Wed, 01 Dec 2021

The Best Gadget for Hybrid Workforce

season’s just hurtling towards us, and you know you can smell some fantastic deals right around the corner! From high-end professional monitors to gorgeous AIO PCs, you’re bound to run into a deal that’s too good to refuse. Factors to Consider When Buying Monitors and Desktop PCs for Business Sure, it’s the perfect time to grab an upgrade for your home office setup or your business, or maybe even both. But how exactly do you pick the right product? Your pick should not only be able to get the job done faster and more efficiently, but it should also slide into your workspace without upsetting it. Here are a few factors you should consider before pulling the trigger: Size and Form Factor Whether we’re talking monitor size or the size of your desktop, only buy what fits. Anything else only creates more headaches. For example, if you’re using a relatively small desk as a workspace, a humongous desktop that takes up three-quarters of it isn’t the best choice. When considering business desktops, lean towards relatively small-form-factor machines that take up minimal space. Not only does this ensure a cleaner workspace, but it also allows room for other things you might need to get work done. Business applications are rarely compute-heavy, so smaller machines can deliver the necessary performance to get work done. However, if you do need a lot of computing power to crunch numbers or work on large, complex spreadsheets, you’ll find several small-form-factor PC options that pack a surprisingly powerful punch. Performance and Specifications When you’re shopping for either a business monitor or desktop PC, you should have some idea about what hardware or what specifications you need. Then, make sure you allocate your budget where it’ll deliver the most value. Check benchmarks like Cinebench and CPU-Z for your current hardware and compare them to the parts you’re considering for purchase. Always confirm to make sure that a new purchase isn’t a downgrade to an older machine for your work. When it comes to monitors, it’s crucial to pick the right one. For example, business professionals who primarily work on documents and complex charts don’t need features like a wide color gamut or HDR. Instead, they need superior ergonomics and viewing comfort for those long work hours. And conversely, professionals who work on color-sensitive graphics and art cannot compromise on features like HDR and a wide color gamut. AIO or Desktop PC? An AIO (All-in-One) PC fits every component of a computer within the frame of its monitor. So, if you’re looking for the most clutter-free and wire-free experience on your desk, combine an AIO PC with wireless peripherals. You’re in for the cleanest setup possible! Do note that most AIOs compromise on computing power a fair bit due to the lack of space for effective heat dissipation. That said, MSI’s AIOs are still designed to handle business applications and tasks like web browsing without any hassle. They don’t give up too much on this front. Still, if you want to run intensive workloads frequently, you’d be better off with a Desktop PC instead. There are surprisingly powerful compact options in our lineup. Eye Care Technologies Work can stretch time as nothing else does. If you’re in the zone, you might find yourself staring into that monitor for hours at a stretch without even looking away for a moment. Although it’s healthy to take frequent breaks, and we recommend doing just that, we also know that it’s not always an option. Eye care features like flicker-free displays and low blue light technology help you work – minimizing the strain on your eyes. If you’re prone to long work hours, make this an important criterion to judge any business monitor. TUV Certifications are an excellent way to find products that adhere to a certain eye-care standard. Look for those certification labels on product pages to make sure you’re giving the very best care to your eyes. MSI’s Business and Productivity Product Line When it comes to computing devices for businesses, it’s crucial to consider how those products look and ensure that they never take up an excessive amount of space on your desk. MSI’s business products are a consequence of a design philosophy that centers around creating gorgeous products that lend elegance to a workspace. Multiple Red Dot Design awards won by our products are a testament to how we’ve successfully. So, to help you with your shopping this holiday season, let’s see what products are deserving of making it to your workspace. Elegant Business Monitors A monitor is your window to the outside world. So, whether you’re crunching numbers or poring over mission-critical documents throughout your workday, you deserve a clean, professional workspace. MSI’s Modern Business and Productivity Monitors go back to getting the basics just right – with finesse. It combines a stunning design and an excellent IPS panel with industry-standard eye-care features for a comfortable viewing experience. Modern MD271PW A Modern MD271PW Business Monitor is the first thing you’ll notice when you walk into a room that houses one. It blends razor-thin bezels, a gorgeous white finish, and a spectacular 1080p 75Hz IPS panel into a product that you’d be proud to present as the face of your business. What’s more, the MD271PW also snagged the 2021 reddot design award – a further testament to its beautiful design. The monitor also boasts a TUV-certification for top-of-the-line eye care technologies like Anti-Flicker and Less Blue Light. So, you can rest assured that you’re minimizing eye strain, even during those long work sessions. High-End Professional Monitors Working on complex, color-sensitive graphics or assets means you absolutely cannot compromise on either resolution or color accuracy when it comes to a monitor for work. High-end professional monitors come color-calibrated out-of-the-box to ensure the best possible color coverage with a high degree of accuracy. The change in visual perception of two colors on a monitor is measured as dE (Delta E). A Delta E value of < 3 is considered acceptable for professional products, with even lower values being better. Summit MS321UP If you’re on the lookout for professional monitors that deliver excellent color coverage, high accuracy, and offer a high resolution – the Summit MS321UP is the ideal choice. Designed with the idea of standing head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd, the MS321UP combines an elegant design with high-end specifications for an uncompromising work session. It boasts a 4K IPS panel with a factory-calibrated color gamut of 95% DCI-P3 and a Delta E of

