This is a Sit Stand Desk Initial Review of the Jarvis adjustable height legs with the Ikea Linnmon desktop
This will be my 1st official video of my revamped channel for Cameras, computers, reviews, technology, and tutorials.
I’ve done a bit of research looking for a desk and I found the perfect desk for me and my family.
Sitting for extended periods of time has been shown to be bad for your health.
The Bottom line is that standing burns more calories, but remember, too much of one thing can be bad. So it’s best to mix it up from sitting to standing throughout the day.
When I first started researching these sit stand desks, I didn’t realize there were so many options. But that’s a good thing!
- I wanted an automated desk vs a manual crank not only because it’s cool but it makes it easier for the rest of the family. If you want to take advantage of the sit to stand several times a day, you might as well make it super easy.
- I didn’t want to hold down the memory button to ensure it reaches the programmed height. I realize that other companies did this for safety reasons.
- I’ve seen mixed reviews on the stability of this, but I’m happy to report that it is relatively stable on my thick carpet.
This is my unboxing, assembly and initial impression video. The install was super simple for me to handle on my own and I was able to manage carrying the 60lb box up three flights of stairs to the home office. I did need some assistance from my wife to flip it over once I assembled the desk.
Although it came with the required tools, I always like to save as much time as possible so I used an electric driver with a 4mm allen wrench bit – it helps if it is magnetized. If you’ve built a few pieces of furniture, this is worth the investment. See the links below for the details.
Other desks I considered
Ikea Bekant – this is probably the lowest price motorized option, but when I visited IKEA, I just wasn’t too impressed with the stability and wouldn’t trust it with a 78” wide top.
StandDesk – I like how you can just order the legs as well, but it looked like you still had to hold down the memory preset to get to the requested height. They have a great article you can download on different desks.
UpDesk – I considered this, but it only had 3 presets and wasn’t 1 touch automatic like the Jarvis
My 2nd runner up was the Uplift 900 which is close to the design of the Jarvis, but the staged legs go from thin to thick bottom up. I felt the Jarvis design was more stable in my opinion.
It came down to the Jarvis because of the following reasons:
- It had an overall 5 star review and it’s available on Amazon Prime since I was going to get my own desktop at IKEA
- The control panel is one touch automatic with 4 presets and a digital display – however, you can still adjust it manually by pressing the up and down arrows
- The legs can support 350lbs and comes with a 7yr warranty
- The motor raises and lowers from 23.5″ – 49.25” very smoothly and the frame expands to fit desktops from 44” to 82” wide
Assembly:
- Assembling this desk was pretty straightforward and I’d say it’s easier than some Ikea furniture.
- Since I took the time to record this, it took awhile to build, but if I was to do it again, I can probably do it in 20 minutes or so.
- The Jarvis was nicely packed in some dense foam and all the pieces were spotless.
- It comes with a box that controls the motors, you’ll have four wires to connect.. one to power, one to each of the two motors, and one to the control panel, but instead of placing the box near the front where the manual had it, I put it in the back.
- When 1st turning it on after assembly, you’ll have to reset the motor by moving the height to the lowest position
- Overall, I feel like this desk is well made and built like a tank and I believe it will last quite awhile
Desktop:
We stopped by Ikea and picked up the Black/Brown Linnmon desktop which measures 78 3/4 x 23 5/8”
– at $45 bucks, this was a bargain compared to the ones you can configure with the competition. If it craps out on me, I have no problem replacing it with something more solid.
Use
- The automatic control panel was a key factor since I wanted to save sit and stand positions for the boys and sit stand positions for my wife. It is also much more convenient than a manual crank or manual motor 2 button adjust without presets.
- For stability. At sitting height, it is extremely stable.
- At standing height, there’s a slight wobble but I have to try much harder at lower positions to make it move, It definitely is not as much as I experienced with the Ikea variants. I also have a VERY wide 6 and half foot long Ikea Linnmon desktop that sits on top of thick carpet.
- I purchased some metal desk cord organizers on amazon although it came with some cable mounting clips to take up the slack of the cables. These seemed much more durable than the plastic versions and has enough room to hold a power strip. Check out the description below for the links. If you are like me, you’ll definitely want to get your “cable management game” top notch.
- If this is your first time getting a standing desk, be sure you are using it properly to get the full health benefits of a sit/stand desk and read up on ergonomics. In short you want your display to be at eye level and your arms at 90 degrees when typing.
- I plan on getting a standing mat which I’ll link in the description. When I get one, I’ll definitely put in a review.
What I like:
- I was about to purchase the Uplift, but finally decided on the Jarvis and glad I did! because Amazon delivered this for free within 2 days with Amazon Prime
- The leg design goes from wide to thin in 3 sections and just looks very awesome
- The quality of the hardware is top notch, I can see that the welds were clean – I had to look because I saw a review on another desk that had some sloppy welds.
- Assembly was really easy and it came with all the hardware to screw the Ikea desk top on it
- Depending on your tolerance to noise, It’s not too loud to my ears, but has a cool motor sound – here’s a sample
- If you plan on putting a shelf like I did, I was able to use the desk as a “lift”
- And since this will be used with the kids desk chairs, I was able to lower it to a height for a 9yr old and 6yr old.
What I don’t like:
- It was pricey, but I looked at it as an investment in our health and the flexibility of different heights made it worth it
- This really isn’t about the Jarvis legs, but the Linnmon desk has a paper honeycomb center, and only the ends are re-inforced for screws so keep that in mind when trying to drill or use screws toward the middle. Fortunately, the legs has a support beam that goes across the legs to support the center of the desk.
- Since it didn’t come with drawers, I complimented it with an Alex drawer from Ikea
- And the final con is that It doesn’t talk to me like I’m Iron-Man – sorry, geek joke
Overall, I like the ease of use from sitting to standing and the kids are thrilled to have their own desk instead of having to use the dining table which wasn’t optimized for their height.
I highly recommend this desk so far and would buy it again for $500 and will rate this 5 stars. I plan on doing a detailed review later, so please subscribe to stay up to date, if you have any questions, please post them below. My only regret is that I just wish I haven’t spent so much time customizing my current desk so I can get one for myself!
Links:
Jarvis Electric Adjustable Height Standing Desk Frame: http://amzn.to/2bMeYF2
Balt Cable Management Tray: http://amzn.to/2bMf9QE
OmniMount Neoprene Cable Management: http://amzn.to/2bfuM4H
IKEA Linnmon 6.5’ wide top: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80251358/
Hitachi Cordless Impact Driver: http://amzn.to/2bF6q5A