Portable Desk for PC, Mac Notebooks Improves Ergonomics and Reduces Heat
LapWorks™ Inc., the market leader in ergonomic and heat- reducing laptop desks, stands, and accessories today announced a fashion-forward addition to its Laptop Desk™ family – the Laptop Desk Futura™. Like its Laptop Desk 2.0 and UltraLite siblings, the Futura’s dual-purpose design provides an ergonomically-sound workspace across the lap, and folds into a wedge-shaped stand for desk use. An oval-shaped burst differentiates the chic Futura design, and it will be LapWorks’ first laptop cooler to come optionally in fashion colors in the coming months. The initial units, in modernistic ‘gun-metal’ gray, retail for $29.95 directly from LapWorks.
To improve laptop cooling over previous designs, LapWorks 1) created open ventilation slots which were previously closed channels so cool air can enter from under the Futura, 2) elongated these slots by 2 inches so hot air has a better pathway to escape from under wide-screen notebooks, and 3) created a 1/8-inch air space to let cool air circulate under the notebook with rubber pads that lift and separate it from the Futura.
“In the next three months we plan to offer the Futura in bright, modern, hand-painted colors similar to iPod/MP3 player skins,” said Jose Calero, LapWorks’ president. LapWorks also plans to offer customized Futura paint jobs. All colors – hand-painted and customized – will be offered at premium prices. “Some of our customers have asked when we might have a trendy Laptop Desk, so we are dipping our toes into the fashion fountain with the Futura,” Calero explained.
The Laptop Desk Futura weighs just over a pound (16 1/4 ounces), and folds in half to 11 x 10 3/4 inches and one-half of an inch thick for easy traveling in any computer bag. It is constructed of high-impact ABS plastic, and carries a one-year warranty.
“The Futura’s design takes better advantage of the thermal dynamics of heat rising to cool notebooks,” said Calero. “The moment hot air radiates from the bottom of a notebook, it travels laterally looking for the quickest way to rise. The new open, elongated slots let cool air in from the bottom to mix with and begin cooling the hot air seeking its way out and up. Additionally, we are confident that the Futura will not absorb sufficient heat to overheat and radiate heat downward, which is good news for the lap.”
The Futura retains key design features of the award-winning, dual-purpose Laptop Desks v2.0 and UltraLite.
As a lap tray, the Futura unfolds into a wide, 21 x 11 x 3/8-inch workspace. Ergonomist Sally A Longyear, CIE, MPH, uses LapWorks’ wide-span lap desks to demonstrate correct posture. “LapWorks’ Laptop Desks span the entire lap so you can relax your knees naturally instead of squeezing them together to balance a laptop,” Longyear says. “This minimizes strain on the shoulders, neck, back and arms.” This illustration shows correct laptop-using posture on a desk and on a lap (http://laptopdesk.net/press-photos.html#ergonomictips).
As a desktop stand, the Futura folds into a wedge shape that offers 5 typing angles that incline the notebook’s keyboard for more ergonomically comfortable use than when set flat on a desk. It also elevates the screen 3 3/4 inches closer to eye level at maximum incline to reduce neck strain.
Because of the limited mousing space on the Futura, customers who prefer an external mouse when using a laptop on their lap should consider the Laptop Desk 2.0 or the slightly longer, yet lighter Laptop Desk UltraLite which was designed to support notebooks weighing less than 5 pounds. Later this year, LapWorks expects to offer a snap-on MouzPad to expand the Futura’s mousing area.
About LapWorks:
LapWorks Inc. develops and sells affordable, ergonomic portable computer lap desks and desktop stands that take the hassles and hazards out of mobile computing. LapWorks invented the wide-span portable lap desk product category in 2001, and is the only company making dual-purpose lap desks that double as desktop stands. LapWorks Inc., 7955 Layton Street, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730; 909-948-1828; 877-527-9675; email: sales@laptopdesk.net; Web site: http://laptopdesk.net/.
