12 Essential PC Accessories Under $30
Sometimes the best accessories are also the cheapest ones. Having a great PC experience doesn't just hinge on spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on the most expensive equipment there is. Sometimes, spending just $30 or less is more than enough, and we love affordable accessories. Here are our top picks.
Brilliant mouse
Whether you're a gamer or not, this is an absurdly good mouse at an astonishing price. It's ambidextrous, has a super responsive sensor, a tough braided cable, tank-like build quality, and a five-year warranty. And yes, it has RGB lighting, but you can turn it off if you're in the office and want to be a little more discreet!
Neat and Tidy
This IKEA cable management kit is your ticket to a clean gaming setup. With adhesive, nails, and velcro, it's ideal for wrangling that spiders web of cabling under your desk. A tidy setup is a happy setup.
Power up
Without power there is no PC, no monitors, nothing. It's important to take good care of your equipment though, and you should always hook up your PC to a surge protector. This one from Belkin has 12-outlets, an 8-foot cord and perhaps, more importantly, the piece of mind offered by a lifetime warranty and a $300,000 connected equipment warranty.
Pucking marvellous
This clever little accessory has powerful magnets on the rear to make it stick to any of the metal panels on your PC case. From there you can not only hang your favorite gaming headset or even a VR headset from it, but also wind the cables out of sight. Genius!
Be heard
This might look like a tiny microphone, and it is, but it produces big sound quality. Samson makes excellent USB microphones and the Go Mic is perfect to use with a laptop, or if you just want a cheap, portable solution for voice chats and a spot of on-the-go recording. The build quality is first-rate, it's driver-free, and has switchable pickup patterns for different situations.
Blowing cobwebs
Dust is not your PCs friend, so you should always keep some compressed air on hand to blow out the cobwebs. It'll get into all the places your fingers can't, and help you keep your PC not only looking fresh, but breathing easy. It's also super handy to get those crumbs out of your keyboard. Yeah, we know about those.
Bungee time
If you use a wired mouse you should really use a mouse bungee to keep your cable tidy and free from snagging on your desk or anything on your desk. You get no drag on the cable, and this one has subtle styling, a rust-resistant spring and a weighted base to stop it sliding around.
Expanding ports
Whether on a desktop or laptop PC, you always need more ports to connect things to. This hub gives you an additional four USB 3.0 Type A ports to use on your PC without the need for an external power source. It's small enough to drop in your laptop bag, too, to use whenever, wherever.
Pump it up
These neat little speakers may only pack 2.4W of total power, but don't let that fool you. For something so small you get a well-rounded sound and a stylish design. Better yet, they're powered entirely over USB, and with an additional inline volume control they couldn't be easier to use.
HUGE mousepad
If you've never considered an XXL mousepad to use with your PC you're missing out. Not only does it give you a huge surface to move your mouse around freely, it adds some additional protection to your desk. Keep dirt and spills at bay, and simply toss it in the washing machine to spruce it up!
Tappin' keys
Wireless keyboards don't have to cost the earth, and this one has a full-size layout, media functions, great battery life and a thin profile. It uses a 2.4GHz connection rather than Bluetooth, so there is a dongle to connect. It's also splash-proof, so won't die under an accidental coffee spill, and comes with an included wireless mouse.
Accessorize for less
Why you can trust Windows Central
It's never been easier to accessorize your PC with essentials for less than $30 each. We're not just talking about things you hook up to your PC, though the incredible KLIM Aim should definitely be your choice if you're looking for a sub-$30 mouse. It's targeted at gamers, with a dose of RGB to boot. Beyond that, it's a well made, extremely comfortable and accurate mouse. A mouse this good shouldn't be this affordable.
Away from what you use to interact with your PC, keeping your workspace organized is important, and a spaghetti mess of cables under your desk helps nobody. Is it any surprise then that to make your office cleaner you can turn to IKEA and the excellent Fixa cable management kit? This little box contains everything you need to streamline your cable situation.
A special shoutout should be reserved also for the NZXT Puck, a simple, yet highly effective way of keeping your headset close by at all times. It even looks pretty cool!
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Richard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you'll find him steering the site's coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon at mstdn.social/@richdevine