Alternative to IKEA ALVE laptop table
October 10, 2018 2:44 PM Subscribe
One of my family's favorite pieces of furniture is our IKEA ALVE laptop table, pictured here. Unfortunately we have just one table and two laptops, and the product is discontinued. Please hope us find an alternative!
Our requirements are:
Our requirements are:
- a very heavy, stable base
- no wheels
- a narrow telescoping tube for adjustable height without taking up much room
- able to hold a 15" laptop, and hopefully some other stuff
- hopefully, an area for storage
We own a pair of SVARTÅSEN and they do not have a heavy base; they're somewhat wobbly.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 3:21 PM on October 10, 2018
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 3:21 PM on October 10, 2018
I think you want stage equipment, a tripod laptop stand, which you can add storage to by lowering it a little and adding a laptop or monitor riser that fits the shelf. Note that these come in two heights: one that goes up to ~35", and one whose lowest is ~30", sitting vs. standing.
posted by rhizome at 4:31 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 4:31 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
I have a Svartåsen at work (didn't realize that's what it was until I looked at Homeboy Trouble's link) and I agree that it is not the best piece of furniture. It's fine as a little bit of extra desk space to hold some documents that are on deck but don't need to be right in front of me—but I wouldn't want to have to use it for much more than that.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:57 PM on October 10, 2018
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:57 PM on October 10, 2018
You can retrofit a heavy base onto any such table whose pole is less than 2" diameter by buying a barbell weight plate.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 7:13 PM on October 10, 2018
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 7:13 PM on October 10, 2018
I used to own a SVARTÅSEN until my daughter in law put a mug of hot coffee on it and the surface just disintegrated underneath. But I would check Ebay on a regular basis (you can sort listings by "nearest to me" and might find one locally) - both the ALVE and SVARTÅSEN tables come up quite often on Ebay UK so you could well get lucky.
posted by humph at 4:10 AM on October 11, 2018
posted by humph at 4:10 AM on October 11, 2018
Best answer: Thanks for all of the help. The winner here seems to be this one, which I found at Wayfair and then at Amazon. The fold-out design is clearly borrowed from the ALVE, and the Amazon reviews show someone using it without the wheels.
The wider base as compared to the original might be a problem for where I want to put it, but I can just put our original ALVE there and put this one on the other side of the couch where there's more room. I'm also not a fan of the chrome base as compared to the all-black design of the original, but that's a minor drawback.
posted by tonycpsu at 7:07 AM on October 14, 2018
The wider base as compared to the original might be a problem for where I want to put it, but I can just put our original ALVE there and put this one on the other side of the couch where there's more room. I'm also not a fan of the chrome base as compared to the all-black design of the original, but that's a minor drawback.
posted by tonycpsu at 7:07 AM on October 14, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
Projector Stand/Adjustable Laptop Stand
Multi-function Laptop Stand
Calico Adjustable Laptop Stand
Adjustable Laptop Station
(Last two links are to Wayfair, which seems to have several options. You may also find something viable with wheels, and elect to leave the wheels off if the base permits that.)
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:09 PM on October 10, 2018