Logitech Alto

It’s a known fact that more laptops are sold than desktops, today. In fact first time computer buyers are also preferring laptops over desktops. Reasons? Plain and simple, cost of ownership has become considerably lower besides a laptop also occupies much less space, a very important point in the ever-so-shrinking and expensive real estate.

While some have the luxury of having a laptop and also a desktop, most people use the laptop as their solitary computing device. The problem starts when you begin using the laptop extensively at work. In ultra-compact laptops (ultra compact laptops are the smaller ones with screen sizes of 12-inches and lower), its tiny footprint also reduces the size of the keyboard, wherein many keys are missing, re-oriented from their conventional positions and are overall smaller in size as compared to a normal sized desktop keyboard. If used extensively at work for long hours, using the keyboard can be a frustrating experience and can considerably reduce your productivity. This is one of the most important points besides the screen size that one must keep in mind when buying an ultra portable laptop.

Another point that Logitech makes (which I think can be worked around with) is that optimum viewing angle when looking at the display. You should be looking straight at the screen without craning your neck. If you observe on a desktop system, the screen is at least two inches above from the desk level, where as in a laptop it’s reduced to a centimeter.

So to counter both the above mentioned problems Logitech has come out with a novel solution, a laptop stand that has a full-sized keyboard attached to it. Let’s have a closer look.
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Design, Installation and Features
It’s a little larger than a normal sized keyboard with double the width. It’s definitely not a thing you can carry in your laptop bag, rather something that you will leave behind at your office desk. You open it just like a laptop with the keyboard on one side and the stand on the other. The manual is brief, graphical and simple to understand and serves the purpose. You just have to open the stand, place your laptop on it and connect the USB cable, provided with the stand to the laptop. Yes, the Alto connects to your laptop via the USB. With regards to the placement of the laptop on the stand, there are two rubber stoppers which hold the laptop in place. The stand or the support surface where the laptop rests is also rubberized to keep the laptop intact. Overall, I used three types of laptops to check the stability of the setup—a 12.1-inch ultra-portable, a 14.1-inch mainstream and a 17-inch desktop replacement. All three comfortably fit in and were pretty intact.

Next comes the keyboard itself, it’s a full sized keyboard with the number pad and extra one-touch hot keys. The keyboard is tactile and comfortable to use and the soft wrist pad is a nice addition.

The Alto also provides you with three USB ports. Now there is a catch here. You might be able to plug in two USB devices, but three is impossible. Reason—the stand cannot provide the required power to the USB devices as they power themselves from the same USB port. Logitech knows that well and has made the provision to attach an external power adapter which of course doesn’t come bundled with the device.

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Performance, Practicality and Conclusion
We will first look at how the Alto performs and its suitable alternatives or rather ways to tackle the above mentioned problems.

As mentioned earlier the keyboard is tactile and comfortable to use, so full marks to that. The angle at which the stand holds the laptop is perfect and I found myself looking straight at the LCD no matter what the size of the screen. So again full marks for that. The only problem I faced was with the distance created between me and the screen. I found the screen a little far for my liking making it a little strenuous to read text. You can tackle this problem by increasing the font size, but I would have still liked the screen to be a little closer. Now, at Rs. 9,995, the Alto stand is a very expensive thing to own but then one has to ease the inconvenience, so let’s look at what else can be done.

Lets first cater to the keyboard problem. I first used a 14.1-inch mainstream laptop. The footprint was big enough to accommodate a normal sized keyboard minus the number pad. I faced no inconvenience whatsoever to typing and was comfortable with it right away. So unless you own an ultra-portable laptop, the keyboard size shouldn’t be a problem. Next step, the perfect position for long working hours. Again, I started with the 14.1-inch mainstream laptop. I just had to increase the height of my chair a little and then tilt the screen to find a comfortable position. But then I was still looking down a little which might cause strain after long hours of work. So here, the Alto stands holds good.

But then for around Rs. 9,995 I can get a 17-inch LCD and a keyboard for Rs. 300 extra. I just have to connect the monitor and the keyboard to the laptop and I have desktop like set-up ready. In fact for around Rs. 10,600, you can get a 17-inch wide-screen monitor. Yea the only thing, is that the set-up is not portable. The Alto would be an ideal companion if you would be extensively using your laptop at home and at office. The Alto comes with a five year warranty.