Awesome Stuff: Portable Standing Desks

from the make-'em-smaller dept

Sat, Oct 18th 2014 9:00am — Mike Masnick

As you may be aware, I'm a big believer in standing desks, and we've written about standing desk crowdfunding projects in previous awesome stuff post. However, my other obsession concerning working is the ability to have a fully functional "office in a bag" that I can take on the go. I may write about that one of these days in an awesome stuff post, but I have a full setup with a second monitor, portable ergonomic keyboard and more that I take on the go with me -- but I haven't yet found a workable portable standing desk. I'm left at the mercy of wherever I might be at the time, if there's a surface high enough to stand at. The most appealing has been the Ninja Standing desk, which has some really cool features, but is still pretty big when packed up. The more recent StorkStand was pretty creative in that it makes use of chair backs (and we'd mentioned it in the past too, but, again it was not really that portable). However, for whatever reason, there are a bunch of new attempts at offering portable standing desks on Kickstarter -- so this we'll profile them.

The StandStand Disclaimer: the creator of this project sent a sample one to us to check out. The StandStand portable standing desk focuses on pure simplicity. Three pieces of lightweight wood that slot together to make a compact standing desk, and which can then be stacked up to be about the size of a laptop. Smaller than nearly all other options I've seen, and definitely meets the bill if you just work off of a laptop and want to be able to do standing on the go. Having played around with it, it's a little less stable than I would probably like, but not in any serious way. Of all the options I've seen, definitely the most portable, but there are tradeoffs in terms of what it's useful for compared to other options.
ZentDesk The ZentDesk looks pretty awesome, actually. Basically it gives you pretty much all of the super useful features of a standing desk, and even comes with monitor stands (which would be very helpful for my setup). The downsides, though, are that it's huge and expensive. These appear to be the basic tradeoffs: simple and small vs. too big but with all the bells and whistles.
Refold's Portable Cardboard Standing Desk The name of the Refold Portable Cardboard Standing Desk is pretty accurate. It's a foldable cardboard standing desk. When folded up it has a nice handle and you can take it along. But even folded up, it's huge. Bigger than the ZentDesk. You could maybe take it down to the corner coffee shop, but even then you'd need to find a place to put it, rather than a table to put it on, as with the other options.

In the end, none of these portable standing desks truly meet the need that I'm looking for -- and it may just be because it's impossible to have the features I want in a package the size I want. But, it won't mean I won't keep looking...

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Filed Under: awesome stuff, portable standing desks, standing desks

14 Comments

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too tall, 18 Oct 2014 @ 10:32am

bending over for humanity
The guy in the picture is obviously too tall for that Refold desk. The biggest problem of "one size fits all" standing desks is that by design they discriminate against short or tall people, usually tall (even electic-motor-operated drafting tables never go high enough). Anyone who stands much over six foot is going to be forced to stoop over to use them, making these standing desks tiring, if not painful, for extended use.

Though some of these standing desks, like the "wheelchair friendly" bank ATMs, might be the perfect height for kneeling.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Oct 2014 @ 2:15pm

This is why zero gravity work areas need to be developed.
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- pixelpusher220 (profile), 19 Oct 2014 @ 2:13pm
  
  Re:
  Developed? Most of the universe already qualifies*
  
  *minor workplace safety issues may exist ;-)
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seedeevee (profile), 18 Oct 2014 @ 3:01pm

145 - 210$ for a cardboard desk (refold)?

I don't see a market for this.
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1st Dread Pirate Roberts (profile), 18 Oct 2014 @ 3:33pm

Varidesk
I like the varidesk. I'd like to get one at work, but I'd have to pay for it out of pocket.
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Amazon, 18 Oct 2014 @ 5:34pm

Or you could just go buy the TableTote
You can go buy this right now:

http://www.amazon.com/Tabletote-Portable-Compact-Lightweight-Notebook/dp/B0001EMA80/ref=sr_1_1?i e=UTF8&qid=1413678812&sr=8-1&keywords=table+tote

Nice paid post.
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MeerkatDesk (profile), 19 Oct 2014 @ 2:40am

What's your "on the go" setup?
Got any photos of your "on the go" setup? I've never heard of anyone carrying a second monitor or an ergonomic keyboard, it sounds like a lot of gear to me but maybe it's just standard. Anyway, I'm asking because I'm developing an idea that I had for a portable standing desk and it would be good to see how you operate. It will help me as I develop the design if I can see how much gear different people carry with them.
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- Mike Masnick (profile), 19 Oct 2014 @ 4:57am
  
  Re: What's your "on the go" setup?
  Not the best photo of it, but here's a picture from earlier this year: https://twitter.com/mmasnick/status/426049596167421952
  
  I really keep meaning to do one of these weekend posts describing everything in the bag, but that should give you a hint. The portable monitor is the ASUS mb168B+ and it's amazing.
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Richard (profile), 19 Oct 2014 @ 7:44am

Standing desk
AKA Music stand - and used since ...forever.
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indy, 19 Oct 2014 @ 1:31pm

knees!
Used a standing desk for a year. Worked great, until my knees were in pain 24/7. Glad I didn't invest in something too big.

Strangely, all my back issues seem cured now that I'm back at a sitting desk.
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- Eldakka (profile), 19 Oct 2014 @ 7:58pm
  
  Re: knees!
  I think that like anything, too much is bad for you.
  
  I'm pretty sure that just standing in one place without moving for 8 hours is just as bad as sitting in one place without moving for 8 hours.
  
  Mix it up, stand for while, sit for a while.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2014 @ 1:28am
    
    Re: Re: knees!
    Build yourself a hamster wheel desk and walk while you work.
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Florence, 23 Oct 2014 @ 8:37pm

I've seen both models, but I was wondering if you can also put your things inside the case or not. Because if it's just the stand...isn't it a hassle to be carrying around a lot of stuff? I mean, I take the stand, plus my laptop and other belongings. However, I like the idea of being able to stand up while working. I believe it improves the circulation. But I'm so sure about portability.
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Veronica09 (profile), 27 Oct 2014 @ 10:32am

very cute
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