Wed, 22 Sep 2021

Best Monitors for Your Home Office

. Today, well over a year later, we still find ourselves working from home and working longer hours. In fact, a survey found that 55% employees were expected to work outside their work hours when at home. If you’re staring at your screen for more time, getting the best monitor for your home office setup is no longer optional. You’ll want a monitor (or monitors) that not only allows you to work without compromising your productivity but also helps minimize strain on your eyes. Look for features that make your life easier and eliminate clutter in your workspace. MSI Summit MS321UP 32” 4K Business and Productivity Monitor If you’re on the lookout for a professional-grade 4K monitor for your home office, your search ends with the Summit MS321UP! Not only does it come loaded with features and offer the display specifications you’ll need to get work done right from your home, but it also looks drop-dead stunning on any desk. An expansive 32-inch 4K (3840x2160) IPS panel gives you the space you need to juggle multiple applications with ease. What’s more, it comes factory-calibrated for professional, color-sensitive work with a DCI-P3 coverage of 95% and a Delta-E of

Wed, 22 Sep 2021

Modern Home Office Setup Ideas for 2021

has become so much more important than it used to be. With a whopping 82% of business leaders interviewed by Gartner saying they support a hybrid work environment (part remote) even post-pandemic, there’s no doubt about it – the work-from-home trend is here to stay. You now find yourself spending hours working in a space that wasn’t originally designed for full-time work. A change is inevitable if you want to work at home without affecting your health or your productivity. Finding the Ideal Work Setup Every professional will have different demands from their workspaces. While some swear by their expansive multi-monitor setups to get work done, others might value a more minimal and clutter-free space. But here’s one key upside of working from home – you get to design your own home office setup! You do still need the right hardware and furniture to create a space where you can work without any compromises. So we’ve gone ahead and come up with four home office setup ideas that span the most common types of workspaces. One of these is bound to be the best home office setup for you: The Minimalist If you’re a professional who values a clean, clutter-free setup above all else, The Minimalist beckons. So, how would this setup look? Here’s how – The Minimalist focuses on ridding your workspace of unnecessary cables and as much paraphernalia as possible. However, it does so without hampering your business productivity in the least. Let’s recreate this workspace, shall we? The Centerpiece: MSI Modern AM241P 23.8” ALL-IN-ONE PC The MSI Modern AM241P is a business productivity powerhouse that gets you the performance you need without taking up too much space. It comes equipped with up to an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor with integrated Iris Xe Graphics under a gorgeous 23.8” IPS grade Full-HD LED panel. This All-in-One (AIO) PC only needs a mouse and a keyboard connected to it, and you’re ready to start working! We know all too well that work sessions can last hours. That’s precisely why the AM241P AIO PC also comes with MSI’s Anti-Flicker and Anti-Glare Technologies to ensure minimal strain on your eyes. The Monitor can also filter out blue spectrum light without affecting visual quality to enhance viewing comfort further and reduce fatigue. If you’re carrying an office laptop and frequently need to work on it even at home, you can use MSI’s Instant Display Technology to turn the MSI AM241P AIO PC into a monitor without turning the PC on. You don’t need to clutter your desk with yet another monitor just to get work done on your laptop. Instead, plug your laptop into the HDMI™ input port, and you’ll see your laptop screen on the monitor immediately! The Power-User You know you need serious computing power to get work done, and you prefer having complete control over your monitor setup. This type of setup will appeal to professionals like programmers/developers or scientists who need to crunch tons of data. Well, how would it look? Here it is – The Power-User values a high-efficiency, powerful setup more than anything else. To you, the combination of a few cables and