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Comment by pcblues | Hacker News Reader

A couple of points.

It is not aesthetically pleasing at all, which is important to me, for whatever neurological reason. Also, I consider a laptop stand as just a device to raise the screen to a better ergonomic level on the understanding that an external keyboard and mouse will be used to operate the device.

Otherwise, in a laptop stand, ergonomic keyboard use requirements pull the incline towards level, and ergonomic monitor height requirements pull the incline upwards, so there is no healthy angle for a laptop stand.

As already mentioned by andrei_says_, typing fingers should be below the wrist (as correct piano playing has proved for centuries).

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Stands like this have to be paired with an external keyboard.

Raising the monitor so that the top is as close to eye level as possible (while maintaining a straight back) is better orthopedicly.

It's impossible to achieve this and a good keyboard posture, so you must introduce an external keyboard.

Without an external keyboard, there is no value in using a stand, you might as well just keep the laptop in a neutral position.

I use my glasses case to raise the back of the computer. It adds a gap between table and computer. The rubber nobben on the underside of the laptop prevent the glasses case from slipping. This raises the notebook to a nice angle and the keyboard is still usable for me.

Shouldn’t the monitor be centered at eye level? Or is it worse to look a little bit up than down?

I have had office desks professional adjusted by an occupational safety orthopedic person and that has always been the advice I was told.

Another piece of advice was that on a standing desk your forearms should not be parallel to the ground but slightly below your elbow.

You can't get ergonomics with a (modern) laptop keyboard. Reaching over the touchpad is at best, a compromise. Unfortunately keyboard at the edge + sidemounted trackball is long dead, and keyboard at the edge + pointing stick didn't last a lot longer.

Last I used a laptop at a desk on the regular, state of the art laptop stands were reams of printer paper. Worst case, you need to actually use the paper in the printer and you're out a stand until you restock.

I often observe people at my office using the laptop keyboard and monitor exclusively, while sitting at their desks, even though we are all given external monitors, keyboards and mice.

I guess they are young and their bodies don't hurt yet.

I've been doing that for the last 18 years and I started when I was older than most people here. I never liked the mandatory external monitor and keyboard at the company I was working for before becoming self employed: I preferred to look down to a screen, not up or level.

I like it because it's ugly.

Vladimir Horiwitz begs to differ.

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