Introduction
This review is dedicated to those of you who
have laptops, or for those who have a desktop and are thinking
about replacing it with a laptop. How many of you with laptops
are fed up with having to keep looking down, and adjusting everything
to view the laptop's screen? Or are fed up with stacking phone
books under your laptop to get a better view of the screen?
Well I am completely fed up with it! The neck
pains have gotten to me. I had to find a solution. After browsing
around the web for a bit, I came upon a company called Lapvantage,
interesting name I thought. I didn't even have to browse their
website for long before I found what seemed to be the ultimate
solution. The Lapvantage Dome!
What is the Lapvantage Dome you
may ask, well basically it is a stand for you laptop, a laptop
stand. There a few different kinds that I have seen, but none
like this one.
What does it do? Well it elevates your laptop
to eye level for an optimal vantage point. So you can now view
the screen the same way you would your desktop's monitor. No
more bending, or head bowing to view the screen.
Many people are now replacing their desktop
systems with laptops. They are portable, powerful, light weight,
and you no longer have to wait till you get back to the office
or home, to do what has to be done. Though many people still
do like the idea of a desktop, with a Dome, you can have the
best of both worlds.
All you need to fully replace your desktop with
a laptop is, along with the Dome, you only require an external
keyboard and mouse, and that's it. The Dome will allow you to
tuck an external keyboard up to 3.5" under the platform.
This keeps you close enough to your laptop's screen for comfortable
viewing while preventing back and neck strain.
Lapvantage's website includes the following
information from the U.S. Center for Disease Control. They recommended
against using laptops as primary computers unless they are used
in a way consistent with neutral posture: "The monitor
should be placed so the top of the screen is at or just below
eye level when seated in an upright position, as shown below."
The Lapvantage Dome features:
- Adjustable height (4.75 to 6.5")
- 360º swivel built-in dome base
- Polished clear acrylic platform
- Support arm made from anodized aluminum
- Base made of durable, recycled ABS plastic
- 30 Day Money Back Guarantee
Some may wonder how it got the
name Dome, well I think there is an art to it. If you stand
on your head for four hours and then sit down in front of it
you will see that the base is a dome, which is quite a fitting
name for it.
The height can be adjusted from
a minimum height of about 4.75 inches to a maximum of 6.5 inches
that gives you a little less than 2 inches to play around with.
One of the great features about
the Dome is the fact that the entire unit can swivel a full
360º. The bottom of the swivel base has 6 clear rubber
feet that will not allow the stand to slide or move easily.
So you are able to turn the laptop without having to move the
stand. It is a very simple feature, but the benefits of it,
outweigh its simplicity.
The stand at the maximum height (6.5 inches)
The stand at the minimum height (4.75 inches)
Installation
Included with the Dome were two clear rubber type feet that
are to be mounted on the top, rear section of the stand. This
allows cool air to continuously re-circulate around the laptop.
The fact that this was thought of, shows that a lot of thought
was put into the development of this product.
The biggest thing to be done was
setting the height of the Dome stand. Now the instructions state
that it is recommended that you make adjustments to the stand
height before placing the laptop on the stand. The height you
would set is determined by the desk you sit at, the height of
the chair, your own height, and how you are most comfortable
viewing the screen.
With reference to cleaning, the Dome can be
easily cleaned using water, a mild detergent, and a soft cloth,
avoid using anything abrasive. It may not require such a cleaning
all the time, a light dusting should be fine though.
One thing I would rather see is a matte finish
on the stand itself. It comes in high gloss, which looks really
good. The finish on it is very tough, and will not scratch easily.
Conclusion
Using this laptop stand is very nice it is a nice change, from
always having to bow down to see the screen. Once you start
using it, you would realize how comfortable it is. It really
does not matter what I tell you, you will never really understand
how comfortable it is, until you begin using it.
This is a great and very useful product. For
anyone that owns a laptop this is the ideal peripheral. All
that you need with this combo is an external keyboard and mouse.
What would be a nice combo with the Dome, is a built in wireless
receiver, as well as a wireless mouse and keyboard. So all that
you would have to do is to connect the receiver to the laptop,
and you will be good to go.
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