some desk clutter is a trivial price to pay for wielding such power at home. The Centerpiece: MSI PRO DP130 Compact Desktop The MSI PRO DP130 Compact Desktop will fool most people at first glance. Its diminutive frame conceals the powerful hardware inside quite well – hiding the fact that it brings full-blown desktop performance to your desk. It comes equipped with up to an 11th Generation 8-core, 16-thread Intel Core i7 processor to power through even the most CPU-intensive tasks with ease. If your work demands more, you can easily upgrade the graphics card, M.2 SSDs, 3.5” HDDs, and also add two more memory modules to the DP130 Desktop. The Monitors: 2 x MSI Modern MD271QP 27” Business Monitors MSI’s gorgeous 27” Modern MD271QP boasts a QHD (1440p) resolution that will give power users much more screen real estate. Now, when you double this screen space, you’re looking at a high-efficiency workflow experience that you need to be as productive as you can. Speaking of working the way you want, the MD271QP monitors feature highly flexible monitor stands that will conform to your ideal posture with ease. It allows for swivel and pivot movement in addition to extensive tilt and height adjustments to make sure that you’re the one in control of your workspace. It’s not just features though! This monitor is a looker with a clean, minimal design that focuses on that gorgeous display. The MD271QP is a Red Dot Award 2021 winner for design excellence, which makes these monitors a truly spectacular addition to any home office desk. The Intuitive While productivity is an important aspect of a workspace, a regular screen just doesn’t cut it for you. You need to incorporate touch into your workflow without compromising on either performance or monitor size. Well, The Intuitive does just that. If you’re wondering how it looks, here you go – Now, let’s recreate it! The Centerpiece: MSI Modern AM242TP 23.8” All-in-One (AIO) Touchscreen PC Much like its sibling above, the Modern AM242TP brings convenience and style in spades with one key distinction – it boasts a large 23.8” Touch Panel! It opens up a whole new user experience and boosts productivity if your workflow pairs well with touch inputs. The MSI Modern AM242TP comes equipped with up to an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and Intel Xe graphics to ensure that you have the computing capacity to quickly power through business tasks. A built-in webcam at the top reduces clutter while allowing you to join in on video calls effortlessly and without scrambling or hunting for your webcam. The Second Monitor: MSI Modern MD241P 23.8” Business Monitor When it comes to a side-by-side, dual-monitor workspace, we recommend springing for a monitor with the same size and resolution if possible. That’s precisely why the MSI Modern MD241P Business Monitor pairs so well with the Modern AM242TP AIO Touchscreen PC, thanks to its Full-HD resolution and 23.8” size. Its stand also supports a wide range of motion, so you can set your workspace up the way you want, when you want. The Creative When creative professionals design their workspace, computing power, graphics horsepower, high resolutions, and a color-accurate screen come to mind. That’s what The Creative is all about! Here’s how this setup can look – Now, let’s recreate it, shall we? The Centerpiece: MSI Creator P50 Desktop The MSI Creator P50 desktop offers powerful hardware and intelligent thermal design to maximize performance in a sleek, slender design envelope that doesn’t compromise on style. It can house up to an 11th Generation Intel Core i7 desktop processor and an Nvidia 30-series RTX graphics card. Add one front Thunderbolt 4 port*, 2.5 Gigabit LAN, and Wi-Fi 6E to this package, and you’ve got yourself a pretty mean machine that can tackle even the most power-hungry tasks with ease. Whether you’re working on a complex 3D scene or a motion design project, the Creator P50 packs the hardware and features you need to breeze through it all without breaking a sweat. What’s more, it does so in a compact, gorgeous form factor with a total volume of just 4.72L to ensure that your desktop computer is a work of art that you’ll want to show off. The Monitor(s): MSI Summit MS321UP 32” 4K Professional Monitor MSI’s quest for excellence has led it to a summit, specifically to the Summit MS321UP monitor. It boasts a DCI-P3 coverage of 95% and a Delta-E of

