Saturday, October 11, 2008

Review: the iFold - a stand with flair


Official product homepage


Intro

If you read some of my other reviews you will notice that there were quite some few reviews about notebook stands. Today another stand will join the reviews. It's the iFold manufactured by Matias Corporation.

Design

The design of the iFold is very unique to say the least. It's a portable stand that will lift your Macbook quite a bit and its construction/design is something I haven't seen yet. Usually a stand is either very portable and doesn't lift your Macbook that much or it does lift the Macbook to considerable height but is not really portable. With the iFold though the creators managed to combine both aspects by having a very smart mechanism that literally folds the stand to portable size.

Everyday use


I have been testing the iFold for almost 3 weeks now and I must admit that I am very surprised how much more comfortable it makes me work with my Macbook. At home it raises the Macbook to a perfect height so if you are an external monitor user it will make it more comfortable to work with both monitors (external, Macbook display). Despite the look the stand is very stable and the rubber pads on the iFold will prevent your Macbook from falling off the stand. The iFold also had a nice side effect on my desk which was more space. Since with the iFold you have a lot of free space between the Macbook and the desk I now just put my external HDs under my Macbook and when I'm finished working I can also put my external keyboard under it to free up my desk. If you are someone that uses the Macbook a lot on the road you can also use the iFold while sitting in the bus or train. Just use it in the folded state as a "protector from burns caused by your Macbook". It's pretty comfortable to have the iFold on your legs and than the Macbook on it than just the Macbook (the Macbook can get rather hot at the bottom enclosure).


My thoughts on the iFold

So what is my final verdict on this product? I'd say this is one of the most beautiful stands design wise. The black shiny frame with the steel parts looks very exclusive and shows how much Matias cares about using good materials. The manufacturing on this stand is superb also. After three weeks of heavy use (folding and unfolding the stand) I can safely say that this stand won't fall apart that easily. What I liked most about this stand was the following aspect: it lifts the Macbook to a very comfortable height and in doing so also provides more space to store stuff (e.g. external HDs, keyboard, mouse, tablet, etc.). You can compared to other stands store a lot of gadgets under the Macbook when you don't use them and clean up your desk from clutter. It's also usable when you are on the road but in my opinion the strength of this stand lies in home use. If you are looking for a unique stand that gives your desk and Macbook setup more flair you definitely should try this stand.


MB-switcher