The RitePlus comes with a 50-year warranty, among the best we encountered, and this solidly constructed board comes with usable mounting hardware, all packaged securely for deliverynot a given with lower-cost melamine dry-erase boards. Its nigh impossible to tip over, it easily fits any type of bag you have, and it looks studious and professional. Thats a good thing. He has written and edited at Wirecutter since 2015, covering a range of products with a focus on computers and consumer technology. After researching 15 different mailing labels and testing nine ourselves, we found that Averys White WeatherProof labels are the best by a wide margin. Tim Barribeau is the editor in charge of pets and carry coverage (the latter is anything you might take with you on the way out the door to work). It offers enough space to satisfy most home-office needs, has superior build quality to others weve tested, stellar surge-protection performance, and safety features. Whether it's finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we'll help you get it right (the first time). We also interviewed experts in ergonomics, productivity, and task lighting to learn the fundamentals of office setup. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing to save people time, energy and money when making buying decisions. (The lamp itself is nearly indistinguishable from our former pick, the Fully Lumen, which costs twice as much unless youre buying the Lumen in a bundle with the Fully Jarvis standing desk.) It also has a large and bright display, an intuitive interface, and a convenient rechargeable battery. *At the time of publishing, the price was $14. It has 12 AC outlets plus coax and phone ports. Smoothly gliding drawers set this cabinet apart from the three others we tested. Most LED bulbs are meant to make your home feel warm, inviting, and relaxing, using a warm white color temperature of 2,700 kelvin. The best tool for wrangling desktop cables that move around a bit is a 100-pack of Velcro-Brand Thin Ties. The Jarvis is sturdy enough to support common monitor sizes and weights, and its also the best-looking monitor arm we tested. If you have a question, send it to notes@wirecutter.com with the subject line Ask Wirecutter.. After testing seven popular whiteboards over several weeks in the Wirecutter office in New York, repeatedly writing and erasing with a variety of dry-erase inks (including letting ink dry and sit untouched for days at a time), we think the best whiteboard for most people is the OptiMA RitePlus porcelain magnetic board. This shredder is nearly identical to the Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Micro-Cut version, but it can handle 50% more pages at a time, has a larger bin, and still fits underneath typical desks. Melanie Pinola. Plus, it comes with a comfortable, intuitive dispenser and offers the most tape per roll of those we tested, which means you wont have to replace the dispenser as often. The Lorell 16872 was wobblier than the Lorell 14341 when we pulled drawers one by one. Storage is best when its customizable. Your home office should be a place where you feel comfortable doing your best work day after day. The best tool for designing and printing your labels is the free Avery Wizard software for Microsoft Word on Windows. (The only other envelopes that we couldnt break into were Columbians Grip-Seal security envelopes, which are more see-through, have worse-quality paper, and cost more than twice as much per envelope as our pick.) Whether it's finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we'll help you get it right (the first time). The mesh sides make it very difficult for odors to build up, and the bin works fine with or without a trash-bag liner. Its seven USB 3.0 data ports and three high-speed charging ports face upward, so cables and plugs take up less room on your desk. Surge protectors dont last forever: Like a light bulb, they need replacing every few years when they burn out. Its also resistant to spills and punctures and easy to clean, includes a 7-year warranty, and perhaps best of all, you can move it with one foot instead of bending over to pull it out. After testing eight shredders, running over 2,000 sheets of paper, CDs, and credit cards through them, and interviewing a man who made his living stealing other peoples discarded personal information, we recommend the AmazonBasics 6-Sheet High-Security Micro-Cut Paper and Credit Card Shredder for people who receive most of their statements and other paperwork digitally but still want a secure disposal option for occasional use. It can run