You know the experience: set your laptop on a tabletop or standing desk, and you’re in for an ergonomic nightmare. The screen always seems too low, forcing you to angle your neck and slump your shoulders at an uncomfortable angle. The last thing you need is back pain from work that's already a pain. And if you plan to use a full-sized keyboard, there's nowhere to place it, as the laptop itself is in the way. You can also just forget about trying to use your laptop in bed with the impossible-to-reach angles and the device constantly overheating. That’s where a laptop stand comes in handy.
There’s an entire industry of laptop stands designed to raise, angle, and support your laptop in any situation imaginable. If you spend much of your time working from home and use a laptop rather than a desktop, you'll quickly discover some sort of stand is a necessity, especially when using a separate keyboard and mouse in conjunction with it. You might even need more than one type of stand, as some work best at your desk or on the kitchen table, while others help you work in bed or lounging on the couch. Some are even specifically designed to turn your desk into a standing desk or fold up neatly to be a perfect travel companion. The possibilities are seemingly endless.
Whatever you are looking for, we've rounded up some of the best options out there. Check out our favorite laptop stands below.
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Construction: Aluminum | Tray dimensions: 10" x 9.3" | Height: 6-inches | Weight: 3 pounds
For simplicity and elegance, the mStand by Rain Design is a strong pick. And when we say “strong,” we mean it. Built of a single, solid piece of aluminum, this laptop stand has no problem holding the most weighty laptops, and the aluminum acts as a heatsink to keep things cool. That said, it’s particularly well suited for Macbook owners, as it comes in three different colors that nicely match the sleek stylings of Apple's notebooks — of course, it works just as well for Windows laptops and Chromebooks.
The mStand’s main purpose is lifting your screen, giving you a better, more ergonomic view, and your laptop gets boosted 5.9 inches with this option. But that's not all, the stand also helps keep your desk space tidier with a place to stash your keyboard when it’s not in use and better cable management. You can run your power cables up through a hole on the back and route any wired accessories through it, too. If you want to spice up your setup a bit more, Rain Design offers a mStand that can swivel around its base, along with smaller mStand models for tablets and phones.
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Construction: Aluminum and plastic | Tray dimensions: 7.5" x 10" | Height: 5.5" | Weight: 14 ounces
You don't need to spend big to improve the ergonomics of your desk setup. For around $50, the Griffin Elevator Laptop Stand hoists your device up by 5.5 inches, so you can stop hunching down over your laptop display, ruining your posture and causing back pain. The raised position isn’t ideal for typing on your laptop’s built-in keyboard, but a wireless keyboard remedies that issue. The elevated position can also benefit your video chats with a more natural camera angle — no more work peers peering up your nose.
Despite appearing rather large, the Griffin Elevator can come with you when you need to travel or if you enjoy working from different locations. The design uses two curved aluminum arms linked by a plastic bar featuring rubber bands to prevent slippage and keep your laptop firmly in place. However, it can be disassembled to fit into a bag, a backpack, or luggage, while its layout also allows maximum airflow to keep your laptop cool.
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Construction: Plastic | Tray dimensions: 9.4" x 10.2" | Height: 6 – 14 inches | Weight: 5.8 ounces
Roost got its start as a crowd-funded Kickstarter project, and this newer iteration benefits from lessons learned while making the original. This stand is ideal for mobile users who need a small, compact option that can go on the road and be used wherever. Opened up, it looks fairly simple, as there is no tray for the laptop but instead, clever "pivot clips" clamp down on your device. Therefore, there’s no way the computer can slide around, though the clip design limits you to laptops that are .75 inches thick or less (not including the lid) —laptops are rarely that big anyways. And when it’s time to pack up, the stand collapses to 13 inches long and 1.25 inches wide to effortlessly slips into a backpack or briefcase.
The Roost offers a good amount of adjustability. Your laptop can sit as low as 6-inches off the table or as high as 14-inches, while a few preset angles make for easy positioning of the keyboard and screen. The display can therefore be at eye level almost anywhere the stand is placed. And the Roost may be made of lightweight plastic but is still rock-solid and well-balanced in use.
