Universal Silver Compass Design Portable Mobile Stand Desktop Holder

As one of the reviewers has pointed out, this is a clone of the Twelve South Compass mobile stand (for tablets). It is marketed as a "Universal Compass Design", which is an acknowledgement of the original, of sorts.Rating breakdown:Value = 5Quality = 3Function = 4Packaging = 1So, what does this clone have to offer besides a 85% savings over the original?PROS:- well made, but not perfect. Only time and use will determine longevity.- quite stable in upright position, including touch operation.- sent Air Mail (but took two weeks from time of order).- did I mention it was VERY inexpensive (at least for now)?CONS:- very poor packaging, especially considering it has to come from China. It came poking out of the cheap envelope.- no pouch or even plastic wrap to protect it during shipping or transport with the tablet.- using the short leg to support a tablet at a slight angle from horizontal is not stable enough to allow touch operation. BUT, I doubt that the Twelve South Compass works at this angle either. It is a function of the design, not quality of the product.- Portrait position not usable, touching an upper portion of the tablet pushes the lower portion off the support arms.- Material is probably just painted steel (not machined aluminum). As a result of being steel, it is very heavy. Good for stability but bad for transporting (carrying).OK, now the fun part. The cheap envelope it came in has a Customs Declaration stamp with the following fictional information:Contents: Gift, phone assessory-1,Value 1.2 (1.2 in Hong Kong dollars is about 15 cents US (1.2 in any currency is not much!)Sender's Signature: liz unclefuds (yeah, right!)

Original PostI use this stand all the time. It works great and holds my iPad in both positions. The feet are soft rubber so it stays put. It also allows for several positions and slight angle changes. It collapses to a portable size. I like this stand, it is great.Updated once the item was receivedI initially gave this item high reviews. I based my reviews on the same device that I purchased from the Apple store for a good bit more money. When I finally received the item (very long lead time) it looks very similar but appears to be a copy. There is no brand stamp on the stand and the stand is very loose and folds over too easy. I believe it is a cheap replica of the one I purchased from the Apple Store. I do like the one from the Apple store it functions very well but will cost more.

I noticed that most of my reviews are 5 stars. I think that's because I tend to research products before purchasing them and see what other people say so the chances of being disappointed are very low. This is no exception. I'm very happy with this stand. I use this tripod like holder for my iPad and I love it. It folds up flat so it's easy to carry around and seems to be pretty stable when my iPad is resting on it. There is a little "swing out" on the "back leg" that allows for the charging/synch cable to fit through so you can easily position the cable for either portrait or landscape mode. The stand is mostly solid metal material (Aluminum?) so i would be very careful about stowing it next to your device without some cushion or separation (it does come with it's own storing bag but it's very thin). The legs have protective rubber rests so your device won't scratch when perched. Be aware the TSA asked me about the metal object in my carry on bag when going through X-ray at airport. It probably looked like a knife the way it was folded up. It wasn't a problem but it did get noticed so you might store it where it can easily be removed for inspection.

So it's $6 on sale - can't complain about price. However there are a couple things that would improve this product greatly. For one, the 3rd leg is too short for the product to stand upright to securely hold your tablet in place at any angle other than about 45 degrees. Which means it works fine if you're huntched over a desk, but not for sitting and watching a movie from a chair. Also, due to the short length of the 3rd leg the device can sometimes fall backwards when you go to touch the screen.It also does not nicely hold your device in portrait mode.CONS - weak design - just a couple simple imporvements would've gone a long way.PROS - price is right - feels like solid metal and includes a handy little pouch to boot.

There's no comparison to the Apple product in quality, but serves the same function equally as well. I had to glue the pads onto the pegs and one on the main joint at the top as they kept coming off. The little pegs; one is really loose and the other is really tight. The real Apple product has much more quality control. That being said, I've used this for some time, and it serves its purpose, espcially after a little silicone (with adhesive properties). It is a little loose for some uses, where the legs easily slide back together if you're moving it around a lot. If you set it up and just use it, it's great. $7 is much better than $40, so you make the call.

I first saw this product in a blog post from a guy that used it to hold his tablet in his Prius. At the time, I couldn't afford to buy one, but checked back later and noted the priced had jumped 10 times higher than it was. I checked back later still and found it for about double the price the blogger said he paid. At roughly $15, I thought it might be OK.It arrived today and I'm impressed. I can even understand the 10 times over pricing. I couldn't afford it, but it is very nicely made. What's missing from the product description is that while it is aluminum, it has applied silicon or some type of non-slip product to all important surfaces such as the feet and legs to prevent the tablet or phone from slipping as well as both tips of all the legs to prevent sliding on flat surfaces.