There are many Ergonomic products out in the market. While I do not purposely choose Ergonomic school bags or buy Ergonomic writing desk, I do take care of my sitting posture, the eye level angle on the top of the screen, the distance of keyboard and how my arms are in parallel to the desk. After all, I am sitting down at my desk 8 hours a day, 5 days a week! Also, I had completed a Workplace Ergonomic Online Training at my workplace, so I am trying to remember to stretch and take my eyes off the screen every half an hour or so. Easier said than done though, but I am trying!
So with this chance of reviewing the ErgoSilver Laptop Stand at home, I am happy to accept the invitation to do a review. The frequent laptop user is really the hubby who reads Chinese stories online late into the night, follow by me who blogs in the wee hours of the night or morning and then my children who watch Tayo, The Little Bus, Pororo or China’s Voice on my laptop. It is important for them to place their eyes at a correct eye level so as not to strain their necks with their heads tilting forward. With every inch that your head is tilted forward, it adds a 4.5kg to the weight that your neck is holding up! The neck, head and shoulders are constantly pulling up your head. This muscle strain will produce lactic acid and will cause burning pain and cramping. So over time, shoulder ache will be experienced and a series of problems will come along.
The hubby and kids were the first to use the ErgoSilver Laptop Stand. They love it because it is portable. For the first few days, I had seen the laptop stand everywhere in the house. On the bed, on the dining table, on the coffee table and even in the toilet! We love the sleek design where you can hide the cables at the bottom or behind the stand. The weight of it is heavy enough to not topple over.
Then it was my turn to use the laptop stand for blogging. Initially, I loved that it raises the height of the laptop to my eye level. However, I wondered if placing on the work desk will be too high for the kids. Nevertheless, I always see them putting on a low table or the bed, so that level is comfortable for them while they lean back to watch their shows.
I started to do some serious typing, and realized that typing directly on the laptop is not as ergonomic as the laptop stand is made out to be. My arms are tilted upwards and I find my elbows hanging in the air while I type. Instead of having the ergonomic position of putting my arms parallel to the desk and type, I am hanging in mid-air to type. So for this, it was creating some shoulder pain after typing for some time.
Maneuvering the mouse was not so ergonomic too. I have to constantly bring my right arm down to the desk level to move the mouse around as opposed to the ergonomic position of placing the mouse at the same level as the keyboard with arms at 90 degrees to the position of the mouse. After some time, I gave up and decided that perhaps an external keyboard will be best suited for this laptop stand to achieve its purpose.
Having an external keyboard will be perfect for the best ergonomic position and the laptop stand’s design is good for putting a keyboard directly below the stand to save space too! It really is good in raising the laptop to the eye level.
Hence, if you are considering to purchase the ErgoSilver laptop stand, do check that you have an external keyboard to use with it.
As I am a lazy person and much prefer to carry my laptop around the house to work anywhere without lugging an external keyboard, I am happy to let the hubby and kids continue to use the ErgoSilver Laptop Stand instead.
When I gave my feedback to the ErgoSilver folks, they recommended the Laptop Riser for those who want to type on their laptop directly. This riser allows you to type on your original keyboard while raising the top of the screen to your eye level. As the screen is slanted backward, the riser does not need to be as high as the laptop stand itself. It is also extremely portable and lightweight so you can carry your laptop around.
For more information on ErgoSilver, you may visit their website here.
Disclaimer: I received the ErgoSilver Laptop Stand for the purpose of this honest review. As you can see that my review is not 100% positive, nevertheless the folks at ErgoSilver are open to my honest review even if it contains negative feedback! All opinions are purely my own and different people have different opinions. I am glad that the sponsor has a positive attitude towards receiving feedback from customers, regardless good or bad or like this one, publicized in a blog post 😃