Binding: Office Product Brand: Studio RTA EAN: 0815104196579 Feature: Overall Dimensions: 83 1/2"W x 40 1/4"D x 35 1/4"H Label: Studio RTA Manufacturer: Studio RTA Model: 19657 Publisher: Studio RTA Studio: Studio RTA
Features
Overall Dimensions: 83 1/2"W x 40 1/4"D x 35 1/4"H Top Shelf: 23 1/2"W x 11 3/4"D Main Worksurface: 83 1/2" Wide Adjustable Height Keyboard Shelf: 26" Wide
Studio RTA 19657
A high-tech steel frame constructed corner workstation that can accommodate a monitor, keyboard, printer, CPU plus hold storage for 10 CDs.
Overall Dimensions: 83 1/2?W x 40 1/4?D x 35 1/4?H
Top Shelf: 23 1/2?W x 11 3/4?D
Main Worksurface: 83 1/2? Wide
Adjustable Height Keyboard Shelf: 26? Wide
CPU Holder w/Casters: 9 1/4?W x 17 1/2?D
Two 5-Slot CD Racks
Steel Frame Construction for Durability
Rear Privacy Panels Added for Stability
Floor Levelers for Stability on Uneven Surfaces
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Very Nice Comment: This desk is big, well thought out and easy to put together. It took me just one 6-pack to assemble the desk and when I was finished I was delighted by it's spacious sturdiness. Basically, I'll go ahead and echo everything Mr. Furner said in his review. Well bought. Customer Rating: Summary: Power Center III Review Comment: A very decent L-shaped (ideal for corners) computer desk and work area for the budget-conscious/space-limited buyer. The materials are sturdy, and the aesthetics are quite good (a pleasing teak wood color). No cheapo particle board here (which, in my opinion, is the worst material used for furniture; it flakes/warps and breaks too easily and is just ugly to look at). The corner portion of the desk offers space enough for dual monitor screens and normal speakers if you have them set up that way. The desk corner is set at a 45 degree angle so if you arrange your desk in a corner of a room, there is an open space behind the monitor(s). I suppose you could put a tall lamp or plant or something behind the desk to fill that space up.
The little cart that comes with the desk is a nice added touch to hold your computer tower (fits mid-tower size), and includes wheels (two of the four come with snap-on locks to hold them in place and keep the cart from rolling around a smooth floor). This offers ventilation so your PC components can breathe and allows air to circulate from the fans/radiator (desks that come with enclosed cubby boxes for towers should be avoided since the trapped heat will cause your tower to become very hot, as someone else noted).
There are a few cons, though, which prevent me from giving this desk a 5. First, there's no storage space. There is a raised little shelf that is screwed on the left side of the desk area for your scanner/printer (fits nicely), and the slots beneath on the metal partitions can be handy to hold CD/DVD cases, but that's about it. I also wish they had included holes on the right side of the desk so that you could screw in the printer/scanner shelf on the opposite side in case the left offers an obstructed view of your window/TV/etc., but they don't (you could probably drill your own holes, I guess). There's no shelf for books, or drawer for pencils/papers/etc. The keyboard shelf can be raised and lowered using a similar system as the afore mentioned CD/DVD metal dividers (a pretty simple system), but it doesn't let you slide it near or away from you as other desks do, only up and down. It's also not very big, so if you have a large keyboard like I do, you're forced to use your mouse on the rest of the desk surface. The keyboard dividers hang underneath the desk and can get in the way of your chair's armrests, if yours has them. This part of the desk feels a bit lazy and clunky as far as design goes.
Second, the desk's work area isn't very large, which kind of ties in with storage space above. So if you're an artist (like I am) or someone who needs a large amount of space to work with for papers/books/etc., this desk probably isn't for you. This is a space- and money-saver, and doesn't try to be anything else.
Third, while the materials are sturdy enough, the whole desk itself may feel somewhat fragile or even shakey for others. The metal security screens on the bottom are more for stability than anything else. The holes in the grating do offer more options in how you want to organize your wires so that it's not just a huge rat's nest hanging over your legs and feet (zip ties and wire sleeves work fine). The desk assembly works fine for my basic computing needs, but again, artists should probably look for a separate decent/professional drafting table instead. The desk saves on space and weight (it's fairly light, a single person can flip it over carefully), and the legs are stable and weighty enough, but compared to a traditional desk, it's not as sturdy. Also, the metal on the privacy screens arrived somewhat banged up and dinged (probably during delivery), as other reviewers have mentioned, but nothing a good tool won't fix to bang them back into shape (and who checks under there anyway?).
