Buying a sit-stand-walking desk

My job has increasingly become almost completely coding focused which means I’m sitting, a lot. I need to get up and move. Knowing my personality I decided the right way to do this is with a sit/stand desk using a treadmill. But I also need to be able to sit and I don’t have the room to move the treadmill around. So I’m buying the 72 inch iMovR Omega EVEREST desk which has enough room to put the treadmill and my chair next to each other. I’m picking the TR1200-DT3 treadmill. I’m adding an ERGOTRON LX HD Sit-Stand Desk Mount LCD Arm and it’s lighter non-HD sibling. I’ll also need to pick up two VESA mounts for my Apple hardware. Apparently being healthy requires breaking the bank. See below for the absurdly painful process by which I figured this all out.

1 Stand? Walk? Sit? What?

I sit. A lot. For a solid 8 hours a day. I used to at least wander around when I was on calls but I do a lot fewer calls these days and I try to use video where I can. Which means I’m leashed to the desk all day long. I need to move!
The obvious first step was to get a standing desk. But I know me. There is no way in heck that I’m going to stand around using the desk for hours at a time. It’s just not my personality. Sitting for hours at a time I can handle. But standing for hours at a time? Forget it. My feet ache just thinking about it. I need to move!
So the obvious solution was to get a walking desk. That is, a standing desk with a treadmill underneath it. But this quickly brought up another problem - I’m not going to walk all day either! I can easily imagine myself walking a lot more than standing but neither is going to be a total substitute for sitting. So I need a set up where I can sit part of the day and walk part of the day.
I rejected a bunch of options (see A↓) before deciding on just getting a 72 inch sit/stand desk. The desk is wide enough to fit a treadmill next to my office chair while still being small enough to fit in my office.
Figuring out that the desk, treadmill and chair would fit in my weirdly shaped office (with three doors!) was fun, see B↓ for notes on the open source software I used, Sweet Home 3D.

2 Which 72 inch desk to get?

You can see my complete list of sit/stand desk requirements at C↓ and see a bunch of desks I evaluated at D↓. But something funny happened that ended up changing which desk I wanted. There is a company called iMovR who owns a company called Work While Walking which has a show room in Bellevue, Washington near where I live. So I got to visit them and try out their desks. When I went there I was pretty sure I wanted to buy the ThermoDesk ELITE. But I ended up really wanting the Omega EVEREST. Or, perhaps it’s more accurate to say, I was sold it by, I believe, Ron Wiener, the CEO of iMovR who was in the office that day. But just because he is a good salesman doesn’t make him wrong. :)
What makes the Omega EVEREST different than all the other candidate desks I looked at is it’s keyboard tray. They actually cut out a part of the desk and put in an inclined tray. This turns out to be a big deal because it means that while you walk the keyboard is at a very steep angle. This lets you type with your arms naturally hanging in front of you. This reduces the pressure on the arms and also makes it easier to hold on to the desk while walking. I tried it out using a Microsoft sculpt keyboard and it was pretty awesome. From a stability perspective it’s also a bonus because you are walking closer to the cross bar of the desk which is the center of gravity.
That having been said it is not perfect. During “normal typing” the desk did not move. But as soon as I started any shaking at all the desk shook pretty badly. The desk I was using was on a flatter carpet than I have at home (meaning my office could be even shakier) but the trial desk didn’t have any heavy items on it (which ideally would make it more stable). So really, I have little or no idea how the desk will behave in real world conditions. So much for a “try out”.
In addition the Omega EVEREST is missing things that other suppliers provide. The main one is a cable management system and built in power strip. Apparently they are evaluating some solutions in this area but don’t expect to have anything for at least another month or so.
But I decided to take the risk and put in an order for the 72 inch Omega EVEREST.

