This Crazy WFH Home Office Setup Costs Less Than $500

We’re now in the age of remote work, and modern high-speed internet infrastructure has made it much easier for millions of professionals and students to work and study from home. If you find yourself among this number (either willingly or unwillingly) and the new year means it’s time for a new remote workstation, then don’t assume you need to drop a fortune, especially if you already have a good laptop and just need to expand your work-from-home setup a bit. Dell has everything you need, and we’ve got all the best picks right here:

Dell KM636 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse — $40, was $50

If a cramped laptop keyboard and fussy touchpad are getting you down, then it’s time to upgrade to a good wireless keyboard and mouse combo like the Dell KM636 bundle. The KM636 keyboard and mouse are sleek enough that they won’t hog your desktop but are comfortable enough for a day’s work. The convenience of fully wireless connectivity (via the included USB receiver) is just icing on the cake. For $40 after a $10 discount, the Dell KM636 wireless keyboard and mouse is a cheap and easy way to enhance your work-from-home experience.

Union & Scale Essentials Mesh Back Task Chair — $70, was $130

Your work-from-home setup is only as good as your chair, and few things are worse than parking yourself in a lousy, back pain-inducing seat for hours on end. You don’t need a fancy one to help you stay comfortable: The Union & Scale Essentials chair features a curved mesh back that supports your lumbar and keeps you cool, while its padded fabric seat is height-adjustable and can even tilt and lock once you’ve found the perfect sitting position. At just $70 ($60 off), the Union & Scale Essentials task chair gives you everything you need without unnecessary bells and whistles.

Dell S2421HSX 24-Inch 1080p Monitor — $175, was $250

The only thing worse than working on a cramped laptop keyboard all day is staring at a cramped laptop display. Thankfully, any modern laptop can easily be hooked up to an external monitor like the Dell S2421HSX, allowing you to enjoy a dual-screen setup or just close your laptop and use the bigger display solo. This 24-inch display features a crisp and color-accurate IPS panel with a 1080p resolution on a fully adjustable stand, and with HDMI and DisplayPort connections, it’s compatible with almost any laptop. A nice $75 price cut lets you add this monitor to your work-from-home station for $175.

Lexmark C3326dw Color Duplex Laser Printer — $200, was $280

No home office is complete without a good printer, and a lousy one can become a source of constant frustration (something many of us are all too familiar with). Modern printers stand head and shoulders above those of years past, though, and laser printers like the Lexmark C3326dw have become shockingly affordable lately. Not only does the Lexmark C3326dw offer two-sided duplex printing — a feature not often found on printers in this price bracket — it can even handle color prints, something that was unheard of not too long ago. At $200 after a $79 discount, this might be the best home office printer to be had for around two Benjamins.

Recommended Extras

Microsoft 365 Apps for Business (Annual Subscription) — $99

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) has been a staple for professionals for almost a decade and is still the premier software solution for businesses both large and small. The Apps for Business suite is purpose-built for small companies and home offices, featuring Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, OneDrive for Business, and Access — in other words, the full array of apps needed for working from home. Grab a one-year subscription for just $99, giving you full access to the Apps for Business suite on Windows, MacOS, and iOS/Android mobile devices.

Dell S2721HSX 27-Inch 1080p Monitor — $210, was $300

At 27 inches, the Dell S2721HSX monitor hits the sweet spot in size if standard 21- to 24-inch desktop displays aren’t big enough for your needs but the 32-inch and larger screens are overkill. Like its 24-inch sibling, the Dell S2721HSX boasts a rich IPS panel with a Full HD resolution, but with its 27-inch nearly bezel-less design, it’s a treat for the eyes that gives you plenty of screen real estate for having multiple windows open and for general multi-tasking. A $90 price cut knocks this great display down to $210, making it a worthy upgrade if smaller displays are leaving you feeling boxed in.

Seagate Expansion 1TB Portable External Hard Drive — $58, was $70

Professionals who work with large projects, such as video files, will quickly find that the built-in hard drives on most computers is not enough. But gone are the days when you had to pay out the nose for lots of external storage, and the Seagate Expansion is an affordable (and portable) data solution for home offices. It’s small enough to move and carry around easily and its fast USB 3.0 connection delivers snappy transfer speeds as well as power — no additional power cord required. The 1TB model rings in at $58 ($12 off) right now, but 2TB and 4TB options are also available.

Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 — $379

Even if you don’t consider yourself an audiophile, you’ve probably heard of Bose, which has been one of the leading names in the world of home audio for decades. The Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 are among the best pairs of cans this brand (or any brand) makes, delivering crystal clear sound, all-day comfort, and an excellent built-in microphone for calls, voice chat, and video conferencing — perfect for those Zoom meetings. Bluetooth connectivity and industry-leading noise cancellation puts these cans above the competition, and if you’re serious about sound, then these headphones can be yours right now for $379 from Dell.

Dell XPS 13 Laptop — $1,399, was $1,560

If you need not only a more complete work-from-home setup but a new laptop as well, it doesn’t get much better than the Dell XPS 13, which has been one of our favorite Windows ultrabooks (and arguably the best 13-inch laptop overall) for years. It has just been updated with the latest 11th-generation Intel Core CPUs, pairing great performance with world-class build quality and great design touches like a gorgeous 16:10 1,920 x 1,200 resolution display. You can grab this high-end configuration packing a Core i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD for $1,399 right now and save $160.

Dell XPS 17 Laptop — $2,049, was $2,460

Laptops have trending towards the smaller end of the spectrum in recent years, but Dell hasn’t forgotten those who prefer bigger machines. The new Dell XPS 17 is absolutely superb and leaves the 16-inch MacBook Pro in the dust (no small feat given how popular Apple’s laptops are), combining a beautiful 17-inch 3,840 x 2,400 4K+ display with buttery smooth performance thanks to its Core i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti dedicated graphics card. It’s also comfortable to work on while being surprisingly light and easy to carry, and can be your new work-from-home PC for $2,049 after a juicy $410 discount.

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