Laptop Desk for Bus Ride

Hello All,

I commute 2 hours a day on a bus where I am guaranteed a seat (coming in from small town on commuter bus) and am looking for an extremely small laptop gaming platform/table so I can game on the commute - preferably with some type of strap to attach to my legs to stabilize.

Has anyone seen products like this? I've done some digging but all I find are for couch usage, meaning no way to secure to legs to endure bus travel.

Many people I have talked to just stated not to bother and game at home on my desktop - but that is not an option as I have a brand new baby daughter that requires all of my time at home. I need to find a way to get my gaming time in to stay sane, and the bus ride is 2 hours where I can do it if I find the right accessories and laptop!

I have drafted a few ideas of a custom lap table I can build but I want to look at commercially available products first due to time constraints.

Thanks in advance,
James

 

You don't have to explain the important of some away time to me dad. We all need to find some release from the day to day grind or we'd all go insane.

In any event, I wish I could help you out but its been years since I was in search of such a device; and even if I did remember where I last saw it advertised, I doubt if they'd still be offering it for sale.

Fortunately for me, my commute is by train and the newer cars offer selected table seating specifically for laptop users.

On a side note, I once consider creating a device like this but gave up on the idea due to the advent of tables.Oh well, I'll come up with that million dollar invention on day.

 

I use a couch type lapdesk that has padding on the bottom and handles on the sides for home use. I would think you could just use a long Velcro strap on each side to attach it to armrests or your legs. Hope you don't need to stand up in a hurry tho... The trick is finding one that is the correct width for the seats and that is portable enough to carry with you and not be super huge.

An alternative would be to use a cutting board and drill slots for Velcro and do the same thing. The nice thing about that is, you can choose the size and thickness and material (plastic vs wood etc) and they are easy to come by and can be fairly cheap.

 

I have a very cheap laptop desk thingy from Ikea that (besides the straps) would seem to fit your needs very well.

Its just a piece of plastic with a flat beanbag underneath. The beanbag forms to your leg, and its made of a very high friction material so it definitely does´t slide anywhere on your legs. The laptop would go way before that, but securing the laptop to it would be pretty easy I think.

I tried googling for it, and the images of beanbag laptop desks I found are very "puffy", which this one most certainly is not. My legs really "digg" in the bean bag, and the high friction material keeps it there.


Edit: Found a picture: http://st.houzz.com/simgs/cc510e170e4cc7f3_4-3189/modern-desk-accessories.jpg

With my 13" laptop I even have space for a mice of the side if I push the laptop a bit to the left.

 

Most importantly... does the bus have power outlets? If not, gaming on a laptop battery is going to be tricky, since most gaming-capable laptops will run for 45-90 minutes max on battery. You may be able to find laptops that have better battery life than that.

Another alternative... do you have internet access on the bus? (or 4G cell phone access) If yes, it may make sense to do some remote game streaming instead.

 

When you travel some long way through bus services so it's better to carry your work or entertainment with you. I think the laptop desk idea was quite good.