3 Which treadmill?

A treadmill for a walking desk is not your normal treadmill. First, you want it to be small. Most normal treadmills are fairly large beasts with a waist high stand in front to display status. A walking treadmill needs to fit neatly beneath a desk. Second, you want it to be slow. This is not an exercise treadmill. The goal is to work while walking. From what I’ve read most folks can’t type sanely much above 2 MPH. Some folks can do phone calls and such at up to 4 MPH. But the point is I need a treadmill specifically designed for walking desks. So the qualities I am looking for are:
  • Can hold at least 300 lbs (no, I don’t weigh even close to that but one wants room to grow =)
  • Is 20 inches wide (more space means an easier gate left to right)
  • Should be at least 50 inches or so long (enough space for a good gate front and back)
  • Is very quiet
  • Requires very little maintenance
I have a list of treadmills I evaluated in the Appendix, see E↓. But unless I’m missing something the only serious contenders are all from LifeSpan, specifically the TR1200-DT3 and the TR5000-DT3.
TR1200-DT3 My impression from various sites is that this is the workhorse of walking desk treadmills. Lots of people use it and various folks actually white label it. It has a 20 inch wide belt and when I tried it, it felt solid and sounded very quiet. About the only negative issue I have with it is that you have to lubricate it every 40 hours of use or so. This seems to be a fairly quick process but I do have to remember to do it.
TR5000-DT3 This costs $1000 more than the TR1200-DT3. It looks cooler with aluminum step strips and is rated for more weight and longer use times. It also has a built in lubrication mechanism which means it should only be lubricated about once every six months. I tried it in person and it does feel a tiny bit better in terms of tread than the TR1200-DT3 but not enough to be worth the price difference. But the real issue is the fan. It has a fan that has to keep running for 15 minutes after turning the unit off. In a normal office I doubt you would hear it, it’s really quiet. But I am in a home office and it would drive me nuts to be sitting at my desk listening to this silly fan for 15 minutes. It’s not a huge deal but I don’t want to pay $1000 for the privilege of listening to this fan!
So my choice is the TR1200-DT3.

4 Where do the monitors go?

I have two big monitors, one is a 27 inch Mid-2010 iMac and the other is a 27 inch Cinema Display. I like them to be directly in front of me in a slightly V shape. And I’ll want that set up both when I’m standing and sitting. After a little math I figured out that I need two monitor arms. The gory details are explained in F↓. In the end I decided to go with one ERGOTRON LX - HD Sit-Stand Desk Mount LCD Arm and its light non-HD variant. The HD is for my iMac and the non-HD is for my Cinema Display. As a side note, in the future I hope to get a 40 inch 4K (or higher) monitor like the Philiips BDM4065UC, I checked and it weights about 19 lbs. So even my non-HD arm will be able to handle it no problem. So hopefully I can re-use at least one of the two arms when I upgrade.
I also have to buy VESA mounts from Apple so I can hang my machines off the arms since the iMac and Cinema Display don’t come with Vesa compatible mounts.

A Options I considered and rejected for how to switch between sitting and walking

A monitor poll with keyboard tray One can now buy what are effectively floor mounted monitor poles (like this one) with attached keyboard trays. The idea is that the tray can be lifted to a standing position or lowered to a sitting position. In theory I could place the pole in front of the treadmill and then rotate the monitor/keyboard tray 90 degrees to sit. Getting a pole that could handle both of my monitors was a challenge since most can’t handle the weight. Most of the poles have leg arrangements that I don’t think would work well with a treadmill. Most didn’t rotate at all but focused on just moving up (standing) or down (sitting).
Moving the treadmill out of the way Another option is to have a single desk and just physically move the treadmill when I’m not using it. This turns out to not be workable because my office is really small (about 73 sq ft) and so there just isn’t room to drag the treadmill around. Also dragging the treadmill is a real pain since it’s reasonably heavy and it has a controller and power attached to it that I’d need to be careful of when moving it. In fact, my office is so small that even if the treadmill folded up against the wall there wouldn’t be room to push it from under my desk.
Use a ball chair I can buy a ball chair and sit the ball chair directly on the treadmill. This could work in theory but in practice I’d hate it because there is no back support. There are ball chairs with back support but they come with bases that won’t fit comfortably on the treadmill thus defeating the purpose of the exercise.
Use a stool There are stools, like TreadStool, that are specifically designed to be used on treadmills. But the back support sucks and I have a really awesome Herman Miller Aeron that I love and want to sit in if possible.
Raise the floor I’ve actually seen this done in the real world. You put down flooring around the treadmill and desk so that the floor is level with the treadmill. Then you can roll a chair on and off the treadmill. In my case I have my Aeron and it’s legs are about the same width as the railings on the treadmills. This means that if I move even a little, the chair will fall off the railings onto the treadmill. The Treaddesk Treadmill, btw, would be perfect for this setup since it doesn’t have any railings. But honestly, getting enough material to build up a six inch or so “fake” floor is more effort than I wish to expend.

