My first experience with LapWorks came in July 2006 on a trip to Vegas, when I go to try their ultralight laptop stand. From what I remember in between eight-hour poker and alcohol binges, it was pretty good.

So when the LapWorks Attaché Stand came my way, I was eager to give it a shot.

It’s not the thin, portable dream that the ultralight model was, — you’re not going to carry it around in your laptop bag — but as a desktop/LAPtop solution, the Attaché is pretty good.

The Attaché features a hinge-adjusted bracket that lets you sit your laptop flush with your lap, or tilt it at an angle for desk/tabletop computing. The whole thing is backed with two virtually silent fans that are powered by the laptop’s USB — no external power source needed.

The stand also gives you four USB 2.0 ports and acts as a hub, giving you a sorta unpowered docking station.

With the notorious overheating problems associated with modern laptops, (cough DELL cough SONY) replacing a battery or, worse, a cooked computer is a bitch. For $70, the Attaché keeps you cool, and it actually works. Three hours of continuous use (and this review) later, my laptop — and this my lap — doesn’t feel like it’s been blasted with hairdryer.

The spinning fans do sort of vibrate on your lap though.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars