Most “home office setup” articles assume you have a thousand dollars and an empty room. This one assumes you have a laptop, a corner of a table, and a budget that has to survive the rest of the month.

Under $150 AUD you cannot buy a good chair, desk and monitor. What you can do is fix the things that slow you down every day: not enough ports, a laptop screen you are hunched over, a charger that will not keep up, and a wobbly wireless connection.

Spend money in this order

Fixing one thing at a time, this is the order that gives the biggest improvement per dollar.

1. Screen height. Looking down at a laptop all day is the biggest cause of neck and shoulder pain in home setups, and fixing it can cost nothing.
2. A second screen. The difference between a 13-inch laptop display and an external monitor is larger than any accessory you can buy.
3. Ports. A hub turns a two-port laptop into a workstation you connect and disconnect in one motion.
4. Power. One charger for the laptop and the phone means one thing to remember.
5. Network. Wired ethernet fixes more video-call problems than a headset.
6. Everything else. Lighting, cable tidying, desk mats — nice, not urgent.

The free improvements — do these first

Genuinely, before you buy anything:

• Raise your screen. The top of the display should sit roughly at eye level. A stack of books works as well as a $60 stand. If you raise a laptop, you then need an external keyboard and mouse — which you may already own.
• Sit side-on to the window. This fixes glare on your screen and the silhouette effect on video calls, at no cost.
• Get your elbows to about 90 degrees. If the desk is too high, raise the chair and put something under your feet.
• Take the laptop off the doona and put it on a hard surface. Thermal throttling is a real and free-to-fix performance problem.
• Look for a secondhand monitor. A 24-inch 1080p IPS monitor from a marketplace listing or an office clear-out is often $50–$120 in Australian capital cities and will outclass anything else you can buy for the money.

Three builds under $150

Pick the one that matches your situation. All prices are AUD and all items are stocked in Australia.

Build A: the essentials — $98

The 7-in-1 USB-C hub is the centre of this build. One USB-C connection to the laptop gives you HDMI at 4K 60Hz, two USB-A ports, a USB-C port, SD and microSD slots, and gigabit ethernet. No drivers, no software, aluminium body, small enough to live in a laptop bag.

Run an HDMI to HDMI cable from the hub to your monitor — 2 metres suits a normal desk, with a 5 metre version if the monitor is further away.

The 65W USB-C GaN charger covers most ultrabooks and will fast-charge a phone when the laptop is not on it. GaN construction is why a 65W charger is now roughly the size of the old 30W bricks.

If you need more headroom — a 16-inch laptop under load, or charging a laptop and a tablet at once — our 100W GaN charger is the step up. It is RCM certified for Australia and New Zealand and ships with an Australian Type I plug. That takes Build A to $153, which is over budget but worth knowing.

Build B: two screens — $123

Same core, plus a second display. Run monitor one from the hub’s HDMI output, and monitor two from a spare USB-C port using a USB-C to DisplayPort cable ($25). If that monitor has HDMI rather than DisplayPort, use a USB-C to HDMI cable at the same price.

One condition: the laptop’s USB-C port has to support DisplayPort Alt Mode for the direct cable to carry video. Look for a DisplayPort or Thunderbolt logo beside the port. If it is not there, no cable will fix it, and you should stick to Build A.

Build C: no monitor, working in public — $145

If your work moves — hot desks, client sites, planes, cafes — the constraint is not screen real estate, it is that other people can read your screen. The MacBook Pro privacy screen uses a micro-louver filter that blocks viewing beyond about 60 degrees, attaches magnetically, is reversible between glossy and matte, and filters blue light and UV. It comes in 13″, 14″, 15″ and 16″. For anyone in finance, legal, health or government, this is a compliance item, not a comfort item.

Add our 4-port USB-C hub ($25) for a keyboard, mouse, dongle and drive, and a 2m USB-C to USB-C cable ($15) so the charger reaches an awkward power point. Two metres is the difference between working comfortably and sitting on the floor next to a wall socket.

What to skip

Under $150 the mistakes cost more than the wins, so here is what we would not buy:

• A Thunderbolt dock. Excellent hardware, generally several hundred dollars, and unnecessary unless you are driving multiple high-resolution displays or fast external storage from one cable.
• A $30 laptop stand, before you have tried books. Confirm the height helps, then buy a proper one if it does.
• A ring light. A window and a repositioned chair are better on most calls and cost nothing.
• Cable management kits. A packet of velcro ties from the hardware shop does the same job for a few dollars.
• A very cheap laptop charger from an overseas marketplace. A mains charger is the one item here where compliance genuinely matters. Look for the RCM mark, Australian Type I pins, and an Australian supplier behind it.
• A mechanical keyboard, at this budget. A genuine pleasure, and the thing to buy after the screen, ports and power are sorted.

Small things that make the setup feel finished

• Use the ethernet port. If your hub has one and a router is within reach, plug in. Video calls stop stuttering.
• Set the monitor’s refresh rate. Windows and macOS frequently default a new external display to a lower refresh rate. Check the display settings once.
• Keep one cable per job. Fishing one cable out from behind the desk beats untangling a bundle every morning.
• Know how to open your own gear. A precision 73-in-1 screwdriver set ($39) handles laptop panels, monitor arm mounts and desk assembly. Not part of the $150 builds, but it stops one seized screw becoming a repair bill.

Frequently asked questions

Do I really need a USB-C hub, or can I just use cables?

If your laptop has enough ports, cables alone are cheaper and more reliable. A hub earns its place when you have two USB-C ports and need video, ethernet, USB-A and a card reader — and when you want to connect and disconnect everything with one plug.

Will a 65W charger be enough for my laptop?

For most 13-inch and 14-inch ultrabooks and MacBooks, yes. Larger laptops and machines with discrete graphics may charge more slowly under heavy load. Check the wattage on your original charger — matching or exceeding it is the safe approach.

Can I run a monitor and charge my laptop through one USB-C port?

Only through a hub or dock with power pass-through, or by using two separate ports. A plain USB-C to HDMI cable carries video only.

Is a secondhand monitor a good idea?

Usually yes. Panels last a long time, and ex-office 24-inch 1080p monitors are common and inexpensive in Australia. Check for dead pixels and backlight bleed before handing over money, and check which inputs it has so you buy the right cable.

What is the single best upgrade under $50?

An external monitor if you can find a cheap secondhand one. If you already have a screen, a hub — it removes the daily friction of plugging four things in separately.

Ready when you are

None of this needs to happen at once. Fix screen height today for free, add a hub and a cable when you can, and add the charger after that.

Everything here is stocked and dispatched in Australia, so a Monday order is usually on your desk the same week. Tell us your laptop model and what you are connecting, and we will tell you which build fits.