IE do you have a lap desk? Sit at a desk and use it like a (duh) desktop computer? If you want to use it sitting on a couch, what’s the best way?
I ask because I have a lap desk, but I’ve had it for a while, and I think the beads have worn down or something, because the time until it gets uncomfortable is getting increasingly shorter.
I have a lap top, at the same time my husband bought it for me he also bought an adjustable table for it. It is rather like the hospital tables that fit over the bed. Unfortunately it too causes problems if I am on the lap top very long at a time. I start of ache pretty much all over.
I work from a laptop exclusively. For the sake of my back, I use:
A desk with external monitor, keyboard and mouse when at home. The laptop sits beside it, on a stand, as a secondary screen.
A desk or table with a Roost stand, keyboard and mouse when I’m somewhere else.
If it’s just for a short period I’ll use the laptop by itself on a table or desk. Lap use is reserved for airports etc.
I always used to use my laptop with an external keyboard, mouse/trackpad and monitor. But I now have a Mac with a high resolution display, which is much nicer than my external display. So at my desk I mostly use the built-in screen, but still with an external keyboard and mouse. I made a little stand so the laptop is elevated a bit behind the external keyboard, sticking out a bit over it so it almost touches the function keys.
Working directly on the laptop keyboard on a desk doesn’t work so well for me because the screen is so low.
On the couch I sometimes use it on my lap, but mostly on the armrest of the couch, which are high enough and flat to make this work well.
I have two laptops I use, work and home.
Work: It’s work’s laptop so I don’t care 
But on the whole, since I need to be more accurate with my clicking, I have my external mouse, I also turn off the touchpad.
Home: I use it on my lap with the touch pad because it’s more just playing around on the internet, and less actual tactile, accurate work.
Something I always try to do though: I try berry berry hard to NOT leave my laptop(s) plugged in 24/7 because that’ll kill the battery way fast. I am always using my home laptop untl I get the warnings to charge it, and charge it at the last possible second, I’ll often let it die to to preserve the battery. I do the same thing with my cell.
My laptop at home is on a little height-adjustable Ikea plastic table, right next to my recliner. It’s very easy (and very comfortable) for me to rest my hand on the recliner armrest and manipulate the trackball, rotating my head to divide my attention between the TV and the laptop. And occasionally my wife.
I highly recommend such a set up.
I use the chair pictured in Products | Recliners | wing. Click on the tab for “stressless accessories” and you will see the swinging laptop table. It is adjustable for height and I have it adjust so it just tops my stomach. This is in my living room, but when I close the laptop and swing the table away it functions as a living room easy chair. I find it more comfortable than an EZ-Chair. Warning: It cost over $2000 and is worth every cent.
On the coffee table when I’m on the couch. When I’m in the armchair, I made a board to rest across the arms with a “gut cutout” so I can pull it snug against me while reclining the chair, and a hole on the back end to run the power cable through.
I generally just put the laptop on a desk, as a desktop.
I usually use it at a table/desk but also have no issues using it on the couch for extended periods.