Can anybody tell me why on earth all designers of PC workstations seem to have never actually used a computer in their lives? Having hunted round various fairly reputable office suppliers and general furniture stockists I'm stunned by the sheer morass of incompetent design work going on. PC alcoves with a solid back, monitor hutches with no way to get the monitor cable through, desks that want to locate the monitor so far away from the tower that you'd need an extension VGA cable for average joe's PC. Is it that hard to just make something with a little bit of intelligence? The best bit is that all the desks are pictured with case, monitor, and peripherals - but none of them have any cables connected. It's enough to make you laugh if you weren't so frustrated Has anyone here had to take the dremel or jigsaw to their new desk to get everything to reach properly?
Yep, used the good ol' jig saw before, then I got a new one... it's got problems too though, not tall enough for a PC greater than 24" tall, mid towers or less for me I guess.. The most hilarious ones are the ones that trap your PC inside a little drawer. Most commercial PCs are made to run silent now anyway, so trapping them in a box doesn't do anything for sound and makes a big hot-pocket out of your PC
Most "computer" desks are ridiculous, I stay away from them at all costs. Mine's just a simple one from Ikea - 4 bits of wood nailed together (with the one at the back only going 1/2 way down). Big, spacious, simple. Doesn't look much, but it gets the job done. [edit]Linkage
I have this desk, look at the picture. http://www.officemax.com/max/soluti...pansionOID=-536897596&prodBlockOID=1611325710 Keyboard & mouse are on the far left, the monitor and tower are placed correctly. Everything would be fine with this desk if you could mount the keyboard tray in the middle. But it's only the left or right side. But they do have punch outs on the backsider where the tower could go. It's a well built desk, but as you said it, not the smartest design. Right now I have my pc setup on the right side of the desk and my 27" LCD HDTV in the corner/middle. But I do really like this desk, and it'll have enough room for my second PC & dual 19" LCD monitors.
I was eyeing up this desk but it'd need a nice big jigsaw hole in the case cupboard door (covered with mesh of course) plus probably a matching uncovered rear one, and one for monitor leads. At £180 it's not really worth the hassle. This Argos jobbie is cheaper, looks it, but I don't forsee much hassle with cablin... decisions decisions
I just found a couple of old school desks (3/4 size) outside our flat one day. Me and my housemate took both by salvage rights.
Hehe, we've had a couple of those Argos jobbies before...never really worked for PC's, but the old Amstrad CPC fits nicely on them! My current desk is actually an old drawing table (with tilt lever). It's about 40"x28" and sits around 30" off the floor - it's a tad high, but has served me well (been using it for the past 6 or 7 years), plenty of space for my laptop + misc. junk.
the holesaw is your friend. you can get desk grommets for a few quid on ebay - sorted that was the only issue i had with my ikea desk (it was a fairly pricey galant one too) - 30 seconds with a holesaw, no more issues , although you generally have to glue the grommet in place. loose desk grommets aren't a lot of fun. i also used a buttload of cable ties + a usb hub/card reader combo glued to the underside front edge of the desk to tidy up my cables. there's a rather handy metal grid supporting the desk surface that i secured the cables to. i haven't come to a decent solution regarding managing my power cables yet. right now i just have a power strip in the corner. it's a little ugly. i was thinking of mounting it either to the desk underside or the wall.
I've got a table, with shelves for paper, and a metal bracket that dad put underneath to hold the the.. case thing. Although - if you can't beat them.. join them!
I like darkend's desk (somewhere in hit orange monster project log there is a pic, I will edit when I find it) The glass ones seem to do do the job better than most because they are backless. TBH some of the office desks are great, plug boards on the under side and holes for the cables to go through, cant ask for much more than that. except maybe a more wallet friendly price i guess lol
The problem with a lot of glass desks is their supporting frames are cheaply-made and bend/creak a lot. Unstable and wobbly desks suck. The best desks are office desks - they're made to last forever, and often with practicality in mind, the only real problem is that they're often massive and heavy.
massive is a GOOD thing! well, if you have room. i love my sprawling desk! i would have made it bigger with a secondary part if my room dimensions didn't get in the way
I had to take a holesaw to my desk to route cables, but to be fair, it was because I was running cables where they don't normally go. I really need to get a new one. My current one, a corner desk, is a 3-part jobbie, and because the floor isn't flat, I have 2-inch gaps between the separate sections.
For cheap and cheerful Argos seem pretty good, although since you're in England you might want to try Ikea or local office suppliers - both thin on the ground over here. Do you want bells and whistles like a monitor hutch and build-in CD racks, or would you be happy with a plain desk and sit the PC beside it? Thing about what you need then go hunting, you'll find something easily.
Basically cheaper better, I suppose I will be looking for just a desk typing thing, no need for cd rack etc
