Best Gifts For People Who Work From Home (2024 Update)

I love all types of coffee depending on my mood, traditional, cappuccino, espresso and lattes, my new De'Longhi combination coffee and espresso all-in-one machine gives them all to me without me having to leave my house, when and how I want it. This being my first espresso machine, at first it looked a little overwhelming but, after reading the manual, it’s incredibly simple and intuitive. Although the De'Longhi is big, because it has both the drip coffee maker and the espresso machine in one, I was able to get rid of my traditional coffee maker. As an aside the De'Longhi is much more attractive on my counter and does make a statement. The traditional drip coffee maker side makes great coffee and the carafe is dripless when pouring the coffee (big improvement from my old coffee maker). It also has a timer and a bold setting, when you need an extra kick in the morning, that all are easy to use. The reusable filter is magnificent, and I think gives a more robust flavor then a paper filter. Making my first latte was a little nerve racking but, it went off without a hitch. The refillable reservoir must hold at least a liter or two of water so it lasts many drinks. After buying the correct grind at the store, picking and packing the correct insert was a breeze. The De'Longhi has a process of turning on and warming up before pressing the brew or milk frothing buttons. Once they light up without blinking, you just push the button until its filled to the amount you want (espresso, cappuccino, latte or other). You can also brew two cups at the same time which is very nice when making after dinner drinks for my wife and myself. The milk frother again is simple but takes practice, it only takes a little milk to make a lot of froth. The frother does swing so it can be tucked in when not in use. As an added benefit, both sides work independently so you can brew a pot of coffee while making espresso when entertaining. I have found that the learning curve is pretty quick and after a couple of practice runs, I was able to make coffee shop quality drinks. All in all, the De'Longhi all in one is a hit. It has saved me time, money and I get what I want every time which is not always true at my local coffee shop.Clowenstein

We waited about a month before our machine arrived due to item being out of stock (definitely not crate and barrels fault!). It arrived in March and the machine looked beautiful!! It’s July and the espresso side has completely stopped working. We only made espresso on some weekends so we probably didn’t use it 100x. Now we have an expensive machine that can only make regular coffee and I could’ve just bought a much cheaper machine for that. I think my Keruig was 1/2 the cost and lasted me 5+ years whereas this machine lasted 5 months. We very much regret our purchase. Also when the espresso side was working, it made very watery espresso. Other reviews have stated that their espresso was delicious but that was not our experience.Stacey

This is a stunning piece of equipment, but it’s functionality is annoying. It is certainly complicated at first, and we spent a week playing with it, making countless beverages that weren’t so pleasantly tasteful. If you prefer a coffee/espresso maker that’s straight forward, gets the job done, this one might not before you. The milk steamer/frother: Sprays all over the place East to burn your self Espresso maker: Difficult to use at first. I found a cheaper espresso maker that was much more convenient, and delicious. Coffee maker: Cone, reusable filter. Can be difficult to clean, so I used a disposable filter to protect the reusable filter. Comes with a carafe. This coffee maker brews GREAT coffee! If I could purchase just the coffee brewer on its on, I’d certainly take it!SiriusBlack

I love the look of this Lovery body care set! The basket is gorgeous! The scent is intoxicating and the individual items included are of high quality. I do wish the bath sponge was bigger or even the wrapped base was a large loofah sponge. However, this set is incredible for the look, quality and delightful scent!Ladylizzie

This gift basket is wonderful. It has a good variety of luxurious bath treats. It offers you a little bit of everything and I don't feel like anything is missing from this bath experience. Everything smells great. I love the way my skin feels after. I love the sponge it comes with. It might be the most stylish sponge I've owned. Even the basket it comes with is nice and decorative. At the end of it all the basket can be reused to continue to hold other bath products. I think I'm going to put some moss in to plant succulents. The basket is such a nice bonus. I got some much needed relaxation with these products.trace83

