“What have you bought this time?” she asked, handing me the heavy box that the courier had just handed her. I’m sure I looked surprised because, for once, I hadn’t ordered anything.

What was in the box? An iPad stand. A Mantis Stand for iPad and iPad 2 and a note.

Please find enclosed a Mantis Stand for iPad 2. We have just launched this product and it is yours to keep as a gift although, as someone respected in the tech community, we would love to hear your thoughts about the stand once you have had chance to use it.

The stand is designed and manufactured by us — Flatscreen Arms — in Brighton in the UK. It is made from solid aluminium. We hope you enjoy your stand and look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

That was a surprise. Still, I didn’t need much persuasion to pick up the allen key (included) and put the Mantis Stand together. It wasn’t difficult either. One bolt through the baseplate to attach the pillar and another through the iPad holder’s pivoting mount.

Mounting an iPad is easy. Slide the iPad between the four ‘arms’ and tighten the lock on the rear. Maybe it’s because I have an original iPad and not an iPad 2, but my tablet is an almost too snug a fit. I won’t be taking the iPad on and off very often, but that’s OK because unless I’m travelling, it usually sits on my desk where I use it for testing website designs. For this the Mantis Stand is perfect as you can easily swing it between landscape and portrait without fear of the iPad coming unstuck.

The Mantis Stand’s build quality is nothing short of superb. It’s heavy, really heavy, so this is a stand that’s going to sit on your desk, or side table or worktop. You can move it around the house, but I wouldn’t ever call it portable. To say this stand is sturdy is an understatement. It’s rock solid. I’ve bought several iPad stands in the past, but nothing compares to this in terms of stability, or indeed engineering and finish.

Nothing compares to it in terms of price either. At £149.00 it’s the most expensive stand I’ve seen. This will likely take it outside most people’s casual buy price range, but I can’t fault Flatscreen Arms for that as the Mantis Stand is by far the best engineered stand for an iPad or iPad 2.

Mantis Stand for iPad and iPad 2.

What did you think about …?

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I’ve become a bit of a LESS junkie these last few months, so I was chuffed when I heard about CodeKit — a new, (free while in beta) toolkit — by LESS.app developer Bryan Jones. I’ve been trying CodeKit out this week.

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