KLOUD CityBlack Metal Desktop Document Book Holder with 7 Adjustable Positions (Lost ocean-SJ981)

Well, this probably sounds overenthusiastic for a copy shelf, but I am so glad I bought this!I do a lot of data entry at both work and home. I travel with a laptop AND a tablet AND a Kindle device AND a portable adding machine (and a bunch of file folders), so I was concerned about the size of it, but this is pretty streamlined and lightweight.This is your basic metal copy stand. It looks nice and folds up to about the same length as a sheet of legal paper, and about 1/2" thick. It fits in my messenger bag. The little prongs fold up some, but they aren't flush to the surface when you fold it, so they take up a little more space just at the end.I have used it between home and work pretty much every day and I'm baffled at how I did not think to order this before. It's super useful, and I'm tired of having to drag it out of my bag every time, sooo... I'm a huge nerd for doing this, I guess, but I just ordered a second one. Now I can leave one at my desk at work and have one on my desk at home.If I could change one thing I'd make it where the prongs can fold down completely if I don't want to use them, but that's a very minor concern.The side and top clips are completely removable. Someone said that they did not like the way the blue lines on the side clip block out the copy, which is a valid thing if you are transcribing stuff. Perhaps that person could pick up a clear ruler or cut a piece of plastic out of something like those kinds of packages you have to open with a flamethrower to get the item out of. Like what headphones come in, those shells that are sealed all the way around that you have to cut open with tinsnips if you don't want to slice your hand open with a pocketknife. Anyway they could just clip that on behind the thing that comes with this copy stand and voila, they can now see several rows at once.

This is a serious office tool: well-made & attractive. I’m glad to not be using one of those scratched up all-plastic document stands that always ends up breaking. The wire stand at the back is easy to adjust. And at the front, you can pull up the document holders at the bottom independently of one another. The clip with the ruler along the left side is very easy to move as needed, too. What I really like is the fact that it’s all black just makes it look like a really basic office tool, and distracts from the fact that it’s just plastic.

