Shiny Hacks: Review: DAVE From Ikea, An In-Depth Look At The Best Couch Desk / Laptop Table

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Review: DAVE From Ikea, An In-Depth Look At The Best Couch Desk / Laptop Table

As a response to my previous article (How To: Do PC Gaming On Your Couch Or Sofa) I've been asked to give a more in-depth look at the Ikea DAVE.

The Ikea DAVE is marketed as a "laptop table", but really for the rest of us it is the ultimate adjustable couch desk for the keyboard and mouse. It allows the keyboard to be stable at exactly the right height and to give plenty of level space to use the mouse. This single purchase has is the single most important part of the PC couch gaming setup and has completely changed the way I use my PC. It is more comfortable than using craning over on a coffee table to use a keyboard, or having the keyboard on your lap. And the mouse is much more accurate on a hard and firm surface instead of on a couch arm.

The cost of most "laptop tables" are priced ridiculously. This one is £75.12, and this one is £51.08. DAVE is available from any Ikea internationally for the price of £14.99 and $17.99.

Also makes a great laptop table (this is a tiny 8.9" laptop).

There are some downsides to the DAVE, however, since it does not stray from being a typical Ikea product, made with materials that feel fairly cheap. The topside of the table is made of a thick hardened plastic susceptible to being marked by heat or that cup of freshly brewed hot chocolate. And you will want to eat and drink off this table because it is exactly the right kind of height for it when you are sitting or lying on the couch.

Slight susceptible to marking from heat.

The table itself can be extended fairly high up. At its maximum height it is less stable, and you will feel a lot of wobble if you try to use it like this.

Not tall enough or stable enough to use whilst standing (I'm 180cm tall).

However, DAVE's greatest feature is not having 4 legs, or being a tripod. Instead, it has a single leg with a Y-shaped foot. This makes it ideal for slotting in as close as possible to the couch, whilst also not adding any bulk when walking around it. It's easy to push out when you want to stand up, and it's very stable in its medium and lowest positions.

Perfect.

Easily the best and cheapest part of my PC gaming setup.

Overall for the price, this table is a great addition to any gaming or HTPC setup and is highly recommended.

Comments (40)

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J · 762 weeks ago

I see you are still using that keyboard. I love and miss that keyboard. J.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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Andytizer 27p · 762 weeks ago

Unfortunately it's completely sold out in the US, you should try one of the Microsoft bluetooth ones.

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jack · 758 weeks ago

nice review mate

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slowpoke · 758 weeks ago

I think one of the disadvantages to switching to gaming on a TV that's 5-9 feet away is a decrease in visual awareness. I have 20-15 vision with my glasses, so it is not that I have bad vision. I have a much harder time being as competitive in some games than when I play them on my computer desk. This isn't just related to being able to see small objects, but also to periphery vision. Sitting 2 feet away from a computer monitor just makes you much more aware of things on the sides of the screen, while playing on a 50 inch television makes it harder to focus on all the events happening on the screen at once.

I constantly find myself preferring to play multiplayer console games on my pc monitor, even though I'm running a 25 ft hdmi cable through the middle of my house.

I have a DAVE laptop desk at home so I might have to try that on my couch. It seems the effectiveness of the desk also has to to with the depth of the seating area of the couch, though. Hopefully I don't have to sit on the edge of my couch to reach the surface of the desk from a comfortable position.

Great idea!

4 replies · active 741 weeks ago

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Andytizer 27p · 758 weeks ago

Hi thanks for the comment. I do agree with your point about multiplayer FPSs on a TV. Being closer to a display means a loss of ability to track action in one's periphery vision. However, I'd also argue that this is what makes other games more immersive and cinematic. Furthermore, I don't think that it's necessarily as bad as you might think - after all lots of competitive FPS games like Halo, Modern Warfare 2, etc. are playing on 360 or PS3 from the couch all the time.

Personally I've had a lot of luck with playing TF2 on my 40" TV, even playing a sniper. I think a change in performance between desk and couch has a lot to do with setup and input lag as well. I have a full guide up here: http://www.shinyhacks.com/2010/09/how-to-pc-gamin....

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slowpoke · 758 weeks ago

I read your other article as well before posting here. I guess I posted in the wrong spot :)

You inspired me to give it a try so I went ahead and ordered a Microsoft Arc Keyboard and a wireless mouse. The arc is 12.2 inches long, so it should only take about half of the surface length of the DAVE.

One thing you left out of your article is audio. I have figured out that I can just pass through audio using my video card's hdmi output and use my wireless headphones that I already have hooked up to my tv. But I wonder how I can have mic input when my computer is 20 ft away without having to run a cable from the pc to the pc. One option would be to buy a bluetooth dongle for the pc and use a bluetooth headset, but most of have phone quality voice sound which would not be appreciated in ventrilo. I'll have to research what other wireless mic options are out there.

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Andytizer 27p · 758 weeks ago

Thanks for the reply. The Arc does look very nice :). I also tried out a friend's Apple Bluetooth Keyboard and that leaves a huge amount of other space (although it lacks multimedia function key compatibility with Windows).

I am also very interested in knowing about a wireless headphone/mic solution for HTPC/ Couch PC Gaming. If you can come back to me if you find a good solution that would be very much appreciated. From what I have seen, there are a few (very expensive) headsets that can be used for example:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0015R8MAW?ie=...

However changing output of sound to headphones is more difficult than say, plugging in your 3.5mm mic and stereo jacks (the PC should auto change the output to headphone/mic only). For a wireless solution, you have to go into system settings and change the soundcard selection (USB and bluetooth headsets are treated as different sound cards). You also have to restart the program so that it knows which soundcard to output to.

It may be simpler to use a very good quality webcam with noise canceling and push to talk. Let me know how you manage to do it, I am very interested!

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Dusk · 741 weeks ago

It's a bit on the higher end price-wise but Astro Gaming makes a wireless mixamp that would let you use any standard PC headset wirelessly (there is a small pack with volume controls on it that you plug the headset into and that communicates wirelessly with the base). It will even do simulated surround (with surprisingly good positional accuracy) if you connect your source to it with an optical cable.

I have one myself, the wireless mixamp 5.8, that I use for Xbox 360 and PS3 gaming but I could easily plug my PC into it if I wanted to. The sound quality is excellent and I've never had interference problems with it, not cheap though.

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mamad tala · 708 weeks ago

it's a piece of shit, not sturdy and my laptop slid down on it...

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Guy Greenbaum · 669 weeks ago

I solved the fatal flaw: use a tiny square of anti-slip mat to prevent laptop slippage. The wobble is not terrible.

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michaelhigh · 666 weeks ago

Get the walmart version, sturdier and still good looking. Rectangular top to boot.

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chris · 666 weeks ago

You have no idea how long I've been looking for something like this. Awesome! Thanks so much for the article!

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andrew · 643 weeks ago

hello. i bought the dave a while ago and now have a need to stand while using my computer which is hooked up to a wall mounted tv. do you know any stands like"dave" that can be used for this purpose?

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wall mount tv · 634 weeks ago

Laptop table is useful tools for laptop operating. It gives us comfortable to operate our laptop device though it is necessary tool for us. Looking the great laptop table of Ikea DAVE is comfortable and beautiful as it price is sound though I appreciate of the laptop table.

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biking games · 620 weeks ago

You have no idea how long I've been looking for something like this. Awesome! Thanks so much for the article!

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Gabe · 545 weeks ago

a tad too small for the mouse

but yea great idea

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