If it's not one limb, it's another
June 24, 2011 11:42 AM   Subscribe

To save my hands, I battered my feet. So I stopped using this, salvaged my feet, and now my hands are aggressively complaining. Laptop stand advice requested.

The thing is this traveling laptop stand (with the top tray adjusted to an appropriate eye-level, and a lower tray height-adjusted for keyboard and mouse use) would be absolutely perfect (portable, adjustable, collapsible, light-weight, and ∴ ergonomic), if it weren't for the narrow tripod base, which traps your feet in a tiny little area, too small to easily let them lie flat on the floor--and keep your lower half ergonomic, too.

So I decided to look for something with a more foot-friendly base, which is why I bought this, with the idea that it would do for the keyboard and mouse, and that I could always raise the laptop on a table with books, in a pinch. But after I bought it, I instantly realized its base was too narrow, and its legs too rickety, to fit anywhere near a computer chair.

Keeping in mind that all the aforementioned attributes of a "perfect" laptop stand are critical, ergonomically speaking: portability, collapsability, adjustability, and lightness (a double-tray deal is super-ideal, but for the aforementioned reasons not critical)--and that most things called ergonomic are not, if I dared you to suggest other portable laptop stands, made, perhaps, by some odd little company I haven't yet been able to find on my own, could you come up with some suggestions?

As always, bonus points for affordability.

posted by Violet Blue to Travel & Transportation (4 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'd really suggest that you think about turning the base of that stand you linked a few degrees, such that one of the three legs was pointed directly towards you, splitting evenly the normal positions of your feet, and the other two legs of the stand were pointed at approximately 10 and 2 o'clock (away from you), so to speak. Thus, you'll have the minimum interference in use with your feet, and perhaps no need to look further for a solution, as it seems, otherwise, a good fit for your 4 major listed criteria: "portability, collapsability, adjustability, and lightness."
posted by paulsc at 4:02 PM on June 24, 2011


This is absolutely the best.
posted by elle.jeezy at 4:05 PM on June 24, 2011


Response by poster: @ paulsc: Thanks for your thought. I try to do that. The trouble is getting the trays swiveled on securely, and adjusting the base just so, in relation to the base of a computer chair is hard. With both trays on at once, it's even worse because the legs of the stand need to be splayed nearly flat for balance. In either case, my legs feel trapped--and my whole body feels strapped in! For the last several months I've been avoiding using the stand altogether for that reason.

@ elle.jeezy: Thanks for the tip! I shall investigate further!

If anyone has any additional ideas, I'm all ears for those, too!
posted by Violet Blue at 6:01 PM on June 24, 2011


The absolute best laptop stand for use while sitting is a Herman Miller Scooter table. They're pricey, although sometimes they come up on eBay for a lot less. Levenger also sell the Scooter table, with slightly different wood tops.
This laptop stand has feet that fit under quite a low sofa, is height-adjustable and can be scooted around the room fairly easily. It is not so lightweight that it tips or topples, but not so heavy that it is difficult to lift. I've been using mine for a few years now - I find that it adjusts to a lot of different positions and chairs - I can move my feet and stretch my legs at will.
The only thing it won't do is collapse down. The footprint of the stand is the footprint it needs for storage. But it is not huge and it looks rather nice against the bookshelves.
posted by Susurration at 7:20 PM on June 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


« Older Is it ok to wear dark jeans to an outdoor wedding...   |   Should I carry the purse? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.