Cheap cup holder laptop tray

posted Jul 11th 2009 12:35pm by Gerrit Coetzee
filed under: pcs hacks, transportation hacks

bigfront

[Michael Davis] sent in his homemade laptop tray. He does a lot of traveling in his Toyota Tacoma and was looking for a good way to mount his laptop inside. Unfortunately, [Michael] soon discovered that commercial laptop trays can be very expensive and difficult to install. He saw an opportunity in the empty cup holder in his car. Fifteen dollars worth of PVC pipe fittings and a piece of plywood later he had a laptop tray.

Comments [49]

tagged: car, cupholder, laptop stand, PVC, tray, truck

Reader Comments

Awesome, I’d always had trouble balancing my laptop in my lap while on the road. This way I might even be able to watch a movie and drink coffee while I drive!

Posted at 12:50 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by Ryan

Nice hack, this would sure beat driving with a laptop wedged open against the steering wheel.

Posted at 12:53 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by Wolf

Just like the 5-0 has.

Posted at 12:56 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by Crazy Tree Hugger

one turn and you need display replacement

Posted at 1:16 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by therian

This is a very clever hack. Please let me know when the guy will be driving around with it so that I can remember to stay off the road at those times.

Posted at 1:24 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by localroger

That looks like an old Dell Inspiron 1100… those things are heavy. Just looking at the picture makes me wonder where the weak spot is – personally, I would be worried that the area around the cupholder will break under the strain.

Thankfully, my passenger seat in my Chevy Equinox is a “fold-down desk” – the back of the chair is hard plastic, and works perfectly as a mobile desk. Too bad I’ve never had occasion to use it!

Posted at 1:32 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by Jared

Lame idea… and very safe!! do something better!

Posted at 1:33 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by sansan

This man wins one internet. Beautiful, simple, elegant, cheap, and functional.

Now this also means soon someone will package it as a commercial product, and before long every idiot commuting in LA traffic will be attempting to answer their emails while driving, but thats a different issue.

For now, mad props mike.

Posted at 1:39 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by Stunmonkey

@sansan “Lame idea… and very safe!! do something better!”

Um, i don’t think you get this. you don’t use it while actually driving. I would imagine that this gets set up, used, and then dropped back on the passenger floor before the car ever gets going. It isn’t even set up to prevent swinging around wildly while in motion, a pretty good indication it isn’t even erected when the car is moving.

it would be a life saver for people like some realtors and sales people who are always on the move, and where every hour or so you have to either get back to your car and sit there attempting to operate a laptop balanced on something or go find a starbucks or something to go sit down in to put notes into and pull new addresses and data.

Posted at 1:49 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by Stunmonkey

So ingenious. Looks like I have a trip to the hardware store to make.

I also share the concern @jared had about the cupholder possibly breaking, but I think some cupholders are more durable than given credit. My car uses the same plastic for the cupholders as the mirrors, so if it’s good enough for a mirror, I would hope it’s good enough for this.

Thanks for the idea

Posted at 1:51 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by Winphreak

Best bet is to modify this for a car that has two solid and separated cup holders (like the OP car has) and make use of both. That would not only prevent swinging around, but divide the stress between both cups, and be safer overall imho.

Posted at 2:07 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by cde

Now THAT’s a Hack! Quick & dirty, cheap but gets the job done. All you whiners moaning about it not being ’safe’ or wanting more features can go on out and plunk down $250 for a mobile laptop mount. Or you can acknowledge that this is a hack, not a commercial product, pony up your measly $15 and spend the rest on a nice cold glass of STFU juice!

Posted at 6:31 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by AllThatJazz

oops. almost forgot- props to the maker!

Posted at 6:33 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by AllThatJazz

Great, just what we need… Another distracted douche bag surfing for gay porn while driving…. If I see you I will put into the guard rail and will see how well you craption holds up before you crack the screen.

