I love my Dell Inspiron 8600 I got this spring. But when I use it with a USB keyboard and mouse, the high resolution monitor is simply to far away for comfortable work.

I looked around and found this Kensington Laptop Desktop USB 2.0 laptop stand. Despite the god-aweful name, the stand is brilliant. My laptop screen is now at exactly the same height and distance as that of my iMac. The built-in paper holder will come in handy (and made Jennifer jealous) and the built-in USB hub makes hooking up periferals very convenient.

This is a great alternative to buying a docking station and an external monitor. It looks slick and costs a lot less money to boot.