A standing desk, an ergonomic mouse, the perfect office chair. Google is giving its work-from-home employees $1,000 to spend on office gear. Here’s what it will get you.
Google is going to reopen its offices on July 6, CEO Sundar Pichai announced this week. The offices will open at 10% capacity and will slowly ramp up to 30% by September, but some employees will continue to work from home indefinitely. For those employees, the tech giant has generously offered each employee $1,000 to outfit their home offices for an extended stay at home.
Here’s what we think those employees might consider buying to make sure their home office is as comfortable as possible, and to stretch that $1,000 as far as possible. Because a thousand bucks might sound like a lot, but it won’t go far once you start shopping. If you’re buying gear or supplies for your own home office, make sure you spend the bulk of the money on the most essential item. That might be a great chair for some folks, or a standing desk for others. The rest will fall into place if you’re comfortable while you work.
Disclosure: TechRepublic may earn a commission from some of the products featured on this page. TechRepublic and the author were not compensated for this independent review.
Image: Fully
A standing desk is a must for many people. Fully makes a range of styles and finishes, but this sleek bamboo version is a favorite. You can customize it based on the size required.
Image: Wayfair
If you prefer a traditional sitting desk, this L-shaped version fits perfectly into a corner and supports 2-3 monitors and laptops at once.
Image: Rain Design
A raised stand allows you to use your laptop as an extra monitor. The Rain Design mStand 360 has a swivel base so you can move your laptop around easily if you’re on a video conference, and it’s made out of aluminum so it serves as a heat sink to cool your notebook. It fits all MacBooks and is compatible with most notebooks.
Image: Hon
This chair was among the favorites during recent testing at TechRepublic. It’s not inexpensive, but it’s also less than one-third the price of top-tier chairs. During a week-long test, Hon consistently performed well. The Ignition model is a mid-back design that’s customizable when purchasing with three adjustable back heights, two seat sizes and four arm styles. You can choose a mesh or an upholstered back, and it is available in a range of colors. The lumbar support in the 4-way back is especially comfortable, and there’s an upright tilt lock so the chair is secured in position when you tilt.
Image: ASUS
If you don’t have a top-notch monitor at home, consider the ASUS 27″ IPS LED FHD FreeSync monitor. It has full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution and 1 ms response time and a 144 Hz refresh rate.
Image: Amazon
If you don’t have an external webcam, it might be time to get one for all of those Zoom video conferences. The Logitech B525 HD webcam is an affordable camera with a 360-degree swivel.
Image: Best Buy
An external keyboard is essential. This Bluetooth Microsoft version will work for anyone with a PC.
Image: Logitech
An ergonomic mouse makes all those working hours a bit more comfortable. This is the latest from Logitech. It offers a 57-degree vertical angle for improved wrist posture. It’s ideal for anyone with a PC.
Image: Apple
If you’re an Apple user, then an external keyboard such as this Magic keyboard with a numeric keypad will do the job.
Image: Apple
An external mouse such as this Magic Mouse 2 is another at-home essential if the touchpad on your MacBook isn’t enough.
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