I'm very happy with the Lovery Lavender and Jasmine body care ten piece gift set. The packaging is beautiful and comes in an pretty metal basket that is in a purple shade. All the products are placed in an attractive way that is perfect for gift giving. I loved the scent, not too strong but very pleasant and comforting. The array of products in the set contained bath salts, shampoo, body wash, body lotion, a flower shaped bar of soap, body spray, bath oil, and a liquid filled mask that can be used to reduce eye puffiness and a small sponge for face cleaning. This is a great set for pampering yourself or as a special gift for someone. I'm very pleased with this product from Lovery.Baci

This sweet almond and honey bath set smells amazing. I love that it comes with so many great personal care items. The gift basket comes with body wash, milk bath, body scrub, body butter, 30ml Jojoba oil, Himalayan rocks,* handmade soap, a bath bomb, and a steamer tablet. It also comes in a nice gift box set. This comes with everything needed for a nice relaxing shower or bath.Hope9199

I love the selection of bath care items in this gift set including body scrub and aromatherapy for the shower and tub. Sweet Almond has a gentle fragrance with just a hint of almond scent. The body wash is clear and lathers well and rinses clean leaving skin feeling hydrated. A little goes a long way with the body butter absorbing quickly and very moisturizing.Chicchy7

I wasn’t extremely pleased with this gift basket. The smell was pretty decent and there were a lot of items but they didn’t seem the best quality. I normally do well with this scent but this one caused a light rash and I had to take a shower and use my regular soap. I don’t normally have a reaction to these kind of things.Cherishthethought

The AKAI Professional MPK Mini is lightweight without feeling flimsy (except for the miniature piano keys themselves). The rubber feet keep it quite stable on a stand next to my workstation. It has no power input (or audio output) besides the USB bus, so, while eminently suited for use with a laptop (or other workstation), is not useful as a controller for a tablet-based synthesizer. Nor do the small keys lend themselves to on-stage playing, at least for those whose hands are accustomed to standard piano keys. I found these two points disappointing, given how obviously portable the device is. As a desktop controller, however, it shines. With the option to use keys or (velocity and pressure sensitive) pads for input, it works well with the (free download) MPC Beats (and was immediately recognized by Apple’s Garage Band). This beginner was quickly able, after watching a fifteen minute YouTube video, to record a basic sequence beat with a bass line and play a synth lead atop, with little more effort than would be required for a solo artist with a looping pedal. The joystick combines pitch bend and expression sensibly, replacing two separate wheel controllers, and the parameter control pots feel very sturdy. My largest complaint is with the non-intuitive and rather cumbersome licensing of the sound libraries. On my Mac, the included libraries downloaded and appeared to be applications, but would not launch; a third-party licensing app required creating yet another online account, and I’m not entirely sure it unlocked all the libraries. I would have appreciated an obvious step-by-step guide rather than hunting through online FAQs.oldfashionedmanager

Cute little unit that is light and portable. It's USB powered, which is very handy. You need to register at the website to download software. You'll need at least the editor software to change the midi capabilities. If you are looking to generate electronic music, this is a good starter unit. Since it's midi only you'll need software–which is available for download at the company website. The software is free from the site. There is no documentation for the labels above the keys (which go to the arpeggiator, although that was not obvious at first glance). The keys are somewhat small–this is not a unit where you can "play the piano. " There are two octaves, which gives you plenty of sound ability and you can change the octaves with the press of a button, but you only get two at a time. There's a lot of functionality packed into the unit. I've own a full sized midi keyboard before and this little unit packs in plenty of functions, dials and pads on a much more portable unit. The dials are continuous (no limits, which is a nice feature.) The keys are velocity sensitive, another nice feature. It has a very small display screen too–hopefully in firmware updates there might be more info displayed on it. There are some you tube intros on their website, but there are better ones for learning and talking about functionality done by private individuals. Do a web search; some of them are worth watching. The company website could use some more you tubes for learning setup and/or functionality and/or "showing off" what the unit can do. There's not enough documentation to really get going on your own without searching out you tubes.BearMountainBooks

