Spectrum Universal Tablet Stand, Black (AIL ATS)

I selected this stand to hold an iPad Mini in front of me using headphones while exercising on a bike. I also selected it because it was literally half the price of other similar stands. I won't be typing or touching the iPad while using it, just viewing videos. For my purposes, it does the job. If your uses are generally light duty or mostly hands-free, it should suffice. I've attached a series of unboxing and assembly pictures as well as pictures where I had issues for your reference to help you get a better look. Please read the instructions for trouble free assembly.The device clamp assembly is all plastic. This is Ok with me. I had a slight amount of trouble extending the arms initially. It has a gear mechanism that requires either a button press or lever to release the arms. The gearing keeps extension or closure of the clamps to remain uniform and locked in place. It feels a little cheap and if you force or are not generally careful, you may break or strip the gears. When you get yours, just use a light touch.I had two issues that concerned me, hence my 4-star review:1 - My unit arrived with two parts bent, as if the unit was dropped (see pictures). They are separate parts and the box was undamaged so I assume it was dropped at the manufacturer. The first is the curved area where the expanded leg fits into. It prevented the leg from fully extending making the unit rock. The other was a flat flange at the top of the gooseneck preventing the device clamp assembly from sliding on. Both parts required my coercing to bend back into shape. The flange required pliers. Your unit will likely not have bent parts but I thought it worth noting here.2 - The device clamp assembly blocks the headphone jack. I need to leave the clamp assembly open to allow access. (see pictures)PROS- Substantially cheaper than other floor stands- Holds iPad Mini. Expands to hold much larger devices.- Light weight- Collapses fairly small for storage- Easy to disassemble- Access to volume, mute and (mostly) sleep/wake buttonCONS- Bent parts required straightening (your unit will likely not, just noting)- iPad Mini headphone jack is completely blocked by arms- The device clamp assembly is a little cheap feeling

Amazon shipped this fast, as they do with all of their products. However, after removing it from the box, I noticed there were no directions. That would not have been a problem, except for the "claw" type pad holder at the top of the arm. On the back there is a button, and lever. You press the button, and move the lever, but I never could figure out what, or how, to use them. They seem like they do nothing at all. Then the 7 "claws", which hold your tablet, are nice, but not made really well. I like how they lock and unlock, but when I moved them to adjust to the size of my tablet, a lot of the black (I assume tiny teeth parts), fell out. Something inside of this feature keeps breaking. I find them on the floor,...little black teeth like particles of plastic. I don't know what that did to the stand, yet, but I am sure as time goes by I will find out. The metal part of the stand,...the tilt portion, is really nice and sturdy. The feet are a bit large, but when you lift the stand, the feet semi-fold down to make it easy to move. I do have to watch where I put the stand, because the footprint is large, and I find that people, occasionally don't see the feet, and trip over it. I like this stand, and would have given it a higher rating, but the breaking plastic parts (I don't know where they came from or how they affect this product), was disappointing. One last comment. After using this item for awhile now, I did notice that the tilt on the back of the tablet area, is getting really lose, and many times, it won't hold the tablet in the position which it is placed. I can be reading, and all of a sudden, the tablet tilts to the right/left. I don't like that at all. I wish there would have been directions, as I am sure the back components (button and lever), do something to help make this item easier to use.

I've been using this stand now for over two years! I think it broke about a year into owning it, but I've been able to rig it to still work for me (sort of). It's not ideal. I know I know, why am I giving it 4 stars?! Well, quite honestly it's the only floor stand I can find that can fold up completely and fit into my light stand bag. I'm a wedding photographer and I use this stand to display a same-day slideshow of wedding photos from the day. I needed something extremely portable (so my assistant doesn't kill me) and something that could be set up anywhere even with no table present.The part that broke is the part that holds the iPad in on top. I basically rig it so that the loose side isn't bearing any weight of the iPad. It's super annoying and I wish there was a way to fix it. To be perfectly honest, I was prompted to leave this review because I'm currently searching for a new stand. I'm still giving 4 stars because I've had about 2.5 years of great use with it. In an ideal world, I could have the broken part replaced and continue to use this stand because I love it so much. But I'm not sure I want to spend another $50 to buy it again! :(

I had intended to put it behind my bed, but there is no enough room. However, it works great at my lounge chair and in other sites. I knew this might be the case, so I am not surprised and am quite pleased. In the meantime, I ordered a stable c clamp straight line universal tablet holder for my bed, as I like to go to sleep listening to music or podcasts. I rate this very good, very solid and will have many years of wear in it. Only weird thing was the shipping. The stand had its own box. And the stand company had already packed it in a shipping box. All that was necessary was a shipping label. Instead Amazon repacked it into a box the size six plus feet long and added a bunch of paper for stability. Real waste earthwise. Plus, I had to tear down three boxes for recycling in our trash. Very dumb.

This is working for me perfectly. I have an iPad mini attached and it holds on to it fine. I saw some reviews saying the holder wasn't very good, but I've had no issues with it. That being said, I'm using the iPad to watch TV/Movies while on a treadmill etc, so I'm not touching the screen much. If you need to touch the screen a lot while it's in the stand, you may need to add some support behind it or something as the neck will cause the iPad to wobble a bit as you press.

Item is flimsy. The piece that houses the Ipad fell off soon after initial use and is now held on precariously. We take our chances because it seems to hold on but it limits the movement you can do. We used it for about a month this way.The latches for controlling the grippers to hold the Ipad in place are also very difficult to manage. I'm not sure if ours is simply broken but I can no longer change it to fit my Ipad. Now, the product is completely unusable. Wish that I had paid more for a better product.

The tripod base won't tighten because the tightening screw is too short. I'll try to fix it with some tape around the rod to make it thicker. The iPad attachment is pretty flimsy. All plastic and the tightening mechanism doesn't really work very well. I suspect it will break sooner than later. Not all bad though - the goose neck is good quality. Would have been 4 stars if it weren't for the defective tripod base. It's very inexpensive so I can't complain too much.

I used this product in my living roon. It holds my MS Surface Pro. It protects my surface pro from being dropped to the floor or thrown away accidentally when my grandson visits me. He asked why my laptop is glued to this unit, I told him it will help him read and play with the laptop and not cause any accidents.

Great product. Easy to use, easy to assembly and with the goose neck, you can place it in many areas where it would be of use to you. I use it for MC’ing from behind my DJ booth. Not sure though how long it will stand up to setting it up and tearing it down. If you just plan on setting it up the once, it’s gold.