The Parts – Extras
The other accessory available for either model is a side table, which is a great size for a laptop station, paperwork area, or even an eating place. One of the two leather pads can be placed on it and will cover it completely, or it could be left off if a laptop that normally gets hot is to be used there – it is in this scenario that the thermal properties of the solid piece of aluminum underneath would be of most use.
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The top and bottom sides of the side table have the same brushed finish as the rest of the pieces, and the thickness of the plate is right around a quarter of an inch.
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At the top of the supporting leg of the table is a two-pronged hook for hanging any kind of carrying case or small luggage bag. Notice that, just like the other legs, this fifth one also has a matching number sticker to make assembly easy. However, this one is not angled at the top like the other four.
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Getting back to the leather pads, they do wonders for the comfort of your arms, as they keep you from feeling the cold aluminum when you rest them on the desk. They are substantial pieces made of two leather surfaces stitched together around the edges with a stiff piece of metal in-between to help them stay put and last for a long time.
Click to enlarge.
The printer stand is another nice accessory, also visible in that picture, which is plenty big enough for even most larger, all-in-one style machines. The paper tray underneath not only adds to the overall look, but also provides storage for even legal-sized paper. The “inbox”, as we have come to call it, is really more just for style, but if you happen to have loose papers on your desk, it helps to keep them in one place.
Something else that we have come to appreciate a lot is the compartmentalized front drawer, and the smooth action of the lock for both that and the file cabinet. The inside corners of the individual compartments are all rounded, preventing one from having problems getting small items out as well.
Click to enlarge.
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Kensei - Sunday, August 7, 2005 - link
Even though it's very expensive, I think this was a great item to review. The concept of building a desk to house a particular case is turly unique offering possibilities that couldn't be realized when the two are manufactured indepently of each other. I suspect more synergies will emerge in the future. IMHO, the desk doesn't provide enough value above other much less expensive options to be worth the $3K price tag, but the market will decide if there is demand for such a desk.Regarding the writing, here are some things that should have been caught. For example, the second sentence states... "Since the title of this article has already given away the fact that this is about a computer desk,..." How would I know from the title, Lian Li F1, that this article is about a computer desk?
Also, there is no explicit description of the price. There is a sentence at the end of the article which states... "A better question then emerges; would the F1 / F2 drive someone who is looking for a very nice desk (but perhaps around the $1,000 price point and not the $3,000 one) to consider..." This is the only reference to price I could find so I guess the price of the Lian Li F1 is $3000. Is there another reference I missed?
I could go on but I'll stop here. If this were the blog of a college sophmore, I wouldn't care. But, this is professional journalism from one of the largest hardware review sites on the entire internet. It should be much tighter.
Kensei
UltraWide - Sunday, August 7, 2005 - link
It looks nice, but what makes it $3000? I don't see anything really special about it. I mean it doesn't even come with the computer case or anything.http://www.officemax.com/max/solutions/microsite/f...">Modular furniture
I think that for around $1,000 you can build yourself a very nice work space with that above. I have the corner and the shorter table to create an L shape and it's great. It has cable management rails and optional keyboard drawers. The finish is durable and very high quality.
Kensei - Sunday, August 7, 2005 - link
I don't think we disagree on the price issue. As I stated in my original posting, I don't think the workstation brings enough additional value to the party to justify the 3K price tag. You'd have to ask Lian Li why they think it's worth 3K.On the other hand, just becuase I think it has little "bang for the buck", doesn't mean I feel it shouldn't have been reviewed. It's a very interesting design concept (well, at least to me) that may or may not be adopted in the future by other manufacturers at probably much lower price points.
Regarding other less expensive options, The F1 is not competing against "do-it-yourselfers". My guess is that the F1 may be attractive to people who don't have the skill, time, or desire to build their own desk workstation but do have significant disposable income. 3K is not a lot of money to some people. Whether or not there are enough of those people for Lian Li to turn even a small profit on this desk has yet to be determined.
Kensei
Tamale - Sunday, August 7, 2005 - link
It does include a case. The PC-V1000 is included, which retails for right around $200 normally.Penth - Monday, August 8, 2005 - link
Perhaps more people would consider this if that case had 2 7800GTX in SLI, an Athlon X2 4800+, 2GB RAM, a Raptor, and an X-Fi.Honestly though, $3000 for that desk is pretty rediculous. We custom built an oak desk that wraps around our 2 walls of our computer room, running around 24 feet and it only cost a few hundred dollars. That includes stands for each computer, and soon a stand for my multiple monitors. A much better value, and probably functionality.
I think this desk is a few years late and probably would have done well during the .com bubble paired with an Aeron from Herman Miller.
imaheadcase - Sunday, August 7, 2005 - link
That is such a waste of money if you don't get a longer keyboard tray. The standard kwyboard tray is fine if you just do plain work on computer. But if you play games you need a long keyboard tray for huge mousepad, mouse and keyboard.Personally you can get a better desk if you built one yourself. Home Depot, Lowes sell desk material in diffrent shapes and sizes you can make one yourself. Heck find a cabinet maker and he can make a nicer one for cheap but practical.
That Li desk is WAY overprices, let alone practical.
Zirconium - Sunday, August 7, 2005 - link
I won't attest to that. Of all the desks I've used, I still prefer the good-old simple kind. One of the most useful desks I've seen was at a friend's house: two milk crates stacked on each side, and a door placed over them. That sucker was huge, had a nice hole to run the cables through, since it was so cheap, he didn't mind screwing power strips and other things to the underside of it, and guess what? IT WAS FREE: 4 milk crates he stole from the supermarket where he worked, and a solid door someone was throwing out. A little cleanup, and he had a pretty nice desk, albeit without the bells and whistles.
semo - Sunday, August 7, 2005 - link
now that's what a computer desk should be!but seriously, the best "computer desk" for me personally is one that is wide and has only 4 legs. that way you have easy access to your case and cables. ironically, those simple old design desks are often really expensive. most computer desks come with those flimsy keyboard trays and special higher levels for the monitor which cause neck strains since you should be looking down on a monitor not up.
and exactly why do you need a special compartment for the computer case? what's it for? what's the idea? what am i missing? this is not the only desk i've seen this on.
Hacp - Sunday, August 7, 2005 - link
Theres a 5000 version out there isn't there?retrospooty - Sunday, August 7, 2005 - link
If so I can't see many people buying it. It's a nice PC desk for $500, but $3000 is rediculous. I have been shopping around recently, and beleive me, there are many other desk's out there that have nice cable management and even better features for alot less money. They have no multimedia ports, but seriously, you can but a 12 in 1 reader like that for $30, the value added to have it mounted on your desk is just not worth the extra $2500 you pay LOL