OT: I need a desk!

My desk has become a little too beat-up for my liking. I was looking at office depot and staples, and all their desks are either made of metal and glass (no) or these godawful things with tons of "cubbies" to store a PC and books and god knows what (nevermind the fact that it is really bad to put a desktop PC in a small enclosed space. these desk designers know their stuff)

Urg...

I would like a basic desk with a birch finish and a slide out keyboard tray. But pretty much anything that looks decent is fair game at this point.

Can anyone recommend?

Here is an example of what I'm NOT looking for: http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/597772/RS-Astute-Desk-x-x-25/ (wtf how is anyone supposed to work on such a bizarre surface)

Have you looked at Ikea?

Or do you want something more like this? That's Walmart by the way.

Ikea would be possible. I hate shopping there though, I feel like a cattle to the slaughter in those weird little routes they shut you into. That's a good idea though...

I'm not interested in a corner type desk...

Here is my current desk:

Even though it looks cramped, it is usable except for the keyboard / mouse tray which is flimsy and miserable to work with. I just can't take mousing on a 5"x5" flimsy slide-out plastic pad any more. The desk itself is showing its age and starting to wobble a lot, so I need to replace it before something bad happens...

I could use something slightly wider though.

Pricey, but I wanna get one of THESE:

This one is excellent, and is available in birch:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Studio-RTA-Producer-Station?sku=546553&src=3SOSWXXA

I have a used Z555 with tons of shelves, racks and doo-dads...but I ain't shipping it.

Mine looks nothing like this one but you get the idea:

i sucked it up and got a huge industrial grade L shaped desk from http://www.furniturebuzz.com/

lots and lots of room

Which is clearly wasted on you. Put some more gear on it, man!

If I had room in my little office/studio, I would have that already. It is just way too big for the space I have right now. I would have to get rid of a solid oak wall unit thing that is just a beautiful and solid piece of furniture (the kind that should last multiple generations) that gets used for lots of stuff (books, files, a small rack, etc) and has nowhere else to go.

I was also going to suggest Ikea but it looks like Carbon beet me to it. I have never looked at their stuff in person even though we have a giant store in town so I dunno how solid it is. They have the RTA Producer station below on display at the GC near me and it is your typical cheap Chinese furniture and will probably work fine for a few years but not be something you will leave to your grandchildren for refinishing.

I buy office chairs from Office Max and I break them at a rate of about 1 per year; I am a big guy and like to lean on my chairs a lot. I just sheared off two bolts holding the arm on my office chair a few days ago; the ends of the bolts are stuck tight inside the cheap embedded fastening nuts attached to the chair bottom and back. I should learn my lesson and figure out where to get a chair like the one I have at work - they hold up a lot longer - as in multiple years. I would guess that their desks at Office Max of of similar build quality with low grade brittle iron or steel hardware from China.

Edit - I just found out that Pennsylvania House supposedly moved all its production overseas about 4 years ago so I would not necessarily trust it as the solid furniture company it used to be - even if it is still in business.

This is exactly why I haven't bought any of the less expensive desks.

http://www.csnstores.com/asp/show_detail.asp?sku=HML1000&PiID=1412642&PiID=1412750&refid=FR49-HML1000_1412642_1412750

Get one of these.... At the rate of 1 $99 chair per year, you could make up the difference in about 7 years and still have the lifetime warranty!

Which is clearly wasted on you. Put some more gear on it, man!

untrue that's actually when i first got it.i have a rack behind the microx with my xl1 and a TI color monitor on the far right i use to sample from DVDs with.

Claim is useless without photographic evidence.

i can take a quick pic when i get home, although it aint much to look at..

although now i have the idea of getting my rack shelf out and putting the monitor in the rack..

I use one of these: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60141484.

The shelves can be set anywhere. My middle shelf is about a foot above the main desk. I can slide my synth boxes under it when they're not being used, which protects them. The middle shelf holds my laptop, LCD, and mixer. The top shelf holds my monitors and other doo-dads. I really like it.

^^^ that looks exactly like what i need! looks like i'll be making a trip down to palo alto.

do you think you could post a pic of your setup? i'm just interested to see how you have it configured.

you could just use craigslist and get a free/$20 desk

Yeah see if you can find one on Craigslist, they're pretty popular, and come apart fairly easily.

I've been getting my gear re-wired this week. Plan to post a pic once it's done.

Definitely check craigslist, there is ikea stuff on there all the time, and the Frederik seems like it would hold up well used. I got a different desk, one of their modular systems, but it was way more money than it was worth in the end. Still, I do like it now that I have it.

My next desk will probably look like this:

Hopefully with the Euphonix stuff on top like in the picture! :-)

-D

I gave up on finding one that suited me and broke out the power tools. I still need to finish staining it and mount the rack rails but you get the general idea. The center is removable for ease of reconfiguring if necessary.

I'm sitting on one of those this very moment (at work). Not too shabby.

The Aeron's have one fatal flaw, a very hard/sharp spot on the end, that tends to cut off circulation/hurt depending on how you use it.

I had one at a previous failed software company, didn't really care for it.

Steelcase Leaps (similarly expensive) I like a lot -- they only have like 47 different adjustment levers and have a real back/base.

satisfied?

I'm probably just going to build one myself. Anyone have any advice on sites where I could learn how to install / get the parts for your standard keyboard slide-out deal?