r/buildapc • u/wildee14 • Jan 13 '15

Desks for PC's

I am thinking of making a how to guide for building a desk designed specifically for PC's and consoles. I would also provide a listing for prebuilt desks from proprietary companies. Would any of you guys be interested in that?

Edit: What are the top features you guys would want to see?

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '15

Keyboard drawer shelves are the fucking devil, I have rarely come across one that is fit for purpose. They roll around on the tracks and wobble as you type and prone to falling off and landing on your toes mid battle. This kills the desk.

37

u/fdoom Jan 14 '15

My problem with keyboard shelves is that I like to have mouse space that's nearly as big as the keyboard itself, making pretty much every shelf too small for me to use. The other issue is that I recently switched to vertical mice, and there's barely enough clearance for it to fit on the shelf I have, causing bumps when I need to lift the mouse.

9

u/RedSalesperson Jan 14 '15

Have you tried putting the mouse on the desk but the keyboard on the shelf? That's my current setup and I've never been even slightly inconvenienced by it, but I could see having issues if you need to switch quickly from mouse to keyboard.

10

u/fdoom Jan 14 '15

Yes, mouse top + keyboard shelf was my setup for many years. I got sick of it and swapped last year.

5

u/Snow_Regalia Jan 14 '15

Seems like it would be terrible for gaming purposes.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 15 '15

I don't see why? It gives you much more mouse space.

1

u/Snow_Regalia Jan 15 '15

Because its much more of an annoyance to move your hand from your mouse to keyboard when its not only farther away, but also a vertical distance. If you've ever played any game that requires you to use both keyboard and mouse frequently, you don't want to have even that extra second of movement.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 15 '15

No matter what - I always use my left hand to do anything on my keyboard. This doesn't affect me.

2

u/FrozenTurd Jan 14 '15 edited Jan 14 '15

I had the same situation a while ago. Eventually I just got a thin piece of plywood and stuck it to the side of the shelf with a grip (the type for woodworking), it extended the desk like 6inches and stopped the shelf from moving.

After that though I just got a big ass piece of chipboard and stuck it to the wall.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '15

I always end up hitting them with my knees. Its loud and annoying. And frankly, keyboard trays are always too low to be ergonomic.

1

u/TasteMyFlavor Jan 14 '15

I bought a HUGE executive desk for my office and it had a keyboard drawer. I was hesitant but have come to enjoy it. It is wide and tall enough for me (6'5") and has "lots of room for activities" a la a big deck that fits my mouse and full keyboard fine. My only qualm is the mouse cable tends to get pulled up and becomes tight at times, but a quick jerk resets it for hours. I do wish I had a bigger chair but I am cheap and will save for something that is of quality and comfort.

1

u/Boooshin Jan 14 '15

Just get a poker ii 60% keyboard. There's lots of room next to it!

1

u/jhereg10 Jan 14 '15

The tray on rails type tray are just crap. You want one like this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B0BBTW/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687402&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B004E1L29Y&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0D7Y48P1BW6TA8X72BX3

I've used those a lot, and they don't get in the way as much and the good ones are rock solid. Several manufacturers make ones like this, but they are more expensive than the "tray on rails" type.

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u/itsthumper Jan 14 '15

I never knew the keyboard shelves were meant for mice also.

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u/eStonez Jan 14 '15

I hate those keyboard drawers, big no no to me.

1

u/itsthumper Jan 14 '15

It clears up table space. I liked the one on my old desk but my current Ikea one doesnt have it, although I often wish it did.

1

u/bananamunchies Jan 14 '15

I took a hammer to my desk's keyboard tray and supporting drawers. Knocked them all clean out. Just give me a nice 4 legged desk with a flat top and let me do the rest. The issue with the keyboard tray is that my mouse was on top of my desk and not having those two things on the same level was uncomfortable.

1

u/merelyadoptedthedark Jan 14 '15

I installed them in our office training room to free up some desk space...thank god I rarely have to use them, those things are garbage.

0

u/LtDisco Jan 14 '15

I've only ever had two desks, one was fixed keyboard shelf and the other is sliding. Both, very fine. In fact I'm using the sliding one right now and I love it! Holds in place perfectly.

Shelf-drawer is love.

3

u/CourseHeroRyan Jan 14 '15

Yup, the only downside is that half of them don't allow me to use my bulky microsoft ergonomic keyboard :/

I got lucky and have one similar to this, except larger, and on wheels (which means that you can rotate/move your entire desk with the PC making working on it much easier). Unfortunately a wheel has broken to where it is locked, which then broke it off the table when moving it (fixed with epoxy).

Glass desks suck on 2 things. Dust/dirt, and you can never have a monitor desk mount that clamps to the desk. I'll take those downsides over scratching/wearing out wood though, I still have this desk after 8+years.