Here at TechCrunch HQ, almost all of us have laptops, with some connecting their laptops to an external display. In my case, I use a 15″ Unibody MacBook Pro connected to a 22″ Gateway display. I have always gone by the theory that the more real estate space you have, the more productive you are. To keep both displays level, I’ve been trying out number laptop stands; anywhere from paper stacked on top of each other, to cardboard, but it seems like the best laptop stand for my Mac is the mStand from Rain Design. The mStand is designed for the MacBook and MacBook Pro, yet it works with all laptops. The mStand is made of a single solid piece of aluminum that matches MacBook Pro’s silver anodized finish.
Just like the Apple Cinema Display and iMac’s, the mStand has a cable organizer in the back, to keep all your cables nice and tidy. There is a lip at the front of the mStand which prevents it from slipping forward and also rubber pads on the corners for extra grip.
After using the mStand for a few weeks now, it’s clear why the mStand has gotten such high reviews, and is highly recommended. The only setback — the price. The mStand comes in at $49.90, but if you really need a laptop stand, the mStand is well worth it. The mStand can be bought online at Rain Design’s website, or at MacMall, and many other online retailers.
i really love my mstand. the onl yproblem so far is, if you got an 17″ macbook pro you should not type on the internal keyboard there is the risk of the 17″ to fall over backwards.
and if you also got an macbook air the front is below the rubber stoppers and directly in contact with the aluminium from the m stand.
sorry for my bad english… bugblatter
Wow, this really smells like an ad.
Sure does sound like an ad. You need a laptop stand, buy a DJ laptop gig stand. Cheaper, adjustable, and doesn’t reek of Apple sterility. But ofcourse, this mStand is made for Apple freaks, so im probably wasting my time.
My God, even here. A fucking laptop stand. Well I’ve had it. I’m finally beginning to get fed up, and I speak my comments at a whopping 160 words per minute via speech dictation software, so Ima let you have it, Dan (or anyone just like Dan) . . .
Diatribe bandwagon commence hither:
Hey Dan, do ya hate much? Do you feel yourself superior to those who don’t use Windows (or is it Linux, perhaps BeOS or Amiga)? Do you hate those who like beautiful things? Those who can afford such things? Or are you compassionate and, innocently, only wish to help steer the poor paltry 5% of the world, 10% of Americans (or at the very most 20%+ of home users) back to the 100% monopoly that rightfully belongs to Microsoft? (Because then everything would be better, you know, without the slightest iota of competition, and all.)
I switched back to Mac when Panther came out, when OS X was plenty mature enough. Upon doing so, did I suddenly turn into a “freak,” as you say? No. Hardly a freak, I’m practically a poster child for “well-adjusted” productive citizen. So maybe you’re just playfully exaggerating about Mac users? For your sake, I sure hope so, because that would make you small-minded and an outright bigot.
Because bigots believe in stereotypes, often going so far as to thrive on stereotypes. And bigots reject anyone whose lifestyle choices are different than their own, and often anyone who isn’t just like them. Why small-minded? Well because being critical of someone to the point of rejection (”freaks”) based upon consumer choices like the whole Ford or Chevy, PC or Mac battles are for shallow, small-minded, petty haters. People who just need to hate.
My sin for being hated to the point of being considered a freak? Liking an elegant and aesthetically pleasing, plenty functional enough laptop stand instead of the cheaper, albeit more useful — yet truly butt ugly laptop stand. No offense to you for not seeing it that way, for I realize I’m the one who’s different. Most people wouldn’t care as much about what their home office desktop looks. But if it doesn’t look ugly to you, fine, I’ve no qualms; just please don’t dictate my taste to me, or label me among “freaks” for instead buying the sculpted aluminum stand because I like “shiny” things. “Shiny,” that cliche – very popular derogatory slam against Mac users who all supposedly choose form over function — even the Harvard and MIT profs in Cambridge, MA, where I live and with whom I’ve worked. And so what if some Mac users choose form over function? Fuck you for your petty bigotry. So they’re not exactly like you and your fellow geeks? Is that the bug that’s up your puckered ass?
Okay, so Dan, you’re in the shrink’s office for anger management issues:
Shrink: “So tell me Dan, why is it that you reject Kip the “freak?”
Dan: “Because he’s aesthetically oriented, sometimes even favoring form over function.”
“Oh, I see . . . but is he also black, gay, or a Muslim or communist, or . . .?
“No. He’s a Mac user! His goddamn wife too . . . they’re so, so bad they also paint the walls in their apartment different colors instead of leaving them white. And they hang paintings on every single last wall instead of leaving them blank white. Oh, but not with the typical extra wide matting, and not even with the standard thin frames that look like your average kitchen cabinet trim! Even worse, neither their living room or bedroom have matching sets of furniture; they’re . . . individual pieces that complement each other!”
See how ridiculous it is to reject someone just because they like beautiful things? Well, for the first dozen or so years of Windows, the PC world had OS that was gray, or wheat, or teal, or whatever for over a half dozen years. And then it looked like Fischer Price Toys for over a half dozen more years, always with the tiny ugly icons littering the typical desktop (so people wouldn’t have to drill through the Start Button’s menus).
And the hardware. Until just recently PC desktops were beige/black boxes, and laptops were ugly gray bathroom scales. YET that’s fine for most people! Great, whatever. Just not for those of us who care about such things, those of us who’d rather go to Medieval Europe or Alaska in the dead of winter than Vegas or Disney. Different bites, different likes. Nobody wrong, nobody right. Just different.
Don’t get me wrong, though, as we love the Mac for more than just it’s beautiful big icons and hardware designs. We were drawn to Mac for things like not having to install applications (just unzip and drag to any folder you want) or uninstall (just drag to Trash). Every single time you get a new computer you can drag all your apps (and even all their settings) from one laptop to another and it works! No registry, or app support files scattered over myriad directories. (And when you think about it, that means on a Mac you can install dozens or hundreds of apps all at once, all in one fell swoop. Drag the preferences folder over and all your applications’ toolbars, menu items, window positions, etc. will be exactly the same. Try that with Windows 7 where you’ve got to install every single app, one at a time, then set all the preferences, etc.)
So, Dan, hopefully you hate Mac users even more after having read this. Because I wrote it without the slightest effort at really bridging the hate gap between you and me, we Windows bots and Mac zealots. You got under my skin by calling me and my Mac using wife, family, and friends, so I just got under your skin. I had no hope nor delusion that anything I wrote would actually make one iota of difference. No, I just want to dish it back to you or any Windows fanboy equivalent, stereotypical Mac user arrogance and all, hopefully such that you’ll have heartburn for at least fifteen minutes, or get caught surfing the internet at work, or get so mad at your tech war enemy that you’re even less likely than before to get laid anytime soon . . .
whoa.