If you do serious computer work on the road a lot, you owe it to yourself to get a portable computer setup that’s comfortable to use for the entire day, but is still lightweight enough to carry around. I’ve been looking for such a setup for a long time, and think I’ve finally found one. Here’s some recommendations.

Laptop Stand

You need a good laptop stand to elevate it to eye level, so that your neck doesn’t look down and start hurting. (Either that, or you need an imaginary highly-portable-yet-large monitor to carry with you. I’ve looked for one extensively, and can’t find one.)

The Wirecutter recommends the Roost Laptop Stand as the best portable solution, which I absolutely agree with. It’s very light (170g), collapses into a small 3 x 3 x 33cm beam, and has three height positions to accommodate for different desk heights. $75.

One other stand I like is the Pwr+ Portable Laptop-Table-Stand, which is still quite light, but takes up a lot more space collapsed. That said, it’s better for larger (e.g. gaming) laptops, frees up the desk space beneath it, and is a great option if you mostly take your laptop between one or two places (like work & home). $40.

Lap Tray/Pad

I personally use a tray that you can put on your lap, and put a wireless keyboard and trackpad on the tray, so you’re typing on your lap. This is for two reasons:

1. It’s fairly ergonomic, since your arms are guaranteed to be above the keyboard.

2. It means you can work at desks that are both very high or very low. You can put your laptop on the desk and adjust the laptop stand so it’s at eye-level for best ergonomics, and your keyboard can go your lap so it doesn’t have to match the desk height.

I’d recommend the Aidata LAP005, which has a retractable mouse tray so it can easily fit into most backpacks. $20. (The Logitech N315 is lighter and thinner, but that’s not available anymore.)

If you do find a desk that’s the correct height for typing at, then great, you don’t need a tray. However, the tray gives you a lot more flexibility, and I take one everywhere with me where I expect to work for more than a few hours now.

Input Devices

If you use a lap tray like I recommend above, you probably don’t want a mouse, since a mouse will slide down the tray unless your lap tray is perfectly horizontal. That means that you need to rely on the chair being height-adjustable. But hey, if you really like mouses, go ahead and get one, there are dozens of small mouses out there that are great.

Instead of a mouse, I’d recommend the Apple Magic Trackpad 2. It’s hands-down the best trackpad out there, and should work OK with non-Mac hardware too. I’d prefer something smaller (seriously, the thing could be half the size and I’d be happy) but there isn’t one. I don’t know what a good trackpad is on Windows, though I’m betting that the Logitechs are the best alternatives. $129.

If you’re not a big fan of trackpads, the Logitech M570 has been my favourite trackball for years. The only downside is that it’s not Bluetooth, and has a (tiny) USB adapter that needs to be plugged in. $25.

And, of course, when I finally find a small mobile portable keyboard that I like, it gets discontinued: the Microsoft Sculpt Mobile Keyboard. (You can still get it today, though the prices vary a lot since it’s not produced anymore.) It’s Bluetooth, has an on/off switch (see below for why that’s good), and feels great. If you use it with a Mac, you probably want Karabiner Elements so that you can remap the left Windows key and right Ctrl key to be Option keys.

Other portable keyboards that I’ve tried are:

• The Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard, which is the Sculpt Mobile’s bigger cousin. This is my primary keyboard for work and home; I use the Sculpt Mobile when I travel. The bigger version is still quite portable though, and I used to carry it around a lot until I found the Sculpt Mobile. The only downsides to the keyboard are (1) no on/off switch (see below), (2) needs a (small) USB adapter, so it takes up a valuable USB port. $75.

• Goldtouch Go!2 Wireless Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard. Tried it; didn’t like it. The key layout was substantially different enough that it required some re-learning. Splitting the keyboard in half is cool, but that means that a desk is also required; it doesn’t fit on a lap tray.

• Kinesis Freestyle2 Blue. Different feel from the Goldtouch Go!2 (better travel distance), but otherwise it’s more-or-less the same.

• The MeshWe Bluefin, a little tray for the old Apple Magic Trackpad & Bluetooth Keyboard that connects both of them. I really liked this thing, and it was great since it also served as a tray, so I didn’t need to bring a separate tray along. It has two problems: (1) the Magic Trackpad 2 definitely feels better than the old Magic Trackpad to me, and (2) since the old trackpad & keyboard doesn’t have on/off switches, you have to take the battery out before transporting it. Also, I really do think that ergonomic keyboards are better, even things like the Sculpt Mobile that really don’t seem very different. Your arms can relax a bit more and don’t get so crammed into the middle of your body. The iSkelter Magic Trackpad Station looks similar to the Bluefin for the new Magic Trackpad & Keyboard, but it’s too big for my tastes since it doesn’t collapse.

One thing about whatever input devices you use: try to make sure that they have an On/Off switch, so you can switch them off easily before putting them in your backpack. Otherwise you need to take the batteries out of them before packing them up, which is a small hassle.

Also, unless you really need a number pad, get a keyboard without one. They’re ergonomically superior, and smaller too. The Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard (above) is great since it offers a number pad that’s separate from the main keyboard for the times where you want one.

USB Hub

I love this 3-port flexible USB 2.0 hub (Cables To Go #27402). Hubs are always annoying since they’re so rigid: the extra flexibility that this thing gives you is great. Yep, it’s USB 2 only and not USB 3, and of course it can’t properly power high-current devices like iPads, but it works great for almost everything else.

Extra Screen?

I’m personally quite happy working with just a 15" MacBook Pro screen, and find it large enough to do serious work on. I’ve tinkered with an extra screen and didn’t think it was worth the additional hassle. However, if you really want an extra screen, I’d recommend using an iPad or iPad Mini with Duet Display to drive it, which works well, and an iPad monitor mount like the Sidecar, which allows you to attach it to the side of your Mac.

I’ve also tried various portable USB-powered monitors like the ASUS MB168B+, but found that the EzLink drivers for them on a Mac were basically terrible. They also lacked a monitor mount, so you need to figure out how to elevate it to the same level as your Mac screen. Duet Display with an iPad seems better.