Laptop stands aren’t as stupid as I thought

When I was reaching out to companies in search of ridiculous standing desk accessories for a recent article I wrote, a laptop stand was on my list of must-gets. I don’t mean the desk converters that give you a standing desk-like experience, but the little ones that just seem to prop the laptop up a bit. As a perennial desktop user they always seemed like a waste of time to me. Just get a desktop, or another monitor, right?

Well consider me suitably chastised and with enough humble pie in my stomach that I won’t need to eat for a week, because these things aren’t as stupid as I thought. In fact, after a couple of months of playing around with one, they’re actually pretty great.

I’m an idiot. And to prove just how much, here are all the useful ways I’ve found to use my new laptop stand.

What’s in a laptop stand?

Just before we dive into what I like about my new laptop stand, let’s just define what we’re talking about. The one I have is this overblown, overpriced thing from Egonofis. Gorgeous as it is – it even matches the wood grain of my desk – it’s completely unnecessary.

Branch does one which is both sturdy and attractive, with similarly wood-grain inspired styling, and it’s well under $100. It also has near flawless reviews with close to 100 of them, which is rare to find on any product, let alone a laptop stand.

Rain Design’s all-metal one isn’t as easy to fold away, but it’s very strong and gives you most of what you need from a laptop stand for less than $50. There are also some capable Amazon Basics models too, which you can have for around $25.

Point being, you don’t need to spend over $200 on a laptop stand. You certainly can though, and there may be some quality of life reasons why you might.

Useful for third screen

Until I can afford that super, ultra-wide gaming and professional grade do-it-all monitor of my dreams, I’m a multi-screen guy. I have a big vertical 4K thing from Dell, and an older but still-good Asus high refresh rate display for gaming. But I could always use more screen space. That’s where the laptop stand comes in.

I don’t want a screen that’s flat down on the desk – it’ll ruin my posture staring at that thing. But with the Egonofis stand, I can have my gaming laptop propped up next to me with something useful on it. Maybe it’s my email, or the various chat apps I use through Rambox.

Whatever I want, it’s right there, and with the stand it’s easy to position it wherever it’s useful or not cluttering up the desk space.

Improving ergonomics and posture

I am an utter bore when it comes to posture during the work day, but when you’ve gone through months of crippling nerve pain, you’ll do almost anything to avoid it. Even using silly laptop stands that prove to be anything but.

I have my desk and monitors setup just how I like them for excellent posture. Proper eye height, proper distance, etc. That’s really hard to do with most laptops, as they’re either down on a desk surface, or you’re crunched up trying to get down to their level. Not so with a laptop stand.

It’s not quite a desk converter, but for getting the laptop up off of the desk and at a better, more neutral, posture-enhancing height, it works like a charm. It’s also easier to position the keyboard at a neutral height and angle for comfortable arm and wrist position. Alternatively, I can more easily attach an external keyboard and maintain the right distance from the screen by making the laptop more vertical.

Great for controller gaming

A laptop keyboard is an important component for day-to-day use, but if you’re gaming with a controller and trying to relax back to do it, I often find myself sitting too far from the laptop to see the screen as comfortably. The keyboard just ends up pushing the laptop further from me because there isn’t the physical space in my cramped office to put it where I want.

With a laptop stand, I can make the most of the space I have, while sitting as close as I like for maximum visual clarity.

Using a laptop like a Kindle

Proprietary Eponym aside (I’m a Kobo man, myself), I’ve found my laptop stand can also be particularly useful for turning my laptop into a multi-device… device. Either propped on its side, or flipped around in tablet mode, I can lift the laptop up into a comfortable, vertical position and prop it up somewhere within easy reach. Combine it with reader mode and a wireless mouse for easy scrolling, and it’s a great way to set yourself up for reading longform documents, website articles, or even an Ebook.

The same goes for watching movies and TV shows, too. With a laptop stand you just have so much more control over how you look at your laptop. That makes it the perfect tool for building out a little media station for watching your favorites. Much better than slouching down and watching it on your lap. My back hurts even writing that.

Better thermals

This one is more important for gaming laptops, but most laptop stands can also act like a basic cooling pad. They don’t (usually) have fans built in, so they aren’t going to increase airflow dramatically, but by lifting your laptop up off of whatever surface it was on, it certainly increases its access to cooler air. Especially if it tends to pull that air in from the underside.

This is particularly useful if you want to use your laptop on a bed or otherwise flexible fabric surface that will almost completely block up any intake and exhaust vents your laptop has, causing it to swiftly overheat.

Using a laptop stand isn’t perfect, but it’s much better than trying to play games on a cushion.

Portability

I don’t know about you, but when I travel, I really miss my home office set up. The multiple monitors, the ergonomic display arms, the keyboard tray and standing desk set at just the right height.

While I can’t bring all that with me when I travel, I can bring my laptop stand. It’s not the same, and I still miss my usual set up when using it, but if I want to bring a little taste of ergonomic home comforts with me, I now can. It’s even the right wood grain.

Regardless of how it looks, though, a laptop stand is an ergonomic enhancer that you can bring with you. Considering the potential for worse posture and bad habits forming when working or living out of a hotel or airport lounge for a while, a laptop stand will now forever be on my travel inventory. It’s that important.