The best Prime Day deals for working from home

Although the pandemic crisis seems (hopefully!) to be slowly receding, it looks like our work habits may be permanently changed. Many people who have been effectively working from home are reluctant to switch back to commuting, and many companies, recognizing this, are adjusting to having their employees work from home some, or all, of the time.

But to have the best work-from-home experience, it helps to have good equipment and supplies, and today, the second day of Amazon’s Prime Day deals, is a good time to stock up. Here are some of today’s deals that can help you save money and make your job more pleasant and efficient to handle.

Laptop deals

It goes without saying that a good workplace needs a good laptop, and there is a range still available at great prices. Whether you’re an Apple advocate, a Windows worker, or a Chromebook creative, you can check out some of these deals.

• Apple’s MacBook Pro with the M1 processor is $1,100 at Amazon (usually $1,300). Read our review.
• Apple’s MacBook Air with the M1 processor is $900 at Amazon (usually $999), with the discount applying at checkout. Read our review.
• Asus’ ROG Strix G17 with a 17.3-inch 1080p display, the Ryzen 9 5900HX processor, Nvidia’s RTX 3070, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD costs $1,680 at Office Depot (usually $1,800)
• Acer’s Swift 3 (Intel Core i7-1165G7, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage) is $670 at Amazon (usually $849), the lowest price we’ve seen Acer’s solid student laptop. Read our review.
• MSI’s Prestige 14 Evo (Intel Core i7-1185G7, 16GB RAM, 512GB storage) is $850 at Amazon (usually $1,150), the biggest price drop to date. Read our review.
• Asus’ ROG Strix Scar 15 (Intel Core i7-10875H, GeForce RTX 2070 Super, 16GB RAM, 1TB of storage) is $1,740 at Amazon (usually $2,200), just beating the best price we’ve seen. Read our review.
• Acer’s Chromebook Spin 311 (Intel Celeron N4020, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage) is $225 at Amazon (usually $500), the steepest price drop on the stylish convertible to date.

Headphone deals

Even if you no longer have to deal with the noisy environment of an office, there are still plenty of reasons to have a solid set of noise-canceling headphones at hand to protect your ears (and your attention span) from excitable pets, kids at play, or the construction crew right outside your window.

Monitor deals

Laptop displays are all well and good, but sometimes you need to fit a lot more information on your screen. A good monitor can make your workday a lot easier to handle.

Smart home office deals

You’re going to need a good Wi-Fi connection if you’re going to be running a lot of Zoom meetings, not to mention all those videos you need to check out. And a smart speaker with a display like the Echo Show 8 can help you keep up with things — like the news, the weather, and (with the help of an indoor cam) what your kids are up to.

Phone deals

Let’s face it, you’re going to need a good phone for calls, texts, and for keeping up with work when you’re on the go.

Desk and chair deals

It’s vital to have the right furniture for your workspace. A good standing desk will let you work in comfort and keep you from sitting too long, while a solid desk chair will protect your back from nasty aches.

Deals on keyboards and mice

Photo: Jelly Comb

When you’re spending all day typing and clicking, you want to be using something that’s efficient, comfortable, and healthy for your hands. Here are some of today’s deals:

The Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard is on sale for $29 (usually $50) at Amazon.

The Seenda Backlit Bluetooth Keyboard is $38 (usually $50) at Amazon.

A slim portable Bluetooth keyboard from Arteck is marked down to $16 (usually $20) at Amazon.

The Jelly Comb 2.4G Slim Wireless Mouse is now $8 (usually $10) at Amazon.

If you prefer a wired mouse, the Jelly Comb USB wired mouse is now $8 marked down from $15 at Amazon.

The Microsoft Arc Mouse is going for $44 (usually $70) at Amazon.