The working from home thread: tips and advice

Top of College road :)

so close too! thought it wasnt far off what you can see when you walk past the college on the gravelly pth

Our monitor, by a stroke of luck, was the perfect diameter to fit an old chocolate box

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And almost there. New keyboard (Filco Majestouch 2 with Cherry Red MX Silent keys) arrived and meant I could get rid of the wired keyboard and plug the webcam directly into the laptop.

New keyboard is lovely to type on and has media keys on the function keys, so I can pause/mute/play without if someone comes in to bother me.

Will see about getting some black spiral wrap to deal with the cables running down the back but the white doesn't really bother me (I can't see it when sitting down).

Didn't realise that the Filco convertibles had media FN keys, but looking at the non Ninja version, I can see the media buttons printed on the side of the keycaps.
That makes it more tempting!

Nice setup.

The banggood side printed Cherry MX compatible keycaps I've ordered don't have the media glyphs on the function keys. Not sure what I'll do, maybe I'll try something like Letraset to add the relevant symbols on to them.

They're not a perfect match anyway (several of the keys are different sizes) so I'll have to see what I can do with them.

This second lockdown with the timing of dark winter approaching has been far more difficult for me too.

I'm trying to get out of the house as much as possible before work for a stroll and during lunch if I get the opportunity to do so.

I see that it has an FN key in place of the menu key on the wired Filcos.

Do you know what the F keys look like on the US English ninja tenkeyless convertible keycaps?

Cheers, will have a look (assuming work haven't passworded it)

Flexispot desks have a sale on so I'm keen to get one.

However I can't really see the difference between them all, there is the E2, E4 and E6
Is there much of a muchness or anything I need to keep an eye out for?

Their tops seem OK but I'm going to probably find an off cut work top that's just a bit thicker.

It's going to go in the spare bedroom, I've got just under 2m length and probably trying to get 50 or 60cm depth as it's not a huge room

https://flexispot.co.uk/height-adjustable-desks/flexispot-standing-desks-comparison.html

(Note that the page is a bit shit, you have to click the dots to move to the right to see all of the other models.)

You might want to give them a call first and check what they actually have in stock if you're looking to get it soon. I ordered an E5 a few weeks ago that showed in stock, and it's only after a couple of painful phone calls to their customer services line that I got told they're expecting stock on the 15th December.

Yeah, I saw that and it kept flicking through. At the end of a day it is a desk that goes up and down but could not really see much difference.

I'm not sure what I'm looking at on the comparison in terms of good, bad or indifferent, why is 1 model £100 more expensive than another model for example and is 2 stage or 3 stage better?

@user90921 cheers , I'm not in any rush but good to know!

I don't get the upside down T-posts on standing desks. Is that really stable enough? Our desk (sit down) wobbles a bit and it bugs me no end

The main difference between 2 stage and 3 stage is that 3 stage can go higher. If you're 6'4" this may be a concern. They don't put the maximum height info on that comparison page.

Being 5'8" (and Mrs GB 5'6") we don't need anything other than 2 stage.

I worked out my optimal desk height by trying a few desks (and my Ikea Galant has adjustable legs) and found it was ~80cm. (This is more a function of the thing you sit on rather than anything else.)

From there I marked my eye level on the nearby wall, then I stood up and marked the eye level on the wall and measured between the two marks (35cm). That meant I needed to pick a desk that worked between those two heights (taking into account the 2.5cm height of the table top). The EC1 was good enough for that.

Also I've never wished I had the memory function, I just raise the desk until it's about the right height. Mrs GB too.

Sit-stand reminder? My brain does this well enough.

Weight? I certainly don't have anything remotely near 70kg on the desk so needing more than that is a non-issue.

Tabletop width will be another issue, if you do want something 2m wide then chucking that on legs that can only go 129cm apart will make it less stable.

Lift speed is the least of the concerns. To go 35cm even that the slowest speed it's under 20 seconds and that time is definitely spent feeling smug.

Child lock? Suppose it may be useful if you've got a toddler.

Updated the desk a little:

1. Under desk laptop holder. Made it out of rucksack webbing
   
2. New desktop wireless charger (phone & AirPods)
   
3. Hid usb speaker for calls behind monitor with double sided sticky pads
   
   

So clean.

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I can't decide if you get more or fewer points for the Vimto.

It's just apple and blackcurrant squash but with fizzy water in it.

neat!

What monitor arm is it? And which charger?

I'll pass on the disco keyboard though

Vimpto.

Monitor arm

Charger

My pragmatic guest room set up, missing my standing desk from the office at times.
The cat is a nice companion, really enjoys the VDI-box.

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👌thanks!

Going to have to tidy the cables away before posting of photo of my office setup

#cableshaming

That is awesome.. so clean....