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Living Basics laptop desk



I was looking for a fairly portable "desk" for working on my laptop that was cheap, so I shopped AliExpress and Walmart online (both of which qualify for rebates through MyPoints).
Normally AliExpress (which can take over a month to mail Canada) has cheaper prices but this time Walmart came through with a comparable price.


Overall, not recommended but sometimes beggars can't be choosers, especially when it comes to price. Here are some observations:
  • The tray is metallic, but the legs are NOT. They are plastic and not very stable. Left to stand on their own, they cause the desk to jiggle with every keystroke.
    • I would have preferred much more solid legs instead of a metallic table. The table itself isn't the load bearing part of the desk and didn't really need to be metallic. Neither did the optional mousepad.
  • The legs feel wobbly and weak, so I wouldn't actually risk putting a heavy laptop on it, much less a 17" monster laptop. Not unless it's also going to actually be supported by your lap and you aren't really counting on the legs to hold up anything.
  • Because the overall construction is light, if you have a heavy laptop, it's liable to tip over backwards.
    • The generous table space can seat a big laptop, but when you unfold the laptop to reveal the screen, the center of gravity shifts toward the back.
    • To help avoid this tipping, you can devote the lower two segments into a very long foot (slide 4) to stop it from tipping.
  • The mouse pad is tiny, but adequate.
    • Slots in on either the right or left side.
    • However even with the desktop set to no tilt angle, there is a slight tilt, so heavier mice have a tendency to slide a little. Unlike the main desk, the mousepad does not have a railing to prevent the mouse from falling off (but which would also possibly inhibit some mouse movement).
  • It comes with two fans to help keep your laptop cool, and they seem fairly powerful.
    • Uses up a USB-A slot, and laptops typically don't have that many. The connection to the desk is not USB, so you basically have to use the short cord (24") and therefore a laptop slot unless you can somehow get a USB hub close to it..
    • The fans are noisy!
    • But the most important thing -- They made NO difference.
      • I had my laptop propped up a bit at the back by almost one inch, so there's space underneath between the laptop and the desk.
      • Whether the desk fans are on or not, Alienware Command Center did not show any change to CPU temperature, GPU temperature, or the fan speeds of the laptop.
      • It may be because the fans are centered on the desk whereas the vents on the laptop are further back. Nevertheless I did expect some cooling to happen and change the numbers a bit.

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