Although my first one arrived with the top clip broken, I am giving this stand 5 stars because it is a very good design. I almost gave it 4 stars because it has two design "flaws" which I will explain later. And even with those, I would give it 4.5 stars if I could. But I decided I like it too much to knock it down to 4 stars. I will say the manufacturer needs to package it better. It is in a flimsy box, with no inside protection for the plastic parts and clips. But had the person boxing my order placed it on TOP of the two boxes of heavy file folders (which weighed 11 lb.) instead of UNDER them, it would have arrived intact - as evidenced by the fact that the second one I ordered, boxed by itself, arrived in perfect condition. Amazon is paying for me to return the first one and said they will credit my account as soon as they receive it. I was hoping they would let me return the clip only and they would send another clip, but that is not how they do it. I immediately ordered another stand, to be sure it doesn't go out of stock. Had I thought about purchasing a large ACCO Binder Clip, I wouldn't have bothered with returning it.METAL PARTS VS. PLASTIC PARTSThe tall back board that the book or paper document leans against is metal. (My magnets stuck strongly to it.) The bar on the back that sits in the 7 grooves to adjust the slant is metal. The springs in the top clip and in the clip that holds the line guide bar are metal, but not the highest quality springs. Everything else is plastic: Tthe bottom base or foundation. The pegs that swivel in and out at the bottom to hold the book or document in place. The clip on top and the clip that holds the line guide bar. The line guide bar is clear plastic or acrylic with two blue stripes on it.WILL IT ACCOMODATE LARGE OR HEAVY BOOKS? ARE PAGES EASY TO TURN?I placed an 800 page dictionary, almost 2" thick, on the stand and it worked fine. The pages are easy to turn without having to remove the book from the stand. The little pegs at the bottom that hold the book in place flip down to turn the pages! Flip the right peg down to release the next page and then flip the left peg down to insert the just-turned page under it. It takes only a second and the pegs flip up and down VERY easily. Because the book is so thick, when you are near the beginning or the end of the book, it gets a little unbalanced on the stand because one side is very thick while the other side is very thin. I simply moved the book slightly off center on the stand to adjust for that, and it worked fine.To try a taller, heavy book, I used the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia which is 11" tall by 8 3/4" wide x 1 3/4 " thick and weighs 5 1/2 lb. The stand handled it fine because those pegs at the bottom just swivel farther out to accommodate the thicker book.Of course you cannot use the line guide bar with big books. It is best used on paper documents. More on that further down.WILL IT WORK WITH PAPERBACK BOOKS? WITH 3-RING BINDERS (NOTEBOOKS)?Paperback books that DON'T have a strong closing tendency stayed open just fine on the stand.But SOME paperback books that don't open flat and that DO have a strong tendency to want to close back up were a problem - especially some new books that haven't been read and are still "tight". You open the book flat and push the bottom pegs against it, hoping to hold it open pretty flat. Unfortunately, the bottom pegs are not strong enough to resist the strength of SOME books to close themselves back up. As I said earlier, the pegs swivel very easily. This is a negative with books that want to close back up, because in their effort to do so, they have enough strength to push the clips away, allowing the book to partially close. The books I tried are still held open far enough to read them, but not as far open as I would like. Most paperbacks aren't tall enough to clip them to the stand at the top, and they are too wide to use the included clip on the sides. (The book extends too far out beyond the side of the stand.) Also, the included clip doesn't stretch far enough open to be of much help with a book. If I had really large, strong Acco Binder type clips, I might be able to clip the books to the stand at an angle on the sides to hold them all the way open. Or, I might be able to use two LARGE Acco clips to clip the open book to the top of the stand, not using the bottom pegs at all. Again, paperbacks that don't have a strong closing tendency worked fine.I tried sitting an open 3-ring binder (notebook) on the stand, and that worked also.HOW EFFICIENT IS IT WITH A SHEET OF PAPER? A LEGAL PAD? A CLIPBOARD?It works just as great with a sheet of paper, including legal size (14" tall), because the pegs at the bottom swivel in as close as needed, depending on how thin the document is, to hold it in place. And of course you have the clip (which can be used at the top or on one side) to hold the paper should it want to fold over. This can also be remedied by adjusting the angle/slant with the bar and grooves on the back. Legal sized (14 inch tall) paper stands 2" above the top of the holder, but should it want to fold over, the clip can be used on the top of one SIDE of the stand. You also have the option to change the angle to prevent it, or you can put a 14" tall piece of cardboard or a 14" legal pad behind it. I had no problem with the 14" paper I tried, and needed none of these remedies to keep it upright.A legal pad - 11 inch or 14 inch - worked great. A clipboard with papers clipped to it - great.WITH A THICK DOCUMENT? HOW THICK A STACK OF PAPERS CAN YOU SIT ON IT?I can't say exactly, but I took a ream of copy paper, which is 500 sheets and about 2" thick and sat it on the stand and it was OK. Had they been loose and OUT of the wrapper, it would not have worked as well. A stack no more than 1.5 inches thick of loose papers would be best. (I tried it.) The line guide bar will NOT work on a thick stack of paper, because the clamp can't reach around them. I clipped the guide bar on 20 sheets of 20 Lb. copy paper (standard copy/printer paper) and it worked fine. I tried 25 sheets and it was too difficult to move the line guide down. On a thicker document, say it is stapled and you don't want to unstaple it, you can clamp the guide bar to just the top 20 or so sheets, and not to the stand at all. I tried it and it worked.IS THE LINE GUIDE BAR BENEFICIAL??The guide bar is beneficial some times - and easy to remove when not needed. (See more on the