The sudden increase in people working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic has rendered huge demand for home-office related equipment. It's getting hard to find for a lot of people, but one store you may not have thought of when shopping is Dell. Not only can you buy the company's own PC hardware, but also a range of accessories from both Dell and other manufacturers, too. Here's the best stuff you can buy from Dell right now to help you work better from your home.
King of Ultrabooks
You can't mention Dell and not mention the king of the Ultrabook, the XPS 13. If you're looking at getting a new laptop to work from home in the long term, then the XPS 13 is one of the best choices you can make. The latest version has trimmed the display bezels almost to nothing, bumped the internals to include 10th Gen Intel processors and NVMe storage, and has a range of spec options to suit different needs and budgets.
Conference calls
The Logitech C922 is one of the best all-round webcams you can get, delivering good looking 1080p video, decent sound through its onboard microphone and all without costing the earth. Paired with Logitech Capture, the free companion app, you've got a ton of features at your disposal, some of which will even let you inject a little fun into your new home-based work life!
Keyboard and mouse
Whether working on a laptop or desktop, when you're working at home, a good keyboard and mouse is an essential piece of equipment. Logitech is always a good bet, and this combo includes a good quality, wireless keyboard, and mouse for a great price. Battery life on both is exceptional, lasting up to 3 years on the keyboard, and the built-in wrist rest will keep you comfy while you work.
Illuminating
Razer's webcam is targeted at streamers, but it's also perfect for home workers, especially those tight on space and limited on lighting. It has a ring light built-in that's really powerful, so you never need to worry about being seen properly. Video at 1080p30 and 720p60 is possible, it looks great and is a simple plug and play affair that works with all the major apps.
Budget monitor
Actually working from home is very different from occasionally doing a bit of work at home, and a desktop monitor is one of our top recommendations to make your life more comfortable. This 22-incher from Dell has a 1080p Full HD panel and supports both VGA and display ports inputs, as well as having internal speakers if you don't have any or access to a headset.
Break the silence
Working from home in silence is a bad idea (trust us), so these affordable speakers from Logitech are a great way to break that and keep your spirits up with some music while you work. They deliver 10W peak power, have one powered driver on each speaker, and also a 3.5mm input to hook up your phone. Best of all, they sound fantastic for something so low-cost.
Plug it in
The magic of a docking station is that it can transform a laptop into a desktop for a relatively small fee, and it certainly takes up less space at home than a desktop rig. This one connects over USB 3.0 and adds HDMI and DisplayPort, additional USB ports, Ethernet, and a split microphone/headset input. It can also mount to the VESA point on the back of your monitor for added tidiness.
Sound your best
Working remotely inevitably means a decent amount of online calls with colleagues, and a good microphone can make all the difference to those you're talking to. Blue makes excellent USB microphones that are simply plug and play, and the Snowball is an iconic mic that's garnered a lot of well-deserved praise for its balance of quality and price.
Small PC
If you're in the market for a new PC, then this is a pretty good shout for a new home office, not least because it's very affordable. But it's also extremely compact, taking up not a lot of space, and still has a decent spec list. These include an Intel Core i5 processor, both SSD and HDD storage, an optical drive, SD card slot, and a whole bunch of ports that'll support all your accessories.
Improving your home office
For many, the current crisis will be the first time they've worked from home for an extended period, and it's quite a change. Surrounding yourself with the right equipment takes some of the pressure off, though.
Whether it's the Logitech C922 webcam, the Blue Snowball ICE microphone or even a brand new laptop like the XPS 13, the Dell Store is, at least for now, well stocked with items to help make your life a little easier.
