Whether you were fortunate enough to have invested in the Amish custom-built six piece corner computer desk for home or office or you had just enough space for a hand built Mission computer station, there are some electronic essentials on the market today that will amplify your office environment.

From picking out your solid wood computer center to adding all the gadgets, putting together your own personal workspace can be one of the most fun and rewarding things you can do. Gadgets, especially electronic gadgets, are enhancing our life and our work domain by leaps and bounds. Surprisingly, many gadgets that used to be cost prohibitive are decreasing drastically in price, making them affordable on almost any budget.

Some of the hottest and most affordable electronic doo-dads include:

PHOTO ALL-IN-ONE PRINTER:

 No more trips to the drug store to copy a picture, these new printers have features such as scanners and LCD screens, along with auto-correctors for red eye and other errors like color and tone. Many of them are so advanced they can detect what type of document you scanned and crop the JPEG or PDF.  Some of the latest photo printers are so compact you can pack it up, take it with you and hand out printed photos at the event in under half a minute. (Cost-around $100)

GREEN POWER STRIPS:

Using a single switch you can squelch the electric vampires in your house. By making a central charging station at your computer center with the flip of a switch all connected gear is off and no longer draining energy. Some of the newer strips even come with a remote for hard to reach spots like under your desk. (Cost – around $20-50)

USB SWITCHERS:

One printer and two computers can cause conflicts in a busy home or office. The USB switcher allows two PCs to connect to any USB device that needs sharing. (Cost – around $50)

FLASH MEMORY:

The costs of memory cards and sticks have plummeted. These devices are some of the most practical, low-cost investments for any tech traveler. 1,2,4,8 and even 16 gigs - they are not only brilliant ways to transport and share data like documents, pics, videos and music but are added back up in case of loss on a hard drive. (Cost: $10 and up)

COOLING HUBS:

The last thing you think of is the last you would want to happen to your laptop. Unless someone has told you or worse, unless you have fried one, you would not realize that those little devices get mighty hot. Overheating is notorious for destroying a laptop. With a good cooling hub the stand keeps the airflow moving under the notebook and many even have additional USB ports, which no notebook ever seems to have enough of.  (COSTS: average $49.99)

WIRELESS ROUTERS:

Believe it or not, you may not always want to be sitting at that beautiful computer center. Attaching a wireless router to your Internet modem will cut the ties that bind and allow you to move about the room or building, still connected to the Internet. The newest routers host faster and wider signal broadcasting for more reliable and secure connection. Some are energy conserving and some are being developed by the world of open source designation. (COST: $49.99 and up)

EXTERNAL  HARD DRIVE/ STORAGE DEVICES:

Until you have lost everything on a hard drive you assumed would never fail you, you cannot appreciate an external device that allows to not only protect and back up files but to even transport and share them.  (COST: From 300 GB to 1TB they range in price from $79.99 – app. $150)

Tags: computer station, electronic gadgets, laptop, personal workspace, The Amish home office, work domain, workspace

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 17th, 2009 at 1:20 am and is filed under Home Life, Home Office Design, Organization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.