Twelve South BackPack Adjustable Shelf

Twelve South BackPack Adjustable Shelf

Customer Reviews and Ratings

4.5 out of 5 stars

Based on 31 reviews

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Nice little gadget. However difficult to put together and install.

    • Written by from La Mirada

    Bought this the other day. It's really a neat idea and it does the job. However, it's very difficult to put together and install. Here are a few tips that I learned trying to put it together and install it.

    1. Open the box very carefully. There is a piece of foam holding the pieces in place. There are five different pairs of plastic clips to fit the various models and years of iMac stands and monitors; you use only one pair depending on your model. There is a piece of onion skin paper on top of the foam identifying the different sized clips. If you did as I did and opened the box carelessly, the clips will fall out and you won't be able to identify which pairs go together. At the time I was sure wishing the clips had identifying marks on them. After writing Twelve South about my assembly problems, they told me that the clips do indeed have identifying marks; they are on the inside of the clips on the "arch" part of the clips; very difficult to see, you need a flashlight or magnifying glass to be able to see the letters and numbers, so be careful.

    2. The clips have left and right orientation. You put one left and one right clip in the metal holders. The included instructions are pretty clear after that. The placement of the left and right clip is critical for the installation of the clip to the iMac stand. I've already complained to Twelve South; the screws on the metal clips are too short and fitting the metal Backpack shelf on to the iMac stand is difficult. It would be ideal if you had a large workspace to put the Backpack shelve on so you can easily get to the back of your iMac. As one other reviewer said, I doubt the Backpack shelf would hold 5 lbs. as Twelve South claims, but is plenty sturdy to hold a pocket Hard drive as it was designed for.

    1 of 1 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Love it....but

    • Written by from Ossett

    its a shame about the price, other than that it does its job

    1 of 2 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great for the iMac.

    • Written by from Shelton

    If you like having clean desk space, must get. Hide the hard drive away behind and out of the way! Great for a portable hard drive.

    1 of 3 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Elegant!

    • Written by from SAINT JOSEPH

    Elegant, superb product. Utilize two: Top shelf for my 2 TB LaCie (for Time Machine) and lower shelf for 2nd keyboard, Magic Trackpad, and DSL modem. Great assist in eliminating desk and cable clutter. Wish there were room for a third shelf!.

    2 of 4 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Awesome

    • Written by from Leesburg

    I kept knocking my hard drives around on my desk. Which is dumb. They are always connected to my computer, I needed a better solution. These backpacks are cool, they are now hidden behind my iMac and out of the way!

    1 of 3 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Very Nice...

    • Written by from Pewaukee

    Once I figured out how to assemble, The product itself is nice. I don't think it is flimsy like other reviews have stated. Great Product, Thanks!!!

    4 of 6 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    A Have to Have

    • Written by from Gloucester

    This is such a simple design that performs perfectly to keep my external hard drive up off of the desk and out of sight.

    Installation was a breeze. It took all of ten minutes from opening the package to placing my HD on top of it. Simple, simple, simple. Instructions were clearly stated although no where did it state which inserts to use for the iMac 27" but after watching a video on YouTube, I knew to use Insert #4 before I received the item. I might add, you can tell which insert to use just by trying any of them to see how loose or tight they are. Seriously, what is there not to love about this hidden shelf.

    5 of 7 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Nice Design

    • Written by from Mount Prospect

    Integrates very well with the Monitor. Well thought out and a great place to store your iPod while it recharges.

    3 of 5 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Good idea but...

    • Written by from Brighton

    I had some problems using this product. The instructions were out of date, so I had to experiment to find the right clips for my 21.5" iMac. The closest match only fit on one side- the other clip falls straight to the bottom. It works, but only because one side seems to be bracing the other. As a result I don't trust the shelf to hold anything weighty or delicate, which is disapointing because I wanted to use it to store a backup drive.

    1 of 5 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great Idea

    • Written by from MELBOURNE

    Need to keep your desk junk free ? This is the perfect thing for you. Installs in minutes. Strong and unobtrusive. Install 2 like I did. Great price. Creative thinking.

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Look Ma, no wires!

    • Written by from San Francisco

    Got this for my 27" iMac to hold an external hard drive used for Time Machine backups. I also drape my iPhone dock connector cable over it when not in use. As a result, when viewed from the front, there are no wires visible on my iMac. It looks great!

