Debunk The Junk With Eldon’s ‘Catch All’ Desk Organizer
Written: Jun 03 '03
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Will fit almost any sized desk drawer, 8 compartments, sturdy, inexpensive.
Cons: Slides around a lot if not properly secured, a magnet for dust and dirt.
The Bottom Line: Have a desk drawer that needs a little organization? Eldon’s got just the thing for you!
|
|
|
| Freak369's Full Review: Eldon 8-Compartment Catch'All Desk Supplies Organi... |
If you have a desk, chances are you have desk related paraphernalia – stapler, tape, pens, paper clips, erasers, rubber bands – the usual. Unless you are a complete clean freak, you probably waste a good bit of time trying to find one of the above items when you need it most. I have a five drawer desk and while most of them are fairly organized there is one that must have desk gremlins living in it. I put something in the drawer and the next time I open it everything this is all over the place. I'll admit it, I’m a "desk drawer slammer"; when something isn't going my way, I unleash my fury on the desk – which might have something to do with the contents getting tossed around but I still think that something lives in that drawer …
This is a great way to get your most used desk and office supplies in a central area so you can find them when you need them. My oldest son likes to use his when he is working on a project in the basement. He can pull out what he needs from his art boxes, but them in the organizer and have everything that he needs in front of him. This eliminates me hearing him running up and down the steps and sneaking into my office to steal / borrow my stuff. He doesn’t keep his inside his desk drawer but sides it into one of the stacking legal sized file organizers – so it sort of acts like a drawer. He is pretty rough on stuff and his tends to get slammed around a lot and it’s held up nicely with only a small chip on the one corner when he dropped it down the steps.
Eldon 8 Compartment 'Catch All' Desk Supplies Organizer
The Eldon 'Catch All' has eight compartments of varying sizes that will accommodate pens and pencils, Post-It notes, paper clips, small personal sized staplers, correction fluid, rubber bands and any other item that you use on a regular basis. It’s make of a thick, non-flexible plastic that will take a lot of abuse. Unless you wedge it in your drawer between larger items, it might slip around a little unless you secure it to the drawer. I went a little crazy with the two-sided adhesive tape and ended up having to remove the entire drawer in order to clean it. Have any idea how hard it is to try and tip over a desk drawer into a garbage can? I nixed that pretty quick and gingerly peeled off the adhesive tape and used pre-cut Velcro strips to keep it in place. You can also use the Velcro on the bottom if you want to keep this on your desk but are afraid it will get knocked off or pushed around.
Unless you have a small desk, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting this in and out of your drawer. It’s almost fourteen inches long, about two inches deep and nine and a half inches long. You can pick this up in a few different colors – solid black, clear and this model – smoke. The clear ones are nice for in the bathroom to keep cosmetics and first aid items within arms reach but it is extremely hard to keep clean. I would avoid the solid black ones all together because they show every single piece of dust and dirt. After a while the solid black ones lose their sheen and any scratches that it may get in the compartments or on the dividers make it look pretty nasty. On a positive note, the sides [regardless of color] are strong so even if you don’t secure it to your drawer, it will hold up to a good amount of ‘desk traffic’.
Durability
As I mentioned, I’m a desk drawer slammer. Until I put the Velcro strips under it, it would get tossed around quite a bit and it never showed any signs of wear. If I had to voice a complaint about this desk organizer it would be that the corners do tend to get dusty and dirty. Trying to clean the organizer while it is still in the drawer and filled with supplies isn’t an easy chore and more often than not I’d end up making more of a mess. Since I put the Velcro strip on the bottom, tossing it in the sink isn’t an option since it would take forever for the strips to dry. I take a wet sponge and wipe it down and let it air dry. From time to time there might be some ink or marker on the bottom – there’s no way to get it out so I turn a blind eye and pretend I didn’t see it. The overall construction of the organizer is very good. The plastic is thick and rigid and will hold up to a lot of wear and tear. Two of my sons have these desk organizers and use them for a variety of things including separating stones and rocks they collect, Lego pieces and other odd things and the organizers haven’t fallen apart.
Price
You can find these at most major office supply stores near the pen and pencil section. I can’t recall the exact price that I paid for mine but when I picked up one for my oldest son a few months ago it was $5.49. From time to time you will see these on a promotion where you get some trial sized items include with it. The last time I saw this was a few years ago when they were having a back to school special. If memory serves me it was priced at $7.99 and included a small stapler, a few pens, Post-It notes, paper clips and other goodies. Is it worth $5.49? To me it is. I know the amount of use and abuse that these get and barring the small chip from being dropped down the steps, these look as good as new.
The Bottom Line
Whether you choose to have this in your desk drawer or not, it is a great way to cut down on wasted time looking for common items. Since it is only two inches deep there might be some things that this won’t be able to handle. I’m pretty pleased with the way mine has stood up to my desk drawer slamming and I am thinking about having my kids get summer jobs testing out products to see how much abuse they’ll take before they break. The might look like mild mannered eggheads but they certainly act like neanderthals when it comes to school, art and office supplies. If you are looking for a way to get your bits and pieces in place, check out the Eldon 8 Compartment Catch All' Organizer.
As always, thanks for the visit!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
Other home office essentials …
Bic Shake 'N Squeeze Correction Pen
BIC 4 Color Clicker Ballpoint Pen
Mead Composition Books
Pentel R.S.V.P. Ballpoint Pens
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.