Pocket Notebook Stand notebook stand review: Pocket Notebook Stand notebook stand

Unlike other laptop stands, the Pocket Notebook Stand is designed for use away from your desk. The 3.8-ounce piece of plastic doesn't take up much room in your laptop bag, yet the simple device provides just the lift you need to make computing away from home--be it at the café, the library, or on an airplane--a bit more comfortable.

6.5

Pocket Notebook Stand notebook stand

The Good

Small shape doesn't take up much room in your bag; lightweight; lifts laptop to comfortable typing angle; may provide cooling effects.

The Bad

Telescoping rods feel flimsy.

The Bottom Line

You can't get much simpler than the Pocket Notebook Stand, which makes it a little more comfortable to use your laptop on a café table or airplane tray.

In its compressed form, the Pocket Notebook Stand is a single brick that measures 4 inches wide, 2.5 inches deep, and 1.3 inches at its thickest point--a little bigger than a travel mouse. Pulling on either end of the stand reveals that it's actually three separate pieces connected by telescoping rods. The extended stand measures 9.3 inches wide and provides a solid base for any laptop up to 15.4 inches in size.

Propping the back edge of your laptop on top of the Pocket Notebook Stand lifts your display a touch higher and holds your keyboard at a 27-degree angle for more comfortable typing. At first glance that angle seems too high, but as soon as we started typing we realized it was far more comfortable than typing on a laptop keyboard that's flat on a table. Lifting the laptop also allows air to circulate beneath the system and may provide some cooling effects.

We appreciate the nonslip rubber ridges on the stand's surface and the rubber feet at its base, which hold laptops remarkably stable. In a nice touch, the Pocket Notebook Stand comes packaged with a microfiber carrying pouch that doubles as a screen wipe.

Our only complaint: The telescoping rods that hold the three pieces of the stand together--similar to the metal antenna you'd find on a handheld radio--flex considerably and seem prone to bending or breaking. But we hardly expect a lifetime commitment from a product that costs just $17, and we think people who frequently use their laptops in nondesk environments will be willing to overlook this flaw in exchange for the comfortable typing angle the stand provides.