B Notes on Sweet Home 3D

My office is really small. How could I be sure that the desk, the treadmill and my chair would all fit in without blocking any doors? Historically I would solve this problem using some graph paper and cut outs. But hey, it’s 2015, let’s use some of that computer stuff! So I downloaded Sweet Home 3D. This is open source software that that lets one easily model spaces. It has tons of super powerful features and can do 3d renderings and lots of other stuff I never figured out and didn’t want to use. What I did need though was a model of a treadmill. I had to go to their Import Models page and download a few furniture libraries to find what I wanted. I actually first tried the Free 3D Models page but never successfully managed to import any of the models individually.
The only other trick I needed was that when defining the shape of a room I need to start with Plan/Create Walls and NOT Plan/Create Rooms. The other way was really painful.
Other than that the program worked as advertised and I was very quickly able to enter the measurements for the room, the doors, the windows and the furniture. And it showed that I could actually get a 72 inch desk into the office space along with the treadmill and the office chair and not block any doors and still leave myself space to walk around. Yeah!!!!

C My sit/stand desk requirements

  • 60 inches between the table legs. My Aeron is about 30 inch’s wide and the treadmills I’m looking at are also around 30 inches. So 60 inches gives enough room for everythis to sit together. More is better. Typically table tops with legs this wide are 72 inches long.
  • 30 inches of depth. I’ve seen 24 but that is a bit narrow for my taste.
  • Electric motors with memory. I am too lazy to crank and I like the idea of setting my preferred position and then being able to automatically return to it.
  • An excellent warranty.
  • Maximum height of at least 46 inches. This actually depends on the design of the table. For a normal table I need to have my hands horizontal and account for the 6 inches or so that the treadmill will raise me. So in my case that reaches around 46 inches. Note however that many tables top out at 45 inches. This is bad because unless the table has 4 legs the higher the table is the less stable it will be and the least stable position is at it’s maximum. I don’t want the table swaying while I’m typing and walking. So I actually want a height even higher than 46 inches not because I require it to position the table top properly but because it means that when I’m at 46 inches I haven’t topped the table out and thus made it maximally unstable.
  • Minimum height of 24 inches or so. I really like the table to be low so I can type more naturally. The bottom of the table top on my current table is 25 inches by way of comparison.
There are nice to haves like a good power management set up or being really pretty but those just aren’t as important.

D Some desks I evaluated online and didn’t buy

D.1 Ones that looked reasonable

Ergo Depot Jarvis This uses the Jiecang base and it has an awesome price. The company is actually based in Portland so it’s not out of the question for us to drop by and try out a desk.
Ergoprise S2S Height Adjustable Standing Desk This is apparently another Jiecang base. So presumably if the base is o.k. then the desk should probably be o.k. It’s certainly a great price. I’d love to try it out. The great news is that they do have a showroom. The bad news is that it’s in Texas.
Ergoprise Uprise Standing Desk I don’t know which base this desk has but it’s measurements seem right. Again, the show room is in Texas.
Humanscale Float It goes up to 47 inches which just makes the bar. It’s lowest setting is 27 inches but that’s o.k. because it has a keyboard tray which lets the keyboard be lower. The legs appear to be 60 inches wide. So this could work. But it costs around $2,300!!! Given how much time I’m going to spend with this desk price isn’t the end all be all but I’d like to see if I can do something cheaper.
Human Solution Uplift According to Work While Walking this desk uses the Jiecang base which they say isn’t very stable at high heights. But over all it looks like a reasonable option. My big issue is, I can’t try it out!
NewHeights Elegante XT I couldn’t find any measurements for the distance between the table legs but it would appear to be at least 65 inches or more, at a guess. So that is fine. Height range is from 24” to 51” so that is great. The only thing I really don’t like is that they have a cross brace between the legs. I’m worried about hitting that brace while walking.