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Construction: Wood tray with aluminum legs | Tray dimensions: 23.62" x 12.99" | Height: 9.4 – 12.6 inches | Weight: 3.85 pounds
Everyone can appreciate breakfast in bed, but how about working from bed? The Avantree Neetto Height Adjustable Laptop Bed Tray can do both. This stand is ready to hold your laptop, peripherals, and just about anything else, as it’s made of wood with solid aluminum legs. If you’re up late-night editing reports, eating a bedtime snack, resting your arms while engrossed in a book, or any other task requiring a tray that sits comfortably around your torso, this little table is perfect. You can even set it on the floor and use it as a TV serving tray for your kid or pop it on a desk, converting it to a standing desk.
Calling it a tray is a bit of a misnomer, as Avantree has really created more of a mini table with legs that fold flat for storage — the same way a folding table closes up. We like the large size option, so the tray itself is 23.62 x 12.99 inches — enough for even large gaming laptops and space for a mouse on the side. The legs extend vertically, allowing you to adjust the height of your tabletop from 9.5 to 12.6-inches, so it can be at the perfect level to slide your body under and work. You can even angle the table to a maximum pitch of 30 degrees, while a little stopper at the end prevents everything from sliding off.
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Construction: Particle board trays | Tray dimensions: 35" x 23" | Height: 5 – 20 inches | Weight: 49 pounds
Spending eight hours a day sitting at a desk isn’t the healthiest, and that’s where a standing desk comes into play. It significantly improves the ergonomics of your setup, so you’ll feel great even when you’re putting in long hours for work. But if you’ve already got a desk you love and don’t want to invest in a new one, there’s the Ergotron WorkFit-T Standing Desk Converter. This oversized laptop stand sits on your desk, supporting a laptop and even a second monitor with a two-tier design that lets you place a full-size keyboard and mouse underneath.
When you’ve got this stand folded flat, the top tier is five inches high, while the keyboard sits at desk level, making it an ideal laptop stand for sitting in an office chair. It’s spring-loaded, and one person can operate it, so when you’re ready to stand up, your workstation smoothly elevates with ease — no electric lift is necessary. The stand can be positioned up to 20-inches high and locks in place with a "handbrake.” The second tier then provides the perfect height for the keyboard and mouse. And the Ergotron WorkFit-T Standing Desk Converterholds up to 40 pounds, so it can handle even your most hefty office setup.
Laptop size: No limit | Construction: Steel and aluminum | Tray dimensions: 14" x 12" | Height: 0 – 17 inches | Weight: 11.6 pounds
Need to keep your desk completely clear? Then, your best option is to mount your laptop on a pole-and-clamp that hangs off the corner of your desk. This setup is a common solution in industrial and lab environments, where you need access to a computer but don't want it on a work surface. VIVO’s Single Laptop Notebook Desk Mount Stand lets you do this on the cheap. It’s a simple steel pole with a rigid clamp that attaches to an arm, and that arm holds the laptop tray. The tray is a big 14 x 12 inches and can hold up to 22 pounds, making it an option for just about any laptop.
With VIVO’s stand, the arm can mount at any height you need, from desk height to about 17 inches high, while any adjustments need to be made using an Allen wrench — not the most convenient. But don’t worry, you won’t need to drill holes or damage the desk, as the pole clamps onto the desk and includes pads to avoid scratching the surface, or there’s a grommet mount. Once configured, you can swing the arm around the pole 360 degrees and adjust the angle of the laptop tray. That tray is even ventilated with a Swiss cheese arrangement of holes to keep your device cool. The package also has a monitor bracket to hang a gaming monitor instead.
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Weight capacity: 15 pounds | Construction: Aluminum | Height: 2.75 - 12.6 inches | Weight: 15.8 ounces
If you're always working at the same table or desk, you can get away with a laptop stand that stays at one height. Though when you travel around a bunch for work, you might not have that luxury. In that case, consider an adjustable option like the ElfAnt Laptop Stand. Not only is this laptop stand incredibly portable thanks to its fold-up design and lightweight build, but it also can support a wide range of positions.