Posted at 7:29 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by I love you

you guys are a bunch of idiots. this is probably one of the best things i’ve seen on hackaday in the last few days. for those of you who think its unstable, read what Stunmonkey wrote. As far as safety, how many people drive around while texting, putting on make up, using a touchscreen nav, etc… This seems hardly as bad in comparison. I have a GPS chip on my NC10 which I use instead of dishing out 400 bucks for a descent nav unit. My tray cost me a pretty penny too. I dont care what anyone says, this is awesome.

Posted at 8:04 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by trapezoid

@I love you

Wow, talk about road rage, morons like you shouldn’t have a fucking driver’s license. he most likely won’t have it running while driving. Maybe you should go run a couple cops off the road while you’re at it, every one of them has a laptop open and running all the time in their car.

Posted at 8:25 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by barry99705

@i love you

Die in a fire you insolent motherfucking assbandit. Immediately ingest something lethal so you can save the rest of us the trouble of seeing your thoughts on the web.

Posted at 11:40 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by Marcus

@ I love you

you sir nailed it on the head. We should put together a task force just for this kind of thing. We should tell all of our friends if we see anyone using this, we should run them off the road. No one should be surfing the web or doing the their excell spreadsheets while there driving 70mph down the highway.. I say we should make them cause an accident and they would be to blame.

Posted at 12:25 am on Jul 12th, 2009 by bill hates

@ all of you… every last one of you:

dubious legality.

not that it isn’t a good hack. As long as its down when the car is in drive, its no issue.

But for every one person who drives responsibly even though technology is at their fingertips, there are 10 of you fucking idiots who try to multitask.

As it is, it is illegal in most states to talk on the cell without a hands-free set (and rightly so). Yet we have have car modders putting LCD screens everywhere. In the damn visor even. Eventually, any form of LCD will be outlawed in the front seat of any car, in every state. (with the exception of police, and navigational aids. Unfortunately, because of the vast majority of douche-bags who use laptops to watch their latest download while driving, the law will be sided with commercial navigtional products only. End result, hacking in the front seat will become illegal everywhere.)

I like the hack. Unfortunately, the law will not.

Seriously… if your job requires you to be on the road a lot, and entering data and whatnot, find a Starbucks. Charge it to your corporate account. Its tax deductable. Cars are ment for driving. Not computing and movie watching.

Im not trying to be an asshat hater. but hell.. if your life is *THAT* busy… maybe its time to find a less busy one.

Posted at 4:07 am on Jul 12th, 2009 by MRE

oh… and to all of you who suggested or supported the idea of running someone off the road for this… yeah… the legality of that is not so dubious.

you should be lined up and escorted off the planet.

Posted at 4:11 am on Jul 12th, 2009 by MRE

@mre

> any form of LCD will be outlawed in
> the front seat of any car

No problem, I’ll switch to OLED or plasma

Posted at 7:29 am on Jul 12th, 2009 by LeJupp

I can see this being useful for tradies who are constantly on the move and use laptops for their line of work.

p.s.. This site needs a good idiot filter. Most of the posters I come across on this site either a) lack imagination and fail to see the point of a hack; and/or b) do nothing but whine.

Posted at 8:39 am on Jul 12th, 2009 by Tachikoma

@MRE

Not all towns have a starbucks. True it’s illegal to have a video display in view of the driver, I know a lot of people who have streets and trips or other mapping software running on their laptops. My dad does this, though only in the rv. Trying to use a garmin or tomtom in an rv is pretty much useless, the window is too far away to see the screen very well. Some people actually have the ability to multitask while driving, it’s not a good idea, but glancing at a screen every now and then is no worst than glancing at your rear view mirror. Cops do it all the time, and no, they don’t get special “computing while driving” training.

Posted at 9:32 am on Jul 12th, 2009 by barry99705

NiCe Blog!

Posted at 11:07 am on Jul 12th, 2009 by tomzexploderz

Actually have been looking to make a laptop tray for my exercise bicycle; this will provide some useful tips. :-)

Posted at 12:34 pm on Jul 12th, 2009 by PocketBrain

bravo.

