One common problem I continue to have with my working from home setup has been my desk. A lot has changed in my life since I started working from home a decade ago.
Mostly I went from having a home office in our house to kind of having a home office. And thats because we have two kids now and no more rooms for a home office. Into the un-finished basement I went.
What I know to be true after working from home is I need some sort of a stand up desk. We all know by now how bad sitting for long periods of time is and there’s even evidence that standing isn’t all that great either. Nothing can be simple anymore, right?
I’ve tried the Varidesk and didn’t really like it as it was too bulky and cumbersome. I’ve even tried putting my iMac on an odd workshop sort of table thing the previous homeowners left behind. That didn’t work either.
All I really want is a desk. One that goes up and down. Thats it.
I don’t know why I didn’t think to search for a pneumatic desk in the first place. My best guess is every time I searched for a stand up desk the results I saw were for the top of the line electric desks that cost $1k+ which is unnecessary for my needs.
And then one day searching Craigslist I see the Realspace Magellan pop up for sale and I was like “yup, I’m buying that.” They retail for $300 (sale price) to $400 at Office Depot and I was able to get it for $150.
The guy I bought it from helped me load it into the truck assembled. I had to take one leg off to get it into the house which was kind of a pain but I was able to get it into the house by myself as the desk is light.
Its incredibly simple to operate as all you do is hold the little lever and push it down or pull it up to your height. It is so much easier to move than the Varidesk was.
And the Realspace is not heavy either. So even with the weight of the tabletop, my iMac, a printer, two small speakers, a lamp, and a fake plant it moves quite easily. I’m 5’11” and find the heights it raises to perfectly acceptable to work at when standing for an extended period of time.
Cable management is of course a problem with desks but I solved that with the Signum from Ikea. No cables dangling near my feet or in such a way where my kids would see them and grab them. For some reason it is half the price to buy it at the store versus Ikea.com or on Amazon. So I drove to the Ikea store an bought it there. Install was simple.
I believe mine to be the Espresso (dark brown) finish. So far its hiding any sort of scratches or dings it might have. A quick wipe down and I can’t see any blemishes on the finish.
I searched for other pneumatic desks and there really aren’t that many. Its unfortunate as I feel the manufacturers are not catering to the work from home types like myself who just want something simple. Heaven forbid I use a muscle to manually raise or lower the desk once or twice a day.
The last thing I want to do is spend $1k+ on an electric stand up desk and have to spend $100+ on an electric motor when it goes out.
After six months of owning the Realspace Magellan I am extremely happy I bought it. It classy’s up my part of the unfinished basement and makes it feel like a home office.
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