It's extremely rugged. The joints have teeth so when you tighten the knob they're locked together and won't/can't move once you have them set to your desired positions. I highly recommend this product to anyone that wants to install a laptop mount in their car or truck.

 

I have the same laptop stand wysrob has except I have mine situated much closer to me and further forward so I can reach and see it much easier. Like wysrob said, you can basically situate it in any position you want. All you have to do is experiment with different combinations and lengths of nipples and elbows.

I have been using mine now for about 5 and 1/2 years. I had another driver show me the one he had. So when I ordered mine, I just ordered the plexiglass top and the flange the top screws into. The plexiglass top came predrilled with 4 recessed holes and a small bag of screws. If I remember correctly it cost me around $12.00.

Once I received the top I went to Home Depot and bought one bottom base flange, one quick disconnect, and an assortment of ½ steel pipe nipples and elbows in various lengths. I think it cost me something like $13.00 altogether.

Then I went to my truck and experimented with the various lengths of nipples and elbows and in less than 10 minutes I had it set perfectly. The one thing you have to watch out far is that you don’t set it so high that when sitting in the driver’s seat it obscures your passenger side mirror or your passenger side window..

I noticed in the pictures that carlos64030 posted, that he has his set way too far away from him and also way too high so that it obscures his mirror and also his vision out of the passenger window of his truck and that to me is definitely a safety hazard. I’m surprised his safety department hasn’t called him on it yet.

I have mind situated right on my front right side and only about an inch away from the dash so that I don’t even have to stretch out my arm or bend my body or turn my head too far to see it or to reach it. It’s also completely out of the way of the shifter. I was also very careful so that when the laptop screen is flipped up, it wasn’t situated high enough to obscure my view of the passenger window or passenger mirror. In addition, my plexiglass top is set perfectly level instead of being set an angle like in Carlos’s pictures.

All you have to do to set it up is use a socket and ratchet to back out the front inside bolt of the passenger seat, lift up the seat base slightly, slip in the predrilled flange under the seat base, line up the holes, replace the bolt through the seat and the flange and then tightened everything back up, and wa la it’s all set up. Now I also have a quick connect set almost at the floor. Thus, when I need to get the laptop stand out the way for service, for instance, it takes me about 2 seconds using the quick disconnect.

Not to mention that this setup is surprisingly very stable and because the stand is attached to the floor, your laptop surprisingly will hardly ever shake.

Now before I did the laptop routine, I had a Garmin GPS that I first set up on my dash. But when I went down rough roads, which is most roads, my dash shook so damn much I couldn’t see my small ass display. I then bought a suction cup mount and mounted it to the windshield, which was only a slightly better solution.

Anyway, I didn’t like the Garmin because the screen was way too small. It was also hell to route with and enter addresses. So I started using Streets & Trips to do my routing and the Garmin to do my navigation. Until I finally got aggravated with the small ass screen, bought the laptop stand, and started using Streets & Trips for all my routing and navigation. My wife inherited the Garmin until it crashed on her about six months after I gave it to her. I guess all that rattling and shaking took its toll.

Finally, my wife bought me an add-on template for Streets & Trips I didn’t even know about called the Truck Stops Plus this past Christmas and man I love that thing. It’s got most of the truck stops, weigh stations, rest areas, etc. and it’s remarkably accurate. It also has all the Wal-Marts on it too, which is great because I do all my shopping when I’m on the road at Wal-Marts. Man that thing saves me a ton of time. I wish I would have known about it sooner.

Anyway, that’s my setup and I’m fat and happy. There is no way I would spend $200 or 300 dollars for a stupid laptop stand when you can do the same setup me and wysrob’s got for about $25 bucks.