jam-free for nearly 10 minutes without overheating. The Duck EZ Start tape dispenses silently, which is a nice perk. That best desk also has enough space left over to keep the things you need to have close by. If you have fewer than 10 cables that travel less than 9 feet, the Soba looks nicer and is easier to set up than simple zippered sleeves. Based on pick changes in some of our guides, weve made updates to this guide. These trays are made to hold makeup, but I bought a bunch of them with an eye toward open storage on my junk-strewn desk. It will dry indeliblyand so quickly that left-handed people can use it without worrying about smudging. If you have more USB devices than your computer can handle, getting a hub helps consolidate cord clutter so its easier to manage. A TVs electrical cord could short out in a wall or in front of a wall and cause a fire; generally speaking a claim would be paid if theres a fire involved, she said. Averys White WeatherProof labels are designed for use with laser printers (such as our budget pick), but not inkjet printers. If you have an inkjet printer, we recommend the Avery White Shipping Labels instead. Free and refreshingly straightforward, Adobe Scan is the perfect app if all you need is clean PDFs and reliable text recognition. How to plan and protect yourself in areas at risk of hurricanes. Depending on the size and color of your workspace, you could go with a brighter bulb, namely a 75-watt or 100-watt equivalent, or install a dimmer switch to balance out your lights. A team of work-from-home veterans spent more than 150 hours researching and testing equipment for a variety of workspaces and picked out a selection of great gear, including things that many of us use daily in our own home offices. The smaller A5 size wont take up too much room on your desk and its lie-flat design means you can easily write on both sides of each sheet. A man with too many hobbies, hes currently engrossed in leatherwork, and he might make you a wallet if you ask nicely. But if the things you need are always inaccessible, youll never stick with the system that put them out of reach. MB. Its also available in a fine-tip version, which performed similarly in our testing, laying down clear and even lines, erasing easily, and drying out the least of the fine-tipped pens when we kept them uncapped for up to a week. *At the time of publishing, the price was $30. The two adjustable, extendable straps make the pillow easy to position so that it hits the right spot for your lower and middle back on most chairs. The Uni Kuru Toga Pipe Slidemechanical pencil set itself apart from the more than 130 other models we evaluated through research, interviews, surveys, and testingincluding a testing panel of 70 Wirecutter staffers. A cheap and easy option for bundling shorter cables. Anna is a mentor at Girls Write Now and a member of the Online News Association. The drawback: Highland Notes are available in a pretty limited range of colors and sizes compared with the dizzying array of Post-it Notes. And your lines will always have the same width. Melanie Pinola. We tested eight standing desk mats and found the Ergodriven Topo offered the best comfort and support while encouraging movement. In our stress tests for stickiness and sturdiness, the Duck EZ Start tape ranked just behind the Gorilla Shipping Tape, which is around 50 percent wider and costs three times as much. It wont bleed, it wont skip, it wont feather. Filing cabinets are far less necessary for most households and small businesses today than they have been in years past. Subscribe now for unlimited access. For the cables that you dont plan to unplug or move, a cable sleeve will reduce visual clutter and keep them securely in place. Its against code, and for good reasonits a fire hazard and against National Electrical Code. Of the several great, two-drawer, letter-sized options under $100 we found, most are made by the same company, Hirsh Industries, sometimes under its own branding and sometimes for other companies. If your seat is too low and your knees are higher than 90 degrees, you should adjust your seat higher. It can be used as a foot rocker, and the detachable 2-inch base lets you adjust the footrests height. Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. I want my stuff to be visible and accessible at all times, which is why I dislike traditional desktop organizers. Each Expo pens chisel tip gives you versatile line options, puts down a clear and well-defined line with plenty of pigment just as effectively as more expensive markers, and wipes clean easily with a standard eraser, with less residue and staining than the competition on both melamine and porcelain surfaces. We spoke to Christopher Coache, a senior electrical engineer at the National Fire Protection Association, who told us that regular power cords arent rated to go behind walls. It accommodates a wide range of positions and angles to improve workstation ergonomics, and its adjustable, unobtrusive, and sturdy enough to support heavier monitors. Besides being an eyesore, they are just too dictatorial. Melanie Pinola. Office Depots Lift & Press Premium Envelopes are self-sealing and have edge-to-edge seal coverage, unlike the others we testedand at 8 cents per envelope at the time of our tests, they were some of the cheapest we found. Sit at that desk and then lean back slightly (100 to 110 degrees). This means it will look better in a wider variety of spaces than its competitors. (Youll want to confirm your local code to make sure youre getting the right version. If you ever have to adjust your laptops screen positionto accommodate different postures, to avoid glare, or to fit different laptops or peopleyoull appreciate that easy-to-use slider. Wirecutter staffers love Mujis simple yet stylish aesthetic, and these nine organizing and decor items are some of our favorite finds. We researched 11 postal scales and tested three using a scientific weight set and a variety of packages, and we found that the AWS scale has the best-placed buttons for weighing unruly packages, runs on easier-to-replace AA batteries, and usually costs a few dollars less than the competition. It's easy to fit any kind of trash bag in this cans two interlocking cylinders of solid steel. After testing seven top-ranked highlighters over the past two years by marking up many pages of handwritten notes, printed documents, and books, weve determined that the Sharpie Clear View is the best because its see-through tip doesnt block the text that youre highlighting. The Duck EZ Start Packaging Tape was the second-stickiest, the second-sturdiest, and the least expensive tape we tested. A desktop organizer keeps your essential supplies close at hand and neatly arranged in dedicated compartments. KP. *At the time of publishing, the price was $62. They rank a distant second behind the WeatherProof labels and dont come in the 1-by-2.62-inch size (which is ideal for standard envelopes), but they are a couple of cents cheaper per label and good enough for most mailing needs. If your phone can charge wirelessly, you can completely eliminate one cord from your desk by switching to a clean, clutter-free charging stand or pad. It has several easy-to-reach compartments for smaller items, in addition to two slots for your most important papers, and it wont take up too much space on a desk. This newest version also has a pocket-safe retractable tip. We printed hundreds of labels using our pick for the best cheap printer, stress-tested each type of label with water and friction, and mailed a selection of labeled envelopes to see how they would hold up in practical use. The plug-in asks you for the label codewhich you can find on the front of the label packageand the addresses, and then it automatically formats a Word document for you to print. ), Chris adds, Make sure your cables are CL-rated for in-wall installation as well.. This design seems like a gimmick, but we found that the Clear View made drawing straight, accurate highlights easier than any of the other markers we tried. Like most mailing scales, our pick also has a stand that you can raise to keep envelopes steady during weighing. The Gorilla Shipping Tape was the sturdiest and stickiest we testedit even took a chunk of paint off the wallbut its three times more expensive per foot than our pick and overkill for regular shipping purposes. A cover that you can easily remove for washing and a lifetime replacement guarantee offers peace of mindthis is a pillow that will support your back for years to come. It feels almost magical in its efficiency. From there, you should make sure of the following: Two common upgrades are nice to have but not necessities. For most people, that means enough room for a properly placed monitor, keyboard, and mouse. He has been with Wirecutter since 2012, and previously headed our cameras section. It can charge a 15-inch MacBook Pro at full speed. It has a wider range of more easily accessible adjustments than any other chair, so you can feel fully supported in almost any position. About $5 buys 100 ties, each of which you can reuse for hundreds of tie-ups. Its pretty widely available, and it creates one of the