A Pop-up Desk That I Bring to Coffee Shops
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In my attempt to make working at a coffee shop resemble my home office setup, I’ve tried several mobile standing desks and a fewportable keyboardsto make the essentials of my office more portable. But nothing has felt as useful or elegant a solution as the Logitech Casa.
The Casa — a case that comes with a wireless keyboard and track pad that stow inside — is about the size of a coffee-table book (and about as thick). It feels sort of like one of those binders you probably used in middle school, and has a thick rubber band that keeps the Casa’s cover in place when you’re not using it. Once you’ve removed the keyboard and track pad from the Casa, the front flap folds over to act as a stand for your laptop (it supports models with screens up to 17 inches), allowing you to keep the screen at eye level for a more ergonomic viewing angle. I rarely work on my laptop without an external monitor solely because I hate hunching over my screen, so the Casa’s lift is a welcome adjustment that makes even a cramped bistro table feel like an adequate desk for getting through an hour or two of writing. There’s also an additional compartment that’s just big enough to house a pen and stack of sticky notes in addition to the included charging cable, though not much more — it can’t hold your laptop, in case you were wondering.
The wireless keyboard, which you pair with your laptop over Bluetooth, is slightly wider than the keyboard on my 13-inch MacBook Pro, though the keys themselves are just a bit smaller. That’s because unlike my MacBook, which has aTouch Bar, the Casa’s keyboard has a full row of function keys for media playback, volume, and controlling which of three devices it’s paired to. The smaller size keys don’t impact the typing experience, though; they’re just as comfortable to type on as those on the MacBook. The track pad doesn’t respond quite as precisely as the MacBook’s, which is mainly noticeable for things like text selection, but it works well enough, and you can reposition this one to make it more comfortable than reaching for the one on the laptop itself.
The Casa, including its keyboard and track pad, weighs about 2.6 pounds. That’s about the same weight as a 13-inch MacBook Air and a bit heavier than aportable laptop standcombined with Apple’s Magic Keyboard and a wireless track pad. But even with its extra heft, I’d still choose the Casa, since its booklike design makes it easy to carry a full-blown mobile office in my bag without the components rattling around or me having to root around to find them.
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