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They're ~$500 and ~$600... Anyone know where I can get a standing desk (don't care if it's adjustable) that isn't insanely expensive?

epoxyhockey 12y ago
$500-$600 is actually cheap! I haven't been able to find a motorized sit stand desk for less than $1200.
- possibilistic 12y ago
  I don't know why the GP poster is being downvoted. For most of the world's population, $500 is not cheap. I find it difficult to categorize the desk, a tool for productivity, as a luxury. I know that's just personal bias speaking, though. The market supplies alternatives of varying degrees of quality, functionality, and design for ordinary desks. I wish there was equal demand for standing desks. Nothing ever seems to bring down the prices for them.
  - pbreit 12y ago
    For $100k/year workers (the main HN audience), it's cheap. Especially considering it, along with a chair and a computer, is by far the most important tools for said audience.
    - vorg 12y ago
      > For $100k/year workers (the main HN audience), it's cheap So you don't believe the tale that the primary audience for Hacker News are actually working on startups? If someone can't afford US$500, they can make a desk out of a plank of wood on top of some bricks or old furniture. A standup desk is a minor modification. One can then put a bunk bed for sleeping above the desk, and thus share the room with co-founders. Co-founders can then take turns sleeping in the car.
- chmullig 12y ago
  ++ These are really cheap compared to alternatives on the market.
fatboy 12y ago
They're esoteric enough that I'd be surprised to see a reasonably-priced one. I've made a simple desk in the past with an ikea top like this one http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S29870932/ http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S29870932/ and four lengths of 100mmx100mm planed softwood for the legs, and four big (10mmx200mm) countersunk screws down through the top into the legs. It was surprisingly sturdy, and takes a few minutes to assemble once you've got the parts.
jseliger 12y ago
Anyone know where I can get a standing desk (don't care if it's adjustable) that isn't insanely expensive? As others have said the Ikea version is actually insanely cheap: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-standing-desks http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-standing-desks .
diggum 12y ago
I recently built myself a standing desk using an Ikea shelf for the base, which was around 2.5' and using floor flanges and conduit to raise the desktop to the height I needed. I love it. Some tips: - get an anti-fatigue mat to stand on. - Ikea desktops should not be cut to fit unless necessary. I needed to lop about a foot off, and was surprised that the core was literally cardboard. - consider adjustable feet below the desk to fine-tune the height for your needs, then use commodity parts for the rest. It's MUCH simpler than trying to rethread pipe.
kourt 12y ago
Common cinder blocks / gray blocks measure 16" x 8" x 8" and cost about $1.30. I stack two in order to get 16" of lift and place a stack under each corner of a traditional flat desk. I actually have two desks, one for keyboards and another for monitors, so I needed 8 stacks, but you get the idea. It provides a huge, stable flat work surface for $10.40 per desk. If you are shorter, half-height blocks are available to get to 12" of lift, or if your are even shorter, just use one layer and get 8". I also bought a 29" wooden bar stool at Wal-Mart for $20 to take brief breaks for standing.
kevinmchugh 12y ago
A couple years ago when standing desks were first starting to take off the Ikea Jerker was the go-to. It's not adjustable, and ran ~$100 at the time. Craigslist/Ikea should turn one up for $100-~150 now. I've been using one for nearly 3 years (not always 8 hours/day) and it suits me very well. Get a good mat to stand on and a nice monitor mount and you're set. (that said, $500 for an adustable one is very very reasonable. that price was unimaginable 2 years ago.)
mmikeff 12y ago
Four of these: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60261626/ http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60261626/ and a table top to go with it. Not adjustable unless you take all your stuff off it, but a whole lot cheaper.
dspillett 12y ago
Ikea (in the UK at least) used to do a great fixed standing desk with piles of useful shelf space above and below, but I think it is now discontinued. I was lucky enough to get one for home free from a colleague who moved house and it didn't fit in their new arrangement in the new place. A quick search here shows small standing height units for as little as 250UKP including VAT and motorised ones for ~500UKP - so I expect you'll find some fixed height examples available in your state in the $250 range (assuming that prices follow the 1UKP->1USD pattern seen in what I pay for electronics and similar goods rather than the actual exchange rate which is currently closer to 1UKP->1.6USD - that may be an ill-informed assumption). Another option for home if you have the skills (or friends that do!) is to make one. Before I got the free desk we were going to take the tools to breakfast bar furniture (which a friend had going spare after some renovations and which legs of the right sort of height) and install it in that corner of the home office.

