I ’ve antecedently covered several stands that place your laptop at a more - ergonomic height when used with an outside keyboard . Today I look at yet another , as well as two endure for saving desk space when storing your notebook or using it with an outside keyboard and display .
Rain Design mStand
As I ’ve noted in the past tense , if you on a regular basis employ your laptop at a desk , you should use some sort of laptop stand or riser to raise your laptop ’s blind to the proper view height , and then apply a disjoined keyboard and mouse , placed at a healthy tallness of their own , for input . Rain Design ’s $ 50mStandis just such a stand , and a stylish one , at that . Made from a individual , thickheaded piece of aluminum with an anodized finish that closely matches the look of Apple ’s current MacBook Pros , the mStand is perhaps the most attractive stall I ’ve seen . It ’s definitely the stalwart — it does n’t “ bound ” nearly as much as other stands , thanks to the rigid stuff , and the wide , 10- by 7.5 - inch al-Qaeda gives it a stable spirit even when supporting a large notebook . The tilted top Earth’s surface lift the front of your laptop computer 3 inches off your desk , with the back bound of a 15 - column inch MacBook Pro raised 6.5 inches , set the top edge of the display around 13.5 inch off the desk . That ’s not quite high enough to be optimal — APC ’s $ 80 Ergonomic Notebook Stand with USB hub is better in this respect — but it ’s much ripe for your wellness than leave your laptop flat on your desk .
Like Griffin Technology ’s $ 40 Elevator , the mStand has a large area underneath your laptop for storing your keyboard and mouse when not in use . A 1.25 - in hole in the back of the mStand — rimmed with snowy charge card to match the similar opening on the stand for Apple ’s Cinema Displays — provide a limited grade of cable television service management ; instead of having all the cables hang off the side of your MacBook or MacBook Pro and then wander back individually , you may snake them under the laptop and through the hole . Four rubber pads on the top aerofoil and a thick , alloy lip at the front of the stand — also cushiony — stop your laptop computer from skid around .
However , you need to be careful when set a notebook with a front - climb ocular driving on the mStand ; positioning a 15 - inch MacBook Pro even a quarter - in off - centre ( to the left ) blocks the optical - drive slot . In addition , on the sample distribution we received , the metal lip at the front in reality obstruct the lid door latch button on a MacBook Pro or PowerBook ; you have to lift the front of the laptop up to press the clitoris . ( The Rain Design Web site claims that currently - shipping mStands have a modest abridge - out area that bring home the bacon access to the door latch button . )
Power Support Docking Stand for MacBook
Although many laptop owners take advantage of their laptop computer ’s cover when work at a desk , others shut the lid , surcharge up an external show , keyboard , and mouse , and effectively expend the laptop computer as a CPU . The only trouble is where to put the laptop computer . ( A similar dubiousness — where to put it?—arises when you ’re not using your laptop computer at all . )
Power Support ’s $ 40Docking Standoffers an interesting result : instead of place the laptop flat on your desk , the Docking Stand provides a unchanging , 4.5 - inch - wide mounting base , into which your laptop slither for perch vertically . ( Despite its name , the Docking Stand works with both MacBooks and MacBook Pros . ) The figurer takes up a fraction of the desk space it would normally .
Made of atomic number 13 with grizzly - plastic trimming , the Docking Stand by nonremittal fit MacBook Pro models absolutely ; smooth - plastic pads on the interior of the angle bracket allow the laptop to slide into the Stand without grave the information processing system ’s surfaces . ( Adhesive , fabric pad covering fire are included for bring security , if you prefer ; the bottom of the bracket is already covered with this fabric . ) However , you could easily adjust the Docking Stand , via three screws on the bottom , to fit notebooks up to approximately 1.5 inches compact ; the caution here is that the wider you make the rack , the less solid the home feel . Still , as long as you put your laptop in the Stand horizontally , it wo n’t well fall over .
If you choose to use your computer while it ’s “ dock , ” the Docking Stand really works well with MacBooks , which have all their porthole on one side and the ocular drive on the other — you’re able to orient your MacBook so that your line connect in the back , while the optical drive is in the front for easy admission . When used with a MacBook Pro , keep in mind that you ’ll have at least one or two cable connect to each end , so there ’s a bit more cable mare’s nest .
I ’ve also found the Docking Stand to be a convenient way to store my laptop computer when I ’m not using it ; my MacBook Pro takes up much less desk space when sitting vertically . One complaint I have , for either habit , is that the bottom of the Docking Stand has no protective launching pad and thus easily slide around a Sir Henry Wood or metal desk . Power Support includes four adhesive , fabric pad of paper to protect your desk , but the Stand still slides too easily . I would have appreciated golosh feet .
Balmuda Design Floater
If you like PowerSupport ’s Docking Stand , but require something tough and with more of a design focus , Balmuda ’s $ 305Floateris just that — and quite a fleck more expensive , as well .
The Floater does fundamentally the same matter as the Docking Stand , but is a much more substantial product . Made of 7 separate pieces of anodized aluminium alloy — each machine from a single closure of metal — the Floater is hold up together by a serial of unstained - brand hex bolts . The laptop computer “ cradle ” drift an inch or so off your desk ( hence the ware ’s name ) , supported by a boneheaded branch connect to one end of the Floater ’s 4.75- by 10.6 - column inch base . The Floater weighs near two Syrian pound on its own , and is observably more stable than Power Support ’s Stand .
The Floater ’s cradle is lined with numerous silicone bumpers that both keep your laptop computer securely in situation and protect it from being scratch by the stand ’s metal . polyurethan feet on the bottom of the root keep the Floater from moving and protect your desk . One item that impressed me is that each silicone bumper and polyurethan foot is lay into a recessed department of the metal , custom - machined for that peculiar bumper or foot .
The Floater is compatible with 15- and 17 - inch MacBook Pros , the 13 - in MacBook , and the 17 - inch PowerBook G4 . Because these laptops depart slenderly in heaviness , the Floater ’s rocker can be adjusted up to 2 millimetre wider or narrow using the admit hex wrench and three sets of spacers of different thicknesses . You just relax the bolt securing the sides of the cradle ; slide the spacers , in whichever combination put up the appropriate cradle width , into the spaces between the cradle ’s sides and bottom ; and then tighten the bolts .
The Floater has a exchangeable limitation as Power Support ’s Docking Stand : although the Floater looks much better with MacBook Pros , it works better with MacBooks , which have all their porthole on one end . That said , the Floater provide cable television service “ tunnel ” on each end of its base , which leave you to launch the cables from one closing down and under the stand — the answer is a less - cluttered look .
Is the Floater worth $ 305 ? It ’s attractive , very well - made , and , like the Docking Stand , utile . But you ’re definitely paying — a fate — for the unique design and the production process .