For anyone reading this and looking to buy any midi controller, Asio4all is what you need. It's an audio driver that simulates an audio interface(probably not correct). It's a given that if you're producing music, you should have a USB Audio Interface like a Focusrite Solo but if money is tight, this should work. The only downside with Asio4all is that if you have your DAW running, you will not hear any audio from any other programs on your computer like Youtube on your browser. There are workarounds like Voicemeeter Banana. It's kinda like a mixer. If you're on Mac, you don't need any of these. In your DAW(Ableton, Reaper, Garageband, Fl Studio, Logic etc), set the audio to ASIO and under that option you can select Asio4All. Set it to 44.1khz. There should be a green icon on your taskbar that you can open to set your audio preferences. Click the gear icon to select your audio playback (headphone, speaker etc) Then on the bottom is a slider for your buffer size. The lower the number, the lower the sound delay. But that can also introduce audio glitches if you have a weak computer. For the software, just register the MPK on the Akai website and it'll have everything ready for you. 15 minutes tops. Other stuff: If you're a streamer and you're trying to get your DAW audio to OBS, you need to install REAPLUGS. One of the plugins is called ReaStream. Basically you drop the plugin on the master volume as an fx then set it to "send (to local broadcast)". Then in OBS open an audio input source. Then you apply Reastream as a filter and set it to receive audio. 10/10 Product. Works as advertised. Reasonable price. Looks good. Feels good, for the price.Artist45

I enjoy pampering myself which doesn't happen very often. The Lovery French Coconut Gift Basket includes a nice set of items to use when you want to relax after a long day but can't leave your house. The items that are included are as follows: Shower Gel, Bubble Bath, Pumice Stone, Tweezer, Loofah Soap, Body Lotion, Body Oil, Shower Steamers, Wooden Massage Roller, Epsom Salt Organic Lip Balm. They come in a very cute little bathtub container that is all wrapped up in cellophane ready to keep for yourself or gift to someone. I think the scent is more of a vanilla than a coconut; however, it is a nice fragrance. My favorite item out of the set is the Epsom Salt. I appreciate that this gift set is large enough to be used more than one time.Fair40

The French Coconut Gift Basket is the perfect treat yourself gift or gift for a loved one. The kit includes Shower Gel (250ml), Bubble Bath (250ml), Epsom Salts (100g), Bar Soap with Loofah, Bath Oil (30ml), Body Lotion (200ml), Lip Balm, Pumice Stone, Tweezers, and Wood Massager all held in a cute plastic bathtub made to look like a brown stone/marble. The shower gel is a smooth gel that foams up into a happy bubble party for your body. It rinses off easily and leaves no residue behind on your skin. The fragrance reminds me of Coconut with a hint of French Vanilla. The scent is pleasant but doesn't last long once the gel is rinsed off. It remains very faintly on the skin for a brief amount of time. The Bubble Bath visually looks very similar to the Shower Gel but thicker in texture. The product creates a good amount of bubbles and encourages you to soak and literally wash the day off of yourself. The scent was present but similar to the bath gel it doesn't last long after the bubble bath was over. The Bar Soap with Loofah is a round glycerin bar with round loofah on top. It is wrapped in plastic wrap. I really liked this bar and my only complaint is that I wish it was bigger! The Bath Oil is a clear oil with a stylish dropper top. The dropper does a great job of dropping individual drops with minimal effort. The scent of coconut is very strong when compared to the Shower Gel and Bubble Bath. The Epsom Salts are packaged in a plastic bag and then placed in a decorative box. Unfortunately for me, the bag I received leaked so a little less than half the product was in the decorative bathtub prior to reaching my actual bathtub. The Body Lotion is a silky smooth lotion that has a strong scent of coconut. It went on my skin smoothly and evenly. The lotion absorbed into my skin incredibly fast and had the strongest scent of all the products I've mentioned thus far. I felt no residue and it left my skin feeling soft with a faint scent of coconut present for hours after I applied it to my skin. I wish the lotion was in a tube so I didn't have to dig into a lotion "pot." I understand it was done for aesthetics given the shape of the tub and trying to make it visually appealing. However, once you get into the "pot", it can get messy. I hope the manufacturers consider changing this in their future efforts. The Lip Balm looks like a familiar tube of Chapstick with a prettier label. The balm went on to my lips smoothly and the product "melted" similarly to when I apply coconut oil to my lips. It left my lips shiny and pretty. The Body Wash, Bubble Bath, Epsom Salts, Body Oil, Body Lotion, and Lip Balm all have labels or lids that looks like brown marble that ties in with the brown marble coloring that is on the bathtub. The Pumice Stone is wrapped in plastic and has a white cord tied to it so it allows the user to hang it to dry if they choose. It did a good job on my feet and I was pleased. The Tweezers are a simple pair and did exactly what they were made to do – help you keep your eyebrows looking on point. Lastly, the Wooden Massager does a good job in massaging your muscles. It's not anything intense but I find that it does help when I just need to relax from a bad phone call or news. When all the products are finished, the bath tub will make a wonderful piece to hold toiletries in my guest bathroom. My niece joked that it would make a cute bathtub for her favorite doll. The products are Made In China and Designed in the USA. The expiration date for the products I received are more than 2 years from the date I received them. Overall, I think this is a wonderful gift set to either give yourself or to a loved one to encourage self care.Buttercup

