Working From Home Thread

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#2468652 23-Apr-2020 14:06

PolicyGuy:

Senecio:

Wow, I didn't realise that so many companies still use desktop based PCs in the office with staff having to remote in. I would have though that laptops were the standard these days for businesses?

Desktops with multiple large screens and decent keyboards are just better working devices than laptops.

Sorry, quoting a month's old reply. But this is true. There's no way I would be as productive using my work's Surface as I am when using my desktop with a 35" screen, full keyboard and enough memory (48GB RAM) to open more than four Chrome tabs.

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#2468655 23-Apr-2020 14:15

freitasm:

Sorry, quoting a month's old reply. But this is true. There's no way I would be as productive using my work's Surface as I am when using my desktop with a 35" screen, full keyboard and enough memory (48GB RAM) to open more than four Chrome tabs.

Same here. I have 3 x 27" monitors and a good desktop. I have used laptops but I use them short term.

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#2468685 23-Apr-2020 14:43

I don't quite agree. I have 2x monitors and the Surface Book 2 which is reversed to look like a third touch monitor (as you'll see from my recent photos). It's a powerhouse. Maybe that's because it's a powerful laptop to begin with, but I've been WFH for years with either a MacBook Pro or a Surface Book and multiple monitors. YMMV of course, if you're expecting a low-end laptop or tablet to meet your need then you're probably in for a world of hurt, but there are still powerful mobile devices that can service the heart of an efficient WFH setup.

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#2468694 23-Apr-2020 14:49

I personally don't think the Surface is a powerhouse but YMMV too...

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#2468696 23-Apr-2020 14:54

freitasm:

I personally don't think the Surface is a powerhouse but YMMV too...

I have a 10th Gen i7, 16GB Memory Lenovo and it is fast, but my Desktop i7 8770K KILLS it.

My feeling is that unless you can compare side to side, so long as what you have is doing the job you'll be happy, but when I switch from my DT to my LT, it's day and dusk (not quite night). It's probably actually even more noticeable, because when I am on my desktop I am doing stuff that working on a small screen I just don't do, but on my desktop, I'll often have a LOT more stuff open.

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#2468703 23-Apr-2020 15:02

Many people WFH are just using 'office' and enterprise software, generally a mid-spec laptop will do the trick. Even with simple stuff, multiple monitors helps.

I seam to spend a lot of time working between applications -e.g. pasting excel tables into a report, or building an access query to suck data into excel from.

I have three monitors: 2 x portrait (email, docs) 1 x ultra wide landscape (spreadsheets and query design) and the surface's screen for file explorer/teams.

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Handle9

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#2468813 23-Apr-2020 17:44

MikeAqua:

Many people WFH are just using 'office' and enterprise software, generally a mid-spec laptop will do the trick. Even with simple stuff, multiple monitors helps.

I seam to spend a lot of time working between applications -e.g. pasting excel tables into a report, or building an access query to suck data into excel from.

I have three monitors: 2 x portrait (email, docs) 1 x ultra wide landscape (spreadsheets and query design) and the surface's screen for file explorer/teams.

I completely agree. I think that a modern i5 with 8GB of RAM is more than adequate for most office productivity tasks. For most office tasks good quality monitors and ergonomic desk setups are far more important than the machine driving it.

If you are doing something that requires more horsepower that's a totally different story but for running outlook, excel, teams and powerpoint this is a very productive setup.

gehenna

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#2468816 23-Apr-2020 17:50

freitasm:
I personally don't think the Surface is a powerhouse but YMMV too...

Surface Book 2 is pretty gutsy. That's what I'm running. My Pro 6 not so useful for a home office. And my Go definitely not, but the SB2 gives any business desktop PC I've used a run for its money. 16gb memory and a GTX1060 certainly helps.

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#2468826 23-Apr-2020 18:08

Handle9:

MikeAqua:

Many people WFH are just using 'office' and enterprise software, generally a mid-spec laptop will do the trick. Even with simple stuff, multiple monitors helps.

