The iGo has been around since the days of the G4 iMac from Rain Design, Inc. but has since been upgraded for the iMac G5. After using the sitting model for about four months now, I must say that I am quit satisfied with their product. If you have a new iMac, and are looking ultimate pedestal to show it off, this would be the one. I have yet to see better 3rd-party furniture integration with an Apple product.

The box the iGo comes in is incredibly compressed: taking every single piece out requires about ten minutes, and then perhaps another hour to put together. Assembly for me wasn’t exactly a breeze: the nuts and bolts of the steel legs require precise angles to fit into eachother, and if you’re doing it by yourself, it’s going to be rather difficult. But once all set up, the desk is very stable and looks awesome.

At a first glance, the iGo has four steel “legs” which all span out into roller balls at the bottom, which allow the desk to be moved with ease. I have the desk situated on a carpet floor, and for this medium it rolls quite well actually. On wooden floors it’s even better, which is what I’d recommend if you’re going to be on the go with the iGo.

The steel legs are interconnected with a plastic plate near the bottom, which is meant to house an iPod, external hard drive, camera, or something along those lines. It turns out that I have a Wacom Intuos 9x12” that fits perfectly on this plate, working out great for my pen tablet needs. I wouldn’t recommend placing anything really heavy on it, though: plastic is plastic, after all.

The iGo features Rain Design’s 360 pedestal for the iMac, which is ultimately my favorite feature. Essentially, you slide your iMac’s chrome base into it (literally) and then screw a plate in back so that it stays fixed. Once it’s in, you simply tap your iMac and it will turn like magic. I find myself swiveling the computer many times a day, as the 360 makes this incredibly easy and equally fun. The swivel’s adjustibility is just right, too: not too loose, yet sound enough to leave you and your iMac in place when you want them to be.

Directly beneath the 360 pedestal is the halo lamp, a very strange little function that Rain Design decided to build into the iGo. There’s a switch on the back which activated the lamp, illuminating everything beneath the iGo, portions of the keyboard, and a bit of everything else. The halo lamp is paticularily useless if you’re looking for fantastic lighting conditions; nonetheless, it does add a nice atmosphere at night, if you can stand looking at a bright screen during those hours. In the halo lamp housing you can wrap your keyboard and mouse cables so they remain unseen to the onlooker. Other cables can go into it too, but a fair warning: once they go in, they stay in. You have to take the entire iMac off the iGo just to get back to them, so I’d advise that you do a permanent setup.

A great example of Rain Design’s attention to detail is this little cord binder that they include. Basically,you use it to keep all of your cords coming down in the same bundle by wrapping the binder around all of them. Indeed, a fairly unecessary feature, yet pleasant to have, considering the price tag for the model.

Another handsome feature is the gel-based rest for the keyboard. This makes keyboarding so much nicer that your palms will thank you for years to come. There are just two things, however, that I don’t appreciate about it: one is that it tends to slide over periods of time, so you have to keep re-adjusting it. Another is that it, well, doesn’t exactly stay white for long. Unless you wash your hands before you use your keyboard each time, you’re going to start seeing ample dirt and oil residue within two months of usage.

Right alongside the keyboard is a gel-based mouse pad, which feels fine to use. If you’re a gamer, then you might want to adjust your mouse sensitivity level - because there isn’t a whole heck of a lot of room to move around in. Personally, I don’t it bothersome, but some may, so this may be something to take into account. The iGo, in it’s nature, doesn’t utilize a very spacey design.

The only major downside that I hear from people regarding this desk is it’s lack of storage space. Though I can understand this complaint, what you should bear in mind is that this isn’t the iGo’s intent. It is, above all, a minimalist showcase desk, not a storage facility. If that is what you’re looking for, then this is not by any means a product for you.

The iGo is definently not your run-of-the-mill type desk: one glance at it and your eyes will be fixed for a few moments, pondering just what exactly it is. I feel that it matches the iMac’s philosophy quite well, and offers many useful and pleasing features for the user. If you’re organized, minimalist and willing to part with $333 for this piece of furniture, I highly recommend it. 5 of 5 stars.