Section: Macintosh / Apple Hardware, Desktop Macs, iMac, Laptops, MacBook Air, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Peripherals, Cinema Displays and Monitors, Reviews
Provides: Computer/monitor elevation, desk organization
Developer: Just Mobile
Minimum Requirements: Computer or monitor, desk
Price: $69.95
Availability: Now
When it comes to monitor viewing, a couple of inches can make a big difference. My old 24” iMac was well-placed for optimal viewing just sitting right there on my desk. But when I upgraded to the new 21.5” widescreen iMac, I found myself looking down. The top of the screen was just low enough to make it feel like it was…too low. It wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, just weird. I could never get fully accommodated to using it.
Now, there’s no shortage of ways in which you can raise a computer or monitor. Books will work just fine, after all. But if you’re going to lift your monitor off your desk, why not reclaim that desk space? This is what Just Mobile offers with their Mtable.
The Mtable desktop stand will work with any monitor, but as is the case with nearly all Just Mobile products, it’s obviously designed with Apple in mind. The single-piece brushed aluminum construction is a perfect match for your iMac or Cinema Display above it, and your MacBook tucked below it. It’s meant to look like a part of your Apple system, not like an added on third-party accessory.
The stand is completely open in the front, allowing you to slide a MacBook or Apple Wireless Keyboard underneath (unfortunately, it’s not wide enough to support the Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad). The opening beneath the stand is about 1-1/2” high, which is enough to handle most of what you’d want to slide under there. It barely couldn’t take my LaCie external hard drive, but it’s an older model that’s a bit bigger than most hard drive options available these days. It’s worth mentioning that the internal sides of the Mtable are rubber padded, so you won’t scratch your MacBook when sliding it underneath. Very well done.
Each side has a 7-1/2” opening, out of which you can run cable cables for the devices you’re storing under the Mtable. An opening for cables in the back grill would seem to make sense, but Just Mobile didn’t include one. With support only on the sides and in the back, the front center of the Mtable does dip about an 1/8” under the weight of my iMac. It’s barely noticable, but I do wonder how it’d hold up under a 27” iMac.
The only other feature of the Mtable is an indentation on the front that seems like it was made specifically to hold their AluPen. Considering there’s no need touch input on Mac monitors, I’m not sure I get the point. But it certainly doesn’t interfere with anything, so I won’t complain. A plate that allows you to spin your monitor would be a welcome addition here, but wouldn’t be necessary for most users.
The only major drawback to the Mtable, then, is the price. $70 is excessive, even by Apple standards. You’re going to really need the recovered desk space and really want that Apple aesthetic to pay that kind of money. But if you do pay, the Mtable will serve you well and will look great doing it.
Appletell Rating:
Buy the Mtable
Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »
No comments:
Post a Comment