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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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.

@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.