Xbrand XB-1002 360 Height Adjustable Laptop Stand with USB 2.0 Hub

by Hotwire Development

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 11 x 8.5 inches ; 3.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000GB3E9W
• Item model number: XB-1002-US
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 17, 2006

Product Description

360 HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE LAPTOP

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good inexpensive way to turn a laptop into a desktop, March 31, 2007

By 

Robert Carnevali "Typical, middle-aged guy" (Trenton, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Xbrand XB-1002 360 Height Adjustable Laptop Stand with USB 2.0 Hub (Personal Computers)

Having a laptop, I wanted to be able to use the laptop as a desktop in a spare room in my house, but still be able to quickly take the laptop without having to fiddle with a lot of plugs. This X-Brand stand showed a lot of promise, so I gave it a try.

The stand has a four-port USB 2.0 hub built into it. You place it on your desk where you would normally place a display or LCD panel. You plug a USB keyboard, mouse, and any other USB devices you may have (printer, scanner, USB hub) into the stand. At that point, it's ready to go. You simply place your laptop onto it, and plug the stand's USB connector into your laptop's USB port. All of the devices plugged into the stand are then connected to your laptop, giving you a full-sized keyboard, a mouse, and whatever else you have plugged into the USB ports. The stand angles your laptop so that while you cannot use your laptop's keyboard (which is why you plug in a full-sized keyboard), the laptop's display isn't as far back as it would be if you laid it down flat and placed a keyboard in front of it. The display is also raised a bit higher and is closer to eye-level. The end result is that with a single plug, you transform your laptop into a very workable and convenient desktop.

There are some drawbacks to this device. If you have a laptop with a front-mounted CD/DVD drive, it will become inaccessible since the front of your laptop rests on the front lip of the X-Brand stand. Also, this particular stand does not have audio capabilities, meaning that you'll still hear sound out of your laptop's speakers. If you choose this model, I would recommend getting an iMic audio adapter. It's a tiny USB audio device that has an analog input and output. While designed for a Macintosh, it's recognized and fully supported by Windows XP and Vista. With an iMic (or anything similar) plugged into the X-Brand stand, and a full, amplified PC speaker system plugged into the iMic, when your laptop is hooked up, you have full audio capabilities from powered speakers, just like any desktop.

There is a model above this one that has more features. The higher-end X-
Brand stand has a built-in ethernet adapter and audio controller (similar to the iMic). This stand can have powered speakers plugged into it, and be hooked up to your network. When a laptop is placed onto it, you have instant network capabilities and full, powered audio. While this is nice, the majority of laptops have wireless capability and do not need a USB-based ethernet connection. The only flaw I found with that particular X-Brand model was that there was a problem with the audio jack on it, and the left speaker did not work. The sound from the right-speaker did appear to be of low quality, sounding a bit garbled and with some static. I do not know if that was indicative of the defective audio jack (since the left speaker did not work), or of the USB audio chip within the stand. If you already have wireless capabilities on your laptop, and have a wireless network, it'll be more cost-effective to just buy an iMic and this particular model X-Brand stand that only has the USB hub, rather than buying the higher-end model with USB, ethernet, and audio.

All in all, I find the X-Brand USB notebook stand to be well worth the money. It lets me use my laptop like a desktop, yet in a way where it's easy to grab my laptop when I'm on the go.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very nice, April 26, 2008

By 

Trevor "Rotorhead" (Fuquay-Varina, NC USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Xbrand XB-1002 360 Height Adjustable Laptop Stand with USB 2.0 Hub (Personal Computers)

I ordered this because I use my Macbook Pro (15") quite a bit and found that my neck was hurting from constantly looking down at the screen. The four positions of adjustment are not equally spaced, i.e., from a level position to the first angle is more significant than moving from position 2 to 3 or 3 to 4. It does raise quite a bit so everyone should find a level that works for them.

I read reviews in advance that pointed out that only the level and first incline positions were usable for the Macbook Pro's as the hinge of the notebook, while opening widely, cannot open far enough to make positions 3 or 4 usable. Your mileage will vary depending on the maximum angle your screen will open to.

The hub works flawlessly, but does require usage of the A/C adapter (included) with my MBP. The warning tag on the USB cable that comes with the unit indicates that the power adapter must always be used when utilizing the hub. Without it plugged in, it will not work even with low power devices like mice and keyboards.

The unit's wheels allow you to easily rotate it in place for sharing. Their orientation allows the unit to rotate, but not shift forward/backward or side-to-side.

The front bar has a sliding release to lower it for access to front-mounted drives (or ports) such as the slot-loading optical drive on the MBP - perfect!

The platform on which the laptop rests has rubber cushioning that really grips the laptop preventing it from sliding off when the aforementioned bar is in the down position. The area under the laptop is curved so that air can easily circulate under the computer keeping it running cool.

It is a well-made device that does what it claims to very well.

I was going to point out that there is an APC model identical to this (BTW, these can be had without the USB hub) that was cheaper at the time I got mine. But I just noticed that this unit (with the hub) is currently LESS than the one without. That is, the same brand, Xbrand. Not sure why that is, but maybe I should get one for my wife who inherited the 17" Powerbook!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great product. Love it!, December 26, 2007

By 

Susan Quartararo (Point Pleasant, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Xbrand XB-1002 360 Height Adjustable Laptop Stand with USB 2.0 Hub (Personal Computers)

I love this stand. It makes using my laptop a lot easier. It puts me in a better position to type. It has also increased my typing speed. I also love the USB ports on the back of the stand. They make it very convenient so I can unplug just the USB from the computer instead of unplugging all of my devices from the computer. The only complaint I have on this stand is that it doesn't have a Ethernet port. But that's ok. An extra added benefit is that it keeps your laptop very cool. The stand is worth the price.I would highly recommend it for any laptop.