After buying your laptop computer, you may have been uncomfortable after using it for several hours. Hunched over your keyboard, you might be crying to be liberated from this expensive device that you thought would free you. Getting a proper laptop stand will relieve you of this tension. Health and safety experts routinely recommend that the top of your screen should be at the same level as your eyes and an arm’s distance away. This is impossible to achieve without a laptop stand. Belkin’s Cush and Griffin’s Elevator Laptop Stand represent very different approaches to this problem.

Griffin Elevator Laptop Stand

The Griffin Elevator comes in a softly burnished aluminum that is sized to be compatible with all laptops. This sturdy three-part device is simplicity itself as it sits on your desk, elevating your laptop to an appropriate height. Long strips of rubber pads grip both your computer and the desk to prevent your laptop from being accidentally knocked aside. This is designed to work with an external keyboard and mouse so that you can sit back, freed from hunching over your screen.

Air freely circulates around your computer, preventing worrisome overheating issues. Moreover, when you are done, your external device can be stored in the stand frame awaiting further use.

Belkin Cushtop

The Belkin Cushtop was designed with different considerations in mind than the Griffin Elevator Laptop Stand. The Cushtop is styled like a warm and cosy winter muff that your computer sits upon. While it does elevate a laptop, it doesn’t address the ergonomic problems that the Griffin laptop stand was designed to solve. Since the Cushtop is used on your lap, it’s difficult to imagine how it could be used with an external keyboard or mouse.

The Cushtop is designed to protect your lap from the heat generated from your computer. However, it is unclear that it does much to protect your computer from that heat, as every inch of the bottom of the computer remains in complete contact with the Cushtop, leaving no way for heat to dissipate into the air.

The Cushtop does provide a cavity inside the stand where you can stash power cords, which is a nice touch if you are on the go.

The Bottom Line

Go for the Griffin Elevator if your primary concerns are overheating and comfort. The Cushtop is fun, but for professional users and students, the Griffin Elevator meets a genuine need.