Home Office

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It seems every couple years I change up my desk. My needs change over time, and the changes can be tax deductible since I have a dedicated home office (with the one caveat being that it is used as a guest room maybe a week out of the year with the pull-out sofa sleeper).

In 2011, my setup was a mediocre desktop and a set of triple 1080p monitors. They weren’t very easy on the eyes, but gave me lots of screen estate. The desk was Ikea, and I bought my Das keyboard shortly after this photo. The speakers were terrible Logitech ones, but I wasn’t investing in good sound at the time and they have little to do with ergonomics, the subject of this post.

In 2013, my setup was a huge laptop and triple Dell Ultrasharp (huge upgrade over the above Acer(?)s) 1080p monitors. It worked great, but I hated the giant laptop and have since replaced it with a Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga X1 Gen1. I used a buggy docking station that didn’t like to be reconnected much, and had a second setup with my Das Keyboard (not pictured) at work, when I still went into an office. I built the desk to fit an alcove in our old house, and when we moved it didn’t blend nearly as well into the surroundings.

When 4K monitors came out, came down in price enough to afford, and went up in size enough to really be usable at 4k, I traded the old out for a new 1080p-4K-1080p setup. I also decided to build a dedicated workstation to drive it, which included a Xeon E3-1231v3 CPU, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD + magnetic data drives, and 2x NVIDIA GeForce 980TI graphics cards in SLI. Even by today’s standards, it’s still an extremely powerful machine and will handle anything I ask of it. I have changed the monitor orientation for the flank monitors a few times, but with the introduction of the JBL LSR305 speakers, they have to go vertical. The setup is 56″ wide, sitting on a 72″ desk. Everything barely fits.

I was going to keep that setup for a while longer, but have had some severe back and leg pain in recent months. I went to the doctor and they took X-rays of my spine to ensure nothing obvious was wrong, and dismissed me. I believe it’s most likely Sciatica, and have decided to do a few things to address it:

1. Employ a strict workout regimen. We have a really nice home gym, but Kelly uses it far more than I do. I am going to put together a written plan, and stick to it.
2. Get up more. I spend between eight and twenty hours a day at my desk. Usually I can keep it between eight and ten, but those times can double when workload is high.
3. Convert my desk to a more ergonomic setup. I generally dismiss ergonomics as faddish, but am going to give them an honest try.

When it comes to my current monitors, I’m constantly leaning forward and bending at all angles to reach the far edges of my screens. They’re fixed near the back of the desk, nearly 30″ from the front edge, and are simply massive. I decided to remedy that. I’m getting rid of the two 1080p monitors and fixed triple monitor stand. I’m replacing them with two 27″ 4K monitors in a traditional dual monitor configuration on an Ergotron LX mount. The mount is designed so that you move your monitor to you, rather than move to your monitor, as you reposition yourself throughout the day. It looks like this:

It articulates in all directions and has cable management channels keep everything contained. It’s quite pricey, but comes with a ten year warranty and should last a very long time.

[amazonjs asin=”B0036FQ23A” locale=”US” title=”LX Dual Side-By-Side Arm”]

I’m putting two LG 27MU58-B monitors on it, which I found on sale at NewEgg for $359 each. For those of you unfamiliar with what is special about a 4K monitor, you can fit 4x as much “stuff” on it as a standard monitor. Instead of minimizing programs and tabbing through them, you can keep several of them open and fully visible at the same time. They are excellent for productivity, but do come at a premium over the more common 1080p monitors. The pair, sitting perfectly flat side by side, will be just under 50″ wide.

[amazonjs asin=”B01MQEGC8N” locale=”US” title=”LG Electronics 27MU58-B 27″ Screen LCD Monitor”]

Now, I really love my 40″ 4K monitor but think the sheer size of it is an issue. I decided to buy an articulating TV mount that has the same type of adjustability as the Ergotron, and I’ll fabricate a raised mounting bracket for it using the pole from my current mount and some reinforcement materials to keep the monitor positioned above my others. It’ll basically be a triangle of monitors, similar to this:

[amazonjs asin=”B00B7AMLMC” locale=”US” title=”Mount-It! Height Adjustable TV Wall Mount Bracket With Counterbalance – Full Motion Articulating With Gas Spring Arm – Silver”]

Moving to the desk, I’m replacing the desk with an electronic sit/stand model. Amazon sells the one I ordered for $867, but they had a “Warehouse Deal” with “No cosmetic or mechanical defects” for $419.20. It’s not the color I would have chosen, but for the discount I’ll take it. It’s the same brand and series as my current desk, but has a motorized base that allows you to adjust the height from 23″ to 49″. The open area under the desk instead of solid sides will help to make my crowded office feel a little less claustrophobic, as well.

[amazonjs asin=”B00VD859BS” locale=”US” title=”Bush Business Furniture 72W x 30D Height Adjustable Standing Desk in Mocha Cherry Satin”]

I ordered a PC (“CPU”) holder (so it raises and lowers with the desk), cable management trays, a power strip, and LED light strips to replace my current desk lamps and to keep things uncluttered. As for my keyboard, I’m replacing the green keys with the original blank black keys, and bought a inexpensive trackball to replace my traditional gaming mouse. I’ve used it for two years, but really don’t care for it. As inexpensive as they are, I should have replaced it a long time ago. Speaking of keyboards, I bought a Das Keyboard Ultimate Silent five or six years ago and still use it daily. They have come out with a new version, which adds some neat features, but not enough to justify the high price to upgrade. The keyboard is one of the best PC related purchases I’ve ever made.

Last, I decided to replace my chair. I’ve been sitting in a moderately priced Office Depot special, which I thought was a good chair based on reviews and such at the time. I don’t recall it being comfortable once we left the store, but I’ve been using it without knowing what else is out there. After doing a ton of research, I almost decided to buy a Steelcase Gesture chair, fully upgraded, to the tune of $1,600. It’s a high end ergonomic chair designed for intensive use and comes with a twelve year warranty. But alas, I can’t justify spending that kind of money on a chair. I’ve been watching Ebay, and found one that is closely optioned to the one I want (It’s actually a 2013 Leap V2 instead of a Gesture), except in the wrong color (black frame with navy blue leather), and without the headrest. But I can overlook those features for the $375 I paid for the four year old chair in supposedly brand new condition. The seller had several, and other buyers had bought them and left positive reviews and feedback, giving me some confidence in the decision. As configured, it would cost $1,442.00 + tax if I were to buy it today.

[amazonjs asin=”B006H1QXEI” locale=”US” title=”Steelcase Leap Leather Chair, Black”]

While it is costly to redo all of this, a total expenditure of $2108.27 with tax and shipping, I’m looking forward to hopefully less back and leg pain due to the new setup. I should have most of the parts in Thursday, I believe.