Update (04/10/2007): This article has been lifehacked. Thanks for all your comments!
Being a programmer, I crouch in front of computers a lot – obviously you want to avoid being a cripple with 30 and get an ergonomic workplace. Usually this means having a separately adjustable keyboard and screen in addition to my Macbook Pro. Currently i don’t have this luxury, so I came up with a really simple laptop stand to rise the screen-height and have a more relaxed wrist position.
This has been done before (a lot). Some of them are just clumsy, look bad, or can’t be applied to Apple laptops because of the limited bending-angle of their screens. I’m suprised nobody looked at the obvious, and constructed a stand from a ring-binder. Its very cheap, easy to build, portable, and in addition contains most of the clutter i need on my desk (post-its, pen, my two external drives). You can even bundle any cables through the metal hole present in most binders. And most important: It perfectly fits the color of my laptop! *g
What you need
- A stable ring binder, optimally with the latch not sticking out of the top to prevent scratches
- 40cm aluminium rail (0.5mm thick, 1.5cm depth/height), normally used for securing edges, its available in every utility store
- 40×1cm felt or fabric, to prevent scratches
- Double-sided adhesive tape
- Two small metal clamps, normally used for securing letters
- Optional: Some black anti-slide mat to cover the ring binder
Instructions
- Cut the aluminium rail to the length of the ring binder with a metal saw
- Round the cutting edges
- Place adhesive tape on one inner side of the rail
- Drill two holes towards the sides big enough to hold the metal clamps
- Fit rail to one edge of the ring binder
- Drill holes through the binder as well, and secure them with the metal clamps
- Fit the strip of felt on the other inner side of the rail (which will hold the laptop)
- Secure the sides of the clamps facing the laptop-bottom with tape to avoid scratches
Warning
If your laptop-bottom tends to heat up with high CPU-usage, a paper-based ring binder might pose a fire hazard. Consider using an aluminium binder, leave some room for ventilation, or cut venting-holes into the binder top.