D.2 Ones that didn’t look so reasonable but kept popping up so I evaluated them

Anthro Elevate II Their widest table only goes to 60 inches for the table top. I couldn’t find specs on the leg width but it’s safe to say it’s going to be less than 60 inches. It’s maximum height is 47 inches which is just over the bar but not by a lot.
ConSet I’m not sure I completely understand their specs. I looked at their 72 inch Veneer (the one without a cross brace to avoid hitting anything with my legs) and it says that its height is 63-123cm for the base and that the top is 22mm thick. So this would argue that height is 85mm to 145mm which translates to 33.46 inches - 57.09 inches. Which seems off.
Evodesk This is the lower end brand for NextDesk (see below). Given the problems they have already with their high end brand I think I’ll avoid the low end one.
GeekDesk Their large frame is 55.1 inches wide which goes to the outside of the legs and is too narrow for my needs.
NextDesk Terra Pro Out of the block the desk that really got my attention was the NextDesk Terra Pro. 4 legs! It’s gorgeous!!!!! The only problem is that NextDesk doesn’t have standard 72 inch widths. I submitted a request for a custom desk but never heard back. I found that they got a D from the BBB. Seriously, you have to knee cap your customers to get a D from the BBB. Next.
StandDesk It’s maximum height is 45 inches. Also while it offers a 70 inch wide table top it appears to use the same base which only has 50 inches between the legs.
Stir Kinetic Desk The M1 starts at $3000 or so and the F1 at $4000 or so. To be fair price isn’t an instant killer. I was willing to seriously consider the NextDesk Terra Pro and that starts at $2,700 or so. But here’s the thing. To me the Terra Pro is gorgeous. I really don’t like the Stir desk’s aesthetics. So I don’t want to pay that kind of money for something I don’t love.
TrekDesk Whatever its other issues this desk is simply not designed to allow one to use it as both a treadmill and a normal desk.
UpDesk Their site just doesn’t have enough details to be sure what I’m dealing with. They have a 72 inch desktop but I don’t know what width the legs go to. The high is 50.5” which is fine. But without more data I just don’t know if they will work.
VersaTables Zero Gravity Tables It goes 25 to 55 inches high which is great. It’s largest desktop is 72 inches. But I couldn’t find any more technical details on things like leg width or weight tolerance.

E Some treadmills I evaluated online and didn’t buy

E.1 Too small

LifeSpan TR800-DT3 The belt is only 18 inches wide which isn’t as wide as I would like. I also saw it in person and it even looks pretty flimsy.
WoodWay Deskmill It only has a 15.75 x 39 inch walking surface. That’s smaller than I want.
Rebel Desk Treadmill This one is a bit slow at a maximum of 2mph but honestly, I gotta figure in practice that is fine. The maximum weight is 250 lbs which is currently o.k. for me but um.... yeah... well... um.. yeah. But what makes me unhappy is that it’s only 18.1 inches wide. I’m a big guy and want more space.
TreadDesk Treadmill It’s belt is only 18 inches wide which is a concern. Also it doesn’t seem to have side rails so when you want to stop walking for a second you can’t just step up to the rails. Instead you have to put your feet on small strips that are right next to the moving tread. This just seems to beg for problems.

E.2 A desk I didn’t want was built in

Exerpeutic WorkFit Treadmill Desk This is actually an integrated treadmill and desk. The desk isn’t the shape I want so next.
NordicTrack Treadmill Desk NordicTrack actually sells the treadmill with a desk, which I certainly don’t want. The treadmill also goes way too fast and has an adjustable incline. The reason having “more” features is bad is that these are just more things to break. Given that the package costs $2000 I’m skipping this one.
Pro-Form Thinline Treadmill Desk Their base model has a great size but it looks like its desk is actually an integral part and needed to control the treadmill and the desk is completely the wrong shape.

