Standon Uberstand Laptop DJ Stand
Being a laptop DJ is a bad enough stigma at times, as there's normally nowhere to put your beloved equipment in either a booth or on a table. In fact I have been known to use an empty beer crate to get my laptop to a more practical and useful level. The Stanton Uberstand has been designed to hold a laptop, soundcard, external hard drive comfortably above a surface solidly and reliably and at a comfortable height. It won't however make die hard vinyl junkies like you more!
If you're a laptop DJ and you frequently play out, then you will be fully aware of the "Laptop Stoop" position. Crouching down, staring at a laptop's screen in a position that would be worthy of an "advanced interrogation technique" at a holiday resort near Cuba!
Stanton's Uberstand is a functional, portable DJ stand designed with laptop DJs in mind. It's made from airplane grade brushed aluminium, and folds up nicely to fit inside your backpack or DJ bag.
I ordered the unit from DJStore.com last Friday and it was a pretty painless experience, seeing as I had never used them before. I ideally wanted it for the Saturday, but it turned up on Wednesday and it was a little optimistic that it'd be ordered, processed and shipped inside 24 hours!
Overview of the Stanton Uberstand
I chose this over the Magma Laptop Stand because they charged you an extra £12.00 for the shelf!? I have seen a few DJs using the Magma one, but I couldn't work out if it folded up nice or not, and hadn't been spoddy enough to ask any of them.
After looking online I found a few places that were selling the Uberstand and really liked look of it. It's a nice mix of brushed aluminium and rubber, and packs down nicely into the bag provided.
What Do You Get with the Stanton Uberstand?
- The Laptop DJ Stand
- A Shelf for a sound card etc
- A re-useable tie wrap to secure it once folded out
- Some sticky velcro straps (for securing your soundcard to the shelf
- A nylon zip bag
Alternative DJ Laptop Stands
The Stanton Uberstand is not the only product on the market, and I did have a look around to see what other laptop DJ stands were available. The other two stands that seemed to be doing the rounds were the Magma Laptop Stand and the Roadready Laptop Stand (which appears to connect to the back of a flight case and was no use to me).
I also had a look on ebay.co.uk to see if there were any other laptop stands that were a little cheaper from Asia, but nothing really seemed to do what I wanted, and they were all cheap plastic laptop risers and docking stations that didn't appear to fold down nicely.
Stanton Uberstand Build Quality
The build quality of the Stanton Uberstand is really solid and it doesn't have any unstable wobble or anything once erected. All the edges are smooth and it looks like the laptop stand is of a fairly high grade build. The hinges are made from big chunky bolts that look highly durable, and road worthy.
Functionality
The device comes with a re-useable cable tie to secure the base and stop it falling back open as well as some sticky velcro to ensure that your sound card and stuff stays put and doesn't slide off the shelf etc.
It takes a few seconds to get it out and fully expanded, meaning you wont have to fiddle with butterfly screws, it literally folds out. I've put the zip tie in position already, meaning that I hopefully wont loose it. I am already on the quest for some alternative sources of cableties cause I know how much of a mong I am :)
Conclusion
Overall I am pretty happy with the device so far, it's a solid and function DJ stand, which looks good and functions well. I am a little annoyed that I'd managed to scratch the brushed aluminium finish even before I'd got it out of the packaging, but hey I'll live with it - after all after a few gigs I am sure it'll not look so shiny and new!
Value for Money: 4/5
Durability: 3/5
Functionality: 4/5
