Ask HN: Favorite Home Office Purchase? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Favorite Home Office Purchase?

Mine: mug that keeps coffee/tea warm for an hour

Aeron chair - I bought this in 1999 and it's been much more comfortable than any chair I've used at any office I've ever worked in.

4k monitor - Picked this up on a Black Friday sale 1.5 years ago. It's much easier on my eyes than the HD monitor my company provides in the office.

KVM - Allows me to switch between my work laptop and some of the higher end embedded machines I work with. I end up needing to swap cables at work.

I didn't even think about the KVM switch. That can be a huge time saver!

A private office away from my actual home.

I've been remote for most of my career and keeping an physically distinct office/workshop has demonstrated a very high ROI both financially and pyschologically.

It's the best of both worlds: mental separation of work and play/rest; rent that's cheaper per sqft than residential space; work in "town" with home that's quietly removed; a practical workshop with a simpler aesthetic at home; and still no on-site colleagues, cubes, open offices, drama, etc

How far away from home? And which part of town? I've heard of writers doing a cabin in the woods with a typewriter so they don't get distracted by the internet.

I'm currently in a lower population density county altogether. My office is in the village proper and my home is on the outskirts. It's about a 20 minute walk or a ~2 minute drive.

When I lived in one of the big metros, my office would usually be in a commercial district and my home would be in one of the nearby residential one. Usually a 45-60 minute walk or 20-30 minute public transit ride.

I'm not a nightlife person, but I do enjoy being around a little social energy during the day, so it's nice to have a bunch of food/coffee/fitness/etc options near work with home as my sanctuary.

But all those details are subjective. Like the writer who wants seclusion for work, or a carpenter who wants a big workshop, some might flip it the other way around.

i have been thinking about this too… wondering whether an office + 1br apt is better than a 2br apt with one of the br used as office?

I've tried both, but I personally preferred 2br apt with one as an office because (1) I get to use my own bathroom (2) I get to use my own kitchen (3) cheaper

i thought office space was cheaper per sq ft

I’ve been a remote worker since September 2019.

Sit stand desk - help avoid being sedentary as a remote worker, an electronic one with preset heights.

Herman miller chair - i got mine used for £400, 5 years ago, still perfect.

Keychron keyboard - might as well take advantage of having no coworkers and got full thoccy keyboard. Click clack.

Lots of notebooks - leuchtturm1917 brand.

A standing or wall mounted whiteboard - I draw a 3x3 grid on mine and each square can get a postit note to help me task manage in my physical space.

A USB powered desk light - i put this on to improve the lighting and for video calls, mine is temperature adjustable from cool to warm.

Sharpies / pens / copic markers - even in tech don’t underestimate the power of creating things in physical space. Sometimes I go straight to code or figma, other times my process starts on paper.

Walking pad so you can walk while you work. Helps minimize negative health impact of working too much.

I tried this but got motion sickness, which I almost never get. I think having to focus on a monitor while walking in place is just not for me. Sometimes I'll use it if I'm just on meetings or something.

Switching everything to USB-C. It makes everything much simpler, especially when backpacking. Everything charges everything using the same cables. At last I also found a USB-C shaver (from Manscaped).

That aside, the desk on my balcony. I loooove working outdoors among my plants and hearing birds sing.

I also got my money's worth with Airpod Pros. I carry them almost everywhere. They're great when working in coffee shops and noisy environments.

A large format keyboard/mouse pad (it fits both). It has changed how I use my desktop. Before my mouse pad would slide around, now it is a non issue.

I bought a BenQ desk lamp that sits on my monitor a few years back and have loved it since. Lights up my whole desk evenly and is out of the way. https://www.benq.com/en-us/lighting/monitor-light/screenbar-...

Does anyone know if there is a solution like this that works well with a monitor that has a webcam on top (e.g.: Dell U3224kba)?

I don't think it will work for a monitor like that due to the rounded webcam, it needs a flat surface to clamp to. I think it would work with the more integrated style of webcam monitor like the LG 27MD5KL-B.

For my setup I have an external webcam sitting on top of the light bar.

Multiple monitors. Every time I'm away from my 3-monitor set up, I feel vastly less productive for most (but not all) tasks.

