The working from home thread: tips and advice

You can use x mouse button control https://www.highrez.co.uk/downloads/xmousebuttoncontrol.htm for Windows to customise all sorts of mouse stuff including wheel behaviours.

Mouse arrived, .ahk script done, working as desired.

Prime Day is happily coinciding with my WFH allowance from work. Idk yet what my allowance for each item is, but I wanted to start working out what I want.

The thing I'm clueless on is monitors. 99% of my work is ppt and xls right now so I don't need super accurate colours or gaming fast refresh rate. I just want a nice looking decent size screen.

• must have it's own stand fixed at the correct height or adjustable
  
• ideally not too heavy (it will be moved on and off the dining room table)
  
• size: around 27" should be enough. Again I want to be able to move it into a corner behind a side table when not in use.
  
• price:.... should probably be asking once I've got know what the allowance covers but I want to understand what you "need" to spend.
  
• connection: I'd like to have the option of hdmi for my personal laptop work one has thunderbolt and hdmi
  
  

Any pointers, or suggestions?

Anything I might not know I want?

Cheers

https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/monitors/monitors-27-inch

For a 27" monitor I'd want to go higher resolution than 1920x1080, otherwise it'll look a bit pixelated.

2560x1440 is the next step up and they start around £220.

From there you want to narrow it down based on the stand and the connections.

If you want a 4k monitor (3840x2160) you'll be looking at ~£300 although there are some a bit cheaper: https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/monitors/4k-monitors

this is a not terrible 4k monitor for cheap. I used it as my main work monitor and tv for streaming through a roku through most of lockdown when I was stuck at my mums place.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BenQ-EL2870U-Eye-Care-Monitor-Free-Sync/dp/B079HV1TDC/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=benq+4k+monitor&qid=1656754831&sprefix=benq+4k+%2Caps%2C64&sr=8-3

only gripe are the speakers and volume control which is hidden a few clicks into the (clunky) menu system. if you just want it to display it's perfectly decent though, but i'd buy some cheap standalone speakers if you want sound.

mines currently on a monitor clamp on my board gaming/hobby table up in the loft where i'm using it with built in speakers though...

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Cheers. That's exactly what I needed to get me going.

I'm probably not going to need speakers as I'll use my laptop for comms. or my offbrand airpods (which are incredibly practical).

WFH is only a few days pw so I want a minimalist setup I can put away.

Budget allocation for a monitor is £170.

Feel like that might be pushing me towards 24"...although I can't help but feel 27" is the goldilocks of sizes. Especially as I don't actually need 4k.

What are people's thoughts?

I can always top up, but as I want to buy a logitech mx master (mouse budget is £18), I don't really want to spend more than a score on top for a screen. If that.

Backing your Goldilocks theory, Personally 27" feels big enough to use as my ~sole monitor, though with laptop as small second. Whereas I used to feel the need to use 2 24" monitors.

Would strongly recommend 1440p even at 24", especially if you're only going to have one monitor. Depends how good your eyes are I suppose.

Pretty pleased with my Lenovo. They have a 32" 1440p for £179.99 at the moment. (Not the one I have so I've no idea whether it's any good)

https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/accessories-and-monitors/monitors/home/D32q-20A19315FD031-5inch-Monitor-HDMI/p/65F7GAC1UK

(They also have a 24" and 27" 1440p for £200)

Cheers. Are you using it with the OEM stand, and if so what's it like and is it height adjustable?

I've noticed that there seem to be more 32" around and often better value than 27".

I guess it's a supply and demand thing. I probably need to do some measuring, but the extra 5" feels like a lot.

Top Netflix choice there!

I've got the 24" version of this one and been pretty happy with it
https://www.amazon.co.uk/CHiQ-1920x1080-Flicker-Free-Freesync%EF%BC%8CVESA-Compatible/dp/B09F6D4D3B/ref=sr_1_1_sspa

I'm using mine with an arm instead, and it's different to that one anyway, so can't help you with that.

Currys have got a 4k 27" LG for £209 at the moment but not sure if the stand's any good.

lol

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Those with MX master mice, is the extra scroll something that gets used (particularly mainly those who are dealing with mainly Word/Excel)?

I'm pondering whether to get that or the Anywhere 2 which only has the one scroll wheel.

Or, any other suggestions for bluetooth/wireless usb (need both) mice for Windows?

I've put the film thing on the window, the one to reduce the amount of external heat getting in.

It's made a big difference, definitely cooler than on Thursday ;)

What did you use please @Velocio and would you recommend it?

Our loft bedroom hit 32 during the last heatwave and the big problem seems to be solar gain.

Our skylights have built in blackout blinds but they're not enough!

What did you use please @Velocio and would you recommend it?

Prestige 70 Ultra Solar Control Window Film
from https://www.abodewindowfilms.co.uk/

Do absolutely follow the installation guide, and order a bit more than you need to screw up the first one (you will... not wet enough, too many microbubbles as it wasn't clean enough).

Does it work? Yes.

Not a miracle solution, but it is definitely cooler and feels less aggressively hot with it even though the sensors I have only show a few degrees lower.

Good to hear it helped. It's certainly one of the cheapest ways to make a material difference.

Not a proper reco, but this is the wireless mouse my work suggests in our WFH allocation:

TeckNet Bluetooth Mouse, 3000DPI Wireless Mouse, 24 Month Battery Life With Battery Indicator, 3000/2000/1600/1200/800 dPi, Grey https://amzn.eu/d/65oYo1R

I had a almost identical one by Splaks(?). Cheap and cheerful. And was happy with it.

Ha. Don't think I was that keen on it to be honest.

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I bought it as I thought scrolling with my finger would cause more arthritis pain. However, I'm still using the finger scroll on auto-pilot and it's far less painful that the track ball i had. So after using autohotkeys to make the thumb wheel perform vertical scroll (it's horizontal scroll out of the box), I now set it with a higher/faster sensitivity and use it if I have to do a lot of scrolling.

otherwise, it's a very nice mouse. There's a button in the "wing" under the thumb that I've set to help switch between apps (instead of alt-tab) and the middle button just behind the main scroll wheel for screenshots (which I do a lot in my job).

Cheers. I think that (together with the fact that the price has just gone up again) has convinced me that I probably won't use the second wheel.

New record today. Spicy inside.

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oh to dream of a spare bedroom...