Review: Kensington Desktop Leash

The woman at the University of Toronto Computer Book Store didn't quite know how to react when I gave her my This to That business card - "errr, thanks she said". I was buying a kit that is supposed to securely glue your computer to your desk. Computers and Glue! Our two favorite things! How could I not purchase this product? It was C$29.95 plus 15% tax. And how could I resist the urge to give her a business card.

When I got home and opened the package I was struck by the flimsiness of the cable that was included. In this town a bicycle with a chain that size would last about 5 seconds. I guess the goal here is just to slow down a thief. We want him/her to pick up our PC, realize that its attached to the desk then drop it erasing the entire hard drive and steal something else... that would be success for this lock I guess.

On to the gluing. The kit came with a packet of "Alcohol Prep" (Made by the Clinipad company who seem to specialize in medical supplies - yikes). You are supposed to clean the surfaces with this before attempting to glue. We at This to That are evangelists about preparing surface first so we like that.

Now we know its anglo-centric to expect instructions in English but: could we have instructions in English, please. The instruction page consists of a page with a 15-frame story board. Obviously Kensington didn't want to produce instructions in every language - but their website is in English and I'm sure most customers speak English. Would it kill them to have a few lines of English under each frame. My favorite frame is number 6 where you see a left hand applying glue to the right hand with a line through it - don't put glue on your right hand! Speaking of which, it was impossible to avoid getting glue on my hands since to get the tube of glue going you need to unscrew the nozzle, turn it around and use it to pierce the metal "hymen". I got glue all over my hands doing this so we recommend latex gloves.

After the alcohol dried I applied the "ZipGrip Super Glue: instant bonding". Its so instant that the story board seems to tell me that I should wait 24 hours before connecting the cable to the pieces that I have attached to my PC.

I waited the 24 hours. Connected the cable. I pulled on the cable to test the strength of the bond and it hold so it appears to be a success

We requested safety info from the manufacturer and when we get it we'll distill it and add it here.