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DIY MacBook Stand
- exhilaration 9y agoThat looks kinda flimsy... I'd be a little scared of putting my (employer's) $3000 Macbook on that.
- Faaak 9y agoSeriously, are you afraid that your macbook can break falling from 10 cm ? I'm worried when my thinkpad falls from 1 m high.
- bdcravens 9y agoIt looks as steady as some of the pricey aluminum stands I've bought.
- rconti 9y agoLooks fine to me. I've dropped my Air from over 4 feet with not a scratch, granted it landed on a wood floor. Even if this somehow broke, it would only break in one direction, causing it to tilt and fall meaning the speed on the vertical would not be so huge.
- d13 9y agoYeah, they're really tough - a drop of a few feet is fine.
- nkoren 9y agoI use this for my MacBook stand: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/small-storage-organisers/storage-boxes-baskets/dr%C3%B6na-box-black-art-30219281/ http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/small-storage-organisers/... It folds up compactly, is extremely lightweight, and has survived 4 years of almost daily use without complaint. Highly recommended.
- AdamGibbins 9y agoI'll stick with my superior Roost, thanks.
- johnwheeler 9y agoThe nexstand, although a knockoff, is half the price and more robust
- AdamGibbins 9y agoIt's also depriving the inventors of their return for their excellent invention and the quantity of R&D that went into making it.
- falcolas 9y agoThe diagram of the center spreader piece doesn't make any sense without context. Are the four pieces glued in place? Is there a tab that isn't visible in the picture which allows it to be sandwiched between the other two pieces? What materials? Is there a cad save file for cutting it ourselves?
- ChuckMcM 9y agoAgreed it is confusing, the JPEG "is" the CAD file (although there is a DXF file as well) but laser cutters will often use a JPEG as the profile image. Here is my guess, you laser it out of acrylic, you slot the two large parts together to form an 'X' (looking down from the top) and you glue in the four wedges using solvent glue to stabilize the X shape of the two pieces.
- knolan 9y agoWhich is daft because you can just cut another slot and shove a bit in at an angle to lock it — no glue needed. Also the CAD is useless unless you have the exact thickness of material to laser cut since you can't adjust the cut width. This could easily have been a clever script to generate an SVG to match your material thickness and laptop dimensions. This is submission is well below the bar for what I usually see on HN.
- falsedan 9y agoPeople will post any old drek for karma & downvote anyone who questions the frontpage algorithm's objective rightness at displaying only the hackerest articles.
- Frye 9y agoNo one heard of thingiverse?
- ericskiff 9y agoI think this is great and like the approach to the design! Amazingly it was almost 10 years ago that I put mine up on Thingiverse - thing 32, while we were still testing before making Thingiverse public :) https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:32 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:32
- ZeroGravitas 9y agoDoes the cardboard version in the photos work, or was that just a prototype?
- ericskiff 9y agoIt works great! I had that on my desk for quite a while. Eventually it gets beat up and starts to wobble a bit, so wood or acrylic last longer, and in fact we still use some of these at my office years later.
- mfonda 9y agoMy DIY MacBook stand is simply a pile of old textbooks. Gets the job done and comes with the added bonus of adjustable height.
- jakelarkin 9y agoah, the mythical $500 MacBook stand (4 or 5 college textbooks)
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y agoSunk cost though. I use parking tickets as bookmarks. At least I'm getting some value out of them.
- xab9 9y agoI just love how github ends up being blog, forum, wiki, disqus-clone etc. for us tech people. As for the stand I used this cheap ikea-hack: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c7/c9/a0/c7c9a072c328a3596186e1b711b65bf6--laptop-storage-laptop-desk.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c7/c9/a0/c7c9a072c328a3596186e1b71... (can't find the original post sry)
- tambourine_man 9y agoI don't know if I love that, but it has turned into all of those things indeed.
- amelius 9y agoAs long as GitHub doesn't abuse its control of the portal, it's okay.
- bitwize 9y agoGitHub is basically DeviantArt for programmers. When you look at it that way it all makes sense.
- rootlocus 9y agoWhile both are filled with low quality content, personal experiments without public importance, etc. I think github has some high quality, community relevant content that DeviantArt lacks. I see it like both DeviantArt and something like ArtStation.
