For years and years and years, I used a sturdy desk that I had purchased from Target, to hold my computer. The problem was, it was excessively long for my simple needs, and ended up just accumulating a bunch of junk on it, rather than anything useful.
While doing some spring cleaning last year, I ultimately decided to downgrade: while the desk itself was still holding strong and showed no signs of faltering anytime soon, I just wanted to replace it with something a little bit more compact; something that I wouldn’t have enough space to put trash or other unessential items on. Oh, and I also wanted it to be really cheap.
Unsurprisingly, I found such an item at Walmart, a place that I don’t typically frequent, and for a price that would fit anyone’s budget: around $20. That’s right, twenty bucks for a computer desk. I mean, unless you get a hand-me-down, you’re not really going to find a new, or even used, desk for that kind of price, so I didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on the purchase.
As with most larger items, this desk came unassembled in a thin cardboard box. I’m terrible with assembling things (I don’t think you understand just how serious I am when I say that…my wife puts most of our larger items together), but even I had no problems piecing this together—just make sure to follow the instructions, which are pretty straightforward, and you shouldn’t have an issue. It couldn’t have taken me longer than half an hour, and I can’t stress enough how terrible I am at building stuff.
One thing worth noting right off the bat: This desk is SMALL. Small to the tune of roughly 16” x 32” x 29”, and that’s even rounded up for simplicity. To be honest, I’m one of the many people who don’t really pay attention to dimensions because they don’t really mean much to me as-is: I pretty much need to see the item to be able to understand just how much space it’s going to take up. Well, in order to help put it into perspective, I have a thin, 19” (I believe) LCD monitor, regular size keyboard, and mouse on it—and there’s not really space for anything else. I did cram some speakers on there for a while—which were thin and fairly tall—and those fit well, but nothing else will fit.
Again, it worked out well for me, because that is all I wanted: a small desk that would hold the basics and that didn’t have much excess space for trash, and that’s exactly what I got. But everyone’s needs are different, so if you’re looking for a multi-purpose desk that’s going to handle your printer and computer and everything else you need, this isn’t even going to come close to suiting your needs.
Beyond the desk’s surface, there are two rather thin shelves. This was the area that I was most nervous for, because I really did want a desk that would be able to hold my computer tower. I’ve heard how towers placed directly on the ground are more prone to problems, because that’s where the dust settles; even keeping one a few inches off the ground can be much better for its health long-term (I only heard that a couple times and didn’t research it much either way, but it certainly makes sense from a logic perspective). Even after assembly, I didn’t think it would fit…but it does. It’s a little tighter than I’d like (I don’t have to force it in, but there’s not much space on either side), but the minimalist, open design of the desk allows plenty of air to flow through the side vents, so that helped to put my mind at ease.
Of course, in this price range, you’re not going to get the best of every world, and this desk certainly has its shortfalls: this thing just isn’t sturdy. The individual shelves—although they are rather lightweight and clearly not top-of-the-line materials—are solid enough, but unless you have this thing on solid ground (i.e. a hardwood floor), the gentlest of touches will have this thing—and all its contents—threatening to fall all over the place. It never has fallen, because I’m gentle with it and have it leaned against the wall, but it’s a far cry from my previous wood-based desk, which I could have taken a hammer to and done little lasting damage.
The sturdiness (or lack thereof) also becomes evident when you’re attempting to move it: I have a hard time deciding where to grab it, because it feels like any piece is capable of popping out or snapping at any time. To be fair, I’ve moved it (a short distance) on a couple of occasions, and the small “damage” that was done (one side of the top popped out of its socket) was as simple as popping it back in. But it’s still a rather nerve-wracking experience, even for short distances—unless it were completely cleared off, I wouldn’t even try moving it across a room.
Now, also to be clear, I have mine set-up on carpet—these issues would probably be a lot less noticeable on more even, harder floors.
It’s not all negatives though, because other than these issues, this desk has held up well, and we’re well beyond the year mark. The heaviest thing I have on it is a computer tower, which has to weigh probably 15 or so pounds: the shelf has held it up without any bowing, or showing any other signs of struggle (granted, it’s the bottom shelf, which is probably the strongest and most well-fortified, but still).
And, perhaps most importantly, it has provided an overall solid solution to the specific problem I was aiming to fix: namely, the lazy adding of trash and other items to it. Don’t get me wrong, I still do it from time to time, but the small surface area definitely limits the amount of space I can fill up with garbage, and definitely discourages the practice. Meanwhile, it also makes clean-up a breeze, because since only a few small things can fit on it, that means it never takes more than a couple minutes to get it back to its original, clean form.
In the end, I have to say that I definitely feel like I got my “money’s worth”, a phrase that seems to mean different things to different people. In my case, I definitely got a cheap desk—something I was expecting—but I also paid a cheap price. And while it’s nowhere near “world class”, I feel like it’s sturdy enough to justify the cost, and to meet the needs of the average consumer just looking for a simple solution for anything desk-related.
Overall: 5.5/10. This desk from Mainstays is almost a perfect example of cost-meets-quality: it’s not very sturdy, nor does it feel particularly well-made, but to be perfectly honest, it’s about the best product you could expect at this price point. The individual materials are cheap, and feel that way, but at the same time, I don’t worry that the weight of the items on top of it are going to cause it to collapse, or anything. The biggest drawback is how light it is: I have mine on carpet (thin basement carpet, but carpet nonetheless) and even the slightest nudge makes the desk wobble and look like it’s going to fall over. I have mine set up against a wall (as I imagine most will), so chances are it won’t, but give it a hard enough nudge and it could still wobble enough to send the monitor falling off, which would be a costly problem. Ditto that for moving it: grab it in the wrong place and you’ll feel like you’re taking it apart. However, if you go into the purchase expecting to get nothing out of it except a cheap, functional desk, then you should be pretty satisfied.