smoothest, quickest-drying lines you can find. You can use it round-side-up for a steady foundation or round-side-down if you want to be able to rock your feet back and forth. This compact shredder offers more security than similarly priced cross-cut shredders. Plus, it doesnt take up too much space on a desk. It comes in white, black, and silver. Plus, small plastic stands on the dispenser elevate the tape roll and provide greater control as you tape. But it needs six AA batteries. It responds quickly to input from your choice of four control keypads and produces minimal wobble even at tall heights. Because the point never gets blunt, your to-do list, diagrams, and mind map will look exactly as sharp when you finish the page as when you started it. In the end, however, no laptop stand, not even the pretty Elago L4, did any better than the mStand or iLevel 2 at raising a laptop than the ultimate budget option: using whatever large books you have handy. Melanie Pinola. Of all the alternatives we tested, the Velcro-brand ties offer the best way to bundle up thin or medium-thickness cables, or to run cables along desk legs. Clearing your desk of clutter is easy enough. Corral the cords on your desk with a clip here, a tie there, and a metal snap to keep everything in place. This sleeve makes it easy to organize bundles of cables, even if you need to branch them off in different directions. Weve spent hundreds of hours researching and testing office-organizing gear to help keep your workspace clutter-free. Whether it's finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we'll help you get it right (the first time). It seems pricey for a simple plastic box, but its just the right shape and size, it has the cutouts you need, and it doesnt cost much more than competing models. The aluminum helps conduct heat out of your laptop, and the iLevel 2 hides cables behind its bottom support, unlike the Griffin Elevator and most other open-design stands. If you cant figure out how to tame the rats nest at your power strip or surge protector, just hide the whole mess instead. Let us help you. Before we talk drywall, we should talk electrical safety. For a nonfragile object that you still want to protecta book, for examplewrap it the same way using a layer or two of newsprint. Nick Guy is a former senior staff writer covering Apple and accessories at Wirecutter. Because of its small page capacity, its best for occasionally shredding a few documents at a time. We loaded each cabinets drawers with 20 hanging folders, each containing approximately 100 sheets of paper (about 21 pounds per drawer). Multiple, adjustable office lights reduce the contrast between the light on the object you are focused on and the surrounding area, allowing for detailed focus and the prevention of headaches. The sleek, stylish Fully Jarvis is easy to move into a wide range of positions, has a five year warranty, and comes in three colors. Heres how to do it as comfortably and productively as possible. If you really intend to use and reuse a whiteboard, the OptiMA RitePlus isworth the investment. Whats wickedly difficult is keeping it clean. KP. The Kuru Toga has been our top pick since 2013, but the Pipe Slide is a newer version that has a retractable tip so it wont stab you through your pocket, and it rotates lead twice as fast as the original so it keeps the tip at a finer point. Its a wonderfully low-key way you can inch toward a more orderly and comfortable desk. It has the widest range of brightness and color temperatures of the lamps we tested, making it the most versatile for different moods or times of day. After researching 13 kinds of newsprint, nine types of Kraft paper, and 13 different bubble wraps, and testing three of each, we learned that how you pack is more important than the materials you use. If your feet dont touch the floor when youre sitting all the way back in your desk chair, you should consider getting a foot rest. Kevin Purdy is a writer, editor, and repair advocate at iFixit. Let us help you. Its also the easiest mat to move when youre switching positions. It raises a laptop about 5.8 inches, which puts the computer at a more ergonomic, less neck-tilting height for most people under 6 feet tall. So if youre that tall, we recommend the Ergotron LX Desk Monitor Arm, Tall Pole instead. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Its an investment, but the Gestures ball-and-socket armrests (which function like a human shoulder) give it a wider range of adjustability than any other task chair. With five brightness levels, five color temperature modes, and a night mode, its easy to get ideal lighting for any situation. We independently review everything we recommend. Your eyes are in line with a point on your screen 2 to 3 inches below the top of the monitor frame. The chairs highly adjustable arms let you stow it almost anywhere, since you can lower and tuck them in as needed to fit under a smaller desk. This models compact size and comfy keyboard make operating it with one hand easy. If you want something a bit more stylish, I recommend searching on Amazon for jewelry trays or makeup trays. This model offers the most USB-A ports, plus USB-C ports and an SD card slot. Whether youre a renter or homeowner, there are some electrical wiring red flags you can keep an eye out forand a few key pitfalls to avoid. If you prefer a much finer tip (1 mm; its also available with a 0.6-mm tip if you really need precision) and a more difficult-to-erase marker (which means youre less likely to smear your complex equations as you work), we like the Staedtler Lumocolor Correctable Pens, which give you a very thin line comparable to that of a Flair or other fine felt-tip pen. Our long-standing pick for the best office chair is impressively supportive, adjustable, and durable. LePage's Seal It Bandit Packaging Tape is more expensive, and its dispenser lacks the Duck EZ Starts convenient roller for smooth application. We like the Cheap Cheap Moving Boxes Packing Paper best because its individual newsprint sheets are smooth and thick, plus theyre recycled, well packaged, and, yes, cheap. You can cinch a tie and leave it on a cable, so its always ready for bundling up. Its sturdier than the other plastic organizers we tried and also costs less than the ones we tested with modular components. The multiple pens, dongles, little notebooks, keys, and paper clips are all useful. This model was accurate to within 4 grams in our tests; thats a bit less accurate than the other two scales we tested, but it isnt an issue, because mailing services in the US go down to only 1-ounce (28-gram) increments. Wirecutter staffers work remotely, so we drew on our own experience to select these home-office essentialssome from our existing reviews, and many others exclusively for this guide. Inexpensive, secure, and made with high-quality paper. An adjustable monitor arm is the best option to keep your monitor at an ergonomic heightwith your eye level 2 to 3 inches below the top of your monitorso that you can maintain proper posture and avoid slouching or craning your neck. It offers the best mix of performance and features of the desks we tested. Although the cold weakened the Office Depot envelopes seal, the envelopes design has subtle security perforations that rip easily under pressure, and this feature thwarted our attempt to open the envelope stealthily. If you need a pen to take notes during a teleconference or to hastily scribble down an idea, the one to grab is the Uni-ball Jetstream (just dont lend it out, because you might never get it back). This compact shredder offers more security than similarly priced cross-cut shredders. Secure with a bit of Scotch tape or the like. What does that mean? But most home offices should be a bit more task-oriented, so you should considerthe more invigorating daylight (5,000 K) temperatureof our pick. For weighing packages, we recommend the American Weigh Scales Table Top Postal Scale. Chris Heinonen, our TV expert, recommends a kit that costs about $70 that you can install on your own. They were first and second (respectively) to fall off the wall in our tests, and they are both more expensive than our pick. After researching 14 popular products and testing six offerings from Highland, Office Depot, Redi-Tag, and 3M, we think that the best basic 3-by-3-inch sticky notes for the money are Highland Notes, which you can typically find for half the price of 3Ms ubiquitous Post-it Notes. The ComfiLife Anti Fatigue Floor Mat is our long-standing pick among traditional flat anti-fatigue mats because it provides cushioned but firm support, its stain resistant, and easy to clean, and has a non-slip bottom. This highly adjustable LED desk lamp makes positioning your light easy, and it offers multiple brightness levels and color-temperature modes. The Gel Highlighter also smeared handwritten ink and pencil notes more than the Clear View. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. No matter how well you tidy up, little by little a state of disorder is sure to take hold again. And the desk is backed by a 10-year warranty. Reusable cable ties are the best way to tame cables snaking wildly behind and across your desk, especially if you may end up moving them or coiling them up from time to time. This white cord cover comes with self-adhesive backing to hide power cords against a wall. Weve got that covered in The Best Tech and Apps for Your Home Office.. This portable hub supports 4K monitors at 60 Hz over HDMI and has every other port youre likely to need, all of which performed at expected rates in our tests. The best-looking, most adaptable, and possibly even fun option for tackling your cables is Bluelounges Soba. I dont want to go full Marie Kondo getting rid of them. According to research from the NFPA (PDF), electrical distribution and lighting equipment (which includes cords) were the leading cause of fires in the living room and bedroom between 2012 and 2016. Learn more. *At the time of publishing, the price was $124. Easy-to-use software, affordable ink, and plenty of thoughtful touches make this all-in-one less annoying than the competition. The thick memory foam of the Everlasting Comfort Memory Foam Back Cushion is sturdy yet cushiony. We love the ErgoFoam Adjustable Foot Rest because its squishy enough to massage your feet but firm enough to provide the right amount of support. And of course I never do. Its adjustability stands out, thanks to a pivoting head that focuses light at an angle and an arm that reaches over tasks and swivels on the lamps base. Not a single glass broke or chipped, because they all stayed well protected thanks to proper packing technique. The Uplift V2 is the most customizable desk weve ever tested, and its wide height range works for people between 5 feet 4 inches and 7 feet. For a TV I use something like the PowerBridge TWO-CK Two Outlet with Cable Pass-Thru since thats okay with fire code and lets you run the cables inside the wall. Note that if you live in Chicago-Cook County, Illinois, or in New York City, PowerBridge offers a compliant metal junction box and metal-clad wire version. Your hands are resting flat and straight on both the keyboard and mouse. *At the time of publishing, the price was $70. The paper is thick, smooth (but not plastic-y), and works well with a variety of pens including inky fountain pens with little feathering and minimal ghosting. This fluorescent-hued crayon goes on dry and doesnt bleed through, but its broad, rounded tip is less accurate. This lamp works double duty thanks to a Qi-Enabled Wireless fast charger and a USB-A charging port built into the base. We dont recommend Averys online toolits terrible. (But dont worry, we still have recommendations for each!) This environment leads to eyestrain and fatigue. If you need many options, we advise picking up the Super Sticky variety of Post-its, available in a recycled version (which never hurts). The Duck EZ Start tape dispenses silently. The iLevel 2 firmly held modern laptops with screens as large as 15 inches in our tests, though a heavier laptop may bounce a bit if you place it on a less sturdy desk. I took a quick poll in Wirecutter Slack chat and most people who responded said they wouldnt attempt DIY installing an additional, new electrical outlet. The Best Tech and Apps for Your Home Office, A first-rate, good-looking standing desk you can customize to your needs, Alan Hedge, professor of ergonomics at Cornell University, explains, Everlasting Comfort Memory Foam Back Cushion, Lorell 14341 18 Deep 2-Drawer File Cabinet, 18 Lorell 14341 Deep 2-Drawer File Cabinet, Lorell 16872 2-Drawer Mobile File Cabinet, Amazon Basics 6-Sheet High-Security Micro-Cut Paper and Credit Card Home Office Shredder, AmazonBasics 6-Sheet High-Security Micro-Cut Paper and Credit Card Shredder, Amazon Basics 12-Sheet High-Security Micro-Cut Paper, CD, and Credit Card Shredder with Pullout Basket, Brighton Professional Black Wire Mesh Square Wastebasket, Rubbermaid Executive Series Hide-A-Bag Wastebasket, TaoTronics LED Desk Lamp with Qi-Enabled Wireless Charger, TaoTronics LED with Qi-Enabled Wireless Charger, Cree 60 W Equivalent Daylight A19 Dimmable Exceptional Light Quality LED Light Bulb, Tripp Lite Protect It 12-Outlet Surge Protector TLP1208TELTV, Innovative Storage Designs Desktop Organizer, from the more than 130 other models we evaluated, Duck EZ Start Packaging Tape with One Handed Dispenser, Office Depot Lift & Press Premium Envelopes, Office Depots Lift & Press Premium Envelopes, American Weigh Scales Table Top Postal Scale, Accuteck Heavy Duty Postal Shipping Scale, How to Move Your Home Office OutsideAnd Make the Most of It, How to Make Space for Kids to Be Creative at Home, The Best Hurricane Preparedness Supplies and Strategies.

Sitemap 28