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The best standing desk converters
By Kevin Purdy This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full guide to standing desk converters. If you want to incorporate standing into your work routine but a full-sized adjustable standing desk isn't an option, the Kangaroo Pro Junior is the next best thing. After building, testing, and comparing 15 standing desk converters, we found our pick of more than five years offers the most stable, ergonomic, and adjustable standing setup while taking up less room than most converters. All standing desk converters are an inherent compromise, an attempt to make one part of your non-moving desk move for your work. The Ergo Desktop Kangaroo Pro Junior makes the fewest ergonomic compromises of the converters we've tested without being too annoying to use. That's no small feat for this category, believe us. Being able to control the height of your monitor and keyboard tray separately makes the Kangaroo Pro Junior a better fit for more people. The monitor mount means your display is more stable and takes up less room than a monitor standing on a platform. And because you work on a flat, deep surface, rather than a narrow tray, you can use whatever combination of keyboard, mouse, and other tools best fits your work. The Kangaroo Pro Junior makes you do a little bit more work than some converters—turning knobs and gently lifting with your hands—but that pays off in ergonomically superior arm and neck angles. If you don't have a monitor you can mount to a VESA bracket or you want to use your laptop screen but still stand at your work, the VertDesk Standing Desk Converter is the best fallback option, and we mean that as a compliment. It's more stable than many other two-tier converters, especially its keyboard tray. It's smooth to raise and lower, it rises mostly straight up instead of lurching out like many converters, and it has some built-in cable routing that make it easier to create a good monitor setup. If you've got a sizable desk to dedicate to standing (that you don't want to trade out), and you know you won't need to switch out your setup for other work, the E7 by Uplift gives you the most convenient standing setup short of buying a standing desk. It weighs nearly 100 pounds and takes up 26 inches of desk depth (nearly 40 with an overhanging keyboard tray), but it's quicker and quieter than other electric converters we tested, looks better than most converters with a bamboo or rubberwood desktop options, and lets you use either a lowered keyboard tray or a flat work surface. If you only use your laptop to work and want to start standing, the Cora gives you a lower-cost, less-permanent way to do so. Using your laptop alone whether sitting or standing isn't a great ergonomic setup, and the Cora cannot fit a monitor. But it also works great with a laptop on a stand, a small keyboard, and a small mouse, making your sitting and standing angles ergonomically better, if not ideal. It's also the quietest, easiest to adjust, and best-looking laptop riser we tested.
The best standing desks
By Kevin Purdy This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full standing desks guide here. After two months of unboxing, building, using, testing, and comparing eight of the newest standing desks side by side, we think the Uplift Bamboo Stand Up Desk with 1" Thick Desktop and V2 Frame is the best desk for people who want a relatively stable surface that looks good, moves quickly and quietly, and should give you the fewest problems in working every day. But several other standing desks are nearly as good, and a few are worth considering. The Uplift bamboo desktop was every tester's favorite, particularly the (optional) ergonomic groove cutout in front. You can kit out the Uplift with a number of accessories that match your desk style, including power and cable organizers. It wasn't the best at everything, but the Uplift had the best mix of performance and features, and a lack of glaring flaws, of all the desks we tested. Just make sure you get the V2 frame (Uplift still sells the earlier model, which is a bit less stable). Though the Uplift is not the most rock-solid standing desk we tested this time, it's more stable than the desks we've recommended (and used happily) for years. The desks that were more stable had other flaws, like loud motors or ugly laminate tops. If you want to buy a standing-desk mat and monitor arm at the same time, you should consider the Fully Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk, because it is a good standing desk that offers those extras in a package deal. The Jarvis was our top pick for more than four years, and is still a desk we recommend. The latest version of the Uplift frame and desktop felt more stable, particularly front-to-back, than the latest Jarvis frame when we tested both in late 2018. But the difference is not enormous; standing-desk stability is hard to measure precisely, and a half-dozen Wirecutter staffers have used Jarvis desks daily for years. The Jarvis's ¾-inch-thick bamboo desktop is thinner than the Uplift's 1-inch top, and looks lighter; otherwise they're nearly identical. In addition to the mat and monitor arm, Fully sells furniture and desk add-ons that mesh well with the Jarvis's look that you can purchase at a discount while ordering the desk, while the Uplift offers small upgrades, like powered grommets and privacy shields. The Varidesk ProDesk 60 Electric is more stable in each direction than the Uplift or Jarvis, and a little bit quieter than those desks in raising and lowering (minus an occasional thudding sound when starting). It also comes with built-in cable management, and was the easiest desk we've ever built. But it has no wood or bamboo desktop options, just five colors of laminate, which our testers disliked. If desktop style is not a high priority for you, and you'd rather pay a few hundred dollars more to have a more stable, quieter desk with easier assembly, the ProDesk 60 Electric could work for you—but we recommend the white or black finishes rather than the faux wood. It was a close call for many of the full-size electric standing desks we tested; several were near picks, except for flaws that will be dealbreakers for some people. Check out our impressions in the Competition section for more. If you're interested in adding a standing adapter to your existing desk, we are researching and testing standing desk converters for a separate review. For now, we still recommend the Kangaroo Pro Junior by Ergo Desktop, which has been our converter pick for four years. It provides a decently smooth and low-effort transition from sitting to standing, it keeps your monitor, mouse, and keyboard more stable than most desktop units we tested, and it doesn't require a very deep desk, or render a big chunk of your desk space unusable except for computer work.
So you want to play a mistweaver monk?
Interested in trying out the new monk class, but can't tell your Tiger Strikes from your Tiger Palms? Written by Chase Hasbrouck of World of Monkcraft, WoW Insider's new monk coverage will get you kicking in no time! We've covered windwalkers and brewmasters; now we get to mistweavers. One caveat, though: Because this is still beta, things will likely change somewhat between now and live. We'll have a full 101 guide that covers things like enchants, gems, and stats when Mists is released, but this will cover you until then. This goes double for mistweavers, since Ghostcrawler has already acknowledged that their healing is currently too high. What is a mistweaver monk? Monks have three role options: damage, tanking, and healing, of which mistweaver is the healing role. How do mistweaver monks work? Mistweaver monks have two primary resources, mana and chi. Mana works similarly to all other mana-based classes; it regenerates at a constant rate, regenerates at half that rate in combat, and powers the majority of your healing abilities. Somewhat similar to holy paladin mechanics, however, is the addition of chi, which is generated by several different abilities. Chi can stack up to 4 (5 if talented) and powers some of the spec's stronger abilities and damage potential. Damage potential? What is this "melee healer" thing? While it's still heavily being tweaked, mistweavers have several passive abilities that allow them to convert damage into healing. The most important of these is Eminence, which converts 50% of the monk's special ability damage into healing a nearby ally with the lowest health. Eminence can currently be stacked twice if a Jade Serpent Statue is dropped, which provides enough healing for encounters with light damage. The rotations are pretty simple: Use Jab, Expel Harm, or one of your heals to generate chi, then spend it via Tiger Palm or Blackout Kick to get the Eminence healing. If you're fighting a large pack, use Spinning Crane Kick, which heals based on AoE damage. If things get tough, though, you'll want to switch to full-time healing. As it currently stands, DPS healing isn't required, but it provides a small additional boost to overall raid damage and raid healing -- and it's also pretty fun, too.
