Searching for a lapdesk

I spend a lot of time working on my computer in bed.  I have a lapdesk that is now 30 years old!  This one is slightly warped in the middle, and could use a little room on the side for a mouse.  And somehow, I just wanted another one.  So I started searching online to find a replacement.

I found a lot of lapdesks at amazon, and an old review of lapdesks at cnet.

And then this comment caught my eye:”Don’t waste your money on this piece of future landfill material (aka “junk”). See $2 solution below”.

The writer suggests that a really good solution would be to use a plastic cutting board.  Good size, not slippery, plenty sturdy, and can take the heat.

I immediately jumped up and grabbed my black 12×18 cutting board out of the cabinet and set out to test the suggestion.  Results?  I like it very much.  Lovely size (just enough room on the side for the mouse).  Excellent surface–don’t need a mouse pad and the laptop does not slip.  You will need some kind of padding underneath, or it will hurt your knees.  Fortunately, I had made a quilted laptop bag (really, just a big envelope to stuff my tablet in since my rolling backpack is quite stingy with padding), so I put that underneath the cutting board and the result was quite comfortable.  Perhaps it would be nice to have a little “stop” at the front to keep pencils or pens from rolling off, but I would think you could add that with some hot glue.

So no more shopping for lap desks!  I think this solution will work just fine.