The benefits of stand and sit desks are now well established and the industry now very competitive. Our increasingly sedentary lives impact our health and moving is the antidote. The on-desk solution from Varidesk, the ProPlus 36 provides the ability to stand when you want, sit when you want and be comfortable when you work. The big benefit here is that you’re not up for a full desk replacement, instead add this on top of an existing desk, add your keyboard, mouse, monitors and you’re good to go.
Given many Australians (myself included) spend far too long at their machines and one group that’s terrible bad for it are gamers. To be great at a game, especially multiplayer online games, means spending dozens of hours in the chair to be competitive. Some people spend in excess of 12+ hours per day sitting which is bad for your health, which means its time to consider a sit stand desk. Moving between positions can also increase concentration, helping you in-game, while also helping to reduced back pain, neck pain, lower blood pressure and a boost metabolism.
The ProPlus 36 is made up of two sections, the top being for monitor attachments and the bottom section which hangs from the top, provides space for your keyboard and mouse to be ergonomically available. The ProPlus 36 is quite heavy, but that weight enables it to support a healthy 15.88kg. This means you’ll have no worries bolting on a couple of monitors, stands and all your peripherals and when you stand, it call comes with you.
To switch between sitting and standing positions, simply pull the two handles on the underside of the ProPlus 36, then pull up. The spring loaded hinges make it easy for anyone to perform the conversion to a standing desk.
While we think about standing and sitting positions, the truth is solutions like this can’t be a one-size-fits-all deal, they need to accommodation the large variance in humans if they want to appeal to all. This is achieved by the ProPlus 36 being able to lock in at multiple heights (11 different heights) with the highest being perfect for me at 6’3. Naturally the final standing height is determined by the height of the desk you add it to.
If you’re wondering where the 36 in the title comes from, the answer is its width, which is 36″, providing a substantial amount of space. There is actually a smaller 30″ and a massive 48″ version as well to suit your needs.
In terms of setup, there isn’t one, just unbox the ProPlus 36 and drop it on your desk. Sure there’s setup work to do in terms of moving your monitors and peripherals on top of it, then carefully routing your cables to ensure they don’t get caught when you sit down, but the ProPlus comes out of the box assembled. Word of warning, it is heavy, with a recommended dual-person lift, so if you’re planning on this going into your home office, make sure you have someone to help you.
Gallery
To really demonstrate the capabilities of the Varidesk ProPlus 36, you need to see it in action. Take a look through the gallery below.
Issues
One issue I found was that your choice for monitor mount attachments may be limited. If you have a clamp-style mount you’re basically out of luck as the distance from the edge of the top surface and the mounts underneath is not sufficient to support the clamp size. This means you’re likely going to need to use more traditional monitor mounts. There is space on top for these, so its not the end of the world, its just worth noting if you planned on migrating an existing setup.
Price & Availability
The Varidesk ProPlus 36 costs A$550.00 (inc. free delivery) and is available in black (reviewed), white as well as butcher block and darkwood wood finishes to suit different decor. The smaller and larger versions however, are only available in black. If you’re thinking of buying a number of these for the office, there are bulk discounts. Varidesk also offers alternatives for corner desks, smaller profile editions for pods, as well as the Exec series which are designed for taller people.
You can purchase the Varidesk ProPlus 36 from the Varidesk website.
Overall
Varidesk’s ProPlus solution for stand and sit desks offers the simplicity of unboxing the product, adding it to a desk and getting started. This can often be a great solution for those wishing to avoid a full desk replacement. The ease at which you can transition between states is important, just a few seconds to go from standing to sitting and given you’ll do this multiple times a day, the process is thankfully simple, easy and fast.
The ProPlus 36 provides plenty of space for dual monitors and space for all the ambient accessories you’ll need around you while you work. On the opposite side of your mouse, you have room for a drink, your glasses, keys, wallet etc which means I’d be hard pressed to recommend people go for the 48, the 36 is a great size.
While large and heavy, its not something you’ll move day-to-day, so that’s really not an issue. What I would have liked to see is some cable management solution. Instead the video on their website promotes the best case scenario, an iMac, with a single power cable, achieved thanks to a wireless keyboard and mouse. In reality, you may have power and HDMI leads to 2 monitors, USB cables for keyboard, mouse, webcam and maybe more cables for your phone.
Ultimately if you’re an office worker who spends most of their day at the desk, or your a developer or even gamer that spends far too long at your computer, then having the capacity to switch between sitting and standing modes, will ultimately mean you can be on your computer longer. Unlike truck drivers, check out staff, if you work in the office, you can enjoy the best of both worlds (sitting and standing) and bring your whole computing setup along for the ride.
The Varidesk ProPlus 36 is incredibly solid and well built, evidenced by the weight and the smooth hinge motion when transitioning states. If you’re looking for a stand and sit solution and don’t want to replace you’re whole desk, this option is a great one for gamers and productivity workers alike.
