Huntingdon Computer Desk
Huntington Oxford Double Pedestal Computer Desk
The company
that makes the Huntingdon range of desks usually graces its products with
executive splendor and heaps of cherry wood finish or the deeper tones of
mahogany. However, this is its slightly cheaper, more accessible range of desks
designed with the home computer in mind.
The
Huntingdon computer desk comes with ample storage and shelves and other features
such as a monitor riser, open-backed base unit area, slide-out keyboard and mouse
shelf, cupboard, drawer and a lower printer shelf.
It measures
in at 1420 x 600 x 725mm, with an additional 185mm added to the height with the
monitor riser added. It has an 18mm beech effect, foil wrapped laminate finish
to it that's generally hard wearing and easy on the eyes. The rest of the desk
is around 15mm thick, but despite it having a pleasant finish, it doesn't feel all
that stable once you've finished constructing it.
Naturally, it
arrives as a flat pack, and although the parts are numbered and the screws and
other items are bagged, the construction soon becomes a test of patience. We
found several pre-drilled holes were slightly out of place, not by much, but
enough to give you a headache and work up a healthy sweat while trying to manipulate
the shelves into place. You don't necessarily have to fit every shelf in the pack,
but doing so makes the desk feel a little more solid and less likely to skew or
slide over to one side. However, even with the shelves in place and everything
fixed together, the desk did have considerable movement from side to side - a
good few millimetres if we were being rough with it. This makes moving the desk a little awkward once it's constructed, as
there's nowhere you feel confident of lifting it from.
It's not a bad desk and at a reasonable price
You can't
argue with the amount of storage, though, and this is the primary selling point
of the Huntingdon computer desk. Like a pair of many-pocketed combat trousers,
there's plenty of space to put CD/DVD cases, books and magazines. The pull-out
keyboard shelf is more than wide enough to accommodate a full-sized multimedia
keyboard, with enough spare for the mouse and movement. The monitor riser is
adequate, lifting the screen to eye level for a more ergonomic design. Mind you, there's
only room for a single monitor and not a big one at that. The 24" Dell monitor we
tested made the riser feel swamped and left little room on the two connecting
shelves for anything else.
The most
annoying aspect of this desk, though, was the extra peripheral or printer shelf
that sits in the center rear and makes an excellent but eye-watering, shin
kicker. The number of times we stretched our legs out and were met with the
seemingly razor sharp edges of the printer shelf were enough to cultivate a hateful
relationship with the Huntingdon. And when the printer was doing its job of printing,
the movement of the print head made the entire desk wobble around as if it was
on board a particularly rough ferry crossing.
A that shin-exterminating shelf has to go, though
Having said
all that, if you can find somewhere to firmly fix the desk and you desperately
need the extra shelves and cupboard/drawer space, then for just over $166.51
you'll no doubt like the Huntingdon. Otherwise, it's worth shopping around.