The ElfAnt Laptop Stand uses a series of aluminum bars with hinges and a scissor mechanism, letting it fold up to just 11 x 4.33 inches and then expand to hold 17-inch laptops. The sturdy aluminum frame even supports up to 15 pounds, so you’ll be hard-pressed to find a laptop this stand can’t handle. While getting your display to a comfortable height with the best viewing angles is easy, with a height range from 2.75 inches up to 12.6 inches. And with silicone pads placed along the frame, your laptop won't slide around or get scratched up by the stand.
Laptop size: 0.55 - 2.71 inches thick | Construction: Aluminum alloy | Product dimensions: 3.7" x 5.9" x 1.85 | Weight: 1.21 pounds
A solid hub connecting your laptop to a monitor or two, a keyboard, and a mouse means you might not need much from your laptop’s own built-in display, keyboard, or trackpad. In that case, why not streamline your desk setup with the Omoton Vertical Laptop Stand Holder? This holder situates your laptop vertically, almost like a super-thin tower desktop, letting you set it off to the side of your monitor to clear up desk space.
Omoton’s stand is built of aluminum alloy for a lightweight yet durable design with color options that match a Macbook well. Laptops from thin-and-light models measuring 0.55 inches thick to chunkier gaming laptops up to 2.71 inches thick slot right in, as you can adjust the width of the holder using an included screwdriver. A silicone surface on the inside keeps your laptop in place, preventing scratching between the aluminum surface and your laptop. And the bottom of the stand has a silicone grip to hold your whole setup in place and keep it from sliding around your desk.
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Construction: Aluminum | Tray dimensions: 8.4" x 19.5" | Height: 2.9 inches | Weight: 1.3 pounds
Don’t grab the Razer Laptop Stand Chroma V2 if you’re searching for a simple place to plop your laptop to keep it cool and raise it to eye level. It costs too much for that alone. However, if you want a highly capable hub, this is it. This stand features a sturdy aluminum frame and holds your laptop up at an 18-degree angle, giving you a higher display while delivering ample airflow at the bottom to keep your device cool. Taking it further, there’s a flashy RGB strip at the front edge of the stand, but it’s packing plenty more to love.
As we mentioned, the Razer Laptop Stand Chroma V2 is a hub, so it’s got a bit more going on than your typical laptop stand. There’s a USB-C attached that plugs into compatible computers, giving you access to USB data connections, as well as video outputs over HDMI and USB-C. You can connect two dual displays up to 1440p 60Hz or a single 4K or 5K monitor. And you even get USB passthrough charging for your laptop.
Laptop size: Up to 15.6-inches | Construction: PU and Fiberglass | Tray dimensions: 6.7" x 8.8" x 0.1" | Height: 2-3 inches | Weight: 0.19 pounds
While many laptop stands can be handy for making your laptop more usable at home, not all of them are designed to be as ready to travel as your laptop. That means you're left without a stand when you're on the go. Luckily, the MOFT Laptop Stand is meant to travel with you.
This ultra-thin, ultra-light laptop stand is essentially a sheet of sturdy material that sticks onto the base of your laptop. From there, it has a series of folds lifting up the rear of your laptop. In total, this stand can hoist the display two or three inches. It does this while weighing less than a fifth of a pound and being only 3mm thick. However, the MOFT holds 15.6-inch laptops and supports up to 18 pounds. You'll be hard-pressed to find another laptop stand that adds such little bulk to your carry-on.
A laptop stand doesn’t need to be expensive. It’s usually just something designed to raise the laptop screen to a more ergonomic viewing height and clear the path for a full-size keyboard and mouse. Need a stop-gap? A stack of books could do that (albeit poorly) for free.
