Customer Reviews

Mission Oak Corner Desk - Southern Enterprises HO6041

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this a few days ago and it arrived today. It was well packed and despite the box looking a bit beat up, all the components emerged unscathed. It took me 90 minutes from sliding the box in the front door to having it assembled and sitting in the corner ready for my 27" iMac (which fits it beautifully, I might add). All the dowels and cam lock parts lined up reasonably well, and I took the time to add wood glue to all the dowels. I found the instructions to be adequate, and EVERY part (wood pieces and hardware) is labeled with a sticker so there is really no excuse in not being able to figure out how to put it together. Most of the parts are particle board veneer with a warm, stained-oak look, but I have to say it is actually a pretty good veneer and would pass for the real thing unless closely inspected. The assembled piece is handsome and sturdy. I am happy with the purchase except for the keyboard drawer. The look and function of it are fine, but the sliders are extremely flimsy and flexy. My keyboard is bouncing up and down slightly as I type this. They were 95% of the way there, and then they cheaped out on this one part. Too bad. I may have to replace the sliders with something better in the future.

Overall a nice piece of furniture. The same thing in solid wood would cost 3-4x as much. The downside to veneer is that if you get chips taken out or the finish gets damaged, there is no real way to refinish it. Face it, it's no heirloom. Aside from the drawer sliders, for the price, it's hard to beat. Corner desks are also very rare, so I am doubly grateful for the find.

The desk looks nice. However it would be better with room to store the CPU. Also the thing that makes this desk have such a low rating is that it is very very difficult to assemble. It took 2 people 4.5 hrs to assemble the whole thing. Some of the screws are also hard to use. In addition, the keyboard pull-out cabinet is not big enough to hold a keyboard with a pad at the bottom, so you have to use it with a basic keyboard that has no wrist pad. The hole in the keyboard tray is convenient though for the wires for the mouse and keyboard. Overall, it looks nice but is hard to assemble and it is not always convenient. Some reviews say that it is easy to assemble but that depends on the assembly instructions given to you by the company...the one I received was very difficult and unclear. My sister also bought the same table for her house a while after me and she got a professional carpenter to construct it and it took him 2 hrs, and he's a professional!!

For a 9x12 room, this item is perfect. It does not take a lot of space. It was easy to put together and the wood has an elegant look to it, which thankfully was a good match for the other wood details in the room. The build quality is a solid B+. For the price definitely a good buy.

It was a bit tricky to assemble and although I closely followed the directions, I still managed to drive one of their screws THROUGH the top of the desk. Whatever. It was just the right size and I thought it looked pretty nice. 6 Months Later: So I'm sitting at my desk, working at the computer, and the keyboard tray just falls into my lap. The whole thing separated from the top of the desk. I managed to drive screws through the top of the desk into the particle board beneath, which holds the thing together temporarily, but since it's mostly made of PARTICLE BOARD, it's almost sure to fall apart again. Stay away from this desk.

The overall look of the desk is fine, but I was disappointed that the hardware did not work as well as expected. There had to be repeated attempts to get the parts to stay together. At one point, I was so focused on getting things to stay, I turned a diiffrent type of screw so hard, that the it came through the top side of the desk. My fault entirely, but caused by the fact that all prior hardware needed alot of "umph" to get it to stay.

A pretty nice desk considering the price. Desk is made in China from cheaper wood, particle board and wood veneers. Overall the wood veneer and general finish are nice and the desk, once assembled, seems sturdy. However, assembly components and instructions leave much to be desired. Components come clearly labeled, but assembly diagrams are small and not well illustrated. On more than one sub-assembly the diagram did not clearly indicate the proper orientation of parts and it resulted in having to take everything apart and re-assemble. Also, one component was not correctly manufactured in that metal fittings were placed in the wrong holes causing a few minutes of confusion. Fortunately, I was able to carefully unscrew the fittings from the wood and screw them into the correct holes. Finally, the metal fastners (cams/cam locks) are made of cheap pot metal and will break if over tightened. (Fortunately, it came with one extra after I broke one). Wooden dowels are also used, but no glue provided. I strongly suggest assembly with some wood glue due to the cheap cams/cam locks.

Given these considerations, I would still recommend this desk due to the price and nice veneer finish, but with the caveat that you examine all components and instructions very, very carefully as you assemble and buy a small bottle of glue.

The most annoying thing about this desk is the lip at the end of the pull out key board shelf, my wrists go numb and I loath having to type for a long period of time. I'm currently looking for a new desk but other than that it's a sturdy decent desk if that lip doesn't bother you then it's fine.

I am very pleased with the quality and beauty of this Mission Oak Corner Desk from SEI. It arrived very fast. I put it together quick and easy. The instructions were very easy step by step so simple to follow. I consider this desk the BEST desk I've ever owned. It is perfect. It is a pleasure to use it daily. Thank you SEI for your commitment to excellence.

Bought this as a space-saver for my son's room. Looks good, reasonably sturdy. Don't underestimate the time it takes to assemble (allow an hour or more). The "cam locks" which hold adjacent pieces together work okay, but you need a BIG phillips screwdriver to tighten, and they are soft, so do so carefully. Also, count ALL the hardware components before you start. There are dowels used to align pieces, and I was a few short. Was able to substitute from the local hardware, so not a major problem, but not all parts are so easily sourced. The manufacturer provides a phone number where parts can be ordered.

It looks good when assembled. A warning -- assemble in the room where it will reside OR measure your door openings in advance. The width is deceiving because of all the open-space in the design. I know because I had to take the legs off to move it into the bedroom.

A good value, looks good, assembly a bit complex. We'll know about durability in normal use later.

4.5 hours to assemble? Did you have both hands? If you can put together a Lego set built for a 7 year old then you can put this thing together in about an hour. Have a screw driver and a power drill (cuts your work time in half. It's not rocket science...wooden dowels and screw the thing together. Looks good when finished. Note: It's not hardwood...but that's about the only negative.

Matt