Fourth, the instructions are a bit confusing, and could be more clearer. I had to switch out some parts due to the confusion over left and right as it pertains to flipping the desk surface upside down to screw them in. The instructions assume left and right as you would facing the desk when it's right side up (you're not screwing anything in without flipping it upside down). Not very convenient.
But other than these, I'm fairly pleased with my purchase. If they address the storage space issues (maybe some simple hanging drawers on either side of the desk), redesign the keyboard shelf, and redo the instructions, I'd happily give this desk a 5. Since I travel and move quite a bit (I'm military), breaking down, packing, and moving the desk shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Customer Rating: Summary: Decent Desk Comment: This is a pretty decent desk.
One thing to note: On the box the desk comes in, it shows you you'll need 61" from the imaginary corner of the desk to each end. It's not easy to tell in the picture on this site, but there is no actual corner.
The desk comes as 2 halves where they meet in the middle and get combined with two steel plates (like 4" x 2" plates).
The only things I don't like about this desk is:
1) The privacy screens are more about stability than privacy (unless you work in a glass office)
2) There is no storage...not even a built in file and placing one underneath runs into problems if you do have the stabilizing privacy screen in place.
But to get the CPU cart is really nice.. I have a Mac G5 and it fits fine in the cart. Customer Rating: Summary: Absoutely the Best Computer Desk Comment: The Studio RTA - Power Center III Corner Computer Desk fits very well in my 10 by 9 PC room. This C-shaped desk configuration is the most efficient work surface, augmented with bookcases on either side. Studio RTA has brilliantly engineered this product to be the first in real quality and functionality, compared to the offerings of its competitors for more than two decades. Congratulations, Studio RTA!
Background:
I have had at least 10 PC consoles/desks since the mid 80s. Particleboard construction wears out quickly, the quarter-turn fasteners break easily, and the surface wears into an ugly map, accelerated by moisture from cups/glasses. PC furniture doesn't get any more ugly than the worn/bubble mapped white surfaces of particleboard. Every console/desk I ever owned had serious design issues:
1) Gold medal goes to stupid engineering that encloses any PC in an under-console box (a water-cooled processor might survive, but not motherboards, hard drives and power supplies). This PC box design killed my $2000 PC in the summer of 2003. If you buy/have such a desk, make sure that the front door is of mesh-air flow design/or take the door off, and that the back is open (keep the back an inch or more away from the wall and make sure that the side vent for the microprocessor is not blocked);
2) Silver medal goes to particleboard construction that wears out and splits into sections at quarter-turn fastener locations. I recommend that you apply Tightbond to all mating surfaces of your existing desk (clamp for at least 24 hours) that do not require unfastening for movement of you desk to a new location;
3) Bronze medal goes to horrible sliding keyboard trays that do not lock in place. Other than a $450 commercial keyboard tray dinosaur found in corporate cubicles, I don't know if any sliding trays ever locked in place. Sliding keyboard trays are fixed at the wrong height and force you to use the mouse on the desktop surface (tray width is usually inadequate);
4) Brain-dead medal goes to idiotic hutches with tiny little drawers, and a top surface that is either too high or too narrow to accommodate a printer;
5) Alzheimer medal goes to the failure to provide the means to level the console/desk.
Survey:
This time I reduced several hundred PC console/desk candidates to one choice (there really is only one choice): the Studio RTA - Power Center III Corner Computer Desk in Pewter and Teak Finish - 19657. At least 90% of those that I reviewed still have serious design flaws. I will discuss these flaws, by describing each solution provided by the RTA Corner Computer Desk in the following paragraphs.
Construction:
Precision engineered with embedded screw-nuts without the infamous and dastardly quarter-turn fasteners. Even the undersides and backsides are finished (no ugly white particleboard surface anywhere).
