Lian Li’s gorgeous $1,400 standing desk PC hides an ergonomic nightmare

10/05 14:15 - Lian Li’s gorgeous $1,400 standing desk PC hides an ergonomic nightmare
I love standing desks, both as general utility items and as an aid for my bad back. I’ve been using them for a long time, mounting my hefty desktop PC to the bottom to save space and cable routing issues. Lian Li has tempted me with its desk-PC case combos for a while, and never more so than with its stylish new wooden model. There’s just one issue that’s stopping me from buying it. The DK-07 WOOD (that’s the name) is a beefy sucker, 1480mm wide (58.26 inches) with support for up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) on its surface. Inside you’ve got room for two separate E-ATX PC builds, both visible through the stylish glass top, and now upgraded with a riser mount to show off your GPU. There are tons of options for cooling and drive mounts, removable motherboard trays for easy building, storage cubbies on both sides, and an integrated wireless charging pad. All great. Even the price isn’t unreasonable for everything you’re getting — $1,400 USD isn’t cheap, but I paid $1,000 for my Uplift desk and it didn’t have a lot of that stuff. But you see that nice symmetrical look that the top has? Yeah, that circle on the left side isn’t a second wireless charging pad. That’s where the riser controls for the desk hang out. Oof. If you’ve never used a standing desk, you might not see my issue. A standing desk works more or less the same as a regular desk, the only things you have to keep in mind are a little slack for cable routing and don’t stick too much underneath, lest it get crushed. But one of the most regular commonalities is that the rising and lowering controls go on the front. So you can reach them. And so the things you put on your desk don’t cover them. Looking at my desk right now, that left-side surface control cluster on the Lian Li design goes right where my coffee mug does. I’d estimate that that spot is covered by something about 90 percent of the time — a review unit, a tablet or laptop, a piece of paper, or a book I’m referencing. It’s just an awful place to designate for something that can’t be covered. It’s so bad that it makes me question if the people designing this actually use a standing desk. Even the promotional video shows a bunch of books and movies covering up the controls! Lian Li Just to drive my point home here: The desk includes USB ports and power buttons for both internal PCs on the front of the desk’s surface. So you can reach them. That makes sense. The only way this makes sense is if you keep your desk absolutely pristine, ready to take a pic and show off to Reddit at a second’s notice. And if that’s you, well, I’m impressed. And maybe a little scared. ...