Posted at 12:51 pm on Jul 12th, 2009 by fish

@barry9975
cops are trained pros. not dumbshits like you

Posted at 2:52 pm on Jul 12th, 2009 by I love you

@I love you

what planet do you live on??

Posted at 3:59 pm on Jul 12th, 2009 by barry99705

I AM A BANANA

kudos sir builder!

Posted at 4:26 pm on Jul 12th, 2009 by lolberto

Funny thing about “distractions while driving” is that my old GPS unit had a Multimedia program that could play MP3 files (makes sense) and AVI/MPG video files on the SD Card.

Guess to pass the time if broke down/parked because you’re lost (the funny part), but it seems of “dubious legality” to have it available like that.

Posted at 7:30 pm on Jul 12th, 2009 by Winphreak

The reason why most of the commercial car laptop stands are so hard to install and expensive is that they are “supposedly” engineered to withstand an accident, or at least not become something that will likely to decapitate you as it flies around the car.

Posted at 8:42 pm on Jul 12th, 2009 by Stephen

@ barry99705
I live on planet Hemmorid near your moms anus…..

Posted at 10:16 pm on Jul 12th, 2009 by I love you

You can say all you want that this is for “research” when parked and somehow unable to find a Starbucks (which I doubt since there is one on every other street corner), but we all know that idiots will be in traffic messing with their computer and cause a 50 car pileup on the interstate. For God’s sake people, you’re not SO important that you can’t be unavailable during your morning commute. I say get over yourselves and just focus on driving, cause lord knows most of you can’t even handle that without any distractions!

Posted at 10:27 pm on Jul 12th, 2009 by lilith

How has no one mentioned it’s twitter capabilities yet?

GPTWIT: 8:07am Turned left at Maple and Main.
GPTWIT: 8:12am Turned Right at Main and Elm

cause Some douche bags are just that important.

Posted at 10:44 pm on Jul 12th, 2009 by zypher

It looks quite back-breaking

Posted at 11:30 pm on Jul 12th, 2009 by Jack

GENTLEMEN, BEHOLD. I present a car accessory that allows you to fully tint the windscreen and drive via Google Streetview.

Posted at 1:16 am on Jul 13th, 2009 by jim

I don’t know why there are so many foolish people on here.

@lejupp

You are a complete idiot. Of course mre didn’t mean ONLY lcd, he meant any kind of screen. And I think he’s absolutely right; they should be outlawed.

@ Everyone

While I agree that this is a good hack, it does pose some problems. It’s original intent might be for the overworked traveler, but it’s sure to attract the overeager multi-tasker. While someone who needs to be in constant contact with coworkers (like hospital personnel) might just use it intermittently while stopped and taking breaks, others might use it whilst driving and loose concentration on what’s really important; the road. Yes, there are people everywhere that manage to put on makeup, check a navigation system, or flip through some CDs for music, but when a computer comes into play, we all know that its bright display and many buttons are simply irresistible. I’m sure gerrit coetzee meant no harm in this simple hack, but the potential for disaster is too great for this to be widely used or publicized.

Posted at 1:30 am on Jul 13th, 2009 by l0stpr0ph3ts223

Love it! One suggestion, substitute a plastic cutting board for the tray!

Posted at 9:16 am on Jul 13th, 2009 by Brian Aday

Oh, and BTW. Driving while distracted is already a crime. There are quite a few people who use these things including cops, the electric company, and yes your nav system counts. People are the problem. You can’t legislate people into being responsible.

Posted at 9:25 am on Jul 13th, 2009 by Brian Aday

I wouldn’t really trust that thing… couple holders in most cars (even the center console like this one) are just thin plastic and the whole center console is only held together with 4 small screws to keep it from sliding around on you. I certainly wouldn’t feel safe using this laptop holder.

When I installed a laptop stand in my WRX for tuning/performance monitoring I bought a Jotto-Desk. it bolts to the transmission tunnel, and was incredibly sturdy and didn’t impede the use of the passenger’s seat at all.