F Figuring out the monitor arms

My main computer is a Mid-2010 27 inch iMac. According to Apple this version of the iMac weights 30.5 lbs but unlike some models the stand on its back can be removed and it can be mounted using a VESA 100 adapter that Apple sells. But this review on Amazon says that once you remove the stand the computer weighs around 27.5 lbs. This turns out to matter because most monitor arms top out at 30 lbs.
My other monitor is a 27 inch LED Cinema Display which Apple says weights 23.5 pounds. It seems like it has the same stand as my iMac so presumably if I remove the stand then it should weight around 20.5 pounds.
So from a weight perspective I want arms that can handle 20 - 30 lbs.
The top of the monitors should be roughly at the height of my eyes and the desk will be roughly at the height of my waist. So let’s say it’s about 28 inches from my waist to my eyes. The iMac is about 17.5 inches high without the stand. So the ball of the arm will be 17.5/2 = 8.75 inches down from the top of the mac. So this leaves a distance of 28 - 8.75 = 19.25 inches from the ball of the arm down to the top of the desk. Put another way, from the middle of the monitor to the desk top needs to be roughly 19.25 inches. So I need an arm that can raise the monitor 19.25 inches (or so).
Note that the height I want when standing isn’t identical to when I’m sitting so I really want an arm that is easily adjusted in the vertical axis.
Figuring out the monitor arm reach is more complex. For one thing, do I buy a single arm with two attachments or two separate arms? In general I have found that a single arm with two attachments tended not to be able to meet my weight requirements and they usually were fixed in the vertical dimension. So I’m looking for a solution using two poles, one for each monitor. I find that the best layout for the monitors is in a slight V shape (rather than just flat) and I want that V to center on me when I’m either on the treadmill or sitting at the chair. I want the base of the V to be 24 inches from the front of the desk. Each monitor is 25.5 inches wide and when configured as a V the distance at the base is 48 inches. Using some simple trigonometry I figured out that this requires arms that can extend just over 18 inches.
So to summarize requirements:
  • Must be able to extend 19.25 inches up while extended 18 inches out.
  • Must support 20 - 30 lbs of weight without function restriction (some arms lose reach if weight gets too high)
  • Must support Vesa 100 adapter
  • Must be vertically and horizontally adjustable with a single hand
  • Must have adjustable springs so I can adjust them based on the monitor weight

F.1 Arms that met my requirements

Ergotron LX HD Sit-Stand Desk Mount LCD Arm Meets all weight and size requirements. Costs $230. The reviews not just for this arm but for Ergotron’s products in general are consistently stellar.
Cotytech Expandable Apple Desk Mount Spring Arm With the 19.7” pole the base can go up to 16.95” and then the arm itself can raise up another 13.4” to a maximum height of 30.35 inches. Far above the 19.25” we need. It’s maximum length at maximum height (which we don’t need) is 21.3 inches, which again is more than we need. It looks like it’s designed to be moved with a single hand. I only found ErgoDirect selling it with the 19.7” pole for a total cost with shipping of $180.94. I am concerned about the comment made here that the base may not be wide enough to fully extend the monitor. I’m also a bit concerned by how few reviews I can find in general.
DoubleSight Displays DS-30PHS Their documentation doesn’t give exact measurements of the parts of the arm so it’s difficult to be completely sure if it meets my needs but it would appear so. It’s pretty inexpensive at around $100 but this review in particular really worried me. The lack of reviews in general is worrisome.
ERGOMART Heavy Duty Monitor Arm SAA2718 It requires a six inch extension kit to give it the full 19.25 inches vertical height so it’s total price was above $300. This is much more expensive than well rated competitors so I skipped it.
Humanscale Monitor Arms M8 Seems to meet all requirements. It also costs $400. Next.

F.2 Arms that looked like they should meet my requirements, but didn’t

Ergotron MX Desk Mount LCD Arm Can’t raise nearly high enough.
Innovative iLift Oh soooooo close! It’s maximum vertical range is 18 inches. If it just had any kind of extender it would work.
Crimson DSA12 The technical drawings confused me a bit but I don’t think it can raise high enough.
3M MA140MB It’s maximum height is 18.5 inches which is pretty darn close. Maximum extension length is 19.5 inches which is fine.
ERGOTECH Freedom Arm for iMac Doesn’t raise high enough.

19 thoughts on “Buying a sit-stand-walking desk”

    1. Hi Sally! I’d wave but my office is on the wrong side of the house. And yes, it is officially a small world.

      I ordered the desk on the 11th. I just found out that it should ship from Michigan on the 24th and should therefore be at my home 5 business days later. So hopefully I’ll have it by the 3rd. I’ll let you know when I have it set up so you can try it out if you are interested.

