In line with the Mayo Clinic, sitting behind a desk for as little as 4 hours a day will increase your threat of heart problems by as a lot as 125 p.c. And spending a couple of hours on the health club each week doesn’t considerably offset that threat. One of many clinic’s first suggestions: Use a sit/stand desk. I work in a house workplace in my good dwelling on a close to full-time foundation and was reluctant to make that funding. The customizable Evodesk XE Professional modified my thoughts, however not all its choices are good values.
In contrast to some low-cost options that relaxation on high of your typical work floor—mine is a six-foot-wide, 30-inch-deep sheet of ½-inch completed plywood sitting atop a pair of 27-inch-tall file cupboards—the Evodesk XE has a silky easy motorized elevate that goes as excessive as 18.45 inches inches to accommodate your peak and private desire. The microprocessor-controlled 24-volt motor can quietly elevate as much as 100 kilos in exact increments of 1/10th of an inch.
Costs for the Evodesk XE begin at $379, however obtainable choices can inflate your construct rapidly—including each obtainable choice to the desk itself boosts its price ticket to almost $750. I selected what I assumed have been modest and mandatory choices: The $49 Professional possibility provides a decrease shelf for my keyboard. Simply as importantly, it places me one other 9 inches away from my monitor. The $39 Programmable Reminiscence improve replaces the usual two-button peak management and provides a read-out of the desk’s elevation whereas it’s in movement.
The Evodesk XL Professional within the writer’s (messy) dwelling workplace, with a 30-inch monitor connected..
These choices elevated the worth of the desk to $467, however I rapidly found that the Programmable Reminiscence possibility is a whole waste of cash. Evodesk says it’s their hottest possibility, as a result of it may possibly retailer 4 peak positions: Push buttons 1 by means of four and the desk will mechanically return to that memorized peak. But it surely solely works should you maintain the specified button down till the desk reaches that peak. The desk stops shifting the moment you are taking your finger off the button.
Incredulous, and satisfied that I used to be not programming the reminiscence appropriately, I reached out to Evodesk concerning the scenario. Their response: “…we try this deliberately on our XE and XE Professional fashions for security causes. We are not looking for the models to grow to be high heavy and damage somebody.” I suppose you would pile sufficient crap on high of the desk to make it high heavy at its full peak, however I don’t understand how you’d be capable to see the monitor. If you’ll want to maintain the button down anyway, save your self $39 and simply maintain the up or down button down (except that show is essential to you).
EvodeskThe requirement to carry the non-compulsory reminiscence buttons down whereas the desk is in movement negates their usefulness. (This photograph doesn’t present the non-compulsory keyboard shelf.)
Development and different non-compulsory add-ons
The default materials is recycled wooden lined in a textured black or white vinyl, however you’ll be able to improve to rubberwood or bamboo for a further $39. An non-compulsory .006-inch-thick, clear vinyl pores and skin will defend these surfaces from spills and scratches for $67 extra. Your subsequent possibility is to cowl the desktop floor in fancier skins, including $139 to the worth tag. You may select from greater than 80 designs, together with fake stone and woodgrains, summary patterns, wallpaper-like surfaces, strong colours, and even a whiteboard floor for dry-erase markers. There are no-charge choices to alter the body coloration from black to silver or white.
Your closing possibility is to decide on a single monitor mount (included within the price ticket) or to spring for a dual-monitor mount, which provides $69 to the worth of the desk. Past that, Evodesk provides a bunch of equipment, together with anti-fatigue mats in your ft, cable-management packages, and prolonged warranties (the usual guarantee is a powerful 5 years). A number of adhesive-backed cable-routing clips include the desk, however these got here unfastened shortly after I caught them on. Wanting on the rat’s nest of cables dangling from the desk, I want I had opted for one of many cable-management choices.
Some meeting required
You’ll must assemble the desk when it arrives in a number of bins, an expertise I didn’t discover remotely pleasant. There are loads of screws to take care of, and also you’ll want three completely different sizes of Allen wrenches (offered) to do the job. Mounting my 30-inch show was significantly tough—I’d advocate roping somebody in that can assist you with that step. I didn’t attempt the dual-monitor mount, however you’ll need to bear in mind that the only mount is fastened: You may’t tilt, pivot, or rotate the show.
On the intense facet, even the recycled wooden within the fundamental mannequin is loads dense to carry the screws tightly in place. I’m significantly impressed with how effectively the keyboard tray is holding up given my propensity for pounding the keys (I’ve been utilizing the desk for about six months).
Along with my 30-inch monitor, I’ve a 14-inch laptop computer on the desk, together with a pair of Bowers & Wilkins MM-1 audio system and a rotating bunch of different stuff (proper now, it’s three compact headsets, a spare battery, a screwdriver, and a cup of espresso). There’s a full-size gaming keyboard and a mouse on the keyboard tray. Evodesk’s motor can elevate the desk from its lowest place to its highest in lower than 18 seconds. The motor slows to a easy cease while you elevate your finger off the button or earlier than it reaches its highest or lowest place, so nothing will get jostled.
Michael Brown / IDGHold your fingers clear whereas decreasing the Evodesek XL. I positioned this empty aluminum can beneath it to see if a sensor would reverse its motor when it encountered an impediment.
Hold fingers clear whereas working
I discovered the Evodesk extraordinarily steady, even at its highest place and with a 30-inch show mounted to it. It could take a substantial effort to knock the desk over. However it is best to take care to not go away something beneath it. There isn’t any stress sensor so far as I can inform, and the desk got here down with sufficient pressure to partially crush an empty aluminum can. This didn’t occur instantly, the can gave approach after I touched it, however the desk didn’t again off when it made contact with the can. Getting your arm or hand pinched between the underside of the desk and its metallic legs or the floor of your common desk could possibly be painful, although it most likely wouldn’t trigger damage.
I discovered the keyboard tray problematic by way of its width. At 27 inches, it’s the identical width because the desk, however my keyboard is 18.5 inches extensive. With the keyboard centered in entrance of the show, there’s lower than 5 horizontal inches on the right-hand facet through which to maneuver the mouse. The tray’s nine-inch depth isn’t an issue, however I’m continuously selecting the mouse up after I want to maneuver the cursor longer distances left and proper. A slide-out mouse tray can be a welcome addition.
Michael Brown / IDGA full-size gaming keyboard centered on the keyboard shelf leaves little room for mousing.
Do you have to purchase one?
The science appears settled in the case of the hazard of an excessive amount of sitting—a sit/stand desk will be good in your well being. Should you’re like me, a motorized mannequin just like the Evodesk XE that makes it practically easy to alter positions all through the day will encourage you to do exactly that. This desk is effectively constructed and it’s handy to make use of, however it’s straightforward to get carried away at ordering time, tricking out the desk with a lot of fancy choices and quickly inflating its price ticket.
The keyboard shelf is a should, though I want it have been wider. The Programmable Reminiscence possibility is virtually ineffective. I don’t miss having the opposite choices, aside from possibly the cable-management system. However that’s extra of an aesthetic situation than anything. The remainder of my dwelling workplace is a chaotic mess more often than not, so why ought to my cables look fairly?