    I found the shelf to be very solid.

    I deducted one star for Installation which was a bit of a challenge. I had the problem where all the clips went flying when the box was opened, so it took a while to figure out which parts to use. The instructions for the 27" iMac are not included in the box; I had to find them on Twelve South's website.

    But once installed, it is a thing of beauty!. Expensive for what you get, but unless you have your own machine shop, it is well worth the money.

    6 of 7 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Does what it is supposed to do without any flaws!

    • Written by from Gilbert

    I originally had this mounted on my Cinema Display 23" but recently moved to a Cinema Display 27" monitor. The beauty of this product is it comes with "pegs" so it will mount on any Cinema Display or iMac, so I just removed the original pegs I used and inserted the ones I needed. I have a Firewire 800 bus-powered G-Tech drive that matches the aluminum color of the Back Pack and Cinema Display and everything sits nice, looks good. I give twelve south an A+ for beauty and simplicity.

    5 of 7 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Very smart

    • Written by from MARTINEZ

    Clever design, versatile. Cleans up your work area just a little more, for those who like that sort of thing.

    11 of 14 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Genius!

    • Written by from SUNDERLAND

    Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best!

    I bought this to hold/hide an ugly wireless router, which it does very easily.

    It's quick and easy to fit with a variety of fittings for different displays.

    Very highly recommended.

    10 of 14 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Awesome Idea!

    • Written by from Woodbridge

    Purchased one for my iMac and use it to hold my G-Drive Mini and works great. Comes with several little pieces to accommodate different computers/monitors that lock into place to hold onto the stand of the computer/monitor. Well made. Clears up clutter, has a rubber mat to prevent slipping of whatever you place on the actual shelf and a tie-down wire to keep cables tidy. To make it better would like to see bigger size and lower cost. Will probably buy another one soon for the other iMac.

    7 of 8 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Amazing Idea

    • Written by from Broken Arrow

    I have had this thing for about a month and it is AMAZING. Apple should so buy this idea and ship it with every iMac. I have a time machine drive that was always in my way. Great product and they even send you multiple "feet" to use to attach it to all the different iMacs and Mac monitors. Very easy to install. I bought it to go on my 24" iMac and last week upgraded to a new 27" i7, fit perfectly. Great product!

    4 of 6 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    5 lbs ... maybe

    • Written by from Fort Collins

    The idea is great. The overall quality is very good. Costly for what you get, but what is new with Apple and Apple related accessories.

    I wanted it to hold a Guardian MAXimus (RAID-1) external drive. Its 5.6 lbs, so its over the 5 lbs limit, but not by much. It definitely bends. It was much thinner than I thought it would be.

    Oh well, now I have it holding a couple of spare laptop drives in FW400 cases from Macally that plug into the FW400 ports of the 30-inch cinema display. Perfect way to keep them out of sight.

    I would like to see a bigger, stronger option, maybe to hold up to 8 lbs. This item should be $19.95 and a bigger version at $29.95.

    8 of 11 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Works great, slight puzzle to install

    • Written by from Santa Cruz

    Installed one on Apple 30 inch Cinema Display, one on a 24 inch iMac, and two on the same 24 inch iMac.

    All of them work great, clean up my desktop, and reduce noise from the external hard drives I use for Time Machine.

    They were all a puzzle to install. Especially the first time, when the 5 sets of inserts went flying across my desk as I opened the package. Note that the insert number and left/right are marked *inside* the inserts. Once past that mystery, fitting these onto the stands takes some fiddling. You can't tighten down the adjustments until *after* you place the shelf on the stand. Then you reach blindly under the stand, and with strong fingers, tighten down the nuts.

    Again, great product, wish it was easier to install.

    12 of 17 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Free up your desktop

    • Written by from HAM LAKE

    Easy to assemble and install behind my iMac. Very handy ~ highly recommend. Forget that I even have my external HD hiding behind there! Great storage solution for ipod, external HD, speaker, etc.

    10 of 18 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Perfect

    • Written by from Charleston

    These are fantastic eloquent accessories perfect for stacking your backup drives or a BassJump.

    8 of 14 people found this useful

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