Perhaps the most important criterion for an effective laptop stand is that it should position the laptop to work best for your sitting or standing height. A common ergonomic recommendation is to put the top of the monitor at eye level. While even a fixed-height laptop stand is an improvement over staring down at a portable PC on the tabletop, it can be well worth investing in one that gives you the flexibility of an adjustable height.
But your eye line isn’t the only thing a laptop stand can help: laptop angle is also critical to your typing ergonomics (unless you’re using an external keyboard). Again, a stand's adjustability is a useful feature.
As you can see from the models on this list, there is a lot of variety in laptop stands. Decide whether you need one you can permanently set on your desk at home or in the office, or if your laptop stand needs to be portable. A stand you’ll want to toss in your laptop case should fold up or collapse for convenience when traveling, and be lightweight as well, or it’ll end up getting left behind. At the same time, though, look for a sturdy design that is strong enough to support your laptop – and has some way to keep your expensive computer from accidentally falling, even if that’s just rubberized or silicone pads to grip the bottom of the laptop.
You should always take your own laptop into consideration as well. Will it physically fit on the stand you’re eyeing? Most laptop stands can accommodate even the largest laptops, but some have design features limiting the footprint or thickness of the laptop it can hold.
Another consideration when picking a laptop stand is how your laptop circulates air. If the fans flow down through the bottom of the laptop, your laptop stand should have a way to let that air escape, otherwise, you risk overheating and unexpected shut-downs.
Dave Johnson has been writing about gaming and tech since the days of the Palm Pilot. See him shout into the Twitter void @davejoh.
Danielle Abraham is a freelance writer and unpaid music historian.
Continue reading...
There’s an entire industry of laptop stands designed to raise, angle, and support your laptop in any situation imaginable. If you spend much of your time working from home and use a laptop rather than a desktop, you'll quickly discover some sort of stand is a necessity, especially when using a separate keyboard and mouse in conjunction with it. You might even need more than one type of stand, as some work best at your desk or on the kitchen table, while others help you work in bed or lounging on the couch. Some are even specifically designed to turn your desk into a standing desk or fold up neatly to be a perfect travel companion. The possibilities are seemingly endless.
Whatever you are looking for, we've rounded up some of the best options out there. Check out our favorite laptop stands below.
TL;DR – These are the Best Laptops Stands for Desks:
- Rain Design mStand
- Griffin Elevator Laptop Stand
- Roost Laptop Stand
- Avantree Neetto Height Adjustable Laptop Bed Tray
- Ergotron WorkFit-T Standing Desk Converter
- VIVO Single Laptop Notebook Desk Mount Stand
- ElfAnt Laptop Stand
- Omoton Vertical Laptop Stand Holder
- Razer Laptop Stand Chroma V2
- MOFT Laptop Stand
1. Rain Design mStand
Best Minimalist Laptop Stand for Desk
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Construction: Aluminum | Tray dimensions: 10" x 9.3" | Height: 6-inches | Weight: 3 pounds
For simplicity and elegance, the mStand by Rain Design is a strong pick. And when we say “strong,” we mean it. Built of a single, solid piece of aluminum, this laptop stand has no problem holding the most weighty laptops, and the aluminum acts as a heatsink to keep things cool. That said, it’s particularly well suited for Macbook owners, as it comes in three different colors that nicely match the sleek stylings of Apple's notebooks — of course, it works just as well for Windows laptops and Chromebooks.
The mStand’s main purpose is lifting your screen, giving you a better, more ergonomic view, and your laptop gets boosted 5.9 inches with this option. But that's not all, the stand also helps keep your desk space tidier with a place to stash your keyboard when it’s not in use and better cable management. You can run your power cables up through a hole on the back and route any wired accessories through it, too. If you want to spice up your setup a bit more, Rain Design offers a mStand that can swivel around its base, along with smaller mStand models for tablets and phones.