- jimmies 9y agoI have tons of silly projects on GitHub. The same thing for DeviantArt too, I would think the 1-hour programmer hackjob is probably just as bad as a 1-hour caricature.
- mxuribe 9y agoI actually dislike that fact very much. Oh, I don't disagree that github is that for so many users...and i can not disagree with the convenience of what github provides...I simply dislike that it is all controlled/owned by github...a single point of technical/infrastructure failure, and a single corporate entity where so much content (content beyond raw code, that is) is hosted...not unlike the facebook effect. I wish people hosted their content in a more decentralized fashion.
- KayL 9y agoI use a roll of toilet paper (not a joke).
- amcnett 9y agoI use five little 4oz paper cups (also not a joke).
- stevenjohns 9y agoI personally use an mStand[0] by Rain Design. I was using a small cardbox box before that and my employer at the time gifted an mStand to me. The difference is night and day and it made me appreciate my MacBook's display much more even when it was connected to an external monitor. I also found myself using multiple (virtual) desktops so much more as well. If you're able to afford it, I really recommend shelling out the extra cash for a proper stand. If not, and you have an employer that might buy it for you, go out on a limb and ask for one. It might really improve how you interact with your laptop. [0] http://www.raindesigninc.com/mstand.html http://www.raindesigninc.com/mstand.html
- bllguo 9y agoI'm actually really surprised by this gushing review - I use the same stand at work, but I don't think too much of it. Could I ask you to elaborate? Just curious.
- stevenjohns 9y agoA lot of other stands don't have the laptop sitting so high above the desk, making them much closer to the table or even flush but angled upwards from the back. As it sits now, it is high enough so that it matches the exact same level of eyesight as my external monitor. This makes the external monitor compliment it rather than replace it. The shape also allows you to move your hands around under it, whereas if it was lower or if the design was different it would interrupt movement and usage of an external keyboard. Other things I like about it is that it's super solid, it's all just a single piece, made of aluminium (for heat purposes) and the rubber things on it keep the laptop held securely in place.
- discreditable 9y agoI recently released a stand I made for my ThinkPad Yoga. It'd probably work for a Macbook too. They're very close in size. I like mine a little better because I can put the dock and cables under it. https://github.com/KeenRivals/ThinkPad-Yoga-Laptop-Stand https://github.com/KeenRivals/ThinkPad-Yoga-Laptop-Stand
- vaporary 9y agoNice, thank you for sharing! I'm curious, which 3D printer did you use?
- knolan 9y agoIt looks laser cut, most schools would have a laser cutter nowadays because they’re stupidly easy to use. It would be difficult, and inadvisable to print something this large on a regular 3D printer. Thingyverse is literally full of designs like this and often much better. https://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:1?q=Laptop+stand&sa=&dwh=125a30729324def https://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:1?q=Laptop+stand&sa=...
- discreditable 9y agoIt's not laser cut. I used a MakerBot Replicator 2. It was actually quite easy to print. I designed it roughly two years ago after browsing thingiverse and getting bad print results with the larger stands. The smaller single-piece stands were too flimsy/unstable. I also wanted the stand to be just big enough to fit a Lenovo docking station under it.
- knolan 9y agoSo you printed it in pieces and assembled it? I’m sorry to be harsh but this is the kind of thing we get undergrads to do on day one of an internship. Why do you feel it was worthy of posting on HN?
- 9y ago
- kevin_thibedeau 9y agoSeems like a roundabout way to avoid using an external monitor.
- majewsky 9y agoMuch cheaper though.
- ThePadawan 9y agoI use a similar (more portable) stand for another use case: Hotdesking between offices. One external monitor on all desks. Using built-in monitor as well as external monitor sucks if you constantly have to look up and down. Using a stand, I can have the typical multi-monitor experience (aligned top borders).
- jordache 9y agoThis is wonderful, and vents the bottom of the laptop https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Ventilated-Adjustable-Laptop-Stand/dp/B00WRDS8H0 https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Ventilated-Adjustable-La...
- kadal 9y agoI have this one and the thing that sticks up pokes my wrist all day. I don't think a human tested it for any amount of time.
- mikewhy 9y agoDo people use their laptops when on a stand? I thought they were to keep them off your desk and make room for a full sized mouse / keyboard.