I seam to spend a lot of time working between applications -e.g. pasting excel tables into a report, or building an access query to suck data into excel from.

I have three monitors: 2 x portrait (email, docs) 1 x ultra wide landscape (spreadsheets and query design) and the surface's screen for file explorer/teams.

I completely agree. I think that a modern i5 with 8GB of RAM is more than adequate for most office productivity tasks. For most office tasks good quality monitors and ergonomic desk setups are far more important than the machine driving it.

If you are doing something that requires more horsepower that's a totally different story but for running outlook, excel, teams and powerpoint this is a very productive setup.

Probably the most important component of that configuration isn't mentioned, and that is an SSD. Try running an i5 with 8GB with those apps on a non SSD :)

SSD makes almost anything palatable.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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#2468829 23-Apr-2020 18:17

gehenna:

freitasm:

I personally don't think the Surface is a powerhouse but YMMV too...

Surface Book 2 is pretty gutsy. That's what I'm running. My Pro 6 not so useful for a home office. And my Go definitely not, but the SB2 gives any business desktop PC I've used a run for its money. 16gb memory and a GTX1060 certainly helps.

Ah, Surface Book, yes. Surface? Hell, no.

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#2468832 23-Apr-2020 18:22

freitasm:

Ah, Surface Book, yes. Surface? Hell, no.

I'm perfectly happy on a Surface Pro 6 driving a 28 inch 4k monitor and 23 inch 1680 x 1050 monitor. It works great.

For me its 95% office productivity software and a browser.

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#2468833 23-Apr-2020 18:24

networkn:

Probably the most important component of that configuration isn't mentioned, and that is an SSD. Try running an i5 with 8GB with those apps on a non SSD :)

SSD makes almost anything palatable.

Of course. I guess because it's been about 5 years since I had a machine without an SSD I take that as being a given for a modern i5 setup.

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#2468847 23-Apr-2020 19:00

freitasm:

Sorry, quoting a month's old reply. But this is true. There's no way I would be as productive using my work's Surface as I am when using my desktop with a 35" screen, full keyboard and enough memory (48GB RAM) to open more than four Chrome tabs.

If you switch to another browser, you wont need 48GB of ram :)

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networkn

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#2468855 23-Apr-2020 19:17

TwoSeven:
freitasm:

Sorry, quoting a month's old reply. But this is true. There's no way I would be as productive using my work's Surface as I am when using my desktop with a 35" screen, full keyboard and enough memory (48GB RAM) to open more than four Chrome tabs.

If you switch to another browser, you wont need 48GB of ram :)

Really? Tell me more about this magical browser? I've seen that claim so many times and it's always a lie.

everettpsycho

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#2468915 23-Apr-2020 21:48

The biggest issue we had is we have a desk all set up for use and a set of cables with a KVM switch so I can easily plug the laptop in on that desk to get on with my work, but then two of us can't use it at the same time. So my girlfriend's got the nice ultra wide and desk an we had to figure out something so I could work.

The day they confirmed the lockdown we ended up buying a 2m long sheet of MDF that's now propped up on some bookshelves. Luckily work let us radius the office pre lockdown and bring home equipment so we could be more productive, so I've got a decent keyboard, mouse, monitors and chair which makes it easier.

I really haven't struggled, I leave the laptop open as a third screen and run teams & Skype on that but that's what I do in the office too. We've pretty much kept our daily routine up time wise, start work at 8:30, do a load of work then take a shower after meeting one exactly as I do after cycling to work. We've moved our free hour of power to 9:30-10:30 so shower then and blast the heating to get us warm and they house stays warm after that which helps keep the power bill down. I definitely won't mind doing more WFH when we hit lower levels, I'm in one of those positions where people will come to my desk you ask questions so removing that option one day a week would mean I can get stuck in to detailed work without distractions.

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