Studio RTA does not enclose the PC in a heat-killing box (absolutely the dumbest blunder by any manufacture), because every 9-degree F increase, halves component life expectancy, e.g., with 70 degrees in the room and 97 degrees in the idiot-designed PC box, a four year component might last 6 months!
Studio RTA puts your PC on a caster platform that provides the best access you can find for plugging cables into the PC's back panel. The four legs of the RTA desk have individual leveling feet that adjust to ensure that the desk is level when the rug does not meet the wall. You can also adjust the feet to add up to a half-inch to the desktop height.
Studio RTA addressed heat flow under its corner desk by providing privacy panels with hole-grids to keep the air flowing. The privacy panels also add more support and the center panel has a top hole to feed your keyboard and mouse cables to the PC. This keeps the cables (if you are not using wireless) from hanging down by your feet.
RTA provides a keyboard tray that is vertically adjustable (the mechanism is foolproof and optimum in design) and the tray is of sufficient width for your mouse (makes me wonder if any of the sliding keyboard manufactures ever tested the insanity of using the mouse on the desk surface above the keyboard).
The height of the RTA keyboard tray is adjustable by you, and it will not move in/out as you type (a major design flaw). From an ergonomics perspective, the RTA keyboard tray is adjustable to your body's physical attributes and your captain's chair (sliding trays are miserable failures).
Studio RTA integrated a printer shelf that is perfect for my Epson inkjet printer.
Assembly:
Assembling the RTA corner desk was a no-brainer. I just looked at the pictures and did almost no reading.
When you install the legs and privacy panels, I recommend that you do not tighten any screws until all structural members are in place.
You will need a second pair of hands to install the keyboard tray, with the desk on its side (or do it yourself per the instructions - block it off the floor, for screw access, in an upside down position).
There is no bag(s) of hardware to inventory and sort through. All the hardware comes neatly arranged in plastic compartments on a card. The Allen wrench is included, so all you need is a medium Phillips-head screwdriver. Assembly time is about one hour.
Corner Desk Movement/Enhancement:
Because my PC room is only 10 X 9, I assembled the RTA - Power Center III Corner Computer Desk in the living room.
Although it is light enough for one person to lift, it required two people to very carefully transport it 12 feet down a 35-inch wide hallway, and thread it through the 30-inch doorway of the PC room.
Because the legs are quite sturdy, I may remove just the left privacy panel so the PC roll-about can move farther towards the wall.
Shipping and Handling:
The Studio RTA - Power Center III Corner Computer Desk in Pewter and Teak Finish - 19657 was delivered in just 7 days.
Although the shipping box showed some battering (no rips or dents), only the privacy panels had very minor damage. I had to straighten three privacy panel flanges, using needle-nose pliers. You can't see any flange damage now and who looks under a desk anyway.
Limitations:
1. Keyboard and Mouse. I have a full size MS keyboard and mouse. This combination is ok for word processing, but does not work very well for gamming. I recommend an 18-inch wide keyboard for gammers.
2. CRT Monitor. Any CRT monitor larger than 17-inches will not fit very well...the screen will be too close. You could put a corner shelf behind the desk, but make sure that the air can circulate behind and around the sides of your monitor.
3. LCD Monitor. Any large LCD monitor will fit very well. If you are a software developer, the desk can easily handle two LCD monitors.
4. Lighting. I also bought a Danray lamp, the best 24-inch gooseneck lamp you can find anywhere. I'm using a Lutron Electronics Plug-In Lamp Dimmer, Brown #TT300H-B (Amazon), rated at 300 watts to easily handle a 100 Watt lightbulb. The dimmer controls the amount of light on my book, keyboard, printout, audio equipment, bookcase, wall...even set it really dim as a PC Room night-light. You need a three-wire to two wire plug adapter (go to Lowes, 65 cents) to plug the Danray into the dimmer and the dimmer into the wall receptacle.
5. Cable Routing. 12 feet of Techflex 3/4-inch or 1-inch" F6 Split Sleeving (Amazon) is the best hi-tech solution for managing/hiding the rats-nest of cables to/from your PC and audio equipment. Each cable can be routed out of the Techflex bundle at the exact horizontal location of your speaker, monitor, wall receptacle, etc.