2. Griffin Elevator Laptop Stand
Best Budget Laptop Stand for Desk
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Construction: Aluminum and plastic | Tray dimensions: 7.5" x 10" | Height: 5.5" | Weight: 14 ounces
You don't need to spend big to improve the ergonomics of your desk setup. For around $50, the Griffin Elevator Laptop Stand hoists your device up by 5.5 inches, so you can stop hunching down over your laptop display, ruining your posture and causing back pain. The raised position isn’t ideal for typing on your laptop’s built-in keyboard, but a wireless keyboard remedies that issue. The elevated position can also benefit your video chats with a more natural camera angle — no more work peers peering up your nose.
Despite appearing rather large, the Griffin Elevator can come with you when you need to travel or if you enjoy working from different locations. The design uses two curved aluminum arms linked by a plastic bar featuring rubber bands to prevent slippage and keep your laptop firmly in place. However, it can be disassembled to fit into a bag, a backpack, or luggage, while its layout also allows maximum airflow to keep your laptop cool.
3. Roost Laptop Stand
Best Portable Laptop Stand for Desk
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Construction: Plastic | Tray dimensions: 9.4" x 10.2" | Height: 6 – 14 inches | Weight: 5.8 ounces
Roost got its start as a crowd-funded Kickstarter project, and this newer iteration benefits from lessons learned while making the original. This stand is ideal for mobile users who need a small, compact option that can go on the road and be used wherever. Opened up, it looks fairly simple, as there is no tray for the laptop but instead, clever "pivot clips" clamp down on your device. Therefore, there’s no way the computer can slide around, though the clip design limits you to laptops that are .75 inches thick or less (not including the lid) —laptops are rarely that big anyways. And when it’s time to pack up, the stand collapses to 13 inches long and 1.25 inches wide to effortlessly slips into a backpack or briefcase.
The Roost offers a good amount of adjustability. Your laptop can sit as low as 6-inches off the table or as high as 14-inches, while a few preset angles make for easy positioning of the keyboard and screen. The display can therefore be at eye level almost anywhere the stand is placed. And the Roost may be made of lightweight plastic but is still rock-solid and well-balanced in use.
4. Avantree Neetto Height Adjustable Laptop Bed Tray
Best Bedstand Laptop Stand for Desk
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Construction: Wood tray with aluminum legs | Tray dimensions: 23.62" x 12.99" | Height: 9.4 – 12.6 inches | Weight: 3.85 pounds
Everyone can appreciate breakfast in bed, but how about working from bed? The Avantree Neetto Height Adjustable Laptop Bed Tray can do both. This stand is ready to hold your laptop, peripherals, and just about anything else, as it’s made of wood with solid aluminum legs. If you’re up late-night editing reports, eating a bedtime snack, resting your arms while engrossed in a book, or any other task requiring a tray that sits comfortably around your torso, this little table is perfect. You can even set it on the floor and use it as a TV serving tray for your kid or pop it on a desk, converting it to a standing desk.
Calling it a tray is a bit of a misnomer, as Avantree has really created more of a mini table with legs that fold flat for storage — the same way a folding table closes up. We like the large size option, so the tray itself is 23.62 x 12.99 inches — enough for even large gaming laptops and space for a mouse on the side. The legs extend vertically, allowing you to adjust the height of your tabletop from 9.5 to 12.6-inches, so it can be at the perfect level to slide your body under and work. You can even angle the table to a maximum pitch of 30 degrees, while a little stopper at the end prevents everything from sliding off.
5. Ergotron WorkFit-T Standing Desk Converter
Best Standing Desk Workstation Laptop Stand
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Construction: Particle board trays | Tray dimensions: 35" x 23" | Height: 5 – 20 inches | Weight: 49 pounds
Spending eight hours a day sitting at a desk isn’t the healthiest, and that’s where a standing desk comes into play. It significantly improves the ergonomics of your setup, so you’ll feel great even when you’re putting in long hours for work. But if you’ve already got a desk you love and don’t want to invest in a new one, there’s the Ergotron WorkFit-T Standing Desk Converter. This oversized laptop stand sits on your desk, supporting a laptop and even a second monitor with a two-tier design that lets you place a full-size keyboard and mouse underneath.