I only paid $80 for the thing and it insalled in 10 minutes… this guy spent $30 and several hours fabricating a sub-par solution. Honestly $80 is cheap money for a device that is designed to protect an expensive laptop.

I’m all for hacking things to improve on an existing product, or making something for your own entertainment/experimentation… but I really hate hacks that are for the sake of saving a buck especially when they end up unintentionally dangerous.

Posted at 10:56 am on Jul 13th, 2009 by twistedsymphony

its not the laptop that make people idiots… stop blaming everything for the cause of distracted driver… if you are easily distracted, then dont put crap in your car… simple as that… heck, your radio/cd player should be removed … rear view mirrors should be removed too since it takes your eyes off the front road?? does this make any sense to you???

driving by itself is multitasking, adding another task, like listening to the radio, wont do any harm, unless you are not capable of it… if that is the case, dont do it… duh…

Posted at 10:57 am on Jul 13th, 2009 by yu

@Brian Aday

Most plastic cutting boards are nylon because it is non-stick and easy to clean. While it would look nicer the laptop wouldn’t stay on it quite as well.

Posted at 10:59 am on Jul 13th, 2009 by Gerrit Coetzee

Amazing the jackassery this post has caused in the comments.

Posted at 5:28 am on Jul 14th, 2009 by strider_mt2k

Oy, I like it, but as an automotive tech I would pull the cupholders and use a closet flange and maybe some metal strips to attach the bottom to the actual floor of the car.

Or just use a bit of metal and plastic and some short self-tapping screws to reinforce the cupholder. Maybe even a fender washer with some foam rubber on it and a single screw in the bottom would prevent a possible tear-out of the cupholder.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The basic design is not at fault, quite ingenious and elegant actually, you just have to rely on your cupholder being strong enough; which is sadly not the case on many vehicles.

Posted at 10:56 am on Jul 14th, 2009 by nubie

@Gerrit

You are right. Not sure I would trust this thing without some way to tie the laptop down. The wood wouldn’t hold very well either.

Posted at 12:44 pm on Jul 14th, 2009 by Brian Aday

….seriously?

from that link:

“And before you all start writing me and saying how unsafe it is to use the computer while driving, don’t panic. I don’t use it while driving. I use it while stopped, usually at sales. It’s a lot more convenient than trying to balance it on my lap or the armrest.”

“Since the tray is so easy to remove by just pulling it out of the cup-holder, I generally leave it on the passenger side floor when I am moving, and only pop it in place when I am parked and need to use it to research an item. ”

dear god, i thought this place was full of people who knew how to read.

Posted at 10:12 pm on Jul 14th, 2009 by essecks

i like the idea of this, i used to have a perfect laptop stand i built for when i was driving a semi truck, using streets and trips, it consisted of a legal outbox which held the laptop, drawer liners to keep it from sliding, a 12v fan to the cig lighter, and some foam rubber to cushion the consent beating the road gave it

Posted at 6:12 am on Jul 18th, 2009 by Christopher

@barry99705

Tell your dad to just get an external antenna for his tomtom/garmin and move the thing away from the window. It’s much cheaper than a laptop. ;0

Posted at 9:21 am on Jul 21st, 2009 by andBeans

@mre:

and I quote:
“im not trying to be an asshat hater. but hell.. if your life is *that* busy… maybe its time to find a less busy one.”

You’re right, you just caused me to experience an epiphany; I’ll go find a less-busy life. I’ll just go find one, with less busyness, and my problems will be solved.

Get real; this “hack” definitely deserves props in that a wide variety of professions can benefit from this simple tray. Anyone who thinks it should be used during driving is simple wrong; it should be common sense that it is to be used when you’re not also attempting to drive. Only several people will truly make a mistake that takes their lives before everyone gets the picture.

This can help those of us with truly busy lives, when used as responsibly/safely as possible, and that’s indisputable.

-MV

Posted at 7:55 pm on Aug 3rd, 2009 by MV

Cheap cup holder laptop tray

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