Latosta Portable Laptop Stand Review

Nowadays, more people use laptop primarily than the bulky desktops. Laptops are portable and nice, but when the screen is so low on the surface, you may find yourself aching on your neck / back. So what do we need? A laptop stand! I’ve been looking into many of the well known stands, but they were either too expensive, too bulky, or simple inefficient.

Then I found a true portable laptop stand from Starlight Creations called Latosta!

Here I have two different versions:

Elecropolished Stainless Steel – $16.95, 2 oz.
Black Anodized aluminum – $15.95, 0.72 oz.

The package arrived super fast and well packaged in bubble envelope and my test subject was Samsung NC10 Netbook.

Latosta Package Latosta on side

Pictures are worth thousand words, so let’s look at some more.

Pretty cool, without taking much space, I could easily adjust it within few seconds. But I’ve encountered a problem regarding many criticisms that people have, that it would block / interfere with optical drives and ports. Unfortunately, it was blocking my VGA port that I’ve used to connect my external monitor. Look at it yourself.
Latosta on a netbook Latosta with VGA plug
But oh well, it’s not like all laptop users have external monitor =p
(Update: By moving it further backward, it actually works well without a problem! Yay)
On the product page, it clearly states “The stand overlaps the top of the keyboard by 1/2″, so it is generally not suitable for keyboards who’s keys are within 1/2″ of the edge.” Without even realizing how small my netbook was, here was a problem again. It covered bits of the keys. But with an adjustment of putting the lacosta in a different angle (pic), it seemed to solve the problem.

Before & After
Latosta normally positioned Latosta positioned differently

I would also like to give feedback on comparisons of two different versions. First one is made out of stainless steel, 2 oz, while the second one is made out of anodized aluminum only weighing 0.72 oz, which is less than half of the steel one. For my preferences, I would go with the light one, as it is significantly lighter. Maybe because I have tested this on a netbook that weighs less than 3 lb, but I have also tried it on my 9 yr old laptop that weighs like 10 lb. I would definitely go with the solid feeling steel just to be safe.

COMPATIBILITY GUIDE: For laptops with keyboard thickness (not including display) of 1 1/4″ (32mm) or less. The stand overlaps the top of the keyboard by 1/2″ (13mm), so it is generally not suitable for keyboards that have keys within 1/2″ of the edge; Not compatible with Apple Air or other laptops with beveled edges on the bottom of the keyboard. For use on tables or other flat surfaces only.

I would definitely recommend Latosta to anyone looking to use laptop primarily. The original version costs $9.95 on sale so check out the site. There’s more detailed testings and specifications @ Latosta

Pros

+ Portable, extremely light and small
+ Affordable price, variety of options available
+ Definitely helps cooling of the laptop

Cons

- Laptop needs to have flat edges