When you’ve got this stand folded flat, the top tier is five inches high, while the keyboard sits at desk level, making it an ideal laptop stand for sitting in an office chair. It’s spring-loaded, and one person can operate it, so when you’re ready to stand up, your workstation smoothly elevates with ease — no electric lift is necessary. The stand can be positioned up to 20-inches high and locks in place with a "handbrake.” The second tier then provides the perfect height for the keyboard and mouse. And the Ergotron WorkFit-T Standing Desk Converterholds up to 40 pounds, so it can handle even your most hefty office setup.
6. VIVO Single Laptop Notebook Desk Mount Stand
Best Clamping Laptop Stand for Desk
Laptop size: No limit | Construction: Steel and aluminum | Tray dimensions: 14" x 12" | Height: 0 – 17 inches | Weight: 11.6 pounds
Need to keep your desk completely clear? Then, your best option is to mount your laptop on a pole-and-clamp that hangs off the corner of your desk. This setup is a common solution in industrial and lab environments, where you need access to a computer but don't want it on a work surface. VIVO’s Single Laptop Notebook Desk Mount Stand lets you do this on the cheap. It’s a simple steel pole with a rigid clamp that attaches to an arm, and that arm holds the laptop tray. The tray is a big 14 x 12 inches and can hold up to 22 pounds, making it an option for just about any laptop.
With VIVO’s stand, the arm can mount at any height you need, from desk height to about 17 inches high, while any adjustments need to be made using an Allen wrench — not the most convenient. But don’t worry, you won’t need to drill holes or damage the desk, as the pole clamps onto the desk and includes pads to avoid scratching the surface, or there’s a grommet mount. Once configured, you can swing the arm around the pole 360 degrees and adjust the angle of the laptop tray. That tray is even ventilated with a Swiss cheese arrangement of holes to keep your device cool. The package also has a monitor bracket to hang a gaming monitor instead.
7. ElfAnt Laptop Stand
Best Adjustable Laptop Stand for Desk
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Weight capacity: 15 pounds | Construction: Aluminum | Height: 2.75 - 12.6 inches | Weight: 15.8 ounces
If you're always working at the same table or desk, you can get away with a laptop stand that stays at one height. Though when you travel around a bunch for work, you might not have that luxury. In that case, consider an adjustable option like the ElfAnt Laptop Stand. Not only is this laptop stand incredibly portable thanks to its fold-up design and lightweight build, but it also can support a wide range of positions.
The ElfAnt Laptop Stand uses a series of aluminum bars with hinges and a scissor mechanism, letting it fold up to just 11 x 4.33 inches and then expand to hold 17-inch laptops. The sturdy aluminum frame even supports up to 15 pounds, so you’ll be hard-pressed to find a laptop this stand can’t handle. While getting your display to a comfortable height with the best viewing angles is easy, with a height range from 2.75 inches up to 12.6 inches. And with silicone pads placed along the frame, your laptop won't slide around or get scratched up by the stand.
8. Omoton Vertical Laptop Stand Holder
Best Vertical Laptop Stand for Desk
Laptop size: 0.55 - 2.71 inches thick | Construction: Aluminum alloy | Product dimensions: 3.7" x 5.9" x 1.85 | Weight: 1.21 pounds
A solid hub connecting your laptop to a monitor or two, a keyboard, and a mouse means you might not need much from your laptop’s own built-in display, keyboard, or trackpad. In that case, why not streamline your desk setup with the Omoton Vertical Laptop Stand Holder? This holder situates your laptop vertically, almost like a super-thin tower desktop, letting you set it off to the side of your monitor to clear up desk space.
Omoton’s stand is built of aluminum alloy for a lightweight yet durable design with color options that match a Macbook well. Laptops from thin-and-light models measuring 0.55 inches thick to chunkier gaming laptops up to 2.71 inches thick slot right in, as you can adjust the width of the holder using an included screwdriver. A silicone surface on the inside keeps your laptop in place, preventing scratching between the aluminum surface and your laptop. And the bottom of the stand has a silicone grip to hold your whole setup in place and keep it from sliding around your desk.
