This is the kit we put in front of a new starter, and the software we provide ourselves. It is deliberately boring: everything here is well supported, easy to replace, and cheap to run. If you are onboarding somebody this week, you can work straight down the list.
Preferred laptop
Lenovo V15 G4 AMD Ryzen 5. 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 15.6-inch display, running Windows 11 Pro.
Preferred all-in-one printer
HP OfficeJet Pro 8122e. A colour printer that prints, scans and copies, with a three-year warranty, Bluetooth, and a simple app for printing from any Bluetooth capable device.
Buy the HP OfficeJet Pro 8122e
Preferred headset
Jabra Evolve2 40. Noise-cancelling, USB, easy to travel with, and good enough audio and microphone quality that nobody has to ask you to repeat yourself.
Preferred monitor
LG 27U631A 27-inch IPS QHD 100Hz USB-C monitor. QHD resolution over a single USB-C cable, and enough room to keep two things on screen at once.
Preferred webcam
Logitech C920 HD Pro. HD video and connectivity that works with everything. Optional: the Lenovo V15 G4 has a webcam built in, so this is only worth buying if the laptop lives on a dock behind a monitor.
Antivirus software
Use Windows Defender. It is pre-installed and active on every new Windows 11 laptop, so there is nothing to buy. On older machines, check it is installed, active and running rather than switched off by whatever was tried before it.
Check Windows Defender is installed
Microsoft 365 licence
We provide the licence. Every primary email account is provisioned with a Microsoft 365 licence, so nobody needs to buy one individually. It keeps the management in one place and the cost down across a client's accounts.
What is in Microsoft 365 Business Standard
Need help?
If you are setting somebody up and something on this list does not fit, tell us what the job is and we will tell you what to buy instead. We do not resell any of it, so there is nothing in it for us either way.