Note: I am making a couple of changes to this website, so it if the site seems to look different each time you come back don't be alarmed. I have also realised that I have not updated in a while but I am back after the post CES rush (which turned out to be a lot more hectic than I expected). So regular programming will resume.

For 2010 I want to make Try and Write more of a news + reviews site rather than an outright reviews site that it is at the moment, because of this I have had to see if I could seamlessly shoehorn a news section onto the site or see if it needs a design overhaul. All in all.. Im working on it!

Back to the review!

On Mactalk (an Aussie Mac users forum I frequent) they have this fantastic thread called "Post your setup" where you post pictures of your Mac working environment. Besides the fascination of looking at other peoples desks the one thing that struck me was how clean some desks were. My desk has always been a controlled mess (categorised piles of papers, magazines etc). This actually got worse when I had to replace my iMac with a laptop / display combo for work. 

Back in the days of expensive LCD monitors (think titanium PowerBook days) the best that I could afford was a 15" which meant that dual-screens was almost a necessity. Almost out of familiarity I used dual-screens up to the present day. On a dual-screen setup, the display on my 13” MacBook Pro was used for my iChat contact lists and not much else. Which is great for when I am at work (iChat somehow became an accepted communication medium) and I need to get to contacts quickly but overkill when I am at home. 

So I decided to save space on my desk at home and simply work off the 24” Cinema Display and use Spaces in OSX to maximise my available (virtual) desktop space. With my virtual desktop space issue solved I turned to my actual desk. Enter the BookArc from Twelve South.

(In the end it should look like this…)

The concept behind a BookArc is quite basic, it is an aluminium stand for all types of MacBooks, the stand is in an arc shape with rubberised feet. To cater for different types of machine the package includes silicone inserts that fit into the BookArc. 

To use your machine, put it into sleep mode (by closing the lid) and then plug in the display and a USB keyboard / mouse, this will then wake the machine (while leaving the on-board display off). 

BookArc with the silicone insert removed

I am told that I will get a mild performance increase on the machine as the shared memory is being used only for 1 display instead of 2. Other than that it works just like a desktop Mac, when I need to go to work I sleep the machine, unplug the cables and head out the door.

To top it all off, when combined with the Cinema Display and the built in MagSafe / mini DisplayPort / USB cable it makes my desk look neater than it will ever look. It also somewhat fulfills my childhood dreams of owning a DuoDock (a desktop and laptop.. wow). Speaking of childish, it gave me space to fit a 1:200 A380 on my desk instead of the 1:400 I had earlier, good times.

And it gives me a worthy to submit picture to the ‘Post your setup’ thread. 

The BookArc is available for $89.95 and you can find a local stockist here. 

(Edit: Fixed link)