2021-12 - Standing Desk

I recently got a standing desk for home - the Flexispot EQ5 ‘Pro’ courtesy of a sale on Amazon.

For years I just had an old basic IKEA desk at home - a piece of cheap board on a metal frame, and that was fine, even for the majority of the COVID-induced work from home. As the surface got more worn from day-to-day usage and random electronics and craft projects, I covered it with craft cutting boards to hide the rougher areas.

Finally, I decided it was time for something new, and perhaps a little smaller to encourage me to be a little more organised on the desktop, which was often littered with books, Raspberry Pi and Arduino projects, and general stuff. It wasn’t much of mental leap to decide on a standing desk. I used to have one at the old office, and I understood the benefits of them - if only for moving about during meetings, and stretching out a bit.

So now I have this standing desk, and it’s great, and the whole of my computer corner is neat(er) again. I was also surprised I only needed to replace 2 cables - the monitor DP cable, and a USB cable to my speakers and that only because my desktop machine is still on the floor. I may buy a harness later, but for now the cables will do the moving, even if it looks a little untidy.

It’s not just good for sitting at, or standing at either, I can adjust it just a few centimetres in either direction to just subtly adjust my posture, which is much more helpful and beneficial than it sounds. Given I had a neck issue in 2019, just minor adjustments I know can make a huge difference.

I do have to say though that the site’s claim that it could all be assembled in just 10 minutes, I find to be somewhat optimistic, though most of the time was taken screwing the four boards together to form the surface of the desk. It all does feel quite solid though, with solid steel components. The motors have a certain heft to them, and in use they’re not too noisy but as it seems to be screw driven, we’ll see how that goes over time, since I don’t think they’re serviceable.

After a couple of weeks with the desk, I’m as pleased as I hoped. I did swap out that USB cable for my desktop speakers, as it was a little tight when the desk is up high (a little higher than I use it to be fair), but I also started using the USB hub built into my monitor (which I’d forgotten about) for the mouse and keyboard - so one less cable going down too.

The surface material I’d had on a desk many years ago, and I know it’s quite hard wearing, so I’m not too concerned about that at this point, but even if it wears before the rest of the frame and motors, it’s just a board so I can replace it as needed.

Updates as they happen.