line guide bar in the above paragraph on thick documents and in DESIGN FLAWS below.) If you are typing from a document or a sheet of paper, it shows the one line you are typing in between the two blue lines. You must reach up and move it down each time you move to the next line. If following a line of type all the way across a page is a problem for you, this guide will be very useful. If it's not a problem, having to move it down each time you move to the next line might be more trouble than it's worth, and you an easily unclip the bar and remove it. It's just a spring clip you press to open.THE TWO DESIGN FLAWS1. The pegs at the bottom need to be stronger to hold SOME books wide open.2. The Line Guide could be SO much more functional if the blue lines were very light (pale) so you could see through them. Yellow or light peach would probably be a better color choice to be able to read through them. WHY? Usually if you are using the line guide, it is because you are copying what is on the document and you want to follow the lines all the way across without getting "lost". On the document I was using, the line guide spanned 5 lines of type - one above the top blue line, one UNDER the top blue line, one between the blue lines, one UNDER the lower blue line and one below the lower blue line. Because the blue lines are dark and NOT see through, you can only read EVERY OTHER line of type. So you type one line and then the next line is hidden, requiring you to move the bar down to see it. Thus, you have to move the bar EVERY line you type.If the colored lines were pale enough to see through, you could type FIVE lines of type before having to move the bar! The colored lines would still keep you on the right line, because you would be typing top clear line, then top colored line, then middle clear line, then bottom colored line, then bottom clear line. THEN move the guide down to the next 5 lines.THE DIMENSIONS SHOULD YOU WANT TO PACK THIS IN A BRIEFCASE or BACKPACK:The box is 14" x 9.75" x 1". The stand itself, when folded down, (which is very easy to do) is 13 3/4" x 8 3/8" x 3/8" thick. But the two bottom prongs, though folded down, stand up higher than the rest of the stand, making that part about 1" thick. If I were transporting this in a suitcase or backpack where it might get tossed around a bit, I would definitely transport it in the box - and even the box doesn't protect the clips if it might end up underneath something heavy. If that's a possibility, I would package the top clip and the line guide, better - maybe wrap and tape bubble wrap around them. You can use the this stand without either of those items a good part of the time, however.When opened, it stands about 11 3/4" tall in its most upright position (which is slightly slanted). The back board is 11 7/8" tall, making it nice for supporting taller books and binders. The base is a hair over 8.25" wide, so that is how much width you need on the desk beside your computer. If putting books on the stand, you will need more space on the desk because open books extend out past the width of the stand. Front to back the base is 6".There are seven grooves on the back of the base, and you simply move the support bar into which ever groove causes your book or paper to be at the angle you prefer. If you look at the many pictures you can click on in the description of this item, you can see what I am talking about.HOW WELL DOES IT HOLD AN iPAD? A LAPTOP COMPUTER?This stand is great for sitting an iPad on so you can read it/watch it at a more upright, natural angle. (But there is another much smaller, but sturdy stand for holding an iPad that works GREAT: the Fellowes Wire Study Stand - Silver (10024) which I also purchased from amazon. It folds down to NOTHING and is incredibly basic and simple, but perfect for an iPad.)I put a laptop computer on this stand to see how it fared. While you certainly couldn't type on it at this angle, if you are watching a movie on it, and put the stand in the farthest back position (last groove), it holds the computer up nicely so the screen is at eye level on the desk or table or TV tray in front of you, for easy viewing.MINE IS NOT A KLOUD CITY, BUT I AM NOT COMPLAININGThe title for this stand says "KLOUD City Black metal desktop...." Nowhere on my stand or its box does it say KLOUD City. In three places the box says LIANGBAO STATIONERY COPY SHELF. The stand itself says LIANGBAO No. 616. I notice in the reviews that some people say their stand is great, while other people say theirs is scratched, bubbly paint, poor quality. I also notice that Amazon has several different outside sellers fulfilling orders for these stands. I am wondering if some people might be getting the KLOUD City and some people might be getting the LIANGBAO, depending on which seller fulfills their order? My LIANGBAO looks identical to the pictures. Is it possible the LIANGBAO is a knock off? All I know is, when I ordered my second one, I made sure to again order the one sold by Cheerswill, so I would again get the LIANGBAO! (Beside the picture of the item and just below the initial description, it says "So many new from $...." I clicked on that and found Cheerswill, since that is who supplied my first one.) Sure enough, I received a LIANGBAO and I am glad I did. Is the KLOUD City one better? I can see by the picture it would not have corrected Flaw 2. The pegs look the same, but I do not know if they would be any stronger. I'm very happy with my LIANGBAO. No scratches, no bubbly paint, sturdy, and it doesn't look used!

This document/book/copy stand/holder is perfect in every way. There's a clip at the top, along with two adjustable levers at the bottom, that hold the document steady. The stand adjusts to any position you need, and there's a movable guideline to keep your place on the document. It's made of very sturdy metal and can hold small to medium-sized books (haven't tried any big books yet). And as one who doesn't have a lot of space at the moment, the best part is that it folds flat! I had the unfoldable kind and it took up way too much room. It was so plain compared to this one. It's perfect for school, work, or any time you need to type something. I'm really happy I found it.

A very useful product to support health at work by avoiding being in an uncomfortable posture and supporting ergonomics when working for a considerable time transcribing paragraphs or lines of a document to the computer equipment and constantly observing the screen.