Affordable adjustable standing desk

That said, I've been sitting at desks for decades. I'm a little reluctant to buy or build a high desk with the assumption that I will be able to stand at it all day and be productive. The adjustable desks give you a "way out" even if it's just for a few hours a day while you get used to it. I think that's why they are popular. Few people want to commit to a change like that and all the ways to "Try" a standing desk are nearly as much effort as the ~$500 is worth. especially if you are counting it as business or office expenses as I would.

In my case it would be $85 for the stool, plus a few hours labor and materials to build a little stand on top of my existing desk which includes a trip to the lumber yard. Then if I like it I go out and buy a permanent standing desk for about $150 and I'm rapidly approaching the same cost as if I had just gone and bought the adjustable desk in the first place.

I wish the solution was that simple for me. If I were the type of person it would work for, I would definitely go the stool/highchair route over an expensive adjustable desk.

Also as a fairly active person (I run, ski, hike, bike, do yoga and climb pretty regularly) with aging joints I've found I need true rest/recovery time enough that standing the majority of the time doesn't work well for me.

It's really strange because in Denmark it is really common to have height-adjustable tables in all the offices, but in London I haven't seen one.

I found that I could manage that posture with a sufficiently adjustable chair and height-adjustable desk. I adjust the chair until it provides the correct height off the ground (feet touching, hips at the right angle), then adjust the desk and the chair arms until the chair arms go just over the edge of the desk, allowing arms to rest on them and use the keyboard naturally.

(Also, I use a USB ThinkPad keyboard, so my mouse is on home row, not off to the side.)

Many years ago, after developing intense pain in my wrists and shoulders I decided to look into it. I was spending 14 to 18 hours a day in front of the computer (which was part of the problem, of course).

After many experiments I finally arrived at a desk design that worked wonders. I welded the frame out of mild steel for rigidity --which I found was important-- and surfaced it with plywood and formica. It's a two level desk with the front dropped down to about 26 inches. The drop alone wasn't enough. The front edge of the keyboard shelf has a 1.5 x 1.5 inch piece of oak running the entire width. This piece has a generous radius and is highly polished and waxed.

During use your arms hang naturally on your sides. Your forearms are pretty much parallel to the floor and a point just behind your wrists rests on the oak support. Picture your hands lightly hanging into a cavity that contains the keyboard and trackball. No muscular tension to speak of.

This made ALL the pain go away and the carpal tunnel soreness evaporated. I went from being on a road to surgery to, well, feeling perfectly normal, even after extended sessions. And, BTW, ditching the mouse was a huge part of this. Mice introduce tension. A thumb operated trackball does not (after you get used to it).

I also like to work standing up but recognize that comes with it's own set of issues.

I don't think $500 breaks the bank here - it's an expensable item, costs less than a high-end smartphone, and probably has much better ROI.

(Bearer of neck pain)

Generally, I would say that 75% of people stay sitting most of the time, 15% will stand for about an hour per week, and the last 10% (including myself), stand fairly regularly.

I particularly like to raise it when I have others visiting my desk, it is nice to have everyone on the same level (literally, then hopefully figuratively).

My favorite so far are the pneumatic/spring desks. Someone walks into your office, two seconds later you're standing side-by-side pointing at things. When you're done, it's just as easy to go back down.

There's still a lot of room for improvement though, no matter which desk you end up with.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/wor...

Other methods that use sliders with bolts or pegs, telescoping tubes with compression rings, and the like can be MUCH cheaper, but almost impossible to adjust if there is any thing on the desk. The are mostly used to set once an leave.

Honestly, electronically is probably easier.

Having crawled under enough office desks searching for a free power socket, the idea of a hand crack is very appealing.

Though the other commenters do make good points, I do imagine an electrical version would potentially be lighter.

So, I emailed them and explained how burned I felt by the whole thing. They argued with me that preorders are not being given free shipping. So, I pointed them to the FAQ page. This was on October 15. As of November 4, 2014 at 3:10 PM CST, their FAQ page still says preorders will receive free shipping. If they're not honoring that for preorders, I'd be super angry if I were trying to preorder the desk and got bait-and-switched into paying shipping when they're clearly advertising otherwise. And, lo these three weeks later, the FAQ still tells me I paid an extra $58 for my desk that I paid for in May.

Beyond that, communication with these jokers has been spotty, spread across various social media channels. (It looks like they abandoned Twitter months ago. Friday and today were the company's first activity on Facebook since May.) The Kickstarter page saw very little activity over the summer and then Steven Yu posted a long "we're sorry" post explaining some of the unexpected things that happened to delay shipping and to affect the shipping costs. Every item in the list is something that would have been totally understandable if it had been shared as it was happening. Instead, the company chose to go radio silent. From my point of view, when I've sent someone more than $500 for a product that doesn't exist yet, that radio silence leads quickly to that sinking feeling of having thrown away a bunch of money. Some honest communication about the situations would have just gone so far to not burning through whatever good will the Kickstarter backer community had toward them.

Luckily, it seems that this long nightmare is about to be over and desks are leaving their warehouse. On October 17, I was told via email that my desk was scheduled to arrive "in 2 weeks" and that they would get it processed and out to me "as quickly as possible". Friday I emailed to ask about the status, and as you can guess, I haven't heard anything back.

Overall, the experience with StandDesk has been frustrating and uncertain and after all this delay, they're letting others like IKEA to catch up. For my part, I'll be thrilled to receive my desk, but mostly just so I can never have to deal with this company again. With any luck, packaging and delivery will be good enough that they won't have availed themselves of literally the last opportunity to vex me.

Based on your description, it sounds like you probably live in your laptop. Other folks don't, and a hand-adjustable keyboard stand may not work very well for them. Imagine, for example, trying to raise something like that — even assuming it could take the weight — while using multiple monitors.