Laps Under: LapWorks Futura Laptop Desk Review

We’ve all been there. Whether waiting for the plane, getting some work done in a coffee shop, or just relaxing on the couch at home, our laps have been warmed by the heat put out from a laptop. Just about every laptop accessory maker has released some sort of barrier to put between the bottom of our machine and the top of our precious bits. I had the privilege of testing out the LapWorks Futura Laptop Desk and see just how well it can keep the heat down to acceptable levels. As a point of reference, I’m using an HP EliteBook 8530w. It’s not the hottest machine I’ve ever had on my lap, but it can certainly put out some pretty decent heat.

LapWorks Futura Laptop Desk

The base unit is 21″ wide and has holes to help vent the hot air from the bottom of your laptop. There are also rubber grips on both the top and the bottom of the desk, so that you don’t have to worry about the laptop sliding off onto the floor while reaching for something. Being able to grab your cup of joe from the table, without having to worry about spilling either your laptop or coffee, is a nice touch. The desk snaps together when it is folded so it won’t flop around, and at roughly 11″x11″, can easily be tucked away inside a laptop bag. If you’re sitting at your desk, you can fold it, but rather than snapping it together, there’s another arm that folds down so that you can prop up the laptop at various different heights.

As far as build quality, the desk is also made out of a high quality ABS material which is the same kind of plastic that you find in auto body parts and golf club heads. By using the ABS plastic, LapWorks has made a durable, lightweight desk. It doesn’t feel like a flimsy, chinsy, piece of junk, but rather a high quality, lasting item, that is rugged enough to survive many trips.

LapWorks also has accessories for a wide variety of the trays that they manufacture. We were sent two additional mouse trays that snap on to the primary desk. The first is a smaller tray called the Futura MouzPad. This unit extends the workspace by an additional three inches, and snaps tight to the tray. When using it for a mousing surface, it gives very little and feels like it’s part of the desk itself, rather than an addition.

There are four additional holes that LapWorks calls “utility holes.” On their website, they pitch them as a place for pens or to capture a mouse cord. I can buy the pens part, but the cord part might be difficult – a USB plug cannot fit through even the larger of the holes. Also, having even a few pens sticking out would cut into your mousing space. However, dedicating the MouzPad as solely a mousing surface will not disappoint – it’s snaps on securely and provides enough space to navigate around the monitor. The best part is that it snaps on to either side of the tray (or you could just rotate the tray), which means left-handed mousers can also use the MouzPad.

Now the REAL purpose we were sent this unit was because of the second mouse tray, the Max MouzPad. This unit can be used with the Futura (our test unit), or the UltraLite Lap Desks. This accessory is a 9″x11″ mousing surface with right- or left-handed mounting options. There are also notches cut into the opposing edges of the surface to guide cables and keep them out of the way of your mousing action. The cupped corners can also be used to catch your wireless mouse – you could try to put a cup on it, but I certainly don’t recommend it. This surface also comes with the utility holes much like the Futura MouzPad and they look to be just as functional.

The Max MouzPad is geared toward gamers (the packaging material seems very WoW-ish, as a matter of fact), and their biggest goal was to add a large enough mousing surface that gamers wouldn’t have to raise the mouse. The size definitely allows this: playing Left 4 Dead worked out pretty well for the most part. Cable guides kept my mouse cord out of the way, the surface was large enough that I didn’t have to deal with picking it up and setting it down, and the texture of the surface is very similar to that of a Ratpadz GS, which is my desktop surface.

The only drawback, however, is pretty big. The unit is SO big that it doesn’t share the same rigidity of the Futura MouzPad. Basically, the farther you move the mouse away from the laptop, the more that the tray would bend down. For regular web browsing it isn’t as noticeable, but in heated gun fights, the surface turns into a sort of diving board. When not in a heated gaming session, the 9″x11″ surface provides a wonderful place to put a document or notebook, which is especially useful for both the grown up or school-going gamer; preparing reports – either the financial or the book variety – has never been easier while plopped on the couch.

For any road warriors out there, I highly recommend this. I spend a tremendous amount of time on the road and this is certainly a useful tool to add to my arsenal. Whether I’m in a coffee shop on the road or settled at a hotel desk, this desk will get a lot of use over the next few years.

Editor’s Note: You too can win one of these bad boys. We have 3 to give away. Leave us a comment below and we’ll choose the three most creative and interesting comments to receive their very own LapWorks Futura Laptop Desk.