Lap Desks: Blogging on the Go Made Easy

Aug 16, 2010 by Nelly

If you’ve been blogging for a while, you know ideas and thoughts strike you the most when you’re least ready for them. I find myself solving the day’s problem in the few minutes before I go to sleep or while having tea and watching the news.

The problem used to be the limited amount of time I could spend on my laptop while in bed or just sitting on the sofa. Computer manufacturers inform the consumers that prolonged exposure to certain surfaces will cause heating to the laptop and more seriously potential burns whether to your skin (if you’re in direct contact) or to a fabric’s material (like your couch’s exterior material, bedspread, etc).

A while back I went shopping for a lap desk to solve the problem of laptop overheating, and also allow myself some physical flexibility while working.

I looked at some of the lap desks offered in small boutiques downtown, Chapters and Ikea.

To be honest, I found some of the lap desks in small shops a little on the expensive and impractical side. I wanted a lap desk that can be taken to different places, dropped on the floor, shoved in a trunk and basically able to “take a beating”. What the pretty boutiques offered were really nice and intricate designs, some had fun pullout legs, lamps attached on the side, and a few  were very “cutesy” and pretty to look at. All of the ones I’ve seen were over $50, and only a handful  came with padding on the bottom. The majority looked dainty, so an outdoors trip would probably prove quite destructive to the surface. I took a pass on those.

Chapters had a couple more practical solutions. They had a lap desk that had mini straps to hold your notepad, a shiny woody surface and a velvet beanie-like bottom that shifts the weight equally across your lap. The surface was a bit too polished for my liking; it was possible to take the lap desk outside but I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to wreck and dirty up the beanie underneath. The price tag on that was $49.99, which was more than what I wanted to spend – especially that the wooden surface wasn’t exactly a selling point for me.

The other option chapters offered was a plastic top with a beanie bottom and a cup holder for people to place their mugs or soda cans in. The price was right, at $29.99, but the more I looked at the lap desk, the less it appealed to me. The slick polished surface meant the laptop will go sliding left and right (even with the little rubber nubs Apple attaches at the bottom). The shape of the actual surface was a rectangle; hardly something that “fits” right if you’re sitting at a 90 degree angle. And finally, the cup holder didn’t really sell me the product because all I could think about is the potential hazard of spilling liquid on a flat surface that will surely trickle down to my laptop.

The IKEA product, Swedishly called the “Brada”, turned out to be just what I’m looking for. The surface, while plastic, is a little hardened and has small circular patterns that are raised and sunken to lessen the amount of moving your laptop does. The bottom is a detachable one that can be washed as well. The plastic surface is also curved in the front so it adjusts better to the human form sitting behind it, and there is a small pocket on one side that fits a controller, phone or anything of that nature. It also comes with a little handle on top, so you can carry it like a bag whenever you’re on the move.

At $19.99, it was a clear choice. It looked like it could stand some abuse, the surface was good and not something I’d worry about scratching and the detachable washable beanie made it all the more appealing.

I’m happy to report, the bag’s been outdoors, dropped on grass, smushed with many heavy pieces in a trunk and it still looks new. I’ve worked next to a river, on a farm, on a field, by the road, in a car, on the stairs, and it’s been an immensely useful tool.

Best of all, no overheating and hardly any heat felt underneath.

If you’re looking for a practical and reasonably priced lap desk, drop by your local IKEA and ask for the Brada.