Category: Stands
Works With:Any notebook computer
Price: $17
Using a laptop on your lap is a pretty bad idea. Not only does it get hot, it also forces you to hunch your back or neck, and if you have any kind of carpal-tunnel problems they’ll make themselves painfully obvious pretty quick.
The Curb only fixes one of these, but it does do a pretty good job.
What It Is
Curb is a little floppy plastic Toblerone used to prop up the back edge of your MacBook (or other notebook computer). It is rigid enough to use on your knees, keeping the hot bottom of the computer off your lap, and also has a little notch in the middle to pass your power cable through.
And the version I tested glows in the dark.
The Good
The Curb does indeed make it more comfortable to use the MacBook on your lap, not only keeping your thighs burn-free but also letting the air circulate around your Air, keeping the computer itself cooler.
It’s also good on the desktop, where the cable-notch is actually useful. Not for routing the cable when you’re actually using the machine (although that works fine of course), but as a place to stow your cable when the MacBook has been removed: The notch is a great cable keeper, stopping your MagSafe from slithering off the desk and onto the floor.
The grippy surface of the prism-shaped Curb is also essential to its effectiveness. I have used many things to prop up my MacBook in the past, but this one wins if only because the computer doesn’t slide down and eventually drop onto your desk.
The Bad
It glows in the dark. I can’t thing of any good reason for this apart from maybe helping you find it in a bag. It’s certainly not good if you use it in a bedroom. But this is subjective.
More objective is the observation that the Curb wants to twist in your lap. Because the cross section is an isosceles triangle, and the notch is in the top of the most acutely-angled edge, it has a tendency to tip over. That said, once it has tipped, it’s stable. My advice would be to just throw it on your knees at any angle and let it find its own best spot.
The Verdict
The Curb does its job very well. I was skeptical that I should even write a review of such a simple slab of plastic, but it’s actually a rather handy thing to have around. It even works as a paperweight, or as a quick-and-dirty place to prop an iPhone or iPad to give it a little extra angle on the desk.
Finally, there’s the price. At just $17, you can’t really go wrong.
|
Product Name: : Curb The Good: Effective, cheap, works great, almost unbreakable. The Bad: Prone to tipping. The Verdict If you have $17 to spend on a little rubber strip for your MacBook, then you should do a lot worse than the Curb. Buy from: m |
