Review: Contour UniRiser

Initially I was really just glad to get rid of the Performa I was using as my iMac stand. I mean, it was nice to have a floppy drive right there and available should cyber-methuselah walk in or I have a wild hair to use some crusty old floppy, but beige with an iMac is so 1997. (I suppose I should really do something about my Epson 2500 and my phone then)

We actually called Contour to get the UniRiser months ago, but because we were so taken by the cute little MiniPro Mouse that arrived in the same shipping box, we decided to run that review first. The good thing about that is I've had time to get used to the UniRiser and can better describe its features and shortcomings.

First the features:
The translucent white plastics match the iMac perfectly, with it's support ridges and whole design following the design of the iMac so closely, you'll think that it was designed by Jonathan Ive himself. The design is so straight-up sexy that even our own Dominatrix of Design Melissa V. Iris was moved to say "The front of it looks like a butt." Which is of course, high praise from the Gluteal Gourmande.

It's been redesigned to accommodate the current iMac footprint. And not to worry, those of you who still have your Bondi iMacs sitting on the husks of your 6200s can use this same UniRiser model, as it fits your iMac too.

It has a shelf (however butt-looking). I'm able to fit my zip and MyTV unit(I think I already admitted to being a sucker for punishment) underneath the shelf, and I can put paperwork on the shelf.

Okay, now the shortcomings:
It's advertised as if you can fit any old drive on or under the shelf. You can't. only flat and narrow drives can fit on the shelf, and only flat drives can fit under the shelf. This is the area where my one and only real beef with the UniRiser comes in. If it were only about two to three inches taller, I could not only fit my CD burner under it, but it would be more ergonomically correct for my desk.

My desk, by the way is a pretty standard 6-drawer metal office desk that was abandoned by an H&R block that moved out of a suite that a friend's business was moving into. My chair is an Intensor dropped down as far at it will go. The top of the iMac display is still about 3 inches below my eyeline, as I'm just shy of six feet tall.

You can't store your keyboard under it if you have a new Pro Keyboard, the advertisment that you can stow your keyboard underneath it only refers to the old compact keyboards.

A swivel would be nice.

Bottom line: If you have an iMac, or have someone on your holiday gift list that has one, the UniRiser is an excellent and economical choice that will be appreciated for the life of the computer. It's a space saver, especially to those people who are using slim drives. A redesign making it taller would really be a big improvement.

UniRiser
Contour Design
Dent: $29
Availability: Today.