The working from home thread: tips and advice

Has anyone used a Jabra 410?

Annoyingly I have to plug in an audio device to use my client's VM and I can't access the laptops BT for headphones either.

I remember new Jabra 510 being about half as much as they are and I noticed the 410 are only £25 on ebay. Which feels more conformable for something that might not work or I may not like.

My concern about it not working is that the remote controls on my Jabra headset don't work with my client's VM so may not work.

Alternatively if anyone had something similar sitting in a box let me know.

Shame. Bought a few times from them, always been prompt, well priced and good.

yeah, I've been recommending them to people for about 6 years. I imagine that covid was a double edged sword for them with the rise in people wanting chairs at home increasing but probably not enough to sustain the same turnover for them as selling to companies buying in bulk to furnish whole offices, especially with all those closed offices inventory flooding the market.

I've been using mine for the past five and a half years. It's been rock solid and I much prefer it to using headphones.

Cheers. Looking into it, it seems much better for my use than the 510. I've put some bids on ebay and will report back.

TBH I quite liked my cheapo fake airpods before I started with this client, but using a proper headset is getting to me. Then everytime I have calls where I can use the laptop mic and speaker I'm reminded how much more natural and comfortable it is.

I got a 510 from Cex for 35 and has been great, they have 410's for 30

Reyooz.com was recommended by friends for secondhand office kit - looks ok, but I've never used it.

Bought an Orangebox G64 several years ago from Andrews Office Furniture on Old St - was very happy with being able to try the chair out, with the service, and with both the chair itself and the price.

(That said, I've just paid John Lewis for an ex-display Aeron ...)

So, a few pages back we talked about the Dreamland Relaxwell electric blanket. I bought my OH one, it arrived broken; since then, they have been refusing to reply to emails about replacing it.

Would not recommend.

That's a pain. Charge back?

My other half hasn't turned theirs off yet.

Didn't use a credit card. Maybe should get one.

Chargeback can be done with debit cards too, although it is not quite the same as a section 75 CCA claim.

You'd likely need to gather evidence that you have tried to sort it out with the retailer.

Cheers. I'll check it out.

The use case sounds a bit weird. Why do you need an audio device to use the VM? What host/guest OS? Surely there's a software solution.

OK, cool. I raised a Paypal grievance yesterday, see if they respond to that first.

PayPal isn't really chargeback - you have a debit card transaction with PayPal, and they have a transaction with the retailer.

Your bank likely won't refund this, as your transaction with PayPal was fine.

PayPal, however (in my experience, at any rate), are on the customer's side when it comes to refunding for shonky goods and recalcitrant suppliers.

client's VM

i have observed this really weird phenomena with my client's VM. i have wireless headphones on basically all day and my computer is silent. but if i am logged into the VM and a sound comes through (i.e. a teams ping or email) a noise comes out of my laptop speaker... really odd

(or is that normal and i am just crap with tech? it just surprises me that the VM can override the sound output settings for some reason)

No, my company's Teams works pretty much perfectly, whether that's nothing connected and using the laptop mic and speaker or BT headphones. Client's VM, Skype or Teams absolute shit show lottery. But yeah funny you say the ringing through the laptop - I noticed this all around the office today. My ringing often comes through my screen speaker when WFH.

@frankenbike - yeah it does doesn't it? I assume locking out the laptop speaker is some sort of confidentiality feature. I think it's Windows 1o. Given the monumental pain in the skull even downloading software or getting permissions for anything you actually need is I have no motivation to ask for a resolution to a nice to have.

That said I noticed a few people on calls with Bose headphones who clearly got there bluetooth sound devices to work. Unfortunately I've misplaced my fake air pods, and the mic is shit on my overhead ones.

Client's VM, Skype or Teams absolute shit show lottery.

havent dared use that yet.... will hopefully avoid

Using video calling on Citrix at my place screws up the laptop's noise cancelling so if you're not using headphones it gives an echo to everyone else on the call. May just be our shit implementation though.

Desk and video lighting, anone splashed on kit from elgato https://www.elgato.com/en/key-light-mini or go for a cheap ring light? https://www.jessops.com/p/joby/beamo-led-ring-light-12-inch-200231

Picked up a "new" not in box Jabra 410 and so far liking it.

It's nice to not have headphones on and be able to leave the desk on long calls.

Reviews commented on how small it was. It is small compared to a big trad conference phone, but in user WFH terms it's bigger than I expected - 12cm wide x 2.5cm high. Not too big or anything, just don't expect it to be tiny.

Anyone use something like a Wacom for notetaking?

Feel like it might help with things like taking notes in OneNote, highlighting and marking up documents, copying and lassooing stuff but never used one

Sounds like an ipad would do it better for similar monies?

New home office chair - up to ~£200 what should I get? I'd like to order online with delivery this week.