Sometimes a stand has bells, sometimes it has whistles. Sometimes it folds up, flips down, clips here, and twists there. And then, sometimes a stand just holds your iPad.
No, this is not actually a woodshop project.
The Ultra-Impact iPad Stand is just that--a stand. It’s not pretty, it’s not particularly sturdy, and at $30, it’s quite a bit too expensive, though we applaud its environmentally friendly use of bamboo (it’s also available in black plastic). It’s just a few pieces of bamboo glued together, and we’ve tested many $30 stands that were more substantial.
However, if you’re going for “woodshop chic,” this stand might just do the trick. Like pretty much every other stand on the market, this one holds your iPad in both portrait and landscape orientation, and an iPad with the official Apple case will easily fit inside it. To keep your iPad from getting scratched, the Stand has two rubber feet at its contact points. Four more on the bottom do a decent job of keeping the Stand from sliding around on your desk, although they come off fairly easily.
Other than that, you can prop your iPad in the Stand’s notch for watching videos or lay it down for typing on the onscreen keyboard. The raised sides mean you can also stash spare change or a USB key in the bottom, but besides that, there’s not much in the way of features. Our high school woodshop teacher would have probably given the Stand a C+, a grade we’d agree with. It works, but we expect far more elegance.
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The Stand is perfectly usable, but 30 bucks? Paying so much for so little is highway robbery in league with those villainous iPod socks.
Bamboo iPad Stand
COMPANY: Ultra-Impact
CONTACT: www.ultra-impact.com
PRICE: $29.95
REQUIREMENTS: iPad
Simple. Two different viewing angles. Works in portrait or landscape orientation.
Overpriced. Rubber feet come off easily. Dull design.
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