      I already have the ergotron arms and while they are monstrously big they have the right strength and flexibility for what I need. So I’m pretty excited.

  1. Holy Smokes you have quite a requirement. You will have an amazing set up.

    Let’s see if I can be any help. First it would be great to see how tall you are so we can make sure the monitor arms work for you when standing and seated. For example if you are 5’11” tall you will be typing ergonomically at 27.6″ above the floor (bummer, so many standard desks are 30″ off the floor and you would be amazed how many 5’1″ to 5’3″ people typing on top of standard desks… so bad). and your eye level will be around 49.5 to 50″ off the floor depending on your chair height. This means at 5’11” your top 1/3 of your monitor will be 19.5″ to 20″ off the floor if your desk is a fixed 30″ off the ground. If you have a height adjustable desk that you can lower to 27″ above the floor you would add 3″ to your eye level which makes the top 1/3rd of your monitor needs to be 22.5 or 23″ above the desk. Most all Arms you have mentioned will get you to this level, unless you are very tall. So if you could send me your height I would be able to assist. BTW, at 5’11” standing you are now looking at typing at 43.5″ above the floor and your eye level will be close to 66.1″ high.

    Buying a sit-stand-walking desk.
    I personally would not buy any desk from Lifespan. We sell them and they are a bit shaky and designed for walking not sitting standing or walking.

    We sell hundreds of Treadmill Desks every year and the most popular treadmill by far is the Lifespan TR-1200-DT3 it’s very well made and ideal for the single or dual user. I would not suggest the TR-800-DT3 because it’s not that cheaper than the TR-1200 and has too many limitations. We sell the TR-5000-DT3 to more corporate and Government accounts because its motor can take more daily usage.

    I checked out Work While Walking’s new Omega Everest table top and it’s very cool.

    My suggestion is to buy their table top with the Uprise Height Adjustable Desk Base. This is a very sturdy, quiet and fast base. It’s also priced way below its value. This base telescopes from 44.5″ to 74″ wide so you can fit the 72″ top on easily, heck you can toss a 100″ top on there if you wish. This desk is rated to lift 360lbs. Best of all it’s very sturdy at it’s highest point of 51.5″ this is important becuase walking on a treadmill adds 3″ so if you are 5’11” you are now 6’2″ when using the treadmill.

    The biggest issue most height adjustable desks have is when they are near their tallest point they can rock. That was an issue we had with some of the less priced desks. That being said the Uprise Desk is 599.00 and performs like a 1,000.00 plus desk. Here is a link to review: http://heightadjustabledesk.org/126 & http://www.ergoprise.com/uprise-height-adjustable-desk-base/

    I do have a bit of bad news. The TR-1200-DT3 is sold out and we have been told it’s going to be a few weeks due to the impending West Coast Dock Workers Strike. My honest guess is that it may be over a month. We just received a container of desks to our Austin warehouse that has been sitting in Long Beach since December 5. SO if you really need the treadmill ASAP, I would do the TR-5000-DT3

    It’s too bad your monitors are so heavy. We have a couple of extended reach arms that are ideal for treadmill desks. You set them up in the middle of the 72″ desk and they swing from side-to-side thus you have your dual monitors when you walk and when you sit & stand.

    Give us a call and we can give you more insight on your questions.

    Peter 512-275-6300

    1. Given that I’m buying a sit/stand disk (the Omega) the measurement would be from the height of the desk when it’s sitting or standing. I actually did that math in the article, please see here.

      I’m buying the desk form iMovR, not LifeSpan. I’m just getting the treadmill, a TR-1200-DT3, from LifeSpan. I have no clue when LifeSpan will deliver. But they were kind enough to already charge my credit card even though they haven’t given me a ship date.

      I actually bought the iMovR Omega desk with their stand, whatever it is. But they did say that it goes up to 51.5″ and is made in the USA.

      I only posted the article once I had made all the purchases I listed in the abstract at the top. I already got the two arms and they work pretty well. I’m using them on my existing desk where they are massively over sized but still do the job. As I mentioned in another comment I’m looking to receive the iMovR desk sometime in early March. I have no clue when the Treadmill will show up.

  2. Hi, I’m also thinking of getting one of these Omega desks – any chance we could get a review once you get hold of yours and the treadmill? I’m particularly interested in how shaky it is in day to day use, and whether that or anything else about it significantly helps or hurts productivity.