- freehunter 9y agoI thought it was to bring the monitor to eye level.
- d13 9y agoI'm puzzled by this too, can't people just look down?
- freehunter 9y agoI had all kinds of neck problems staring down at a 13" laptop on my desk all day. Once I moved the screen up so I was looking straight, the neck problems went away. It's one of those things where you don't notice it until you do. When you do, it's a big problem.
- jordache 9y agohuh? I use it while using the laptop in clamshell mode. What else do people use stands for? Surly it's not to elevate the screen to eye level and still type on it? That's just awkward.
- bhauer 9y agoI might be missing something, but it looks like it would work with most 12 or 13-inch laptops, not just Macbooks.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- weaveoftheride 9y agoLike the idea of using github for physical bluprints.
- chadcmulligan 9y agoI use a couple of kitchen handles connected to a couple of timber angle brackets all from IKEA, cost about $20 I think and lasted me years so far
- anotheryou 9y agoAnyone else moving his monitors as far down to the table as possible? I just use a stand to get more space on my desk by the tilting (on my home setup, where I have one big nice screen). At work it's dual monitors and I keep my laptop shut while docked.
- wyclif 9y agoYes, I've never liked elevating the monitor. To me it's uncomfortable and bad ergonomics. I want to avoid tilting my head up to look at the monitor. I want my eyes looking slightly down from a completely level position, and this decreases eye strain. I've never understood why so many people want to jack their monitor up on a box, fat technical book, or stand. The most important thing is to make sure the surface of your desk is at the right height for working while sitting or standing.
- tapia 9y agoWhat makes this a MacBook Stand and not a general notebook stand for any other 13" notebook?
- majewsky 9y agoTwo guesses: 1. Adding "Macbook" to the title increases the chance of getting to the frontpage (like some sort of cheap SEO). 2. People starting to use "Macbook" when they mean "notebook" like when you use the verb "google" instead of "search on the internet".
- yeukhon 9y agoI can agree about 1 and the last part of 2. But I am willing to bet you people’d say “laptops” to refer to any non-Apple laptops.
- dragonshed 9y agoI've also made my own MacBook stands, but using MakerBeams[0]. After receiving a kit as a gift, I messed around with several small projects and simple things, but I've consistently used the stands since I've built them. Very solid and stable, yet open, and I'm able to use the desk space underneath them for dongles, cables, or whatever. Everything I needed was included in the kit, except for some vinyl endcaps and foam sheet material, both added to protect the macbook and my desk from scratches. [0] https://www.amazon.com/MakerBeam-Regular-anodized-including-brackets/dp/B00BBH3LZC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1513121807&sr=8-1&keywords=makerbeam+starter+kit+clear https://www.amazon.com/MakerBeam-Regular-anodized-including-...
- SimeVidas 9y agoA bunch of shoe boxes works fine too
- mesozoic 9y agoI like this. I'd like to see more "open source" easy to make by the average person accessories.
- abawany 9y agoI use this: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20302596/ http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20302596/ . Works great at the desk for me since I don't use an external monitor.
- Vinnl 9y agoIsn't the screen still pretty low when you use that? (That's actually my gripe with most laptop stands, come to think of it.)
- abawany 9y agoFor me, it was a good improvement compared to the stock laptop position (13" MBP). I guess it reduced the angle of neck-crane by half so for the price, I was pretty happy.
- teekert 9y agoIt's nice but a Samsung FullHD 24" PLS (Samsungs IPS) cost about 130 euro's nowadays. The DPI is to cry about but it beats working on < 14" any day for me. Maybe this solution is nice and useful because you can take it with you together with the keyboard and trackpad and get a reasonable working posture anywhere?
- michaelgrafl 9y agoYour comment confused me at first, because it didn't even occur to me that people would use this stand to correct their posture when working with the laptop on a desk. I use a laptop stand (stacked carton boxes) at work to use it alongside my two 24" monitors. If I weren't lazy I would build this stand and use it so my desk would look nicer.
- jressey 9y agoShoutouts to the water bottle acting as an iPad stand.
- andrew_wc_brown 9y agoI remember building one of these 10 years ago. Nice to see the resurgence