5.0 out of 5 stars
This completely solves 4 out of 5 problems with the way I worked in bed! Amazing.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 4, 2017
I spend hours in front of a laptop. I work a lot from home, I'm always in different positions, at a desk, on recliner, at the kitchen table. I love to work in bed with the lights low, massive pair of comfy headphones on - I find it really helps me to focus my mind when I'm lying down. If I could use the laptop in the shower, I would...
After reading the reviews, this product struck me as a brilliant way to stop me slouching when using the laptop at a table, but the real reason I bought it was for bed use. For many years I have brought my knees up and rested the laptop near my waist, so that the base of the laptop is about 45 degrees from the bed. When lying flat with pillows, my head is looking up to the ceiling too much, so I've always used little cushions under my head. Can't work without my head cushions! I use "boudoir pillows" which are plump synthetic things 30 x 40cm in size.
Problem with this setup is that a) it's putting a lot of strain on the neck, pushing it forwards so you can see lower, b) when a duvet is under the laptop the cooling is hampered, c) the laptop kind of digs into the waist area (near the groin!), d) the laptop is slightly too far down for my wrists to be in a comfortable position whilst typing and e) it's hard to use the touchpad because the duvet / clothing / body gets in the way of getting your hand under it.
Wow - a lot of problems! Other people seem to rest the laptop on their chest, contorting their poor wrists into some weird sideways position in order to type. My wrists are precious to me, and ache easily, so I don't do that.
Within the first 10 minutes of using it, I can see this product completely solves 4 of my 5 problems, and relieves the 5th one! (The neck raise.) What a godsend.
In "bed mode", you use the little lip at the bottom of the tray to hold the laptop on, because the tray is at an angle. My ideal situation would be to get as much of an angle as possible whilst still keeping the weight off my body. Obviously the more the angle, the more likely you are to end up with a laptop on your face.
The little lip isn't high enough to completely hold the laptop on, even a thinnish laptop like my Dell XPS 15. Then I found the two little plastic clips provided with the product. They slide onto this lip from the side, to make sure they can't pop-off upwards. The plastic clips are not flimsy, they seem nice and solid. This is important as they are basically there to stop the laptop falling off. Because they slide, they can be positioned out of the way of your wrists when typing, and using the touchpad (whether you are left or right handed, you can put them in the correct position).
A lot of thought has gone into this seemingly simple product. I'm impressed.
The side tray is not usable for a mouse in bed. Mainly because your wrists are at an angle. You'll need to either use your touchpad, nipple, or put some kind of mouse mat on the bed where it's flat. Not viable for me, as it involves moving your arm a lot every time you need the mouse.
Even if there were a way to attach the tray at the perfect angle in bed, the mouse would just fall down as your wrists couldn't use a flat surface. But the side tray has been nicely designed with the option of rotating the tray to any angle. Good for table use. The side tray can be fitted to either side of the main surface, by means of a quick-release type of connection - gravity holds it in.
The product consists of a tray which is attached to legs on either side. The legs have two joints, meaning there are three sections. These joints can be set to pretty much any angle you ever need. So when adjusting it, your job is to find the right centre of balance, and work out which way around the legs should go. Once you have found it, it can stand on the bed completely independently of your body, at the right angle for your wrists and eyes. You could raise it up quite a bit higher than your body, or you can have it down low, just high enough to remove the weight from the body, but low enough that you can use your hips from the front, or bring the knees up from the rear, to provide additional stability. You can type on your laptop without the need to provide additional stability using your knees, but I prefer having a knee there to dampen the small amount of movement.
I can even bring both knees up and *gently* relax the muscles which allows them to push outwards slightly, and the legs of the tray provide just enough bracing to hold my knees together. I wouldn't do this too much, because the legs don't have that much sideways strength, but yes I can imagine accidentally falling asleep like this with no problems.
The locking mechanism is adequate. It's not over-engineered, but it doesn't feel weak either. Benefit of not being over-engineered: it's actually very light.
Case in point. If you need to get up quickly, you can simply lift the whole lot, with your laptop on top, jump up, put it back down in your place. Very quick.
I purchased the aluminium version. Although it was 10 quid more expensive, I preferred the look and feel. I don't plan to use the built in fans as there's no need - the laptop has adequate cooling.
If you need the fans, please note the cable is fully detachable both ends. One end goes into the USB port of your laptop, and the other end is a 2.5mm round plug that goes into the fans. I guess for long gaming sessions, etc., this would be very useful. I don't need that.
As for overall build quality, it's nothing to write home about. But it's not poor, either.
I noticed some little dents and plastic deformations. Nothing that looked too ugly or affected its function - cheap stuff from China - I'm happy with it.
A completely unrelated story, but not irrelevant: I was a wedding photographer for 5 years before I realised that I was unknowingly damaging my shoulder because my second camera (it's very heavy with a big lens) was draped over the shoulder. Whilst shooting, I was subconsciously lifting my left shoulder so that the other camera on its strap wouldn't slip off. This lifting, over long periods of time caused damage to the shoulder cuff, the collection of muscles and tendons that form the shoulder. I had to have treatment. More to the point, I found out that some photographers use this amazing belt system that transfers the weight of cameras from the shoulder to the waist. Since then I'm a changed man. I can shoot without getting tired, and nothing hurts.
My point is that we have adapted our bodies around technology without ever really thinking about whether it might be doing us harm. In modern life I think we have to step back and triple-check the habits we are getting in to, to ensure they won't bring about long term harm.
For 30 quid or thereabouts, you could save yourself from damage! Do it!
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