epoxyhockey 12y ago

$500-$600 is actually cheap! I haven't been able to find a motorized sit stand desk for less than $1200.

possibilistic 12y ago
I don't know why the GP poster is being downvoted. For most of the world's population, $500 is not cheap. I find it difficult to categorize the desk, a tool for productivity, as a luxury. I know that's just personal bias speaking, though. The market supplies alternatives of varying degrees of quality, functionality, and design for ordinary desks. I wish there was equal demand for standing desks. Nothing ever seems to bring down the prices for them.
- pbreit 12y ago
  For $100k/year workers (the main HN audience), it's cheap. Especially considering it, along with a chair and a computer, is by far the most important tools for said audience.
  - vorg 12y ago
    > For $100k/year workers (the main HN audience), it's cheap So you don't believe the tale that the primary audience for Hacker News are actually working on startups? If someone can't afford US$500, they can make a desk out of a plank of wood on top of some bricks or old furniture. A standup desk is a minor modification. One can then put a bunk bed for sleeping above the desk, and thus share the room with co-founders. Co-founders can then take turns sleeping in the car.
chmullig 12y ago
++ These are really cheap compared to alternatives on the market.

fatboy 12y ago

They're esoteric enough that I'd be surprised to see a reasonably-priced one. I've made a simple desk in the past with an ikea top like this one http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S29870932/ http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S29870932/ and four lengths of 100mmx100mm planed softwood for the legs, and four big (10mmx200mm) countersunk screws down through the top into the legs. It was surprisingly sturdy, and takes a few minutes to assemble once you've got the parts.

jseliger 12y ago

Anyone know where I can get a standing desk (don't care if it's adjustable) that isn't insanely expensive? As others have said the Ikea version is actually insanely cheap: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-standing-desks http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-standing-desks .

diggum 12y ago

I recently built myself a standing desk using an Ikea shelf for the base, which was around 2.5' and using floor flanges and conduit to raise the desktop to the height I needed. I love it. Some tips: - get an anti-fatigue mat to stand on. - Ikea desktops should not be cut to fit unless necessary. I needed to lop about a foot off, and was surprised that the core was literally cardboard. - consider adjustable feet below the desk to fine-tune the height for your needs, then use commodity parts for the rest. It's MUCH simpler than trying to rethread pipe.

kourt 12y ago

Common cinder blocks / gray blocks measure 16" x 8" x 8" and cost about $1.30. I stack two in order to get 16" of lift and place a stack under each corner of a traditional flat desk. I actually have two desks, one for keyboards and another for monitors, so I needed 8 stacks, but you get the idea. It provides a huge, stable flat work surface for $10.40 per desk. If you are shorter, half-height blocks are available to get to 12" of lift, or if your are even shorter, just use one layer and get 8". I also bought a 29" wooden bar stool at Wal-Mart for $20 to take brief breaks for standing.

kevinmchugh 12y ago

A couple years ago when standing desks were first starting to take off the Ikea Jerker was the go-to. It's not adjustable, and ran ~$100 at the time. Craigslist/Ikea should turn one up for $100-~150 now. I've been using one for nearly 3 years (not always 8 hours/day) and it suits me very well. Get a good mat to stand on and a nice monitor mount and you're set. (that said, $500 for an adustable one is very very reasonable. that price was unimaginable 2 years ago.)

mmikeff 12y ago

Four of these: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60261626/ http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60261626/ and a table top to go with it. Not adjustable unless you take all your stuff off it, but a whole lot cheaper.

dspillett 12y ago

Ikea (in the UK at least) used to do a great fixed standing desk with piles of useful shelf space above and below, but I think it is now discontinued. I was lucky enough to get one for home free from a colleague who moved house and it didn't fit in their new arrangement in the new place. A quick search here shows small standing height units for as little as 250UKP including VAT and motorised ones for ~500UKP - so I expect you'll find some fixed height examples available in your state in the $250 range (assuming that prices follow the 1UKP->1USD pattern seen in what I pay for electronics and similar goods rather than the actual exchange rate which is currently closer to 1UKP->1.6USD - that may be an ill-informed assumption). Another option for home if you have the skills (or friends that do!) is to make one. Before I got the free desk we were going to take the tools to breakfast bar furniture (which a friend had going spare after some renovations and which legs of the right sort of height) and install it in that corner of the home office.