The Lovery French Coconut Bath and Body Gift set was really a cute set packaged up on a cute little bath tub! This included so many amazing products from an amazing smelling shower gel, to nice moisturizing lotion, bubble bath, relaxing bath salts and a shower steamer tablet. Also was a very moisturizing chap stick, loofa soap, tweezers, a roller massager and a pumice stone. This literally had everything I needed and more to be able to pamper myself. The smell was mild coconut smelling, relaxing and pleasing. All of these products were great quality and things I enjoyed. The only negative was the glue that was used to arrange this basket was really sticky and left a residue on the products, which was not a huge deal. Highly recommend this cute gift set!wogsll34

So happy I decided to send this to my son in college….it was a great surprise and lots of great treats! He loved it all!!Rmzamma

After receiving this gift in damaged condition, just today after sending pictures on an earlier day, I want to thank Stonewall for stating they will send out a complete replacement of this gift. The whole contents were damaged by the leaking sauce in the bottom of the gift, this was not visible at the initial inspection of the gift.Deborah N.

I ordered this early in November, and then when I opened the box and took the gift bag out I noticed one of the jars of sauce was leaking. I called customer service and told them without opening it that it appeared that one box of mix and the jar were damaged. They sent a replacement jar and the one box , but as it turned out the caramel was everywhere in the bag and all over the bottom of the brownie pan. I wish that they had sent out a total replacement gift, I would have been more than happy to return this to Stonewall Kitchen. FYI, my husband cut his hand on the broken glass, and this was NOT damaged in the mail, it was assembled damaged at Stonewall. I have emailed the photos to Stonewall as I'm not happy with this order and having to remake a gift that should have been received complete!!!Deborah N.

After some problems with a google smart device I decided to try their competitors. Wow am I glad I did. After looking at the different Alexa devices I found one with some pretty nice features. This (Mine is in a beautiful blue color) seemed to have everything I was looking for. Other than the general ‘smart speaker’ abilities, this came with a digital clock that shows behind the front of the speaker with a light blue glow. On the top of the Echo, there are 4 button; 2 of them adjust the volume, 1 is a mute button and the last helps to connect to wifi and other settings. While those were the features that made me choose this Alexa Echo I was pleasantly surprised to see that, when asked about the weather, it not only verbalizes the answer but displays it as well. Now, for my favorite feature: once connected with my Ring Doorbell and other smart devices on the Alexa App (and without setting this up) Alexa is able to verbally notify me when someone rings the doorbell. Overall, I am loving my choice of Echo and so much happier after switching to Alexa.heather.n

