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Quality (80%):
Features (100%):
Value (100%):
Overall (93%):

Unsurprised (albeit immensely pleased) to see the product arrive within 48 hours (delivery times consistently brilliant is always nice), we eagerly unwrapped and unboxed the stand.

For those who weren’t aware, we recently reviewed the excellent Ergotron LX Dual-Monitor arm which scored a rather whopping 93% on our tests and left us wanting to see more of what Ergotron offer.

Enter, the Ergotron Neo-Flex Notebook Stand. Having already looked at their top-of-the-range desktop lineup, we were skeptical that Ergotron could produce an “as-good” notebook stand, based on a completely different design, but were more than happy to give the shiz a whizz.

Helpfully shipping with a pair of velcro cable ties and two 15-centimeter strips of sticky-sided velcro (for what, I’m not totally sure – cable management perhaps?), the model we received was finished in a glossy black.

I rarely have the patience to read through manuals and although one was provided, in the case of the Neo-Flex there’s really no need (at least for setting up the gizmo). It comes pre-assembled, you see.

Innovative Product Features

1) Support for projectors as well as notebooks. It’s not actually all that easy to get a projector positioned at the right angle and in certain “professional” situations, it can seem a bit lame and cheap to be propping up a machine with a stack of books.

2) Rollers on the front two legs allow the stand to pivot on the back leg, meaning if you’re sat at a desk across from a client, you can quickly flip the laptop-screen round to show a prospect how awesome whatever it is you’ve been working on has been going.

Nicely enough, the roller-wheels aren’t succeptible to being accidently knocked but are reactive enough to make repositioning the device (even if just a silght nudge as is so often necessary when using a projector) easy and painless.

Real Life Usage

The only real downside was that using the keyboard & trackpad on a laptop mounted on the stand became tricky, not just because the whole machine was raised to a wrist-defyingly uncomfy position, but because when significant pressure (i.e. furiously fast typing) was put on the laptop whilst mounted, the stand would shake.

This is easy enough to solve, using a separate keyboard (giving you the benefit of allowing fullsize goodness once again, just like a desktop), but only really works well when not on the move. In all honesty however, the Neo-Flex stand, whilst not heavy at all, certainly doesn’t strike me as the kind of thing one would want to lug about with them.

The stand comes into it’s own in office use. I rarely move my MacBook from my desk (using netbooks on the go a lot more), and the stand raises the screen up to the same height as the rest of my monitors.

As already mentioned, this gives me an excuse (and the desk space) to use a full size keyboard in addition to the lappy, as well as a more ergonomically awesome mouse.

Which brings us onto the next point.

Ergonomics, baby.

Using laptops at a desk (hell, using laptops at all, to be perfectly honest) isn’t particularly good for one’s body-posture as the smallish form factor (you seen those 17″ MacBooks? Sheesh – aside from them) generally leads to a hunched position over the laptop, leading to lower back pain and problems both at and away from the office. Not good.

By raising the screen and using a separate set of input devices, this issue is sidestepped altogether, allowing you to both position the screen in such a manner that your head isn’t bent over and your hands in such a way that they’re not scrunched up to your body.

Essentially useless on the move. Absolutely awesome on a desk. The Ergotron Neo-Flex Notebook stand comes Wilki.me Recommended, given it’s comparatively low price-point of £45 (in the UK – $60 in the US).

Congratulations Ergotron. We officially luffle your products.

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