Product Review: Lazy Couch - Interesting, But Worth The Cash?
by Joe White
November 15, 2010
Just Mobile, the company behind the great UpStand and AluPen, have another product on the market. It's called Lazy Couch, and the concept behind the product is surprisingly simple.
Lazy Couch consists of a pair of padded discs (see above image). For easy transport, these discs clip together - making it hard to lose one of the discs while carrying them around.
When you need to do some serious typing on the iPad's virtual keyboard, you can use Just Mobile's Lazy Couch to elevate the device, so it's at a more favorable angle. We all know how tough it can be typing on the iPad; however, tilting the device at an angle does make things a whole lot easier. But, is Lazy Couch the best product for this? Let's find out.
The Good
Like all of Just Mobile's products, Lazy Couch is well designed. Each padded disc looks very nice, and clipping them together couldn't be simpler. Indeed, the ability to clip Lazy Couch's parts together is a great feature.
The rubber padding is of a good quality, and won't harm your iPad in any way whatsoever. They grip the device well, so don't worry about your iPad sliding down the table while trying to use Lazy Couch.
Another great aspect of Lazy Couch, is that you can use the product with your MacBook (or other laptop), if you have one. In fact, Lazy Couch, in my opinion, is more suited to elevating a laptop. If you own a MacBook or PC laptop, this might persuade you to purchase Lazy Couch.
The Bad
Sadly, Lazy Couch isn't exactly cheap. The product itself will set you back $19.95. But, that's not all. Once you've added on postage and handling to the US, the total cost of Lazy Couch is a pretty huge $37.95. We're talking near $40, just for a couple of well-designed pads. Especially when an old copy of Pride and Prejudice can do exactly the same job.
And, that too, is another criticism of Lazy Couch: it's incredibly basic and simple. I suppose you could say, "that's the beauty of it." But, if I'm going to shell out $40 on an iDevice accessory, I want it to be good. And, sadly, Lazy Couch just isn't good enough.
Overall
So, overall: Lazy Couch is an interesting little iDevice accessory, but it's not worth its total cost ($37.95, if you live in the US). Which is why I'm not going to recommend this product.
Instead, if you're looking for something that can prop up your iPad easily, check out Apple's own iPad Case. Including postage and handling, it's $43.00 - and I can assure you, it's worth the price.
UPDATE
Lazy Couch can also be purchased for the more reasonable price of $20. Regardless, I'd still go for the Apple iPad Case; Lazy Couch is a product created predominantly for MacBooks, not iPads. With the iPad Case, you get all the benefits of Lazy Couch, along with excellent iPad protection. I've been using one for half a year now, and can't recommend it enough.