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The Floating PowerBook

Pingsmoth writes "With the proliferation of laptops today, many replacing the traditional space-hogging desktop computer, this seems like a neat idea to free up even more square footage on your desk. It's the floating laptop, a 'stand,' if you will, that is invisible to the average user and just as functional as other traditional laptop stands. The obvious appeal of the 'Floating Laptop' is its aesthetic quality, especially when compared to some of the other stands out there, but it's also cheaper ($15) and only takes a half hour to build."

15 of 236 comments (clear)

  1. Not convinced by JanneM · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good luck typing on it.

    --
    Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
  2. Disappointed by Tx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From "floating" I thought this was going to involve waterproofing.

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    Oh no... it's the future.
  3. My god what is this place coming to? by matthew.thompson · · Score: 4, Insightful

    First we have a guy who spends 1.5 years building something you can already purchase and now we have a guy who thinks he's clever because he re-invented the shelf!

    The iCurve is not that much more, far more stylish and when you count in the time can work out cheaper!

    --
    Matt Thompson - Actuality - Insert product here.
  4. ishelf by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    it's a shelf! wtf is this place coming to?

  5. Great but.... by 12ahead · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's not a real laptop stand that you can carry around. I was hoping to find something kinda stylish that goes with the laptop. Three chunks of wood screwed into a desk is good for the guy, but has limited use for anyone else looking for a cheap and cool laptop stand.

    Pointless story, pointless comment.

  6. Slashdot news - A SHELF! by mrRay720 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Front page news on slashdot today - a shelf.

    TO be honest you're doing this shelf a disservice anyway. It can hold much more than powerbooks, such as plates, magazines, monkeys, fish fingers, books, CDs, 750:1 scale whales, etc.

    A news item about a shelf is bad enough, but failing to give it a decent multifunction review is just criminal.

  7. Kinda neat, but... by de+Bois-Guilbert · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...how does that contraptioin make his desk any less cluttered? Especially since he doesn't actually seem to PUT anything in the space he "liberated".

  8. Form over function? by kronocide · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Invisible to the average user"? What does that mean? It's not invisible to superusers?

    This person obviously doesn't use his computer a lot, at least not for typing. That position is like begging for back and a arm problems. I don't even understand what the problem is with having the computer on the desk, but then I'm sitting by a miditower and a 22" CRT monitor, so obviously I have other priorities.

  9. This guy is an idiot by pair-a-noyd · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Freaking cardboard... And hanging an expensive laptop on cardboard? WTF is he smoking??

    That little strip of wood in the back isn't enough to hold that thing up. Wait a few days and see what happens then get back to us. Let the humidity go up some. Here, it's in the high 90's all the time. That little project of his would last about 30 seconds and that laptop would be bouncing off the floor..

    That's about the worst idea I've ever seen. Visually it's cool but in reality, it's dangerous, this guy is going to lose that laptop..

  10. You know it's a bad day on slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    when a post consisting of the single line "bad newsday, or what?" gets modded +4 INFORMATIVE

  11. Re:Notes by Ninwa · · Score: 4, Insightful
    "I don't get it."
    Me either, and I'm not sure the editors even looked at the article. My first response was, "Wow that's ugly looking, I don't want my laptop poking out of the back of my desk like that". My second response was that, "I don't even have a back to my desk, there's no hutch", and my third response was, "wtf..." followed by some more bewilderment.

    This article summed up, "Hey you can mount your laptopn on the back of your desk with wood!"

    This is news? I was hoping for some cool glass-seethrough-ish laptop holder. Ah well...
  12. Poor Ventilation by Grizpin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If the laptop being used has rear ventilation then the system temperature will rise with extended use. Not good for longevity of your hardware.

  13. Engineer he is not... by rAiNsT0rm · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Good Sweet Jeebus! This is Front page geek news?!? A monkey and a orangutan gould fashion something equally as "cool" as this. I'm no engineer (but I play one on TV) But building a simple "C" shaped structure would yield the same thing and be much more stable... Time for ASCII art:

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    Put a little pivot/lock at the top and it is instantly angle adjustable and all the space of this solution. Hell, for that matter, simply screw one 1'x1' square into the base of the desk flush against the back "wall" and the top part (still could pivot) and it is equally as hidden and much more stable.

    With a slight bit of neurons firing, just about any third-grader could come up with a better solution.

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    http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
  14. Worst "mod" ever? by squoozer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That has got to be the most pointless mod (I suppose you would call it) ever. I can't see any possible functional use for it. It places the keyboard at a height where you can't type and even if you could it would give you RSI in about 5 minutes. Worse though is the sort of dead space that it creates under it. I mean what are you going to do with that weird 30cm gap between the desk and laptop. At best you could use it as a sort of book shelf but then you could have just put your lapton on top of the books.

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    I used to have a better sig but it broke.
  15. Re:Notes by Abreu · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As a side note, I strongly urge you not to build furniture from mahogany, a beautiful wood and easy to work with surely, but its already becoming endangered.

    I suggest walnut or koa, which have very good properties, look beautiful and is a much better ecological compromise.

    Best regards

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    No sig for the moment.