About
Purchasing Technology for Remote Work
Do you or one of your employees plan to work remotely? Before making your next departmental computer purchase, you should consider where employees will be working from. Even if you or your staff only plan to work remotely part of the time, you may want to consider purchasing a laptop (instead of a desktop) which can be used both in the office and remotely. With the right accessories, you can get the full desktop experience while using a laptop in the office or at home.
Before assigning computers to remote employees, we recommend that departments complete the Off-Campus Property Permit to track assets taken off campus.
Contact the St. Petersburg Help Desk with any questions about purchasing technology for remote work.
Technology Recommendations
Windows Laptops
Campus Computing recommends and supports Dell Latitude laptops. A monitor, dock, keyboard, and mouse can be purchased with the laptop to get the full desktop computer experience. The St. Petersburg Help Desk can assist you in setting up this equipment in your office or we can walk you through the process over the phone.
We currently recommend the Dell Latitude 5420 (14” screen) and the Dell Latitude 5520 (15” screen) laptops that are available for purchase from the USF Computer Store via the Bull Marketplace in MyUSF. We recommend the Dell WDS19 Business dock (item #: 41220208) or D6000 Universal dock (item #: 36108161). Add a wireless or wired keyboard and mouse set for a full keyboard and mouse experience.
Visit our Technology Purchasing page for more information about the Dell models that we support. You can also purchase the Dell laptops listed in the "Remote Work Options" section on the USF Computer Store website.
Apple Laptops
Campus Computing supports MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops. A technology exception request must be submitted prior to purchasing Apple computers to ensure they are configured to meet our support standards. A monitor, dock, keyboard, and mouse can be purchased with the laptop to get the full desktop computer experience. The St. Petersburg Help Desk can assist you in setting up this equipment in your office or can walk you through the process over the phone.
Visit our Technology Purchasing page for more information about our Apple standards and how to submit a technology exception request.
Additional Accessories
If the docking station (or laptop) will be plugged into a wired router or network port, a Cat6 network cable (also known as a patch cable) should be purchased as well. The USF Computer Store also sells headsets for employees using Teams and other audio/video conferencing platforms.
FAQs
You should consider purchasing a monitor, docking station, keyboard, and mouse setup for both your office and remote location.
If you only plan to occasionally use your laptop remotely, you probably do not need to purchase the additional accessories. Feel free to contact the St. Petersburg Help Desk to discuss the options.
A desktop is a viable option for remote work. Prior to purchasing, you should consider how you plan to connect it to the Internet. Do you want to connect it to a Wi-Fi network or a wired network?
If you plan to use a Wi-Fi network, you will need a desktop with a Wi-Fi adapter. The Dell OptiPlex AIOs can be purchased with a Wi-Fi adapter and the Apple iMacs come standard with Wi-Fi. You can also purchase a USB Wi-Fi adapter to add Wi-Fi functionality to a desktop. The St. Petersburg Help Desk can provide you with additional information and answering any questions.
The D6000 docking station will support up to three 4K monitors. The WD-19 docking station supports up to two modern monitors (1 HDMI and 1 DisplayPort). If you need to connect the docking station to a VGA monitor, you will need to purchase the WD-19 dock.
We recommend any of the Dell monitors available from the USF Computer Store. The most popular models are the 23” (Item #: 36105939) and 27” (Item #: 38168731) P series LED-LCD monitors. When purchasing monitors, you need to consider the input available on the docking station and the laptop. Newer laptops may only support USB-C monitors (unless an adapter is purchased).