Sauder Edge Water Lift Top Coffee Table with Storage - Estate Black Finish - Perfect for Living Room, Home Office & Small Spaces

Shipping:I was so worried it could arrive damaged but it was perfect out the box. All corners of shipping box had thick cardboard braces for padding so in case this 70lb box toppled over it could hopefully avoid damage.Out the box:Everything was packed pretty snug and care was taken to avoid any scratches to the surface of the wood.Assembly:Youll need -adjustable crescent wrench -phillips head screwdriver -hammer (didnt need it though)Two people about 1 hourHighly reccomend two people assemble. Instructions came with a link for video assembly. I preffered the video assembly as opposed to the paper instructions but the video did have two discrepancies when cross referenced with the paper instructions. First video assembly discrepancy was instructing you to use 18 of a certain screw but only needed 10 and the second discrepancy was it didnt mention to tighten the nuts with a wrench during one of the steps, luckily they were still accessible to tighten when we noticed. The only issue we really had was installing the lift top to the coffee table base. The two metal arms that are required to lift this top def caused some scratches inside where it needed to be installed. Obviously this occured while trying to line up the screw holes and I doubt there would be much we could have done to avoid it as one person has to hold the top while the other manuevers it to positon. Its not terrible just dissapointing since the rest of its flawless but I'll take this any day over major cosmetic damage.Use: Overall function is pretty solid. Weight is decent, you cant just slide it around, it takes a little effort. The top lifts up crazy quick and with little support required to get it up, in fact it has a tad bit of force too when opening so be mindful of this if youve got a can of pop or something similar in weight on top of it. The force of the arms trying to pop up could easily cause stuff to slide right off if you dont catch them in time. Closing the lid back to its original postion is fine though it didnt slam down to fast it maintained a slow steady balance with little to no support required for you to get it there. Once the top is lifted its not so much wobly but it is off balanced. Just resting my elbows on it while eating dinner caused it to want to tip toward us. I dont plan to use this with my laptop but I tested it for this review anyway. Using a laptop doesnt require much elbow resting more so wrist resting and this did not prove to be of any issue but again if your trying to lean on it with your elbow the table will start to tip at you. All tests were done with the coffee table completely empty at its base so its possible if some weight were added to the base by means of decorations, books, etc. it may help counteract this balance issue.Overall rating 4 stars because of balance issues