I’m feeling kind of the opposite lately. I’ve been considering going to a single monitor setup, because I feel distracted by everything that’s not on my primary monitor. I keep all of my “focus” items on the primary, and non-focus items (slack, discord, calendar, etc.) on the secondary monitor.

Maybe I should have elaborated further. I do a lot of tasks where I need to switch between 3 or 4 different windows/programs frequently. On a single screen laptop, this quickly becomes tedious, but on a multi monitor setup it’s much easier to keep everything organized.

Same here. Consolidating to one BIG monitor

The productivity aspect that he is talking about doesn't have to do with focus. Its significantly faster to work on anything with more screen real estate.

My primary monitor is 5k, so I have a lot of real estate. But even still I mostly organize things into virtual desktops with two windows each, e.g. browser + notes, vim/ide + documentation, obsidian + notes or references on whatever I’m writing about. If I don’t do that I get distracted way too easily, not even counting the stuff on the secondary monitor.

Squirrel brain or something.

Logitech M500S corded mouse. I've been using some version of this mouse since 2002, and it fits better than any other I've tired. Plus it's around $30.

Steelcase Think chair. I used this chair in my work office and couldn't find another chair that worked for me at home long term.

Without a doubt, the UHK (Ultimate Hacking Keyboard). It changed (for the better) the way I use my desktop. I even ended up buying a travel case for it so I can take it on business trips where I will do a lot of keyboarding. By far my favorite home office purchase.

interesting, have you tried kinesis or glove80? curious how UHK compares

I have tried a lot of split keyboards. Haven't tried the Glove80, but I have used the Kinesis (Advantage and 360) and other scooped keyboards. They feel very naturally ergonomic. Allowing your fingers to move in a way that feels more comfortable to your hand. The split design furthers that by putting your hands at the distance they should be separated. The pros: very comfortable resting position, minimal hand, wrist, and finger travel. The cons: Size and dedicating yourself to a unique layout. The Kinesis (even the 360) takes up a lot of space. The bigger issue for me though was that I had to retrain my brain for standard layouts every time I sat at a computer with a normal keyboard. Imagine building the most comfortable bike in the world, but then not being able to ride in other cities because 'your' bike is at home.

Long story, I found the UHK to be the best option. While it doesn't have the scooped or natural key placement, the layout being standard staggered allows for existing muscle memory with all the benefits of the split and tilted design. I now have two UHKs for home and office. And I would buy another if they weren't so easy to travel with.

I have not, but looking at those it seems they are missing one of the killer features: a mouse layer. Being able to control the mouse quickly and efficiently with the keyboard is a killer feature and one I couldn't part with.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned- a wall mounted monitor arm. I use an adjustable sit/stand desk and hated even the minor vibrations produced by my typing, attaching my monitor to a wall mounted arm eliminated this issue.

Even a desk-mounted arm dampens movement drastically compared to modern cheap stands which shake like crazy from every touch. Another upside is that you can push a keyboard right to or even beyond the point where the display “casts shadow” and there’s nothing for it to stumble upon. Useful when you switch to pen and paper mode.

Kensington slimblade trackball. Very configurable ( though on Linux you'll need to write some config files ) and very attractive. Has been very OK ergonomically.

Herman Miller chair.

I had one of these but it would pinch nerves in my legs so my legs would go numb after awhile. I switched to a stressless recliner and never looked back.

Yeah I spent the money on a Herman Miller and it's ok. It's a good chair, but not the special thing I was expecting based on all the comments.

Yeti Rambler, Rubz Ball(best for foot sole massage)

The Magic Keyboard with touch-id probably saves countless amount of time with authentication.

ThinkPad wired keyboard so that I don’t have to move my arm away from home row (because it has track point).

Noise-cancelling ear devices. Bose QC 25 that take the (user-serviceable) AA batteries and AirPods Pro.

Love my QC25s. I got them in mid 2018 and they have been great since. I replace the earpads ever 2-3 years when they blow out, but that's been like $6 each time.

After I got a $25 bluetooth adapter for them, I've stopped wanting to get the 35 or 45s all together.

Logitech lift vertical ergonomic mouse. Replaced the logo drivers with better mouse for macOS.

- Kinesis Advantage 360 keyboard

- Logitech MX Ergo

- Laptop stand (Fatorm)

standing desk and a monitor for sure.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com