9. Razer Laptop Stand Chroma V2
Best RGB Laptop Stand for Desk
Laptop size: Up to 17-inches | Construction: Aluminum | Tray dimensions: 8.4" x 19.5" | Height: 2.9 inches | Weight: 1.3 pounds
Don’t grab the Razer Laptop Stand Chroma V2 if you’re searching for a simple place to plop your laptop to keep it cool and raise it to eye level. It costs too much for that alone. However, if you want a highly capable hub, this is it. This stand features a sturdy aluminum frame and holds your laptop up at an 18-degree angle, giving you a higher display while delivering ample airflow at the bottom to keep your device cool. Taking it further, there’s a flashy RGB strip at the front edge of the stand, but it’s packing plenty more to love.
As we mentioned, the Razer Laptop Stand Chroma V2 is a hub, so it’s got a bit more going on than your typical laptop stand. There’s a USB-C attached that plugs into compatible computers, giving you access to USB data connections, as well as video outputs over HDMI and USB-C. You can connect two dual displays up to 1440p 60Hz or a single 4K or 5K monitor. And you even get USB passthrough charging for your laptop.
10. MOFT Laptop Stand
Best Laptop Stand for Travel
Laptop size: Up to 15.6-inches | Construction: PU and Fiberglass | Tray dimensions: 6.7" x 8.8" x 0.1" | Height: 2-3 inches | Weight: 0.19 pounds
While many laptop stands can be handy for making your laptop more usable at home, not all of them are designed to be as ready to travel as your laptop. That means you're left without a stand when you're on the go. Luckily, the MOFT Laptop Stand is meant to travel with you.
This ultra-thin, ultra-light laptop stand is essentially a sheet of sturdy material that sticks onto the base of your laptop. From there, it has a series of folds lifting up the rear of your laptop. In total, this stand can hoist the display two or three inches. It does this while weighing less than a fifth of a pound and being only 3mm thick. However, the MOFT holds 15.6-inch laptops and supports up to 18 pounds. You'll be hard-pressed to find another laptop stand that adds such little bulk to your carry-on.
What to Look for in a Laptop Stand
A laptop stand doesn’t need to be expensive. It’s usually just something designed to raise the laptop screen to a more ergonomic viewing height and clear the path for a full-size keyboard and mouse. Need a stop-gap? A stack of books could do that (albeit poorly) for free.
Perhaps the most important criterion for an effective laptop stand is that it should position the laptop to work best for your sitting or standing height. A common ergonomic recommendation is to put the top of the monitor at eye level. While even a fixed-height laptop stand is an improvement over staring down at a portable PC on the tabletop, it can be well worth investing in one that gives you the flexibility of an adjustable height.
But your eye line isn’t the only thing a laptop stand can help: laptop angle is also critical to your typing ergonomics (unless you’re using an external keyboard). Again, a stand's adjustability is a useful feature.
As you can see from the models on this list, there is a lot of variety in laptop stands. Decide whether you need one you can permanently set on your desk at home or in the office, or if your laptop stand needs to be portable. A stand you’ll want to toss in your laptop case should fold up or collapse for convenience when traveling, and be lightweight as well, or it’ll end up getting left behind. At the same time, though, look for a sturdy design that is strong enough to support your laptop – and has some way to keep your expensive computer from accidentally falling, even if that’s just rubberized or silicone pads to grip the bottom of the laptop.
You should always take your own laptop into consideration as well. Will it physically fit on the stand you’re eyeing? Most laptop stands can accommodate even the largest laptops, but some have design features limiting the footprint or thickness of the laptop it can hold.
Another consideration when picking a laptop stand is how your laptop circulates air. If the fans flow down through the bottom of the laptop, your laptop stand should have a way to let that air escape, otherwise, you risk overheating and unexpected shut-downs.
Dave Johnson has been writing about gaming and tech since the days of the Palm Pilot. See him shout into the Twitter void @davejoh.
Danielle Abraham is a freelance writer and unpaid music historian.
Continue reading...