    1. I was actually going to wait a full month before I wrote my review but you motivated me to move things up by a week. You can see my full review here. But the bottom line is – it works extremely well for me.

  3. This is super helpful! I was wondering whether you think the Monitor Arm of IMovR (what you can get as accessories when buy the Elite Desk) is good for iMac 27 inch?

    1. The iMovr arms appears to just be white labeled Ergotron arms, the exact same arms that I bought. So please see my review. The monster Ergotron arm does handle by iMac 27 inch (I have one of the old heavy ones) but it’s not pretty. I have to actually get behind the desk and push with some force to get it to move around. I think Ergotron was a bit optimistic in their estimates of how much weight their arms can handle. To be clear, the arm does “work” in that it holds the monitor up where I put it. But it does take some force to move it around.

  4. has anyone tried the ThermoTread GT treadmill from iMovr? is it worth the extra 500$ Do you notice the decreased lengtjh of the belt? Do you wish it went faster? Trying to choose between the LifeSpan 1200 DT3 and the thermotread.

  5. i went and tried the thermotread and lifespan at their showroom in bellevue and a fitness store across the street also had the lifespan. though TT’s studies show the TT to be quieter, i’m not sure i believe it. if it is indeed quieter it is higher pitched and to my ears, the LS seemed more pleasant. TT is apparently easier to lube, but i dont think if you are at all mecanically inclined that that would matter. The controller was a lot nicer on the TT and was easy, functional, pretty and responsive. All their “cloud” touting is all future selling. none of the features currently exist and there is no public roadmap of what they will even be. they said there will be kickstarter or other funds raising to fund the development. while it sounds nice, don’t bank on that. I wear a fitbit (pocket type, not wrist), so while direct integration would be nice, the fitbit logged the the steps fine, so the cloud bit seems a little superfluous to my needs. then price and resale value… TT = 500$ more and not a name brand vs LS1200 seemingly the gold standard and fairly easy to resell on craidslist for okay prices. i’m swayed to LS.

    1. I have the LS 1200 and applying lubricant just requires pulling up the side of the tread and spraying it a few times on both sides and then running the treadmill for a few minutes to spread. It’s a minor pain but not a major one. For whatever that’s worth.

  6. Just wondering if anyone has tried a Thermothread since the last post ? I’m trying to make up my mind between the TT and lifespan. I can’t find any reviews for the TT except from workwhilewalking.com.

    1. My lifespan is making some annoying noises. I assumed it was because it wasn’t level (that was the case in the past) but my level claims it is level. So now I’m just annoyed. I need to call their support.

  7. Hello! I’m scouring the internet to try to find some reliable 1st had reviews of the iMovR UpStage/Reliant desk frames. The internet seems to be flooded with Jarvis, Updesk and the like, so finding this was a gem!

    Sounds like it’s been a couple years since you’ve gotten the desk. Personally, I am looking to purchase the frame only. Sorry if you mentioned it but do you have the UpStage or Reliant base frame?

    Is it still treating you well, solid quality and minimal to no wobble?

    I’m on the fence between the IMovR and the Jarvis Frame (Jichang).

    Thanks!

    1. I honestly don’t know which frame they put on this desk but the frame has been o.k. I had some issues where the desk wasn’t properly balanced (I had more weight on one side than the other) and that made the frame scream. But once I fixed that it’s worked really well. But I especially love the desk! The keyboard tray is mindblowingly useful when typing while standing. I can’t recommend it enough.

  8. Awesome! A reply!

    I just thought my comment here would disappear into the interbytes ;)

    I went for ordering the iMovR Elite. I gave up on the idea of making my own time. It uses the Reliant frame, which is the one with the Bosch motors that can life 265 lbs.

    I’m a little surprised to hear of your desk weight balance issue. I believe your desk also has the Reliant Frame (not sure about 2 years ago though). I was under the impression that the more expensive Reliant frame, although it has a lower lift capacity, is better engineered for dealing with the “Lateral Weight” (the issue you described) issue.

    Know what, i need to stop thinking and just pull the trigger. I have no issue with paying for quality, but I HATE OVER paying.

    Thanks a lot for you write up and feedback!

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