In times past, being a DJ meant owning a van, and every weekend you'd throw a ridiculous amount of gear into said van - and not complain. These days however, your DJ life is being squeezed into ever smaller spaces. Decks and mixers have become controllers, but despite this rampage towards miniaturisation, there are necessary additions to the DJ setup - namely laptops.

But where to place this laptop? That's where the stand comes in. And while there are some lightweight and space efficient models around that squeeze into your laptop bag, for some that just isn't robust enough. And that's where Road Ready's Smart Stand comes in.

The one sent to me is the highly memorably named RRFSSS - the Road Ready Free Standing Serato Stand Small. This comes complete with a height adjustable stem and a small tray for your audio interface of choice. You can however buy additional fittings to customise your stand to suit your needs.

First Impressions

The Smart Stand is a beast. It's constructed of steel plate and tube, and weighing in at 11kg, this can't be thrown into your laptop bag at all. Hovever, some weight has been saved by cutting slots into the plates, but not at the expense of strength.

It comes apart so can at least be stored relatively flat when transporting. But this is considerably bigger than normal stands - we're talking about being wide enough for a MacBook Pro and a Stanton SCS.3d, or an entire VCI-300. And it's solid enough to take something heavier like CD deck if necessary.

The Smart Stand is designed to stand on its own or ideally using the rest of your DJ setup to support it. The beauty of this is that it's so heavy that no matter what you put on it, the likelihood of it tipping over is pretty slim to nil. Indeed, the more you load onto it, the sturdier it gets.

Take it as read - the Smart Stand is of the highest quality.

In Use

It's not just an immovable lump of metal - the Smart Stand has both height, swivel and angle adjustment too. So if you're a DJ who prefers to hide behind their gear, then front and centre is ideal. But you could also set it to one side and swivel it so that your laptop still faces you. And if that is too far away, you can angle it to suit your logistical needs.

Of course, it's not just laptops. You can put some sizeable lumps of gear on the stand like CD decks, MIDI controllers or MPCs. You can also buy a much bigger top tray for more gear, but the bigger the unit, the less stable it will become - especially if you adjust it too far. And because of its size and use, making changes to the setup aren't as easy as using a lightweight stand. When you set your gear up, be sure it's in the right place.

One last thing - because of the design of the top tray, using laptops with front loading CDs is troublesome. The lip covers the slot, but in this day and age, it shouldn't really be a problem.

Summing Up

Having used a few laptop stands in my time, the Smart Stand is a solid piece of work. You put stuff on it and it just stays put. For more optimised laptop DJs, I feel the Smart Stand might be a little too big. But for DJs with a rig and needing the ability to respond to different circumstances, the Smart Stand and its various attachments is perfect. It can be inserted into a booth (either freestanding or worktop mounting) and will keep all your gear safely in place.

It's not cheap, but it's way more configurable and solid than your average laptop stand.

Ratings

Build Quality
Nothing short of tank-like. It'll take a direct nuclear hit, but will also put your back out if you try and lift it.

Features and Implementation
It has 3 way adjust, all sorts of optional extras and can only be pushed over with force. I'd say that's pretty good.

Value For Money
Twice as much as regular laptop stands, but will outlast even your DJ gear. Probably even your Technics.

Bottom Line

If you need a little more than a foldaway stand, and want something bigger for your expanding DJ needs, the Road Ready Smart Stand gives you quality and options.