https://corporatespec.com/product/herman-miller-mirra-classic/
They are quite bulky and my office is rather small though so it cam be difficult to manoeuvre around it! Think they come in different sizes.
HM do good laptop stands too
https://ukstore.hermanmiller.com/collections/laptop-stands/

 

[rockyroller]

I use a laptop. my own ... ;-(

 

[vickster]

I use a laptop. my own ... ;-(

Most businesses won't allow you to use your own laptop for work purposes, at least not to access servers and the like

 

[Time Waster]

I have to have two completely separate setups due to work and personal equipment cannot be used together. Nothing but work supplied or approved to be plugged into work laptop and everything to be wired too. No wireless. So that is laptop, monitor, keyboard and mouse (both standard / cheapo HP). I am going to request evoluent 4 vertical mouse and IIRC goldtech v2 split keyboard as an ergonomic reasonable adjustment due to my painful arm and now diagnosed of sorts tennis elbow. These are one of the stock options available for reasonable adjustments.

So that leaves home use. Just pressed the button on a periboard 524b wired split keyboard to test the product type out cheaply only £39.99.I will then just need to lift the monitor up (I have several large and thick books that will do this nicely to at least test the height I really need. The future is a big spend item in the form of a quality standing adjustable desk. With that I intend to switch to standing and then preset the optimum desk height for sitting.

I have a decent quality office desk at 120cm x 80cm. I think I will look to replace with a standing desk the similar size. 60cm would work for me too as my partner says I have things too far away. That'll change with the new desk when I can justify the spend.

My chair is a decent office chair with four adjustable options. height, back pad tilt, back pad height and seat pad tilt. Both desk and chair were bought by my partner but as I said the desk was too high for her really and a little low for me at 72". The chair as I said is a little low only and inch I reckon. Otherwise it'll do. I think I want to try a £300-400 kneeling chair. I don't really use the back pad of office chairs unless I am slouching during an online meeting (we are not allowed to use video, they are disabled anyway). I would prefer not to have that option which is not comforable anyway.

I think monitor arms are a good call. I think you can ask for one from work but I might get a two arm one myself. My borrowed monitor and work monitor are different but the same size so a two arm would work well. I also think that a cheapo amazon laptop stand will work. I am talking about those that hold them on their back edge vertically when you have peripherals plugged in to use them. I saw one that would take up to three so work and home covered. They are not docking though but the plugged in wires would go out the back anyway so not really bothered. It'll be good enough.

That will clear out a decent table space for writing in notebooks which I do a lot. I intend to push the keyboard and mouse I am not using away to thee back of the desk so that will free up space to write. The ideal would be that I push my keyboard and mouse back then swivel to the other side of the desk and pull the other setup keyboard and mouse out to work on that laptop. It is what I have now just that I am using the personal laptop keyboard and my personal monitor is too low right now. I also have the laptops resting on top of the monitor stands when not in use which covers a bit of the desk. The plan for the laptop stand would be to put it behind the monitors in the middle back of the desk.

Just realised one flaw with a standing desk. I have shelved above the desk that I can reach when sitting, just, that will have to be removed. I will then need to find space for those books, filofaxes and desk stationery holders that are up there. Plus the shelf that is half over the desk which has magazine file boxes on it and old laptops too. That will all be a minor problem to think through.

 

[Time Waster]

Most businesses won't allow you to use your own laptop for work purposes, at least not to access servers and the like

Mine certainly won't. Absolutely!!