Deals from The Verge staff’s desks: accessories, tech, and more
What you have on your desk and in your workspace at home can reveal a lot about you: how your work, what you like to distract yourself with, what kind of toys and other tschotchkes you like to have around you. That is why we have the What’s On Your Desk? series, where we look at how some of our co-workers organize their spaces. It gives us — and you, our readers — a glimpse into the personality of the folks here.
Out of curiosity, we took a look at some of our past articles to see if any of the devices that our staff use in their day-to-day work have surfaced during Amazon’s Prime Day sale. We did find a few.
Here they are, along with any comments that the folks that use them had to say.
Mechanical keyboard
My keyboard is the Nuphy Air75 V2 with low profile keys and the company’s own Cowberry linear mechanical switches. I can see why Nuphy named this specific mechanical keyboard line “Air,” because it does feel like you are typing on air. The keys require little actuation force, and they make a pleasant and light thunk sound when they bottom out — even the spacebar, which has some of the best key stabilizers I’ve ever seen on a keyboard. I’ve used too many mechanical keyboards with wobbly, pingy spacebars.
A comfortable mouse
Logitech’s ergonomic MX Master 3S wireless mouse has a small discount for Prime Day, but it’s at least worth considering if you spend hours at your computer every day. It features two scroll wheels, one vertical and one horizontal, an 8,000 DPI sensor, and you can use it across multiple computers or laptops, Windows or Mac, at the same time with Logitech Flow.
My partner gave me his Logitech MX Master 3 mouse because the gaming mouse I was using before (and the three gaming mice before that) started giving me wrist pains. My pinky would lock up sometimes, too.
I don’t have any of those issues with the MX Master 3. It’s ergonomically designed to keep your wrist in a natural position, and even though it’s such a small adjustment compared to how my wrist is positioned with a standard gaming mouse, it was enough to completely get rid of the pain. Now, I use this mouse for everything, even gaming.
Some extra lighting
I’ve got an Elgato Key Light, which helps when it gets dark in my office and I need to look presentable on a Zoom call. It’s also just a great light for when I’m journaling at night. (I’ve got a smaller lamp on the other side for evening or cloudy days.)
Unblurring video calls
The Link features a 0.5-inch Sony sensor mounted on a gimbal that can follow you around the room. It typically runs for $299.99, and it comes with numerous features that take advantage of the gimbal’s flexibility. Read our review.
I got the Insta360 Link webcam because I was tired of looking like a blurry potato on calls. This one is neat because it tracks your position, though sometimes it doesn’t always work the way it’s supposed to and my coworkers get to look at a close-up of my forehead.
A perfectly placed screen
My main screen is an Asus VG27AQ. One of the biggest reasons I bought it was its small, squarish stand. That way, it can perch atop my NAS at the perfect head height with just enough room for my mini desktop and water bottle underneath. Too many modern monitors have big V-shaped stands that make them hard to prop up, I’m afraid.
A fountain of pens
I own about seven fountain pens. Most of them are very inexpensive, and some were so cheap they’re kinda crappy and barely worth futzing with (the typical bad initial purchases you later learn from). The two I use the most are the Lamy Safari with a fine nib and the TWSBI Eco with an extra-fine nib. I write a bit small, so these work well for me.
An old-fashioned watch stand
This adorable elago W3 stand for my Apple Watch looks like an original Macintosh.
Working with wireless headphones
Sony’s WH-1000XM4 noise-canceling headphones still offer plenty of bang for the buck with excellent ANC, lively sound, and lengthy battery life. They’re not the company’s latest, but they remain an excellent buy. Read our review.
I spend the workday at my Vox laptop, a 2017 MacBook Pro, with a few accessories, including a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones that my colleague Chris Welch reviewed.