Wed, 22 Sep 2021

8 Useful Tips to Boost Your Work From Home Productivity

us away from our offices and working from home has become the norm, we don’t have a choice but to make sure that we remain as productive as they usually are, without sacrificing short-term or long-term well-being. Let’s go over a few tips for working from home: 1. Pick a Dedicated Workspace When we all started working from home, we quickly put together makeshift spaces to get work done. However, now that working remotely has become the new normal, it’s imperative to set aside a dedicated workspace in your home. You’re more likely to get distracted when working from home. Maybe it’s a TV blaring in the background, kids playing in another room, or even family members having a quiet conversation near you. A dedicated workspace allows you to block out everything else for a while so you can focus and get work done without losing concentration. So, create a dedicated home office space, and treat it as an office. We’ve come up with a few home-office setup ideas to help get you started! 2. Separate Work and Home Life Often when you’re working from home, the line between your work life and home life tends to blur. However, keeping them separate for the sake of work-life balance is crucial. Not only can an imbalance result in you spending fewer hours with your family even though they’re in the next room, but it can also lead to burnout that will impact your productivity. The easiest way to draw a line is to demarcate clear work hours (after discussing it with your employer) and stick to them. 3. Keep a Clean Desk Clutter on your desk will always hinder your productivity. Of course, clutter here means unwanted things like wires strewn across your desk, for example. If your workspace is set up in an easily-visible location, you might want to make sure it looks clean. However, for a traditional PC + Monitor setup, reducing the number of cables past a certain point is near-impossible. Here, you can leverage products like MSI’s Modern AM241, AM271 and AM242 series AIO PC. These computers come built right into a sleek, gorgeous display that you can just plop down on your desk. Plug in, connect your keyboard and mouse, and that’s it! Enjoy a minimal desk setup that doesn’t sacrifice computing power. 4. Ensure Top-Notch Voice/Video Conferencing Quality Communicating with our teams, clients, and other stakeholders was easy when we were all face-to-face. However, we still can’t compromise on one critical aspect of getting work done – communication. While a shoddy mic and camera setup would suffice when you were only occasionally joining meetings from home, it just doesn’t cut it anymore. A reliable voice and video broadcast is an integral part of working from home, and you must pick equipment that allows you to be ‘present’ remotely. For example, MSI’s Modern AM241/ AM271 series AIO PCs offer an external Full HD (FHD) webcam, and Modern AM242 series comes with a built-in webcam. All of them support MSI Sound Tune technology to improve your virtual meeting experience. While the FHD webcam ensures a sharp and crisp video feed, Sound Tune in MSI Center filters out unwanted noise from other team members’ mics – allowing you to focus on their voices for more effective communication. 5. Consider Multi-Monitor Work Setups There’s nothing like having lots of screen real estate that spans across multiple monitors. But, unfortunately, only the people who use multiple displays genuinely understand the massive productivity boost they unlock. For most professional work, you’re bound to be juggling at least a few applications along with several browser tabs at a bare minimum. With two or more monitors, you can have tons more information sitting side-by-side without limiting your experience in those applications. In such cases, you can avoid navigating between open applications using ‘Alt + Tab.’ Powerful Business Desktop PCs like MSI’s Pro DP20Z and PRO DP130 facilitate the use of multiple screens without a hitch. They feature up to 2 or 3 display output ports that allow you to connect 2 or 3 displays with ease! 6. Follow a Morning Routine Yes, you’re at home. The urge to just roll off the bed, have a quick coffee, and sit down to work is understandably quite strong. However, following a proper routine allows you to be more productive throughout the day and get the job done faster. How? ‘Get ready for work’ even at home. No, you don’t need to dress up before sitting down to work (though some do find it helps them get into ‘work mode’). Instead, you just follow a regular morning routine as if it was any other weekday when you’re heading to work. It’ll help you kick into gear so much faster and will boost productivity. 7. Eat Healthy and Drink Plenty of Water Watching what you eat has always been important. But we’re so much more likely to indulge in junk and empty calories when working from home compared to the office that it now warrants special attention. Try eating a balanced diet; avoid too many empty calories and excessive refined sugar throughout the day. 8. Take Sick Days When Unwell Although this might seem like a ‘duh’ tip, the urge to work through a mild illness because you’re at home is a strong one. Research shows that remote workers take fewer sick days and are more likely to work when sick. However, working through an illness can prolong/worsen your condition, necessitating a much more extended leave of absence in the near future. If you’re not well enough to ‘go’ to your office that day, then you aren’t well enough to work from home either. So rest, recover quickly, and only then, get back to work! Working from home is tough. Although it seems like it should be easier, it’s just not the case for many. However, following these tips should make your Work from Home experience much smoother in the long run! Head on here to find out how Work from Home can affect your physical and mental health, and what to do about it.

Tue, 26 Oct 2021

How Does MSI PRO DP20Z Support Your Goals?