This was a pretty garbage device from the second I got it. I’ll be the first to admit despising an admission of it, but even Siri is better than this thing. Just a constant of ‘I’m having trouble playing that right now, try again later’ but for everything. The speaker quality was decent at best, it was all nothing but mid-range. The high and low ends were extremely washed out. What you see here is what you get. A talking bowling ball. I was extremely dissatisfied with this product over the entire year I had it, minus two months where it wouldn’t function at all, claiming issues with software updates, but wouldn’t connect to the app to actually perform the update, even Amazon couldn’t help, but lo and behold it actually worked one day. In conclusion, save your money, and get a good Bluetooth speaker to hook to your phone, or one of the Apple devices similar, it’ll save you the inconvenience.Seth

Amazon Echo Dot Review With more and more smart speakers popping up on the market, the consumer has more choices to choose from. The Amazon Echo Dot Fourth Generation allows the user to listen to music, complete tasks, and more by saying one word. The Amazon Echo Dot Fourth Generation is the overall best small smart speaker in the market, because of its great sound quality, accessibility, and affordable price tag. Firstly, the Amazon Echo Dot or just Echo Dot for short, provides great sound quality for when listening to music, listening to the news, or just communicating with the Echo Dot, that is incomparable to others. This is mainly due to the front firing speaker system that allows the rather small device to disperse the sound waves to all walls of a room. When placed in a room, the smart speaker can provide immersive sound that will instantaneously lighten the mood. The latest Echo Dot has much better speaker quality than its prior generations, and in my opinion than most of its competitors. The speaker will help in even the most simple of tasks, such as an alarm. The sound quality allows users to be woken up with their favorite song, with just the right amount of sound. The sound quality of the Echo Dot is a key feature of why it is best, and could be a major breaking point in purchasing the Amazon Echo Dot. Additionally, the Amazon Echo Dot incorporates a simple yet powerful word that can allow your house and surroundings to access technology, unlike its competitors. The wake word, “Alexa,” opens the Echo Dot to many possibilities. From this simple word and a subsequent phrase, the smart speaker may do common household things like telling the user the weather. The great thing about the Echo Dot is that it connects to many third party applications and devices. For example, it may connect to the user's light bulb to allow for a command to turn on the light. Pairing eligible third party devices with the smart speaker is so simple, due to its intuitive app. By connecting the device with third party devices, you may create commands such as, “Alexa, open the garage,” that makes day to day so much more simple. Echo dot also has the capability of grouping commands. I use, “Alexa turn on the house,” to turn on all of the lights in my household without separately turning each light on. This key feature of being able to access the appliances of your household by saying one word to a device, is something that sets the Echo Dot apart from its competition. Lastly, at a low cost, the Amazon Echo Dot provides the user with top end functionality without the hefty price. Compared to its competitors, the Echo Dot provides many more features that allow for a great total experience. For many future smart speaker buyers, the price may scare them away. Luckily, at a price of fifty U.S. dollars, that goes on sale frequently, the Echo Dot is one of the most affordable high-tech smart speakers in the market. I personally got my Echo Dot on sale for twenty-five U.S. dollars, which just shows that the Echo Dot will go on sale. The price of the smart speaker does not take away any aspects of the device, but instead adds on to why the device should be purchased. The price of the Echo Dot, is a major reason why the device is superior to its competitors, and of why it is the best small smart speaker. The Amazon Echo Dot Fourth Generation is the best overall small smart speaker in the market, because of its great sound quality, accessibility, and affordable price tag. The information above shows that the Echo Dot is a product unlike any other. Its immersive sound is of another level, and it's accessibility that may connect the house of the user is something that cannot be done any more simply. All of this for the slim price tag is why I, and many others, highly suggest that the Amazon Echo Dot Fourth Generation is the best overall small smart speaker in the current market.BestBuyCustomer