Lately, I have been reviewing a variety of iPad and tablet desktop stands. A few weeks ago I was asked to review the Stabile-Pro Desktop Tablet Stand from Thought Out, and I jumped at the chance as I had read about this new stand and wanted to take a look to see if it would end up on my desk or in my gadget graveyard. Read on to find out where the Stabile-Pro ended up.
The Stabile-Pro is certified Made in the USA, a first for the stands that I have been reviewing, by a company that was founded by a CNC engineer. For those that are not familiar with the term CNC, it is an acronym for Computer Numerical Control, and is used by companies looking to maintain exact control in everything from routing out pieces of metal to controlling the milling process of a new set of wheels. In the CNC process, a design is input into a computer, and the computer is connected to a milling machine that recreates the design by cutting and working the material. With the background on the company behind us let’s move onto the product review.
I received the Stabile-Pro and was immediately impressed with the design and the heft of the product. The Stabile-Pro weighs in at four pounds of solid, powder-coated steel. It is over a quarter-inch thick of steel and is available in a number of colored finishes including Black, Silver, and White. The unit that I received for the review is Silver in color and well finished. On the bottom of the Stable-Pro are four rubber isolation feet. The feet help keep the Stabile-Pro firmly planted on your desk or other surface.
I talked to the Press Relations person from Thought Out during the review and found that they use all United States of America-located manufacturing and finishing firms, mostly in the Connecticut area where the company is headquartered. In fact, the company is certified Made In the USA. In today’s days of natural vs. organic discussion and governmental labeling, I thought it would be important to the audience to understand what Made In the USA Certified means. From the Thought Out website, “Being a MADE in USA CERTIFIED (USA-C) company means that the company has undergone a full supply chain audit by an independent team which has verified that “all or virtually all of the core components” of the certified product lines were manufactured or originated in the United States of America. Additionally, 100% of the assembly was verified as conducted in the U.S.A.”
Eschewing the fingers normally found on Desktop Tablet Stands to hold the iPad or tablet in place, the Stabile-Pro favors the use of gravity to hold your iPad or tablet in place, and it works well. Instead of rotating the holder, like in many desktop tablet stands, to change from portrait to landscape mode, one picks up the tablet and rotates it in place then placing back in the easel-like shelf of the unit. The easel-like shelf of the Stabile-Pro is coated in plastic to protect your tablet from the steel underneath. All of the edges of the Stabile-Pro are smooth finished and the workmanship really shows.
The unit that holds the tablet in place swivels on a hand-tighten lock-down nut that can be tightened to keep your tablet at the desired angle. I found this method for keeping my iPad at the desired angle very useful as it freed me from having an angle dictated to me by the manufacturer as in the design of another holder I’ve reviewed.
On the top of the Stabile-Pro is a notched out back peg that is designed to hold an accessory to lock your tablet in place.
The Stabile-Pro exhibited a similar shake to that of the iHolder I recently reviewed when in use. When I would touch my iPad on the Stabile-Pro it would shimmy just for a moment before settling down. I brought this up to the Press Relations person from Thought Out and will let you know what he hears from the company regarding this concern. I realized that if I put a weight on the front of the unit it immediately stops the shaking. Perhaps adding another pound of cold, hard steel to the front of the unit in the manufacturing process will help stop this shake once and for all.
Overall, the Stabile-Pro will become a daily part of my usage, avoiding my gadget graveyard because of its optimal viewing position and well thought out and beautiful design.
Product Information
| Price: | $84.99 |
| Manufacturer: | Thought Out |
| Retailer: | Thought Out |
| Requirements: |
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Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
$85 bucks for a stand? Seriously?
I use a $5 wooden desktop easel from Michael’s and t doesn’t “shimmy”.
For $85 it ought to have an OCC loco on it and be dropped off by Sr himself.
Your review sounds a lot like a press release
Thanks for the comments eClipse and TacoTime. It is interesting that we spend a good deal of time, energy, and our precious budget on our gadgets and technology and then, according to the research drop even more on the accessories. While I appreciate that $85 is a good deal of money for the stand from Thought Out it is one of the best ones that I have reviewed based on the quality of the materials used and the quality of the fit, finish and construction. You can buy a less expensive stand, or make one yourself as you have done, I have seen some really cool home made Lucite stands that try to mimic those in the Apple Store, but this stand is truly unique in that it can be positioned in any way that the user requires enabling easy access to one’s tablet – from a working perspective it is a boon as you no longer have to strain to use your Tablet. Admittedly, I use my iPad at my desk more than most as it is integrated into my daily work as a resource and many do not use it the same way. TacoTime, thank you for the wonderful comment, it is not often that my writing receives such a nice compliment, even though I do not think that your comment was intended as a compliment. My goal when writing the reviews is to be as professional as possible and provide a bit of myself in each of my blog postings. I enjoy writing for The-Gadgeteer and stretching myself with the reviews. This one was not much of a stretch as the NAS devices usually require a bit more setup with data sets and network configuration changes. It is a pleasure to receive your comments and I look forward to many more. Again, thank you.
I think great stand will last forever wish we had this kind of quality being made in the Uk if more people bought in their own country our economies would be in better shape and think if you get bored of it 2lb of steel must be worth something also think we all stump up big bucks for apple products because of the quality and design