eries was inspired by natural bamboo's persistence, evolution, and refinement. A straight and strong trunk of bamboo comes from a root system strong enough to support its potential outward growth. The little plant was growing underground for four years to develop its strong root and only to grow exponentially in the fifth and beyond. It would have sustained its life as it grew only when it develops a strong foundation, then it will grow a hundred feet tall. This is the MSI PRO DP20Z Series. More Power, More Flexibility Everything you need for business is already in the 2.6L sized business & productivity PC – PRO DP20Z 5M. Inspired by the natural bamboo and its perseverance, transformation & refinement, the design of PRO DP20Z represents durability, reliability, and stability. It would have sustained its life as it grew only when it develops a strong foundation. Its barebone and full system solution makes it more flexible for different users and enterprises. Featuring up to Ryzen™ 7 5700G APU and DDR4 3200MHz 64GB memory, it can help users experience a better and faster computing performance during data analyzing and when gaming amusement is needed. With DP port, HDMI™ port, and VGA port, It can support up to three displays and 4K resolution at 60Hz, allowing users to connect advertising board to display their products or use it as a powerful home theater PC. Its portable size and sufficient features fully meet the needs of various scenarios. Ensure the Information Security in Business Environments The goal of PRO DP20Z Series is to provide a safer environment for your business information. With the TPM 2.0 technology design, you can enjoy a safer environment for your business information and not worry about information security problems. In general, those set tings are already enabled in default BIOS. However, how to ensure the TPM function is already enabled? Follow the 5 steps below: Step I. Restart the system and press the button “DEL” to check the BIOS setting. Step II. Use a keyboard or mouse to click the “Security” > “Trusted Computing” > “Security Device Support” > select “Enabled”. Step III. Choose “AMD CPU fTPM” in AMD fTPM Switch. Step IV. Choose “Advanced” > “Windows OS Configuration”, then “Secure Boot” select “Enabled”. Step V. Press the “F10” key to save changes and reboot system. Now, you already ensured a safer environment on PRO DP20Z series. How to ensure that the TPM works for yout PRO DP20Z? Please log in to the Windows system, and then hold down the Windows Key and Press R on your keyboard to bring up the Run dialog. Then type: tpm.msc and hit Enter or click OK. Next, The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) utility will launch. Here you check the TPM status and its manufacturer information. Now you can see the status is: “The TPM is ready to use.”, and the manufacturer info is version 2.0. That means the PRO DP20Z is good to go for running Windows 11. If the status is “Compatible TPM cannot be found”, there are three possibilities: the TPM function is disabled, the TPM has problem, or it doesn’t equip/support TPM. Manage Your Performance with MSI Center Should you need an app to manage your computing performance and monitor your computer resources? MSI center could satisfy your needs. The MSI exclusive software MSI Center provides a variety of tools and features to improve users’ productivity. You can customize your user interface by changing the color into a light version or dark version and setting up the features based on your needs to avoid unnecessary workload for the system. For business, you will always need the following features: Smart Priority, Sound Tune, and Smart Image Finder which can help you with efficiency and productivity. Smart Priority Being a businessman, you may have the chance to tackle a lot of tasks at the same time. With Smart Priority, the MSI AI Engine, you can decide what tasks are the most important and what have to be done first that would use the most resources of CPU. There are three modes you can choose in Smart Priority: User Priority that you can drag the apps by yourself to set the priority, Real Time mode that the priority is based on what you are doing now, and Smart Priority which can automatically set the priority according to your habits. Sound Tune No matter you are working from home or from office, there are always possibilities to have an online conference call. However, you can never control the environment when you are having meetings. The only thing you can do is to eliminate the external noise by turning on the MSI Center’s Sound Tune. Make your sound clear and also show your professionalism. Smart Image Finder It is always a big deal to sort files and photos on your PC. And it is another big deal to find the materials or pictures you want. To save your time and energy, the Smart Image Finder is always your good partner. After storing your image files, the system will automatically scan the pictures and add tags to the pictures so you can easily find them by entering keywords or their features. For instance, the picture showing a building with plants on it will be tagged with outdoor, building, and green. Even though you forgot the naming of the image, you can still find it in a simple way. Multi-tasking with PRO DP20Z Series Desktop Connecting up to three displays with PRO DP20Z Series, you can do even more things in a time. Nevertheless, when you have to deal with tasks online or in urgent, how your network work may be a problem for you. When facing this issue, the LAN Manager of MSI Center may help. For multitasking, you can set up different user scenarios when you have different needs. LAN Manager In LAN Manager, you can arrange the apps and works you are doing right now and allocate your network resources for each app. For crucial tasks, you can set a higher or high degree and for others, you can just keep it normal. What’s more, you can also limit the speed of uploading or downloading files, so you will not have to worry about your LAN resources will be occupied by unimportant tasks. User Scenario If you are using your desktop in a quiet place or you required the best computing performance, User Scenario is a feature suitable for you. Extreme performance mode provides you with the strongest performance when necessary, the Balanced mode will keep your computing performance and acoustic balanced, and the Silent mode is to keep your device quiet and avoid bothering others in the same space. Switch the bottom and make your PC the most appropriate mode according to your using scenario.