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Review on πŸ”§ Enhanced Metal Ball Bearing Keyboard Slide for Improved Performance by Russ Mashlan

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Excellent quality; Exactly what I was looking for

that I type on the keyboard almost all day, every day. I recently added a new computer to the office and needed a different keyboard for it. I decided to invest in a quality mechanical keyboard (in retrospect, I should have done so many years ago) and then searched for the perfect position on my desk for comfortable, fast, and accurate typing. After a lot of experimentation I found that I prefer to place the keyboard very low - almost directly on my lap. Since I didn't want to have a keyboard (especially a wired one) on my lap all day, I decided to use the keyboard tray under my desk. , expensive and (probably) high-end. I wasn't happy with any of them. Ironically, some of the trendiest and most expensive styles underperformed. I have fairly simple requirements; I want my keyboard tray to: 1. Fit the exact height where I want it2. Solid as a rock, won't wobble or pull bits of material off my table because it's pushed out too far3. Large in width and depth, perfectly filling all the space between the legs/cabinets under my desk (at least 26 inches for my current desk). In the past and during my recent quest, I kept some heavy duty old desk drawer slides to make my own tray. I have a nice piece of sheet metal left over from another project I was planning in drawer mounts under my desk. However, given the thickness of the metal, it would cost me hundreds or thousands of dollars to buy/manufacture a metal brake strong enough to bend steel. So it's impractical.) So I ended up looking for matching rail-manufactured brackets that could serve as keyboard trays. Surprisingly, I found her immediately on Revain. After hearing good reviews I bought the set - and I'm glad I did. These slides tick all three of my criteria above: 1. Adjustment: You can adjust the height in about 1cm increments, which is pretty good. Mine hovers just above knee height - and with enough clearance that the highest keys on the keyboard don't touch the edge of the table's lower front edge. Just perfect. If you supply your own board you can make it as narrow or as wide as you like. I have 26" space and added a 24" piece of laminated shelving. This gives me a large tray that barely has enough room to store the table/cabinet legs. Also note that you can fold the mounting brackets outwards (as shown in the product photo) or inwards. I had to turn mine inside out to fit in the space available, so I'm really glad I had the opportunity. 2. Stability: These slides are built to last. The metal is thick enough for the weight they carry. They don't wobble or twist, especially not with the included high-quality, non-slip screws. I spent a lot of time aligning the rails perfectly so the tray slides straight while hitting the front and back stops. The rails also have rubber latches that "click" when fully extended or retracted. The latches snap securely and keep the tablet rock solid when I'm using it. The fact that this tray is fixed on each side and not in the middle like some expensive trays makes the whole assembly extra strong. I enjoy using such a well built tool throughout the day.3. Size: These slides are designed for a 14 inch deep platform. There's nothing stopping you from using an even deeper platform, but most users probably won't need more than a 14-inch platform. For reference, you'll need a platform at least 6.5 inches deep to fit all four mounting holes for the tray itself. The guides travel 10 inches, which is a lot of clearance and enough for my needs. I set the rails back quite a bit to free up a ledge under the front edge of my desk and keep the tray out of the way when I'm not using it. However, I can slide it into a position where there's enough room to accommodate even a full-sized keyboard and palm rest. Because you supply your own board, you can make your tray as wide as you like. I used 12" x 24" x 5/8" laminated MDF shelves (prefabricated, available at hardware stores) and they are very strong at this width. I also considered using oak parquet. and sheet metal. Choosing your own tray size/material is one of the advantages of purchasing these skins as opposed to a full keyboard tray. My only complaint is that these slides only come in one color. All of my office furniture is white, so these black rails stand out (in a bad way). I was thinking of painting them but they already have a quality enamel finish better than anything I could do and I'd probably score rings/bearings if I started spraying. I was thinking of giving this product a star due to the lack of color choices but other than that they are too good to give a shout out for that little oversight. and recommend without hesitation.

Pros
  • nice thing
Cons
  • I don't remember, but there was something